Loved by Light (Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 4)

by Terry Bolryder

“I’m not,” I say, holding up my wine glass. “I’m not at all.”

  “Still,” she says. “Show me.”

  I shake my head. “No. Standing seems… treacherous.”

  She laughs, getting on her knees as if to stand up, then stumbling and falling forward. I catch her easily and pull her back on the couch with me.

  Too late, I realize I’m holding her in my arms. My heart is pounding, my body is hot, and as Liz licks her lips and looks up at me, I don’t think I can resist anymore.

  I lower my lips to just above hers, then pause because this really isn’t fair to her.

  I pull back, setting her away from me. “I’m sorry. It’s easy to get carried away with you.”

  “So you feel this too? I knew it!” Her eyes light with triumph. They’re so pretty and dark that when they sparkle, it looks like they hold little stars.

  “Of course I do,” I say quietly. “I felt it from the moment we met.”

  She puts her hand over mine, and the touch is electric, heady because of the wine. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s enjoy each other.”

  I shake my head. “It wouldn’t be right to have that kind of bond with you.” My eyes meet hers solemnly. “Liz, I can’t have a soul bond. I have a mission after this that makes it impossible. My friends don’t know about it, and—”

  She cups my head and surges forward, pressing her lips to mine. She kisses me hungrily, and the rest of the world, along with my reservations, melts away.

  Then she pulls back, breathing against my lips as she keeps our foreheads together. “Even if we only have tonight, I want this. I promise I won’t be mad if there’s nothing more.”

  I hesitate because it still doesn’t seem right, even if I’m more tempted than I’ve ever been before.

  “No, I’m not… right, right now. I’m not okay. Things have happened, and… I don’t deserve you. I can’t.”

  “Ian,” she says, putting a hand on my chest. “You’re a good person.”

  I gulp. “That’s just the thing. I don’t know if I am anymore.”

  She studies me for a moment as though she doesn’t know what to make of my words. Then she shakes her head. “No matter what you’re thinking, it can’t change what I know. That you’re good, Ian. You’re the kindest, best person I’ve ever met. You always show up for me, and after meeting your friends and seeing how they look at you, I know that I’m not an anomaly.” She moves her hand up to cup my cheek, and I feel myself falling apart at her touch.

  My walls are crumbling, my reservations disappearing like wine. “Liz… If you touch me, I can’t…”

  She smiles at me, and her beautiful face is all I can focus on as everything else fades away. “You don’t have to make any promises. I won’t regret this. Even once with the most beautiful man I’ve ever met would be better than never.”

  I reach my hand up to stroke through her curls, loving the feel of them against my fingers. I could hold on to them forever if things were different. “You won’t hate me?”

  She shakes her head. “Never.”

  I lean in to kiss her, and it’s like I should never have resisted all along. It’s home and it’s heat and it’s everything as sensation washes through my body. “You’re so beautiful I can’t even stand it,” I say when we pull back.

  She smiles. “And it’s not the wine talking?”

  I shake my head. “I think our conversation shows we’re both capable of thought right now. Even if I wasn’t, I would want you.”

  I move in to kiss her again, and she dodges, grinning as she stands, taking my hand and pulling me toward my bedroom.

  “Come on,” she says, practically dragging me. “I’m not going to let you get away with just teasing me again.”

  I grin, letting her pull me, getting a glimpse of her fantastic ass in those sweats, and wondering how I could be so lucky as to find her.

  And why it had to be after I learned things that would never allow me to just be with her the way I would want.

  “Come on,” she says, sensing my hesitation. “It’s just a moment of happiness. How could we regret it?”

  I nod. Why not?

  After all, if I’m going to lose everything anyway, perhaps I do deserve just one moment in the sun with the woman I want.

  10

  Liz

  Ian’s hand feels so big in mine as I pull him toward the back of his apartment, toward his bedroom, and I have the distinct impression that there isn’t anywhere I could lead this big, sexy guy to if he didn’t want to.

  My heart’s racing, and I know it isn’t just the wine.

  It’s Ian.

  I choose the first door on my right and open it and go inside, the rumble of Ian’s feet on the carpeted floor tickling the soles of mine. Once we’re inside, I’m greeted by a room that’s as clean as it is sterile-looking, with white walls and little furniture and a single huge bed at the center.

  But all I can think about right now are those lips of his on mine as soon as possible.

  I turn to see Ian’s pale gray-over-rainbow eyes watching me closely, and I immediately reach up on my tiptoes to kiss him. He leans down slightly to cover the rest of the distance, and warmth shoots down my arms and legs as he kisses me back.

  Even better than I remember every time.

  At first, he’s slightly hesitant, mouth enmeshed with mine. But as I wrap my arms around him, pulling myself up and deeper into him, our bodies pressed together, I can feel him relax. Feel him give in to this thing, whatever it is, between us.

  Then I feel one of his hands pull me closer, his hard body stimulating my every nerve as his mouth covers mine completely.

  I can’t help letting out a muffled moan, and as my lips part, he delves in with his tongue, giving me just a taste of him before I feel my legs start to buckle slightly.

  And when I pull back for a second, it seems the colors swirling in Ian’s eyes are just a bit brighter, less hidden by the gray there.

  Like he’s slowly coming out of hiding for the first time.

  I turn and pull him toward the bed, and this time, he follows me more eagerly. My nerves are pulsing with excitement, and as we reach the edge of what feels like a mattress much larger than those used by normal-size people, I put my hands on his shoulders and push him into a sitting position in front of me.

  Gosh, he’s practically my height even sitting like this.

  His features are even more beautiful, ethereal almost, when I look at him eye to eye. Long dark-blond lashes that accentuate the intense gaze in his expression. High cheekbones and a perfect jawline movie stars would die for. Full lips that show every emotion when he’s happy or troubled.

  Who is this angel that fell from heaven, and how come he’s always there when I need him?

  Attraction and want and need surge through me as I straddle his lap, enjoying the way his eyes widen slightly as I do so. For a moment, his hands are relaxed at his sides, slightly hesitant. But as I wrap myself around him and my lips crash over his again, they come up to caress my hips, anchoring me.

  Every second that passes makes me hungrier for him, and I press my tongue against his lips and he tentatively opens them almost like he’s unsure of what to do next. But after a moment, his tongue clashes with mine, and I can’t help but smile a little as we both struggle for the upper hand.

  The sweet, tentative Ian is slowly disappearing. I can feel his hands moving up my sides, tickling my senses even as I try to hold back another moan as he teases a sensitive spot inside my mouth. And even though I’m on top of him right now, I’m all too aware of how tiny I am next to his broad shoulders and long, muscular body.

  I lean my weight forward, and Ian falls back onto the plush covers of his bed as we continue to kiss. Already, I’m wet and aching for more but loving every minute together as it builds toward something I know will be amazing.

  When I pull away, I go straight for the fitted gray T-shirt he has on, pulling it up. But I can only get it halfway. His arms are
so big the material won’t budge, but he lends me a hand by pulling it over himself.

  “Just, wow, Ian,” I say more to myself than anything as I’m greeted by the sight of his sculpted pecs and rows of taut abdominals. Ian’s cheeks are adorably flushed, but he doesn’t look away from me, even though I can feel his embarrassment.

  “Wow, what?” he asks, sitting up slightly on the bed.

  As if he doesn’t already know he looks like some Greek god.

  “You’re just the hottest man I’ve ever seen in my life. That’s what,” I respond playfully. My hands itch to touch him.

  He looks to the side for a moment, pausing before he looks back up at me.

  “I know women find me attractive. It’s just… different being here with someone I’m attracted to as well. It’s easier when I’m uninvolved, distant. But with you, Liz, it’s impossible to stay distant.”

  I watch as he speaks, and I can feel his honesty, his earnestness.

  “So if I’m nervous…” As he speaks, he cups my cheek, and he sits up more on the bed, reaching up to me, crossing the distance between us. “It’s only because I don’t think I can hold back with you.”

  I want to say this is just pure fun. Sex between consenting adults. Some needed stress relief.

  But as he kisses me one last time, I feel light and warmth and heat fill my veins from head to toe. And the pull between us that was simply magnetic feels like something more, even if I know my brain will try to tell me otherwise.

  A moment later, Ian’s hands are on my ass, lifting me, and he turns us over on the bed. I’m practically breathless after the kiss, and every cell in my body is aware of him above me now.

  I try to roll him back over, testing him, but he doesn’t move an inch. And as his gaze roves down my body, full of the kind of hunger I’ve felt since the first day I met him, I know there’s nothing that could move this stubborn man right now.

  Hot.

  He leans down and kisses the base of my neck, sucking hard, and pleasure shoots through me like an arrow. But he doesn’t stop, moving up toward my ear, licking along the shell before pulling on my lobe with the lightest friction from his teeth.

  “If you want me to stop, tell me. But until then, you’re mine, Liz.” His words are almost a low growl, the sheer dominance in his tone a stark contrast to the sweet, outwardly innocent Ian I thought I knew.

  If my heart was racing before, it’s sprinting now. But all I can muster is the barest of nods before he’s pulling my shirt up and over my head, undoing my bra with deft fingers, and then teasing my nipples with his thumbs. My hips buck against him, but all I can feel are his hard thighs trapping me beneath him as I drown in the sensation.

  At first, he’s gentle, torturing me until both nipples are aching peaks. Then he’s squeezing them, his huge hands holding me everywhere as his mouth comes down to suck one, then the other.

  His soft pale hair falls to the side as he does, and the sight of his huge, powerful body over me like this, coupled with the expert way he’s kissing me right now, makes me wetter than I’ve ever been in my entire life. But all I can do is just surrender to the desire we both feel for each other.

  “So beautiful,” he mutters against my skin as he kisses down my belly, headed toward my thighs, and my mind almost can’t comprehend the experience of being so utterly wanted by him that it feels like the world around us is disappearing inch by inch.

  But I don’t have long to dwell on it as Ian pulls down my sweatpants, leaving me just in my panties now. I’d be blushing if I could, especially with the way he looks at me with even greater satisfaction the fewer clothes I seem to have on. So instead, I just lose myself in pleasure as he runs a finger up my wet slit, already soaked through my own underwear as my clit screams for more.

  “Oh, Ian.” I sigh, eyes closing because looking at things is too hard when everything feels like it’s on fire inside me right now.

  But I can still feel his eyes on me, watching my every move, my every breath with rapt attention as he goes beneath my panties, exploring my folds before caressing directly over my center.

  I don’t bother holding back the moans that come from each stroke of his finger. And while he’s working me into a frenzy, his other hand is moving up the side of my leg, then holding my hip.

  Everything’s getting tighter. Everything’s getting closer.

  “Liz,” Ian says, like an oath carried on the sound of his voice. And just as he does, he slides one finger over my nub one more time with just the right amount of pressure.

  And I come.

  It’s an incredibly strong orgasm, and I clasp the sheets next to me as inconceivable tension releases through me all at once with pleasure so intense my vision blurs a bit.

  But by the time I’m coming down from the heady feeling of being utterly owned by Ian, he’s already spreading my legs, lowering his head between them as he looks up at me with a smirk.

  I sit up a bit, amused and surprised at the same time. “How am I supposed to believe that one second you’re acting like you don’t know what you’re doing in the living room, and the next you’re… like this?” I ask with a wave of my hand. Granted, it’s not that I want him to have had other partners. In fact, the thought makes me jealous, though I push it aside in my mind.

  It’s just a new side of Ian I didn’t expect.

  “Some things take practice. Other things just come naturally.” His grin is a little wider as he watches me, and I know he can see how I tense in anticipation as he gets closer to me. “I think this is one of those things.”

  Then his tongue covers my clit, and my entire back arches from top to bottom from the pleasure of it.

  He’s as passionate as he is patient, though, kissing and licking me in different ways and with different angles to draw out the experience. And as badly as my body begs for release each time I come close to the edge, I can’t help but want to make it last as long as possible.

  Because I don’t know what tomorrow will be like. What we’ll be like together. But things have never been so good in my life, and I don’t intend to rush them.

  Then, as if knowing what I want and need in the moment even better than I know myself, Ian’s kisses become more fevered, quicker. I’m going up and up and I don’t know what the edge is like, but I can’t wait for it.

  And with one last, long stroke with the tip of his tongue, Ian makes me come again.

  This time, my breath catches in my throat for several long seconds before everything explodes inside me. But Ian is there, holding me against him as I wrap my arms around him so tightly I could be drowning.

  But the only thing I’m drowning in right now is just how wonderful everything feels.

  And how badly I want him inside me.

  It’s my turn to be voracious as the last waves of my orgasm subside, and I go straight for those comfy-looking pants of his that have been teasing me all night with his sculpted ass and the huge bulge he’s been smuggling in the front ever since our first kiss.

  I only get them halfway down, though, before he’s stepping off the bed and tossing aside pants and underwear, leaving us both naked and aroused in his room.

  What a sight to behold.

  He reaches for a drawer at the bottom of his nightstand and pulls out a condom. I’m grateful he has the presence of mind to think ahead for the both of us, though I have no clue what the implications are for fae like him.

  I guess right now he’s not a fae to me. He’s just Ian. And we’re Liz and Ian.

  And he’s so sexy I could die right now.

  He kneels on the bed between my legs, slides my underwear off, but doesn’t immediately put on the condom. Instead, he reaches a hand between my legs, and I watch eagerly as he plays at my entrance for a moment, then slides in with one, then two, then three fingers. I’m so turned on it’s pretty easy for him, though I’m still not exactly sure if three of his fingers equates to the sheer size of his cock.

  Still, even the way his fingers te
ase my G-spot makes my body shudder with anticipation.

  “Just making sure you’re ready,” he says calmly, slowly thrusting in then out, stretching slightly.

  “I was ready from the first time you kissed me, Ian,” I reply, surprised by my own words leaving my mouth. Maybe just the last little bit of wine making its way out of my system.

  Then again, as I watch him pull on the condom and position his hips next to mine and I see the want and affection in his unguarded expression, maybe I meant what I said after all.

  For a moment, I can feel his tip pressing against me as he props his massive body above me. Then, to my surprise, he leans down to kiss me, tongue thrusting to meet mine as he starts to sheathe himself inside me.

  I focus on relaxing, and the pleasurable sparks going off inside my mouth make it that much easier to do so as, inch by inch, I take him inside me. And by the time we’re all the way together, I’m so filled to the brim I can’t help feeling my heart race in my chest from the erotic sensation.

  Ian waits a moment, giving me extra time to make sure I’m all the way there, but all my mind can possibly focus on is waiting for him to start moving.

  And when he does, it’s even better than whatever my imagination conjured. He’s slow at first, withdrawing only most of the way before thrusting back in, making my body feel heated and desperate. But as he starts to move faster, I can’t help but watch as his expression tightens, too. Watch the man who seems to always be in control starting to tense with pleasure as we come together again and again.

  This mysterious, beautiful, normal-but-not-normal light fae.

  Ian leans down to kiss my neck as he continues to thrust inside me, and my hand finds the nape of his neck, caressing and clinging to his soft hair that’s the utter contrast to his hardness surrounding and filling me all at the same time. And even as he’s bringing me closer to the finish, I can’t help thrusting my hips toward him as well, beckoning him with me as the room starts to feel warmer and brighter and heavy with pleasure.

  Each time, it feels as if he goes deeper inside me. And each time, his tip comes straight over the extra-sensitive spot inside me, pushing me to the very limits of what I can take.