Hovering over her, still kissing and licking my way down her sternum, I slid a hand down her side and hiked up the skirt of her gown until my fingertips met bare thigh. Her legs hooked around my waist, her hips tilting toward me. I wrapped a hand around the back of one thigh, sliding it up until my fingertips grazed wet heat. She was slick and velvety smooth and shuddered as I lightly stroked her.
I shifted back onto my knees, moving my hand between us, and watched her face as I found her hot core once more. She was still the pale, ghostly beauty, but the singed mark on her cheek glowed brighter. I parted her folds and pressed my fingers deeper, sinking two inside her. Her gaze remained fixed on my face, but her mouth dropped open and a moan scraped out. The burn seemed to dance with purple flame.
“Does that hurt?” I asked, tilting my chin and glancing at the marred curve of her cheek.
She shook her head. “It feels almost as alive as where you’re touching me now. Don’t stop.”
I scooted lower, propping myself on one elbow between her legs. I held her lips apart and dipped my head, flicking my tongue lightly over the swollen nub of her clit. She responded with a rough moan, and the sound of rending fabric hit my ears. I glanced up to see she’d torn the bodice of her dress apart and held her breasts in both hands, thumbs and forefingers pinching and twisting her nipples.
“Burn me,” she demanded. “Light me on fire.”
I darted a shocked look up at her face. “Seriously? You bolted when Errol and Razik did it.”
“It scared me, that’s all. But the longer it burns, the better it feels. Like shedding skin. Whatever shell of existence this is, I want it gone. I want to feel alive again, and the fire helps.”
I didn’t quite understand it, but then nothing about her existence made any sense. She was the spirit of a long-dead Elite who had been burned to ash by Immortal dragon fire. If my own fire could help her feel alive again, I was willing to try.
First, I gave in to the urge to taste her again. I dropped my head and covered her core with my mouth, lapping at her juices and dipping my long tongue into her hot channel. Her fingers clawed at my head, her hips bucking against me as I drove her to the edge of pleasure. It wasn’t until the impatient groan she let out that I paused with a soft laugh.
“I’ve got you, baby,” I said, glancing up her body and meeting a fiery glare. I let a small flame lick out from between my lips, kept it burning as I lowered my head again, aiming where my mouth had been a moment ago. She shifted up onto her elbows, breasts heaving as she stared down at me, waiting. I watched her face intently, bracing myself to stop and hold onto her to keep her from bolting if she got spooked by the sensation.
Her breathing quickened, and her heady aroma thickened as my fire licked over her exposed cunt. When the tongue of flame met skin, she threw her head back and cried out, but not in pain. Her body shuddered and writhed, racked by a powerful orgasm I barely believed but for the sudden surge of magic rushing from her into me. Sweet Mother, she’d just come from having her pussy burned with dragon fire. What kind of creature was she?
I found myself pushed onto my back with her astride me, fingers clawing at my pants, nails tearing through fabric. My garment was only the weakest shadow magic, there for modesty only, and dissolved easily. When my pants disappeared, she had me gripped in her fist. A single rough stroke was all it took to restore me to full hardness before she sank down onto my cock.
Searing heat erupted through me where we were joined, as if I’d just sunk my cock into molten lava. It was amazing.
“Sweet Mother, you’re so fucking hot.”
“You made me hot,” she breathed, leaning over me and bracing her hands on either side of my head as she pumped her hips atop me. Every stroke was pure, delicious fire, heating my blood and driving my need higher. The black, lacy wisps of her tattered dress framed her pale breasts, and I pushed up far enough to reach them with my mouth, sending another gout of flame out to lick her nipples.
Her tight muscles clamped harder around my cock, and she moaned, arching and leaning down closer. I took one glowing coal of a nipple into my mouth and sucked, the fiery heat of it a perfect small ember against my tongue.
Whatever she was, it was nothing like any creature I’d ever encountered. She was perfect. My desire ratcheted higher, hotter, until I needed even more. I rolled her onto her back and pushed her legs up high, pulling out and pounding in with rough, greedy strokes, needing to come but wanting too much to draw this out. To watch her pleasure ignite beneath me. No wonder Errol had given into his desire so easily. She was intoxicating.
I felt her climax approaching through the rising heat in her core. Deep-purple fire licked across her breasts where I’d singed her, and down her belly to where we were joined. When it reached my cock, it was too much. I couldn’t hold back.
I let out a roar that was joined by her harsh yell as we both came in a bucking frenzy. The smoky cloud of ash around us ignited in a burst of heat, like a popping bubble.
Her magic flooded me again, leaving the taste of fire on my tongue. I braced myself on my hands, holding myself up over her and looking down, scanning her torso with wonder. Patches of her skin still glowed, the sections of skin that had burned away revealing something like live embers beneath. Both her nipples were bright, heat radiating from them. I dipped my head and darted out my tongue for a curious taste.
Benedetta sighed at the swipe of my tongue, and I pulled back and gave her a questioning look. “That doesn’t hurt?”
“No. It feels amazing, which is crazy. I don’t know if it’s going to burn me into ash again for good, but I do know that I feel more alive than ever. Can you give me more?”
I heaved a regretful sigh and eased off her, settling on my haunches and smirking at the ground around us. We were inside a wide circle of charred ground, whatever ash that had been here burned to nothing.
“I wish I could stay, but the guys are going to miss me at some point.”
“Let them come,” she said, grinning. “I’ve had two of you separately. I want all three together next time. Now that I am sure you are here for me.”
I arched an eyebrow at her and crossed my arms. “Oh, do you? I suppose I should be glad I got a moment alone with you.”
Her expression sobered, and she rose, kneeling to face me. She reached out and cupped my jaw with both hands, her intense heat still radiating through her palms. “I’m serious. I don’t know how or why, but the more fire I’m exposed to, the more alive I feel. I think I need all three of you to truly, completely live again. Come to me together next time.”
Standing, I glanced toward the ghost tree where I’d entered, then nodded. “I’ll tell them tonight. If it means setting you free, allowing you to be…real…then I’ll do anything.” A tight lump formed in my throat at the grateful smile on her face. I hauled her to her feet and wrapped both arms tight around her, overwhelmed by her very existence. Finding a mate had been the last thing on my mind when I took this job, but it seemed she had answered a prayer only my deepest soul could have made.
Errol and Razik would thank me for helping her get past her fear of our fire. I just needed a moment to settle the arrangement with them before we called to her to come. If she was meant to be our mate, all three of us needed to agree to the balance of time with her. I wasn’t going to be satisfied being the last to get her attention, not after tonight.
With one last, long kiss, I slipped in shadow form back through the tree, landing and rematerializing at its trunk where I’d been, staring into the large globe. Inside, all I could make out was a core of purple flame casting eerie light out into the night, the silhouette of the tree stark within its center. It was brighter than before, more alive than the weak, ashen glow I’d seen that first day.
Before I could turn and look for the others, a large hand clamped around the back of my neck. By reflex, I twisted and jabbed my elbow back behind me, hitting soft flesh and eliciting a rough grunt. Then a foot hooked around my ankle, y
anking me off balance. I toppled to the cold ground with a heavy thud, and Razik loomed over me, forearm braced across my throat. Errol stood with arms crossed a couple feet away.
“Where the fuck have you been, asshole?” came Razik’s wheezing, irritated question. Then he sniffed the air, and his eyes blazed with anger, his jaw clenching. “Sweet Mother, you found her and fucked her, didn’t you?”
Razik
The bastard had the nerve to smirk at me. I moved my arm from his neck and replaced it with my hands. I’d strangle the motherfucker.
Errol’s laughter made me jerk my head up to glare at him. “What the fuck? Are you just going to stand there? He’s the sneaky son of a bitch who found a way into her globe.” I stared down at Salem’s grinning face. “How’d you do it, asshole?” My fingers flexed. I was torn between the need to tear out his throat and leave it intact so I could get answers.
“Shadow magic,” he rasped through his constricted airway. “Let me up, dick. I have shit to tell you.”
I reluctantly released my hold and stood, curiosity getting the better of me and tempering my anger. To come so close to a woman who’d felt like a mate and have two other dragons make love to her first was like a slap in the face. I’d duel both these bastards to have a shot with her if I had to. I knew I’d win against Salem, at least. Errol I wasn’t so sure about, but I probably wouldn’t hate losing to him either. Dragon duels always left the loser satisfied, even if the humiliation of being forced to sexually submit stung for a while.
“What?” I snapped, hands on my hips as I stared daggers at him.
He rubbed at his throat and smiled. “Well, first, just chill the fuck out. She wants all three of us. I think I was right about the fate hounds. They marked us for her. We just need to figure out how to resurrect her, but I think I have an idea about that too.”
I relaxed a little, eager to hear more. “Resurrect? So, she is a ghost? Do you know who she was? Why the fate hounds targeted us?”
“That’s all kind of tied together, I think. Mind you, this is just a theory, but my gut has never steered me wrong.”
The patio light flicked on, casting a warm glow across the purple-tinged flagstones. We all froze and turned. A second later, Cassandra slipped out the back patio doors, looking mussed but alert in nothing but a tank top and panties.
“Something wrong, guys?” she asked, her sharp gaze shifting between each of us before moving beyond us to the tree. Her eyes narrowed. “That globe. Something weird is going on with it. It wasn’t lit up like this before.”
“It’s nothing,” I said, perhaps a little too quickly. She glanced at me, eyebrows raised. I shrugged, hoping to defer her interest in it. “We were just investigating it and decided it’s harmless. Nothing to worry about.”
She walked toward the tree, eyes fixed on Benedetta’s globe, and shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ll have a talk with April about it. Maybe it’s better to lock it up for safety. The next session’s students start arriving in the morning. We don’t want to take any risks.” She reached out and grasped the globe with both hands, gently unhooking it from the tree. As she passed by the three of us, I caught our reflections in the glass, and behind them a wild purple flare that sent intense heat radiating into the chilly night.
“Wow, there’s definitely some serious magic inside this thing. Thanks for checking it out guys, I’ll take care of it.” Cassandra said, still holding tight and not even flinching from what might have burned human hands. But she was an Elite with the Void’s blood, so naturally, she’d be able to withstand most fire.
All we could do was watch helplessly as she carried the globe into the house, disappearing somewhere into the darkness within.
“We should’ve said something,” Errol said in a pained voice after she’d been gone for a few minutes and we still stood there staring after her.
“What the fuck should we have said?” I asked. “Don’t take it away, the ghost of the woman we’re fated to mate lives inside it? How the fuck do you think that would sound to our goddamn boss?”
I brushed past them both, heading inside too. They followed me up the two flights of stairs to the third floor and into the lounge where I started another pot of coffee. It was my shift, so I should have already begun my patrol. Waiting for Salem to finish his rounds, then discovering where the bastard had been had distracted me.
The coffee brewing, I slumped down on one of the sofas, swiping my hands over my face. They’d both wasted no time getting close. I mentally kicked myself for not having the same idea Salem had, to sneak back to the tree and try to see her again, to reassure her that I wouldn’t hurt her.
“So how’d you do it?” I asked, staring at him where he leaned against the fireplace, arms crossed as he watched me warily. “How’d you get inside that thing?”
“Through the tree. In shadow form, it was easy. I just knew I wanted inside, and I seeped in like smoke.” He frowned. “Maybe we can still get in, but the tree was the portal, so I don’t know if it’ll work if her globe isn’t attached to it.” He glanced toward the window.
“Go try,” I said. “You did it once. I need to know if it’s possible now.” I got to my feet and strode to the window, throwing it open.
Salem looked bemused but didn’t move.
“I’ll try,” Errol offered.
“No, I’ll do it. It’ll be obvious to me if we’re blocked now,” Salem said. “I’m just surprised Razik’s so eager to do this now. You haven’t even heard who she is. You might change your mind about her.”
“Not bloody likely, but I’ll bite. Who is she?”
He ambled toward me, hands at his sides, his dark tattoos gleaming. “Benedetta.”
My brows twitched in irritation as he said her name. “We already know her name, asshole.”
Salem slowly shook his head as he exhaled black smoke, his physical body fading as his shadow form took shape in front of him. The shadow’s voice was a whisper when he said it again. “The Void’s Benedetta, Razik. The Benedetta. The one who kidnapped and slaughtered dragons alongside Nikhil for the better part of two centuries before the hibernations were made law. Before the Void put her down when she fell in love with him and went insane. She’s that Benedetta.”
He dropped the name one last time before sweeping through the window like a feather on the breeze, leaving me staring after him, mouth agape.
“Holy shit,” Errol muttered.
Goosebumps broke out over my entire body, the revelation so profound it took me a moment to realize I’d stopped breathing. Then all the pieces fell into place. How could I not have figured it out? I’d sensed it from the start, the power that I’d only ever felt when in Ked’s presence. Perhaps I was too jaded by the Immortals after being part of their inner circle during the war. I’d forgotten how potent that magic could be. Or perhaps I’d managed to mentally block myself from it out of self-preservation. Being close to the Void for too long could be mentally taxing.
A moment later, Salem appeared once more, a heavy weight dipping into the sofa cushion beside me a second before his body materialized. “No luck. The way in is blocked now. There are other little globes, I can get into all of them, but they’re just filled with pretty lights and red and gold dragon fire. Nothing like Benedetta’s.”
“We need to go tell Cassandra,” Errol said. “She’d understand.”
“Would she?” Salem snapped. “She hired us to protect this place. Don’t you think she’d sooner not have the spirit of the most notoriously demented and violent Elite running loose on the island?”
“She was an Elite herself,” Errol said. “If anyone would understand, she would.”
“I don’t see a better option right now,” I said. “I think honesty is best. And if she agrees, then that makes things easier all around.”
“And if not?” Salem shot, standing and pacing to the fireplace. “Are you willing to risk clueing her in on Benedetta’s presence and having her take more drastic measures? We could
lose her for good!”
He darted a frantic look between Errol and me, then cursed. “Fucking hell, you both are serious about this, aren’t you? Well, I can’t fucking stop you, but I’m not going to be part of it. I’m going to try to find out where they took her. If I have to take her and run to protect her, you’d better fucking believe I’ll do it.”
He stalked back to the window, then in an indignant flurry of black smoke and the sound of flapping wings, he disappeared out into the night.
“I hope you’re right,” Errol said, giving me a worried look.
Staring after Salem, I hoped like hell it was just his history as the son of Unbound dragons speaking. He’d been born into a world where running was a matter of survival, but our world had changed over the past few years. But this situation was still far out of the realm of conventional, even by modern standards. I stood and went to the door, my shoulders tight with dread. “Only one way to find out.”
Errol
We headed silently down the stairs, Razik taking point. The school’s office was just off the front entrance at the bottom of the stairs, and the lights were on inside, voices drifting out. I recognized Cassandra’s and her mate, Andrew’s. Next came the familiar feminine timbre of April’s voice, followed by one of her six mates, the Guardian dragon named Gray.
We weren’t in shadow form, yet still manifested our powers to move in silence, pausing just outside the door to listen for a moment.
“At any rate, it’s better to keep it locked up until we can investigate further,” Cassandra was saying. “I know Razik and his team don’t think it’s a danger, but you admitted yourself that you don’t have any control over the tree’s growth and magic anymore.”
“We know it’s linked to the Source,” April said. “But it was created with dragon fire too, not just ursa magic. The fire magic only manifests its presence inside the globes, that we know of. That one is still a mystery, but one we’ve been working on understanding. Still, I think you’re right to exercise caution. Perhaps the fire magic is behaving in a way we don’t yet understand, calling to the dragons’ source of power too. If you think we should melt it down in the furnace for safety, we can do that.”
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 27
