by LK Kelley
“What? No, I didn’t! I’m right here! I didn’t die, I…uh…,” she stuttered, again.
Wait. Did she die? She obviously had a hole in her lower chest the size of a large melon. It had been all the way through her body! She had been impaled on a damn tree limb! She looked down at her chest, again. No doubt about it. There was a pink area the size of a melon! Her eyes darted back to Jaxx who had not moved his own eyes from her body. She looked back, following his gaze, and realized her entire lower body was bare! Her red curls were riotous hiding her sex. Her eyes raised to his. He had a smirk on his face as he realized she knew he had been looking at where he intended to put his huge cock in minutes! Her face reddened deeply, then her eyes met his, and she smirked even more than he.
“So…I can’t take a shower?” she smiled.
“No. Not until I’ve placed my hard cock right in here,” he told her letting his fingers slide underneath as his hand plunged two of them deep inside of her. “I want…no…I need to release my seed into you!”
Gem gasped at the intimacy of the act.
Jaxx could smell her arousal, and it was something that he wanted to attack with vigor.
“Oh, Creator, Gem!” he said as he moved his fingers in and out of her slick channel. “You’re so wet!”
In response, Gem reached down, and placed her hand on his hard-on. Even through his briefs, she could feel his hardness, and they were quite damp at the top with his own brand of wetness. She could smell it! For a moment, she stopped rubbing him in surprise. She could actually smell his juices oozing from him – and, they smelled wonderful! But, she put that on the back-burner for the time being. She’d figure it out later. All she wanted, now, was to be underneath him as he slammed into her body until his hot seed spurted into her womb! It was all she could think of at this moment! Her hand pushed aside the band of his briefs, and her hand wrapped around his cock. So smooth! So big, so hard! Like steel encased velvet! She tugged at his briefs.
“If I’m going to lay here part naked without panties, I demand that you lay next to me without briefs!” she told him.
In seconds, he removed them, and flung them to the floor. Then, he yanked his t-shirt off her, which followed his briefs. His fingers still plunging in and out of her, he looked at his mate lovingly. Her large breasts, bare to his gaze, were his undoing. Before he opened his mouth to suckle one of her nipples, he moaned under his breath knowing she could hear him.
“I’m the luckiest damn, fucking bastard in the world!” then, his tongue flipped out to lick the hard, pink bud that stared him in the face.
Gem cried out at the touch of his tongue and mouth. His fingers were playing havoc with her sex while his thumb lazily caressed her clit. He suckled and pulled on her breast transferring to the other one after having lovingly poured his attention onto the first. Gem’s hand stayed locked onto his cock. It continued to grow, and get impossibly harder! His slit was oozing with more and more liquid, and she spread it over the head as she gently massaged it into, and downward, ending at the base causing him to moan deeply with longing. Suddenly, Gem’s body convulsed into ecstasy as she felt her orgasm hit.
“Jaxx!” she cried, feeling her body release more juices than ever. “Please!”
Removing his fingers from her body, he slowly slid over her, pressing his cock at her wet center.
“Are you ready for me, now, Gem?” he whispered, while moving his own wet tip against her wet core.
“Yes!” she cried, feeling him rub his cock against her opening. “Fuck me!”
Just as he began to push into her wet heat, he heard a sound that he had not heard in at least five thousand years. He closed his eyes in frustration. It could mean only one thing. Talk about damn bad timing! He planned on giving Kulana a piece of his mind! Interrupting the bonding of mates was strictly forbidden.
“Shit!” he muttered, as he left Gem to put on his clothes.
“What?” Gem stammered in surprise.
He had moved so fast, she hadn’t even realized he was out of the bed until he was standing before her fully clothed.
“I’m sorry, love, but a situation has arisen that I must go take care of!” Seeing her frown, he continued. “Let me put it this way…my employers are downstairs, and I have to attend to them.”
“You have to ‘attend to them’?” Gem said. “Who even talks like that?”
Before she could breathe her next breath, he was gone. Sitting up in the bed, she was really irritated. That was the second time they had almost had sex, and again, had been interrupted!
“Damnit all to hell!” Gem muttered.
She sprang off the bed so fast, it startled even her, and her mind wondered what the hell was happening. Her anger, however, overrode that thought. She stomped into the bathroom, into the shower, and turned it on hot. Then, Gem sat down on the warmed floor leaning her head against the tile. She let her mind drift for a moment, until her eyes flew open in total shock as she realized what had happened.
“I died?” she gasped in complete surprise. How in the hell was that possible? She was alive? When one died, one didn't come back to life. She slid her hands down to her chest, and rubbed it against the still pink new skin where she had healed. “I really was dead? No. Not possible, because I'm alive!” She frowned, then asked, “Aren’t I?”
At that point, Gem knew that she was not, and could not, be human. And, if she wasn't human, then...what was she?
Forget about angry! Jaxx furiously stomped down the stairs. Even though he still had not figured out how, or why Gem was alive, the fact was that they had been interrupted – again! And, he had been so close to plunging into her heat! Even now, his hard-on was still hard! How dare Kulana interrupt his bonding with Gem! In the back of his mind, he knew that he should have told Kulana, before mating Gem, but he had not even explained being mates to Gem! And, he really resented not being able to do other things to her, before they mated. He was fucking pissed – royally pissed! She was his damn mate, whether or not she knew it! As Jaxx slammed open the Montgomery library's double doors prepared to give Kulana a piece of his mind, he came to a dead halt, his anger forgotten for the moment. It wasn’t Kulana as he had thought, and the surprise showed on his face, before he could speak. Shit, shit, shit! It was bad enough if it had been Kulana, but this invasion was not only bad, it should never have happened! Not with his wards!
Before he could say a word, the tall, brunette and extremely buxom woman, spoke.
“Hello, Jaxxon. How are you, my love?” she asked, pursing her lips, smacking her lips in a kissing sound.
Glancing toward Eloran's sharp jerk of his head, Jaxx knew he was not at all happy with her greeting.
“Eloran? Delinear? Imaerra? Mallorick?” he demanded. “How in the hell did you get past my wards?”
Delinear flounced toward him sexily, swinging her hips from side to side in an exaggerated movement, and her dark brown eyes said “sex” with every glance. There was one thing about Delinear that no one ever missed. Her wardrobe was always extremely revealing, and right now, she wore an almost see-through, blood-red robe of netting, which was fitted to her form, making no attempt to hide her huge globes with their rose-colored nipples positioned in such a way, that he could easily see the hard tips. Her hands reached out, and began to stroke his chest. She had to fight to hold back the drool that threatened to escape her red mouth! Jaxx was still the best looking and sexy Onaerris that she had ever seen! Their sex had been legendary, and everyone on both their worlds had known it! And, even though she was now Eloran’s mate, she still desired Jaxx, and her body registered that fact, even knowing that Eloran could smell her arousal. Hell! He had fun on the side, too! She wanted to strip right there, and wanted to beg him to take her in the brutal manner she so loved – right in front of everyone, too! It wouldn't be the first time.
“Jaxx,” she said in a deep, sexy voice. “Surely you have not forgotten that you gave me permission to enter any of your wards whenever I so desired?
Remember? It was after sex the second time?”
Shoving her hands away from him, shock widened his eyes. And, Delinear gave him a “I want you right now, right here” look. Hell! He had forgotten! He would have to remedy that immediately. Just as he started to expel her, and her companions, his front door banged open, and in darted Taylor and Rick accompanied by Stan and Stacey Tamson. They came to a halt at the sight of the four council members.
Stan strolled up to Jaxx with a frown.
“What the fuck are they doing here?”
“I don’t know, but...” Jaxx growled, and was interrupted for Taylor to put in her two cents.
“How did they get in here, Jaxx?” Taylor demanded. “You warded the property against all of them, right? So, how the hell did they get in here?”
“I did. But, I forgot one important thing,” he said, ignoring her question.
“However, I intend to take care of that right now!” he said.
“Uh-uh-uh!” Delinear said to him, wagging her finger. “You will hear us out first.”
“And, what makes you think that I will do that?” Jaxx snorted.
“Because you are our enforcer, and you have an obligation to the Council, and as I am the overseer of the Onaerris, and your superior, I can demand anything I wish from you!” Eloran finally spoke.
Jaxx turned, and glared at Eloran. This guy was a real prick! He had never liked him. It was one thing to be summoned to the council, but for any of them to show up at his home was supposed to be forbidden. That was why he had been given the ability to ward his property.
“First, you have no rights in my own home. You invaded it, and I have every right to kick your sorry asses out! Second, I have nothing to say to you, nor do I need to listen to you – let alone obey your commands. You have overstepped the bounds of the council just by being here, as well as our agreement,” he told Eloran. Turning to Delinear who was still far too close to him, “And, you will never be allowed to darken my life or property, again.”
“Wait!” Mallorick said. “Do not be so hasty.”
Jaxx backed toward Taylor and the others, and glared. Then, suddenly he realized that they would only have come here if they were after something – or someone. If so, he needed to know what they were wanting. He turned to Taylor and Stan who nodded slightly once, as if they could hear each others' thoughts.
“OK. What do you want?” he demanded, again, his hands crossing in front of his massive chest. “You have only ten seconds!”
Eloran put his hands behind his back, and began to pace ignoring Jaxx's glare as well as his time limit demand.
“We felt it...the Anaerris Code has been found.” He whirled on Jaxx. “And, we also know that the Jewel has also been found. What do you know of this? And, do not lie to me! I will know if you do.”
“Yeah. Sure you will, you bastard!” Jaxx thought. Aloud, “You are the liar, Eloran!”
OK. So, Jaxx was a master at lying, but that did not mean he could not lie by telling the truth!
He frowned as if he were thinking, shook his head, and aloud said, “Strange. I have neither felt or heard it.”
“Be careful of lying to the Council, Jaxxon.” Eloran asked him. “Are you sure about that?”
Jaxx knew that for some reason Eloran was trying to trap him.
“I am,” Jaxx yawned as he told him without covering his mouth. He was getting bored.
“I haven’t, either,” Taylor agreed. “Stan?”
“Nope.” Stan rolled his eyes upward as if he was thinking, and doing a very poor job of it. “Nope. Nope. Not a thing,” he added, crossing his own arms over his own massive chest, while standing defiant.
Jaxx looked at Taylor and Stan, then turned back to Eloran.
“Why don’t you quit lying, and tell us what you are really here for?” Jaxx demanded.
“You have not lost your instinct,” Imaerra told him.
“We are here to tell you that the council is demanding that you hand over the jewel.”
“They want the Jewel?” Jaxx never saw that one coming. They all knew about the myth, but only the five of them knew that the myth was real. That meant that Eloran was fishing for information. If the Anaerris Code was real, then so, too, was the Jewel. More than that...how would they know he knew? Jaxx didn't want them to know the facts, so he decided to bluff.
“Lie, Eloran! Do you think, for one minute, that I do not speak with Kulana? I know what goes on inside the council. Everything! I also know that you seek to unseat her.”
Eloran snorted, and frowned, then grinned as Jaxx turned him onto a different path. Both he and Jaxx were of the few who had come through the Vorc'ara together. Afterward, Jaxx had disappeared, until the Council was formed.
“For the Creator’s sake, Eloran! Are you fucking insane?” Stan finally opened his mouth. “Kulana's power exceeds that of yours! How did you not know that everyone knew about your intentions to unseat her?”
Taylor added her two cents worth.
“Eloran, you do not speak for the council. You may be a member, but it is not your place to do speak for it! Only Kulana can speak for the Council! You think we did not know this?”
“Ah, but that is where you are wrong, Taylor. I have every right! She has betrayed us!”
Lola sat on her haunches listening at the library door. This was bad. Very bad. If they had felt both Gem and the book, then it would only be a matter of time before they figured out who Gem was. That was something she could not permit! Standing on her tiny little legs, she rocketed up the stairs to find Gem, following her scent. She halted outside the master suite, and rolled her eyes. Of course, she’d be in his room! Now, how was she going to get into the room? Lola kept forgetting that she didn't need anyone to open the door. In fact, there were times she felt she was going dog! Shaking her head, she began to scratch at the door, because she didn't want to reveal to Gem exactly who, and what, she was, by using her powers – at least not yet. That conversation was coming soon enough. At that moment, her pet opened the door, and Lola began to dread that moment of truth!
~ 9 ~
“When you’ve lost it, believe me! You’re mind will do crazy things!” ~ Gem
Gem slowly raised her head from her desk. Disoriented, she looked around her surroundings, frowned, then she blinked several times. She was in her house? Surprise gripped her for the moment, before she saw Lola on her lap. She took a deep breath of relaxation when she saw that Lola was just fine, and snoring away happily with her cute little pug snore. Blinking, again, she looked down at the desk, and saw her computer in front of her. Everything was the same. Her house was OK, her pug, and everything else was the way it had always been. She looked back at her computer, and saw the last line she had typed.
She stomped into the bathroom, stepped into the shower, and turned it on hot. Then, Gem sat down on the warm floor leaning her head against the tile. She let her mind drift for a moment, until her eyes flew open in total shock as she realized what had happened.
“I died?” she gasped in complete surprise. How in the hell was that possible? She was alive? When one died, one didn't come back to life. She slid her hands down to her chest, and rubbed it against the still pink new skin where she had healed. “I really was dead? No. Not possible, because I'm alive!” She frowned, then asked, “Aren’t I?”
At that point, Gem knew that she was not, and could not, be human. And, if she wasn't human, then...what was she?
She flopped back in her seat. Seriously?
“Are you kidding me? All of that was nothing but a dream about writing my book?” she cried, startling Lola, who looked up at Gem with a distinct frown, accusing Gem for daring to wake her from her nice, cozy sleep! “What the hell?”
Lola pawed at Gem in concern, who picked her up – just what Lola wanted, of course. Gem buried her face in Lola’s soft fur, and began to cry. What the hell was wrong with her? If it was all a dream, why couldn’t she have just gotten to do the one thing she wanted – to have
hot, steamy, raucous sex with Jaxx! Even now, her womb clenched with an urgent need to be filled.
But, if it was all a dream, why was the desire so real? The book? It couldn't be real, right?
Curiosity always seems to kill the cat, and this time, Gem's curiosity just might kill her. She had to know, for sure, that it was all a dream, so she jumped up grabbing her jacket, purse, and truck keys, and ran outside to be confronted by the old rusted truck in front of her. Lola was on her heels, when she stopped in her tracks, causing Lola to run into her legs, and fell on her little butt. Getting up, she shook her tiny body, then glared at Gem, who didn’t pay any attention to her. Maybe, just maybe the book wasn’t real, either? Had she made up all of it for her book? Grabbing Lola, and jumping into the truck, she sped toward town, and the library.
Fumbling a bit with the lock, Gem finally opened the library doors, and ran to the CCR. She unlocked it, ran inside, and pulled out the books from the cubbyhole. She used her flashlight, and thrust her hands into the dark space. Surprise dawned when she found a book really was there! It came loose immediately upon yanking on it. Just like before, she was able to open it, and there were the silver pages. The text was completely illegible. It seemed written in some sort of glyphs, but none like she had ever seen.
Looking through the book while sitting on the floor, Lola plopped next to her and pretended to sleep, again. Gem sighed, and looked down at the page in front of her. Startled, she saw the words wiggle and morph into legible words! She could read them! Excited, she leaned down further. Automatically, she had cradled the amulet in her hand, which she had put on earlier in the day. She didn’t even notice.
That's when she stopped. She looked down in surprise at the amulet hanging on an unusually strong chain. Puzzled, Gem knew the amulet still sat in the blue velvet case, so how was it around her neck? She had never found it after the fire; never removed it; never went to Taylor’s house to stay, and never put it in the side table next to the bed? That meant she could not have put the amulet on her neck earlier. The logical conclusion would have to be that the amulet allowed her to read the book. She removed her hand from it, letting it dangle away from her skin. Gem looked at the silver pages again. They were, again, illegible! She grabbed hold of it in her hand, and again, she could read the words!
