by Meg Anne
Lucian resumed kissing and licking her neck. Her eyes fell closed as his fingers ran along the edges of her shirt. His touch was whisper-soft, but it left a trail of fire in its wake. Effie pressed into his hands, craving more of the sweet burn.
As if he could read her mind, or perhaps just her body, Lucian ran his palm down her torso, electric tingles her only warning as her clothing dissolved.
“You and your tric—” she broke off in a moan as his hand returned to claim her breast. The gentle friction of his skin rubbing against her tender flesh was exactly what she’d been craving. But still it wasn’t enough.
Lucian’s mouth followed his hands, hot and demanding as he kissed down her pebbled skin. It was hard to form thoughts, let alone words, as he took her nipple into his mouth. Effie moaned, her fingers diving into his hair.
He gave a sharp tug, his teeth scraping gently against her sensitive peak. Her legs clenched together, trying to ease the growing ache he’d created as desire washed through her, but it only made her more desperate.
“Liked that, did you?” he whispered, flashing her a wicked grin.
It was hard to form words let alone a meaningful comeback. He must have read the need in her expression because Lucian’s eyes darkened and he resumed his slow exploration down her body. When his lips brushed against her center, her back arched off the blanket on a silent groan. Lucian ran his hands up her legs, the gentle scratch of his calloused skin adding a delicious friction. When he reached her thighs, he paused, and Effie reluctantly opened her eyes to find out what he was waiting for.
His eyes burned into hers, searing her with their intensity. Never looking away, he slowly pulled her legs apart. Heat flamed in her face. She should have felt vulnerable so wantonly displayed, but it only made her burn hotter. Once she was fully spread beneath him, Lucian dropped his eyes. The hunger on his face nearly sent Effie over the edge, her inner muscles clenched, a silent demand for him to fill her.
As if he could hear the call of her body, Lucian lowered his head, his eyes lifting to hers as he groaned her name. Not breaking eye contact, he ran his tongue along her core, the sweet pressure too much for her. Effie shivered, the wet glide of his tongue reverberating between her legs. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she lost herself in the feel of him as Lucian played her body more masterfully than a musician, his symphony composed of her soft cries of pleasure.
Liquid desire surged through her veins, igniting her even as need continued to pool within her. She whimpered, her body chasing something she didn’t know how to ask for. Lucian was there, his hands on her and in her as his voice filled her mind.
“That’s it. Just let go.”
Her hips shifted, moving of their own volition as they followed the gentle command. Lucian continued to stroke her with his tongue, one hand pressing down on her belly while the other curled up into her, rubbing against a bundle of nerves that had tiny stars exploding behind her eyes.
Lucian growled in satisfaction as she spasmed around his fingers and the vibrations sent her over the edge. Effie’s back arched off the ground as the world unraveled around her. For the second time that day, Effie floated in a sea of consciousness, sparks of pleasure continuing to flicker on the fringe of her awareness.
Before she could even comprehend what happened, Lucian’s lips were at her ear, his voice a deep rumble. “I’m not done with you yet.”
A grin stretched across Effie’s face as more happy tingles sparked inside of her body. She barely managed to open her eyes in time to see Lucian’s clothes answer to the same fate as her own. A small gasp of wonder left her lips as he knelt between her legs.
If she was cast from moonlight, he was kissed by the sun. Golden skin stretched over cords of muscle with a dark sprinkling of hair that only enhanced its natural radiance. She eyed him hungrily, drinking in the sight of his powerful body looming over hers, his eyes hooded, his cheeks flushed with need.
Need for her.
The knowledge wrapped itself around her, giving her a siren’s confidence as she reached out to take him in her hand and guide him to her center, her need for him an ache that wouldn’t be denied.
Lucian’s breath escaped in a hiss as she stroked him, reveling at the silk and steel feel of him in her hand. Her name was a tortured moan as it left his lips, and Effie felt it ring through her body as she arched her hips up, pressing the tip of him against her.
“Please, Lucian. Don’t make us wait any longer.”
His eyes were barely more than bronze slits as he grabbed her by the hips and shifted her position.
“Please—” she moaned, and her eyes rolled back as he circled his hips, dipping the barest inch inside of her.
“What do you need?”
Whatever she intended to say was gone. The words lost in a haze of pleasure.
He slid in a little further, her inner muscles fluttering as they stretched to accommodate him. “Tell me,” he demanded, his hands flexing into her skin.
Effie forced her eyes open, swallowing thickly as she looked up at him. If there was any piece of her heart that was still her own, it was lost in that moment. She was hopelessly and irrevocably his.
Somehow she managed to find the words to tell him what her soul recognized long ago. “You—just you, Lucian.”
His eyes closed at her confession, his throat bobbing as his fingers dug in almost painfully. Several heartbeats passed before he opened his eyes again. When they did, they flared with the full force of his power. Just like the first time he’d used it on her, she was consumed by the overwhelming feeling of experiencing everything all at once. Lucian chose that moment to slide the rest of the way inside of her, joining them completely in one hard thrust.
The feeling of him inside her was so exquisitely perfect that it was almost too much. She couldn’t help the moan of pleasure as it was torn from her lips as her body pulsed around his.
“Are you alright?” he asked, veins straining in his neck as he held himself perfectly still, letting her body adjust to his length.
“Oh yes,” she breathed, her eyes peeling open just long enough to see the flush of pleasure her visceral reaction caused. “More,” she demanded, her hands running down his back to grasp his ass.
Lucian gave her a feral grin and flexed, every wonderful inch of him pressing into the most secret places within her.
Effie exploded around him, his name a sob on her lips as the world turned into a ball of pure light. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced, but she only had eyes for Lucian. He was made of glowing strands of golden energy, and it was the most devastatingly beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
I’m seeing Lucian’s essence, she realized once she returned to herself. Is this what he meant by fuj d’âme, she wondered as she drank in the beauty that was Lucian’s soul.
“It is,” he confirmed, leaning forward to claim her mouth with his. Weaving fingers through hers, he deepened the kiss, pressing their joined hands to the ground on either side of her head. “And it’s only just begun.”
He rocked his hips back as Effie wound her legs around him, locking him in place as she let out a low growl of protest.
His responding laugh was both tender and potently male. “Let me love you, Effie.”
“Well when you put it that way . . .”
He chuckled against her lips, the laughter ghosting through her mind like the sound of rustling leaves. When he pulled back again, she didn’t fight him. Instead, she focused on the sensations rolling through her body like an oncoming storm. Recognizing them as the promise they were, Effie gave herself over to them. To Lucian.
He activated every single bundle of nerves with each toe-curling thrust of his hips. She never knew it could be like this. So aware of—and unable to control—her body. He milked every cry from her throat, every single shiver, and still he demanded more. It wasn’t until she was desperate with need, her body quaking beneath him, that he finally increased the pace, driving into her with a mindless purpose.
; “Lu—” she gasped, not even able to finish his name as he propelled them both toward release.
This time when she came apart, Lucian was right there with her, his consciousness mingling with hers as they floated somewhere above the golden threads of their physical forms. There was no telling how much time passed as they existed there, their souls’ very essence entwined in a way few must ever experience.
Effie didn’t have the words to explain the all-encompassing bliss searing through her in that one endless moment. It was perfection, and just as she expected, now that she knew what it meant to truly be with Lucian, she would never be the same again.
Sometime later, head resting on his chest and legs tangled with his, Effie sighed. “Now that we got that out of the way, I think you have some explaining to do.”
Chapter 17
Lucian stiffened only for a second before letting out a low chuckle. “Maybe this is a conversation best suited for clothing.”
Effie rolled her head just enough that her chin was pressing into the smooth expanse of his chest and gave him a half-hearted glare. “Clothes just make it easier for you to escape.”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed we’re locked in here.”
Effie rolled her eyes. “That didn’t exactly keep you from getting in. I doubt it will pose a problem.”
Her Guardian’s eyes were warm as he stared back at her. A soft smile played around his lips, softening the usually stern lines of his face. “After everything we went through to find our way back to each other, leaving your side is the last thing on my mind.”
Her heart tumbled through her chest, Lucian’s raw honesty an exquisite kind of torture. It hurt to know how much he’d—they’d—suffered, even as it soothed the worst of the sting. Effie’s throat grew tight, and she blinked back the unexpected wetness in her eyes. Love was not a strong enough word for what she felt for this man. She’d loved before, and that emotion paled in comparison to whatever storm he invoked inside of her.
Catching one of the tears before it could fall, Lucian brushed it away. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” she said, her voice adamant if not slightly warbled. “What did you do to me? How did you manage it without becoming tainted? Is it permanent? Am I like you now? How are you Lucian and Smoke? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lucian cut off the flood of questions, his chest rumbling with laughter as he cradled her head with his hand and pulled her back down to lay atop him. “Where would you like me to start?”
“How did you stop the corruption? From what I remember, I was worse off than Tinka . . .”
“After the citadel fell—”
Effie shivered. Some part of her knew the citadel had been destroyed, but hearing Lucian say it so matter-of-factly made the loss real for the first time.
“—we moved the survivors to the Vale. Besides being the safest place to regroup, I knew that there was a chance they might have access to magic we weren’t aware of—their use of it is what got them exiled in the first place. So while it was a long shot, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. Thankfully, it paid off.”
“They knew how to remove the corruption?”
“No, well, not in so many words. When they made Val’don their home, they utilized a number of spells and rituals to both amplify their innate powers and also help make their underground city livable. I borrowed one of their spells, using it to amplify my power and send the corruption inside of you elsewhere. Once it was gone, your body was healed but your mind . . . well, the only way to make you whole required me sharing my power with you. Since there was no longer a risk of my being corrupted, it was a simple matter of transforming your essence.”
“Why do I feel like you’re leaving a lot of things out?”
Lucian snorted. “I’m not intentionally hiding anything. It’s a lot to try to distill down into one simple explanation.”
Effie bit back a retort, her mind struggling to make sense of all that he did—and didn’t—say. “Okay fine. So you used some kind of spell and sent the corruption where?”
“The Nether.”
“The what?”
“It’s a world that exists alongside this one.”
“Is that even safe? Wouldn’t the other world be at risk?”
Lucian made a frustrated sound. “The Valen Council can probably explain it better than I can, but in a word, no. Nothing can exist there. Not even the corruption.”
Effie made a soft humming sound as she let that sink in. In finding a way to save her, Lucian may have also stumbled upon the solution they needed to repair the realm. She wasn’t about to pretend she fully understood what he’d done, but she couldn’t exactly argue with the results either. She was here beside him. Her. Not some mindless monster. That was all the explanation she really needed.
Curious if she’d only imagined it, Effie asked her next question in her mind. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes. When you project the thought directly to me I can, just as if we were speaking out loud. Or if we’re touching, as long as I focus I can hear whatever you’re thinking.”
Effie frowned, not sure how she felt about Lucian having access to everything as it ran through her mind.
“As a rule, Guardians respect others’ privacy. We only take thoughts when granted permission, but if it makes you feel better, it works both ways. You have the same access to me.”
“I guess that will have its benefits.”
“Somehow I figured you’d enjoy that part,” he said.
“Is it the same for all Guardians?”
“The telepathy? Yes. You’ll be able to mind-speak with Kael and Nord or any of the other Brothers, should you happen to meet them. Although, our link will be stronger than most since it is my power that is responsible for your transformation.”
“And what about non-Guardians like Ronan or Reyna? Can I speak in their minds now?”
“Technically, yes, although it is a skill reserved for the Triumvirate, so we only use that ability when we take their forms.”
Her frown returned. “Why do you take those forms?”
She heard Lucian’s mental sigh as clearly as if he’d released it. “The physical forms of the Triumvirate, as grotesque or off-putting as they can be, are reflections of the position itself. Blind to the lies of the flesh, silent so that we may better hear the truth, nameless so that we serve only the desires of those we are bound to. But it is a practical thing as well. If we all look the same, it is easier to replace a member as needed.”
Nudity forgotten, Effie sat up and her mouth fell open. “Replace members . . . you mean you three haven’t always been the Triumvirate?”
Lucian kept his eyes trained on her face. “Kael, Nord, and I are the seventh iteration of the unit known as the Triumvirate. The weight of the prophecies we carry becomes too great a burden after a millennium or so. Thankfully, the Brotherhood of Guardians is a vast network. While we share the same power, all of us have our own unique set of skills. As such, we rotate through positions that best suit us.”
Her mind was whirling, questions coming almost as fast as his answers. “So were you sent here because you have visions?”
“No. Our power allows us to take the visions of others, and we have perfect recollection of all the ones we personally claim, but we do not have the gift of prophecy ourselves. Kael, Nord, and I were selected by the head of the Brotherhood for our ability to sense patterns and draw logical conclusions about links between what others have Seen. That combined with our military experience made us ideal candidates.”
“Will I still have visions now that I . . . now that I share your power?”
Lucian shrugged. “I don’t know.”
She could feel the truth of his answer buzzing through her, but still she repeated, “You don’t know?”
“I’ve never made another Guardian before.”
“So why—” Effie broke off and shook her head, the answer to that one obvious. Lucian attempted the transformation bec
ause he thought it was the only way to save her. “So is that what I am now? A Guardian?”
Lucian nodded. “The first female one, at that.”
Effie chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Are you going to get in trouble?”
He gave her a pointed look. “Do you really think I care?”
She laughed. “No, I guess you wouldn’t.” There were still so many questions, and her head was starting to hurt trying to process everything all at once. She was a Guardian . . . she may not have visions anymore . . . the Guardians were the Triumvirate . . . Lucian was Smoke. Mother’s tits . . . Lucian is Smoke. Her eyes were wide when they met his once more. “So . . .”
Lucian looked up at her with fathomless eyes, his mouth and mind silent while he gave her a chance to process.
Effie’s cheeks burned as she realized just what the connection between the two men meant. Lucian knew everything. He’d lived her past through the memories Smoke had acquired. He was the one she’d revealed her feelings to, the one who warned her to have more faith in her Guardian. She should have been embarrassed, but after all they’d been through it wasn’t like she wanted to keep anything from him anyway. Besides, her feelings for him certainly weren’t a secret any longer—if they ever had been to begin with.
Suddenly, it wasn’t so hard to picture them as one and the same. Smoke had always been her mentor, protecting and guiding her as best he could. As Lucian, he’d done the same, albeit in a more hands-on way. As both, he’d challenged her, accepted her, believed in her. Lucian, in any form, gave her the space to grow and evolve, while being exactly what she needed to achieve it.
In the end, the face he wore didn’t matter. She’d take him any way she could get him. Although she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she had a definite preference for this form.
Lucian’s eyes glittered as he followed her line of thought, his smile turning wolfish. “I wish I could have told you sooner. I was bound by my vow to keep the secret.”
“But you don’t have to keep it now?”
“You’re a Guardian. The rules no longer apply to you.”
