A Kiss of Ashen Twilight (Ashen Twilight Series #1)

by Lori, Rae

  Jace’s hands slipped down the curve of her body to her thighs. He cupped her, hauling her body up, yet still sealed her with a passionate kiss. He moved her to his bedroom, bathed in pitch black darkness yet he could still see the exact layout around them.

  “What are you doing?” Ariya said with a smile. Within the darkness she saw him move away from her once he let her down on the bed. She leaned back and kicked her shoes off. Her skin was hot under the corset top and thin black skirt she wore.

  Jace unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall to the floor before grabbing a box of matches. “I want to see you Ariya and I don’t want to use my night vision to do it.”

  With a chuckle, she lifted her hand and blew him a kiss. The air was visible with tiny ripples floating in a swirling motion. The air brushed against the stacks of candles placed around the room and they lit up with bright, flickering flames.

  “Why didn’t you just ask then?” Ariya said with a wide grin.

  He moved toward her with a deep, husky laugh and placed a gently kiss on her lips as his body covered hers. “Ever the smart one.”

  Ariya giggled and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. When his gaze froze upon her, she narrowed her eyes and turned her head slightly to the side. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  His knuckles brushed the side of her face and Ariya swore she could get lost in the way his eyes looked upon her. “You are so beautiful. I don’t know why I was ever hesitant to be close to you. Right now there is no other place you belong.”

  “Wait. What about your powers? Don’t you need rest before—I mean—”

  “You’re near full regeneration. Right now I need to feel you feed me with your body energy, Ariya. And I’ll do the same for you. Just let your feelings for me rise to the surface.”

  Ariya pulled Jace to her body, crushing her breasts against his hard chest. Her hands slid across the hard planes of his torso and she felt the hardness of his sex pressing against her hot center. She wanted him. She wanted him to erase all that had happened between them for the past few days. She wanted his body, his scent, his being connected with hers so they could truly be one. In exchange, she would share with him all that he meant to her.

  “Jace,” she breathed, feeling the muscles contracting within his thighs. His breath grew labored and sharp against her neck as he leaned down to kiss her neck. His strong grip slid up her thigh to make quick removal of her skirt and panties. She maneuvered her body to slide them off beneath him and with a soft shuffle, they fell into a pile on the floor. In seconds her corset top joined them. Ariya fumbled for his pants and unbuttoned them, slid the zipper down and reached down into the dark opening.

  Jace slowly licked his lips and groaned once her hand gripped his hard shaft and moved on him, amazed at the soft yet hard thick length of him. His hips moved against her hand and she felt her body tingle as she watched her power over him. Her rhythm intensified along his shaft as she gripped him tighter.

  He breathed in sharply and smiled. “Ariya, your killing me here,” he said through gritted teeth. “You know you’re going to have to pay for this.”

  She leaned up to his ear. “Oh yeah. I know.”

  Jace caressed the inside of her thigh, moving up to the apex of her center between her legs. She felt his thumb caress her sensitive bud and her body jolted in reaction, her grip tightened on him.

  “I want you inside, Jace,” she whispered. “I want us to be sealed as one forever.”

  She didn’t have to ask twice.

  Jace slipped his pants off and moved over her, balancing his weight over hers.

  Already Ariya could already feel his tip, wet with need to be inside her. She braced herself and reached down to grip him once again. His eyes locked on her as she slowly guided her to her waiting sex. In one swift movement he slammed into her and she let out a cry. Her legs wrapped around him, pushing him in, deeper and deeper into her depths. Jace’s body moved over her, the shadows of the candles outlining the hard strength of his body. His handsome face contorted as pleasure threatened to consume his body.

  Ariya leaned into him and welcome his hard, thick length to fill her as she welcomed him home. Her fingernails dug into his back as she felt him throb within her. His hips settled into a rhythm from long, slow passionate thrusts to quickened, sharp harder strokes. She didn’t know how long she could hold on before exploding around him as her enclosure contracted and relaxed in a massage around him. He pumped his hips against her as a deep guttural growl caught in his throat. She gripped her legs tighter around him, clenching down on his hardened sex to ease him to the edge of explosion.

  “Are you ready?” His words were lost in a sea of breaths he forced through.

  She merely nodded, all words and clear thought were completely lost to her.

  And then it happened.

  Ariya’s body illuminated a bright glow as Jace slammed into her one last time. His body became rigid against hers, emptying his essence into her as his climax overcame his body. She held on. All sound in the room was lost in his deep moan and her stifled cry as she gave into the rise of pleasure instigated at the tips of her toes and spreading through her entire body.

  As his body relaxed over her, Ariya threaded her hands within his damp, silky hair. She urged him to lay his head down on her bare chest as he caught his breath. He maneuvered to move out of her when she clenched her legs around him once again.

  “No wait,” she breathed softly. “I want you to stay there. Inside.” Gently she kissed the top of his head. “At least for a little while.”

  He settled down, careful not to crush her with his weight. Ether way she didn’t mind. The sweat of their bodies cooled under the night atmosphere. Ariya basked in the glow of the light and held onto Jace. She could already feel his breath slowing as he teetered on the edge of sleep. She gently stroked his hair and admired the handsome outline of his face in a peaceful rest. Careful not to move him from his comfortable position, she leaned forward and again confessed the words that claimed her heart for so long.

  “I love you, Jace.”

  Within the silence that followed, she relaxed her body and fell asleep with the smile upon her face.

  * * * *

  Hours later Ariya’s body jolted awake. She lifted her head and noticed sometime during the night, they had moved positions. Jace held his arm around her while she rested on his chest. She reached up to kiss him and noticed his body was stone cold and completely still like death had claimed him.

  What time was it?

  The curtains were still drawn in the living room, so she couldn’t tell if morning light had come or not. As she slid off the bed, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong. The air didn’t feel right and a nauseating feeling grew within the pit of her stomach.

  She entered the hall and right away she turned toward the large window. Small rays of light filtered out of the side curtains. Another feeling invaded her mind and washed over her as she realized why she was suddenly on edge.

  Liam Blakedon was now in the mortal realm inside the Ashen Twilight House—and it was broad daylight.

  Chapter 18

  Julian sensed the darkness the moment it appeared in the hall. He stood at the terrace outside his room as he did the mornings after the attack wit h the elemental, observing the view that overlooked the city. The Nightwalkers in the house were in a deep sleep but the Lycans and Shifter Elves were on high alert. Already he could tell it would be too late before they reached him. Slowly he turned toward the door as it opened. A bright influx of pulsating light moved like electric rays around a blurred figure standing tall. The figure raised his hands, forming a ball of light over each of his palms.

  “Julian,” Blakedon’s voice was loud and clear. “Where is my son?”

  “He’s not your son, Blakedon.”

  “I raised that boy after you abandoned his mother as she carried him in his womb. What makes you think you are a worthier father when you could
n’t even handle that responsibility?”

  Julian’s hands formed into fists at his side. “I fought battles and tried to keep this world safe from its own bloody hands. I left because I loved them enough not to subject them to what was a monstrosity at that time.”

  “You didn’t love them at all. Not like I did. I couldn’t stand by watching what you did to Marie and neither could she stand by the days after you left. She died—with your name on her lips—and the child within her womb.”

  Julian felt as if he was kicked in the stomach. A surge of fire shot throughout his body as he walked toward Blakedon.

  “That’s right. She never had a chance to see her own son. After we married I took care of your family after you left but still she never stopped loving you. I planned to make a family of our own with her but she died with you in her heart. No matter what I did or how I took care of her, it was always you. They died to you the moment you left. So it was my responsibility to pick up where you left off and be a father to Avery.”

  “But how? How can you have lived all of these years and still be human?”

  Blakedon smiled, a slick evil chuckle upon his lips. He laughed which soon turned into a wild roar. “You’d have to kill me to find out.”

  “So be it then,” Daoine said, announcing his arrival behind Blakedon. Next to him Michael stood in full Lycan form. His nails formed into sharp, long claws at his side and his mouth watered with a taste of his inevitable kill. He nodded in agreement and the Patriarchs closed in on the figure.

  * * * *

  Ariya awoke from her rest, feeling as if she had just rejoined her own body. What just happened? Or was it happening now? She sensed blood being spilt, but she couldn’t tell whose it was. She turned back to Jace on the bed. He remained still, not even emitting a breath. Every fiber within her screamed to go and help the Patriarchs despite her mind not quite understanding what was going on. There had to be something she can do. A fight in full daylight had the possibility of exposing the Ashen Twilight House and she couldn’t stand around waiting for it to happen. Neither could she leave Jace.

  Maybe there was something she could do after all.

  Ariya closed her eyes, took a deep breath and prayed that her actions would be the right thing to do. She quickly rushed into the bedroom to Jace’s side and kissed him gently on his lips. She would be back as soon as possible, but for now she only had one shot at making this idea work.

  And she was going to take it.

  * * * *

  Jace’s eyes shot open and he sat up. His senses flashed on high alert. Looking around, he noticed Ariya was nowhere in sight although her scent was left all around his apartment. He flipped the thin sheets off his bare body and stood, keeping his eyes and ears completely open. He wasn’t sure what time it was but for some reason it didn’t feel like night to him. Strange, he hadn’t seen the sun in more than 600 years and his body worked like clockwork, sleeping throughout the day and awaking in the night as he had always done.

  Though this was different.

  Outside in the hall, footsteps thumped across the wooden floorboard. It sounded like a herd of elephants rushing toward the exit among a sea of murmurs. He rushed toward the door but froze once he remembered his naked position. The old lady down the hall would get a whirl out of his nudity yet he’d hate to be the one to give her a heart attack shortly after getting her kicks.

  Jace turned on his heels and rushed to his bedroom to dress quickly. After making sure he was fully decent, he rushed back into the hall and stopped a kid running on his way toward the exit to join the large group.

  “What’s going on out there?” Jace asked.

  The little boy’s eyes widened as he retold the tale with heightened excitement. “Eclipse. It was full on sunlight one minute then totally dark the next. They say it’s the end of the world. Pretty wicked, huh?”

  Jace looked toward the door feeling a sense of dread overcoming him. “Yeah, wicked.”

  “They won’t let us leave though. They say the entire city is in a blackout and the police are blocking areas off.” The boy looked up at him once again. “How long do you think it’ll last?”

  “Believe me, I’m hoping it won’t be too long.” Jace ruffled over the boy’s close cut dark curls and smiled. “Not too long.”

  Pushing the front exit out of his list of options, Jace turned and ran back into his apartment. He rushed over to his window and opened the curtains to reveal the desert city. The blue sky had given way to darkness and a large spherical black orb sat high. Miles away, Jace spotted the large Victorian house suspended in the air. Flashes of light like electricity covered it and kept it balanced as it slowly continued to rise hundreds of feet into the air. As Jace opened his door and stepped out onto the terrace, he couldn’t help noticing all of his neighbors’ eyes looking and pointing at the spectacle before them. One person he could’ve handled and easily cleared their thoughts. A whole city’s worth, the Patriarchs would have to come up with something to excuse what the mortals saw that day.

  He had to get to the Ashen Twilight House, but at this rate there was no way he could reach it that high in the sky. He tried to open a connection with Ariya but something strong and preternatural obstructed his senses. It was as if with the eclipse, something—or someone—else otherworldly had entered the realm.

  Ariya, where are you?

  * * * *

  Ariya felt the hot, high powered energy blast slam her body against the walls before she could process it. She landed on her hands and knees, her adrenaline still high. She looked up at Raine, a slimy smile on his ragged face. He held out his hands and leaned toward her.

  “Try again, little Fairy whore.” He chuckled.

  All around her was a visual feast of a battle. The Nightwalkers in the house awoke just in time to back up the Lycans in battle against the Rens in captivity and the ones that Blakedon brought with him. If they all made it out alive— Ariya cursed herself before she finished the thought. Way to think positive after everything that’s happened. When they made it out alive, they would have to find another place to hide out because the whole city of Phoenix surely new about his house now.

  “Come on!” Raine yelled, pulling her out of her thoughts. He ascended into the air as if an invisible force was lifting him toward the ceiling.

  Ariya’s wings fluttered to life and she rushed toward him. She lifted her hands and sent a ball of energy toward him. In a blink of an eye, he was a large crow. He swooped down toward her, his large beak ready to attack. She folded her wings to freefall and grab him once he swooped over her head. She held onto his sleek, dark coat but before she could turn around, his body gave way to a large wolf.

  Ariya fluttered her wings as fast as she could before she fell toward the ground. Raine turned around in her hold and barked loudly, baring his lips in a vicious growl. He lunged toward her, his mouth open and ready to dig his fangs right into her neck.

  She thought fast, if she really had Jace’s blood flowing through her, this next act had better work. Feeling Raine’s muscles beneath his thick coat as he prepared to lung again, Ariya extended her fingernails in giant claws, impaling Raine within her grip. His yellow eyes widened as his back bowed with a yelp on his lips. She landed on the ground and dropped him in front of her. Ariya wiped Raine’s blood on her skirt as she watched his body jolt then fall still. Slowly he shifted back to his ragged human form. Turning away she was ready to rush past the fight and run upstairs toward Julian’s room when out of the corner of her eye, she felt Raine’s large form rising from the ground. Ariya turned, her body frozen and eyes open wide. How? What? Her mind couldn’t form a single thought but one word; survive. Her body froze as he bared his teeth and claws, preparing to lunge. Suddenly a large paw with sharp talons swooped by her and embedded into Raine’s neck. The Ren’s body immediately fell limp on the claws and his head fell forward.

  Ariya looked up into familiar yellow eyes and right away she recognized the tall Lycan hovering ov
er her. Vex. He exhaled a thick low growl and nodded.

  “Thanks, Vex,” she said with a smile. She rushed past him and dodged out of the way of the battle in the foyer. She checked Julian’s room but there was no sign of anyone there.

  A loud crash from the conference told her exactly where they were. When she arrived, she saw Blakedon holding Julian over his head. Michael and Daoine watched on the floor, their eyes focused and ready to attack during the right time. Why weren’t they doing anything?

  Blakedon’s thick hand gripped Julian’s neck, digging deep into his neck enough to draw blood on his fingers. Ariya opened her mouth and rushed forward but something grabbed her and pulled her back like invisible hands on her arm.

  This is Julian’s fight, Ariya, Daoine’s voice rang loud and clear in her head.

  “No!” Another voice yelled before she could make a sound. Avery emerged out of the corner of her eye and approached Blakedon. His skin was fully regenerated with no sign of any of the abrasions that covered his face just yesterday. “Don’t hurt him, Father.”

  Blakedon looked down at Avery with wide eyes. “You do not shed an ounce of feeling for this man.”

  “You don’t have to deny it. I felt it the moment he and his nephew were near.” Avery slowly shook his head. “I’m an Archane.”

  “You are a Blakedon! Julian abandoned you and your mother and I loved you like you were my own. It’s time to stop prolonging this and end it now.”

  Blakedon tightened his grip on Julian’s whose expression cringed in pain. Ariya felt every bit of Julian’s pain, like sharp claws crushing her neck.

  “You used me to empower you and to create your own monarchy.”

  “It was for us, son.”

  “I’m not your son!” the Nightwalker yelled.

  “Avery, I did this for us. Julian didn’t deserve you after he left. I taught you everything because I cared for you and your mother. I was doing this to give you the throne you so rightly deserve among the immortals.”

  Avery looked up at Blakedon with fire in his eyes. “And for that I am grateful. For awhile I did have a father who seemed to care for me. But ever since you met that Romanian suit, all you cared about was destroying the houses. I did this because you said they were wrong and deserved their downfall. Conveniently leaving out how you were doing the same thing!” He shook his head. “I’m done using my blood to sustain your immortality.” His fingernails extending into sharp, elongated claws. He opened his mouth to reveal his canines as sharp fangs. “I won’t accept it any longer.” He hissed loudly before lunging onto Blakedon, covering him with his body. Avery bit down into his neck and drank viciously like a hungry animal while he dug his claws into Blakedon’s sides.