The Golden Key Chronicles

by AJ Nuest

  He quickly withdrew, one hand centered on her spine, the other cupping the back of her neck. Surely he’d misheard. Not dead, merely slumbering?

  Her bottom lip had plumped from his kisses and he gnashed his teeth against the unending urge to suck it back into his mouth. This woman could so easily be his undoing. “I have been but asleep? For how long?”

  She shrugged, her pale fingers combing a lock of hair away from his brow. “It’s hard to tell. The light here always stays the same. But I’ve slept three times since we entered.”

  Faint memories eddied and coalesced as he stared into her sparkling green eyes. The black fletching of a poisoned arrow. A desperate escape on horseback. Entering the Black Forest. Love’s final kiss.

  He’d died. He was certain of it, and no one held the power to retrieve a soul from the afterlife, barring mayhap Fandorn. He lifted a brow. Or a powerful sorceress.

  His hold on her instinctively tightened as he glanced around their otherworldly surroundings. Though the mattress held superior quality, it lay on the stone floor. Clusters of glittering rock sprouted from every surface of the cave like candles arranged upon an altar, the hues ranging from clear to midnight blue. Heaps of elaborate treasure garnished each nook and cranny— traveling wardrobes, arms and weapons, a chest overflowing with gemstones and gold coins. A shimmering pool rippled behind him, catching clear run-off weeping down a wall worn smooth with age.

  Yet the most peculiar aspect was the incandescent light. It seemed to come from nowhere…and everywhere all at once. “What is this place?”

  “I’m not entirely sure.” She dropped her gaze to the healed hole near his shoulder. The soft pad of her thumb circled his scar and his curiosity faltered. The moment his concerns regarding their safety had been satisfied, he’d forgo such delays in favor of slaking her other, more tantalizing, distractions. “The Dreggs call it the Cave of Tears.”

  Astonishment squeezed the air from his lungs and he carefully studied the porcelain beauty in his arms. For centuries, many had sought the cave’s location only to return empty-handed, more the worse for wear, or not return at all. Over time, tales of a sacred pool in which the healing tears of the nine goddesses fell to earth had turned to legend…legend to myth. If asked, he would have scoffed such divine intervention ever existed.

  He narrowed his eyes. Yet all this time, the Dreggs had secreted this holy relic within their realm—perchance the true reason behind their fierce allegiance to so vigilantly guard the Black Forest. “And they freely escorted us here?”

  A smile rosied her cheeks. “They flew us here, actually. It was incredibly daring, soaring through the air like that. I’d love to do it again someday.” Sadness muted the light in her eyes and she trailed the tip of her finger along his lower lip. “Given different circumstances, of course.”

  Pride surfaced on a surge of protective avarice and he clutched her upper arms, applying a little shake before whisking her tight to his chest. The foolish, foolish girl. A chuckle escaped all whilst he fought the urge to bend her over his knee and soundly smack her bottom. Willingly risking her life in such a way. Agreeing to such a dangerous endeavor for his sake. She should have never partaken in such a perilous chore.

  The visual of her standing strong, opposing a clutch of giant beasts which most men cowered at the mere utterance of their name, near propelled him to the brink of madness. Had not those same creatures swarmed in and delivered him to Castle Seviere? Had not their interference ensured him two torturous years in a sallow dungeon? That she’d convinced them to likewise aid their cause was a feat of unparalleled intellect and bravery. “How, my love? How has this come to pass?”

  She clung to his neck, burrowing closer when he palmed the silken tresses blanketing her back. “I promised to help them in exchange for bringing us here, even though they believe I’m something I’m not. I tried to convince them otherwise, but they—”

  “You are everything they believe and more.” Awe tempered his voice and he closed his eyes, cinching her tighter still. She’d saved him. By all the nine goddesses, she’d stormed into the very bowels of hell and bartered for his soul. What scourge could ever make her suppose she was anything less than the utmost beautiful, compelling woman Helios had gifted his world?

  Her lips met his shoulder even as her warm tears dotted and tracked down his back. “But I’m not, Caedmon. I don’t have any special gifts or magic powers. I’d do the same again in a heartbeat, and yet I’m scared what might happen once the Dreggs figure out I’m nothing but an ordinary woman.”

  He tossed his head back and his hearty laugh ricocheted off the glistening walls. Ordinary? She’d traversed realms. Overcome insurmountable odds. Goddesses’ tits, the woman was misled. “Oh, my sweet Rowena. Of that, you may rest assured, you are not.”

  She sat back, chuckling through her tears, and a groan nearly leaked from his lips when the globes of her luscious bottom cradled his groin. “You really think so?”

  “To the depth of my soul, I believe you are the most captivating, miraculous creature to have ever graced this realm.” Her hair slipped like sliver spun strands through his fingers as he cupped her cheek and guided her forehead down to his. “And to the end of my days, my heart will always be yours.”

  A flood of fresh tears coated her lashes. She clamped a trembling hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, turning away from him.

  He frowned and tugged her arm, batting her hand aside until her face was nestled in both his palms, right where it belonged. What had he done? Whatever offense he’d dealt, he’d recant his words immediately. His thumbs cleared the dampness from her cheeks and he attempted to kiss away new tears all whilst struggling to meet her gaze. “What is it, my love? What troubles you?”

  “It’s just…” She glanced at him and shook her head, her lowered lashes two dark fans lying atop her cheeks. “For the first time, I realized…” Her chin rose and she locked her gaze onto his. “I really missed you those two years you were gone.”

  His lips parted in surprise. But, she’d not known him. For her, their first true meeting had been the day of his return. And yet, somewhere, deep in the fabric of her soul, she’d longed for his presence at her side.

  A shudder rocked his body and something unnamed, wild and primal battled to be set free. His cock pulsed and he crushed his lips to hers, devouring, gorging on the sweetness of her, the hint of salt from her tears lingering on his tongue.

  She supplied equally to what he gave, nipping his bottom lip, tugging it into her mouth to flick her tongue and sooth the slight sting. A small whimper hummed in her throat and she squirmed against the barrier of the blanket. Pressure tingled and built in the base of his spine, surging into his aching member.

  The bend of her knees seated perfectly in his palms. The width of her thighs was an ideal span between his thumbs and forefingers as he glided his palms higher. Her chemise buckled and gathered along his hands, the tan of his splayed fingers running in dark harmony against her snowy skin. The thin fabric tumbled to his wrists as he clutched her hips, dug his fingers into her tender flesh and dragged her forward and back along the ridge of his cock.

  He ground his teeth as heated friction mounted between their bodies. The urge to delve inside her, explore the slick tightness of her sheath, sent blood pumping straight into his throbbing shaft.

  Rising to her knees, she whisked the blanket down his thighs. His cock jolted into the cool air and she sharply inhaled, eyes wide, and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

  She lifted her gaze to his. “We’re gonna have to take this slow.”

  He smirked…and then grinned. “Imagine my sublime contentment to learn I possess the one thing which gives you pause.”

  Her jaw dropped a moment before they burst into shared laughter.

  He skimmed his palms up her alluring curves, bringing the chemise with them until she raised her arms and the fabric tumbled off her hands to the ground.

  His mouth dried at the sight
of her, naked, on her knees before him, a beauty sculpted by the goddesses and cast in human form. With both hands, he reached up and cupped the graceful slope of her shoulders, thumbs balanced along the delicate frame of her collarbones. Her pulse stuttered through the thin skin. Her lashes fluttered then closed. The urgency to toss her beneath him and propel her to a soul-shuddering climax nearly overcame him.

  No. He clenched his jaw. He would commit her to memory first. Consume every feature with his fingers and mouth until the exact intricacies of her arousal became fixed in his mind. So he would always know the most fulfilling ways to pleasure her.

  The muscles in her slender arms belied a skill envied by most men, and he marveled at their velvet texture beneath the coarse glide of his palms. Strength under satin. Power and agility masked by feminine curves. He touched a moist kiss to the crook of one arm and she moaned. The stroke of his tongue, a heated puff of his breath, and she wavered unsteadily, her mouth parting.

  Her breasts hung full and round, topped with hard, ripe berries the exact blush of her lips. He leaned forward, a wretched pauper to a glorious bounty, and drew the first of her succulent fruits deep into his mouth. Her breathing increased. Her ribcage heaved beneath his hands. She burrowed her splayed fingers into his hair, clasping him tight to her chest when he flicked and teased the pointed nub with the tip of his tongue.

  The pebbled nipple hardened further and his cock jerked. A drop of hot liquid wept from the slit. A glide of his palms down to her sumptuous ass and she moaned, panting. The throb in his groin swelled and he opened his thighs to ease the thick ache. Her knees complied and she widened their stance. The scent of her arousal flooded his senses and the floor tilted, his equilibrium reeled. He flexed his fingers, grasping and parting the curves of her ass. Her head lolled back on her shoulders and she arched her sinuous spine, rocking into his touch, her nails digging into his scalp.

  With the tip of one finger, he circled the tight flower of her bottom. The taut bud repeatedly flexed and then eased, a swirling rhythm that saturated his mind with blind lust. A flat sweep of his tongue along her other breast and his second hand itched for discovery, strumming lower, seeking his prize. Slippery skin moistened his fingers and a hungry growl rumbled in his chest. She was wet. Wet and ready for him.

  He dragged the side of his index finger through her damp folds and she sharply inhaled. Beneath the pad of his thumb, her hidden pearl hardened, grew distended. Desire blotted out all thought. A dangerous force mounted in his balls and he resisted the compulsion to fist his cock as her thighs quivered on either side of his.

  She wrenched his head from her breasts and brought her mouth to his, whimpering and thrusting her tongue between his lips, over and over as she pitched and swayed against his hand. He tapped the hard nub, circling and teasing, increasing the pressure as he slid one finger inside the tight column of her sheath. She grabbed his wrist, forced his hand deeper. A curl of his index finger and she came apart in his arms. Her back bowed, face aimed at the ceiling, a breath trapped in her lungs. He thrust a second finger inside her, then a third, stretching and filling the slim channel as tremors rolled and shuddered through her body. Her inner walls spasmed and convulsed, coating his hand in slippery cream.

  Her trembling slowly ebbed and he withdrew his hand. She lowered her head, her eyelids heavy with sated passion, and one side of her lips curled into a cunning smirk. “Your turn.”

  She shoved his shoulders with both palms and he grinned, reclining against the mattress, primed and acutely eager for whatever gifts she might bestow. The skin of his cock seemed strained to the limit, his shaft engorged and hot against the skin of his belly.

  His focus narrowed to her slender fingers and his hips instinctively jerked when she lifted his member and fisted the base. The ball of her thumb rubbed and goaded the swollen head. The tendons in his neck audibly snapped as he thrust his arms harder against the floor. A slow stroke to the tip with her curled fingers, a penetrating squeeze along his pulsing length and his head jolted off the pillow, hands fisting as he fought to hang on. Her clever tongue darted and jabbed, prodding his slit. He hissed between his teeth as her second hand smoothed along his inner thigh to cup and fondle his balls. His ass flexed, muscles screaming when her tongue circled the corona and she sucked him deep into her mouth. A resonating buzz droned in his ears. The light swirled and dimmed.

  Sweet tits, the blissful constriction of her cheeks, the warm cradle of her tongue. He would never outlast this sweet torture.

  She slowly withdrew from his cock and his body rebelled, tightened, and he pumped into her mouth a second time—a salacious temptation he could no longer resist. She banded his cock within the firm circle of her thumb and index finger, stroked from the rim of her lips down. Her low hum vibrated his skin, shot a current of white heat deep into the creases of his thighs. Ecstasy coiled in his gut and he squeezed his eyes closed, gritting his teeth. Another slow pump of his hips, the sinking of his member between her ruby lips, and sanity fled.

  He growled and grabbed her upper arms, lifting her to his chest as he rolled her beneath him. The tip of his cock prodded and nestled her damp folds as he drank from her lips. Mimicking the motions, he slowly eased the head of his cock inside her, dragging the tip of his tongue along the roof of her mouth. Like a taut band, she flexed around him. Passion darkened the love gleaming in the jeweled depths of her eyes.

  His heart constricted. At long last, the light in her gaze reflected the devotion he’d lived and breathed these two years hence. Neither centuries nor time had diminished the bonding of their souls. The loss of her memories presented no hazard for a love that was destined by fate.

  Still, he hungered for the words from her lips. To know their betrothal had persevered, remained embedded and as steadfast in her desires as his.

  “Marry me,” he whispered, easing back before pushing forward, gaining another blessed fraction toward bliss.

  “Oh, hell yes.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and crossed her ankles at his lower back. He clenched his jaw when the slight angling of her hips swallowed an additional portion of his rock-hard shaft. “Name the time and place and I’ll be there.”

  His chuckle quickly morphed into a groan when she dug her nails into his backside and urged him deeper still. Slowly, the two of them sharing each breath, he kept his gaze locked to hers until he was fully immersed inside her. Sweat damped her hairline, moistened the delicious skin below her ear. A shiver quaked her body and the pointed tips of her nipples raked his chest. The echoing clamp of her inner walls pulsed through his cock and he bit back a curse. Slow. Above all else, he must bide his time so as not to hurt her.

  He brushed a long white strand away from her cheek. “Is there much pain?”

  She blinked and a small crease formed between her brows. “Um, I would say the one sensation I’m experiencing right now is impatience.”

  “Truly?” He raised a brow, suppressing the urge to smile. No, no, that would never do. He withdrew and quickly plunged back inside, completing her to the brim. The hair at his nape tingled and his balls hitched when she writhed beneath him, the grind of her hips a slow seduction driving him ever nearer the abyss. “And now?”

  “Enthusiam,” she panted. “Again.”

  One forearm braced on either side of her head, he rocked into her thrice, each time penetrating from a different angle, the tightness of her sheath fluttering and grasping, preparing to milk him dry. He ground his hind molars and expended the last of his willpower to stay buried inside her. He wanted her flying with him, pleading and calling his name as they tumbled into rapture. “And now, my love?”

  “Harder.” The arches of her feet cupped his ass and she squirmed. “Love me harder, my prince.”

  The tethers of his self-control snapped. He snarled and drove into her, pouring his love into each thrust. The scent of her skin saturated his mind as he nuzzled the column of her throat, nibbled her ear, lips and chin in his path around her neck. H
e twined their fingers together and pinned her hands high over her head. An immense pressure spiraled into his groin as she gasped and bowed beneath him, eyes squeezed tight. The muscles of her inner walls contracted and spasmed in sweet surrender and he increased his pace, driving faster, urging her to soar among the clouds.

  He glanced down to where their bodies were joined. Her glistening arousal coated his shaft, softness yielding under hard, darkness clasped by light.

  “Caedmon…” she breathed and he was flung body and soul into the throes of ecstasy. Spasms detonated down his spine. Sparks sizzled at the edges of his vision as his release spurted and melded with her quivering core.

  He collapsed on top of her, trying to catch his breath. She wrapped her arms around him and her contented sigh whispered past his ear.

  Peace. For as long as he’d lived, none other than his true love had offered him such resplendent peace.

  Chapter Five

  To his way of thinking, nary a thing touched by Helios’ bright rays compared to the voluptuous temptations of the female backside, and the one sauntering away from him was undoubtedly the most exquisite of every curved bottom in the realm.

  Caedmon linked his fingers and propped them under the back of his head to better enjoy the view. Regrettably, his lady had insisted on reclaiming her shift before leaving his side, yet the thin material displayed a paltry effort in masking her form.

  Beneath the gauzy covering, her shoulder blades shifted like restless wings, the crease of her ass a slightly darker line than the unmarred skin to either side. Indeed, if anything, the way the light passed through the fragile garment merely titillated his arousal. He bit back a groan as his thoughts ran rampant over the singular delights awaiting his hands and tongue. The mere idea of exploring the landscape of her body made all sound judgment flee.