by Alanea Alder
"My one and only," he said softly.
"Make love to me Micah," she begged. "I need to feel my mate."
He pulled back and cupped her face with his hands. "I wish we could freeze time and stay in this moment forever."
She flexed her legs and rubbed her dripping core over his stomach. "If we are to freeze time, I'd rather you be inside of me for that lasting moment," she teased.
He chuckled. "Never say I don't give you what you ask for," he warned. He reached between them and guided his hot length between her slick folds. With a snap of his hips he drove himself deep inside of her.
"Yes!" she hissed.
He was relentless as he set the pace. She struggled at her air bonds and her hands were released. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.
Defying gravity, Micah made love to her as if desperation fueled his efforts. As the pleasure built between them she suddenly began to see fragments of moments.
Her laughing as he spilled his basket of fries on the floor giving her a pouty face. Him hiding in the shower to scare the hell out of her when she went pee. Lazy mornings eating breakfast in bed. Her throwing paint brushes at him in frustration while decorating their home. The look on his face when the pregnancy stone glowed amber. And making love. Thousands of moments of them making love compiled into one experience.
As he thrust for the last time roaring his release, she simply shattered as pleasure consumed her. Their souls rose up and whirled together, each holding a tiny piece of magic. When they settled into their bodies she could not only feel Micah, but also a bit of his air magic as well.
She tried to even her breathing but couldn't. She was sobbing but it was from pure happiness. What she saw, what they experienced could only be described as spiritual. Under her hands Micah shook as his hot tears trailed down her neck.
Slowly they drifted down to the swinging bed.
"I am never letting you go," he said sounding choked up.
"Well you'll have to eventually, especially if we're going to clean up," she said running her hands through his hair.
He pulled from her body and they both groaned. Every single nerve ending was still vibrating. His arms trembled then collapsed leaving him face down in the mattress beside her.
"Can you breathe?" she asked.
"No," was his muffled reply.
Laughing she rolled him to one side. As she scooted to the edge of the platform she ran her hand where her body was just lying.
"How? It's not even sweaty?"
Micah grinned. "Self-cleaning sheets. Leif perfected them for Vivi. Since he owed me a favor I got the next sets for the platform and the bed upstairs."
Serenity squirmed and made a face at him. "It didn't clean me. I'm heading to the shower."
Micah waved her on. "When I get feeling back in my extremities I'll join you."
She shook her head. "Poor baby."
"Feel free to start again without me. I'll try to make it up there before you finish."
"No offense, because you literally rocked my universe, but I don't think I can handle any more tonight. I feel like we had a lifetime's worth of orgasms when we claimed one another."
Micah frowned and she laughed. "Don't worry Romeo, I'm sure we'll both feel better tomorrow."
She blew him a kiss and headed inside to clean up.
*****
He tried to stay calm as she walked away. There was no way Fate gave them a lifetime in one moment because he was going to lose his mate. His nightmares haunted him as he lay on the platform staring up at the false night sky.
He didn't care if he had to fight the gods themselves. He wouldn't lose his mate, he'd save her, even from herself.
*****
Serenity lay beside her mate in their bed for their first night together. The room was dark except for a tiny globe that looked like a miniature moon. The soft glow was comforting and illuminated the room just enough so she wouldn't stub her toe in the middle of the night going to the bathroom. She rolled on to one side and studied her mate's face.
Their claiming had been nothing like she'd ever heard of. It hadn't affected just her body, but her heart and mind as well. Each one of those fragments had become like memories to her. She felt in her soul that she and Micah were mated years instead of hours. Were they premonitions of moments to come? She snorted as she remembered aiming a paintbrush at his head.
"What?" Micah asked turning to face her.
"I was remembering how I threw the paintbrush at you when we were decorating the nursery."
"Was it for the nursery?" he asked. "All I got from that moment was my frantic efforts to calm you down."
She reached up and traced his lips. "Yup, it was for the nursery."
His smile turned goofy then he frowned fiercely. "Childbirth is traumatic, I don't think I could handle watching your pain. Couldn't we just lay an egg?"
She rolled her eyes. "When the time comes Laelia will be with us, Radclyffe too. We'll be fine."
Micah brightened. "Do they know a spell to pop the baby out without all the screaming and blood?"
"No, but they'll keep me from killing you."
"Definitely a good thing," he said.
"Micah?" she said softly, wondering if she should ask about her nightmares.
"Yes? My one and only."
"Did you have dreams before you met me?"
He frowned and simply nodded.
"I did too. They frightened me because in them I lose you. I never saw what chased you but knew it was your past, the secrets you kept. You wept for the dead men at your feet and I knew they were close to you. After meeting your unit I am pretty sure it was them." She shuddered remembering the tearing sense of loss each nightmare provoked.
He pulled her under his chin. "I could face anything but the deaths of my brothers," he whispered. He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "If I asked you to leave here with me, would you?"
She nodded without even needing to think about it. He was her mate and where he went, she would follow. "I would hope that before we leave you would trust me enough to tell me why you're so scared.
"I'm not scared," he protested immediately.
"I thought my mate was progressive enough and secure enough in his masculinity to admit to being afraid."
"It's technically not fear, it's an inborn sense of survival."
"Survival of what?"
"A massacre," he said softly.
"What massacre?" she asked.
"One that took place nearly five thousand years ago in Storm Keep."
"There was no massacre in Storm Keep," she scoffed.
"There was," he insisted.
"I think I would remember reading about that," she replied.
"There was," he repeated calmly.
"There wasn't!" she shouted, frightening herself. "Micah? What just happened?"
"That, my one and only, is a conditioned response that has been passed down at a genetic level based on a citywide manipulation of the people's memory." He pointed around to the darkened room and down to where they lay. "Most people react better in a dark, quiet room where they aren't distracted by what they see or hear. Physical contact also helps." He gave a low chuckle. "Yet another reason why I prefer you naked."
"There was a massacre?" she asked, afraid to believe her own mind.
"Yes. Storm Keep's royal family was driven from the castle and their most loyal retainers killed when the manipulation failed to work on them."
"The king and queen left," she corrected.
"Why? Where did they go?"
"They..." She shook her head back and forth trying to clear the haze.
"Shush, it's okay. It will be harder for you to fight the manipulation since you left Storm Keep this morning."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Whatever altered the memories of our people five thousand years ago permeated the very stone of the castle turning it into a broadcast tower. The longer you are away from the city, the cl
earer your mind will become, it will also help if your memories are challenged on a regular basis."
"The people have the right to know," she started and he placed a finger on her lips. "Less than a dozen people know the truth. Any attempt to reveal what is going on will be shut down by innocent citizens. Remember your reaction."
"How do you know all this?"
He held her close. "My family served the Stormharts. The night it happened my great-grandparents were in the castle reporting to the king and queen."
"Reporting?"
He chuckled. "My family ran what would be equivalent to the intelligence service for the royal family back then. The Ashleighs were the sword, the Ironwoods the shield, but the Whiteoaks were the book."
"Whiteoaks?"
"My true last name, Whiteoak. Micah Whiteoak. My family is descended from the druidic line of the Darwids. Dar, means oak, wid roughly means to know. My people were scholars and seekers of knowledge. They used that knowledge to serve their king and queen."
"That's amazing."
"It was also a death sentence. Their minds were conditioned to question everything, to search out truths, and uncover secrets. None of the manipulation worked and they rose up to defend the king and queen. They're the ones who opened the way for them to escape. My grandmother lost everyone that night. Her parents, older brothers, uncles, aunts, the entire family gone, in eight blood filled hours."
"Oh your poor gran! How did she survive? How did she figure out what happened?" Serenity held him as he told his story.
"She badgered her parents into allowing her to train with the unit warriors. She wanted to hurry up and start field work. So she spent that weekend with the Nu unit. When she returned to the city and couldn't find her family she raced back to the units crying hysterically. They couldn't remember her family. To them, she had always been alone. Later she figured out that after she left the unit estate and was out of sight, the warriors' minds were altered," He took a shuddering breath. "The entire kingdom was gaslighted and my poor gran thought she was going mad. For the longest time she kept the truth to herself. She carved out a life and slowly began asking questions and gathering information. One by one she found other witches who had a different set of memories from what was generally accepted and they compiled all of what they learned into a book. One of those witches was in the castle that night and was able to tell my gran how bravely her family fought, but it was a cold comfort."
"What does that have to do with you now?" she failed to see how her mate could be in any danger. He didn't even have the same last name any more.
"I came here to Noctem Falls to investigate if a vampire or group of vampires could be responsible for the mass manipulation that happened that night. Because I am now the bearer of the Veritas Book, the Book of Truth." He kissed the top of her head. "Our people are slaves to their own memories and I won't rest until the truth is known."
"Why not go to the Ironwoods or the Ashleighs? They're still around right?" She patched up Caiden just last week.
He shook his head. "One generation of their family was eliminated but a hundred years later they were back in the city as if nothing happened. I don't think they even remember their true purpose."
"Caiden, Tristan and Kyran Ironwood are good men. Law Ashleigh is a good man. If you helped them remember, they could stand by you." It scared her to death that her mate would face this future alone.
"It would take years to peel back that many layers of false memories and I don't think we have that much time."
"The ferals," she whispered.
"Reapers. Meryn called them reapers."
"You know what I mean."
"They are the larger threat right now so I want to stay with my unit brothers. But if my past is truly catching up with me, what I tell them could tear us apart. How could I look Adriel in the eye and confess that I have been lying to them for centuries. That I came here under false pretenses looking to discredit his people."
"I think he would forgive you and offer to help."
"I think you're being extremely optimistic."
"Do me a favor, at least tell Kendrick. He has had access to one of the largest collection of books in the kingdom for centuries. I know he could help," she pleaded.
He sighed. "If he wasn't an acting unit warrior I would say no. But technically he is a warrior brother and pretty much eschews all Storm Keep stands for. I'll feel him out, but make no promises."
"If I had to choose between an army or Kendrick at my side, I'd chose Kendrick every single time," she confessed.
He propped himself on his hand. "Do I need to feel jealous here?"
She shook her head. "No, he's..." she had to stop and think a moment. "He's sort of like an older brother, but not a kind, nice one like Zach. He's kinda sadistic and sarcastic as hell, but because he doesn't coddle you, he helps you to become stronger, to learn more and to push yourself." She exhaled. "There were times when I honestly wanted to choke him, but, I wouldn't be the witch I am today without his teasing, pointing, laughing and ridicule."
Micah frowned. "I don't need to beat his ass do I?"
"No, he was never malicious but I did provide entertainment for him more than once when studying for my Academy test."
He let out a nervous laugh. "Good, because have you seen the size of him? What did he eat growing up?"
"My family left Eiré Danu when we were about five so I could spend my formative years in Storm Keep and learn from other witches. Zach hung out with the fae warriors learning how to build muscle and how to fight. I got into scrapes with the other witch kids as we tried spells out on each other."
Micah chuckled. "I see that hasn't changed in the centuries since I grew up there."
"I wonder if I ever played on the same roads as you growing up? Or maybe passed your gran in the market?"
"We only missed each other by a century or two or three," he teased.
"A few centuries are nothing to paranormals."
"I'm glad we met when we did and not in Storm Keep," Micah said, kissing her forehead. "I was a cheeky shit until I hit three hundred. You would have hated me."
"I used to envy Laelia and Radclyffe, they've known since they were practically babies they were mates."
"How'd that happen?" he asked.
"They were born on the exact same, day, hour and minute. Radclyffe's family are very upper class. On the day he was born his mother went into labor while at the market, unfortunately for her, the closest assistance was the Water Temple in the Lower City. Laelia's parents were from the Lower City so of course when her mother went into labor she was brought to the Water Temple as well." She smiled as she remembered Radclyffe telling her the story excitedly as a child when they first met. "Anyway, both women were placed in the same birthing room. As the temple clock chimed midnight on All Hallows Eve, both babes drew breath and wailed," she giggled. "No one thought anything of it until about five years later. Radclyffe saw Laelia while he was at the market with his mother and followed Laelia home. Over the years Radclyffe was hauled back to his parents house by his ears nearly everyday. Laelia and I joke that his left ear is bigger than his right since his father is right-handed."
"You knew each other as children?" he asked.
"Yes, though when I returned to Storm Keep to study for my assessment and take over as head of the Water Temple it had been a while since I saw them. My family left Storm Keep right after Zach and I came of age.
"One of the first things I did when I returned to the city was look them up. They claimed one another not long after I left and moved to the Lower City to begin their work at the Water Temple."
"Why did neither of them become temple head?"
"Laelia said she didn't want the responsibility and Radclyffe was denied the position because his father is on the board that reviews application for city positions. When they moved to the Lower City his family disowned him."
"Why the Water Temple?" he asked.
She smiled. "It's where they
were born."
"I studied like a fiend and they would help me, though they avoided Kendrick like the plague," she gave a one shoulder shrug. "Everyone thinks I can fuss back at him because I'm not impressed by his power, but nothing could be further from the truth. Growing up I saw his immense power and it terrified me, but I knew if there was one person in all the world who could help me get stronger it was him. I wasn't fearless, I was stubborn," she swallowed hard. "And it helped that I saw how he was around Keelan."
"Were the two of you close?" Micah asked softly.
She nodded. "They didn't receive many guests considering Kendrick's sunny personality so Keelan got excited when I came to visit as a child. He was studying for his warrior exams and used to share his note taking techniques," she shuddered. "The entire city felt Kendrick's grief the night Keelan was lost."
"According to Meryn he's just not in his body right now," Micah clarified.
"What does that even mean?" she asked. The last update received from Kendrick while she was in Storm Keep was that he was working to help Keelan. When she offered to travel to Lycaonia to help he advised her it wasn't a medical issue and everything was being done to restore Keelan.
"I have no idea and the Alpha Unit is very 'hush hush' about it. Not because they don't trust us, but because whatever happened is so important that the fewer who know the details, the safer Keelan will be. All the warriors respect that decision and haven't pressed for more details."
"Maybe after we cure the virus we can help them," she suggested.
He smiled. "That sounds like a good plan to me." He gave her a quick kiss then closed his eyes. "We won't be able to help anyone if we don't get some sleep."
"I am hoping for sexy dreams with a montage of our claiming," she said before yawning.
"Me too," he said.
Before she could think of another topic to keep her wide awake his even breathing lulled her to sleep.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Micah leered at his mate over coffee in their garden the next morning. "Thanks to your suggestion right before I nodded off, I dreamt about our claiming, it was a montage of sexy images, but done like an ESPN highlight reel." He sipped his coffee. "I got extra points for claiming you midair, then it got weird. We got stuck above the platform and my gran's next-door neighbor Mr. Compton had to get us down." He shook his head. "I don't know whether the dream was arousing, humiliating, or disturbing." He heard a thump and when he looked around he couldn't see his mate. Her cup of coffee was balanced precariously on the arm of the platform bed, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Serenity?" he called.
