She ran a hand through her hair and stood. “It was as if there were something else there with me. As I sped toward you, a symbol kept reforming over and over in my mind. This one.” Eristta drew a pictogram in the air, her fingers leaving burning trails of violet. She pointed to the shining character that glowed softly in the still evening air. “I kept thinking I had seen it somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember where or when.”
“I know this,” he whispered, standing as well and moving closer to the sparkling design.
Eristta’s eyes widened. “How do you know it?”
Red Claw traced Eristta’s symbol. “It is the symbol of the great serpent. Unhcegila. The devourer of worlds.” Images and memories fought for space in the shaman’s mind. Stories from his childhood of a malevolent beast that when awoken, stole people away in the dark of night or light of day unseen.
Staring up at the robin’s egg blue sky, Red Claw scrubbed a hand across his chin. “The beast could do good or ill, depending on his whim or he who called him. He is cunning, powerful, and nearly impossible to control.”
“The ancient wyrms,” Eristta hissed, recognition lighting her cat-like features. She drew another picture in the air then stepped back. “Dragons, they are called. Were called. One of the First to inhabit Tir na n-Og before the Tuatha. In the Time Before the Great War, the Sellie and their dark sorcerers created a deadly spell that infected the noble beasts with an illness none could cure. It took several ages for them all to die out.” Eristta shivered. “The accounts are terrible. Many tried to help, but none could reverse the magick done. Hatchlings were stillborn. Adult dragons simply rotted until their spirits could contain their bodies no more. Do you think…” Eristta paused, another visible shiver passing through her. “Could they somehow exist in your world?”
Red Claw was still, his jaw set. “Anything is possible.” As they locked gazes, an electrical current sizzled in the air between them. “Our legends depict a creature not so kind. If he has awoken, my world could be in great danger.”
She paced, hands locked behind her. “The presence did not feel malicious. Truth, it was almost as if it were observing me—from the inside out.”
A chill stole through him at Eristta’s words. “Eristta, did the presence follow you all the way to the gate?”
Eristta’s luscious mouth fell open. “I—” Her lips pressed tight. “I don’t know. Once I saw you and Garethan on the other side, my only thoughts were of closing the gate.”
Red Claw couldn’t stop the fingers of dread that settled in his heart. Perhaps it was not his world that would bear the brunt of the Unhcegila’s unpredictable nature. And if Garethan had sensed the creature’s presence…
He turned to the open portal behind him, his hand tightening around the pendants. “The claws. Their combined use might have woken the Unhcegila.”
Eristta stepped closer and placed a warm hand on his arm. “They are an ancient magick. But not of elfin making. Or dwarf. Or any Tuathan creature that I am familiar with.”
Red Claw breathed deep, drawing in his princess’s intoxicating scent. Ripe with mystery and elemental magick.
Like the claws.
Their gazes locked. “I have been trying to unravel their mystery for over two Earth centuries.” Red Claw brushed a strand of hair behind Eristta’s ear. “Like my desire for you.”
A slow smile graced her full lips, and Red Claw bent to taste them, need boiling inside him like a furnace. They yielded to his gentle pressure. The kiss was slow, sweet, and full of promise.
As they separated, Eristta looked up from under thick lashes. “And have you unraveled either mystery yet?”
“Only one,” Red Claw said as he placed his mouth next to her ear. “That I was a fool to wait so long to admit my need for you. My love for you.”
The words were out before he could stop them. Pulling back, he studied his beloved’s face. She was still, her lower lip trembling ever so slightly. As her gaze rose, Red Claw’s heart contracted. Uncertainty blossomed there—and fear. His vision came rushing back, and dismay flooded his entire being.
Eristta pounded his chest as she leaned into him. “No. Do not think it is your vision that—that leaves me terrified.”
Red Claw took her hand and held it against his heart. The muscle seemed to jump under her touch, reaching for her like a dying man reaches for his last drink of water. “Then what, wastelakapi?”
“Blessed Irramere, it is you, shaman. What I feel with you.” Eristta turned his hand over, brushed her lips over his palm before returning her gaze to his. “That is what frightens me.”
Threads of desire unfurled in Red Claw’s groin and his cock swelled. He knew the time was wrong to contemplate such things, but his body, mind and spirit were in accord: he needed Eristta. All of her. Now.
“Wastelakapi,” her murmured as he pulled her close. Holding her, Red Claw knew he would never let her go. Nothing would keep them apart. Not even her doubts or fears. He would ease them. Slay them.
“There is no place for fear between us.” He cupped one pert globe beneath her tunic, and was rewarded with a nearly pained sigh. “There is only trust, respect, and promise.”
Rolling his thumb and forefinger over her nipple, Red Claw relished the feel of the taut bud. “Wakan Tanka bless our union,” he whispered, running his palm over the small of her back, then sliding his entire body down until his face was even with the fullness of her breasts. He blew across the puckered tips, the thin fabric of her tunic rising as they tightened even more.
Eristta moaned again. In one fluid motion, she stripped herself free of the tunic and tossed it aside. Bare, she splayed her legs in a wide stance and arched her back. She cupped each side of Red Claw’s jaw in her hands and pulled him to her chest. “Taste me, shaman. Let your tongue help erase the fear.”
Smiling, he did as he was bid. Red Claw clasped her buttocks in his hands as he took her nipple deep into his mouth, until he possessed the entire areola. In slow circles, he twisted his tongue over the sweet tip. Eristta shouted her pleasure as she held on to his head, her hips gyrating wildly, rubbing against his cock and driving him near to insane with need.
Releasing one nipple, he moved to the next, lapping at the diamond-hard tip.
“Oh, Goddess!” Her breath rasped out as he continued licking and sucking her. “You make me wild, shaman!”
Grinning around its fullness, he nipped her breast lightly. Eristta keened and pulled herself free of his grasp. Deftly she removed his loincloth and tossed it aside, allowing her the pleasure of viewing his delicious cock. She grasped hold of his shaft and knelt. Before he had the opportunity to form a coherent thought, her lips slid over his erection and he was lost in the warmth of her mouth.
Red Claw tipped his head and snarled. The incredible vibrations spiraled straight from her soft lips to his testes. She worked her hand up and down his length as she drew him in and out of her mouth. He thrust his hips and held her head with his hands, gripping the silken strands as he lost himself to the sensations.
Just as he was on the verge of climax, Eristta stopped and he watched her as she slipped him from her mouth and rose up before him. She traced an imaginary symbol on his chest and gave him a seductive grin. “No coming until I allow it.”
He groaned. This woman would be the death of him. No, the life of him. She was everything he had ever wanted, ever dreamed of.
Standing before him, she ran her hand up and down the length of his moistened cock, studying his expression. “Tell me, Red Claw, what did you imagine in those moments when you came upon me laying with another?”
Fury flamed within his chest. He gripped her around the waist and lifted her free of the ground and even with his face. “I wanted to rip you free of their embrace, wastelakapi, male or female.”
Eristta sucked in her breath at the intensity of his anger.
In three strides Red Claw carried her to the V of a smooth-barked ash. He seated Eristta in its boughs and brou
ght his face so close to hers that his warm breath fanned her lips. “I wanted to show you what it was truly like for a man to make love to a woman with more than just his cock and tongue.”
Pressing her thighs apart with his large hands, Red Claw settled himself on one knee before her. He delved into the rose-pink center of her clit. With quick thrusts, he drove his tongue in and out of her quim, lost in the sweet taste of her juices.
Eristta’s keening cries of pleasure and her body’s pulsating energy let him know she was on the verge of orgasm. His cock hard as an oak staff, Red Claw dipped his head again and again, tasting and tracing the fascinating contours of her folds then thrusting into her channel.
In mind-speech, Red Claw touched Eristta. This is what I wanted to do to you first in those moments, until you came against my face as many times as I commanded you to.
Eristta screamed as her orgasm erupted and her hips jerked against his face. Red Claw’s own need stung razor sharp as he felt his beloved’s muscles contract around his delving tongue, her legs quivering against his face. Drawing his tongue up her slit, he continued on to the flat plane of her belly, tracing the fascinating tattoo. His hands slid further up her thighs until his fingers found the warm honey nectar of her quim.
With her hands gripping either side of the tree, Eristta gasped and opened her eyes. “You are a God, shaman,” she whispered breathlessly.
Red Claw shook his head as he slid his fingers into her hot slit until they were coated with her juices up to his third knuckle. “No God, wastelakapi. Just a man who has found his soul mate.”
Eristta shivered as her fingers dug into the soft ash. “Is it possible…one of the Tuatha and one of terran blood?”
His chest ached at her question, but his heart held no doubt. “Our bond is beyond both, Eristta. Can you not sense it?”
Chapter Thirteen
Eristta sensed it. Breathed it. Knew it at a core level that was as mysterious as it was life-changing. Could it be true? After these many years of dreaming, wanting, needing. All these things flowed across her face, she was certain, but Red Claw’s mahogany gaze remained unwavering.
…Perhaps the most important question you should be asking now is how you might achieve your heart’s desire…
“My heart’s desire,” Eristta whispered, her body shivering around Red Claw’s spiraling fingers still deep inside her.
He drew his fingers free of her hot center and palmed Eristta’s waist. “Wastelakapi, my life is your life. My blood your blood. My heart…”
Eristta placed a hand to his lips, blood singing through her veins. “Our hearts, shaman, are as one.” Unable to contain her joy, Eristta leapt from the boughs of the tree into her lover’s arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. Taking his face in her hands, Eristta placed her cheek against his, his sienna skin warm against hers. “You, Red Claw. You are my heart’s desire. That is what Ferra’leen wanted me to realize…accept.”
Instantly, Eristta felt the warrior’s own elation at her words. Pleasure radiated from his danu awen in waves so palpable, Eristta tipped her head back and closed her eyes, drinking it in like the warming rays of the sun. Large hands found her backside, and Eristta squealed in delight as he lifted her slightly, then brought her down on his engorged cock.
So large! Eristta eased forward, then down, driving his shaft to her very core, keening as she did so. Her body molded around him as she locked her legs at his waist once more.
“Shaman, the feel of you. I am full, my body, my spirit, my heart,” Eristta choked out as electric sensations zoomed from her quim to her belly and nipples to the very top of her head.
Red Claw lifted Eristta up, then down to meet his thrusts, the muscles in his chest and abdomen rippling. “It will always be so, wastelakapi, between us.”
Words forgotten, Eristta threw back her head and screamed as the pure sensations of their lovemaking filled her. With each thrust of his swollen shaft, Eristta thought she would explode with delight. Red Claw was relentless in his passion, his ability to drive her to orgasm again, and again. Sweat beaded and glistened on their bodies in the waning light, leaving slick trails where their hands caressed and teased.
As before, Eristta felt the energy of their combined danu awen build like a carefully tended bonfire, simmering hotly. She gave in to it, accepting that no matter the consequences, her place was with the terran warrior. She would follow her lover through Balor’s gates and beyond if need be.
I will forever cherish you, wastelakapi, came Red Claw’s whispered mind-words.
Their gazes locked, and Eristta understood in that moment that their bond was true—destined. And I you, shaman.
With her legs locked tight, he released Eristta’s buttocks and the two gripped each other’s hands, arm-to-arm, face-to-face. His cock still deep, Red Claw knelt, placing Eristta on her back in the cool glade.
“We are bonded, Eristta. Now without end.” The shaman’s deep rumble filled the clearing like thunder. His voice rang of spirit and power, all things that made him more than man—closer to a god.
The power of his words swelled within Eristta, and she gasped as he thrust deeper still. Her hips rocked to meet his, and the sensation of fire and ice shattered any notion that their bond was in theory only.
Eristta spoke Aquier, blending the ancient words with Red Claw’s melodious chant. The harmony of their voices twined a physical funnel of magick. Violet hues shot through with rich bronze and citrine yellow, crackled and glowed.
I love you, wastelakapi.
I love you, my gifted warrior. Have always loved you.
Eristta welcomed her lover’s animalistic roar as his hips bucked, driving his shaft to her womb as his hot seed spilled into her. Her quim contracted with such force, Eristta’s entire body jerked in time with Red Claw’s. Legs entwined, hands still tightly gripped, forearms touching…
Both terran warrior and elfin princess cried out in surprise as the sensations of their releases traveled from their joined bodies, through their abdomen and chest, and splitting four ways, entered their clasped arms.
White-hot light filled their senses before rippling with bronze, then silver hues. Eristta felt her spirit twist free of her body. She had no say in the matter, no control. As if borne by a wicked tide, she spiraled into the ether.
Red Claw!
The light—shockingly bright, even with her spirit-eyes, Eristta had difficulty focusing. Reaching with her danu awen, she grasped for her lover.
Eristta!
She could feel him. His copper signature was a part of her now, entrenched within her own spirit and heart, and yet…she could not find him!
Red Claw, what is happening? Still spiraling uncontrollably, Eristta tried to amass her powers. She could not! She was as a leaf within a roaring stream. No control. No ability to affect her movement, regardless of her intent.
This was not the way it should be! Eristta had traveled the daerie currents her entire life without serious incident. Never had she been unable to master her own movement.
The sacred portal!
Red Claw’s spirit voice was weaker, as if further away then just moments before. Twisting her head in the direction of the portal, or what she thought was the direction of the portal, Eristta gasped. The modest doorway had become a yawning maw. Viscous, wild magick poured into the Spring Kingdome like a river of blood.
It was then that Eristta caught a glimpse of their physical forms as she spun away. Still entwined upon the grass, wild magick enveloped them in a pulsating cocoon.
Goddess, Eristta stammered. Desperately she worked to twist free from the currents that possessed her. Shaman! We must—
The words died in her throat as Eristta came to a lurching halt within the ether. Facing the sacred portal, she looked on in horror as the now cavernous doorway belched golem after golem into the mild spring twilight. No…it can’t be. How were they able to open their own doorway, let alone travel through it unmolested!
And here th
ey’d stayed to prevent anyone from using the portal they’d opened! Eristta shrieked, fury and terror fighting for equal space within her. She tried to rush into her body, but as she had spun out of control just moments before, she was now frozen within the violent currents of unnatural light.
The horrific beasts stepped over their prone bodies and marched into the unprotected forest.
No…no…no! It cannot be! They would be coming up behind Serosen’s army, pinching them between the forces marching on Tee’amon. They would have no means of retreat.
Her own safety irrelevant, Eristta narrowed her focus to one thing. Sorcerer! I know you are near! Hear me!
Eristta! Red Claw’s voice, so faint, as if she were only sensing his call. Do not bargain with the sorcerer! Do not—
A great shock rippled through Eristta’s solar plexus like the thrust of hot steel. Pain. Not hers. Her lover’s. Great pain. Then nothing. Nothing…
Red Claw! Eristta’s panicked scream undulated through the atmosphere, causing even the closest marching golems to jerk their heads as if pricked with an annoying thorn.
“That will be enough of that, princess.”
Through a haze of red, Eristta focused on the black and crimson shape materializing before her.
Garethan.
What have you done? Eristta struggled to free herself, her spirit shuddering with effort.
A laugh. The maniacal echo arrowed straight to Eristta’s bones, settling there like a permanent ache. One she would never be free of. One that had no cure.
Garethan smiled as waves of crackling red floated around his shoulders and head. “I always knew there was something special about you, Eristta. I watched as you grew, matured.” He sidled closer, and Eristta recoiled, yet there was nowhere for her go. He leaned in, his form radiating foulness that burrowed through her defenses like an engot worm, devouring everything on its way to the heart.
Night Elves 2: Dangerous Obsession Page 11
