by Ophelia Bell
“I’m a little more than human. So is my brother,” Neela said in a brittle tone. She lifted a hand, and flames sprouted from her fingertips.
Aodh crossed his arms.” What are you, anyway? You were an Elite once, and I know what kinds of mutations Elites undergo to gain their powers, but you are something different now. Something unlike anything I have seen—your aura is pure fire.”
“Pure dragon fire,” Zorion said. “Neela died at Meri’s hands only yesterday. She was resurrected by my fire—I had no idea that would happen, but I am grateful for it nonetheless.”
“A phoenix,” Aodh said in a subdued tone. “Do you have wings as well?”
Neela nodded, and her back shimmered with golden fire. Zorion hastily stepped close and pressed a palm between her shoulder blades. “Not here, adara. It’s too … flammable.” To Aodh, he said, “Yes, it seems this is what being resurrected by dragon fire does.”
“The Sun spoke to me when I died,” Neela said. “She gave me a new life so I could protect my daughter. I intend to do that. Can we take her to the Glade or not?”
Aodh’s shoulders dropped. “Sadly, I doubt it would be any safer than the Sanctuary. Deva is like a beacon to Meri. If she could find her here, we have to assume she’d be able to find her at the Glade or the turul Enclaves as well. Nothing short of a higher plane would be secure enough.”
“Did I not see a god in the gardens earlier?” Zorion said. “Would he help?”
Ozzie was already headed for the door. “There’s one way to find out,” he shot over his shoulder as he departed.
Chapter Fourteen
Just when Cade was becoming comfortable wallowing in his own memories and studiously avoiding eavesdropping on the actions of the two lovers, he was abruptly pushed back into his conscious body.
He found himself lying on his back, blinking up into a beautiful, green-eyed gaze.
“Cade, there you are,” Numa said with a warm smile.
He blinked as he took in her disheveled appearance and flushed cheeks. She had a hesitant look as she reached up to stroke his beard, her touch inciting a pleasant flutter of longing inside him. He turned into her touch, pressing his lips to her palm and holding it there while he took a deep breath to gather himself.
“Yeah, I’m back. I take it breezy boy took good care of you?”
“Mmm, yes. He did have excellent tools to work with.” She slid off him and settled against his side, the warm press of her body fanning the flames of his longing. With Zephyrus’ presence back in his mind, practically glowing with gratitude and affection, he was immersed in more love than he had been in ages. “How are you holding up?”
Cade glanced down at his stiff cock, still glistening with her sweetly scented essence, and still aching with all the pent-up desire he’d held back for … how long?
“How long was I out for?” he asked, glancing around the room. His gaze landed on the big clock that stood against the wall in the sitting area across the room. Could that be right?
“It’s nearly Midnight,” Numa said. “You’ve been here for several hours already. I know the light can be deceiving. The outside light only moves about ten minutes for every hour that passes inside.”
“No, I got that part. I just usually don’t lose time so easily.”
“It’s a side-effect of being a passenger. Thank you for allowing me the time to be with her in a body. You are a true friend.”
Cade turned to face Numa, leaning on one elbow and looking down into her flushed, yet lovely face. He let his gaze drift down her body, drinking her in and trying to ignore the pang of regret at not experiencing the lovemaking firsthand—to feel her come apart beneath him with that look of utter adoration in her eyes.
The look she was giving him now.
His brows twitched. “You could have had him for the rest of the test. I’d have been happy just riding along.”
“I know. That’s why I needed to spend more time with you. If I do choose you and Zephyrus, I’m choosing you both. Not just him. It’s your body doing all the work—and very well, I might add—but I want to know more about what’s up here.” She tapped him gently on the temple. “Or here…” She lowered her hand to the center of his chest and curled her fingers into the thick blond hair that tufted up across his pecs.
Cade’s heartbeat sped up at her expectant look. He let out a shaky sigh. He knew what she was asking, and he wasn’t even close to ready to go there.
“What was his name?” she asked softly.
Cade had spent the last several hours lost and able to do nothing but spend that time in the company of the ghosts inside his head. In the midst of the wind spirit making love to the woman in his arms, he had restricted his perusal of those old memories to the happy ones, but feared saying the name out loud would call forth all of his old demons.
But as he looked at her, he deflated. He couldn’t disappoint her, not when she seemed so desperate to give him a fair shot at her love.
“Lennox Sundance. We paired up young and had a good long life as bachelors guarding the Sundance portal. I didn’t care for life in the desert, but it suited him. He loved that life, and I loved him. Maybe a bit too much.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because I wound up alone after he was taken. Had we not been so wrapped up with each other, we may have tried harder to catch the eye of a female. Maybe the enemy never would have gotten him, but even if he had still been killed, I’d have had a family to focus on instead of spending the last century or so feeling sorry for myself.”
“You couldn’t have known …” Numa began, then frowned, her words trailing off. “I … am sorry.”
“What the hell do you have to be sorry for? You’re the best shot I’ve had in ages to be happy again, win or lose.”
She shook her head and pulled away from him, sitting up and hugging her knees. “No, I can’t discount the possibility that Fate still had a hand in all this.” She swept her hand around in an arc that Cade knew encompassed their entire situation, even beyond the temporal bubble they were in. “If it was my path you were meant to cross, even if I ultimately would have to choose, then my father would have known the outcome. No doubt he already knows, but is still forcing us to play these games.”
“Well, then let’s play,” he said, gripping her arm and forcing her to look at him. “What do I need to do to win this?”
Numa dropped her gaze and a pained look crossed her face. When she met his eyes again, she was resolute. “Your aura suggests you have power to rival a god built up within you. If it is as potent when I release it as it seems to be now, you will be a true contender. But there is another pair remaining who I have to give a fair shot.” Her voice broke and her gaze filled with something that resembled agony. Whatever she’d been about to say seemed to lodge in her throat and her eyes welled with tears.
“Sweet pea,” Cade said gruffly, pulling her into his arms. He held her close, his throbbing erection an unwelcome distraction when she pressed against him, her entire body shaking with soft sobs. “What’s got you so upset?”
“Oh, Cade. Please forgive me if it isn’t you I choose. I don’t know that it won’t be, but I have to keep this fair. If I don’t … if I make any of the gods—or my father—angry, it could go badly for us all. I can’t give you an answer. If I show favoritism, they will know.”
Cade chuckled. “You do what you have to do. My life was going nowhere before I signed up for this. It would break my heart for the second time if we lost, but I promise you if Zephyrus is willing, he will have me no matter what.”
“I wish things were different,” she said with a long sigh. “If only Fate had sent me the dreams my siblings received, I would know one way or the other. Making this choice will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
Despite the clear, razor-sharp apprehension tightening his gut, Cade understo
od the emotion was not his own. He mentally comforted Zephyrus and cupped Numa’s cheek at the same time, hoping to comfort her as well.
“You have a dragon’s heart, sweet pea, and yours is bigger than most. Simply being loved by you is an honor I won’t forget, even though I know it’s directed at the man who’s borrowed my body. I don’t think any of the others could ever regret this chance, even if we lose to a god. Because as much as we can’t help but love you, we know what’s at stake. You can’t choose us all, but whoever is best will be a very, very lucky man.”
She let out a soft sniffle against his shoulder and nodded. “Or men … If I did choose you, my mark would affect both you and Zephyrus. And Theron and Bekim are a bonded bachelor pair—they’re a unit. Dion’s the only solo male.”
“Then I suppose I got lucky meeting Ozzie out there when I arrived. I’d never have stood a chance without a partner.”
Numa twisted in his arms, her lower body pressing tighter to his as she arched her back so she could look into his eyes again. With her full breasts flush against his chest, he became acutely aware of her hard nipples like little pebbles between them.
“I don’t know, I think you could hold your own, but I do love the idea of having you both in separate bodies. Would he be as well-endowed as you are, do you think?” She slid a hand down his stomach in a languid stroke, then wrapped it around his thick shaft. The previous dull ache had become a background annoyance, but with her touch, a jolt of arousal shot straight up his spine.
He wrapped his hand around hers and held her still, pinning her with a determined gaze. “You needed something when I got here that I was more than happy to deliver, but if we’re as close to finishing this day as I think we are, I’d like a chance to give you what I think will prove we’re the ones you need, and not just because we can bring the power.”
Numa glanced over her shoulder at the clock. He knew there wasn’t much time left, but he was also damn sure there was enough for him to prove himself worthy. Zephyrus didn’t have anything to worry about, but Numa had only known Cade for a day. All he’d been able to show her was how skilled he was at delivering a good, hard fuck on demand.
If it came down to the wire, he would need her to know without a doubt that she’d be the center of his world in every way. Even with another man in the mix, they couldn’t let themselves forget that detail, which was the one thing he and Lennox had lost sight of. They’d been too wrapped up in each other to remember what their purpose was as male ursa. They’d been selfish, and if nothing else, he owed it to his lost lover’s memory to honor this dragon and prove to Gaia or Fate, or whomever, that he hadn’t forgotten what it meant to be one of Gaia’s children.
He hooked his hand behind her head, turning her attention back to him. His fingers tangled in her thick, silken strands as he pulled her close, his heart beating so hard it nearly drowned out the aching pulse in his cock. His gaze met hers and he regarded her for a second, wanting to be sure she understood that it was him now. That this was how he would prove to her that he was as worthy a mate as the wind spirit who had spent the last few hours making love to her.
Numa swallowed, and that desperate look of yearning returned to her eyes. “Cade, please …”
His grip tightened in her hair and he gritted his teeth. Gaia’s tears, did he love hearing her say his name.
“I will love you every bit as hard as he does, if you give me the chance. At least promise that you will remember this when the time comes to choose.”
She took a shaky breath, one hand braced on his arm, her fingers digging in as though she was halfway between pushing him away and pulling him closer. “I will never forget this, no matter what happens,” she said. “Please … your aura is so perfect right now. Don’t make me wait.”
His entire body ached to take her hard again like he had at the start, but all that would prove was how much he needed to empty his balls of all the power he had built up over the last several hours.
“Sweet pea, I’m gonna give you what you want, but you might have to be patient and let it happen at my pace, got it?” He bent and brushed his lips across hers, teasing his tongue along the full lower lip and inhaling deeply of the fragrant, fertile scent enveloping her.
Numa shivered as he captured her mouth and eased his tongue between her lips. He tasted her slowly, enjoying the way her entire body seemed to mold itself to his, her pelvis grinding into his cock as she slipped one leg over his hip. Wet heat brushed against his shaft, and it was all he could do to keep from shifting positions and shoving his cock deep inside her again.
This wasn’t meant to be a quick, hard fuck. He had no idea whether the tide of longing she’d summoned to the surface was a side-effect of Zephyrus’ love, or something of his own that grew whenever he was in her presence, but he wanted her to know he was just as capable of making love to her as his partner was.
“This is all you, friend. She is easy to love and too long overdue for it.”
Cade’s skin tingled with the caress of a soft breeze that seemed to urge him on. He and Lennox had always had an almost unconscious connection that enhanced their ability to satisfy the female ursa they were tasked to service, but they’d only spent a short time in that role before being transferred out of the Sanctuary to serve as portal guardians. They’d rarely shared lovers after that. Having a partner who was equally invested in the woman’s pleasure was a long missed experience, but even better now for the simple fact that he was also invested in winning her love, not just driving her desire to its peak.
Numa broke away from their kiss with a gasp and a breathy cry of his name. Her core rubbed hot and wet against his shaft, and he took a deep breath to tamp down that need once again. Soon they’d be joined, but not until he was sure she understood what this meant to him.
He pushed her gently onto her back and shifted partway over her, propping himself on one hand while he cupped her cheek with the other. He raked his gaze down her body again, taking in the smooth curves and the shimmering green pattern that seemed to ghost across her skin with each quick breath. It reminded him what she was, and that every second he held back would be more of a gift to her when he let go.
He drifted his hand down her side and around the swell of her breast, palming the luscious, pink-tipped orb and squeezing before lowering his head to take her nipple into his mouth. Every caress, every taste he took extra care to draw out, despite the rising need for release that had become an ever-present ache in his lower body. The soles of his feet itched and he ventured a glance down, worried that he’d lost his hold on the energy and Gaia was somehow forcing him to let it loose, but nothing seemed amiss.
He moved to kneel between her thighs, still hovering over her and alternating between both delicious nipples, reveling in the roughness of her voice. She tangled her fingers in his long hair, hanging on for dear life. Her harsh moans of his name mixed with affirmations he never in a million years imagined he’d hear a woman speak followed him as he slipped lower. He gripped her inner thighs with both hands and spread her open, palms slickening from the arousal coating her inner thighs. She parted for him eagerly, but even as he began to tongue her hot, wet snatch, she called his name again.
“Cade, please fuck me. I need to taste that power. Have to know if it’s enough. Please!”
He closed his eyes as he wrapped his lips around her throbbing little clit and sucked, determined to taste the flood of her juices on his tongue just once before he sank his cock into her again. Her panting grew and he teased her clit with swift flicks, spreading her wider so he could access more of the sensitive silken flesh between her thighs.
Pushing her leg up to spread her wider, he exposed her backside to his view. Her sweet, tight rosebud seemed to beckon to him, reminding him how much his old lover had loved when he tongued him there. Experimentally, he lowered his head again and swept his tongue in concentric spirals while he rubbed at her clit
with his thumb. Within moments, Numa’s orgasmic cries rang out, nearly loud enough to hurt his ears, but the sweet rush of her energy counteracted any discomfort.
It was almost too much. His cock screamed for relief, his balls hot and achy to the point he worried he’d done true damage by waiting so long, but if this all worked out, it would be worth it. He kept his mouth between her legs, teasing her spasming flesh with gentle licks until she finally relaxed, but he didn’t let her put her leg down. He held it high and hooked it over his shoulder as he raised up and aligned his cock with her cleft.
Both her holes were on display now, and he had the sense she’d welcome him fucking either one. He tentatively rubbed his tip along the crease of her ass, teasing across her rear opening before pressing between the swollen lips of her pussy.
She’d reached above her and now gripped the thick, carved wooden posts of the headboard, staring down at him with a fevered gaze.
“Please, Cade …” she begged again as he teased her entrance.
He slid his hand down her thigh to cup her ass, and just as he began to slide his cock into the confines of her pussy, he pushed two fingers past the tight opening of her ass. He forced himself to take his time, though his mind was nearly gone from pleasure by the time his cock sank all the way into her and both fingers were in her ass to the last knuckle. She shuddered and moaned, her hips bucking of their own accord.
“I want you to feel ever single inch of me, sweet pea. When I’m done fucking this tight pussy of yours, my cock is going in your ass. I’ve got enough power saved up to come about ten times before we’re done, so I hope you’re ready, but I want you to know I’m taking this slow so there’s no question what it means to me. What you mean to me. Zeph already proved his love. It’s my turn to prove mine.”
All she could do was beg, but when he slid out and slammed back in, she gave him a look that proved he’d made his point. Now all he had to do was give her all the power he’d saved up, and he was more than ready to do just that.
