Aftershocks

Chapter Ten

Ellie sat up in the gazebo as Cadmus entered. “Where have you been?”

He wrapped her in a warm embrace, making her forget all about keeping her distance. His strong arms both comforted and aroused, making her feel safe and desired. “I heard you’ve been having a time of it.” He pulled back to look down at her, and she noticed a strange, almost sleepy sheen over his eyes.

“Are you okay? You look a little tired.”

He gave a short laugh. “Tired? You could say that.” When she would have questioned him further, he kissed her hard on the lips and drew her to a nearby bench. “But I’m more concerned about you. Tell me what has you so upset.”

She sighed. “Am I that obvious?”

“To me.” He rubbed her palm with his strong fingers, and vibrations of longing tingled through her veins. “Jonas told me a little bit about your conversation.”

Before, her only concern had been to see if Cadmus was all right. And, she admitted, to share her feelings and find a haven in his solid embrace. But now that she’d touched him, saw with her own eyes that he really did care, a flood of love overwhelmed her, bringing with it a brood of worries.

“Tell me, Ellie. I’m here for you.”

Still hesitant, she wavered until he turned her around and pulled her back against his chest, running his hands up and down her arms and over her shoulders in an incredibly tender massage.

Surrendering to his care, she recounted her parents’ conversation. “I’m so confused. It’s like the people I once thought I knew never existed. I understand why my mother wanted to keep me safe growing up, but to let me believe my father didn’t care about me for so long? I’m twenty-eight, for God’s sake! I’ve spent my whole life despising my father while wishing he loved me, even a little bit. And it was all a lie.”

Tears welled, and she angrily brushed them away.

“I’m sorry.” Cadmus turned her face and wiped away her tears. Then he tucked her head under his chin and hugged her tight. “Seems like your parents both wanted what they thought best for you. They love you very much.”

“I know. That’s what makes this so hard. I spent so much of my life trying not to be like my father, even while I wanted him to like me. I thought he just didn’t care. But now I find he cared—cares—a lot.”

“And you feel guilty for the way you treated him.” Cadmus huffed. “Ellie, the way I see it, both your parents screwed up.”

“What?”

“Your mother could have dealt with your father without dragging you in the middle. And your father could have told you the truth. No offence, I like your mother, but she’s not perfect.”

A sense of justified anger at her father sparked. “You’re right. Ethim could have sought me out, but he didn’t.”

Cadmus stayed quiet and rubbed her arms. God, but it felt so good to be with him. She could feel the soothing warmth in his hands the depth of his concern in the gentleness of his touch.

“Why didn’t he tell you, do you think?” he asked, leading her in the direction she’d been heading.

“Because…because I never embraced that part of me that was like him.”

“The Djinn.”

“That Dark side of me. The side you can’t stand,” she couldn’t help prodding, trying to work out her resentment.

“Nice jab.” He kissed the top of her head. “We really do have a lot in common, besides both of us being exceptionally attractive, I mean.”

“Oh?” She rolled her eyes, openly smiling because she knew he couldn’t see her face.

“We both like to take shots at people when they’re trying their best to comfort us. We both have loving families, and we’ve both suffered the loss of our father, though you’re at a lucky point in your life enabling you to breech that hurt. Then there’s that most important trait we have in common.”

Touched by his insight, she sighed and completely relaxed against him. “What’s that?”

“We both love my body.” The smile in his voice started a chuckle out of her. She turned to face him, to thank him for his understanding, and stilled at the pure desire pulsing in his soul. “You have no idea what you do to me, baby.”

He kissed her softly, increasing the pressure of his lips when she pulled him closer. Just the taste of him had her hungry. Her breasts ached for his touch, and her clit throbbed with need.

“Cadmus, I want—”

“So do I, baby. I want you to be happy. But more, I want you. I always do.” He stood with her, kissing her until she could do nothing but kiss him back, her thoughts in a sensual daze. When he broke the kiss, she moaned her displeasure. But he left her only to toss several pillows to the floor, creating a makeshift bed.

“Pretty handy, aren’t you?”

“You could say that.” He grinned, his eyes alight, and she couldn’t help falling into absolute love.

As if reading her emotions, his gaze darkened and the smile on his face faded. “Take off your clothes and lie down with me.”

She moved her hands to the hem of her shirt and bit her lip. She hadn’t seen the inside of it before, but what if Cadmus’ Light made them both visible? “But the gazebo—”

“Is private. Trust me. I won’t let anyone interrupt us.” With a flick of his wrist, spectral bands of Light wrapped the pavillion. “Now take them off.”

He leant back against a post and crossed his arms over his chest.

Wanting him out of control and needy, she slowly stripped. First her shirt, then her jeans. She wriggled and gyrated, taunting him with the curve of her breasts and the fullness of her ass. Cadmus was far from unaffected. She could see his erection straining through the front of his trousers.

“Where did you get those clothes?” She toyed with the strap of her bra.

“From Jonas,” he answered in a thick voice, his eyes glued to her hands. “The bra, Ellie. I need to see.”

She reached behind her, thrusting out her breasts as she did so. His eyes, she noted with satisfaction, were so dark they looked black. After she unhooked the bra, she teasingly eased it off her shoulders, letting the scrap of silk slide to the floor. Her panties soon followed.

Cadmus’ stare made her nipples pucker with desire. “By the Light, your beauty is breathtaking.”

She flushed, pleased by his praise, and waited for him to approach her. When he only stood there staring, she took the initiative and stepped forward.

“No, wait.” He held up a hand and stripped out of his clothes with harried movements. “Lie down.”

Excitement quivered in her belly as complied. On her back, she gazed up at him, wondering how, in such a short span of time, she’d gone from sad and angry to loving and aroused. Cadmus’ sweltering gaze lingered over her body, his hands clenched by his sides. His velvety cock bobbed and grew, and her mouth watered. She wanted so badly to taste him. She breathed a sigh of relief when he finally knelt. But she started when he settled between her thighs, nudging them wide, and stared from her belly ring to her mound, licking his lips.

Her pulse skyrocketed.

“That ring drives me crazy.” He leant forward, the hard tip of his shaft brushing her cleft and making her hunger for more. But he moved back, and with a gentle bite, he tugged at the silver ring, licking her belly and sucking at the tender flesh. She moaned, and his mouth trailed lower, resting just above her pussy.

He licked his lips. “That brief taste of you in the shower wasn’t enough.”

He ran his thumbs through her blonde curls, sliding through her folds but not any deeper. He barely glazed her clit, but the fiery touch was enough to have her arching to meet him.

“That’s it, baby. I want you wet for me.” He lowered his head and nuzzled her curls. “You smell so damned sweet.” He splayed her folds wide open and lowered his mouth.

She gasped, unbearably aroused when his hot breath settled over her clit and he began licking her in earnest.

His lips whispered along her flesh, stroking and teasing, deliberately keeping his touch light. She writhed, needing more, and he inserted a blunt finger inside her. He wouldn’t move it, so she rode him, moving with the pressure of his tongue and teeth.

Dark need settled over her, and she realised with some surprise that part of her arousal came from Cadmus. Her energy and his meshed, their sensual desire building as their bodies demanded more.

Great stores of power flowed into her, and when he added a second finger and rumbled small, elemental vibrations over her clit, she cried out with pleasure.

“That’s it, love, tell me how much you like it.” She could feel how much he desired her through the musk in her mind. His Dark arousal mirrored in her own. “Give it to me, baby. I want you to come in my mouth.”

His words were like a fever, and as he sucked her flesh, he stirred something Darker, something foreign and yet familiar within her. He groaned and aroused her with nips and bites that made her crazed. She was so wet, so close, on the edge between sensation and utter chaos, when a tendril of Light whipped through her, a thread of love that snaked from Cadmus.

She exploded in an orgasm so fierce she lost awareness of everything around her. Power rushed, a sudden understanding of who and what she could be, and the half of her heart that had been missing for so long joined hers in a whirl of joy. Glorying in the feeling, Ellie barely registered Cadmus’ worry under his passion and caring…and love.

“Ellie, dammit. You’re in truth.”

Gradual understanding dawned, and she stared at her lover with new eyes. In truth, she saw everything differently. Cadmus looked like a dark flame, a man suffused with bright white light and strange streaks of black that she instinctually knew came from him. Yet the feminine power surrounding him was hers. Like an aura of sex, her Darkness clung to him like a lover should. An unbreakable bond, the erotic beauty in Cadmus called out for equal measure, and as her power thrived, so did her feelings.

“Cadmus, this is so incredible.” She held a hand up to her face, seeing in it the pure energy of her very essence. “I can feel you, all of you, your magic, your strength.” Your love. She kept the words close to her heart, aware she might have projected onto Cadmus what she herself felt for him. What they shared went far beyond the physical, that she knew. But rejection had never been an easy thing for her to accept. From Cadmus, she knew it just might crush her beyond repair.

He licked her palm and smiled. “It’s funny, but you’re even sexier now than before. Naked energy is so appealing.” He reached out and stroked her breasts.

She sighed, the feel of his hand over her body—her energy—like liquid climax.

“Ah,” he groaned and closed his eyes, leaning back. “Fuck, that’s good.”

She noted the steely erection he now caged in his hand and gave him a sly smile. “Let me take care of that for you.”

“Anything you want, baby.”

She wasted no time switching positions with him. She took him in her hands then her mouth. His hiss of satisfaction as he arched into her touch pleased her like nothing could.

“Light’s breath, Ellie.”

He felt like steel in her mouth, his flesh cool and hard, and wet with need. She swallowed a tease of his seed and sucked harder, running her teeth gently along his shaft, licking the slit at his crown. She cupped his balls and caressed the soft globes in her palms, aware of the contrasting energy of her hands against his flesh. She lapped up his cries like warm honey.

“Oh yeah, baby. Fuck,” he swore, grasping her head, his fingers captured by her dark flame. “You’re killing me.”

He gasped her name and pumped. And the harder he thrust, the more she took, making him shake with lust. She felt the tightness in his sac and knew he was close.

“Come for me, Cadmus. Come hard.”

He thrust one final time and came down her throat in hoarse shout. She swallowed him, thrilled at his powerlessness under her touch. He continued to come, moaning her name, and Dark pleasure streaked her soul, making her want him in ways that shocked her.

“No, baby, that’s me you’re still reading.” Finally spent, he withdrew from her mouth. “I’ve never felt so good in my entire life.” He hugged her close.

Without thought, she reined in her energy and lay against him, flesh to flesh, no longer in truth.

Aloud, he said, “I want you to flame in truth the next time I fuck you. Especially when I take that pretty ass of yours again.”

He whispered more erotic suggestions in her ear. Words that had her blushing and wet, readying for more. Glancing around her, she noted the creeping tendrils of purple-flowered vines wrapped around the gazebo. She inhaled deeply and sighed. The scent of scythia had increased as well.

“This happened before too,” she murmured.

“Hmm?”

“After we made love in the woods, the plants and moss around us exploded.”

“That’s me, sweet. When you excite me to certain levels, apparently my power outlets to the earth around me.”

“Apparently?”

He stroked her shoulder, his eyes bright with satisfaction, and if she wasn’t mistaken, possession. “I told you, I’ve never lost control like that with anyone else. Only with you, Elliara.”

For the first time, the name didn’t bother her. Smiling, she burrowed closer, revelling in his male scent and earthy strength. Now. Now is the time to tell him how I feel. Screw perfection. This feels right.

“Ellie,” he began, hesitating.

Shit. Not now. Don’t you dare break off with me now.

“Break off with you?” He sat up.

She swore. Why hadn’t she closed off her thoughts? Now, he knew how vulnerable she really was.

“Cadmus, I—”

“Break off with you? How could you think that?” His eyes darkened, but not with sensual passion, with anger. “I poured myself into you, Ellie. Shared my soul with you. And you think I’d break off with you as if it meant nothing?” His lips flattened. “Or maybe you think that way because it meant nothing to you.”

Her own anger flared, and she gave it the freedom it deserved. “Don’t you put this back on me. You’re the ass who told me how I disgusted you, how my kind didn’t deserve to live. And I was a heartbeat from telling you how much I lov—”

He froze, staring at her in shock. “How much you what?”

“Forget it.” Wrapping her arms around herself, she sat up, looking for her clothes. Too bad she hadn’t paid more attention to Jonas’ teachings. He could fashion clothing on a whim.

“Focus, here, Ellie,” Cadmus snapped. “All those months ago, what were you going to tell me?”

Not so lighthearted now, hmm? She watched him with new speculation, noting the panting breaths, the overeager gleam in his eyes. His erection hadn’t faded, but stood stiffly under her attention.

“What do you think? I’d only spent weeks making love with you when I hadn’t given Darius the time of day. I hate to break it to you, but I could have had any man I wanted with the snap of my fingers.” Damn, if felt good to say that.

“All the more reason I’m curious to know, why me? Why Cadmus Storm, Elliara al il Ruethe?”

The jerk. After making her climax, sending her in truth, he now wanted her to lay her neck on the line. She’d tried once. She was damned if she’d do it again. Closing her mouth, she sat next to him and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Don’t want to say it, hmm?” His eyes danced, the anger in them fading under an amused smile that made her want to smack him. “How about you show me instead?”

With a wave of his hand, he cleared the centre table of everything on it. Food and wine fell to the ground before he yanked her to her feet. She struggled, dismayed at how aroused she was growing. Irritated, she refused to give in to his demands when she only wanted a simple declaration of his feelings first.

“Why don’t I show you instead?” he murmured, settling her belly-down over the table. When he palmed her ass, she knew what he meant to do, and the sheer sexuality of his touch made her wetter than before.

He thrust hard inside her again, pumping into her sex with hard, firm strokes that started her down the road to climax again. But instead of giving her more, he withdrew and spread her buttocks wide. Then he prodded her ass.

“You want to know how good you feel to me, let me show you. Let me love you, Ellie. Let me in.” He penetrated her anus and slid deeper, pushing painfully past her sphincter. Then he was in and sliding home.

“Cadmus,” she gasped, feeling so full, so stretched.

“Yeah, baby,” he rasped, pulling out only to push back in. “You’re so tight, Ellie. So perfect.” He rocked against her, increasing his thrusts. “So mine.”

He stimulated her clit with magic while riding her ass, making her feel naughty and excited all at once. The things he thought about doing to her had her so wet that his finger slid easily into her vagina while he took her ass.

Her mouth over his cock, her pussy under his lips. Coming on her breasts, over and in her ass, up into her pussy. Over and over, until they were one writhing mass of sensation.

“You are…such a…perv,” she managed, closing on an orgasm so intense she wanted to scream. He pumped her a few times with his fingers before removing them. Then he braced his hands on her hips and rode her hard.

“Go ahead and yell, Ellie.” His balls slapped against her folds as he rammed into her. “I’m going to.” He shoved again and came, filling her to overflowing.

As his milky seed slid down her legs, he shifted his mental touch over her clit. She came violently, squeezing him as she clenched her cheeks together, wanting the feeling to never end.

“That, Ellie,” he gasped, “that never-ending feeling of joy. That’s what you are to me. Love is far too tame a word to describe what I feel for you.”

Stunned at his words and his loving, Ellie could only kneel and pulse around him, emotionally connected in a way she had never been before.

“Do you really mean that? You’re okay with all this?” She hated to ask, but she couldn’t take another heartbreak.

“Okay with this?” He pressed harder, and over her shoulder, she saw him grinning ear to ear. “Honey, every time I’m near you I want to come. What do you think?”

“Not this.” She blushed and moved to separate from him.

“Not yet. Mmm.” He rotated his pelvis, and a flare of heat stole through her core. “By the Light, I love your ass.”

She felt foolish. “I can’t talk to you in this position. I need to see you.”

He pulled out, and as much as she wanted to see him, she missed him inside of her.

She turned around faced him. “I’m Djinn, and the Djinn have done some pretty bad things to your family.”

“Jonas saved my life, not once, but twice. He saved my brothers too. Your father provided sanctuary when needed. I’m not so big a fool I can’t differentiate one Djinn from another.” He flushed and stroked her cheek. “I was an idiot when I left you before. But, Ellie, understand. I was in shock. I’d fallen so hard for you, only to learn you weren’t who I’d originally thought. Up to that point, all I knew of the Djinn is what my family had suffered.”

She looked down, feeling his pain like her own. He lifted her chin and met her gaze.

“Ellie, that was all before.” He turned on the high-wattage smile, causing that small dimple in his left cheek to flash.

She blinked. “Are you trying to charm me into believing you?”

“Why, is it working?” He looked hopeful, his eyes twinkling. “I love you, Ellie. All of you. The human, the Djinn, even the little perv who likes what I do to her body.”

She laughed and knocked him back to the floor, gliding over his sweat-slicked body. “It’s about time you admitted it.”

“What? That you’re a perv?” He snickered, and she rubbed her knee perilously close to his groin. “I give, I give. I love you, Ellie. All of you. And I think you know what that means.” He gave her a knowing stare that had her pulse racing. “Affai” whispered in her mind.

“That you no longer need an affai since you’ve got me?”

“It’s a good thing you’re pretty, because you sure are dense.”

She smacked him, and he pinned her arms between them, capturing her mouth in a loving kiss.

“You’re my affai, Ellie. My love.”

She couldn’t speak. The dreams she’d had, of one day finding someone to love and who’d love her had seemingly come true. Chaos blazed through her mind, her Dark magic pulsing as joy and anxiety coursed through her soul. She wanted to believe in a future with Cadmus so badly. But she was only just now coming to know herself. Could she be what Cadmus truly needed?

At her silence, Cadmus tensed and cupped her cheek. “I know it’s a lot to take in, especially considering you didn’t want anything to do with magic and the Djinn for so long. This is a lot to handle, and as much as I wish I could just work on us, I can’t yet. I have a responsibility to my people that I can’t walk away from.” His speech quickened the longer she said nothing. “I know what you’re thinking. I swear, though, on my soul, that in my heart you’ll always come first. But, Ellie, it’s just that the situation in Tanselm is so precarious now. Look, you’ll have plenty to do there. You’re needed, more than you can possibly know. And I don’t just mean by me. With your help, we can mend the bridge between Dark and Light, we can—”

“Shut up, already. Geesh, you confess to loving me and then you run off at the mouth. I get it, Cadmus.” He visibly relaxed, while inwardly her nerves flared. “As your affai, I’ll live in Tanselm with you. I can do that.” She swallowed around a dry throat. Talk about change. Moving to Tanselm wouldn’t be like moving to another state. Try another plane of existence.

But Ellie had always prided herself on her ability to adapt. Despite a host of flaws, she’d never lacked the courage to do what was right. She’d run from her destiny long enough. The time had come to embrace her Djinn heritage and her future with her soon-to-be husband.

“That’s it?” His eyes glinted with humour. “I don’t have to beg you with jewels or promises of vast power? You’re going to simply accept my life as your own?”

“Now, now, Prince Cadmus. Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re not married yet. You still have some courting to make up for, and I like flowers and chocolates. Jewellery, not so much.” She relaxed, knowing she’d made the right decision. Foreia, for that matter, was practically pushing her into a delirium of happiness. “Have I mentioned yet how pissed off my father is going to be about this?”

He laughed. “Just icing on the cake, baby. Not that I’ve got anything against your people…exactly. Well, not much of a grudge. Nothing too serious.”

“What happened that you aren’t telling me?”

“Which time?”

She squeezed the nearest appendage she could find, and he moaned.

“I don’t know how you do it. I’m totally wrung out, yet my body wants in you again, right now. At this rate, we’ll have little princes in a year.”

At his mention of children, she froze.

“Ellie?” He sobered. “It’s okay, honey. I was joking.”

“We haven’t used any protection.” She sat up and put a hand over her belly, not sure how she felt about thoughts of his child inside her. Scared and excited, nervous yet exhilarated.

“Not yet, baby. Trust me, when it happens, you’ll know.”

“And our differences won’t matter, you being a Light Bringer and me being a Djinn? I mean, physically?”

He frowned. “Not that I know of. Aerolus married Alandra. Both Marcus and Darius married women from your world, or should I say, from one of your worlds.”

“It’s not that I don’t want kids,” she said quickly, realising how he might take her comments. “It’s just that—”

“It’s too soon, especially on top of everything that’s happening. I understand, Ellie, I do.” He kissed her, soothing her. “Now let’s get dressed before Jonas tries to pop in here again.”

“Jonas?” she squeaked, mortified he might know what she’d been doing.

“Relax. It’s my ass, not yours, that bothers him.”

“What?”

“Inside joke.” He handed her her clothing.

They dressed in amicable silence. Ellie couldn’t believe how much she actually looked forward to the future. With Cadmus by her side, life looked much more pleasing than it ever had. She believed in him, in his power and what he stood for. He had more right than most to hold onto prejudice against the Djinn, yet he looked beyond his pain at the truth. And he had pushed her to accept her heritage, when he could easily have steered her the other way.

“Ellie,” he said softly as he guided her towards the pavillion’s entrance. “Believe me when I say I want you exactly the way you are. You’re my little Djinn, no matter how tall you are, and you always will be.” He smacked her on the butt. “Now get a move on. And if you liked that smack, just wait until I get you alone again.” He wiggled his eyebrows and had her laughing as they left the gazebo. “I love you, affai.”

Unfortunately, Jonas was not the only Djinn awaiting their exit. Her father, her cousin, and what looked like at least fifty Djinn warriors stood behind him, grimly clutching weapons.