Page 15

Chapter 15

M ariana stepped into the grotto with Dohal’s magic tickling against her skin. They had all decided that, now that Ashdei had reinforced the wards with his Incarnate magic, it would be safer here than anywhere else to do whatever “closing the circle” entailed.

Ashdei waited for her inside, sitting on the edge of the lush green bed wearing nothing but a pair of loose black pants that flowed easily when he stood to welcome her. His eyes moved over her slowly, from her delicate silver sandals up along the red silken robe she wore belted around her. His flame-touched gaze paused to take in her breasts before continuing to her face to meet her eyes. The blue fire roared brighter. “I have never wanted anyone the way I want you.”

“Interesting attempt at small talk. Here’s my counteroffer.” She tugged the belt, let her robe fall away, and slid out of her shoes.

Her magic swelled inside her when heat overtook his face. She leaned closer as his power rubbed against her in response. Mari walked forward slowly, needing to touch him, and her fingers caressed his jaw.

At the contact, a low sound of desire rumbled from his lips. Sparks danced under her skin everywhere she touched him.

“You feel good,” she whispered. Her thumb slid to brush over his mouth. “Like mine.”

The sudden vulnerability that overtook his expression made her stomach flutter. “In all my years, no one has ever said something like that to me.” His voice was low and rough.

His desire seeped into her through her skin until she felt drunk on it. “Do you want to be mine?”

Eyes widening, he seemed surprised by his answer to the question. “More than anything.”

She pressed her thumb between his lips to glide over his tongue briefly. “What would you give to be mine?”

His breath stuttered as he came to the conclusion she had already sensed. “Everything.”

Her smile was slow and soft. She’d thought he was a terrifying, powerful creature beyond her understanding, but really, he just wanted to be cherished. She moved closer and captured his mouth in a gentle kiss into which she poured all her longing. When she felt him melt against her, she knew exactly what he craved.

“I’m going to give you what you need,” she whispered against his lips. “But you’re going to have to stay very still for me. Can you do that? Can you be a good boy for me?”

“Yes,” he murmured into her kiss. “I’ll be good.”

She reached down between them to feel the swell of his cock where it stretched the fabric of his lounge pants. He moaned into her mouth as she traced over the outline with eager fingers. “Sit down and lean back.”

He pulled away from her reluctantly and backed up until he sat on the bed. He then leaned back on his hands, exposing the long expanse of his muscled torso. “Like this?”

“Exactly like that.” She stroked him through his pants slowly while looking him over. “You’re devastatingly beautiful.”

A delicate blush rose along his neck to paint his cheeks. “No one has ever told me that before.” He was delicious this way, soft and a little shy, such a contrast to the cocky arrogance he wore like armor.

She would strip him of it bit by bit until he was bared to her. “I’m sorry that no one has treasured you as you deserve.” She slid her hand up along his body to enjoy the feeling of him arching up into her touch. “Don’t worry. I’m going to take very good care of you.”

Mari tugged the waist of his pants down until his cock sprang free. He was thick in her hand, with a tapered head that came to a sharp point. She didn’t have any idea what that would feel like inside her, but she was desperate to find out. Studs protruded along the sides and top of his curved shaft in rows, begging to be touched. When she ran her thumb along them to feel their bumpy texture, he groaned.

“So sensitive,” she said in a low, fond voice. She wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed, making him buck in her grip. She tsk ed with her tongue. “I thought you were going to be a good boy?”

“I am,” Ashdei panted. “I’ll be so good.”

She pumped him with her hand lazily a few times, then showed him a dirty smile. “Stay still,” she warned, as she moved back to kneel on the ground between his legs. She rubbed his thighs, enjoying the long lines of his decadent body as she looked up at him.

He shivered when she gripped him roughly once more but did an admirable job of keeping still.

She leaned to give the head of his cock a slow lick, lingering over the distinct shape of him. He tasted like a good mezcal, smoky and just a bit sweet. She tested the barb at his tip with her thumbnail. His stomach muscles jerked at the sensation, and a moan fell from his lips, but he didn’t move.

“Good boy,” she purred, and sucked the head of his cock between her lips with an audible slurp.

His hands fisted in the greenery under him, and he let out a choked gasp. She had a glorious view of his rippling muscles as he fought his every instinct in order to stay still. His impressive restraint made her arousal bloom. She squeezed him with her fingers and took him deeper as a reward.

The soft noises of enjoyment he made sent her magic tingling along her nerves. She took her time, exploring every inch of him with careful patience. The fleshy studs along his length were very sensitive, and whenever she raked them gently with the edge of her teeth he quivered. He especially liked it when she took him deep, if his spluttering moans were any indication. His barbed head was sharp, but not enough to break skin, only enough to tease the back of her throat in the most delicious way.

When she eased back after a while to take a break, he let out a frustrated groan. She smoothed her hand up and down slowly, using her saliva as lubrication, admiring his impressive length. Her cunt throbbed as she imagined what he would feel like inside her.

“Sucking you off is making me so wet.” She smiled when his hips flexed ever so slightly. Seeing him clinging to the edge of his control because it would please her was hot enough that she was surprised she hadn’t caught fire yet.

She drank him down again, because she couldn’t resist the way stretching her mouth around him made her feel, wicked and powerful. She dropped her hand between her legs and stroked her clit with a firm touch until she moaned around his cock.

He stared down at her, his expression dark with desire and hunger. “Please,” he whispered. “I want to taste you.”

Mari decided she’d denied herself the pleasure of his body long enough. She stood and slid her fingers into his waiting mouth. He groaned with pleasure and sucked on them as she straddled his lap. Staring into his eyes, she teased the head of his cock along her slit, spreading her wetness. “Your hands stay where they are, but your hips are allowed to move. Am I understood?”

He nodded, her fingers still caught between his sinful lips.

“That’s my good boy.”

He blushed to his silver hair. The reaction was so adorable, it made her want to lavish him with praise constantly. She withdrew from his mouth so she could settle her hands on his shoulders and slid onto his cock with a long, slow glide that had her gasping by the end. The way he filled her was just perfect, and her magic soared.

Mari flexed her body and started to ride him in a hard rhythm. He arched up into her, offering himself for her use in a way that made her savagely possessive of him. She shifted one hand to his throat, squeezing until her nails dug in. “Fuck me with that glorious cock.”

His hips began to churn under her with a feral desperation that made her clench around him. She leaned to capture the sexy sounds that poured from his lips and let him drive up into her with his entire length.

His powerful body surged under her, building her magic with every stroke. She lowered her head to draw the pointed tip of one ear between her lips, smiling to herself when his hips stuttered. She used her teeth on the sensitive arch of his ear, timing the press of her bite to match with his thrusts. The added pain made him snarl with lust. His raging desire rushed into her, hot and urgent.

“That’s so fucking good,” she groaned into his ear. The hand that wasn’t around his throat moved to grip a fistful of his hair to help her hold on as the movement got more intense. She straightened a bit to look in his eyes. “Tell me how badly you want to touch me right now.”

He stared up into her eyes as he slowed his pace, his expression completely unguarded for the first time. “I crave the feeling of your soft skin under my hands.” He swallowed. “The only thing I’ve ever wanted more is the taste of you on my tongue.”

“Mmm.” She leaned to take his mouth again, sucking on his lips. “You want to taste me some more?”

His eyes blazed. “So much.”

“Come inside me, darling boy, and show me that you’re mine. Then you can have your fill.”

He let out a sexy growl. “Can I touch you? Please.”

The longing in his voice almost undid her. “Anywhere you want.”

His hands came up to grip her hips in an instant, a low rumble of satisfaction vibrating through him as he smoothed them over her skin. “You feel so good.” He kneaded her ass with his fingers as he lengthened his strokes and picked up his pace again.

Mari wrapped both arms around his head and threaded her fingers in his hair, bringing his face to her tits, where he nipped hungrily as he continued to thrust into her. Arching her spine, she threw back her head, moaning up into the trees as the absolute bliss of his desire soaked into her.

Their mingled magic tore through her as she cried out when an orgasm crashed through her unexpectedly. Ashdei filled her to bursting with every snap of his hips as she continued to come, driving more power into her at the same time. He curled his fingers into the meat of her ass as the intensity of his fucking increased even more, ramming into her with every stroke.

The sounds of her pleasure melded into a constant drone that rose through the trees. A barrier burst open inside her, flooding her with thoughts and emotions she didn’t understand as his magic roared through her. Memories she had no frame of reference for rushed across her awareness, including some of the man under her. Fragments came together in a jumble, only causing more confusion.

Ashdei bit her exposed throat when his climax overtook him, moaning into her skin while driving deep. His cock throbbed inside her as she continued to tighten around him. His magic still poured into her in a torrent with each snap of his hips, as if she was a vessel to be filled by him. Her body and her magic pulsed in answer to him.

Shuddering, Mari collapsed against him, overwhelmed by all that flowed through her. He wrapped her in his arms, holding her to him in the aftermath with a tenderness that stole her breath. There was too much all at once. His gentleness was the blow that opened the floodgates, and she sobbed into his shoulder.

Mari understood with sudden clarity that what she’d felt breaking within her was the divider between the goddess and herself. They’d never been two people—just one being, restrained by unfathomable magic at the moment of creation so that she could never be whole.

“Did I hurt you?” The question came softly from Ashdei once she’d subsided into sniffling.

How could she even answer that? Yes. And overwhelmingly no. He had healed what was broken by completing the circle. Just as he’d sworn to the goddess he would, all those years ago. “I remember the ritual,” she said, after a few moments.

“Oh.” The word was a sigh filled with heartache. His hand ghosted down her back as if it was the last time he might ever touch her. “Should I go?”

“No.” Though she had every right to be furious with him for keeping the truth from her, she couldn’t find it in herself to send him away. She clutched him tighter at even the idea that he would leave. “You shouldn’t have kept that from me.”

The two of them had plotted together from the start, hoping for exactly what had just happened all those years ago. She understood now why it hadn’t worked, with the benefit of hindsight. It had required more power and more ties to her to unshackle her. More than any one creature could offer, no matter how powerful—it had taken five.

“I didn’t think you’d take my word for it, since you couldn’t remember.” His touch was gentle as he continued to stroke her back. “I thought we’d failed. That it would never happen at all.”

“It needed the others. Each of you held a piece of the key we needed to turn the lock. She didn’t understand the extent of what they’d done to us when she reached out to you. She thought any powerful creature would do.”

He made a thoughtful sound. “So, it’s done? You’re whole again?”

She let out a laugh without much mirth in it. “I don’t actually know. She’s definitely not there the way she used to be. And as soon as I can unscramble these memories, I think things will be much clearer.”

Ashdei pressed a kiss into her temple. “Is there anything I can do to help with that?”

So many memories tumbled through her, but one in particular bothered her the most. The goddess talking to her mother, ordering her away on a mission to convince Ashdei to go through with the kindling ritual when he’d already declined the latest offer from her father. She almost didn’t want to ask because she was terrified of hearing the answer. “Is my mother alive?”

Serena had clearly convinced him somehow, but he had never mentioned what happened to her mother afterwards. It was as if they had made an agreement between them not to discuss her.

He ran a hand along her spine, seeking to reassure her. “Yes. She wanted to disappear after escaping your father, so I helped her do that. I know where she is, if you’d like to contact her.”

Mari let out a long sigh. She’d been so angry with her mother for abandoning her for so long. All of those unkind things she’d thought about her mother over the years weighed on her. But like so many hard truths in life, the reality was more complicated than a hurt teenage girl could understand. “I’d like to talk to her in person.”

“I can bring her to Las Vegas, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now.”

She’d thought that, with Basilio dead, there was no longer any threat to Serena. What wasn’t she seeing? “Why would she be unsafe?”

He pulled back to look down at her, his expression serious. “It has to do with who your father is.”

Mari jolted in his arms. Nothing in the goddess’s memories pointed to who it might be, but Ashdei clearly knew. “Who is it?”

He shook his head and looked unhappy about having to deliver this news. “The Forest Lord. They had to harness a god to create a god, and he was one they already knew how to summon from when they had banished him. I don’t know if he’d remember your mother’s role in what happened, but we do know he holds a grudge.”

She sat still, completely stunned. She was the daughter of the Old One? The origin of all the paranormals on Earth? “He doesn’t know about me?”

“I don’t think so, or he would have been much more interested in you from the start.”

“I’m assuming that wouldn’t be for a father-daughter bonding outing?”

Ashdei let out a dry chuckle. “I don’t know the specific details, but I imagine the ritual that created you was unpleasant for him.”

“Because why should anything about my past have been pleasant, even that.”

Ashdei stroked her hair with one hand. “I have firsthand knowledge that a great many things about you are pleasing. I think I need to remind you.” He turned with her in his arms until she was on her back and he rested easily over her.

She laughed when he bent to kiss her neck. “Are you trying to distract me?”

“Yes. And I was promised a taste of you that I intend to collect on.” He nipped lightly on her throat, making her shiver.

“We need to finish this conversation.”

“Of course,” he murmured into her skin. “Whatever my beloved wants.”

Prompted by his position over her, memories of the ritual rose in her mind, making her skin heat. He’d taken such care in those fleeting moments between them. He’d been so gentle with her, even though the goddess had craved the violent intensity that was her nature.

“The ritual was not unpleasant.”

He rose slightly, his expression becoming serious. “You sound surprised by that.”

“I’ve been terrified of what the memories of that moment might hold ever since.” She touched his face. “You stood your ground against her when she wanted more.”

“I didn’t know you wouldn’t have access to those memories. I didn’t want you to come back and be scared or think that I’d wronged you.” He looked down at her with such tenderness that she ached.

Mari ran her fingers through his hair. “I want your mouth on me. Right now.”

His lips quirked. “What about our conversation?”

“We’ll finish it later.”

He nodded and then slid slowly down her body until he knelt on the grassy floor of the grove. She resisted when he tried to part her thighs, just to see the plea in his eyes when he glanced up at her. With an indulgent smile, she knotted her fingers in his luxuriant hair and tugged.

His mouth opened in a wordless gasp. Having this powerful creature on his knees in front of her made her feel untamed and wild. “Show me your true form.”

Blue fire erupted around him, singeing the greenery under her but leaving her completely unharmed. He grew and changed: horns erupted from his head, fiery wings unfurled behind him, and blue markings of his magic glowed in his skin.

“You’re so beautiful,” she said, as she looked him over again in wonder.

His face softened, and the depth of his emotion was so plain on his usually stoic features that she couldn’t deny him an instant longer. She spread her thighs and leaned back.

He lowered his head and bit his way up one thigh until she trembled with the wanting of him. She urged him closer with a wordless moan. He obliged by lapping at her with a long stroke of his tongue.

“You taste like whispers sweetly sinful enough to tempt a saint,” he rumbled and then dipped his head for another slow lick along her seam that curled her toes.

The last thing she had expected from this fierce man between her knees was poetry, but somehow, it was perfect. She ran her fingers through his hair, fondness blooming in her chest. “Make me come with that silver tongue of yours.”

Bending to his task without another word, his hands pressed her thighs wide so she was exposed to him. He slipped his tongue into her, making her back arch as the sensation overflowed and spread through her entire body. Her magic purred for him, the curls of it wrapping around and caressing him in time with his tongue’s decadent strokes inside her.

She lost herself in the boundless indulgence of his mouth, coming undone under him over and over until she trembled.

Once he was satisfied there was no more pleasure to wring out of her body, he moved so that his chin rested on her mound, and there was an easy smile on his lips as he gazed over her. “I’m yours, Mariana, until one of us dies. And this world better pray that I die before you, because I’m not sure I won’t bring it all crashing down in retribution if we’re parted.” He didn’t say it with malice, but she felt the promise of his words shiver through her.

She pulled him up so that he rested over her, needing to feel the heat of his body against hers in this vulnerable moment. With her fingers curled tight in his hair, she drew his face down to hers. He opened for her kiss without hesitation, baring himself to her and letting her taste herself on his tongue.