by Cara Lake
It had seemed like hours before the final tremors of the orgasm receded and their physical forms restructured into two beings, two beings whose essences were aligned and synchronized so that it still felt as if they were part of one whole.
They lay still, entangled, panting and exhausted. Tyr tightened his hold pulling Irina against his chest so that she could hear the drumming vibrations of their hearts, a rhythmic manifestation of their love.
“I love you.” His deep rasp a velvet vibration etched into her core. “I love you so much. Without you I am nothing.” He was kissing her hair as he turned her to face him. “I can feel every part of you. You are so deep inside me, it’s as if you’ve always been there, part of me I never realized existed until the day you captured me with your eyes.”
Irina could barely reply. Tyr’s soul reverberated within the depths of her being, his indomitable spirit that would never give in, his strength feeding her courage. “You’re inside me too,” she whispered, worshipping him with fierce possessiveness. “I love all that you are, all that you have been and all that you will be.” She held his face in her hands. “And you are never leaving me again.”
Tyr smiled, echoing her adoration. “No way am I leaving you. I’ll have to stick with you for at least eight hundred years to experience that again.” Irina laughed. “It’ll be worth the wait. In the meantime, maybe we can practice.”
Needing no further encouragement, Tyr’s lips found hers, his passion a storm unquenchable. They made love again slowly, with the calm of knowing they had eternity together.
Epilogue
“How are you holding up, Luc?” Cassi’s sympathetic voice cut across the space, waking Luc from the daydream where he was the one holding Irina’s hand. He turned with Cassi, watching as Irina and Tyr exited the portal hall, finally safe after the drama of Alcina’s treachery. He was happy for her; he had to be. Irina had never been his although he had often indulged in dreaming that she was. He knew that she viewed him only as the big brother she’d never had. And Tyr, he had to admit, had grown on him. The fact that he would lay down his life for Irina was enough to recommend him and Luc had accepted his apology for nearly choking him to death.
However as they disappeared from view, Luc couldn’t escape the dark shadow that still hovered over him, an echo of the darkness he had experienced that day at Abrasax Tower. A feeling that left a hollow emptiness in the pit of his stomach, an ache that wouldn’t go away.
He draped an arm over Cassi’s shoulder. “I’m fine,” he said. “It’s just…” He paused, cursing softly. “I’m going to miss Irina.” Cassi dropped her head onto his shoulder, her arms coming around him in sympathy.
“Hey, kiddo! You still got me.”
Luc smiled down at her sadly, blonde spikes of hair brushing the furrow of his brow. “But I haven’t,” he said, “not really. You’re not coming back to London, are you?”
“No. There’s too much to do here, although I will check on you from time to time. As you’re an Esseni, we still need to shield you from the Discordants.”
“Yeah, about that,” said Luc. “Now that I know that I am one, it’s confusing as hell.”
“Tell me about it,” said Tani, breaking in on their conversation and taking Luc’s other arm as they walked down the street to Coronae’s house. “I spent my whole childhood confused, my parents constantly drumming it into my head that I am an Esseni and have some special destiny, oh and duty! At least you’ve only just found out.”
“I hear that you’re off to find that destiny,” said Luc.
Tani’s eyes clouded over. “Yeah. We’ve heard that there is an Esseni potential on Ophiuchus who appears to have the hallmarks of my partner duality.”
“How do you feel about that?” Luc queried.
“Confused. Scared. Excited,” she admitted. “I’ve known what I am for so long that it would be nice to finally meet destiny head on.”
“I’ve heard Ophiuchus is dangerous,” said Luc, curious that this beautiful red-haired slip of a girl could be so accepting of her future.
“It is,” interrupted Cassi, “but Tani is well trained and we have contacts there. In fact Antares is on assignment in Serpens, the capital, searching for our missing healer, Ziad.”
“Irina mentioned him,” said Luc. “She said he saved Tyr’s life.”
“He did. So hopefully Antares will locate him. Oh by the way,” she said, turning to Tani with a grin. “He heard some news about your little friend Abrasax.”
“Oh yes!” laughed Tani. “I have fond memories of that night we shared together.”
“According to Antares he’s been relegated to an outpost on Chthonia, babysitting Choronzon’s pet balauri.”
“Ha! I’d say that suits him.” Tani smiled. “What about Rusalka, any news of her?”
“Who’s that?” asked Luc.
“She’s an Eridani bitch, yellow hair, pale skin, bad attitude.”
Luc’s eyes blinked wide. “I may have seen her that day at the Tower.”
“Really, what was she up to?” Luc related the events of that day and his sighting of the two girls. Cassi seemed excited by that. “The girls could be the ones Tyr’s looking for, Sal’s daughters. He thinks they were transported to Ophiuchus.”
“I can keep my eyes open for them when I’m there,” offered Tani. “I’ll see you later before I go and you can give me a description.” Tani waved goodbye and headed in the direction of her family home. Luc was left with Cassi to wander slowly through the quiet streets in the dim light of the setting suns. They walked together in a companionable silence both lost in their own thoughts.
“So what about me?” asked Luc, breaking the silence. “What should I do?”
“Just live your life,” replied Cassi. “We don’t know yet what essence you’re holding, so just carry on as normal. What will be will be.”
“Normal,” snorted Luc. “Nothing will ever be normal again. But you’re telling me that my other half is out there…the girl of my dreams.”
“Well, she’s out there but she might not be the girl of your dreams. She could be your worst nightmare.”
“That’s almost reassuring.”
“You know me,” said Cassi. “I tell it as it is, Luc.” Cassi hugged him close, giving him the reassurance he needed. He knew she needed it too.
“You know we’re in this together now,” he said, pulling her in so she could lay her head on his shoulder.
She smiled up at him with an impish grin. “Somewhere in the galaxy both our destinies are waiting.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I wonder who’ll find theirs first?”
About Cara Lake
Fantasy, romance, adventure and of course hot passionate encounters with the opposite sex, Cara Lake has always had an over active imagination. When she's not weaving the threads of her stories together, Cara can be found sketching or painting her characters and creating colorful worlds for them to live in.
Cara lives in London with her sexy significant other and three amazing children.
Cara welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Calm Before the Storm
ISBN 9781419994036
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Calm Before the Storm Copyright © 2015 Cara Lake
Edited by Susan Edwards
Cover design by Allyse Leodra
Cover photography by Shutterstock
Electronic book publication June 2015
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