Order of the Akasha: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Complete Series)

by E. M. Moore

“Let’s play who can keep the quietest.”

  With a teasing grin, I dropped to my knees and took Liam into my mouth. His hands shot out to steady himself, but one got lost in the shower curtain before his other planted onto the tile. “Fuck, Norah. That was evil.”

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t play dirty.”

  I licked him from base to tip, then moved my mouth down him again. He breathed out, keeping his mouth closed. I watched him struggle and did my best to undo him. I grabbed his base and worked him into my mouth at a steady pace. He sank his fingers into my hair. I thought I had him, but he squeezed my shoulder and moved me away. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to come in your mouth and there will be nothing for you.”

  “I’m sure you can think of something.”

  I let him squeeze my shoulder as I darted forward again. Cum had beaded at his tip and I licked it. If Liam wanted to join me in the shower, he certainly was always welcome.

  I returned my efforts to getting him to explode. His hands got lost in my hair again as I worked him even harder. I loved seeing his pained face, trying not to give into his pleasure.

  This was a fun game.

  His hips started moving into me. My pussy was already wet, waiting for whatever he had in mind after this. “Oh, Liam,” I said, running my tongue down his length again.

  “Oh, yes,” Liam said, his voice coming out in a hushed whisper. “I’m almost there, baby.”

  I grabbed Liam’s ass and forced him to me, taking him in all the way to the base before releasing him and doing it again and again. Liam made a guttural sound, then held my head to him as he pumped inside my mouth a few times, then jerked when his cum emptied into my mouth.

  I sucked his tip, taking it all in. He let out an excited cry, but then pulled me away before he got too loud. “Jesus, Norah.”

  He brought me up onto my feet and then moved me to where he just stood. He shut off the water, then thought better of it and put the faucet on instead of the shower head.

  “Lay down.”

  I did as he asked. He lowered with me, keeping my knees open as he positioned himself between my legs. He kissed everywhere around his final destination. He kissed at the apex of both my thighs. He kissed a trail down from my belly button, just shy of my clit. He kissed just mere centimeters away until I was shaking in his hands. Then, he looked up at me. His deep brown eyes told me I was going to pay for what I’d just done.

  Finally, blissfully, he moved over, his tongue moving over my folds until he caressed my clit. He did it over and over again until I gripped the side of the tub. The rushing water was filling the bath up, but it didn’t deter Liam. His face got lost between my legs as he sucked and kissed. I did my best to hold it in, but at one point, it didn’t even matter anymore because it was Liam and I together, and shit this good, shouldn’t be held in.

  “Fuck, Liam.”

  His eyes rounded as he stared at me, but he never stopped. He ran his tongue over my clit, swirling it back and forth.

  Heat pooled right where he gave all his attention. My breaths came out in quick gasps. Even with the water running, I wasn’t hiding anything. And secretly, I think Liam loved it.

  He stayed where he was, my body inching closer and closer until there was no inching toward the apex. I was running full speed ahead. “Yes, yes!”

  My fingers dug into the side of the tub as my orgasm hit hard and strong. He lowered me back into the tub and water sloshed over my stomach. His eyes glinted as he stared at me. I let out one final breath when my body finally calmed down enough so that I could talk. “You win.”

  The corners of his mouth tipped up. “I’d say we both won.”

  14

  If anyone heard Liam and mine’s dalliance in the bathroom, no one said anything. It was a good thing too because as far as I was concerned, they were all guests in our home. The place where it all started. It felt weird to think that just a short time ago I’d been living in New Orleans with my shop that was just barely getting by and now I had more than I’d ever wanted and then some. Sure, these times with my coven had been stressful. People had died and been hurt. But I’d never learned more about myself. And, I’d never felt more alive. Even with all the threats and the danger, I was happier than I’d ever been.

  This was my calling.

  On the way to the park where the equinox festival would be held, a surge of hope sprang through me. The way the guys talked about it, this would be a mass convergence of people who were like me. Not everyone would be a Natural, but everyone would understand what it was like to be a witch, no matter how much power they had. That’s where Jax had gone wrong. It wasn’t about how much power you had; it was about who you surrounded yourself with that gave you the feeling of having power. It was hard to explain. And I had a feeling that even if Jax was in front of me and I tried to, he wouldn’t get it. I didn’t want to say anything to Travis, but I was pretty sure Jax was already gone. Any shred of the person he once was would’ve been eaten up by the demon. Even Liam with just the familiar on him had been a different person, and that was just a fraction of the energy an actual demon had.

  But since he had hope, I would too.

  I got out of the Jeep and stretched my legs. Tourists as well as Wiccans and witches—some dressed normally, some dressed as if they’d just returned from a wood fairy convention—walked toward the square. Tents were set up all the way around, and it dawned on me then that I’d heard of this festival even before we thought of coming here. I’d gotten a letter from the Salem Business Administration at the shop about buying a table here to sell some of my goods. I’d just tossed it aside, knowing that I would be too wrapped up in other things to do it.

  When all this was over, it would be nice to just worry about how to grow the shop and explore my life with the guys without having to worry about a demon taking over the entire city of Salem and me being only one of a few people in the world who could do anything about it. Talk about pressure.

  Jennie stuck close to Travis as we crossed the street by the Hawthorn Hotel. That was another place I hadn’t been in yet since coming here. I heard it was haunted, which gave me the chills to even think about, but people flocked there nonetheless. It could be an interesting thing to do with one of the guys over a weekend, maybe. See what spooky fun we could get into.

  “Welcome to the Equinox Festival,” Jennie said, throwing her hands out wide as we hit the sidewalk that crisscrossed through the park. The whole area was lined with tents with different shops from the area. Just looking around, I saw several names I recognized. Some who just sold Salem trinkets while others were psychics and well-known witches from the area. This was the place to be if we wanted to reach people who were like us.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Walter scan the crowd. His gaze was sharp and beady. With all these thoughts in my head about the future, I shouldn’t forget what we were actually here for. There was a very real possibility that the demon and Jax would target this place. Especially if they knew we were coming here.

  Over to an open grassy area to our left, someone had set up an altar. Candles flickered there with bouquets of flowers resting at their base. Liam leaned over. “Someone set up an area to mourn what’s been going on around here.”

  My heart felt heavy in my chest. It was difficult to process everything going on. Even more so when you knew what the actual cause of it was. It only renewed inside me that we needed to find Jax and the demon immediately. No more innocent people should die just because people were determined to be evil.

  Mr. Reid and Dean started walking toward us. Dean’s sister was in tow, already staring straight at where I knew Gabe was standing to my right. I didn’t know why, but it made me smile. Pride, maybe? I knew what I had. I was very lucky that they only had eyes for me.

  “This is interesting,” Travis said, keeping his voice low.

  “We did say we needed everyone’s help,” Gabe said. His cheeks were pink, and he tried to avoid the girl’s gaze.


  “I’m with Travis,” Randy said. “I’m glad they’re here, just surprised.”

  Liam went out to greet them as Travis reminded Walter and his coven as to who they were. Owen was with them too. Other guards also flanked them. I gave Owen a short wave. More and more people started to gather around us. Most of them, I didn’t recognize, but they must have at least known some in our party. Girls Jennie’s age came around directly to her, giving her hugs. Old friends who probably hadn’t seen her in a long time. My heart hurt for her when I thought about it. She’d left Salem after Travis accidently stripped her. She was so mad that she gave up everything here. She’d lost her boyfriend, her home, her friends, her brother. I could see why she came back. Maybe that same hope I had that she could put all this behind her. That she could once again return to Salem and at least have some closure about the events in her past.

  Walter and Travis spoke amongst one another. None of us had a clear-cut idea of what we were going to do once we got here. We had our target audience in front of us, but how to get to them all without alerting the outsiders as to what was really going on. There were always tourists in Salem. Always. There was no getting around them which was good for some things, like business, but bad when you needed to talk about a demon terrifying Salem.

  No one wanted to believe that bad things like this existed. They just liked the promise of the magic, not the flip side that went with it.

  And the truth was, most people didn’t need to know about it. That’s why we were here: The Enforcers.

  I took a deep breath and settled on Travis and Walter. My coven and his coven had converged on the same area, all waiting for what to do. “I say we put everyone who’s non-magical in a sleep spell. That way we can talk to anyone who is magical without fear of being overheard.”

  Travis nodded. “Walter and I were just discussing something similar. I told him how good you were at sleep spells.”

  I shrugged. “The thing is, I’ve never targeted it before.”

  Walter looked me square in the face. “I don’t think you’ll have a problem doing that. Think about where your powers come from inside you.” He gazed at me intently as if he was trying to say something without saying it.

  Gabe leaned over. “He’s talking about tapping into your element, Love.”

  Right. Spirit. I’d done some research this morning with Liam, looking up what I could do with my newfound power. The guys’ powers were obvious. Spirit was a little more out there. I could mess with people’s emotions, for one. I was used as a lightning rod, that we already knew. If I thought about the purple tether inside me, I could focus on that and search within everyone to see if they were magic, letting those that were stay awake.

  “Just be careful,” Walter warned, his face grave. Not too much, he mouthed.

  I had a feeling that I wouldn’t know if it was too much until it was too late. I didn’t bother saying that to him though.

  My coven and I all joined hands. When Liam reached out for Gabe’s hand though, Walter interceded. He stepped in, then we made the circle bigger to accommodate his coven as well as ours. When we were all linked, a buzz ran through the air. Magic escalated all around us, causing the hair on my arms to rise and goosebumps spread over my body. Those magical and non-magical turned our way. Anyone could sense something was up. Electricity was in the air, sparking this way and that.

  The wind picked up, and I glanced at Travis. I didn’t think he was intentionally doing it or if he was even doing it at all. I could have been nature responding to us, to the strength we all had. The ground vibrated.

  I was taken aback by all this that I’d almost forgotten why we were even doing this at all. Shaking my head, I closed my eyes and started the search. I tagged those who I couldn’t find any magic in whatsoever. I gave them a quick tap to fall into sleep, knowing I would just have to say ‘wake’ when I wanted them to be conscious again. Easily, I spread through the whole park differentiating between magic or not. Then, at the last second, I put a barrier around the park. We didn’t need anyone coming in at the last second wondering what the hell was going on while we were talking. Why some people were sprawled out on the ground and the remaining people were talking about demon possession.

  “It’s done,” I said simply, after I’d tagged the last remaining person in the square.

  We dropped hands. When I finally opened my eyes, I took a step back and almost stepped right on someone behind me. Witches surrounded us. They were drawn to us, or the power of us. We were like a beacon, and I didn’t want to sound conceited or anything, but they all looked as if they were staring straight at me. Eyes peeled and in awe, I felt like I was an attraction at the zoo. Murmurs rose up from the crowd. My stomach twisted.

  We had their attention. Now we just had to do something about it.

  Walter moved to center himself in the middle of the circle, but Travis grabbed his hand and moved forward instead. I smiled to myself. Of course it should be Travis. We were the Salem witches after all. No one would know Walter or trust him.

  “What’s going on?” a voice said from the crowd.

  Travis, with his dark hair and perfectly calm face moved to the center and commanded the audience’s attention. His shoulders were back, chin held high. Even I, who’d been with him, even slept with the guy, was surprised at the way he worked the crowd. He didn’t tell people to listen to him. They wanted to listen to him. That was a major difference.

  “We apologize for the secrecy. Please know that everyone who’s fallen asleep will wake up soon. Some of you know us, some of you don’t. We’re from the Order of the Akasha.”

  More murmurs rose. It was as if the Order was a fairy tale to some people, and they were just learning now that it was fully real. Enforcers weren’t just made up superheroes. They were real life badasses.

  “We wanted to talk to the magical people of Salem to explain a threat to all of us. You may have noticed the strange happenings around town. The church fires, the influx of hospital admissions… The list goes on. We have a demon that has come to prey on Salem and we need all of your help.”

  A shock ran through the crowd. Some witches stared wide-eyed at one another as others all together went pale. “I know this sounds concerning, but we felt it necessary to warn everyone, and to help those we could. You may have already received a call from us, telling you to make sure your personal safeguards are up, and to help those around you. The men and women who started those fires were possessed by this demon. If you can help save even one person, please do so.”

  “What are we going to do about it?” someone yelled.

  Travis nodded, bringing his fingers in front of his lips. “He will be taken care of. If you see anything suspicious, please let us know. We have a way to defeat the demon, we just need to find him first.”

  A dark laugh rose above the crowd. Suppressing anger bared down on my shoulders. So much so that I cringed inwardly and stooped. At once, I felt the very real demonic presence surround us. The hate. Anger. Fear. Lies. Every negative thought one could ever have was like a sopping wet blanket on all our shoulders.

  The voice spoke, ricocheting around the park as if it came from a concert speaker, complete with echo and reverberation. The voice was Jax’s but darker and more threatening. “You. Are. Fools.”

  15

  My heart thudded in my chest like the beat of angry drums. Surprise had ricocheted through me when the demon made himself known, but that wasn’t the main emotion spiraling through me. Anger. Hatred. Everything I’d ever been mad about bubbled to the surface. Now when I looked at Dean’s sister who stood so close to my Gabe, I wanted to wring her neck. I wanted to squeeze it until she turned blue then lifeless. When I stared at my coven, I hated the fact that they’d brought me here. Hated that I’d had to deal with so much just because of them. Because of the stupid pull. I glared at the back of Travis’s head for not wanting me from the beginning. Because he hadn’t liked me, I hadn’t liked him.

  Dean Reid had hur
t me. A growl ripped through my throat as I spotted his silhouette in the crowd.

  But then there was Liam. He turned toward me, the blankest of looks on his face. He tilted his head in that serene manner, staring at me as if he was trying to figure me out like one of the equations in his textbooks. “What’s wrong, Norah?”

  In the crowd, people started to argue. Family member turned on family member. Randy bumped into Travis and they started swinging.

  But Liam, he took my cheeks in his hands and made me look at him. “Don’t let him do this to you. Don’t let him take over who you are.”

  A flicker of light sparked within me. I knew the feelings that had started to burn weren’t right. I knew that although I had felt them in the past, they didn’t consume me. That was it, wasn’t it? That was the point. You could admit your negative feelings, but you didn’t let them rule your life. You could admit that you were selfish, that you were afraid, that sometimes you told lies, but you should always strive to be a better person.

  “Live in the light,” Granny’s voice said.

  I blinked, and she was standing just beyond Liam, her eyes wide and hopeful.

  “Norah Girl, it’s like I always told you. Live in the light. No matter what, live in the light. In the truth. In the beauty. Be who you are.”

  I blinked at her. She looked almost real this time. There were no clouds billowing out around her, but clear as day. She reached out. And this time, when she touched my face, she touched my face. I felt the imprint of her fingers on my skin. She closed her eyes in a sigh and I closed my own right with her, imprinting this memory inside me for all eternity.

  “Do it, Norah Girl. You can.”

  To combat all the hate, I thought of all the love I had. I pictured seeing Randy for the first time. How attracted to him I was with his tattoos and muscles. I thought of my first time with Liam. How sweet and shy he was, but also how determined. In my head, I saw Gabe laughing, and how that always made me smile. And Travis. Pig-headed boy that he was didn’t mean I loved him any less. I felt the feelings grow inside me. I felt them burn bright until my skin pricked again and my body warmed instantly.