Divine Illusions

by Alix Sharpe

  He pounded into her, the dampness between her thighs deepening. He groaned, nuzzling against her neck, nipping at her soft skin, driving deeper and deeper, riding the rhythm of her desperate whines.

  She could barely think. Her fingers flexed over his skin, clawing, searching. So close, her breath ragged, wild.

  Then he slammed into her, all the way to the hilt, the force knocking her over the edge, her release finally shuddering through her in unison with his. He collapsed on top of her planting a flurry of sweet kisses between her chin and ear.

  He lay, panting against her chest, staring down at her with a look of soft wonder as the last small pulses faded away. Finally, he withdrew. A warm, wet stream trickled out, trailing down the cheek of her ass, the evidence of their pleasure pooling between them. He laughed a little and grabbed his abandoned shirt, dabbing at her skin.

  “You know,” she said, grinning as she watched him wipe her up, “I’m really surprised this isn’t one of the main selling points to recruit people for the fight.”

  “Sex?”

  “Unprotected sex. If it was on page one of the pamphlet that there were no infections or pregnancy on this side of The Veil, they wouldn’t be able to craft enough amulets to keep up.”

  “Probably,” he laughed. “But that would make a lot of easy, undressed targets for the Elves. Maybe it’s best if the Masters keep pushing this as a nice bonus incentive rather than a main recruitment tool.”

  “Good point,” she said. “Maybe we should put our clothes back on just in case. It would be an embarrassing death if Elves snuck up on us while we were still naked.”

  He grinned and tossed over her pants.

  She watched Hale as he dressed, marveling over the marbled lines of his muscles flexing beneath his perfect amber skin.

  “If technology worked here, I’d tell you to take a picture,” he smirked, raising an eyebrow. She’d been caught.

  “Yeah, they conveniently put that aspect in the fine print, didn’t they?” she said, pulling her shirt over her head. Most new recruits had a hard time adjusting, the only things she really missed were hot showers and microwave popcorn. It was a fair trade off to experience Hale Draven.

  He nestled back into her arms and kissed her cheek. “Can you check the Elf-vision again?”

  “I did, we’re fine. If any get close in our sleep, it’ll wake me up. We don’t need to keep watch.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. They won’t sneak up on me,” she said, a darkness beginning to pool at the edges of her mind as she felt her lids growing heavy. The Elves might not be able to sneak up, but the nightmares would.

  “Okay,” he smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. Then nestled in beside her and quickly dozed off.

  She wasn’t so lucky. As she clutched him against her, the anxiety began to creep into her chest. She knew she couldn’t fight it, but she wasn’t ready to see how it would end with Hale Draven. After hours, gritting her teeth and straining to stay awake, she finally surrendered to sheer exhaustion and all went black.

  She awoke to buttery rays of light peeking in through the ceiling of the small cave, a strange lightness in her limbs. She shifted upright and saw his smile, that bright white, impish smirk that was at once both devilish and pure. He was packing their bags, grinning to himself, humming a bouncy tune she didn’t quite recognize. It was exactly as she’d dreamed.

  He glanced up and saw she was awake, his smile fading slightly. “So… did you See anything?”

  “No,” she said, crinkling her brow in both confusion and joyous relief, “I didn’t have any nightmares.”

  “You didn’t?” he beamed.

  “No,” she said, “that’s never happened before. I just had a short dream of you, sitting in this cave, packing up, just like you are doing now. That was it.”

  “Are you sure?” he said, hope blossoming across his features.

  “Yeah.”

  He crawled towards her and scooted in close, taking her cheek in his hand. “Are you sure that was it? There wasn’t anything else?”

  “Yeah,” she said, smiling as she peered down at his hand against her skin.

  “Are you sure I didn’t do this?” he dipped and planted a soft, warm kiss on her lips.

  “Mmm, I don’t recall,” she said, breaking away slowly.

  “What about this?” he said, slinking on top of her, pressing himself between her legs.

  “You’ll have to keep going,” she said, wrapping her thighs around him, “my memory is failing me.”

  “Okay,” he breathed, burying his face against her neck, “I’ll see what I can do.”

  CHAPTER 14 – HALE

  Hale Draven couldn’t remember the last time he felt this happy. For so long, he’d been a soldier, and nothing but. That’s all he thought he could be. Then Keira Clearwater came along.

  At first, he thought she was a bumbling civilian, a ticking time-bomb of an Elf snack. But she quickly showed him otherwise, her warrior soul shining through, just as strong as him, if not more so. But it wasn’t just that she was a fighter, it’s that she allowed herself to be so much more. She was a bookworm, a strategist, a counselor, a comedian, a woman. She made him feel like he could be something more too, like he had a future.

  As they walked back to camp, laughing side-by-side, Hale Draven thought nothing could break his smile. Then they came across that asshole, Soren Eriksson, blocking the middle of the path. Literally.

  “How the hell…” Hale said, staring at the twisted wagon cart laying upside down in the road, debris strewn about.

  “Sugartits over there was distracting me,” Soren chuckled, pointing his thumb at Keira’s very irritated looking blonde bunkmate. “If you get what I’m saying.”

  “Jessa,” Keira gasped, running towards the girl. “Are you okay?” she asked, leaping over the spilled bags and boxes.

  “Barely,” Jessa spat, “you’d think he’d never have gotten a friggen handjob before. I don’t even know what he crashed into! We were going like 5 miles an hour.”

  Hale ducked and took a peek below the overturned wagon. One of the sides had splintered into a thousand pieces, split by a large rock.

  “And,” Jessa continued, rolling her eyes, “he let the fucking horse get away.” Shit. Horses were hard to come by out here. Magic spooked them, and Elves devoured them. They were never going to find that horse.

  “You could have chased it too,” Soren shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway, Magey-boy can magic our haul back to camp.”

  “Why would I help you?” Hale huffed, stepping back from the wagon.

  “It’s not us you’re helping,” Jessa said, crossing her arms. “These supplies are for the whole camp, I know you won’t let them just lie here in the middle of the road, waiting for Elves or something to snatch them up. I don’t think those slimy, grey bastards can even eat bread.”

  “Gluten-intolerant Elves?” Hale teased.

  “Oh stop,” Jessa said, a hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I meant they’re probably strict carnivores based on those disgusting teeth.”

  Hale shot Jessa a sideways glance, caught off guard by her analysis. She was smarter than he’d guessed what with her being a Salamander and all, and one who could put up with Soren at that. Well. Usually. He’d heard they were a good match, but she didn’t appear to be tolerating him very well at the moment.

  “Does that mean Soren’s an Elf?” Hale joked to her under his breath. His teeth weren’t awful, a little crooked and nowhere near as white as his, but any opportunity he had to cut down Soren Eriksson was worth it. If there was one thing Soren hated, it was when women chose Hale instead.

  “Fine,” Hale said, shifting his gaze to Soren, “I’ll help. But it’s going to cost you.”

  “What the fuck do you want?” Soren grumbled, clearly irritated now that he finally realized he was at Hale’s mercy.

  “A bottle of that rain-thistle swill you brew.”

 
; “Done. But you better not rat me out to the Captain. This was an accident.”

  “Ooo,” Hale said, wincing in an exaggerated manner. “I didn’t realize that was part of the bargain. In that case, I want a bottle, and you’re going to be my sauna-slave up at the springs. These two lovelies and I will sit back while you keep our hot tub party going.”

  “Sauna-slave?” Keira asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “It’s where a Salamander basically makes a hot tub by using their fire to heat the surrounding rocks,” Jessa grinned. “Count me in. A couple of us newbies tried it, but we couldn’t get our fire hot enough. Soren though.”

  “Yeah,” Hale snickered, “Soren should be able to help us heat things up proper, right ladies?”

  Keira grimaced, apparently not entirely sold on the idea. That’s okay, once she stepped into those springs Hale knew she’d loosen up. Maybe he’d even kick Jessa out at some point and get Keira alone in a private pool…

  “Fine. Just fucking fix it,” Soren growled, throwing up his hands in defeat.

  Hale bit back a laugh. “Will do, Sir.” He gestured to the base of the wagon. “The axle’s all twisted, so before I flip it back over, we need to straighten it out. Jessa, I need you to heat the metal, and I’ll bend it back straight. Okay?”

  “Got it,” Jessa beamed. Maybe she was excited to finally be taken seriously.

  Keira and Soren stood to the side as Hale and Jessa got into position.

  Hale raised his hands, wisps of blue emanating from his palms.

  Jessa nodded and raised her fists, a glowing ball of fire expanding between them. “Ready.”

  Hale nodded as she shoved the ball outward, wrapping the broken axle in a red-hot glow. He twisted his fingers tapping into the molecules of the bent steel, coaxing them to migrate to the right location. One by one he lined the particles back up, smoothing the metal out into one fluid bar like it had been before.

  “Looks even,” Keira shouted, stepping closer to eye the axle.

  Hale released his hold, the cerulean cloud disappearing instantly.

  Jessa lowered her hands, extinguishing the flame, then turned and leapt into Hale’s arms, wrapping him in a crushing hug. “That was awesome,” she squealed, bouncing up and down as she pulled away.

  “You were awesome,” Hale said, winking at Jessa, “You have natural talent. No way Soren taught you that kind of control in under a week.”

  “I’ve been too busy teaching her more important things,” Soren said, subtly pelvic thrusting into the air as if she weren’t standing right there watching him.

  “No, I think I’m the one teaching you,” Jessa said, placing her hands on her hips, “seeing as how a freakin’ handjob was so exciting that you crashed the cart. I need a real man, someone who can handle my next level moves.” She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and batted her thick lashes at Hale.

  “I’ve had plenty of handjobs, babe,” Soren said, “yours was just so boring I must have fallen asleep at the wheel.”

  “Why don’t we focus on getting these wheels back to camp?” Keira cut in. “If we hurry we might make it back before dark, but not if you insist on standing here waving your dicks in each other’s faces.”

  Hale bit back a smile. She was right. And the sooner they got back to camp, the sooner he could have her alone in his tent. “You heard the Diviner and she’s got the foresight. Dick-waving will hinder the mission. Let’s go.”

  It was dark by the time they returned to camp. The four of them went to report in to the Captain. Angeline was less than pleased about the missing horse, but somewhat placated by the fact that they had still managed to get all the supplies and the wagon back despite the ‘accident’. Hale asked for a recovery day, which Angeline grudgingly agreed to, with the caveat that if Keira had any more visions, they’d deal with it immediately. Both teams would resume regular patrols the following day.

  “Understood,” Hale said, “Clearwater has shown great promise.”

  “Yeah,” Soren said, nodding slowly, narrowing his eyes at Hale, “Our little Diviner here killed an Elf all on her own. Used her Sight.”

  “She did,” Hale said cautiously. He was just about to report that to the Captain, but Soren beat him to it.

  Angeline nodded. “Impressive.”

  “Yes,” Soren said, cocking a grin at Hale. “I doubt there’s anything that can get past her.”

  CHAPTER 15 – KEIRA

  Keira slid into the steamy water and exhaled as best she could. Despite the soothing sensation of the heat pooling around her, she just couldn’t relax. Maybe it was the tension between Hale and Soren, or Soren and Jessa… or Jessa and Hale.

  No, stop. She was imagining it. She wasn’t the jealous type, she’d never had a reason to be. If a guy was going to cheat, she’d dream about it and break it off before it could happen. She’d had no such dreams about Hale, it made no sense for her to even be thinking that way.

  Keira shook her head and sunk deeper into the water, letting it wash over her tense shoulders. Why was she so anxious? If anything, she should be excited. She had made it through a second dreamless night, proof that she had finally found a good guy, maybe even a boyfriend. Either that or her powers were glitching…

  No. That didn’t make sense. She was only getting stronger, if anything. The way she handled that Elf… no, there was no way she’d missed any warnings. She had nothing to worry about when it came to Hale Draven. She could finally let her guard down.

  “You have to try this,” Hale said, handing her the bottle of Soren’s rain-thistle moonshine. As he passed it to her, she felt a little tingle where his fingers touched hers. She stole a hungry glance at his gorgeous yellow-green eyes, fixed on her and clearly thinking the same. She took a sizeable gulp, the sweet, tangy liquid burning a little as it went down.

  It was delicious and she understood why Hale had demanded it in exchange for his help… but why did he also have to arrange for the second half of his reward to be a day spent in the company of the dysfunctional Salamander duo? Yeah, she understood he wanted to torment Soren a little, but this seemed like a strange way to go about it. Didn’t seem like much of a prize. The water was nice and all, but she would have thought he’d have preferred to spend the day alone with her.

  Jessa popped out from behind her changing bush and sauntered to the water’s edge in a barely-there bikini, ample breasts spilling out on either side of the thin material of her top.

  “Nice work, Sorey-kins,” she purred, blowing an air-kiss upstream at the partially concealed sauna-slave.

  “Nice tits, Jessakins,” he said, increasing the size of his flames, orange tips visible over the tops of the brush.

  “I know,” she said, bouncing into the water. She swooped in and snuggled herself in between Hale and Keira. Keira opened her mouth, but Hale caught her eye before she could protest. On the way back from their post, before they had run into the Salamanders, Hale told her about the rumors flying around, and how they needed to be careful. No one could know about them.

  “I’ll take this, thank you,” Jessa said, plucking the bottle from Keira’s white-knuckled grip. She tossed the bottle back and took a long pull. “Mmm. That’s the shit!”

  She handed the bottle to Hale. “So,” she said, flitting her eyes between Hale and Keira, “anyone have any good drinking stories? On either side of The Veil?”

  Sure. Keira had a few. Or, she thought she did. Unfortunately, the only drinking memory floating to the surface at the moment was of curling up around the cat illusion, joking softly with Hale into the night, and then falling asleep in his arms.

  “I have a good one about Ravin’ Draven, right here,” Soren said, slinking down in the pool, capturing Keira’s gaze.

  Hale’s sunny eyes shaded dark. “You weren’t invited to this party, Eriksson. You better shut the hell up and get back to heating this water. Otherwise maybe the Captain will find out what happened with the cart.”

  “Oh ho,” Soren laughed,
wrapping his arm around Keira’s shoulder, “if that’s how you want to play it—“

  Keira cringed and tried to shrug him off.

  “Don’t you fucking dare,” Hale growled, raising his hands out of the water, fingertips glowing blue.

  “Boys,” Jessa chirped, snatching the bottle and handing it to Soren, “let’s just enjoy the day. I was talking about fun stories. I’m sure you have some good ones. I’ll go first. One time in college, I convinced my entire dorm to go streaking through the chancellor’s office.”

  Soren released Keira and took a swig. Apparently, he’d decided to drop it. But Keira couldn’t. Something in the sharpness of Hale’s reaction meant it was big. Like Myra big. She could see it in his eyes, he hurt. She needed to get him alone and ask him what was wrong.

  She waited patiently for her moment. Jessa shared her alcohol fueled tale, then another, then Hale shared one of his, then Soren, then Jessa again. Keira tried subtly to get Hale’s attention in between each, to no avail. Jessa passed around the bottle several more times before declaring that storytelling had grown dull.

  “Truth or dare?” she asked, turning to Keira.

  What. Were they really playing this? Then again, this was the first social interaction she’d had here besides Hale. She should probably play along. She’d never make friends if she acted too good for everything.

  Okay then. If she said ‘truth’ she knew for sure Jessa would ask about Hale. “Dare.”

  “I dare you to kiss Soren.”

  “What?” Keira said, eyeing Hale for help. Why would she do that? Was Jessa trying to trick her into revealing her feelings?

  Hale tensed visibly, but didn’t say a thing. He simply turned his gaze to Soren, his stare sharp and cold. Threatening wordlessly.

  Soren simply smirked in response and snaked one arm around Keira’s waist.

  No way. Hale wouldn’t let this happen. So what if there were rumors? What did it matter? No one really knew the full story of what happened between him and Myra. Even if they did know, they would still judge. People always judged.