by Lisa Daniels
“How did you make it up here?” one of the other scholars, a stuffy-faced woman with an upturned nose, asked.
“Me,” Meridas said, sensing the need to spare Alex from potential embarrassment. “I was looking for someone to cure my sister. And here was someone ready-made for the task. She was an orphan, left to be swallowed up by the Undercity.”
Excited murmuring spread from the implications of that. Already some scholars demanded tests, proof, but Meridas helped steer the conversation back on track to less invasive questions, for which Alex glanced gratefully at him. She wasn’t used to being the center of attention. Wasn’t used to being important, and that made Meridas sad, somehow. She deserved so much more than she had.
He intended to give it to her. He still found it hard to wrap his head around the information Alex heard. Of some strange, destructive magic being sealed. Of Zamorka and the Undercity and the Isles once being the same nation, before something happened. Before Zamorka ended up separated by a sea and thrown into darkness. Before the hundreds of floating islands that once existed had winnowed down to just six.
Of course, Alex hadn’t been given the solution for just how to cure this disease, but the impression had been that it wasn’t curable. Just sealable. Though it would have been nice to know how this ancient woman had succeeded in such a task in the first place.
Ah well. They couldn’t have all the answers.
Speaking of answers… once all the scholars had cleared away, Meridas finally had Alex to himself. Well, Elicia was probably peeping through some secret hiding spot, but he didn’t care in that moment. Enough of the attention. Enough of her cagily avoiding him whenever she realized they were both alone, and him not finding the time due to helping Natalie with evacuating some of her belongings.
They needed to talk.
“Stay,” he commanded, when Alex swiftly made it to the door, seconds after the last scholar had departed. Her soft-soled shoes stopped, and her whole body froze. He thought he caught a tremble inside those gray servant’s clothes she was wearing. “No running out from me this time.”
She turned to face him, smiling rather nervously. “I’m just tired, sorry. So many people asking questions. Don’t think I imagined my life reaching the point where I have to teach.”
“You’ve been avoiding me. And making a lot of excuses for it. Let’s talk. Tell me what’s up.”
“It’s nothing,” Alex muttered, her rich voice rising at the end. “Nothing’s up. Just busy.”
“Is it about the kiss I gave you?”
“No!” she squeaked, making him suspect otherwise. Her previous confidence stumbled to a halt, and a long silence stretched between them, until he wanted to fill it up with more words. Anything but this. “Well…” she said then, staring elsewhere, her fingers rubbing together, “Maybe. But… it’s not—it doesn’t really matter. You’re busy, I know that. Talking to your ex-wife, visiting her daily…”
He blinked at Alex, surprised at the jealously laced in her tone. “You know why I’m doing that! She has to handle issues with her mother’s estate. She has to flush out the false servants and has little time to get her own affairs in order.” The wrinkle between Alex’s eyebrows didn’t go away. “Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? Me?” Alex gave a false, high-pitched laugh. “Of course not. I just… it’d be nice to have you around more often.”
“Alex, when I am around, you find excuses not to talk to me.”
She licked her lips, looking increasingly cornered. He almost wanted to laugh in her face, but that probably wouldn’t be interpreted well. Had that really been the reason for her not talking to him? Not because she decided to refuse his previous offer of romantic attachment, but because she thought he was rekindling things with Natalie again?
They’d talked about that, though. He’d explicitly told her that there was no chance of that happening.
Yes, okay, maybe he could have spent more time with her. He wanted to. He wanted to follow right up with the kiss in the shack, but her information was too valuable. It needed to be spread, and he needed to take responsibility and make sure people knew. He’d even sent an article to the king so the royals knew everything as well.
“Are you seriously telling me that you’ve been avoiding me over a misunderstanding?”
At this, her cheeks flushed an ugly crimson, and she finally looked at him, her eyes hard. She didn’t speak until she got the flush under control, however. “Let me just make this clear. You not talking to me, you shoving me into the orb-light the moment we left the catacombs, contacting the scholars, making me have meetings every single day—that wasn’t an attempt to keep me away from you? To remind me that I wouldn’t be anything more than a servant to you? And then going over every day to Natalie…”
Oh, storms… “That’s not it! It’s—I couldn’t be selfish, Alex. What you know is essential! Only you can tell it as it is. Your information might lead to breakthroughs, it might allow us to figure out how to stop this Creeping Rot. It might save thousands of lives. You really think that kind of information can just sit around and wait?”
“People waited centuries for it,” Alex said. “One additional night wouldn’t hurt.” Then she sighed. “No, that’s wrong. That is selfish. Ugh.” She rubbed her eyes, the sigh turning into a frustrated growl. “You know, Natalie told me to take care of you. I was so looking forward to talking to you, to exploring more about… but then it just went away.”
Natalie told her to take care of him? He’d have to have words with Nat about that. “You could have just talked to me. We could have solved this in about a second.”
“What do I know about talking? No one talks in the Undercity, don’t you see? We just sit on our problems and complain.” She shook her head in a bitter laugh. “I have no clue about emotions. No clue about this storming nonsense. At all. And now I feel crazy for even assuming for a moment that something else was going on.”
“You won’t be the first one caught up in that trap,” Meridas said, a big smile stretching his lips. His heart also beat faster, and a twinge of relief flooded his system. “You won’t be the last. Welcome to love and all its complexities.”
“Love… is that what this is?” Alex’s eyes became slits. “They say it’s like butterflies. This is like tiny saws cutting at my stomach. I hate it. Hate feeling… emotional. All this emotion.”
“Stupid, isn’t it?” he said. Yes, he understood that perfectly. She didn’t need to describe it. Wanting to be around someone. Having all these strange, new emotions stir, when he thought himself perfectly under control. Having to process all those emotions, and wonder if he was actually going insane from it. That horrible, squirming feeling, that anxiety about the other person, feeling happy when they said something nice, and feeling a crushing weight when they didn’t. And having to act all the time like he was calm, in control, the model man and leader. Model dragon. “We planning to kiss or not?” He managed to say this with a roguish smile, pleased at her reaction—like she’d received a new slap to the face in shock.
“Really? No slow, romantic build-up? Just… hey, want to kiss?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
She studied him for a moment longer, before letting out another one of those frustrated growls, and strode over to him with burning purpose. His stomach quivered in sudden anticipation. Along with something else. Excitement gripped him as she reached up to kiss his lips and press her body into him. He held her tight, body humming in growing arousal, and blood rushed to between his legs, bringing his erection to rub against the rough material there. That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was how she felt, smelled, tasted, and his hands pressed harder into the small of her back, raising her up to him. Parts of her hair brushed his face as she moved to his cheek, and he took the opportunity to crouch down to kiss her neck. A small pang of guilt went through him, because he’d learned some good techniques for sex from his previous partners, but at least they’d be put to good use right now.
As for Alex, he sensed somehow that she was inexperienced, that she was enthusiastic, but not quite sure how to conduct herself when it came to him. He’d help her. Gladly.
Their mouths met again, exchanging a sweet heat and passion. When they broke away, he felt slightly giddy, and she wore a similar expression. Grabbing hands, they left the study and hurtled towards his chambers, passing a startled Elicia along the way. Well, she’d know sooner or later, anyway.
Inside the bedroom at last, they took to tackling each other’s clothing, with him succeeding in speed, though he graciously allowed her to take her time to peel off his shirt and examine his broad chest, before venturing down lower to see what waited for her there. He hoped she liked what she saw—he expected to like what he saw. And Meridas most certainly feasted upon Alex’s appearance, from her diminutive frame, no longer as scrawny as when he first saw her, rounded hips, small hands, and a sharp, elegant face that gave her a mystical appearance. She would be the kind of person who aged well. She admired his body as well, and a pleasant, warm heat rippled through him as her hands ran over his face, his lightly furred chest, thighs, and circling around his erection. He made a bold move, picking her up with strong arms and planting her onto the bed, upon her back, so he could crawl above her and watch her shiver in delight and arousal.
He wondered how it felt for her, to see him like this, if she craved his lips, for them to connect. He kissed her neck, then collarbone, and used one hand to run over her left arm and down her sides, gradually working it closer to her breasts, until she let out a soft gasp when he grasped each one.
“Not too hard,” she whispered. “I’m… sensitive, there.”
“Alright.” He gave each breast a light kiss instead, and worked back up to her lips, to allow their tongues to mix together. He rubbed his hips against hers, his erection brushing her stomach, giving her some time to get used to the sensation, and for him to savor the sweet smell of her, and the moans and sharp breaths emitting from her lips. He liked the way her body rose and fell with his, and how they rubbed together. Her heart hammered so fast, nearly as fast as his. He could barely keep his arms still on either side of her now from excitement, as he lowered himself, brushing his erection against her entrance.
There was little resistance as he pushed himself in, their bodies becoming one. She stiffened, her body tense, and he whispered for her to relax, to say if it hurt too much, that he’d be slow, he’d be gentle if she needed it. Peppering her with kisses, he soon felt her mellow, and he began to move slowly inside, her tightness starting to generate a growing explosion within him.
The thing that did it the most, though, was when she shuddered and let out a soft moan, her eyes a bright green in the orb light, mesmerizing him. Her thighs trembled, and she clenched around him.
She’s… had she orgasmed? Excitement reached a crescendo, realizing just how turned on she’d been, how eager she was to be with him, to have…
The heat inside him fluctuated, before shooting down his erection and into her, leaving a radiating warmth to course inside.
I don’t believe it. He stared down at her in amazement, with joy taking over his lips.
Where had she been all his life?
He rested himself to the side after watching her calm down from the orgasm, and pulled out, now adjusting their positions so that she could rest within his embrace under the bedsheets, and he could get to experience an afternoon being with a woman he loved.
Love? Is that what it is?
A few moments passed in blissful silence as they held each other.
“So many things to do,” Meridas said, gripping Alex tight to him, his nose close to her neck, so he could continue to inhale her intoxicating scent. His body felt wonderfully heavy, the beast inside him sated for now. “I should be just stressing over it all right now, but it’s hard to be stressed when you’re in my arms like this.”
“That almost sounds like a declaration of love,” Alex said, a smile in her voice. She also sounded drunk, dazed, and he supposed that to be a good thing.
“It is,” he said, after wondering for a moment whether he should just go out and say it or not. “I might just be in love with you. Even if you are a slum girl.” It seemed like the right words to say. Her heartrate, currently felt by his draped right arm, almost doubled.
“Magical slum girl,” Alex said, maintaining a calm exterior, if a frantic interior. “I bet all those ladies waiting to court you will hate you.”
“Oh, I certainly hope so. My father will, anyway. But I couldn’t really bring myself to care, so this is fine.”
She turned slightly, so her chin bumped into his eye. Not hard enough for him to flinch back. “I think I might love you, too.”
His heartbeat picked up as well, and his voice cracked ever so slightly. “You keep thinking on that one.”
Sharing this moment with her was wonderful. Everything he’d expected, and more. He wanted to do everything in his power right now to help her fulfill her dreams. Visit that woman she talked about in the Undercity, who wanted a cauldron. Buy more games, so they could have some evenings together not worrying about anything. Taking her on trips via airships, to experience much more of the world from above, and to feel like she belonged in the skies, like he did.
Sure, the skies might be perilous at times. They had new information to figure out, and a countdown they didn’t quite understand with the disease. He needed to figure out where Vash had been infected, and if it had anything to do with the stone core on Natalie’s island. Then there was that stupid Conclave, and their plans to foil. He also planned to search for more accused witches in the prisons, and keep tracing Alex’s parents, though one of them was certainly Zamorkan.
It would be nice for them to have answers. But not all answers came just because they were wanted. They liked to hide themselves behind trick doors, and sometimes only led to more questions.
But at least now, they could finally start getting somewhere.
And right now, he didn’t want to worry about all of that. He only wanted to think about Alex. He kissed her lightly on the neck, pushing past the gloom of all the things he needed to do, focusing only on her right now.
On the way they just fit together. He had a lot of lost time to make up for.
The Dragon’s Air Witch
Six Isles’ Witches and Dragons
Book 2
By: Lisa Daniels
Prologue – Serpent Isle’s Fall
Janus Argent lost his parents two days ago. They resisted the disease for as long as they could, but no cure waited for them. The one thing they insisted upon, however, was getting him out before he, too, became infected.
Now he stood on the deck of a skyship, watching as his home plummeted into darkness. Everything he’d ever known, everything he ever cared about, lost to that horrible illness that destroyed his family.
He did nothing but cry himself to sleep for those two days. But now he watched the floating island fall with dry eyes, the skin around his face raw from all the tears.
Whatever happened next, he knew one thing needed to happen above all else. He needed to stop this illness. He didn’t know how, or if it was even possible, but it had to be halted. Because if he felt this much pain upon losing everything to that awful thing—then he imagined others feeling that same pain.
Suffering.
Maybe they all felt like he did. Angry because of what was taken from them. Determined to do something about it.
Their ship drifted away in the darkness after some time. He didn’t want to be with the others who watched their home fall. He didn’t want to see their tears and feel their pain. He had quite enough of it by himself. The adults told him he’d have a new family to take him in. That he needn’t worry about being alone for long, because people would help him.
He didn’t want a new family. He just wanted to be left alone.
No one could replace his parents.
No one.
Chapter One �
�Twenty-Five Years After Serpent Isle’s Fall – Evelyn
Evelyn hoped no one would ever take the skies away from her. As job occupations went, she could certainly do worse than her current one. For a start, she got to live in the Six Isles, far above the sprawling, grubby Undercity that lay in the floating islands’ shadows. And there was something soothing about having her face to the skies, with the wind caressing her body, as she directed it to move the skyship through the currents.
The Cloudstalker was a fine old ship, with more than thirty years of service, exchanged between four different captains. She had wanted to find out the ship’s history, from humble beginnings as a barge for ferrying people from below to above, to a merchant ship, trading with isolated floating islands of people who lived so far above that they only functioned on a fraction of the air others were used to. Surviving populations had long since had an air witch’s magic sustain them, otherwise they wouldn’t be around to trade today.
Now their little trading group returned from Sitting Cloud, laden with exotic animals and furs. She sat in her little wooden shelter, wrapped up in the warmest furs money could buy, directing the winds into five white sailcloths: three masts, two side wings, which usually the rudder took care of for some easier direction turning, requiring minimal effort to push the ship through the air, thus allowing her to focus instead on keeping the oxygen and pressure bubble around their ship stable. Birds chittered, with their colorful plumages flashing from the cages she could just about see, tucked underdeck next to the stairs that led down.
“Reckon we should make a tidy fortune with this lot,” Reginald, the captain, said with the kind of voice that carried miles out. Evelyn gave him a smile, keeping her magic operations running in the back of her mind. “We need to stop trading in perishable fruits and vegetables, though. I’ve been losing profit with long runs for those, even with the advanced prices they go for with the nobility.” He folded his heavy, sleeved gray arms. His captain’s helmet was lined with fur and attached like a hood to his jacket, which was covered in a kind of wax to make it waterproof—a blessing if they went through rainclouds.
