Ryne chuckled. “If you’ll stop beating me up I might.” He took her hand and kissed it. “I’ve been waiting for you to say it.” He cupped her face between his hands. “I love you, Kalina Garon.”
Startled at hearing her name linked with his, she blinked then her lips quirked. “Who says I’ll carry your name? Maybe you’ll carry mine.”
Ryne laughed and hugged her. “Not on your life. You’re mine, Kalina, and you will carry my name.”
Kalina put her hand over his heart. “I love you, Ryne Garon, my husband, my mate.”
Shifting, she straddled him and kissed him. Ryne hugged her, holding her close. Murmuring, she sank her hands into his hair, freed it from its bindings.
Widening her stance, she stripped them of clothes, then sank down onto his already hard member. She gasped as he filled her. Ryne groaned into her mouth in response. Kalina stroked forward against him then her body ignited in a flash of sensual fire.
Ryne locked his arms around her, rocking in a counter-motion to her thrust. She clenched around his hard shaft as he pumped into her. Kalina closed her eyes, letting her head fall back, gasping at the sensations he gave her. The rain drenched her face, sliding down onto her tongue. It tasted of their passion, their love.
Rolling her hips, she took more of him. He shivered in response, growling deep in his throat.
“Ryne,” Kalina shouted to the sky, feeling as their love manifested in the skies.
Opening her eyes, she saw lightning flash red and orange in response. Quickening her pace, she rose slightly off him, then slammed down. Crimson lit the heavens as Ryne groaned harshly. She lowered her head watching as his eyes went opaque in response to her taking. Locking her legs around him, she rocked and his dick hardened inside her even more. Kalina gasped moving against him, feeling herself teetering deliciously on the verge of release. Ryne slid his hands down her back and around her hips, tightening painfully as he pulled her harder onto him. It toppled her over the fine edge of need into pleasure.
“Ryne, fuck me,” Kalina screamed as orgasms ripped through her. Her voice faded in the vicious grip of pleasure.
On her face Ryne saw the harsh tightening of it as pleasure racked her. She held him in a sensuous vice demanding his release. Holding it off, he pumped into her, driving her into another orgasm. The rain drenched his skin, making his blood heat. It slid off her face and ran in indigo trails along her skin. He sought her lips, tasting the rain and her when they were sealed together. They were sin and decadence rolled into one. It drove him into a frenzy of want and need.
Ryne moved his hands over her hips before he cupped her full ass and pulled her hard against him. Her gasp of surprised pleasure filled his mouth. He drank down her cry, groaning in return. She shivered in reaction. She tightened her legs around him while she clenched on his cock in greedy demand. Pulling back from her delicious taste, he looked up at the rain. Lightning flashed yellow and green in time with the thrust of her hips. Kalina slid her hands in his hair, dragging his face back to hers. She locked eyes with him. In her tawny gaze, he saw not only wanton lust. He saw love.
Kalina’s lips curled and she kissed him, sucking his tongue into her mouth. He jerked at the sharp pain when she bit his tongue and purred. Heat burst through him while the scent of cinnamon and caramel infused his skin. His cock pulsed in reaction. Orgasm ripped through him, driving the breath from his lungs. He tried to pull his lips away. But Kalina held him, her hot hands keeping his face still for her possession. Groaning anyway, Ryne let her take him. She thrust down. He moved in and out pulsing, and filling her. Kalina sucked on his tongue, biting him again. The pleasure tripled, making his heart race until it felt as if it would leap out of his chest. She purred again, making his mouth and his erection vibrate. Ryne moaned harshly as she sucked in the sounds of his pleasure.
Kalina murmured, kissing him urgently while her hips rocked and he sank deeper into her wetness. Her scent became stronger then, and Ryne wrenched his lips away as heat and fire poured over his skin. Falling back, he caught himself on his hands. Staring at Kalina, he watched her plunge herself on and off his shaft. Locking his arms, he stilled the trembling as she took him.
His breath caught at the fierce expression she wore. Her eyes flashed and she growled, a low, throaty sound. The lightning flashed in tandem with her movements, giving her face a surreal glow. Kalina groaned harshly, and she tightened on his cock. Grunting, he thrust faster while a pulse of pleasure flowed out of his shaft, filling her. His arms gave out causing him to fall back. Kalina followed, not breaking her up and down motion.
“Kalina…fu…c…k…m…e…” Ryne panted.
Kalina smiled and impaled herself on his shaft again. She twisted and screamed as another orgasm ripped through her. Ryne’s sac tightened once more. He reached up to pull her down to him. He kissed her, swallowing her screams, giving her his own. Pleasure pulsed from him in a continuous flow, draining him. His arms gave out weakly as Kalina collapsed on him. Her harsh breath tickled his chest while her heart beat against him.
Breathing hard, Ryne said, “You’re trying to kill me.”
Kalina laughed breathlessly. “What a way to go.”
Laughing, Ryne rolled until she rested under him. Settling himself deeper inside her, he stared down into her flushed face. She smiled, opening her eyes. He thrust slowly and watched as surprised pleasure filled her gaze.
“Ummm…yes…” Kalina murmured, arching her back.
Pumping his hips lazily, he embraced the heat between them as it quickened again.
* * * *
Ryne jerked awake, the sensation as if something were wrong filling him. He looked around and saw they were in Kalina’s bedroom. Beside him, she had a solemn look on her face.
“What is it?” Dread filled him.
“I need you to go with me someplace and ask no questions. I need you to trust me.” Kalina touched his cheek, the look on her face intense.
There were many questions crowding his mind, but he would wait. He turned his head and kissed her palm, then looked back at her face. Leaning over, he kissed her briefly.
“Let’s go.”
Gratitude filled her expression as she pulled away from him and stood. She held out her hand. He took it and let her help him from the bed. He stood before her, saying nothing as with a thought she dressed them. She looked at him, still serious. The air charged just before they faded. In seconds, they came back to form in a massive, richly decorated chamber. He didn’t recognise where they were.
He returned his attention to Kalina and noticed she was staring across the room. He turned in the direction she was looking and observed the woman who stood with her back to them. The woman turned to face them. There wasn’t any surprise on her face, just bitter acceptance. He knew her, but couldn’t fathom why they were there.
Kalina let go of his hand and walked up to the woman. He followed her, standing so he could see both of them, ready to protect her if needed.
Kalina stopped before the woman, her expression cold and a look of defiance on her face. “Hello, Mother.”
Chapter Seven
Shocked, Ryne looked between the woman and Kalina, seeing for the first time the resemblance.
She raised her chin and spoke in an equally cold voice. “Kalina, what are you doing here?”
Pain flashed briefly on Kalina’s face, but it quickly disappeared. Ryne went over to her and took her hand. She gripped it tight, knuckles white.
Turning to the woman, he defended his mate. “Don’t talk to her like that, Niya.”
Niya looked at him, her amber gaze cold. “Ah, Firebird, so it’s true. You have mated with Kalina.” Her glance raked him up and down. “Don’t think that because you’re family I won’t kill you.”
Ryne took a step towards her, but Kalina’s hand on his arm stopped him. He turned his attention towards her and her look plainly said to let her handle the situation. Deferring to her, he stepped back, watching both women warily.
“Why did you abandon me?” Silently, she cursed herself. That wasn’t what she had meant to say.
Niya looked surprised, then reached out to touch her. Stepping back, Kalina decided she couldn’t deal with this. She turned to Ryne. He waited to see what she would do.
“Let’s go.” She walked away and heard his footsteps fall in line with hers.
“Kalina, I didn’t abandon you.” Anguish was evident in Niya’s tone.
Ignoring it, she continued to the door.
“Kalina, I promised myself I would give you space to mourn. When you didn’t return, I knew you hated me and left you alone.” Niya seemed to be pleading for understanding.
Tears filled her eyes—it was a lie. Her mother had abandoned her when she needed her most.
“I left you alone in the Earth Realm at your choice.” Anger tinged Niya’s voice.
Kalina reached the door and opened it.
“Kalina Erutan, you are my daughter and I would have broken all those vows if you had but called me.”
She stepped through the door, refusing to hear her mother’s words.
“Kalina Erutan, I love you with every breath in my body, soul and spirit.”
Kalina turned swiftly. “Do not speak to me of love,” she roared. “You know nothing of love. Love does not leave a child alone when they have lost all they hold dear. Love does not ignore you when you cry for the mother you thought loved you.”
Kalina’s breath came in harsh bursts as she watched the tears shining in Niya’s eyes. Ryne touched her shoulders, but she shrugged him off violently and bolted across the room towards her mother as she screamed, “Love does not have an expiration date, Mother. I have not felt any love from you since the day my brother and sister died. You don’t know the meaning of love. If that is love, I want no part of your so-called love.” Niya flinched at each word.
Taking a breath, Kalina glared at Niya, letting all the contempt she had for her show. “You blamed me for something that wasn’t my fault. I was a child, Mother. I was eighteen and thought I knew it all. We all did. When we they attacked, I called for you, but you never came. I had to watch as my brother and sister, your children, were slaughtered before my eyes. I had to defend myself and fight them. Kill them for what they had done. I had to bury my sister and brother in the land they died on because our mother had not the time or care to come to help us. She had no time to help me—her only child left—to mourn the loss of her sister and brother. My mother had no time to mourn with me. “
Niya stood, her hands clasped, silent tears running down her face and Kalina only felt disgust for the woman.
“You have nothing to say, Mother? Nothing else to say about this love you have for me?” Kalina paused, then continued. “You show more care for Earth and its inhabitants than you do for me, your flesh and blood.” She pounded her own chest after each word.
Kalina turned away but fingers gripped her hand and spun her around.
“You know nothing of my pain.” Niya shook with rage that also filled her voice. “Nothing. My children died that day. My daughter hated me, and you did not call for me or I would have been there. I would have been there. By the time I felt it, I was too late to save them, to help you.” Niya took a step forward with each word she spoke and Kalina backed up. “How do you think it made me feel to have my child look at me with such hate? Such loathing? And know she blamed me for the deaths of her siblings as well as the loss of her innocence. I trained you to fight, to protect yourself, but I never expected you would have to use your lessons at such a tender age.”
Niya stopped and looked at Kalina, the harsh lines on her face fading to lines of sorrow. “God, how do you think I felt knowing my only child left blamed me? Blamed me so much we have not spoken for three centuries. ” She wrapped her arms around her waist as if in pain. “The care I show to this Earth is because I am Mother Earth, Kalina. But first and foremost, I am your mother. I love you and always will love you, no matter what you believe.” Niya turned away. “If you want to go and keep hating me, then go, but don’t you dare tell me what love I have for you or my dead children.”
Kalina stared at her mother’s trembling shoulders and tried to understand the woman’s words. She thought of that day—the craziness, the blood and the aftermath. She barely remembered anything past the killing rage filling her after seeing the men slaughter her sister and brother. Distantly, she remembered her mother’s tearful face and her saying she hated her and never wanted to see her again.
Suddenly, the cloudiness in her mind shifted and she saw the truth.
Kalina turned Niya around. Niya resisted, but Kalina held firm. “You came to me that day and said you never wanted to see me again. You told me you blamed me.”
Niya shook her head fiercely. “No, I didn’t. I—”
Kalina cut her off. “I know now it wasn’t you. Who told you about the ambush?”
Her mother tried to jerk away but she grabbed her hand. Pain flashed in Niya’s eyes, then the realisation Kalina had already reached. She shook her head.
Touching her cheek, Kalina nodded. “Yes, Mom. It’s her and she’s the same one who stole The Book of Terra.” Niya quivered in reaction. Kalina wouldn’t release her. “The search kept leading us in circles. I came here after all these years to talk to you, although I didn’t want to. It seemed too easy and pat that the Book could disappear from here without anyone knowing. I wanted to ask you if you had any clue where Eve could be or the Book. She wants to kill you, to take over your role as Mother Earth. She wants to control all of nature, everything here and in the other realms.”
Kalina watched as fury lit her mother’s eyes.
Loud clapping filled the air. She stiffened and glanced behind her. She noted that Ryne had moved closer.
Kalina stared at the woman now standing before her. She remembered the softness of her touch and her kindness when her mother had abandoned her. It had all been a pretty little lie.
She put her hand on her hip, glaring at them with a sneer on her face. “You were always too smart for your own good, niece. I should have killed you along with your siblings that day by the river. But it has been so much more delicious watching you suffer.” She turned her attention to Niya. “Watching you both suffer. You’ve been so easy to dupe, Niya.”
“I trusted you, Aunty Jayde.”
Jayde laughed and returned her gaze. “Trust is a foolish thing, child. Too bad you learned this lesson too late.” Jayde looked at Niya. “Your mother would do well to have taught you that. She was too busy ruling her kingdom.” She spread her arms. “Oh, great Mother Earth. Or—oh yes, how do the humans think of you—Mother Nature.” She dropped her hands. “Pash on the humans with their small minds and destructive natures. At least I’m honest about what I want.” She put both hands on her hips. “The world is all I want. Control of it is a beautiful thing.”
She paused and turned to Kalina. “Ah, my oblivious niece. You think my dear old sister hasn’t cared about you all these centuries. Niya knew all about what happened in your life.”
Shocked, Kalina looked at her mother, guilt colouring her face.
“So you didn’t know about that,” Jayde said. “Good old Christos, your brother’s best friend, was your safe harbour. He kept an eye on you and let Niya know you were okay.” Jayde laughed, looking at Niya. “God, Niya, you think I didn’t know? You were so obvious. As obvious as the lust you feel for him.” She chuckled. “I don’t know why you don’t fuck him and get it over with. Anyone in a room with the two of you can see you want to fuck each other blind. But no, you wouldn’t. Always following your warped moral code.” Jayde stared at Niya, the hate plain on her face. “I was born first. I should have been in charge of all this. I will take what is rightfully mine. Hell, I’ll give Christos a go
od ride before he dies.” She turned her look on Kalina again. “Jared should have taken care of you long ago. Why are you not dead?”
Answers to questions she’d had for years connected in Kalina’s mind. “All those years you came to see me, it was really to see Jared. For you two to plot and plan.”
Jayde turned a nasty smile on Kalina. “Oh, I came to check on you, to make sure you were suffering enough. But, oh, Jared was so persuasive, and we discovered a mutual need to rule and get out from under the weaklings we currently serviced. It took years, but it is upon us. Jared was supposed to make sure you died horribly.”
Kalina returned her aunt’s evil smile with one of her own. “Jared is where he deserves. He’s just a rotting ink spot in my office.”
Sorrow, quickly followed by rage, flashed over Jayde’s face. She threw a dagger at her but Kalina didn’t move, waiting for it to come. At the final moment, she raised her hand to catch it, but another beat her to her target. She watched as her mother caught the dagger, then spun, throwing it back from whence it came. Jayde dodged and shrieked. Kalina watched as Niya clamped her fingers over Jayde’s throat and raised her off the ground.
“You killed my children.” Niya’s voice rang through the room.
The wind roared in, shattering the glass and whipping everything into a frenzy. Kalina stumbled under the press of power filling the room. The air increased and she heard the roll of thunder in the distance. Lightning flashed, illuminating the space. Fear filled Jayde’s face replacing the hate. She tried to break the hold, but Niya didn’t move or flinch, holding her in the air. The colour left Jayde’s honey-toned skin. Niya rose off the floor still holding Jayde by the throat.
“My children. Your niece and nephew. How could you, Jayde?”
The gusts funnelled, ripping all the furnishings into the air. Kalina heard the sound of rain and golden mist mixed with crimson rolled through the room.
Indigo Rain (Phoenix Intelligence Agency) Page 7
