Flame and Starlight (The Esteria Series Book 1)

by Dana Isaly

  I nodded and sat up, holding the sheet over my chest, and watched as the shadows that lingered stayed with me as he got dressed and left. I held out my arms and watched as they danced over my skin.

  “Do you lot not need to go with him?” They curled tighter around me, so I shrugged and crawled out of bed to get dressed. Mavka had packed a few pants and shirts that would work much better than a dress.

  I knew when he came back because the shadows around me began to pull towards the door, and his leaked down the hallway towards me, mingling together. After tying my boots up, I gave them what they wanted and walked out to the front room, grabbing my coffee out of his hands.

  “Thank you,” I said as he kissed my hair. “Some of your shadows stayed behind with me.”

  “I saw that. They must find you somewhat tolerable as well.” I gave him a pointed look, and he planted kisses across my frown.

  “Take me to the mountains so that I can kick your ass in this flying lesson.”

  He chuckled and picked me up. “Brat,” he said. I punched him in his chest as he took off in the air.

  “I am not jumping off of that cliff, Asher!” I was yelling, but we had traveled out in the middle of nowhere, so I wasn’t concerned someone could hear me. “Can’t we just start off by having me flap them a few times?” My wings were out but tucked tightly against my back.

  “If you do that, you’ll just end up falling on your ass. Go ahead. Give it a shot.”

  I shot daggers with my eyes but rolled my neck and stretched my membranous wings out to each side and then gave a hard thrust. I was pushed backwards and landed flat on my butt. Asher was hiding his mouth behind his hand, but I could still see him laughing.

  “Fine,” I said as I stood up and dusted the snow off my pants. “But if you let me fall and die, I will haunt your ass.” I walked over to the edge, and he followed me.

  “I’ll fly down a bit and wait there to catch you in case you don’t get the hang of it. I really think it’s going to come naturally to you. You’ll be fine.” With a mock salute, he leaned back and fell off the edge of the cliff. I crossed my arms and peered over at him.

  “Show-off!” I shouted against the wind. He hovered out in the air, his wings pushing him up and side to side as he waited for me. Heights was another fear of mine. My knees would even get weak when I watched Spiderman swinging from rooftop to rooftop on a TV screen.

  But Asher was waiting out there, and this was a new life. I had wings, and I needed to learn how to use them. I’d rather learn how to use them when I knew he’d be there to catch me instead of when I needed to use them and could end up crashing down.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could feel him out there, patiently waiting, giving me the time I needed to work up this amount of courage.

  “On the count of three!” I yelled into the abyss.

  “One!” His voice rang out in my ears.

  “Two,” I whispered back. But I knew he heard me. My fists clenched and unclenched.

  “Three. Go.” The authority in his voice had me running. I leapt off the edge, and my arms and legs involuntarily swung in circles, trying to keep me up like treading water. My stomach dropped as I dropped, dead weight flying through the air towards Asher like a rock. “Wings, Alys!”

  I mentally kicked myself before stretching them out, forcing them to open in the wind soaring past me. I gritted my teeth, and my nails bit into my palms. But I slowed, and the wind banked me left at neck-breaking speed, whipping pieces of my hair out of its knot.

  “Move them with where the wind is trying to take you!”

  “Fuck!” I swore and moved them as best I could to try and make them take me back towards Asher. I didn’t need to push as hard as I thought I did. Once I relaxed a bit and leaned into where I wanted to go, they listened, and I could finally take a moment to enjoy what was happening.

  My stomach still dropped when I looked down and my knees felt a little fuzzy, but the view was beautiful. Snow-covered peaks pushed up into the winter sky, and thousands of evergreens below us were blanketed in the stuff, glittering in the midday sun. I soared around in circles, leaning this way and that, trying to get the feel of how they needed to be used. I breathed in the icy air and knew I could get used to this. Asher swooped in, taking me off guard, and collided with my body, grabbing me around my waist.

  “Give them a rest or you’re going to be really, really sore tomorrow.”

  I smiled wide, unable to help myself, and tucked my wings back against me as he dipped and swerved us through the sky.

  “That was amazing.”

  He pulled my hair down and watched it blow in the breeze before running his thumb across my cheek. I felt my face flush at the intensity in his blue eyes. He smiled.

  “I love it when your cheeks blush.”

  He kissed me. His lips were a feather against mine, and I was the one that pushed harder, asking for more. My arms wrapped themselves around his neck, and my legs did the same around his waist. He growled and forced my mouth open to his. Suddenly we were on solid ground, and he pushed me up against a tree. Both of our wings wrapped around us, rubbing up against themselves.

  I moaned and rolled my hips into his hardness. Electricity shot through my core. I could feel every ounce of desire that scorched his veins. His hand was rough as it pushed its way under my jacket and shirt and found my breast. I leaned my head back against the tree and sighed, granting him access to my neck, which he immediately took. We were like two horny teenagers, grabbing at each other like it was our first time.

  We were a tangle of limbs and mouths. I laughed while his hands dropped their assault down to my hips and butt. I grabbed his face and brought his lips back to mine. I would never get sick of the way he tasted or the way he kissed me. He put me down on my feet and turned me so that I was pushed up against the roughness of the bark. His face nuzzled into my wings, causing me to rub my thighs together to try and quell that insistent pulse there.

  I pushed my butt back into him, trying to find him. His hands stilled me and slowly pushed my pants down to my knees, and cold air licked at my skin. His arms snaked around my waist, and he cupped me, pressing the heel of his palm into the apex between my thighs. I moaned, and my legs would’ve given out had he not been holding me up. A finger slipped inside. I was heated and soaked for him.

  “So wet for me, little duck,” he purred in my ear. He pulled his hand away, and I looked back at him to beg for him to touch me, but the second our eyes met, he was inside me. His eyes were clouded with lust, and I knew he saw the same in mine. He pulled out slowly and then pushed back in with one rough thrust. His hand found my throat, and he pulled me back against him, swallowing my mouth with his.

  This was nothing like the night before. He was driven purely by his need for me. His free hand cupped my breasts through the layers I wore and pinched hard on my nipples. I arched back into the sensation and waited as each harsh thrust pushed me closer to the edge.

  “Look at me,” he said, his voice as rough as his body. I opened my eyes and watched him watch me. When those same fingers trailed lower and pinched the bundle of nerves at my core, the pressure built to a painful high.

  “Asher,” I moaned, and he pulled my face away from his, opening my neck up to him.

  His mouth landed on my pulse point, and he bit down. The initial pain where he drew blood mixed with the pleasure of his torturous thrusts forced me to come apart around him. He sucked at my neck, and my release kept coming with each pull his lips made at my neck until I felt tears start rolling down my face. He groaned my name as he pushed his own release inside me and relaxed his mouth’s hold on my neck.

  I fell back against him, exhausted. I opened my eyes and saw in his that they were shining brightly at him. I blinked a few times as he brushed the tears off my cheeks.

  “Did I hurt you, Alys?” His eyebrows were knitted together in genuine worry.

  “No. No, Asher. You definitely did not hurt me.”

/>   “Your taste,” he purred as he licked the sensitive spot at my neck, “is intoxicating.”

  I smiled and leaned my head into his, planting a kiss in his hair. I gently pulled myself off him and pulled my pants back up around my waist. I wanted to go home and have a bath.

  “I thought blood was the vampire’s forte,” I joked as I tied my pants back on.

  “It’s a Fae thing, too,” he said with a wink at me. He pulled his own pants up and continued to explain. “It’s a very personal, sensual thing to us, sharing blood.” His eyes turned dark. “If anyone else were to…” He trailed off and took a breath. “It’s personal.” A wicked smile graced his lips. “It’s also part of the mating ceremony.”

  I choked on my own spit. “Excuse me?” I said in between coughs.

  “Don’t worry, little duck. I would have to take far more from you than what I did. And you would have to do the same to me. What I did to you was to make you feel good. Judging by your tears of joy,” he said with a smirk, “it worked.” And then he literally patted himself on the back, and my fingers itched to palm the dagger at my side and throw it at him.

  “Don’t look at me like that, little duck,” he said, his eyes darkening. His hand encased my jaw, and he bit my lip. “I love that murderous little gaze you have. And unless you want round two, I’d wind it in.” Even though my body responded in a way that told me I very much wanted round two, I decided to take his advice and go home. I needed a bath and a nap. My back was already starting to ache after the flying lesson. If I had to be presentable tonight for another dinner, I was going to need a few hours of rest.

  “Let’s go home,” I said, pushing his chest. I tucked my wings away.

  “As you wish,” he said and scooped me up in his arms. I leaned my head against his shoulder and watched the world pass us by as he took us back. On the way back, a thought popped into my head with such aggression it didn’t feel like my own. I wondered if his feelings were seeping into me, but as I searched through my own emotions and my own mind, this thought wasn’t his. It was mine.

  I suddenly knew I would do anything for him. I would fight for him. I would die for him. I would do anything I had to do to stay here forever. He looked down at me and smiled. One of those rare smiles that reached up to his eyes and crinkled the corners. I would do anything I had to do to make sure he always looked at me like that. Something had changed in the past few days. I knew it in my soul that he was mine and I was his. And there was no going back now.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Asher rubbed my soon-to-be sore muscles in the bath and then sat next to me on the bed while I curled up for a nap. He traced featherlight circles on my arms while reading his book until I fell asleep. And when I woke up, he was still there, still reading, with his fingers tangling themselves in my hair.

  “Do we do anything special for the Solstice tomorrow?” I asked with sleep still heavy in my voice.

  “Zemira will give gifts to everyone at dinner. We do a lot of things that you would probably consider Pagan-like? She’ll have Yule logs burning at dinner, and she’ll give each guest a Yule log to burn in their cabin. The kids will be encouraged to go gather pine leaves and make their own evergreen wreaths and little decorations for the trees. Dancing will take place outside in the forest instead of inside.” He shrugged.

  “I love Christmas,” I said, snuggling up closer to his side. “My mom used to decorate the entire house from top to bottom in warm lights and pretty decorations. There would be a Christmas tree in every room. Even as I got older, we would still keep up the Santa tradition. I would have to ask Santa for presents as well as her.” I laughed at the memories.

  “You miss her.”

  I looked up at him. “I do. But I’m excited to start new traditions here, in this world.” He smiled at me. With you.

  “I saw a dress that Mavka packed for you. And I’d like you to wear it tonight. Everyone is encouraged to wear the colors of their court tomorrow night, so I’d like to see you in some color tonight.” He rolled off the bed and pulled out a deep red gown from my trunk. It had long sleeves and was made of some sort of gauzy, see-through fabric on the top with a dangerously low neckline and red beading covering every square inch of it. It would look like the beading had been placed directly on my skin. The bottom was pure red silk with a high slit on each thigh.

  “Where’s the rest of it? And it’s see-through?” I sat up and ran my fingers down the beading as he held it out to me.

  He rolled his eyes at me and laid it on the bed. “Get dressed,” he said as his lips met mine in a bruising kiss. “I want to look at you all night in this thing, knowing I get to rip it off of you later.”

  I stared at his back as he walked out of the room, still half-stunned that he wanted me.

  “And wear your crown,” he tossed over his shoulder.

  “Tiara!” I shot back at him. “It is not a crown,” I mumbled to myself.

  You could definitely see the faint outline of the dagger on my thigh in this scrap of fabric he called a dress. The slits were so high that it peeked out with every step I took. Thankfully, the beading on the chest was strategically placed with thicker fabric behind it to cover my chest. The chance of a nip slip was still high, though. I clasped my starlight necklace around my neck and let it lie against my collarbone, his shadows drifting slowly there even though he wasn’t in the room. My tiara sat heavier on my head after he called it a crown, a new weight behind it.

  “I’m practically naked,” I said when I felt him come into the room. More of his shadows billowed around me like smoke.

  “Everyone is going to be looking at you tonight and wishing they could take you home,” he said, moving behind me. “But they don’t get to touch you. I do. And if they try, I will hurt them. If they do, I will kill them.” I swallowed. “After babysitting you this past month, I’m eager for a fight.”

  Gods, he was beautiful. He was dressed all in black except for his shirt that was bloodred to match my dress. His hair was wild and curled around his face, framing it perfectly. He wrapped his arms around me, and I watched the muscles in his arms flex and move under his tight jacket. Sometimes I forgot how strong he was, how many people he had killed. His power was raw and moved under his skin like his shadows.

  He flew us into town, and instantly I felt something was off. I looked up at him, but he seemed unfazed, like nothing felt off to him. I chalked it up to my nerves of seeing everyone after we had been together. I told myself it was stupid to feel embarrassed because my role was his plaything from the start. But I knew now that something had shifted between us, and I worried they’d see it written all over my body.

  The air moved differently around me. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different tonight.

  “The wind feels strange,” I whispered as he sat me down.

  “Could be your lack of clothing,” he quipped and took my hand in his. I made a face at him and followed him into dinner.

  It seemed to pass normally except for the feeling someone was watching me. I dismissed it as the revealing clothing and my paranoia. But I couldn’t shake it. I tried to look around the room over my wineglass, but everyone was focused on their own conversations, not paying any more attention to us tonight than they did any other night.

  Some males’ gazes lingered on my chest, but the moment Asher caught their eye, they quickly averted theirs. I smiled every time, loving the possessiveness that pooled around him. His shadows clung to me tightly, covering a lot of the skin that would’ve been on show otherwise.

  Asher laid his arm on the back of my chair, and I felt him twist my waves through his fingers. I turned to look at him, and his eyes were gorgeous in this light. He leaned in and kissed my cheek and then found the shell of my ear. His breath was hot, and it made me burn. My magick cracked and sizzled under my skin.

  “I like watching your eyes light up for me,” he whispered. I closed them and took a breath, trying to get my power under control.
The last thing we needed was everyone to see my eyes turn a bright glowing white. I smiled and caught his mouth with mine.

  “I don’t think you want everyone to see my eyes glow,” I murmured against his lips. I was satisfied when I saw a tinge of my red lipstick left behind there. He nipped my nose, and I laughed, settling into his side.

  When I turned my attention back to the table, a bright flash of wild auburn hair streaked across the window opposite us. I jerked up and out of his arm, suddenly alert.

  Aoife?

  “What’s wrong, princess?” A few people near us scoffed at the nickname. I was too distracted to wonder why.

  “I swear I saw someone,” I said, trailing off as I stood to walk outside, the chair scraping like nails on a chalkboard. It had to be her. I was sure of it. He stood up next to me and leaned in so only I could hear in a room filled with Fae hearing.

  “Who’d you see?”

  “I swear I saw Aoife,” I said, matching his tone. Any relaxation he had gained over the past couple of days disappeared in the moment. His muscles stiffened, and his eyes went grey, all the warmth in them leeched out by how alert he was. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room and into the cold night. People were filtering out around us and mingling as they made their way down the sidewalks.

  He took me around the building and down the little alley where the windows were, searching for any sign someone had been there. There wasn’t a single footprint. The snow lay smoothly on the ground. He walked all the way down the length of the building, and gooseflesh prickled over my arms. Something was not right. His shadows swirled nervously around me.

  “I know what I saw,” I said, but I could hear the doubt in my voice. He made his way back to me and took my face in his hands. He held my face there, inches from his, so gently, but I could feel the power rolling off him in waves.

  “They will not touch you.”