by Lisa Andel
"Oh, yeah."
"Evidently he realized that the only way your magic works is if I'm the one fucking you."
I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face. “You do it so well."
"I suppose I should be taking you back to the others.” Trend didn't move, and I didn't yet feel the urge to.
"What was this all about?"
"Edan Drache contracted with a demon to acquire you. They moved your house into this realm, thinking to trap you in it. When that failed, the demon set a spell to entrap you when you returned home."
"And Begaroth?"
"Begaroth isn't fond of dragons and when he found out one of his own had contracted with Drache he made a personal appearance. He showed up shortly before we did."
His hand moved to my breast, his fingers rolling my nipple lightly.
"There is something about you...” He'd just pressed his lips to mine, when the world exploded around us.
He flew to his feet, trails of blue lightning erupting from his hands, as he flung them out towards the source of the attack. I tried to scramble off the ledge that I was on, only to have Trend shove me back, telling me to keep down.
White flames clashed with his blue lightning, the temperature around us changing rapidly from hot to cold, then back again.
A demon moved closer to us, in his true form. The black skin covered his entire body, as smooth as glass. Small wings sprouted from his back, a claw at the tip of each membrane. His mouth was open as he hissed at Trend. Long, slender fingers, ending in sharp talons flicked the frigid white magic in Trend's direction.
Trend countered, moving smoothly, bringing more of his power to bear against the beast.
Blue flames erupted on the surface of the creature, bringing it to its knees. It flung its head back, emitting an unearthly scream, as Trend's lightning flared brighter on its flesh.
With tremendous effort, the creature righted itself, its eyes glowing as it turned its head in my direction. Then it lurched to its feet, and fell on me.
I tried to scream when it lifted its hand, fingers splayed across my face, then a burst of icy power whipped through me, engulfed me, and I knew no more.
Chapter Seven
I was riding the tides of the wind. The air was crisp and clean against my flesh as I dipped and rose to the whim of nature. Birds clamored in the air around me—brilliant white birds, whose bodies reflected bursts of sunlight into my eyes.
At peace with my surroundings, I lay back on currents, and let myself drift.
As I lay there, I felt the presence of another. A magic that I was unfamiliar with settled over me, then soaked into my body, my bones, my soul.
It infused me, strengthened me, made me whole.
I fell into a gentle sleep, cradled by the breeze.
I opened my eyes. I was in bed, though I didn't know whose bed. I wasn't sure I wanted to find out.
"She's awake,” I heard Ash say from somewhere near my feet.
Levering myself up onto my elbows, I looked at him.
His face was haggard, his eyes bleak. Then he smiled, and much of the strain drained from him.
"About time.” His voice was hoarse.
"How long?"
"A month."
I'd been dead a month. It was the longest I'd ever been dead. No wonder he looked beat up.
Rafe moved to my side, and wrapped me in his arms, then just as quickly jumped away from me.
"Shit.” He looked me over from head to toe. “Touch her, Ash."
Ash raised an eyebrow, but came forward and threw an arm around my shoulder.
"Damn.” He pulled back.
"What? What is it?"
"You've changed,” Ash stated as he sat down on the bed next to me. “Somehow you absorbed some of that demon that killed you. It must have happened when Trend killed it while it was still on top of you."
"Demon?"
"What's the last thing you remember?” Rafe asked, sitting on the bed, but closer to my feet.
"You and I standing in front of where my house should have been."
"Well that's one thing then; you only lost what happened in the other realm."
"What else did I miss?"
Ash told me about Edan Drache's involvement, the return of my house, and Trend's bringing my body back to them.
"The good news is, you've got your house back, and the dragons will leave you alone from here on out. Including Tyr."
I heard the unspoken “but” at the end of his statement.
"But?"
"The bad news is...” Ash looked to Rafe to finish for him.
"I can't touch you any more. Not with the demon magic in you."
"No.” I almost launched myself at Rafe. “Ash, can't you do something about this?"
"Sorry, Lise, that's just how things go sometimes. The demon magic might be the only reason you're alive right now."
"Fuck."
Rafe stood, and came closer. “I'll always love you.” He bent and gave me a quick peck on the lips. “I'll always be your friend. Who knows, maybe next time you die you'll come back without the magic."
His smile was sad as he leaned back against the wall.
"I'll take you home now,” said Ash.
"Can you touch me?"
"Yes, but it's not very pleasant."
I looked at Rafe, my heart breaking. “I love you too. Promise to stay in touch?"
"I promise."
Ash touched my arm, and we left.
* * * *
I'm starting to get used to my new self. I've been home now for almost a week and I'm finding some interesting uses for my new magic. My favorite is that I don't have to clean anything by hand any more.
I haven't seen Rafe since I left his house, but I guess I need the time to get over him. Get over what I had with him.
I haven't seen Ash either, once he dropped me off at my house.
I was sitting at my kitchen table, reading over a recipe that I'd decided to try out for dinner when my doorbell rang.
Curious, since the dragons stopped harassing me, I went to see who was at my door.
I looked into the monitor, and my heart beat faster as I saw Trend Delgado look back at me.
"Take the stairs, straight across the room to the other door."
I buzzed him in, then danced impatiently while I worked him through the sally port.
He strolled into the room, all coiled muscle and lethal male, and I flung myself into his arms.
I'd caught him by surprise, and he nearly dropped me.
"So it's true.” He gazed into my eyes, searching deep within me.
"Yeah."
A slow grin curved the edges of his mouth.
"How's the change affected your sex life?"
He didn't know.
I dropped my eyes to his chest. “Ended it."
"What?"
"Rafe and I are through; he can't touch me anymore. Even Ash doesn't like being around me much."
He crushed me to his chest. “Where's your bedroom?"
I pointed to the door on the other side of the room, and he carried me over to it.
When he got me to the bed, he lowered me to my feet so he could tear my clothes off me.
"You look great,” he said as he began shedding his own clothing. “Last time I saw you, you were a corpse."
I shuddered. I'd been a corpse too long.
"I was dead for a month. I've never done that before; it kind of gets to me."
Then he was naked, and rolling onto the bed with me. “You said yourself, you always come back."
"Yeah, but I always came back as myself."
"Shut up and fuck me.” He kissed my forehead, my cheeks, then my mouth. “Damn, you're hot.” He drove his tongue into my mouth and arousal knifed through me.
I kissed him back with a fervor that rivaled his own. We twisted, and turned, writhing against each other's flesh, burning up with need.
I raised my legs and grasped his waist with my knees, rocking m
y vulva along the length of his cock.
He nipped my lips, my jaw, my neck, as he reached between us and dragged the head of his cock through my slit.
"Trend,” I groaned, willing him to enter me.
He did. He placed the head of his cock at my opening, then wrapped an arm behind my back. His eyes were wild when he stared into my own, his breathing harsh. Then he flexed his hips, and skewered me.
We went wild. Two savages in heat, clawing and biting, licking and sucking at every available inch of flesh we could get to. He powered his cock with a vengeance, in and out at a blinding pace. I met him stroke for stroke, igniting the new powers that resided within me. His own flared to life, and wove together with mine.
It heated our flesh, drove us wilder still. I came, then kept on coming, as he yelled his own release. Never slowing down, we continued to fuck, our bodies slamming together as we continued to burn, our magic growing brighter as we spiraled once again towards release.
"Come for me,” he growled into my ear, and I shattered, my cum washing over his cock and down the front of his thighs.
"Damn, that's hot.” His body jerked as he continued driving into me.
The fury lessened, but not the heat. The magic sensitized my flesh, causing every nerve ending to spring into awareness. My focus narrowed down to the feel of Trend's body rubbing over mine, the feel of his shaft stroking the walls of my pussy.
A shiver raked over me as his cock brushed the bundle of nerves outside my womb. He kept the pressure up, rubbing over the spot again and again, the root of his shaft riding equally relentlessly over my clit.
"Come.” He bit the word out, his own body tightening towards release.
Three more strokes and I was flying. I heard him curse, then felt the liquid heat of his completion.
I flew higher as another spurt of his seed entered me, our magic sparking around us like a living thing.
He slammed his cock one last time against my womb, then stilled. Sweat dripped from the ends of his hair into my face, his heart thundering hard enough for me to feel.
I was watching him when he raised his head and caught sight of my eyes.
The grin he leveled at me was pure sin.
"I may just fuck you into another dimension.” He rolled onto his back, taking me with him.
I sat up, making sure his entire cock was seated within me.
"Maybe I'll take you."
I started moving. Then lost myself in the magic that flared between us.
* * * *
Groaning, I flopped around on the bed, and ran into a warm naked body.
With a couple of tries, I was able to turn my head over so I could look.
Trend grinned at me with a heavy-lidded expression. Desire burned even now in his eyes.
"If I could move, I'd fuck you again."
"I'd be happy to help you out, but nothing works any more."
"We need to eat."
We just lay there looking at each other.
"I could probably magic us up some food. But I don't know how we'd get it into our mouths."
"Give me a minute."
We both started laughing when several minutes had passed and neither one of us had moved.
"It would work better if I had any bones left."
"I wonder what day it is."
This got me to wondering too. “You knew before. How come you don't know now?"
"You've changed since then."
"Does this mean you're not going to fuck me anymore either?"
I didn't like the insecurity I heard in my voice.
"Are you insane? You've just blown my world away."
"Trend?"
"Yeah?"
"You have any special people in your life?"
It was just occurring to me that I knew very little about the man that shared my bed.
"A few."
"Women?” Crap, I couldn't get my mouth to stop.
His expression changed, but instead of the irritation that I'd expected, a—softness—shone from his eyes.
"Only you."
"Damn. I'd blow you if I could move."
That got a reaction out of him. He jerked, then managed to sit up.
"Christ, I've still got a hard-on."
He worked his way off the bed, then reached across and latched onto me. After a few tugs, he'd dragged me close enough to the edge to get his arms under me and lift me.
He propped me up against his chest while he showered us, then carried me out to the kitchen.
I was able to stand by that time, and helped him as best I could with the meal.
We were sitting at the table eating when Ash popped in. Both of us were naked, but neither of us had the energy yet to do anything about it.
"This is different.” Ash looked at Trend, gauging his reaction.
"We'd dress, but we don't have the ability to do that yet."
"Huh.” Ash looked at me. I shrugged, and concentrated on eating my food.
"What can we do for you?” Trend bent over his plate and shoved a bite of steak into his mouth.
"Just checking in on Lisa. It's been a month since I've seen her, and I didn't want her to think I'd written her off."
A month? That means that Trend had been here for three weeks.
I shot a glance at him. “Three weeks."
He grinned.
I turned my attention back to my plate.
"I was upset, at first,” I admitted, then got sidetracked trying to stab a piece of meat.
"At first?” Ash prompted.
He'd moved over to the counter and was leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest.
"I figure you can't stand me now, and I've just got to learn to live with that."
"Actually, I might have a solution for you."
"Hey.” Trend glared at him. “I happen to like the change."
"You liked her fine before she changed."
"True.” Trend finished his food, then returned to the stove for another helping. He slapped a second steak on my plate when he came back to the table.
"But she was Rafe's before. She's mine now."
His? I didn't remember him saying anything to me about this. Afraid of his answer, I kept my mouth shut.
"I know. And to tell you the truth I'm not real happy about it.” Ash narrowed his eyes at Trend.
"I wasn't aware that she needed your permission.” Trend reached over and wrapped his fingers around my thigh.
"Guys. I'm right here.” Not that I had anything to say; I was just trying to distract them.
They glared at each other for a minute, then Ash turned to the fridge. He helped himself to a beer, pulled some meat out of the freezer, dropped it on the broiling pan, and slid it into the oven.
He'd calmed down by the time he sat down at the table. He stared at me for a moment, then got up again and headed into the bedroom. When he returned he tossed Trend's pants to him, and handed me Trend's T-shirt.
"There are a lot of reasons you should try to get rid of the demon magic. Not the least of which is the length of your death.” He relaxed into his chair. “Then there's dealing with the dark realm. I'm not sure you're equipped to deal with the denizens there."
Trend was studying me while Ash talked.
"Even if you do manage to remove the demon magic, she'll always bear my mark.” Trend shifted his attention to Ash.
"True, but we both know she'd have more visits, as well as challenges, if she keeps the magic."
"What's your plan?"
"Transference."
"Who's the goat?"
"You."
I'd totally lost track of the conversation at this point.
"I'm game.” Trend slouched back in his seat.
"After I eat, then."
Everything seemed to be settled. Whatever that meant.
"You marked me?” I turned sideways in my chair to get a better look at him.
"We marked each other.” He grinned at me. His grin always got to me.
"What's that mean?"
"It's a little fuzzy, but I believe we declared our undying love for each other. You accepted my mark, showing my claim over you. I accepted your mark for the same reason."
"Huh."
"Yeah."
"Did we do anything else I should know about?"
Trend was quiet a moment. “Honestly, I don't know."
"You didn't life-bond if that's what you're wondering about,” Ash said between bites of food. “Good thing, she tends to die frequently.” Ash placed his dishes in the sink, then gestured for us to move to the living room.
Trend and I sat next to each other on the couch, while Ash took the chair.
"Is it going to hurt?” I scooted closer to Trend and was grateful when his arm came around me.
Ash looked at me like I was mental. Then he started weaving his fingers in front of him, his lips moving with the incantation, but his voice too low to make out the words. A sweat broke out on his brow, and he leaned forward onto his knees, crossing the distance between the chair and where Trend and I sat.
I could hear the soft murmuring of his voice now as he continued to cast his magic. Then the first touches of it brushed across my skin. It was warm, and felt of Ash. It started rippling across my flesh, then sinking in. My eyes closed as his magic worked its way deeper and deeper into me.
Suddenly I was gripped with pain. A searing, burning sensation knifed straight through my heart. I clasped my hands over my chest, as the pain wrenched something loose inside of me.
I screamed. It felt like my insides were being shredded. Sweat broke out all over my body, followed by chills. The pain grew until I could no longer withstand it, and felt myself losing consciousness. Just before everything faded away, I felt a rush of pure white joy fill the space where the pain had been.
I struggled back to the surface, clinging to the joy. When I opened my eyes, I found both Ash and Trend staring at me.
"Did I die?"
"I don't think so,” Ash told me.
"How do you feel?” Trend asked.
"Cleaner.” The light inside me had taken away a darkness that I had failed to notice.
I reached for Trend. “Kiss me."
He complied. Our lips met, and I felt the ebb and flow of magic between us.
When he sat back, I felt the dark magic draw back into him. Leaving me without, but still filled with light.
"I'd say it worked."
I turned to Ash and opened my arms to him.
