Shadowed Magic (The Enlightened Species Novella)

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Shadowed Magic (The Enlightened Species Novella) Page 7

by Wendy S. Hales


  Aymee leaned into the mirror. The stitches didn't hurt much anymore and her bruises had faded to an icky yellow. Mostly she just felt stiff, and a week of inactivity didn't help. Eros must have realized she felt better too, he'd only halfheartedly argued with her when she'd refused pain pills this morning. A little foundation to the remnant of her black eye, and she brushed her hair into a high ponytail. The clothes Irsu'd packed were mostly dirty but she did find knee high Lycra workout shorts and a racer back workout half top. She needed to stretch out … badly. An hour of meditative martial arts to jump-start her Zen was a must.

  Aymee bypassed the divine scent of coffee coming from the kitchen to duck out the French doors off the living room. Another month of Eros's care and lying around and Aymee would gain fifteen pounds. The guy could cook!

  In the center of the grass between Eros's house and his sons' homes, she turned to face the rising sun. She closed her eyes and allowed its warmth to penetrate her, lifted her chin toward it. Rising her arms extended from her body upwards toward the sky, she inhaled slowly, then reversed the move on the exhale to warm up.

  Ten minutes into her moves, she smelled the scent of sage and mint. Aymee peeked out one eye to see a copper bowl full of incense smoking at the edge of the grass. Eros, Jacob and Daniel flowed through the same moves beside her. Eros's sons resembled him though both lacked his intensity. Large tan defined muscled flexed with the perfect execution that only comes with years of training. Eros wore a pair of gym shorts and nothing else, and his dark hair was tied back with a leather thong at his neck. She misstepped watching him. His eyes snapped open meeting hers with concern.

  “Are you tiring?” He asked quietly without pausing in fluid transition to a warrior pose.

  Aymee shook her head and grinned. “Nope, just distracted ogling.” She matched his warrior stance briefly before the next transition and saw Daniel and Jacob share a knowing smile while Eros looked confused.

  Her muscles burned and shook with exhaustion. Sweat dripped between her breast … she felt better than she had in days. Aymee laid on the lawn drawing the incense into her lungs, the warmth of the sun in her face with the cool grass at her back complemented the first clear-headed total relaxation she'd had since before she'd been attacked.

  “The face of contentment.”

  Aymee turned her head to see Eros lying on his side facing her with his head propped on his palm and elbow pressed into the thick grass. Silver eyes full of happiness smiled back at her. “That was better than sex.” Aymee's eyes snapped open when she realized what she'd just said.

  His brow furled as if he were seriously considering her comparison. “Intercourse? Perhaps. … Making love? Not even close.”

  He leaned towards her. Warm lips nibbled hers. Finally. Aymee moaned opening to his kiss. A different kind of heat bloomed in her womb. Eros pulled her against his full length, never releasing his kiss. Aymee's hands danced along his shoulders and back, and she surrendered to the frantic need to touch him she'd held at bay all week. His breath sucked audible through his dentes when he broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers. Aymee ground against his erection pressed erotically into her stomach. “Eros,” she demanded.

  He opened his eyes. The silver color rippled with so much desire it took her breath away. “You are hurt. I'm sorry. I have difficulty controlling the feral side of me when you are near.”

  Enough with being treated with kid gloves by him, Damn it. Aymee gripped the back of his head and brought his lips back to hers and rolled him to his back covering him with her body. Eros groaned, his hands went to her grinding hips. His tongue explored her mouth with slow deliberation. Aymee kept one hand buried in his hair while her other traced the muscles of his upper arm and shoulder. She poured her desire for him into the kiss reveling as he matched it with his own. The thick length of his member nestled against her. So near where she needed him most. Her core wept for him, breasts ached for his touch. Every part of her cried out for more.

  Eros rose with her against his chest, her legs wrapped around his waist. Their kiss continued across the lawn, through the house, past the bedroom and into the shower. Cascading water saturated her, clothing and all. She clung to his waist with her legs, breaking the kiss only long enough to yank the half shirt over her head before finding the solace of his lips once more. Her bare breasts pressed skin to skin with his chest. Her nipples hardened to near painful peaks begging for attention. As if he read her body, his warm hand rose to cup the needy orb. His thumb brushed over the sensitive peak. Aymee threw her head back and cried out. Eros's lips burned a trail down her neck to her breast. He sucked the tip deep into his mouth. Moisture flooded her core anew, her hands buried in his hair held him to her.

  Eros lifted from her, his breathing loud and fast. Dentes filled his mouth, the swirling silver of his eyes met hers. His jaw clenched and ticked powerfully along his strong jawline. He looked to be in ecstasy and … agony. “Do you see me for who I am?” He asked through gritted teeth. Aymee nodded. “Will you have me Aymee? Will you give yourself to me freely … fully?” The rumble of his voice heated her blood sending a shiver through her.

  Aymee swallowed hard. Blood. Her blood. She reached toward the sharp fangs in his mouth touching them lightly. He hissed and his eyes fell closed as his tremor shook her in his arms. The muscles of his neck tensed while he held still and allowed her to explore his dentes. “Will it hurt?” She felt like a wimp asking, but they were so sharp and deadly looking.

  Eros chuckled, “No … far from it. I can try to – refrain, but in truth, I don't know that I can. You taste of springtime. My control eludes me when it comes to you, my beautiful witch.” The twitch of his erection pressed tight against her girlie attested to his words. He released his hand on her hip and she slipped down him until her feet touched the tile. “Let's slow down. Allow us to familiarize with each others' touch.”

  Aymee hated slowing down. She wanted him deep inside her now, but she needed to think about his question. He wasn't exactly saying he would take her blood, just that he might in the heat of passion. Aymee slid her shorts off as he watched and took a deep breath in. The silver of his eyes reflected back at her. She reached for the waistband of his shorts. His hands covered hers, halting her.

  “Not yet. Let me enjoy you without the obvious the demands of my body.” Eros pleaded with her with his eyes, and his throat worked frantically.

  The front of the loose wet material tented between them. The outline of the large bulbous tip defined. Eros was a large man. She lifted her hand to his chest, rose to her tiptoes and seated his covered erection along the entrance of her heated core and squeezed her legs together to trap it. Her lips drew to his neck where she sucked the skin covering his pulse into her mouth, and she bit gently. Eros tipped his head back and groaned as she whispered, “My answer is yes. I offer myself to you fully, willingly, passionately.” She emphasized each ward with a tiny nip along the curve of his neck and shoulder. “I ask the same of you, Eros. No holding back, no … control. Let me have you feral.”

  He washed her thoroughly, lingering at her curves, breasts, and the apex of her thighs. All the while, Aymee’s yearning racked up till she felt ready to explode inside. He pressed gentle kisses to her skin, knelt before her to wash her legs and feet while he lay kisses across her stomach … so close to where she wanted him, he teased her without mercy. Aymee's patience waned and finally snapped. She shoved against his chest with everything she had, Eros's shoulders slapped the tile behind him and he chuckled.

  “My turn.” Her gaze warned him against arguing with her. He gave her a single nod. YES! Aymee reached for his waistband, he didn't stop her, just watched her intently. Aymee smiled, he raised an eyebrow, his expression tense. Even … nervous. Why?

  Her eyes dropped, she soaked in the sight of his chest. His hands balled into fists at his sides, white knuckled. Aymee pushed the shorts down, eyeing the ripped line where his abdomen met his hip, firm, mouthwatering as the area
narrowed and lead the way to his manhood. Hairless, soft skin covered the hard steeled muscle of him. Just before she reached the point of releasing his erection from the material, the sight of a half-inch scar line began. She tugged the shorts over his erection, standing firm, large and proud from his body. His shorts pooled at his feet. He kicked them clear leaving himself open to her evaluation.

  The scar drew a line from just above his pelvis bone and split in two directions. One line tracked along half the length of his shaft. The other followed the root of him toward the tender sack beneath then widened drastically on his inner left thigh leaving it puckered and distorted by the mass of scar tissue. Aymee could only imagine how massive the injury had to have been to permanently mar a Volaticus. The old wound blared against his otherwise perfect body. Aymee met his gaze, stunned by the look of vulnerability she saw. She could see his self-conscience insecurity mingled with fear. Did he think she'd reject him? Aymee's heart melted. God … she loved him. The realization filled her with joy.

  Aymee held his gaze and dropped slowly to her knees. Her hand shook with the need to touch him. She ran her palm up his scarred inner thigh and lifted the weight of his sack in her hand. Ducking her head, she sucked first one then the other mouth-sized bundles deep into her mouth. The deviation of flesh between the one scarred and the one not registered against her sensitive tongue while his groan was music to her ears. “What happened?” she whispered and resumed her attention to the contracting flesh.

  He voice strained between his clenched dentes. “The fall of Atlantis. I was severely burned. Molten lead fused to my flesh. Ahhh, Fates!” He leaned his head back hard against the tile. Aymee grinned, to send a man like Eros into ecstasy felt incredibly empowering.

  She tracked her tongue along the underside of his length, licked away the drop of his building pleasure. He tasted of chicory-roasted coffee, Aymee moaned at the rich taste. One of Eros's hands plunged into her hair. His mushroomed tip stood a hairsbreadth from her lips.

  “Aymee ...” His voice quivered with need, yet he denied her. She looked up to meet his gaze. “I … haven't … it has been a … while.”

  “Trust me, Eros.” She extended her tongue swirling it around his tip. His hand relaxed against her lower scalp, allowing her slack. Aymee took advantage of his partial surrender with vigor, and drew his girth deep into her mouth. She worked his manhood with her hand and tongue, pushing him beyond his resistance yet assuring him by touch, she loved his body, that it was perfect. He alternately relaxed and tensed with pleasure. Soft growls emitted from him with each of his breaths. He yanked his hips back, withdrawing himself from her mouth, his free hand grasped his length stroking hard he grunted as his release spurt out and washed away under the shower spray. Without pause he snatched her off the tile lifting her into his arms and carried her dripping wet out of the shower.

  He moved so quickly the details around her blurred and whizzed past. Aymee squealed as she clung to his neck. He bent her down onto the thick rug in front of the fireplace before taking a moment to toss a few logs onto the dying embers that instantly engulfed the fuel. The flickering flames complimented the passion that reflected from his eyes when he turned to meet her gaze. His body came down to blanket hers with warmth. Hard to her soft. Tingles of anticipation lit within her. Butterflies took flight in her stomach. Her nipples hardened and pressed against his chest, his erection teased at her folds.

  “My turn.” His lips came down on hers. Aymee opened beneath his kiss. His tongue explored her mouth fully, erotically. His kept his weight partially supported by his hand beside her head while the other mapped a trail over her chest. He hesitated at her breasts as he cupped each, tweaking her nipples between his fingers before moving lower. Open fingers across her belly sent heat deep inside her. In their kiss, she silently pleaded with him to touch her lower.

  She squirmed beneath his hand, begging him. A trail of kisses across her cheek brought his tongue to the spot below her earlobe. “Decadent witch,” he whispered seductively and nipped her neck. The he soothed the slight sting with his tongue. He followed the path of his hand with his mouth. Drawing each of her nipples into his mouth, he laved them. Aymee had never felt so worshiped before. Eros aroused her with a single-minded focus her body responded to. Lost to him and how he made her feel, she enjoyed the way the firelight lovingly caressed them both.

  He kept his hand open across her stomach while he blew a hot breath across her folds. Aymee sighed then gasped as his mouth came down. The slow circling of his tongue across her tender bundle of nerves caused her to cry out. Pressure grew hard and fast in her womb, desperate for the release that surged up in her. Eros massaged her belly, a gentle controlled kneading to the pressure deep within her. Anchoring her at the cusp of her building release while also easing the torturer of it. Higher than she'd ever known, she bucked and writhed beneath his lips. His tongue flicked her weeping entrance. “Eros, please,” she begged.

  He rose up, guiding his manhood to her entrance, and she met his gaze. “Yes. Please … make love to me.” She'd never used that phrase in her life. With him, it felt right, true. He slid into her slowly, his pace gave her body time to adjust to his large size as he flowed over the exposed nerves within her driving her higher still. Nearer still. Her head thrashed with need. So close. Oh, so close. She looked into his face. His neck muscles strained and tense. The black had swallowed up all but a thin line of silver in his eyes. His gaze shifted between her face and her pulse. His breath sawed through his dentes.

  He was holding back. Aymee dropped her head to the side to expose her neck to him. “Fully, Eros. Make love to me fully.” A growl of raw hunger rumbled from his chest. He struck into her vein and thrust the remaining distance to her core. He drew from her neck with each thrust into her body, launching her to her crest. Aymee cried out as wave after wave of pleasure crashed inside her body. Her mind skyrocketed into a sensory abyss.

  Eros broke from her neck with a roar, surging hard into her core as he poured his seed into her pulsing inner walls with primal need. Aymee hovered deliciously in the sensual waves that rolled through her. His body collapsed against her, and she floated slowly toward reality. Climatic tremors rippled within her even after he stilled and panted in her ear. Her sweaty legs quivered where his thighs touched hers. He rolled to his back taking her with him and remaining buried in her. She gripped him inside as she lay limply across his chest. His hands rubbed her back lightly.

  Her heart rate and breathing slowed, and Aymee nearly declared her love. The fear of ruining this perfect moment in time halted her. He asked her to give him everything... and she had, including her heart, but would he welcome her love? Or break her heart?

  He placed a kiss to her hair. “Magic,” he whispered softly.

  A shiver of hope filled her. Aymee pushed off his chest to straddle him, he hardened inside her instantly. His hands cupped her breasts. She drank in the sight of him. They stared into each other’s eyes as she rode them both to climax. Aymee had never felt so connected to another person in her life.

  Chapter Eight

  Eros added more wood to the fire. Everyone had thought him deranged when he'd designed a fireplace into a home in Arizona, but the sight of Aymee lying on her side naked with a glass of wine in her hand, her skin glowing under the firelight proved he hadn't made a mistake. The look of love in her beautiful blue eyes constricted his chest, he'd fallen for her completely. Her blood burned in his veins and anchored his soul to her spirit. She deserved more than he could ever give her, and knowing he would have to let her go, tortured him.

  “So, my skilled lover, you gonna feed me or what?” A mischievous smile lifted her kiss-reddened lips. He knew she must be sore and tired, they'd made love for hours, and he'd fed from her twice, weakening her further.

  He pivoted and placed a tender kiss to her lips. “Your wish is my command.” Her appreciative gaze followed him as he strode naked into the kitchen, confident in his appearance in a way he'd neve
r felt with another.

  His wives had loved him, welcomed him into their arms and bed but the sight of his scars had repulsed them. The dark had been a necessary part of copulation with them. Oral stimulation with him as the recipient had never happened. Aymee seemed to enjoy his body as much as he hers. Refusing her anything went beyond his capacity to do. She didn't deny her needs … or his, and met his passion with hers, giving and taking with a vigor that left him gasping. Her sexual assurance freed his inhibitions, granted him permission to do anything, and his mind swam with fantasies about her. Making love to her had whetted his appetite rather than sating it.

  He pulled out ingredients for a sandwich. Aymee came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed to his center back. Happiness blossomed through him. “You need any help in here?”

  “What you're doing is helping.” Eros answered. He felt her smile at his back, one of her hands dropped to grip his shaft. His body responded immediately to her touch. “Oh, yes. You're a perfect chef's assistant.”

  “I feel like a kid in a candy store.”

  Her phrase was lost to him. “How is a kid in a candy store relevant?” He sliced the sandwich in half for her and placed it on a plate.

  “Have you ever taken a kid into a candy shop?”

  His son's were centuries old before 'candy shops' came into existence. “I have not had that particular experience.”

  “Well, imagine it. Wide-eyed, heads turning quickly trying to see everything, mouths watering for a taste of everything they see. That's how I feel about your body. It's a candy shop.”

 

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