by Eve, Jaymin
There was a knock on the door, and when it opened on its own—magic, bitches—Connor was framed in the doorway.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, strolling in. “Overslept.”
I glared at the supe I’d spent days looking for but who had been nowhere in sight.
He looked like absolute shit, hair disheveled, eyes puffy, and I was wondering how in the fuck a being born of gods could even look like that. When I woke now, it was difficult to tell I’d been asleep. No more puffy face or morning breath.
Gods rarely looked unkempt.
Connor had figured out a way.
“Are you still drunk?” Ilia asked, scowling as she crossed her arms.
Connor tripped, shaking his head. “No. I’m absolutely, totally, not even a little bit drunk. I’ve been sick, okay?”
She snorted. “You’re a god. You don’t get sick.”
He flipped her off, half falling into the wall as he attempted to lean against it. “How do you know? None of us know jack fucking shit about being gods, and if they do, no one is sharing with me. What I do know is that if you mix fairy wine and demon’s brew, and drop some pixie dust in the bitch, gods can get drunk. FYI for future parties.”
He winked at me, and his head dropped back as he slid down the wall, snoring and drooling at the same time. I blinked, staring at him. “I haven’t even seen him since school started. Has he literally been drunk for nearly a month now?”
Asher scowled at the idiot passed out on the floor. “Connor never could handle disappointment or change very well. I’m guessing the last year of his life has gone nothing like he anticipated.”
I snorted, anger slapping me hard. “Are you fucking kidding me.” Connor should be proud at how adept he was at pissing me off. “He’s not handling it very well? Him? That poor fucking guy. Let’s all feel sympathy for the asshole who set most of these events into motion because he was a brainwashed dumbfuck who couldn’t think for himself. All of us are dealing with this shit. All of us. And some of us have suffered much worse than Connor, the poor little Atlantean god.”
It took more control than I’d admit not to walk over and kick him in the ass. Drinking for a month so he didn’t have to deal with reality. If only all of us could be so irresponsible.
Somewhere deep down, a blooming sliver of sympathy tried to rear its head, to remind me that Connor was clearly struggling and I should be kinder about it. There was some guilt too—I definitely should have tried harder to find him over the last few weeks to make sure he was okay.
The guilt and sympathy were not enough to overtake my anger though. I couldn’t forget everything he’d done and hidden from us. It would take a long time for me to trust and forgive Connor. So, for now, he could sleep on the floor. After all, he made that bed.
“Before we were rudely interrupted,” Ilia said, shooting Connor an even darker look than I was—that girl could hold onto grudges like nobody's business—“Mads asked what we should be doing to prepare…?”
Louis crossed his arms. “A few things that I was going to suggest have already been completed. Maddison has opened a proper connection with the other Atlanteans. The five of them have a new, strengthened power, and much more control. I can see it between them. We also have Axl now, and he may just be what we need to tip this battle in our favor.” He turned to him. “What would you say to being stationed on the front line?”
Axl was nodding before he’d even finished. “Yes. I figure it’s a good opportunity to learn from the strongest in how to control my power.”
Louis looked excited by the prospect of playing with Axl’s new power.
“Fantastic! I have some ideas of how to utilize the new god in our corner. It could be our one advantage.”
Axl looked pleased by this. I was excited to see him embracing the changes with the same enthusiasm he embraced every experiment in his life.
Louis turned back to me. “I’m excited to see that you and Asher have completed your true mate bond.”
Fuck yeah we have, Asher murmured in my head, and I swallowed hard, because I had an actual visceral reaction to him talking to me like this. A reaction that was not appropriate in a room full of supes.
I focused again when Louis continued: “But, Maddi, you need to do the same with your brother. Not exactly the same, of course…” I shuddered at the mere thought. “But the three of you are unique beings, and part of the message from Josephina, the dragon queen, had to do with the three of you and a combination of your powers. It’s very important. We won’t know how important until they get back with the entire message.”
Mab had said the same thing, and I was not stupid enough to keep ignoring that advice. “Okay, I’m going to work on that straight away … as soon as I sober that moron up.”
Connor let out a particularly loud snore to help prove my observation.
Looked like I was going to have my work cut out for me.
“Is there an updated timeframe on the gods releasing?” Asher asked. “Could our power be used to strengthen the prison?”
Princeps Jones spoke up again. “It could be any day,” he said. It hurt my heart to see him looking so defeated. Even his voice held little inflection. “The supes there now, monitoring it, have mentioned that the energy-cage is cracking.”
“At least Sonaris’s death didn’t explode them out,” I added, because it had been a very real worry when he’d first died. After all, it was his magic that locked them in there in the first place.
“As long as Sonaris’s power exists in the world,” Louis said, “his spells will remain active.”
“Could my favor still stand?” I wondered. “Owed to Axl now?”
Louis nodded. “Most likely. Did you agree to anything?”
“I agreed to spend time getting to know him. A month on his island.”
Louis rubbed at his forehead, almost subconsciously, like he was thinking it through. “I can’t tell you for sure, but I suspect you’ll end up at that island again one day to fulfil that request.”
Axl met my gaze and he smiled. “Vacay on the island,” he joked.
A chuckle escaped before I could stop it. “Deal. Once we handle the gods.”
His smile didn’t fade, and I was so relieved that more and more of Axl’s personality bled back into him every day. His eyes had not returned to his beautiful color, but I was growing used to the startling green-blue they were now.
Louis clapped his hands, shaking off some of his fatigue. “Great! Now that’s settled, I have a mate to check in on, and a new god to train. I’ll talk to you all soon. Inform Princeps Jones if there are any new developments, otherwise I’ll be back when Jessa returns.”
We waved him off, and I wasn’t sure why, but Louis’s return had made me feel worse, not better.
Maybe because this was it, the final countdown, and I wasn’t sure we were going to win this time.
Chapter 16
A true mate bond between regular supes consisted of an ability to sense the other, feel their emotions, and know if they were in danger or hurt. A true mate bond between dragon shifting supernaturals had the added bonus of mental talk—communicating in each other’s heads.
And a true mate bond between Atlantean-supernatural-gods … we had no fucking idea what that entailed, but it sure as shit was taking Asher and me through a bunch of new experiences, one being the mind-blowingly intense sex, where we shared more than just our bodies, but also our energy.
I was growing addicted, and now used any excuse to get Asher into bed. Or the pool. Or on any usable surface, really. I mean, it was my one chance to escape the mental load of daily worrying. Asher, and his magic as fuck hands might be the only thing keeping me sane.
In the week since Louis and Princeps Jones had returned, Axl had left for Atlantis, and the rest of the defenders were stationed on the island. According to their last report, the cage was eighty percent compromised, and we were talking days until the gods released.
I’d just hung up from
video chatting Axl—I missed having him in the house. It just didn’t feel right when one of us was away.
“I’m going to bed,” I said, both exhausted and needing some alone time with Asher. The only downside to living in a full house of family … not a lot of time alone.
“I’ll be there soon,” Asher said, his eyes dark as they traced down my body. The long slow leisurely stare was enough to burn my blood, but he didn’t touch me. We were keeping our promise to Jesse. Barely.
Things were actually a lot better between all of us, so that was worth the small sacrifice.
I’ll be waiting, I replied mentally.
His hands tensed on the couch, and I could tell he was fighting against just getting up and throwing me over his shoulder. Jesse said something and with an almost resigned sigh, Asher turned back to his friend. I’d let them have a few minutes before I started the mental torture. This new link between us was starting to grow on me, for more reasons than one—especially the fact that we could “touch” without being anywhere near each other.
Something I was about to take full advantage of.
Slipping into our room, I took a second, breathing it in. I’d been doing that a lot lately, that scent of Asher and me, mixed together, ocean and salty air, power and life. It was fast becoming my favorite scent, and with days until the final battle, I was more determined than ever to embrace the little things.
Crossing to our bathroom, I dropped my clothes on the floor, before cranking the shower, letting the water and steam fill the room. Ever since discovering my heritage, so much of my personality made sense. I loved the water, I always had, and since pools were not readily available in the neighborhoods I grew up in, and the ocean was not nearby, I had to make do with showers and baths. The moment I’d had any house to myself, I’d be in the water.
Asher had a really amazing shower. Huge. Great water pressure. Shower heads surrounded the stall, so spray hit me from all directions. The water was all recycled through a large system too, so we weren’t even wasting water. We reused all of it.
Guilt free showers were the best.
Guilt free and maybe a little naughty.
It was much easier now to slip into Asher’s mind. I couldn’t see through his eyes or even hear all of his thoughts, but I was aware enough to know he was still chatting to Jesse. They weren’t chatting about anything important. Just dude talk. A little about Axl’s new powers and the class Asher had to teach tomorrow.
Reaching for my body wash, I squeezed a small amount into my hand, breathing in that botanical scent. Nothing fake around here, our senses were too strong, but I did enjoy products touched by nature. Lathering it up, I started to wash myself, slowly, moving my hands across my sensitive skin. It didn’t take long for Asher to notice, and I realized that he’d had one “eye” on me since I walked away.
My breathing was a little heavier at that thought, knowing he was as turned on by me as I was by him … it was a heady feeling. My hands moved lower, slicking across my stomach, and I started to forget what my entire point of this had been. Teasing Asher was one thing, but I was actually torturing myself, because I was seriously in need of a decent orgasm.
As my fingers slipped toward the ache between my legs, I tried to stifle the moan on the tip of my tongue. I shouldn’t have bothered, because in the next second hands gripped my hips, jerking me back into his hardness. The moan spilled out as Asher’s hands replaced mine, soaped up and rubbing across my clit, another slipping between my folds and entering me. One finger, then two, fast and hard.
“Is this what you wanted, baby?” he breathed in my ear, but I literally couldn’t speak, because an orgasm crashed over me in the same second. I cried out as I rode his hand. Asher held me up through all of it, and before I could even finish experiencing the first wave of pleasure, he spun me so that we were facing each other.
His hands remained on my hips, just short of biting as they held me in place. We played this dominance game quite a lot, and Asher almost always won, but I got all the pleasure … so who was the real winner?
His mouth crashed into mine and I returned that kiss with as much force. As I opened my lips further, his tongue dominated me, taking whatever it wanted, drowning me in his taste. He pushed me back so he could sink to his knees, needing more room to fit his giant body. He sucked my clit into his mouth, his tongue gliding over the sensitive nub that was still pulsing from my last orgasm. I cried out, fisting my hands into his hair and holding him tight to my body as he moved lower, licking me in one long line from bottom to top. He did this over and over until I couldn’t feel my legs. How in the fuck did someone feel this much pleasure and not die? My brain might just explode from the overload.
Asher’s mouth continued to destroy me, and right before my second orgasm, he connected our minds, sending every one of his desires through me.
I came, stars dancing across my vision as everything went black around the edges.
Fuck. Not even in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined someone loving me as Asher did. He wanted to possess and devour every single part of me.
I came again.
“Jesus,” I groaned. “You are literally going to kill me, Ash.”
His dark chuckle trickled across my body and I basically died. My body crumpled and it was only Asher hauling me up into his arms that stopped me hitting the floor. “You can handle it, love,” he murmured, before our lips met.
I could taste myself on his tongue, mixed with his intoxicating taste. It gave me extra energy to wrap my legs around his waist. I slid onto the long hard length pressed between us in one smooth move.
“Babe,” Asher groaned, his head tipping back slightly, the water running over his face. Was there anything sexier than a man in the shower, hair slicked back, droplets of water tracing the hard planes of his face? The answer to that was no. Fuck no. There was not a single sexier thing.
He pressed me back to the wall, giving himself enough leverage to slam up into me over and over, my body jerking against the force.
I loved every second.
I’d already had multiple mindblowing orgasms, and I didn’t expect another to be so close, but … it was Asher. Pretty sure there was no limit to the number of orgasms he could wring from me.
“Hold on, Mads,” he growled. “I can’t go slow for you, love.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want slow,” I gasped, before tightening my hold on his broad shoulders. My head rocked against the wall as he fucked me even harder, but I didn’t care. Pain was not an issue. This felt like heaven.
The spirals of pleasure were not what I’d consider a slow build this time. They crashed into me with the same power that Asher was fucking me with, and I somehow managed to stifle my scream, even though I lost the ability to think as white light exploded behind my eyes.
Moments later, Asher slowed before he jerked inside of me, coming hard, his body firmly pressing mine into the tiles as we rode out our orgasms together. Our minds were still somewhat joined, and I could feel his pleasure and love for me. And the slightest concern he might have hurt me with his passion.
I kissed the only place I could reach … his neck. “You didn’t hurt me,” I whispered against his skin, pressing more kisses to the smooth strong lines of his throat. “I loved it.”
His tongue traced over my skin, licking the water droplets up as he tasted me. I was still feeling the aftershocks of sex, a delicious ache taking root in my body, reminding me of the pleasure. For a second, I wished we could stay like that. Forever. Just Asher and me, locked in our own world, without any of the drama and stress that was happening in real life.
I’ll keep you safe. No one will take you from me again.
A shiver of foreboding traced through my body. Don’t tempt fate like that, I told him, wrapping myself even tighter around him.
He shrugged, stupidly confident, as most powerful men were.
What if the thing you battle, I said slowly, is me?
He knew abou
t the dreams, the nightmares that more often than not kept me awake, but what he didn’t know was that I’d recently remembered one small detail. The fire and red I felt, they were from me. My face, awash in flames, was the last thing I saw. When I awoke with fear in my heart, I knew I was the demon that might end it all.
“I will fight for you against anything,” he drawled, voice husky. “Even against yourself. If you’re trying to destroy the world, Maddison, I’ll either be destroying it with you, or I’ll figure out how to bring you back to me. There’s no other option.”
I laughed, even though I felt no real humor. “You’d destroy it with me?”
His laughter was more genuine. “Yes. Where you are, that’s where I am. We are two halves of the same soul. You’ll never be alone again.”
Using his powers, he switched the water off and stepped out of the shower. I was still wrapped around him, our bodies joined.
Actually…
Asher was definitely ready for round two, his rock-hard dick sliding against my sensitive core as he carried me to the bed. Bonus points for me … boy had stamina.
The second time, he made love to me like he wanted it to last for days. The pleasure was different. More intense. And when I finally fell asleep, the dreams stayed far away.
Not even they could take on Asher when he was determined to keep me safe.
Chapter 17
Two weeks later, the words I’d been dreading came down the line from Axl.
“They’ll be out by tomorrow or the next day.”
Louis was beside him in the video chat, and I could tell from the grim look on their faces, that this was the final, final countdown. The supernatural taskforce had managed to delay it as long as possible, and we were a few weeks over Mab’s original estimate … they’d done everything they could.
“We’ll head to the island straight away,” I said, leaning closer like I could see through the screen to the prison. “Any word from Jessa and Braxton?”
