by Jaymin Eve
I sniffled. A short-term solution was better than nothing.
Pulling back, I wiped at my eyes. “What’s your solution?”
He smiled. “I’ll give it to you in a moment, but first … let’s talk. Have they told you anything about Atlantis yet?”
I shook my head. “No one has really been able to communicate with me.” Just a few letters and notes sent in by the princeps.
“It’s rising,” he confirmed. “The process is slow—it has miles of water and tunnels and magical blocks to push through, but there’s no doubt that the lock is broken.”
“What does that mean?” I asked quietly.
He shrugged. “I have no idea. All we can do is wait and see what this brings about. That land has not stood for thousands of years. There’s no way to tell how this will change supes or magic.”
“What about humans?” I said drily. “Going to be kind of hard to hide an island rising from the sea.”
Louis chuckled. “We’re setting up shields and diversions around the area. No human should discover the secret, even if they’re flying above.”
He straightened and clapped his hands together. “Before we worry about that, let’s deal with your power.”
He asked me a bunch of questions, noting the ways my energy had changed now that it was released. “It used to feel like a warm spot in my center,” I told him, pressing my hands to my stomach, right over the scar that I’d always carry from the Atlantean blade. “But now it’s an inferno. I have to actively concentrate on not spilling power everywhere, and if my emotions are riled at all, it…” I lose all control. “If your solution doesn’t work, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to leave this room.”
Louis wrapped an arm around me again. “The thing with your power is that it’s very elemental in nature. I spoke with Asher, and we both agree that you are built for water. In water your power would be easily controllable. Here on land, not so much.”
“You said you could teach me,” I reminded him, trying not to sound as desperate as I felt.
He nodded. “And I will. But neither of us have months right now to disappear. The world is changing at a rapid rate, and we’re going to be needed. Soon. My solution should allow you to finish your school year and give me time to deal with what’s happening back home. Otherwise, we’ll all have much bigger problems than a powerful Atlantean.”
Louis lifted his hand. Dangling in it was a blue swirly pendant shaped like a wave, with jagged edges. “It took six sorcerers to forge this pendant,” he said slowly. “It’s the strongest magical amulet that I’ve ever seen in my years. It’s infused with water and designed to absorb and disperse your energy.”
Reaching out, I slowly took the long silver chain attached to it. “This is my short-term solution,” Louis said as I lifted it over my head, letting it fall down to rest against my chest. “Believe it or not, your powers are still growing, unfurling their wings, which were clipped long ago.”
I shuddered at the thought, not happy to be this powerful. It was too much. The pendant worked immediately; the heat lessened inside of me. A feeling of control came over my energy. I understood what Louis was saying: I’d still have to be careful, but this would help me control the power.
Louis was watching me closely, assessing my energy with whatever magical sight he possessed. “It’s working,” he said, looking pleased.
Turning myself fully in his direction, I decided to be blunt. “Do you know if I’m Atlantean now? Am I the daughter of a god?”
Louis stood, his beautiful face creasing into a smile. “You’re definitely Atlantean. Your power flows like the tides of the sea. And … the god thing … does it matter? Would it change who you are and how you feel? You might very well be the last daughter of the queen and a god, I can’t tell, but you’re still the same Maddison you’ve always been. Your parentage does not define you.”
I had one answer, the other still unknown, but I found myself somewhat satisfied anyway. Louis reached the exit and turned back to smile at me. “Ready to return to the world, Maddison James?”
I pretty much flew out the door.
39
I found Asher in the pool, his muscled frame cutting through the water with angry slices. My heart was fluttering like crazy as I stood on the edge and watched him power along—his head remained down, not a single breath taken.
“He’s been swimming for days,” a low voice said from behind me. I turned to find Axl there, his expression shuttered, his eyes wide and shiny as he stared at me. “Whenever he’s not sitting with you, he’s swimming. All of us have been.”
“I’m sorry, Ax,” I said softly, knowing that our separation had been hard on all of us.
He wrapped his arms around me and I sank against my friend. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Axl said. “The last three weeks have been hell.”
I thought that I’d cried myself out during my isolation, and still my eyes burned. A splash behind us had me spinning around, Axl all but forgotten as a naked Asher stalked toward me.
It was the first time I’d gotten a chance to see all of him, and the sight had my mouth dry and knees weak in the same instance.
“Ash,” I breathed, my heart thundering in my chest.
He hunted me across the wooden deck of the pool and scooped me into his arms. I wrapped my legs around him and oddly enough, it almost felt like more of my energy settled inside. Between Asher and the pendant Louis gave me, I might just figure out how to keep this power at bay.
Our lips crashed together in a kiss that almost stopped my heart. It was desperate and filled with lust and need and … something deeper. We’d been through a lot now, the past year defining me in ways that the previous twenty-two did not. Kissing Asher now, in this second that both of us were safe and free, made it really hard not to cry at how perfect this moment was.
When we finally pulled away, Asher ran his fingers through my hair, gently caressing the long strands, his thumb brushing across my cheek.
“When did you get out?” he asked, the silver back in his eyes. There was a small tic high in his jaw as he worked to keep his shit together.
“Just now,” I told him. “I came straight here.”
To you.
He was the only thing I could think of.
His breaths were ragged as he dropped his head into my neck, breathing me in. I thanked everyone I could think of for magical baths, because I hadn’t actually had a shower for almost a month.
“I lost my fucking mind every single day,” he whispered, his breath hot against my skin. “I bargained and bribed and destroyed, but they would not let me see you.”
“I lost my mind too,” I admitted.
Asher strode across to one of the loungers, sinking down, pulling me on top of him. “Tell me everything that happened from when you were taken,” he said, holding me closer. Neither one of us wanted to let go.
Trying to think around the hard, delicious, naked body pressed to me was not easy, but I managed to tell him about the healing, and how my energy was insanely strong. When I got to Louis’s temporary solution, Asher touched the pendant on my chest, letting the cold stone slide across his fingers.
“I need to know what happened to you as well,” I said softly. “When Shera took you.”
Asher stiffened, but he didn’t hold back. He told me about the weeks of endless searching and how he started to hone his skills under the water. He told me about finally finding the entrance and the connection he felt to Atlantis—or the walls at least—when they first found it.
“It calls to me,” he said.
I nodded. “Yes. It was the same for me. Something inside those walls was calling me, and I’m scared to find out what it is.”
He cupped my face, kissing me softly again. “You won’t be alone. No matter what happens, we’ll face it together.”
I lay against him for a few moments, listening to the thrum of his heartbeat under my ear.
“The chick I saw in my dreams, the one pawing
all over you … she’s another Atlantean?”
Shera had said something like that, but it still bothered me to remember her touching him.
Asher’s chest rumbled. “She’s Shera’s daughter. Born from my mother’s body.”
I jerked my head up. “What? And she was trying to get you two to hook up?”
They were basically related, and she had to be pretty young. Funny, she hadn’t looked that young in the dream. There was something predatory about her.
Asher let out a dark laugh. “Shera was desperate; she would have tried anything. When I finally figured out the fire spell, I was glad to be rid of her. Only I left it too late to try the spell. She’d drained so much of my energy that I couldn’t power it.”
“Don’t ever do that again,” I whispered to him, my lips close to his. “I don’t care how high the stakes are, don’t run off to play the hero. I can’t go through that again.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think things over while I was gone,” he said, eyes silver, “and I’m sorry it took me so long to get my shit together. To figure out that fighting my feelings was stupid and redundant. I won’t waste any more time.”
His mouth landed on mine, soft and gentle, caressing as our tongues danced together. At least it started that way, but the moment his hands gripped my hips, pulling me closer, I lost control.
The kiss was so hot that I couldn’t breathe or think or do anything other than react. I just kissed him like my life depended on it, and he was doing the same. He sucked in my bottom lip and I groaned—I’d never been this turned on in my life.
I rocked against him again, my panties soaked and my body more than ready. I brushed my hands down his chest, feeling the perfect ridges of his body before I caressed his abs. My fingers wrapped around the tip of his dick, which was huge and thick.
“Please,” I moaned.
Asher lifted his head from where he was kissing me. “What, baby girl? Tell me what you want?”
I moaned again, almost beyond words. “I need—Asher, fuck.”
His fingers had slipped under my sweats, caressing along my swollen, throbbing flesh.
“Say it, Maddi,” he said with more command, and I obeyed without thought.
“I need you. Please. Don’t hold back with me. Not today.”
He lifted me, and we made it to his room in about twenty seconds. He didn’t drop me on the bed like I expected. He placed me on his table, pushing me back so he could bury his face in my pussy.
I almost came right then, thrashing and moving against his hot damp mouth. He moved back long enough to rip my sweats free, but he didn’t remove my panties, choosing to lick my clit through the soft material, using it to rub against me as his fingers danced inside of me.
“Asher,” I cried, teetering on the edge.
He slowed his assault, pulling back. I sat up, reaching out to wrap my hand around his rock-hard length. I leaned down to suck him deep into my greedy mouth. He tasted salty and sweet at the same time, and I groaned as my tongue swirled across him.
His hands fisted in my hair, just shy of painful, and when a deep rumble left his mouth, I groaned as well, loving that I was making this good for him.
Asher tightened his hold, pulling my face up to his, our lips meeting in another frantic, punishing kiss. He wasted no time removing every last piece of my clothing, before he moved us to the bed. I couldn’t stop touching his body, marveling at the strength and beauty before me. There was nothing and no one comparable to Asher, and the fact that he was mine, in even this sort of small capacity, blew my mind.
We hadn’t had the “are you my girlfriend or boyfriend” talk yet, and I wasn’t even sure that was something supes did, but we’d already proven that we cared beyond most normal relationships, and that was enough.
“You’re not fertile,” he said, pressing hard kisses along my chest, his lips and tongue caressing my nipples.
“No,” I moaned, moving against him. “Not fertile.”
I’d learned about being fertile and if there were any supe STIs—there weren’t—early in the year. It was good to be responsible and prepared. It was also a relief to find out why I’d never had a period, something human-raised Maddison had worried about but never had the money to get checked.
Asher slid inside me in one smooth movement, and it was only because I’d been prepped well and was more turned on than I’d ever been in my life that his size didn’t hurt me.
He moved slowly at first, sliding in and out, teasing nerve endings and getting me wetter than I’d ever been. After some time, he lost that controlled speed, lifting me with one hand to give himself better leverage before slamming into me. After months of torture, months of separation, months of denying our true selves, this was exactly what we needed.
Reaching up, I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth down to mine. We both released a breathy groan as our tongues met, and I hoped that I would never get sick of tasting him like this. It was fucking heaven.
Asher pulled back so that our eyes could meet. “I’m addicted,” he said softly, those dimples assaulting me with their beauty. He slid deeper, the pace slowing again.
I gasped, arching into him. “Asher…”
His hand tightened on my ass, lifting me while he used his other hand to stroke my clit. The hot, drugging swirls in my center expanded, filling my body with the sort of pleasure that could possibly kill a person. Groans escaped, and my body tightened and exploded.
He drew my orgasm out for a long time, the slow, deep strokes dragging every ounce of pleasure from me. The moment I relaxed, he leaned down and kissed me gently, his thumb caressing my cheek before running across my lips.
I sighed, another moan escaping as he continued those slow, deep thrusts. It was almost too much with the aftershocks of my orgasm still racing through me.
Sweet Jesus.
Something was very clear to me now. There was normal sex, and then there was sex with Asher.
My buildup started again, faster than before and with strong intensity. One fist gripped the sheets at my side, and I arched my back, giving him deeper access.
“You are so fucking perfect,” he said, a rumble in his tone.
“Ash,” I cried, about two more strokes from losing it.
This time when my body shattered, black and white dots flashed across my eyes. I forced myself to breathe, because I was pretty sure I was going to pass out if I didn’t. Asher’s body tensed above me, and he groaned my name as he joined me, both of us riding the pleasure for many, many long minutes.
Asher twisted to the side, our bodies still together as he dropped to the bed. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing emerged. I just couldn’t coherently string words together. Asher’s strong arms banded around me, his lips pressing over and over into my lips and jawline and cheeks. It was a surprisingly sweet moment after the hottest sex of my life.
“You’re under my skin, Maddison,” he said softly, his breath and scent teasing my senses. “I’ve been sleeping in a bed that smells like you. Sitting in a medical wing that smells like you. Dealing with four best friends who love you and consider you family.”
“I stayed in your room while you were gone,” I said softly. “It was the closest I could get to you, and it killed me every single fucking day to know you were at the mercy of those assholes.” I sucked in a deep breath, refusing to be lost in those green eyes until I got all the words out. “I dreamed of you, watching you be tortured. Of that woman touching you. I can’t do that again.”
His lips were a butterfly kiss across mine. “You won’t,” he promised, his face hard as the scary, powerful Asher came out to play. “I chose to try and destroy them from the inside, and it worked, but only because you all showed up at the right time. I won’t be so lenient next time. If they come at us again, any of the remaining Arterians, I will show them exactly why Atlantean royalty was feared.”
“You think they’ll try again? To take you or … me?”
He broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Atlantis is rising. That was the first part of their plan. But I don’t think it’s everything they want, and only time will tell what the rest of their plan is.”
Not a comforting thought, but knowing that we were all together, I wasn’t too worried. We’d deal with whatever came at us.
40
I’d missed quite a lot of school and classes with everything that had happened, so my days after this were filled with study and catching up. My reunion with Ilia and Larissa involved tears and ice cream and another wine-fueled naked dip in the pool. Asher kept the guys away, and I was grateful.
With the end of my first school year at the Academy approaching, I found myself sitting down for breakfast with everyone. We were in the commons, surrounded by students. Some of them were studying—it was the start of our last exam week—but most were watching us closely. That appeared to be a new activity in the school, watching our table to see what crazy might happen. Word had gotten around about our trip out to the Greek Islands, and while most people didn’t know the true story—the rumors were pretty insane—it still created a ton of interest around us.
Asher and I hadn’t come out as a couple or anything yet, but we did touch an awful lot, and everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with that.
“Are you ready?” Rone asked Larissa, sitting close to her. “What exam do you have first?”
Larissa, who was in her second year, had been telling me a few days ago how much harder it was than first year. Normally that would have freaked me out, but mostly it made me excited. I couldn’t wait to see how we would advance, the new things I still had to learn.
“I’ve got Herbalism with Maddi,” she said, shooting me a small grin. “And then I have Demonology.”
