“Oh.” Taryn blinked and then smiled. “That’s a relief. I just… This is all so scary and so sudden.”
He appeared to be struggling for words, frowning as he held onto Galyn. The baby must have sensed his birth father’s agitation, because he started to release small sounds of protest. Taryn immediately became alarmed, whispering soft words of comfort, now completely focused on his son.
At this point, Sari couldn’t leave Taryn, not when the young werewolf was so utterly confused. Or at least, so it seemed, until Hareem emerged in their corridor, heading straight for Taryn.
Hareem’s eyes glowed with something wild and desperate. Whether Hareem knew what had happened or not, it seemed clear that he did feel something.
Taryn turned toward his mate, a smile already on his face. “Hareem. I thought you were making sure the benandanti aren’t up to any further mischief.”
“I was,” Hareem replied as he reached them. “I just felt I needed to see you, to know you and Galyn are safe.”
“Of course we are,” Taryn said. “Isn’t that right, Galyn?”
In response, the baby released a small coo, extending his small hands toward Hareem. The ice dragon looked like he was about to cry, which was really a striking show of emotion for someone of his nature. Then again, Hareem never seemed cold at all when Taryn was around, so Sari couldn’t say he was really surprised.
Hareem took Galyn from Taryn’s arms, all the while pressing himself to the werewolf’s side. “This is so strange,” he confessed. “I could have sworn… I had this odd feeling, like…like something had happened to you.”
Taryn just kissed Hareem’s cheek. He looked like he wanted to say something, and perhaps he did convey a message to Hareem through their mental link. However, Sari could clearly see that Taryn was trying to process Hareem’s distress, too. Even if their minds couldn’t recall the other world, their souls remembered.
It made Sari wonder about the nature of what Phoenix had created. Those episodes would be forever a part of all of them, because their souls had been the same, no matter how history had changed. Even if they had been forced in positions of enmity, even if so much war and death had stood between them, the true bonds of love have never truly shattered.
In some respects, Phoenix’s power and its limits would always remain a mystery. However, that same power had put many of them in situations that had scarred them—possibly forever. Sari had forgiven Phoenix for it, because he truly understood why Phoenix had acted that way and couldn’t in good conscience blame him for it. However, he didn’t know if Hareem or any of the others would do the same. But was it fair to leave them in doubt, when he knew the reasons behind their fears?
“Nothing is fair,” Karein said through their bond. “I don’t think Phoenix expects you to lie for him, though. Hareem is my brother, too, and he deserves to know. At that point, he’ll judge for himself.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Sari replied with a mental sigh. He was just so tired. He didn’t want to handle any of this right now. He just wished he could have retreated in their quarters before Taryn and Hareem had shown up. As selfish as it might have seemed, Sari and Karein had lost a great deal, too. The only difference was that they acknowledged the causes, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
A different voice snapped Sari out of his musings. “Go,” Kael said. “See to yourselves and your mates. We’ll talk later, and I’ll handle what needs to be done in the meantime.”
Sari blinked in surprise, having missed the approach of the other black dragon. By his side, Karein tensed, and a wave of guilt rushed through Sari—Karein’s guilt at what he’d put Kael through in the other world.
“Kael…” Karein started to say.
Much to Sari’s surprise, Kael smiled sadly. “It’s all right. I don’t blame you for anything. Just go. You don’t have to carry the burden of an empire here, not all by yourself.”
The comment made it clear that, like Sari, Kael remembered what had happened. Hareem frowned in confusion. “What exactly is going on here?” he inquired.
“It’s a long story,” Sari replied, “and I highly doubt you want to hear it now.”
Hareem opened his mouth, as if he had a reply ready. However, the words never came out. Instead, Hareem just nodded and started to guide his mate away. Taryn went with him, probably still puzzled, but obviously acknowledging Hareem’s need for togetherness. They entered Hareem’s quarters, disappearing inside and closing the door behind them.
“Do you truly forgive me for what happened?” Karein asked Kael once the other two men were gone.
“You know better than to ask that,” the other black dragon replied. “Right now, it’s all too confusing. Those were our lives, and yet, they weren’t. We were those people, and yet, we weren’t. To what extent do circumstances make people?” Kael shrugged. “I suppose I can’t exactly forget about it, but I know you, Karein. This life—the one we have here—is just as real as the one I recall, no, even more so. A part of me will always resent what happened, although I wouldn’t say it’s you I will blame.”
“It’s not Phoenix’s fault either,” Sari heard himself say. “He only wanted what was best for everyone.”
“I know that.” Kael nodded, a strange, sad smile on his lips. “You know, it’s strange. Many times, I regretted that choice, that sacrifice Talrasar and I made. I thought that we could have found a better way, if only we’d tried. I dreamt of having another chance, to undo it all, to gain back the time Tali and I lost. I think Phoenix tried to give us that, and a part of me is grateful. But sometimes, you can’t mess with the flow of things. It was my destiny to be separated from my mate. That makes our reunion all the more precious. And it’s not Phoenix I blame, for any of it. Phoenix was just the catalyst of the change. The rest of it was the choices of people, and the way they adapted.”
It was an interesting point, although Sari had to admit that his perspective was somewhat different because of what Phoenix had ended up doing to him and his family. Well, that was somewhat unfair. Phoenix hadn’t really been the one to hurt them, but the phoenix, that out-of-control creature. This was why Sari could accept Phoenix in the first place, but he had feared others wouldn’t realize it.
In the end, there was no sense in discussing the situation further, at least, not in the middle of the corridor and at this exact moment. As if guessing his thoughts, Kael said again, “Go. I’ll secure Draechenburg.”
“Thank you,” Karein replied softly. “I won’t forget this.”
Kael just waved them off, and Sari found himself being picked up by Karein and carried to their room. Somehow, Karein managed to open the door without even jostling Sari, and then, they were inside their quarters, in private.
Now that they were alone and behind closed doors, Sari finally broke down. He burst into sobs, the weight of what he’d seen too much for him to contain any longer. Before meeting Karein, Sari had always hated crying. He’d thought that it wasn’t dignified of him to weep, that as the son of the Ivenian king and High Priestess, his life was first and foremost focused on duty. He had never wanted to force anyone in a situation where they’d have to think of his comfort in the detriment of their own. But with Karein, everything was different, and Sari could let his tears flow freely, because he trusted Karein with every fiber of his being.
Karein didn’t speak. He just walked into their bed chamber, but he didn’t take Sari to the bed like Sari might have expected. Instead, he headed into the bathroom and placed Sari down, only to quickly hug him again after he ran the water into the tub.
They just stood there, embracing for the longest time, until Sari’s sobs faded away. Karein caressed his hair wordlessly, and his touch reached out to Sari’s very soul, a balm for his wounded heart. Slowly, Sari began to process all of the memories that now belonged to him. In a sense, he had received a gift. He’d gotten the chance to meet Karein once more, and to fall in love with the draechen all over again. They hadn’t spent much time
together, but even then, even when Karein had been married to someone else, Sari had loved him.
As he thought this, Karein broke their embrace. “And I loved you before I met you,” he said. “I never stopped, and I never will.”
Sari wanted to say something just as beautiful, but he got distracted when his mate started to undress him. Karein didn’t rush. First, he helped Sari out of his shoes, and then went on to the rest of his garments. He undid each button slowly, placing a butterfly-light kiss over every inch of skin he revealed. Sari’s loose clothes yielded easily to Karein’s efforts, and soon, he was standing naked in the middle of the bathroom.
Even if, by now, Karein had seen Sari nude countless times, Sari couldn’t help but blush at his mate’s appreciative gaze. By rights, his pregnancy should have made his body less attractive to Karein, but instead, the draechen seemed even more enthralled with him. Karein’s hands were gentle as they swept over Sari’s waist and his swollen abdomen, but his eyes burned with pure lust and possessiveness. It made Sari shiver in anticipation.
At that, Karein released a soft noise of distress. He picked Sari up and carefully placed him in the now-full tub. As he stopped the running water, he gave Sari a serious look and said, “We have to be careful, or you’ll catch a chill.”
“I’m a healer, Karein,” Sari pointed out, “and a fae. I don’t get colds so easily.”
“Not even you can heal everything,” Karein answered.
Sari couldn’t counter that, not when he understood the real reason why Karein had said it. Thankfully, he didn’t have to provide a reply, because then, Karein slid out of his own clothes, exposing his hard, muscular body. Sari’s mouth watered at the first sight of Karein’s dick, already leaking generous amounts of pre-cum. Overlords, he could already imagine that hard cock sliding into him, fucking him, claiming him as Karein’s once more.
When Karein joined him in the tub, Sari immediately climbed on top of the draechen, his anus aching to be filled. Karein just held onto him, keeping Sari from rushing forward like he had intended. “Shh, baby. Let me take care of you.”
Sari melted into Karein’s embrace, surrendering to whatever his mate intended to do. His mate turned him around and started to massage the tension out of Sari’s shoulders, slowly, carefully, keeping his touch almost platonic. It was strangely reminiscent of their wedding night, when Sari had been wearing that uncomfortable ceremonial garb and his mate had soothed his aches and pains through a relaxing bath. Karein wasn’t working on physical hurts now, but his ministrations had the same effect the emotional trauma Sari had suffered. It anchored him in the memories of his true life, in the reality of his marriage with Karein.
“You and I will always be together,” Karein murmured in his ear. “In this world, or the next, you are and will always be mine. My Sari…”
The words themselves were like a caress, adding to the sensations Karein’s talented fingers drew out of Sari. A lazy, comforting arousal settled over Sari, like a veil between his heart and the pain he’d carried over from his other persona. As the tension drained away, Karein at last flipped him around so that they faced each other once again. Holding Sari in his lap, Karein brushed his lips over Sari’s. Karein’s dick nudged against Sari’s crease, but neither of them pushed for more. They exchanged kisses so sweet they nearly brought tears to Sari’s eyes.
But the time for crying was over, and now, Sari just wanted to love and be loved. He felt Karein’s need for the same thing. In spite of Karein’s strength, the draechen had been badly shaken by the events in the other world. His protectiveness toward Sari was the only thing taming his desire. Sari could taste it in their kiss, hear it with his soul. It had been particularly hard for Karein to accept Sari even approaching Phoenix at all, but they’d done it, all for Rachen and his mate, because they deserved to be happy, too. Likely, Rachen would never know the exact extent of how much pain Karein had buried within himself to help him.
Through their kiss, Sari found comfort, but he also willed Karein to open up to him. Karein couldn’t resist him—he’d never been able to do so—and their link was invaded with Karein’s sorrow, with the feeling of loss and despair Karein had experienced upon being separated from Sari. Sari gasped, but held onto those feelings. They were just as precious to him as Karein’s gentleness and his love. They were Sari’s emotions, too, because Karein and Sari were one, as they’d been from the moment they’d mated, or maybe even before.
Karein’s kiss grew fiercer, wanton, almost desperate. He bit down on Sari’s lower lip, and Sari answered in turn by granting his mate entrance. Karein’s tongue thrust into his mouth, ravaging him, taking no prisoners. His now-frantic hands swept all over Sari’s body, making him release soft whimpers, which Karein swallowed into their kiss.
Sari lost himself in the onslaught of Karein’s passion, casting aside all off his fears and doubts and letting them fade away within the fire of Karein’s desire for him. He felt briefly bereft when Karein broke their kiss, but then, he saw his mate frantically reach for a tube of waterproof lotion. Anticipation rushed through Sari, the knowledge of what would soon come fueling his arousal even further.
The tub made maneuvering a little awkward, but Sari and Karein managed anyway. Sari parted his legs as far as he could while still in Karein’s lap. Karein poured a generous amount of liquid on his fingers and reached behind Sari. One digit slid into Sari’s channel, teasing him with the promise for more. Sari threw his head back and moaned, his ass clenching around the finger, seeking a deeper and more fulfilling penetration.
His libido had gone straight through the roof because of his pregnancy, and his need to reascertain his bond with Karein made his need burn brighter. “Please, Karein,” he begged. “More.”
In response, Karein added another finger and scissored them inside Sari. In the process, he struck Sari’s prostate, causing small explosions of pleasure to go off all over his body. In spite of their urgency, Karein took his time, stretching Sari at leisure, not rushing in the slightest. Sari whimpered, and the water sloshed around him as he tried to ride Karein’s digits.
It seemed to take forever, but, at last, Karein removed his fingers from Sari’s ass. He used more of the lotion on his cock, then positioned Sari above him, holding onto Sari’s hips and guiding him down, until the head of his dick nudged right against Sari’s opening. Sari went with it, and slowly, ever so slowly, he impaled himself on Karein’s prick.
He would have probably attempted to go faster, but Karein prevented it, guiding his rhythm. Sari clung to Karein’s shoulders, his entire body trembling with the effort to hold in a passion that refused to be contained. It was impossibly hard to be patient—no pun intended—but it all paid off when Karein was fully embedded inside him.
For the longest time, Karein remained completely motionless, his hands still clutching Sari’s hips, holding Sari in place. If Sari hadn’t known any better, he’d have said his mate was unaffected, but of course, he saw right through Karein’s attempts to control himself. He could have pushed Karein over the edge with a thought. In fact, there were times when Sari had done exactly that. Now, though, he couldn’t act in such a way. He respected his mate’s feelings too much to do that.
As it was, he opened his heart to Karein, showing the draechen that he didn’t need to be afraid, that nothing Karein did could hurt him. Sari trusted Karein beyond any shadow of a doubt, with his life, his body, and his soul. He knew that they should avoid sexual acrobatics because of Sari’s pregnancy, but that didn’t mean Karein would harm him through normal intercourse.
Karein released a low growl and thrust up into Sari’s body. “I couldn’t protect you,” he said. “I couldn’t help you. If reality had stayed that way, you would have been gone, and I couldn’t have done anything about it.”
Every word was punctuated by a hard shove of Karein’s dick inside Sari’s channel. With every second that passed, Karein moved faster, his rhythm growing even more powerful, almost violent. He seeme
d to want to get as deep as he could inside Sari. How was Sari supposed to focus on conversation when Karein was fucking him? Really, it should have been impossible, but Karein’s lust for him held a tinge of despair, and it kept Sari from losing himself in his lust.
He had no words that could have provided an adequate answer to Karein’s confession. On instinct, he allowed his power to flow over them. Through the healing magic that had always been part of him, he spoke to his mate. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. I’m here now. Nothing’s ever going to separate us.
He might not have used actual speech, but Karein heard him anyway. He didn’t slow down, but something eased in his gaze. That fear began to fade in the background of Karein’s mind, leaving only desire behind.
With the distraction of Karein’s pain gone, pure lust exploded between them again. When Karein’s dick struck Sari’s prostate, he cried out and started riding his mate with abandon. Yes, yes, this was what he had needed, to feel their union, the passion, the depth of a connection that could never truly break, no matter what.
Sari’s world melted into this moment, into the sensations brought about by Karein fucking him—no, making love to him. Karein’s dick stretched him perfectly, filling him to the brim. The invasion burned slightly, but that slight discomfort chased away any emotional pain that might have lingered. Sari felt full, body and soul. Everything he was and would ever be now belonged to Karein, and Sari wouldn’t have had it any other way.
There was no place for doubts and fears any longer. There was no time for tears, no thoughts he could spare to memories of a world not his own. The only thing Sari could focus on was Karein, his brave and gorgeous mate. It was pure, absolute perfection, the lustful reality of the moment mixing with the profound emotions shaking Sari. It was raw, carnal, and yet so much more than that. For Sari, it was truth, the truth he had been seeking.
All too soon, Sari was on the edge of climax. Shuddering with pleasure, needing to climax, but afraid to ask for it, Sari instinctively tilted his head. Seconds later, Karein’s fangs pierced his skin. Pure ecstasy flooded Sari’s body as he found his peak, a tidal wave of rapture that propelled him into a world where only he and Karein existed. Karein came with him, and Sari choked under the weight of their shared orgasm. He no longer knew where he ended and Karein began. A sudden knowledge filled him, so simple it almost seemed cruel.
Hyacinth, Scarlet - From the Ashes [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 7] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) Page 27
