Brother Of The Dark Places

by Miranda Bailey

  My stomach went tight and my throat ached as a groan of pleasure tore from my chest, from somewhere deep as I felt electric buzzing start to course over my skin.

  “Sh, it’s only me, my love.” He soothed as his hand began to dance inside of my panties. “I can’t help control it, it just feels so fucking good to touch you.”

  The buzzing didn’t hurt, it only made me more aware of him as we moved together. I gave myself up to him, to be his plaything, but I wanted to touch, I wanted to make him cry out my name.

  I wanted...oh God, I wanted to explode! I wanted that feeling he’d given me in my dreams! I’d heard all my life that reality didn’t live up to the fantasy but as his tongue slicked over my other nipple and his fingers feathered over my clit, I knew that reality was not only going to live up to the fantasy, it might just surpass it.

  I felt my hips begin to roll, my body doing as it pleased as Wruin totally wrecked my self-control. “Wruin...”

  I panted his name, not sure what I was asking for, just knowing that I needed it. More. Him.

  “We’ll get there, Abi, don’t worry baby. Just let me consume you, let me have all of you.”

  I couldn’t do anything else but what he asked.

  Every one of my senses belonged to him, because all I could taste was him on my tongue, all I could smell was his scent in my nose. I could only hear the soft sounds of his lips suckling my flesh, the way his fingers made slick noises in my pants. I could see only him, his mouth on me, his eyes boring into mine.

  I was him and he was me.

  He tilted his head, and his mouth pulled on my nipple as his fingers pressed deeper into my clit, the pattern so quick, so good that I became focused on little more but the twin spots of pleasure he gave me. A tingle started deep inside of my walls, a tingle that became a pulse and my hips rocked up into him with force as my head went back on the furs beneath us.

  “There you go, my love. Now you’re mine.” I heard it as a growl in my head, a voice that made the pulsing stronger, that sent me higher as I forgot how to breath, how to voice my release, how to be anything but a pulse of ecstasy and light.

  I started to writhe beneath him, almost dislodging his fingers, until he pinned me to the bed with his hips, a growl of warning coming from deep in his throat. I couldn’t stop though, his teeth were now clamped around my nipple, a pleasurable pain that only sent me higher.

  I rode that pulse of light, totally unaware that my pants were gone and I was completely bare beneath him, until he was inside of me, deep, hard, and full of him. He turned then, flipping us so that I was riding him, and in control. I looked down and saw his eyes were glazed with his desire, his body was mine to do with as I pleased.

  I could still feel pulses of delighted pleasure, pulses that only grew as I moved, twitched on his hips.

  “Abigail,” he gasped, his hands clenching on my hips to hold me still.

  “Oh no, dragon, you wanted this, now you’ve got it. And I’ll give it to you how I good and well please!” His eyes were startled now, but pleased, and I knew he wanted more.

  I placed a hand on his chest for balance, and began to dance on his hips. He was deep inside of me, my slick walls sucked at him, and I saw a fire begin to burn in his eyes. His dragon was there, and it was happy. The lights in the room dimmed as the fire grew in his eyes, as his panting sighs turned to gasps, and then groans. His hips began to move with mine, and I knew he was just on the edge, just on the edge of joining me in nirvana.

  My hand on his chest clenched as I felt the pulses begin to turn to deep throbs of warning, and I heard him moan. I looked down to see I’d trapped his nipple between my fingers, that he’d thrown his head back. My fingers twitched with the knowledge that he’d like that, and he hissed a breath between clinched teeth.

  “Abigail, if you don’t stop that, I will come.”

  I bent over and licked the nipple with my tongue and he twisted us again, until I was flat on my back and he was driving into me. The world spun away as Wruin drove into me, over and over, his breath little more than a sob now as he sought out that final release, that final moment.

  With a groan that shook the walls, I felt him pulse within me,and the world exploded around me. A roaring sound filled my head and I felt the world rush away as Wruin drug me into the heavens at a speed that was only colors. Then I was him, and he was me, and I knew we were more than just lovers, we were one.

  Our lives together had only just begun but now, we had each other. He wouldn’t be my protector, we would protect each other. He would not just provide for me, we would provide together. We would love and be loved, and the world could not change that. We were more than soulmates, we were more than partners, we were one.

  “I’ve always loved you, Abigail,” I heard in my mind. “Welcome home.”

  12

  Wruin

  I left the most precious person to me in any of the worlds to sleep as I went to meet with those that had kept Tirfothwin going in my absence. I didn’t want to leave her, but I didn’t want to wake her either. There were dark circles bruising the skin beneath her eyes by the time we’d collapsed together on the pallet.

  “I’ll bring in one of those beds from the house in Dorset for her.” I decided as I shifted and flew to the Great Hall five miles away.

  I landed on the platform at the top of the structure and marveled once again at the genius way they’d produced daylight. We had supernatural beings of all kinds here, but the dwarven people had kept them all alive. I knew, hidden beneath the surface and worked into the buildings, were all of the support structures needed to keep the ocean floor from collapsing in on us. There was also a good deal of magic being used for that.

  With a final look, I left the platform and went down the stairs to the grand entrance of the hall. Voices filled the building, echoing around until there was only noise. All of the noise stopped the minute I began to stride up a dark brown carpet to the end of the hall where twenty men and women sat, watching the others gathered in the room talked.

  Noise once again filled the room as all of the individuals inside went to their knees, their voices as one as they all welcomed me.

  “Rise, my friends and family. I am home, at last and ready to do what needs to be done.” I went to the empty chair in the middle of the table and took my place. “Now, tell me, what do I need to know first?”

  “We have reports that Airitech has fled to Antarctica.” One voice beside me called out.

  “Good, perhaps the cold will clear his head.” They all laughed as I’d hoped they would.

  “Will there be a wedding, my king?” One woman asked, her stomach heavy with child.

  “Yes, Lysantha, there will. I hope you’ll be there to help?”

  “Of course, my king. Anything you need.” She met my eyes, a warrior engaging another warrior.

  “Thank you. Now, what else?” I looked around, waiting for an answer.

  “An earthquake has damaged the world in the Atlantic. They ask for shelter.” Another woman, at the end of the table spoke up. Another warrior, the female warriors of the Vikings that later men mythologized as Valkyries because they could not believe a woman could be a great warrior. She was one of those that had proved those theories wrong.

  “Then we can’t refuse them can we? When we needed help they offered it, we cannot be as the Tuatha de Danan and turn them away.” I could see the room agreed. It would put a strain on our world, until we adjusted, but we knew what it meant to be turned away. We would not do that to others.

  The day went on, with a few breaks where I checked on my sleeping beauty. The world, our world and lives were going to change again. I just hoped her father would leave us alone now to live it. I would do all in my power to ensure that would happen. I owed it to her, and to her mother.

  The End?

  Keep reading for a special preview of Endre: Brothers of the Dark Places, book two in my new series…

  Endre

  With loving thought
s to my sister. May your heart always be full of the love we have for you.

  1

  Thyra

  Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean on a Boat

  The mast cracked with a devastating sound, a sound that sent the chill of doom down my spine.

  How would I get through this without a mast? The engine was dead and would not start, no matter what I did to repair it. Without the engine, I had no power to use the radio, my batteries were drained. I had not been able to call for help.

  I knew I should have installed a solar panel, but I’d put it off, hoping to make it to my next destination without the added expense.

  At least the keel hadn’t dropped off the bottom of the old yacht I’d chosen as my escape. Nightmarish pictures filled my mind of images I’d seen in the past, lifeless capsized yachts, with no crew aboard and never to be seen again. There would be no chance of survival, at all, without the keel.

  The boat would capsize and fill with water, and maybe I’d have time to get off of it and into my dinghy but if it sank, it would take the dinghy with it. Maybe before I could unhitch it, perhaps with me still aboard. There would be no hope to live to see another day if I ended up in the water without the dinghy, even if I was able to grab my Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, my body temperature would drop too low before I could ever hope for rescue.

  I wasn’t exactly sure where I was anymore, but I knew I’d been drifting south, into very cold waters, because the temperature had changed so much. I thanked whatever gods had kept me alive until now, hoping they would hear my prayers to not change their minds. Maybe I should activate the EPIRB now, I thought to myself as I watched lightning dance across the sky. I’d have to let go of the tiller to do that though, the EPIRB was below deck.

  I held to the tiller as the sails fluttered down in the rain, lightning flashes lighting their descent. I blinked rain out of my brown eyes, and watched as the sails came down. The fluttering canvas blocked my vision of the sea before me.

  It wasn’t as if I could see much anyway, there was nothing out there but massive waves and waves that were even bigger than the massive ones. I was going to die, I’d become resigned to it. The gods were playing with me, toying with me like a cat with a bug or a mouse. How long can we prolong this, they must be saying as they laugh at me.

  It all started when I left Brazil, heading south to explore the coastline. I heard on the radio that a bad storm was coming so I went out to sea, hoping to avoid the storm. I wasn’t your average woman; I’d crossed the Atlantic single handed the year before. I’m a seasoned sailor. I’m also an ex-wife trying to escape her obsessive policeman husband.

  Even after our divorce, he harassed me. He’d plagued me at work, at home, and even managed to get his buddies to harass me on the road by pulling me over whenever they saw me driving. I’d put up with it for two years after our divorce, then, I’d sold my car, even the house my parents had left me when they died in a car accident. I’d sold everything I owned, took my savings out of the bank, and headed out of Louisiana to the coast of Virginia, where I’d bought a boat from a man desperate to sell it. I’d bought it, paid someone to teach me how to sail it, and made sure it was up to the task to handle an Atlantic crossing before I’d escaped Travis and the rat-race of modern life.

  I had no family, my friends had become distant after my divorce, there was nobody to worry over or to worry over me. I left it all behind. It had taken weeks to cross over to the Azores, but when I arrived, I’d beaten the odds, I’d conquered my fears, and I knew, there was little I couldn’t handle in this world. I’d restocked, had a few repairs made, and spent some time relaxing. I’d headed down to the Caribbean Islands next, racing to beat hurricane season. I’d gone down, and explored the Caribbean properly. I’d even considered finding a man to spend some time with, but none of the men had the smile of the man in my dreams. None had measured up.

  I decided then, that the thing to do was sail down the South American coast. Everything was fine until my engine died. I hadn’t realized it, but my batteries were going with it. When the engine died, I’d decided to try and repair it, before I tried to call for help. That was my second stupid mistake. The first being to sail out away from the storm, of course.

  When I finally gave up and picked up the handset to call for help, I saw that the light on the radio was dead. All of the lights were dead. My navigation equipment, that little light on the small television I used as a screen for my nav equipment when I was sailing. It was all dead. Then the storm decided to change tack and plowed into me.

  I’d fought my way through it for hours, using the sails when I could to try and get out of it, but then, just as darkness fell, the mast cracked. Now, all I could do was stare at the pile of sails as wind and rain lashed at my body and face while dread filled me with calm. At least I’d be rid of Travis, once and for all.

  Everyone said drowning was peaceful, if you accepted it and didn’t fight it. I’d freak out just holding my breath to go under the shower to rinse out my hair sometimes. Drowning was one of my greatest fears, it was why I’d chosen to sail. Face your fears and all that shit. Now, there was a very distinct possibility that drowning was exactly how I was going to die.

  Without an engine or mast to hoist the sails, I was well and truly fucked.

  With a sigh I let the tiller go, scraped my light-honey colored hair out of my face and fought the wind as I ducked my head to go below. There was nothing else I could do on deck. I took out a bottle of whiskey I’d been saving for hard times, a gift from a fellow that had admired my “spunk”, as he put it just before I left the dock we were both moored at. I poured a glass full and sat down in the dark. I struck a match to light one of the lanterns I used at night, rather than the batteries, and gulped the silky alcohol down without a chaser. I glanced at the EPIRB but then looked away. I’d waited too long. I’d freeze to death before help could come.

  I breathed in fire and wiped at my mouth as the burn traveled through my chest, soothing the panicked breathing I could no longer control. As my respiration calmed, clarity came. I might be on my way to death, but I’d met the world head on. I’d challenged it, maybe one too many times judging by my latest predicament, but I’d come out on top a time or two.

  I took one last gulp and stared out of the portholes that served as windows. Lightning lit up the darkness outside, more waves and rain. Yep, I was totally going to die.

  Then the world tilted and I was suddenly floating in water.

  Endre

  I flew high above the storm, living up to my name, the one that rides alone in ancient Norse. She was out here somewhere, the woman of my dreams. I’ve waited all my thousands of years for her; the last 28 had been nearly unbearable. The dreams I’d had of her since she’d turned 20 years old hadn’t helped.

  Now, she was down there somewhere, in a storm that rarely occurred in the southern hemisphere, about to die unless I could find her. I circled down, rain pelting the leathery skin of my black scales tipped with electric blue. The water just rolled away and the lightning wouldn’t come near me, it didn’t dare to.

  I searched for her yacht, the one I knew she had to be on if she was in this part of the Atlantic. We hadn’t yet formed a full mental bond, something about her kept that part of her from me. She still believed in magic though, or else our bond would be broken. I knew she’d had a hard life full of tragedy, her dreams were sometimes full of pain and sadness, but somehow, she’d managed to retain her belief in magic.

  Now, I just had to prove to her it existed and find her.

  I searched for hours, scouring the ocean for a tiny boat in the vast ocean. I was beginning to lose hope; my connection to her was growing dimmer, until it was almost gone. I wondered if it was only as she entered the land of the dead that I was able to find her. I could enter her world here, but it would not be the same. Fear made my heart stand still, I’d found her though, I had to act quickly.

  That’s when I spotted the boat, capsized a
nd without a keel. I dove into the water as a seal, my own unique ability to shift into any animal I wanted to came in handy at times like this. I searched the boat, and found the entry.

  Shooting inside I found her floating lifelessly, her face peaceful in the darkness that was no match for my eyesight. I can’t be too late; I thought as I shifted into my human shape and pulled her to the bottom of the capsized boat. I can’t be too late, not when I’ve finally found her!

  She opened her eyes when I shifted into my dragon form, her eyes vacant but evidence that she still lived. I just had to get her warm to keep her alive. I tucked her into my powerful arms and took flight, just as the boat sank beneath the waves. I flew swiftly, headed for home, for the warmth to be found in my home that Thyra desperately needed. She would soon start to warm, tucked against my body, but not enough. She’d been in the water almost too long.

  I flew through the storm and out of it, snow now taking the place of rain. I passed over a desert landscape of frozen white, down into the ice blue of frozen tunnels slowly melting above a pocket of heat that few knew about, and down, to a place even fewer knew existed.

  I was soon in a large opening, as big as a city, beneath the ice caps, a land of green fields and warmth that would shock the human world, if they only knew it was here. I felt leathery lips stretch as I looked out over the kingdom I’d wrenched from the cold, heartless iceberg now called Antarctica. I was king here, king to none, but still king.

  Hands waved as I passed and I squinted. Something was not right. Why were there people in my lonely kingdom? I came down from the protective layer of ice above and locked in on one face. Taka, the king of a land long forgotten somewhere in the Atlantic, hidden beneath the dark waters of the ocean, waited for me at my longhouse.