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14

Lenna

A pparently, the courtrades were in such a fucking rush to depart from Thyria that there was no time for proper introductions.

There were three courtrades, that much she knew. Lenna had barely had the chance to even look at them before they disappeared somewhere in the navia to do whatever busy courtrades usually did in these floating vehicles.

She would admit it: she had not expected their transport method to be so humongous. It was very . . . black. And metallic.

Some beings often complained that the Cardinals were obsessed with red, crystal, and the four-petal panom mark. Well, Llunal and his black passion could give them a run for their money.

Lenna and Jake had Given an invisible barrier around the navia, and swirling shadows courtesy of the courtrades seemed to hover around the two horizontal, flat platforms and the two towering, curved peaks above. Hopefully, that would be enough to keep anyone from seeing them overnight. As for moving as far as they could from the shores of Thyria at the biggest speed possible . . . Whatever the courtrades or their god were doing, it was working. It was so awfully windy and cold on the top platform that they had decided to hide in the roofed cabins underneath.

And precisely here was the not-so-pleasant surprise Lenna hadn’t counted on.

Apparently, the blond young woman, svelte and fit as the damned Fifth, was the invited guest that Jake had found necessary to bring on board.

“Reinforcements, my ass,” Lenna spat, making Sasha chuckle next to her.

“Talking about asses, hers is top tier.”

There was no point contradicting her friend. Everything in the strange blond woman seemed to be top tier. Including the passion with which her green eyes scrutinized Jake from the very top to the very damn bottom.

“Arabella D’Arcy,” Jake greeted her. “Thanks for coming.”

“I would never refuse a personal invitation from you, Jake.” She grinned, biting her bottom lip with perfectly white, straight teeth. “It’s been too long since the last time we deeply caught up.”

Her red-haired high ponytail swung as Lenna and Sasha interchanged silent stares full of hatred. Cardinals give her fucking patience. Or a wall to slam that pretty face against.

“Arabella, is it? My name is Lenna. My sincere apologies for not knowing who you are. We were not expecting last minute guests on this trip.”

“Oh, no worries at all.” The pretty smile turned sharp and cold in no time. “I’m a member of the South House, and Jake and I have had the pleasure of knowing each other for many, many years. He asked if I could offer you help with the Taking power for some important challenge, and I could never say no to him.”

Lenna’s nostrils flared as she smiled tensely. The connotations of what this woman was implying between Jake and her shouldn’t have hurt as much as they did. What in the Fifth world had made Jake— her Jake—think about bringing this being to the crusade was a good idea?

“Of course you couldn’t. My man is irresistible.”

Jake’s grave voice whispered in Lenna’s ear, loud enough for the others to hear as well. “Our bed awaits, sweet fire.” The firm hand on her lower back was reassuring in a way that she was too annoyed to admit right now. She let him guide her towards the corridor, and she wasn’t out of the room yet when the last words of the blond bitch sent that reassurance out of the fucking navia.

“Lenna,” Arabella said, waiting until she twisted her head backwards to look at her green eyes before she continued, “You should let your hair loose. He really enjoys pulling it when fucking.”

Her words felt like an ice-full bucket on Lenna’s body. She felt Jake’s arm tensing, his muscles marking in more than their usual places. Why the actual Cardinals’ fuck did he think it was a good idea to bring this woman to help her? If Lenna didn’t end up killing her, it would be a goddesses’ damned miracle.

“I know everything he likes, sweetheart. Worry fucking not.” Lenna winked. “Have a lovely, peaceful and soundless night.”

Without looking back again, Lenna let Jake guide her to a very black, very metallic door that led to the place they would share during their stay in the navia. Arabella was going to be in for a treat.

Their cabin was bigger than Lenna had thought, including a private ensuite. A four-post double bed with no sheets was in front of the window facing the waves of the Radel Sea outside. Black curtains with a minuscule pattern of white stars framed the window. A big couch with a high back and rolled, thick arms covered one side of the room. There were multiple pillows of different-but-equally-dark patterns on the bed and on the couch. A few desks covered the other side of the room.

The only unusual thing seemed to be the lack of any source of light, but Lenna sent golden sparks across the room as soon as she shut the curtains. Just in case the invisibility barrier hiding them from sight, and the shadows doing the same, weren’t enough to keep unwanted, curious roixers at bay.

“You can see your guest and I are not going to get along, correct?” Lenna’s hands were on her hips.

Jake leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed. The blackness of the room allowed the silver of his eyes to shine, as if his eyes were the brightest stars in the room. His face was grave, lacking the usual amusement that was, in some measure, always present.

“I decided to bring someone from the South House to help you prepare for the Taking ordeal. You should use her.”

“You decided ?”

“I am not willing to lose you, and if someone can help you increase your chances of not dying, I will fucking take any help. You should as well.”

“Except the Cardinals-damned help is stunning, blond, with green eyes, tall and spectacularly fit?”

He walked towards the desk where Lenna sat and put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. Silver eyes full of anger and . . . Was that fear?

“Do you realize that out of the five strivers, you are the one who is at most risk?”

“Thanks for believing in me, Jake. It’s great for my self-esteem.”

“Leave your cockiness aside for one fucking second, Brachyan, and listen to me.” That was definitely fear in his eyes. “Ayla, Ciaran, and Hope are doing the ordeals of the Houses they are heirs to. I might as well be the heir of the West House, for how familiar I am with Harming in every damned sense of the power. Passing my ordeal should be a fucking breeze.” He inhaled sharply, exhaling deeply before continuing. “Whether you admit it or not, you are not in a preferable position here. Or do you think I don’t know you would have wanted to do the North Cardinal’s ordeal instead? I was your Panom Guidor, Lenna. I saw you dominating the Giving power before any others. That’s who you are. Where your blood and your magic belong.”

“I was not going to send my sister to death,” Lenna said.

Jake looked at the ceiling, biting his bottom lip. “I know. I know , okay? But I am not going to let you walk to your death either. So, please. Please , Lenna, use the help I could find you. I’m begging you.”

Lenna sighed, caressing his cheek while he closed his eyes. She didn’t want to acknowledge how worried he had to be. Exactly how desperate was he for her to use the help of this person? And what could Arabella teach her about the Taking power that Jake himself couldn’t?

“Okay, I will.”

The immediate side smile on Jake’s face caught her off-guard, sending waves of desire up her thighs. “Do you know what I think?” he asked, looking at the room.

“That this room is very monotone?” she said, closing her hand to Take her clothes off, leaving her just with a very suggestive, fire-red underwear full of laces and straps. Sasha and Brendon would have to understand why she couldn’t put a sound barrier on this cabin. Not tonight.

His eyes roamed from hers to her half-open lips, to her breasts, trailing down to her core as his leather and ginger scent intensified. He looked at her as if he had been deprived of air and she was a very welcome tornado. “You playful little thing.”

“Who, me?” Lenna said, unlacing one of her straps to reveal a peaked nipple. She was surprised his hands were not on her yet. She doubted that would last long, though. This man was not one to be satiated by looking. “Kneel down for me, Jake.”

His eyes darkened to a duskier grey, his voice low as he said, “Your wish is my command.” He kneeled, putting her thighs behind his shoulder blades so fast that the next thing she knew was—

Was the world upside down?

Yes. Jake stood up with her hanging upside down in front of him, as if she weighed no more than a handful of sand. His firm hands gripping her thighs as he inhaled deeply, the tip of his nose so close to being buried where it belonged—between her legs.

Lenna felt the front part of her thong being pushed to the side by his firm fingers.

She gasped. “How dare you? Put me back on the—”

Her deep and loud moan filled the air as his tongue penetrated her deeply. Without warning. Without stopping.

“ You wanted me to obey, didn't you, sweet fire? ” His voice echoed in her mind.

Fuck, yes. She would have replied, were she not too busy enjoying every damn lick from his masterful tongue on her clit.

Her mind blurred, maybe from the effect of going from zero to delightfully tongue deep, maybe from being upside down. Her only grip was on Jake's muscled and firm legs. Legs that were still clothed, and that was absolutely not okay. A movement of her hand and she Took his clothes off. Her ass felt the muscles tensing on his broad chest as he devoured her without reign. His hardened cock pressed against her upper back.

Then his hand joined in the feasting party and massaged her clit, and Lenna would have begged every fucking Cardinal to stop time and let her stay there forever. Maybe she didn't mind seeing the world upside down, if that meant she had to hold onto his body for dear life, and that Jake would keep her on him.

Lenna arched her back, and the movement let his cock spring free next to her face.

She grinned between moans. Daring to remove one hand from the grip on his legs, she grabbed Jake’s preciously long cock until her mouth was full. It was so easy to be full of him when he was so damned big, thick and perfect. Even when the tip of his cock touched the back of her throat and made her gag.

His deep, low groan was followed by his tongue and lips, working her core harder. The hand across her chest gripped her peaked nipples.

“I can't lick your masterpiece properly like this, Jake,” Lenna said between ragged breaths.

She felt the exhale of his chuckle against her clit, the warm and sharp breath making her roll her eyes unconsciously.

He pulled her body up until she was sitting on his shoulders, her core right in his gorgeous face, his disheveled dark hair brushing her lower abdomen. He placed her on the floor with all the gentleness, lightly pushing her shoulders down until her knees were on the floor and her face had the most beautiful view one could imagine.

His hardened cock awaited in front of her, the tense muscles of his chest, arms, and legs with a thin coat of the sweat holding her upside down had required, and his dark grey eyes pinned her down from above.

She cocked an eyebrow. “You’re unusually gentle today. Don’t be too worried about me dying to stop you from enjoying.”

“Stop me from what, exactly?” he said, grabbing her ponytail and pulling it backwards, keeping her from touching his cock. “I was about to fuck your mouth as if the world ended tomorrow.”

Lenna couldn’t nod while his grasp controlled her head. Instead, she grinned and opened her mouth wide open, exposing her very ready tongue. Jake bit his bottom lip and pushed her face forwards until his incredible length filled her in.

Fuck, if this man wasn’t delicious.

She couldn’t move her head backwards. She couldn’t move her head at all. Not as he fixed it with his hand on her ponytail, staring at her from above as he moved his hips and filled her mouth in and out. Again and again. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He looked between the heated golden eyes threatening to burn her alive and her wide-open mouth, taking in his hardened cock as he fucked it over and over.

“You take my cock so fucking well,” he praised between cut breaths. His hand moved and navy sparks floated in the air, grouping in a curved shape that headed towards—

Lenna’s eyes widened when his shaped sparks reached the spot where her hand had been adding to the already increased levels of pleasure. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. No, quite the opposite.

The moment his sparks touched her raw, exposed clit, Lenna gasped, the sound muffled against the cock in her mouth. She didn’t know if the feeling was hot or cold, sharp or soft. She only knew that it felt like Jake licking and touching her. She only knew that she wanted it again. She needed it again. She wanted it all the time.

The muscles in Jake’s clavicles tensed further and he must have seen the begging in her eyes because he obliged. He very much obliged, a display of navy sparks feasting on her core, on her inner lips and her clit, while she massaged her breasts, and he kept pushing her head back and forth on his cock masterfully. He went from allowing her to lick his length to slamming his cock against the inner part of her cheek, to—

She gagged when he pushed his length too far back, and yet she didn’t want him to stop. Thank all the Cardinals, he didn’t stop. Instead, he went faster, harder. Her gagging sounds as he fucked her mouth were his undoing.

His eyes rolled back with pleasure as he continued moving her head forwards and backwards with his hands. The sound of his orgasm, the taste of his cum on her throat, and his navy sparks on her core sent Lenna spiraling head-first towards her own.