by Tigris Eden
Slow.
He could do slow.
He could do slow all night long.
But they didn’t have all night. They only had right now. He wasn’t lying when he said he still wanted the same things. But the last part about him wanting her—that wasn’t a lie. He wanted Yewa. Needed her. She was the key to everything. His past, his future, and his right-the-fuck-now. There was a special place for the men who’d wronged her, and they weren’t there. No, they’d gotten off easy, but he’d fix that. Later.
Enri understood the hesitation, but he also knew her body begged to be loved. Starved for it. Yewa worried about her outward appearance, but he could feel the conflict and turmoil she fought against on the inside. She struggled with her inner beauty more than she did with her outer appearance. Her eyes didn’t hide much. The equivalent of one of his Death Walkers. She walked, she breathed, but she didn’t live. He was going to change all that for her—for however long she’d allow it.
Enri glided his lips along the side of her jaw, down her shoulder. He was rewarded for his actions when Yewa let out a soft gasp. Her eyes closed as he traced her lids with a finger before kissing her cheeks. “Open your eyes, Sundara. You don’t want to miss any of this.” Her stunning gray gaze peered back at him hesitantly before turning into a heated gold. Enri watched her intently as he slid a hand down her arm. “Feel my fingers. Concentrate on their roughness against the softness of your skin. Block everything else out except for the feeling of my fingers.” He needed her to be all in for this experience. He, needed to be fully immersed as well.
He resolved all conversations and bad deeds, and brought himself full circle. He was entirely devoted to her pleasure. Fully in the moment. He’d never removed himself for anyone. And he never would again, Enri told himself. He did this now because he owed it to her. It was his fault she’d turned into this shell of a woman. She needed the full effect of what he could give her.
For the first time in forever Enri, Chaos, the Black Prince, not-so-bastard son of Hades, but the true son of Darkness, existed in one place. At one time. With one person.
Enri expelled his breath in a slow, steady hiss. Fuck. He was really going to enjoy this. But most importantly, he was going to make sure Yewa enjoyed it more. His fingers skimmed across the scars along her arm, their pattern a patchwork of lines with no meaning. He growled. This was his fault. She was the direct result of something he’d done. He marveled at her strength. The life she’d led would have broken anyone else. But not her. He’d thought her dead inside before. He was wrong. Yewa only kept her true beauty buried—perhaps even from herself—but with him, it was there. He could see it as clear as the sun rising over the horizon to touch the sky.
“Can you feel me?” He asked in a hoarse voice.
“Yes,” she hissed. “Your fingers, they’re blunt.”
He had a nasty habit of biting his nails when he was deep in thought. Right now, he wanted to be deep in Yewa.
“Good. What else?”
“Your breaths, I can feel them. When you inhale deeply, your chest touches mine.”
To demonstrate, Enri pulled in a deep breath and held it, allowing her to feel the pressure of his chest as it expanded against hers. He kissed her again, tracing the plumpness of her full mouth with the tip of his tongue before nibbling on her lower lip. When he gained access between her mouth, she let out a slight gasp. The sound, hypnotic, lulled him into a euphoric trance. He’d never allowed himself to be fully into the act, didn’t bother with kissing. The entire experience of intimacy was new to him.
Yewa wound her arms around his neck and Enri knew he was breaking through. Before, where she was stiff, she was now pliant. Bendable to his will. Open to their experience. He traveled lower to her job, rubbing his lips across the silkiness of her skin. Her scent stronger, more potent as he continued to taste her.
Enri pulled back slightly to gage her reaction. Her eyes closed again, but in a relaxed state. She was enjoying what he did to her.
“Yewa,” he whispered against her lips. “Open your eyes, beautiful girl, and look at me. Look only at me.”
When she did, she pulled in a deep breath as if to calm her nerves. Her eyes— a simmering gray that gave way to melted chocolate—glazed over with need. She was admiring him as he watched her. Everything around them disappeared—the two of them enslaved by the other. He could see the storm brewing just behind her irises. The striation of the lightening-like patterns in her gaze moved. The gray of her irises were the storm clouds as the bold, white streaks of light hit sporadically against her pupils in a backdrop of warm tones. As if she couldn’t take his intense stare anymore, she brought him back down to her mouth, drawing his tongue inside for another taste.
Enri groaned into the kiss. Yewa controlled the dance. She was the one instigating their contact. Urging him to take things further. Her body arched into his and her legs opened on their own. Like a flower seeking the sun, she unfolded ever so slowly, beckoning him to partake of her nectar.
“I have to taste you,” Enri demanded against her lips.
She appeared hesitant at first, and even a bit shy if the look on Yewa’s face was anything to go by. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? Do you trust me?”
She was quiet for second and Enri knew she was skeptical. Still holding back. Well, that just won’t do.
“I want to trust you Enri, I do.”
“Let’s keep this simple. I promise I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, but I can’t promise you won’t be screaming out my name in pleasure, Sundara—because you will.”
Yewa dipped her head. Tried to hide the wanton expression on her face. From this angle, Enri could see her clearly. His words excited her. When her gaze came back to his, he could see the question in her eyes.
“I’m not sure.”
“Alright, I won’t kiss you there until you beg me.” He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and with a serious tone he said, “You will beg.”
Enri settled himself between her legs and kissed her again. If this was all she wanted for now, it was what she’d get. But he knew it was only going to be a matter of time. He could wait.
Her arms settled around his shoulders where she pulled him closer, but Enri pulled back, nipping her lips as he went.
“Why are you pulling away?”
“I’m not, but I have needs you’re not ready to accommodate. So for now, it’s just this.” He kissed her again and pulled himself up into a seated position, taking her with him. “As much as I’d love to stay here with you all day, we have to keep moving.”
He grabbed her jacket and helped her to fix her top. It was hot here, but where they were going would grow cold and wet. The Fates made sure getting to them was next to impossible. They had information he needed. Enri had regained his memories. He was armed with the capacity and the knowledge to seek out and eliminate the competition. Checkmate.
To say she was a little out of her comfort zone wasn’t the right word. Yewa felt something—it morphed from scary to awkward, and now she was in a place where her body temperature far surpassed that of a normal individual. It skyrocketed into something resembling an out of control fire. It spread through her entire system relaying messages to parts of her body she’d allowed him access to. All of it was hot, all of it was sexy. Sexy. She actually knew what it was like to feel wanted by another man. It was exhilarating and it made it difficult for Yewa to focus her efforts elsewhere.
“You coming?” Enri asked. There was a slight tilt to the corners of his mouth. A sly grin. Like he knew she remained under his lustful influence. His arrogance knew no bounds.
“Yes,” she voiced, letting her irritation show, for which he laughed. Actually laughed. She didn’t think she’d seen him laugh in this light. It was playful. Carefree.
“Then, let’s go.” He held out a hand and she quickly caught up, intertwining their fingers. “I know earlier I said we’d be flying blind, b
ut I know my way now. I built this place—it was one of my earlier designs. I know a shortcut.”
Enri wrapped an arm around her waist, tucking her into his side before taking flight. They were above the cloud cover and from this height, she could see everything from the tips of the floating mountains to the purple ground cover below. Some sort of a makeshift ocean with a clear bottom floor—looking to the world beneath it. The reverse of Fion. Or the inverse, depending on which side someone looked from. But as he flew over, the clouds became darker, stormier. Bright flashes of lightning illuminated the sky with no thunder, and as Enri flew closer, she could tell they weren’t going to fly around it, but through it.
“Things are going to get a bit tricky. Keep your eyes closed and your head down. Don’t try to open them. The light will be too much for you. I can create things. I can even tear them down. What I can’t do is alter their natural state unless it’s my intention to destroy it. And as much as I can’t stand the Fates, I can’t kill them. Things would quickly unravel around us if I did.”
Yewa did as suggested. She buried her head into Enri’s chest, breathing in his masculine scent and hoping for the best. She could hear the crack of lightning and the loud boom of thunder as he picked up speed. Her stomach felt queasy when he dipped and spiraled as the wind pushed him around. It couldn’t be easy with her in his arms, but he continued forward. It felt as if they were in the eye of some huge sandstorm. Her skin was hypersensitive—all the hairs on her body stood on end from the static electricity. Before she could adjust to the sensation, they were falling. A rapid drop. Enri pulled her body tighter into his and Yewa could feel the pounding of his chest as they came in for a soft landing. They were thigh-deep in warm water.
“You can open your eyes now.”
Silver water with silky black oil floated on top. It reminded her of liquid mercury. It didn’t have the same consistency as water; it was thicker, smoother.
“What is this?” Yewa ran her hands through the liquid and it sighed. Actually sighed. Water can sigh?
“It’s not a what but a who. This is Isopa. She’s friendly, for the most part.”
“And the black dots?” Yewa looked down and noticed the black oily dots were moving toward her, surrounding her and Enri.
“That would be the equivalent to her eyes, ears, and hands.”
When he said that, one of Isopa’s dots caressed her leg, then there was another sigh. There was a shift in the water as Enri moved them forward. Yewa could see some type of entrance stairway that led to higher ground. On either side of the opening were two hooded figures made of stone, their faces devoid of any characteristics—just smooth rock, missing the facial features. As they walked closer to the stairs, Isopa moved with them. Her liquid form flowed toward the two stone statues and covered them both until they were alive. Isopa went from liquid to solid form, using the stone to do it.
“Lord Chaos, it is good to see you again.”
Enri nodded toward one of the statues. “It’s been a long time, Isopa.”
Her voice even sounded like liquid. Or more like someone who had liquid in their mouth and was trying to speak. Her words were clear and had a singsong rhythm to it.
“It has, my Lord. It’s good to see you are with someone who will care for you. My lady, Sundara, I am Isopa, guardian of the Hall of Tapestries.”
“Why do you call me Sundara?” Yewa wondered aloud.
“It is the name Lord Chaos prefers. How do you say, a term of loving?”
A term of loving?
Surely, she couldn’t mean Enri loved her.
“Isopa can read minds. She probably plucked that from your thoughts because you were wondering something along the lines of why I called you that.”
She had been, but not in that particular moment.
“We won’t be too long. Has Aurora come through?” Enri asked.
“Yes, my Lord. She’s been here quite some time.”
“Good. Don’t alert anyone to our presence.”
“It goes without saying.”
Isopa melted away from the stone and once again became the liquid they stood in. Yewa ran her fingers through the waves and again, Isopa sighed. Enri pulled Yewa toward the staircase while shaking his head.
“You’ll spoil her if you continue to do that. She once kept a traveler who’d found this realm hostage for years just to keep him stroking her.”
“She did not.” Yewa laughed.
“She sure as fuck did. If I hadn’t been doing a routine flyby, he’d have died.”
“Who was it?”
“Some idiot Italian traveler named Dante.”
“Did he survive?”
“Yes, he did. I don’t kill everyone I come into contact with.” She could hear the anger in his voice.
“I wasn’t implying you had. I’m not like everyone else, Enri.”
He turned to her at the top of the staircase, his eyes peering into hers.
“No”—he gently cupped her cheek— “you’re not like everyone else.”
That simple gesture had her heart racing.
“I can do this part alone, or you can come with me. Understand everything you hear in here will be masked with a version of the truth.”
“A version?”
What other version was there? And why did he feel the need to prepare her? Was she not going to like what she heard? It’s Enri. Any truth dealing with him would not be something anyone would want to hear. He was Chaos, after all. Somehow, Yewa knew this was a test. This was where she knew without a doubt he needed her on his side.
He needed her to believe in him and his cause.
“You need me. I told you I wasn’t going to leave. I’m not going to abandon you now. No matter what.”
He gave a sharp nod of his head and grabbed her hand. The two of them entered a place where few people had ventured. It was sacred. It held every single mortal and immortal life’s thread.
The Hall of Tapestries was a never-ending, ever-growing tunnel of life. It was a good thing Enri knew the place inside and out. The dome ceilings were high and covered with images of the universe in its infancy. The walls were adorned with tapestry after tapestry of past and present life. The Fates were evil bitches who tried to play him when they were once beautiful Moirai. In the scope of things, they had a lot of power, and as he told Yewa, he couldn’t destroy them because they served a purpose. To sever it would upend the very existence of the world she came from. His first attempt at having some sort of balance came by way of Dike, the goddess of justice and divine retribution. She was supposed to keep the order and set the proper limit to those who saw fit to step outside their bounds. As a direct result, she was now the Fates’ eye-of-truth.
“How long is this hall?” Yewa questioned, looking at some of Earth’s earliest depictions of life.
“Some would say its infinite, but I know what to look for. We’re only going just there.” He pointed to a tapestry a few feet away. It had a picture of a dark entrance and in it stood a figure hidden in the shadows—watching, waiting for someone to enter. It was the doorway to their spinning room. The place the Fates could never leave. He could hear voices as he approached. Clotho, working on her latest tapestry as Lachesis held the yarn of life. Atropos was in a corner spinning the thread and tossing yarn into a large basket. None of them could see, but with Dike as their guide, their presence became detectable immediately. Aurora stood off in a corner, admiring their work. He didn’t like the look of glee in her eye when he approached with Yewa.
“I’m glad to see you could join us, Brother.”
He just bet she was. There was a reason he’d put her on that ice rock.
“Aurora, it’s so good to see you.”
“I asked you to call me Ora.”
“And I asked you to never put your fucking hands on me again, but you did. Didn’t you dear sister?” Enri hissed between his teeth. Aurora was a piece of work. She also thought they were more than sister and brother. They weren’t. He’d
told her one too many times in the past, the two of them could never be more than siblings, but Aurora—in her own way—took it as a challenge. She’d taken the body of a sea nymph and proceeded to seduce him. She’d succeeded and when she’d presented him with her true form, he’d banished her, hoping she’d learn a lesson. He might have forgotten about her, but he wouldn’t tell her that.
“I don’t recall you saying that,” Aurora said in a singsong voice. She brushed imaginary lint off the tapestry she admired. “I do remember how you loved to be touched brother, so hungry for it, if I recall.”
Yewa tightened her grip on his hand. Aurora was trying to get a rise out of him. She should have known better. He always kept his promises.
“I owe you a body, correct?”
“Yes, you do. I want to choose.”
“That’s not what we agreed on. You take what I give you, and in return you will give me something.”
“But I’ve done as you asked. You are here. This is what you wanted.”
“I want something else, or the deal is off and I cast you back to your rock.”
“What is it that you want?”
Oh, he wanted it all. She wanted a form; he was going to give her one. Things were about to get interesting.
“Yewa, do you trust me?”
Again, her eyes were a bit weary and he could feel her pulse pick up as he willed her to understand.
She gave a sharp nod of her head and with that, Enri turned to his sister and threw back his head in a sinister laugh.
“You’ve got your body, Sis, and I release you from your duties.”
Chapter 15
“It’s time for the morning news with Angela Cordova, Tom Fields, and Jessica Tamby, reporting live.”
“Good morning. Today’s top story, NASA has just confirmed an unexplained eclipse of the sun. The question everyone is asking: how? The next scheduled eclipse isn’t until later this year.”
Xee flipped off the television and looked over at Gabe. He stood in the corner of her office talking quietly with Grey and his brother Isaiah. The two Seraphs were unhappy with the events. Things were starting to get out of hand. Xee knew it wasn’t a true eclipse. The Defiant Ones had to be behind the sky turning dark in the middle of the afternoon. She could hear their conversation perfectly. Everyone reeling from Ann’s revelation caused quite the stir. She was an Enforcer for Hades. A double agent playing the field. She still hadn’t told the team why she was placed with them, or who’d she’d come for. The minute she did, things would go from bad to worse.
