by Mima
“A forced orgasm is an exercise in brute dominance. I don’t want you to lie passive under my touch, resisting and rejecting me, my hands manipulating your flesh to a physical reaction. Trust me when I say I have that skill. Instead, let me share my body with yours. I won’t need to control you to bring you back.”
He could have pulled her to him with a flex of his arm, but he stepped up to her. His face lowered, hovered over hers. His lips were parted, his breath caressing. “Do you really doubt that I can master your pleasure? Wouldn’t you rather have a partner? I’m strong enough to force you, Xia. I would in a heartbeat, if I had to, to save you.”
The heat from his mouth poured onto her lips, swelling them. She trembled. Her lashes fluttered, unable to bear falling into his dark gaze. His fingers curled against the edge of her neck, his short nails scraping gently. The shiver of sensation, so different from the firm press of his palm, cascaded over her chest. His thumb swept into the downy hair at the base of her skull. Pleasure tumbled down through her torso, rushing faster and faster.
She was going to allow this. He was nothing like she’d ever thought she wanted, and suddenly she ached to grab on to the release swelling in her womb. Adam was so unexpected and amazingly devastating. He took her from safe to unsteady and back again, with nothing but a sensual rub of his lips.
He shifted, and his other hand settled, so lightly, across her rounded belly. It hovered, flowing through the fold in her robe expertly, barely coasting over her skin. Her breath caught, but he inhaled, drawing hers back out.
“Xia, you are so lovely. Strong and bold, lively and shining with power.” His lips brushed hers now as he spoke, and her knees shook. His palm settled low over her tummy, the press of him above her pubic bone freezing every muscle. She was held taut, suspended between his firm hands. Her breasts brushed his chest with every quick breath, aching. Her thighs felt the steel in his.
Lids lifting, dragging open in a daze, she focused on his eyes, the blond-dusted lashes sparkling even as he shadowed over her, his eyes opaque, riveted on her. His hand tightened on her neck, supporting her straining body. Her jaw sagged, lips parting in invitation as light began to pulse in her belly.
From his dark gaze, purple gleamed in triumph, and his mouth sealed over hers, pushing her mouth wide as he ate at her, slicking inside with his tongue. He reached deep and she tangled with him, thrusting her hips forward into his grip. His hand at her nape slid higher, fingers reaching into her hair. His palm on her belly slid lower, cupping her lower lips without opening them, lifting hard against her softness.
She shook, her arms bursting from their hold on herself to grab at him. Her fingers scrabbled at his ribs, finding purchase on the muscle high on his chest. He slanted his head steeper, sealing their mouths harder, reached deeper into her mouth, daring her teeth. She closed on him and suckled. It was his turn to jerk, his hips knocking his hand against her heat. His fingers tightened, the heel grinding against the beginning of her folds.
His hand flexed hard into her softness, seeming to reach for her uterus. Eyes meeting, holding, he pressed his lips over hers and ordered, “Come.”
Light exploded inside her, low, trickling in a glow of wetness between her legs. Her breasts throbbed, and her head rocked minutely in his hold. “Oh,” she breathed.
She sagged, but he held her, his hand leaving her hair to go tight around her back.
His lips moved hard and eager over hers, his tongue lapping at her lips as if she was his last meal. His body was rigid, so tight to her she could feel the fine tremor that ran through him. When it eased, he slid his middle finger firmly through the slit in her hood. The hard, hot touch of him pressing her up into her own wet heat came so shockingly strong.
“Watch.” The word tore from his throat, spoken into her mouth as he kissed her, his lips sweeping strong against her once more.
When he pulled back, just enough for her to focus on him, he moved his finger on her buried clit, shifting just slightly on it as he pressed deep and steady. She stopped breathing as she watched her own orgasm roll through Adam’s eyes, erasing him for a moment as pleasure blinded him. She blinked, and the purple swirled to black. They each took a breath, and Xia thought his body against hers, his arm around her, was the only thing holding her together. Otherwise she would have disintegrated, subsumed not in one of the Four, but in pleasure gone to light.
He kissed her again, his finger sliding from her secret self, his hands wrapping around her hips, holding her tight as he rolled himself gently against her belly. She lifted her hands, holding his smooth cheeks, feeling his jaw work beneath her palms as they kissed, mouths wide as they tasted each other deeply. A shudder coursed over him, and she slid her fingers higher, threading into his soft hair, coming around his ears to fold his head close so she could drink down the last of his orgasm.
Huge, rough hands roamed up her back, pulling her into a tight hug she returned, wrapping both arms around his neck, burying her face in his throat when she could take the intimacy of his mouth no longer. They held tight for long moments. Xia learned to feel the knob of one lower cupboard sticking into her ass, and the coolness of the floor on her bare feet.
He kissed her gently on the forehead, and she reluctantly loosened her arms, letting him rise up and back. Her breath still came in small pants. She licked her lips. They tasted…surprised. But oh, so satisfied. Her fingers toyed with his shoulders, and she couldn’t believe he had his T-shirt on.
He sounded extremely satisfied when he murmured, “See? Sharing is so much better.”
Her lips buzzed, her jaw ached, and her breasts felt swollen and heavy. Wetness smeared her thighs, and her heart was pounding hard in her chest.
Adam’s thumb brushed against her lower lip, wringing a gasp from her as a shiver ran down to her toes. “We’ll be lovers.” He sounded downright smug.
He was irritating, but her body was so pleasure laden, the feeling felt far away. He bent and she squeaked as he lifted her in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, maneuvering her awkward bulk through the doorways easily. He laid her on the bed and pulled open her robe like he had a right to. The irritation swelled, especially when she saw something that looked like greed and possession sweep over his face.
“Adam.” Her voice was hoarse.
He sat on the bed, his hands in his lap, his eyes tracking over her thighs and belly and breasts and back again. “Xia.”
“What was that?”
He met her eyes. Frowned at her hard, indignant tone. “You’re not going to be angry. It was so good.”
“Quit telling me, ordering me, carrying me around!” She pulled the robe over her chest.
He frowned deeper. His face began to change subtly, around the eyes and mouth, becoming the mask she was used to. “Why are you angry?”
She licked her lips and had to keep her body from shuddering. She sighed. “You just bulldozed me.”
His shoulders pulled back, and his face was fully closed. “Instead of forcing your body, as you would have had, I shared myself with you. I showed you my skill and I did it respectfully.”
Before she could think of a response, he stood and walked out. Xia slung an arm over her eyes. She heard the water running in the bathroom. It pissed her off that she wanted to watch him clean himself. He finished but didn’t return to the bedroom. She heard him begin to wash the dishes. She felt like a slug and was bitter about it. He was the one who was all high-handed.
She went into the bathroom and washed the thick come from her thighs. Her face in the mirror was a revelation. Her auburn hair was tousled and loose around her shoulders, her freckles stark and her cheeks flushed. Her eyes glittered like mirrors and her lips were…indecent. Movie-star plump. Her nipples were still hard, and washing herself didn’t do anything to settle them.
In the kitchen, he was on the phone. From the discussion of locations, she assumed it was about Gavin the rat-bastard harpoonist. She took a freezer bag and put the leftover stir-fry aw
ay. Adam took the pan and washed it, while she began to dry. He finished the call and put the phone on the bar. They worked in silence that blessedly didn’t feel angry.
“Adam?” Crap. Her voice was high and uncertain. She cleared her throat.
“Aye.” He undid the drain and rinsed the sink.
“It was good. Very…very good.”
He wrung out the dishcloth. “Aye.” He turned only his head and watched her with those deep eyes. “It will get better.”
She felt her jaw come unhinged and closed it with a snap.
“Time for your next hoop.”
“They’re not hoops. These are training exercises. They’re extremely useful.”
The phone rang with a generic trill. He reached out for it without taking his eyes off her. “Adam here.”
Murmur, feminine murmur.
“Try St. Lucia.” He powered it off and set it down.
Xia realized she was still holding a dripping bowl and put it down as well.
“Let’s do the integration. You’ll see then that I’ll never give up on you. No matter where you go in Terra, I’ll find a way to get to you.”
The thought of the intimacy of sharing Adam’s conscious and unconscious thoughts was overwhelming after their first kiss. Oh, she needed to be honest here. After their first sex. Standing up, clothed. It was cowardly but she wanted to delay that test.
“Not the integration. Let’s do the tug of war. See if you can get me.”
He wrung the sponge particularly viciously. “Where do you want to do your test of wills?”
“Not the kitchen,” she said dryly. “I’ll take the bed. You take the couch. I don’t want to risk us touching.”
He slid a look at her and went into the living room. She finally noticed he was wearing different jeans. She had a thought that she had enough energy to go through this tonight because he’d taken on Aqua for her during the dreamtime.
“Are you sure you’re up to this? Would you like to rest?”
“I’m ready.” He folded his hands behind his head, his legs stretched out and crossed.
“We’ve already gone through quite a bit tonight—”
“If you’re too tired, say so.”
“Why do you always do that! You’re so brusque and cold.”
“I’m not being cold, merely truthful. I’ve no patience with social dithering. I’m too old for that shite.”
“I’m sorry, okay? I hurt your feelings, and I’m trying to be more careful with you.” She’d asked him to force her and he’d tricked her instead. She’d been maneuvered and had gotten defensive when she had no right to be.
He moved his laced hands over his head and down to his lap. “If the Chamber wasn’t behind the order to send you into Terra, I’d have you on your back in that bed, buried balls deep. I haven’t had a lover in thirty years, and if you don’t get your round soft ass back in that bedroom so we can finish this tonight and send you to bed, alone, to rest, I’m going to get up and walk out.”
Xia stared at him.
“Close that gorgeous mouth. You’re giving me ideas. Go.”
She whirled and threw herself onto the bed. She lay there panting for several moments before her brain engaged.
“I’m waiting.” His voice sounded decidedly tight.
Licking her lips, shiver, she focused and spun her power up. Stepping into the ether was like shedding her skin. She had no body, but she was Xia, and she had her own space. She bobbed at the end of her silver tether. A royal purple ribbon rolled toward her, and she felt the brush of Adam. He felt like fur. In this realm, sending thoughts was a push of energy and receiving them felt like an internal echo.
“I’m going to go hide. You try to find me, catch me and haul me back, and I’ll try to stay away.”
“I won’t hurt you. If you’re strong enough, I’ll give up.”
“But that’s not what I want. I want to see if you’re strong enough to force me.”
“Unconscious, you’ll be ten times stronger anyway.”
If Xia had teeth to grind, she would. The astral plane around them was soft and fuzzy, like being inside a cloud. “Then I want proof you’re at least as strong as me awake.”
“I think you’ve learned by now, I can do force, but I don’t like to. If I’m trying to wrangle you, I’ll use trickery and teasing, not brute strength.”
The thought made her pause. “Really? But you’re not a tricky or teasing person at all.”
“I don’t see you still demanding a forced orgasm.”
Pride detonated inside her. “The kitchen was still mostly about force.”
“I seduced you. Not quite the same thing. I gave you your mastery, just not in the form you envisioned.” And then he pulsed with self-satisfied energy.
Fury made her soul’s tether shine. Her psychic essence gathered.
“You look like a storm cloud.”
“You look like a—a—raindrop.”
She cut her cord and was off like a rocket, soaring into the misty plane of no-space, soul-space, magic. She wasn’t trying to travel, she wasn’t trying to contact or spy. She was looking for a passing thought to hitchhike on and disappear.
She roamed the countryside. A bit to the north was a good cluster of powerful minds, probably based on the Isle of Skye. Xia dropped into the middle of them and shrank herself. She was good at hiding, because of her morphi nature. She slid and hid in the very elements’ inner dreams. Surely she could hide from one old selkie.
She watched the sky, oozed into the shadow of what felt like a demon, and was still. For a long time. She began to grow tired, but held to her patience. The demon’s etheric self bobbed gently. She might be sleeping or just living a mundane life without accessing her magic. Time was hard to gauge here, as much could be accomplished in a short amount of real-body time or, conversely, a person could be held here for what felt like a moment, while the real-body was trapped and aging.
Suddenly a shower of red sex magic exploded like a firework over the small cluster of magical minds. The demon shivered with pleasure, and nearly all the souls turned to look. Xia knew it for the trap it was and stayed crouched. Even though her curiosity was killing her. What had he done to set off such a display? She felt a little guilty he’d expended so much power to no purpose.
Then the shadow she curled against expanded between one moment and the next. She was surrounded. Panicking, wondering if she’d blundered against an enemy, she burst herself wide, the mental equivalent of a jumping jack. The shadow trembled, but held. She was about to get more violent when she heard the demon who controlled the astral shadow speak. It had an incredibly seductive voice, low and calming, like a purr.
“So beautiful, Adam. Come take her, she izz very, how you say…surprised.”
“Thank you, Omneiloscadum. I appreciate your help.”
“And I appreciate your…self.” She sounded interested.
Adam rose up and in the time the shadow left her, he had her in a gentle grip. Xia growled, pulling and twisting, wondering how best to resist. “You weren’t supposed to use reinforcements. This was a test for us.”
“Oh? I thought it was a test of how powerful I was.”
“Exactly. No fair using others.”
“I have allies. They are part of my power.” Adam’s voice was matter-of-fact as he towed her southeast.
Xia did the mental equivalent of digging in her heels.
He sighed. “Must we, Xia?”
She turned on him, slapping him with her power. That it stung her, too, mattered not. “This is my life I’m offering, Adam. My life!” She stopped fighting. “Pardon me if I happen to want some safeguards in place before I disappear.”
His presence rubbed against hers. “Come. I want to look in your eyes.”
The comment surprised her, but not as much as the speed he tore off with. She flowed along behind him like a lure on a line. The anchoring bit of ribbon rose from her real-body’s location. She was slung at it without a bit
of care.
Her lungs expanded hard and loud with the mental shock of being back. Her body went rigid, and her eyes opened. He came storming into the bedroom. Slapping the wall plate, he flooded the room with light.
“Let me in.”
“What?”
“Let me in.”
She sat up with difficulty, her abs trembling from the strain. “I’m not sleepy.”
“I’m not coming in as your rampart. I want you to see me. From the inside, so you won’t doubt my power or dedication again.”
Rolling onto her knees, she stared at the blank-faced and tight-lipped man. “I don’t doubt your dedication at all, Adam. And I’m aware you’re powerful, and I’m very grateful you’re willing to anchor me. I just wish I could know you’re more powerful than me, to rescue me from myself if you have to.”
“I told you before. I even showed you, twice. I won’t need to control you to bring you back.”
He stood with his legs pressed to the edge of the mattress as if it were a magical fence. His chest was working and his hair disheveled and softly waving.
Xia licked her lips. “Tell me what you mean, please.” She carefully kept her words modulated and calm.
Adam stared at her opaquely, then turned and left. The fridge opened and closed, and he returned, handing her an iced tea and opening a bottle of Guinness for himself. Since iced tea was a sacrilege in the UK, she knew he’d paid attention to her American tastes. He sat on the foot of the bed. His throat was a thing of beauty as he swallowed. Flipping the bottle cap in his hand, he stared blindly at the cream-painted wall.
Xia took a sip of her iced tea. Pleasure burst in her at the cool, dry relief. She drank deeply. “Thank you. This is perfect.”
He snorted softly. She ignored it, waited.
“I’ve been an anchor before.”
It had been in his file. He’d been an anchor four times, with Aqua, and Aer. All of the morphi who had gone into the elements had come out, although one had taken a year to learn how to speak again. All were men, one of whom he’d been a rampart for.
