by Lexi C. Foss
“No, Claire.” I fisted her hair, forcing her to hold my gaze. “You are my family; do you understand? I won’t deny what you mean to me any longer. Nor will I deny the power thriving inside me.”
Her eyes went wide, and then a smile broke out on her face. “Are you serious?”
I captured her mouth with mine, and she bent to me, opening for me and intertwining her elemental gifts with my own until my skin tingled with her never-ending power.
My grandfather cleared his throat. “Now, now. Can’t have you two mate-bonding right here on the spire’s doorstep.”
“Where, then?” Claire asked, breathless from my kiss.
I grinned. “I know just the place.”
Cyrus
“She’s happy,” I murmured, tapping my spritemead against Exos’s mug.
“You mean distracted,” my brother clarified.
“Mmm,” I agreed, sipping the seductive liquid and sighing. “Mating Vox is a good play. It’ll only strengthen her to have more of that royal blood in her.”
Exos nodded. “Sol should be next.”
I eyed the drunk Earth Fae, who sat several yards away with a laughing Titus at his side. “Either will do,” I said, considering their elemental affinities. “But yes, having a stronger tie to Sol’s bloodline would benefit her.”
And given what we both felt was coming, enhancing Claire’s abilities was more than needed.
“What did your dad say about Elana?” my brother asked softly, keeping his voice low and pitched for my ears alone.
We hadn’t been able to chat much today with all the festivities, and it’d been our top priority to keep Claire happy. She hadn’t slept well in my absence. Yet Ophelia never appeared. It was almost as if she kept trying to manifest but couldn’t.
“My father did not have kind things to say about Elana.” Which was an understatement. He pretty much cringed the second I brought up her name and didn’t stop huffing until we were done talking about her. “I guess it’s rumored that her mother had an affair, but no one knows with whom. But she didn’t look anything like her father. Some claimed Elana’s single spirit ability was a consequence of her mother’s infidelity. From what I gathered, our brethren were not kind to Elana.”
“Which could explain why she chose the path she did. She wants unity among the fae to bring us together and remove negativity and competition from our world.”
“Or, she’s full of shit and up to something,” I countered. “Which is what my father claims. He says he’s never trusted her, that he’s sensed her growing affinity for water for over a decade, and he feels strongly that she’s hiding something.”
“Sounds like you,” Exos drawled.
“He is my father, after all.” Something I’d denied most of my life, choosing to ally myself with the Spirit Kingdom first and foremost. I half expected my father to hold that against me, but he said he respected the loyalty because he knew the Spirit Fae needed my guidance more.
The old man wasn’t half bad.
I might even eventually like him if he kept this up.
Shaking my head, I returned to our conversation at hand. “Regardless, I’m inclined to agree that Elana is hiding something. I just can’t figure out why she’d go through all this trouble, or for what.”
“So you think she might be keeping Ophelia captive?”
“It’s possible.” I rubbed my jaw, considering. “I just don’t know why.” I glanced at him. “How close are you to summoning her again?”
“Close. I’m planning to work with Claire on it tomorrow.”
I nodded. “Good. I want to be there.”
“Serves as a good lesson,” Exos added, shrugging. “As Spirit Queen, she should know how to call upon the fae spirit.”
“It’s not exactly a beginner course,” I replied, cringing. “I’d not even call it advanced.” It was more like a superior skill that very few Spirit Fae had mastered. It required a great deal of elemental power, typically drawing from the source. “Still, I agree. It’ll be a good training exercise.” Because it was the same method we drew upon to control another fae, which may come in handy one day and save her life.
“Elana knows how to do it,” Exos pointed out.
“I know.” I’d observed her manipulate others countless times. “She always does it in a way that paints her in a positive light.”
“Like when she forced the truth out of those girls at the Academy and supposedly sent them to the Spirit Kingdom?” Exos suggested.
“Yeah, exactly like that. Comes in, plays the role of savior, and rids the world of evildoers.”
“Only, I’d bet you a bucket of spritemead those girls were actually innocent.” He lifted his glass, knocked back the drink, and relaxed on our bench against the rocky cliff behind us. “Not that I picked up on it at the time.”
“No, from what the others implied, they looked pretty guilty.”
“Almost as if someone set them up,” Exos murmured.
“Indeed,” I agreed, leaning back on my elbows, my mug nearly empty. “I think we have a lot of detective work to do, brother.”
“My favorite kind,” he mused.
My lips curled. “Mine, too.”
Vox
Festivities echoed against the crags, and the air grew thin as we climbed the seemingly endless stairs to the top. But the exhaustion was worth it because I knew we wouldn’t be disturbed here.
“How far is this place?” Claire huffed, her breath coming in short gasps.
I chuckled and took her hand. “Do I need to fuss at Titus for not keeping you in shape? He’s far too easy on you if a couple of stairs are your match.”
She glared at me. “Easy for you to say. You have the body of an athlete and grew up in this thin air. I don’t think you ever run out of stamina.”
I grinned. “Quite right, Claire. I can go all night.”
Her eyes widened. “Did you just make a joke?”
“Here we are!” my grandfather announced, ignoring our banter. He waved his hand and undid the magical binds that kept the sacred ceremonial chamber locked. The doors popped open and revealed a platform that overlooked the city and the cliffs below. It provided an even more breathtaking view than that at my grandfather’s home.
He let out a long, appreciative sigh. “I haven’t been to this place in centuries. Perhaps the last time was when I mate-bonded to your grandmother.” His smile turned somber, and a reminiscent breeze swept over the sacred space.
“I miss her, too,” I admitted and took Claire’s hand as I guided her onto the platform. This one had safety rails, something I appreciated as it alleviated my concerns about losing control of my power during the ceremony. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew this would be the moment where I had to embrace my true nature and acknowledge myself as a Royal Air Fae.
Claire clung to my robes as she took in the vast scenery.
The kingdom glimmered with lights, alive with celebration and joy. The music could barely reach us at this height, but another melody caught my ears. One of wind and nature’s harmony as the element twirled and played at the top of the ceremonial spire.
Claire focused on the starless sky above, its tapestry blocked out by a long sea of rolling aura lights. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed, lifting her fingers as if to touch the masterpiece. “What is it?”
“Wind’s source,” my grandfather said with pride. He moved to a single pedestal that housed sacred texts, even though he didn’t need it. We all had the vows memorized by heart. To mate-bond was the most important day of our lives as a fae, and I didn’t take this lightly.
“Nothing is more beautiful than seeing you here with me,” I said, brushing away Claire’s hair from her face. My fingers didn’t touch her skin but hovered just out of reach as my element kissed her cheek.
She smiled. “What made you change your mind?” she asked, seemingly bewildered by my readiness to mate-bond with her. “I’m not blind, Vox. I’ve sensed your hesitation from the ver
y beginning. I thought you would never go beyond the second stage of mate-bonding, but then the other night, I thought maybe I pushed you into the third bond...” Her gaze drifted to the aura again. “Are you really ready for this?”
I didn’t tease this time. I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her close to me so that I could feel her breath on my face.
“I’ve been a fool.” My admission echoed out across the great expanse even though I’d barely uttered the words. The energy in my chest stirred, and anticipation made every inch of me feel electrified.
“Yes, I’ve fought the bond,” I continued. “But not because of you. I fought because deep down I knew what it meant for my power. All my life, I’ve prided myself on my control, and you, my darling Claire, unwind all my practiced restraint. It terrified me at first, made me feel like I’d lost a key part of myself. However, I realize now that you were teaching me how to live. How to breathe for the first time. How to truly feel.”
I cupped her cheek and brushed my lips across hers, loving the taste of her, the sensation of her in my arms, the irrefutable reality of her finally being mine.
“I love you, Claire,” I told her. “So yes, I’m ready. I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.” And I meant every single word.
Claire answered me with a kiss of her own that ignited a storm inside of me. A storm that confirmed this was where I belonged.
My grandfather creaked the old book open. “Repeat after me…”
Claire spoke the words first, her lips hovering just over mine.
I, Claire, accept the power that binds me to Vox, born of the Four Winds. To cherish and respect, through all of the eras and time that may fall before us, until our souls do us part. I give unto him my promise of freedom, my warm breeze, my calm before every storm, and accept his in return. My element is now his just as his is now mine, to the fae heavens may we never part. And I shall never forsake him for another, my wind forever belonging to him and to him alone.
The elements roared to life when she completed the last phrase, and she gasped, her finger running over my cheekbone. “Vox, your eyes.”
I didn’t have to ask her what she meant, because her eyes had transformed as well. For just this moment in time, she was an Air Fae, embracing all that it meant to become one with me and to approach the source of my power. Her irises glistened with a wild silver band that grew as the winds surrounding us picked up.
I felt that power in my chest, and I did what I never could have done without Claire.
I embraced it.
I, Vox, accept the power that binds me to Claire, a Halfling who completes me like no Air Fae could. To cherish and respect, through all of the eras and time that may fall before us, until our souls do us part. I give unto her my promise of freedom, my warm breeze, my calm before every storm, and accept hers in return. My element is now hers just as hers is now mine, to the fae heavens may we never part. And I shall never forsake her for another, my wind forever belonging to her and to her alone.
The blast that hit us swept us off the platform. It didn’t matter that there was a rail; we went flinging over it and into the skies. Claire gasped and clung to my neck.
“I thought you said we couldn’t fly!”
We couldn’t, but we weren’t flying.
We were being accepted by the source of the Four Winds into a sacred realm only royals could go.
“Don’t be afraid,” I assured her and turned her so that her back was to my chest. Our feet dangled, but an invisible force took us up into the thin air where the surging aura lights waited. Jewel tones filled the horizon, and a bed of clouds formed under us.
I lowered Claire onto the soft element, finding it tangible and real. She marveled as she swept her hand through the cottony substance. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Her eyes had gone completely silver now, and my element called to hers. My yearning for her to complete what we’d started overwhelmed me. We had to appease the energy swirling around us, to become one in the most sacred of realms.
“Claire,” I breathed, her name a desperate plea as if I were in pain even from this small separation. We needed to complete the bond.
Her silver eyes gleamed knowingly, her fingers sweeping in an arc that sent wind tangling her power through my hair, undoing my warrior’s tail, and lifting the dark strands over my shoulders. She tugged at my clothes as I did the same to hers, sending my desire to shift her sleeves off her shoulders. My lips went to her delicate skin, then I tasted her neck with my tongue.
“Vox,” she said, fluttering her eyelids closed as my hand went underneath the thin veil of her dress to pull away the fabric that separated us. I wanted us to be skin to skin, to feel every inch of hers with my own.
Her hair waved around me when my touch found the delicate folds between her thighs, slipping my fingers into her wetness and rolling my thumb over the soft nub that waited for me. I claimed her mouth as I drank in her moans.
“Vox,” she attempted again, arching her back against the bed of wind and mist. “We’re on a cloud. Floating. This… I should be terrified. But...” She trailed off on a moan.
We dangled above the kingdom where the air grew thinner and only magic kept us aloft, but I trusted the source more than I ever had in all my life. It wished us to become one, to bless our union. I had only heard about such pairings in Air Fae myth, but it assured me that I had made the right choice beyond a shadow of any doubt.
Claire was mine.
“Do you trust me?” I asked, pressing my cock to her waiting heat.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Always.”
She sighed as I slid inside her, my hips setting a rhythm meant to please and enhance our joining. I clamped my teeth over her taut nipple, eliciting a shocked groan from her throat, one I reveled in and adored.
“More,” she urged. “Take me, Vox.”
I did, picking up the pace and driving into her with a craving only she could satisfy. My power circled us, the wind kissing every inch of her skin as I worshiped her breasts and thrust deeper into her with each intake of her gasping breath. I ground my hips in a way that brushed her clit, making her silver eyes roll into the back of her head as she approached pure bliss.
Her body tightened around me, just needing one more push to be sent over the edge.
I gave it to her, caressing her with a gentle breeze and driving myself to the hilt. She cried out, my name a chant on the winds and forcing me to tumble over the cliff into my own release.
We are one, I thought, moaning her name out loud.
But the source wasn’t done with us yet.
It wanted more.
I wanted more.
And so did Claire.
She writhed underneath me, her hands going to my hair as she pulled me down for a kiss. “Whatever you just did to me, promise me you’ll do it again.” Her silver eyes flashed with renewed desire.
And so I did, my powers whispering back to life, commanded by my mate to worship every inch of her until there was nothing left but sky, wind, and her sweet cries drifting on the breeze.
Claire
My heart fluttered at the sight of Cyrus and Exos waiting for me in the hallway, their stances relaxed despite the task ahead. They’d dressed slightly more casually today in button-down shirts and slacks. Apparently, this was their idea of being comfortable.
I couldn’t say I minded. They resembled walking models, especially with the sleeves of their dress shirts rolled up to the elbows like that. If their aim was to distract me from our goal, they were off to a fabulous start.
Exos’s lips pulled up into a grin as he wrapped his palm around the back of my neck, pulling me in for a long, sensuous kiss. I barely had a second to breathe before Cyrus grabbed me and repeated the greeting, his mouth a warm welcome I adored.
“Well, if that’s how this activity is going to go, then I’ll happily play along,” Titus drawled from the doorway behind me.
He stood in nothing b
ut a pair of flannel pants, his upper body flushed from sleep.
“I wish it were that enjoyable,” Exos said, taking my hand and tugging me into the space between him and Cyrus. “Alas, it’s going to be a long day.”
“You say that like you don’t enjoy fucking with the spirits of others.” Sol appeared beside Titus, his expression matching his harsh tone. “Oh, but wait, that’s what your kind does best.”
Ouch. I frowned at him. “What are you implying? That I want to play in the spirit realm and hurt people?” Because that was far from the truth. We were only doing this today to obtain answers from my mother. “Don’t you think I’d choose another route if I had a choice?” My mother hadn’t reached out again since that fretful night. And frankly, I wanted our next contact to be on my terms, not hers. This was the best way to accomplish that.
“Not all of us enjoy inflicting torture on others,” Cyrus added quietly. “I can see the scars on your spirit. What we are doing today won’t touch another in that manner. I swear it.”
Sol narrowed his gaze at my water mate. “It’d better not.” And with that, he stomped off, his agitation clear in the way the stone reverberated beneath his steps.
I flinched, my chest aching as if he’d shot an arrow through it. “He thinks I would do that?”
“No, he thinks we would.” Exos kissed my temple. “Trust me, his anger isn’t directed at you.”
“Could have fooled me.” He hadn’t even looked at me, much less replied to my commentary.
“I’ll talk to him,” Titus promised, pushing away from the door. “He’s probably just hungover from all that blast mead last night.” He waggled his brows. “Vox and I will fix him right up with some breakfast. He’ll be as good as new when you get back.”
“Pretty sure it’s more than a hangover,” I grumbled. Sol had always appeared to be on edge around Exos and Cyrus, but I never knew why. And Cyrus’s comment regarding Sol’s scars was news to me. I didn’t even know what he meant.
