His breath catches as I let go of his balls to run my right hand deeper, my fingers finding his ass and rubbing the tight muscle. He quivers, and I realize that he’s never let a woman do this before. I’m no expert, but it feels right. My heart leaps as the knowledge that somehow, I’ve been given yet another gift from one of my Guardians, and I open my mouth, running my tongue over Jacob’s shaft while my finger probes
His thighs shake as I swallow him. I keep my finger still until he relaxes, and I slip my finger deeper into his ass as I swallow and bob on his cock, my lips and finger in time.
Jacob sighs happily, his hands resting on my hair as he’s pleasured in a totally new fashion, and tears unexpectedly run down my cheeks as I look up at his blissful face.
I slip a second finger into his ass, hollowing out my cheeks while sucking hard on the tip of his cock, my tongue stroking the underside until he cries out in a voice I’ve never heard before and comes in my mouth, more shots than ever before. His knees give out, but before he can fall, Tyler and Cole are there, catching their brother and guiding him to the floor safely while I look at Noah, giving him a nod.
“Now, big man,” I whisper, giving myself fully to him. We roll, and he pins me to the floor, his powerful body hammering that thick cock into me. I’m already flying high on three doses of Fae cum, the wave starting early, so the feeling of Noah’s cock stretching and lighting every nerve in my body on fire is more than I can take. In seconds, I’m coming, creaming on his thick cock as he pounds me with an animal intensity that only Noah can give.
He’s a huge monster of a man, but I can take him, and my orgasm draws out the more he drives himself into me. Noah stiffens, his breath coming in ragged grunts as he pins my hips to the floor more and goes faster, his cock pounding me so hard I feel my back crack at the pressure.
“Eve . . . I . . .”
“Fuck me!” I growl, digging my fingernails into his massive shoulders. Noah growls, slamming into me one last time before he shudders and shatters, my body hurtling into nothingness right afterward. The feeling of Noah’s cock swelling and pulsing inside me catapults me from anything in the realms, and I float on a wave of pure pleasure, my voice silent as I’m overwhelmed and shown utter release. My only tether to reality is the feeling of Noah holding me and the warm hands and bodies of my other Guardians, our five heartbeats joining and helping me stay safe, warm, and satisfied.
“Do you really have to go?” Tyler asks as we get dressed.
“I need to use the Moonstone again,” I reply, looking around at them nervously. “There are answers in it. And I need to find those answers.”
Jacob licks his lips and runs a hand through his hair. “Sometimes, Eve, there are questions better left unanswered. And right now is the time to get our asses out of here.”
Jacob goes to drag me from the room, but I hold a hand up before he can. “Jacob, don’t. Listen to me!”
“Listen to you?” Jacob asks, still looking like he wants to pull me from the room. “How about you listen to us? We all agree this is a bad idea, sticking around. And because of what, some hocus-pocus from Kaelen, you’re ignoring us? Thanks!”
I look at Jacob and realize how upset he is. It hurts, but I understand why. They think I’m manipulating them, and for the first time, I regret having sex with them. Even after Jacob showing a side of himself that he’s kept hidden, pure and open, he thinks I’m using it just to keep him wrapped around my finger. It makes me feel dirty, and tears come to my eyes as I look at Jacob. “Jacob—”
“No!” he hisses, getting up. “I get it Eve. You want to have your cake and to eat it too. And I can’t deny you, I can’t . . .” he rasps before turning away. A few seconds later, he turns back, his eyes rimmed in red. What he did tonight took more courage than charging a demon lord, and he’s hurt because he thinks I don’t understand. “I love you. But you’re going to get yourself hurt if you just let this keep going like this.”
I cross the small distance between us, grabbing Jacob and hugging him tightly. I do understand, and I’m scared too. I need him, I need all of them. But the Moonstone will help me understand myself, too, and I have to do that in order to keep them safe. “Jacob . . . Jacob, I love you too. And I’ll get things changed. I have leverage with Kaelen, and I’m going to use it. You’ll be sleeping in my arms by the end of the week.”
“While I don’t doubt your intention, Eve, you might be overestimating yourself,” Noah says quietly. “It’s better to leave than risk your death.”
“I’m safe, guys. Kaelen has two of his personal Guard outside my room.”
“Yeah, and how easily did you sneak past them?” Tyler points out. “It was the same way I was going to sneak in to get you, by the way. I don’t trust them.”
“Why?” I ask, and Cole answers.
“Because they’re not us.”
I sigh, hugging Jacob more as I look around at my Guardians. I love them, but sometimes, their overprotective streak is a pain in the ass. “Cole, if Kaelen wanted me dead, I’d already be dead. He’s had plenty of opportunity, including my being unconscious. Just chill. I’m more worried about someone coming after you. Cassina strikes me as the type to not just let it go.”
“We’ll be prepared and stick together,” Cole assures me. “Even if we’re unarmed. Which, by the way, I want you to talk to Kaelen about, no matter what. You need to have your Star Stone dagger back at the least.”
“Either way, I want you guys out of the castle as much as you can,” I plead. “They won’t have as many opportunities if you’re in a tavern or hiking in the woods or something.”
“The only way we’re leaving this castle is with you,” Noah says quietly. “And you can kill a man just as easily in a tavern as you can in a castle.”
“Maybe . . . but the Moonstone has shown me that there might be more to this evil than we ever suspected. He’s been playing us, and if we’re going to stop him, I need to know his game.”
I leave unsaid the wild hope that has trickled through my mind constantly since waking up in the chamber. If I can stop him in the past, where he won’t be expecting me, can I stop all of the atrocities since then?
“Eve, things happen for a reason,” Cole says. “There’s a reason each thing in the past has happened, why the path goes the way it does. And Hell is more than one being. If he falls, another will take his place.”
“Maybe, but his death would weaken the forces of darkness. That’s worth the risk, isn’t it?”
Cole comes over, cupping my cheek and rubbing a thumb over my lips, brushing over my fangs. “The universe is a state of balance, light and dark. Without one, you cannot know the other. You, of all beings, should know that. You are the most beautiful person in the realms. You are the one who has our hearts for eternity. And you are that way because you are both light and dark, in perfect balance.”
“But the Hell King—”
“We hate him, but at the same time . . . without him, there wouldn’t be you,” Noah points out. “If he comes to harm us, we will fight him with all the power we can muster. But if we go to harm him without his doing anything . . . are we not as guilty as he is?”
It’s hard to wrap my head around. “The Dark Rider, a necessary evil?”
“Evil is omnipresent,” Cole points out. “It is not light or dark that makes something good or evil.”
“Either way, I want to use the Moonstone again,” I reiterate, and I can see them tense. “What can I do to convince you guys that it’s important?”
“Get Kaelen to let us stay with you during the sessions,” Cole replies. “So we can make sure you are safe.”
I hate being backed into a corner, but right now, I’m pretty sure if I said no, Jacob would knock me out and sneak me out of the castle. And I have to find out more about the Dark Rider’s plans. “Fine, deal. But guys, remember, it’s not all bad here. Solaria is a beautiful city. Really, I want you to explore, enjoy it. Jacob, I want you getting into trouble and Tyler ha
ving to bail you out. I want Noah to be eating his fill, and Cole, you can find such beauty that I look plain compared to it.”
“Yeah, right,” Jacob scoffs, and I roll my eyes. “What? Tyler can’t bail me out. We don’t have any money.”
“Come on, guys, be serious. Listen, Kaelen took me by this place, and there’s a festival coming up. The Nine Brothers. I want you guys to check it out, and maybe we can make a date of it later? Come on, Jacob. You know you want to take me out on a date.”
Jacob looks like he’s about to protest, but then he nods. “Fine.”
“We don’t have any more time,” Tyler says. “You need to get back.”
Jacob escorts me through the corridors this time, and as I slip into the crawlspace back to my room, he takes my hand. “Eve—”
I turn and kiss him softly, hugging him as best I can. “I know, Jacob. I love you, and I know you’re worried. I’ll see you soon.”
“Yes, but—”
“Shh,” I reassure him. “Sometime, when we have private time, you and I can do as much of that as you want. I think it’s sexy as fuck that you’re willing to be that open with me, and I don’t think it makes you any less manly at all. Manlier, in fact.”
“Is that so?” he asks, a little bit of his trademarked smirk coming back. “Why’s that?”
“Because you’re strong enough to show that side of you. That’s stronger than any muscles.”
Jacob grins and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll make sure to tell Noah that I’m stronger than him. Be careful with the Moonstone, okay? Love you.”
Jacob backs up, and I crawl away in the dim space. I feel like hell, knowing I’m being selfish for this. I know that my desire to use the Moonstone is putting us all in danger, and I’m ignoring two thousand years of combined experience in my Guardians to do this.
I just hope it’s worth it. Because if not, we may all end up dead.
Chapter 17
Eve
“What are you doing?”
I drop my chest down, rolling through another repetition before walking my feet up to my hands and standing up to see Daelera standing in the middle of the room watching me. In her hands is my lunch, and it looks like maybe she’s brought her own as well.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “I’m just trying to stay sane. And they’re called sun salutes. They’re a yoga move. Seemed appropriate for the locale.”
“But what are you doing it for?” Daelera asks as she sets the tray of food down. “I get it, you haven’t been doing much the past few days—”
“Much?” I ask, wiping my forehead. “Dee, in the past seventy-two hours, the only three people I’ve seen are you, the woman who brought me dinner last night because you were busy doing something else, and Sir No Sleeves Big Biceps who opens the door each time. Seriously, does that guy ever come off duty?”
Daelera shrugs and sits down at the table. “Actually, none of the Guard wear sleeves on indoor tunics. But they do tend to make a lot of the Solarian Guard look alike, even to us Solarians. But what is the reason for the sun salutes?”
“Nerves, working off energy, staying in shape to kick Kaelen’s ass the next time I see him for keeping me cooped up in here. Take your pick,” I grumble as I look at the plate of vegetables, meat, and cheese. “At least the food’s good.”
“Then eat up,” Daelera says, picking out a plate for herself. “You were telling me about your training with the police over breakfast. I’d like to hear more.”
Cripes. I’d love to know Kaelen’s reason for all of this. Three days, and each day, I’ve requested to see him, only to be denied each time. And the guards have been tripled, from what I can see. I can’t trust sneaking out any longer.
Not being with my Guardians has been the worst part. I promised them I would talk with Kaelen, and all I’ve been able to do is talk with Daelera, who fills the hours she’s with me with endless prattle and about ten million questions.
I’m not sure if it’s just to distract me or if she’s really interested, but so far, I’ve told the compact Fae woman my life story it feels like ten times over. I’ve told her stories about my time on the New Haven PD, my time in the orphanage, growing up with ‘Lyssa, everything.
Maybe it’s all part of Kaelen’s plan. Maybe he figures that if Daelera bugs the hell out of me until my skull’s ready to split, I’ll be willing to do whatever he wants me to do with the Moonstone. Well, unluckily for him, I’m more hardheaded than that.
“So there was this one time when I was still in my first stage of training in the Academy and we were going over basic firearms safety. We were still using basic Glocks, not the specialty rounds—”
There’s a knock at the door, interrupting me, and Daelera goes over while I keep eating. Fuck it, if they’re going to treat me like this noblewoman prisoner, then I’ll act like it and let the servants run around while I enjoy some of this delicious Fae roast beef. Or I think it’s beef. I haven’t seen a cow in the Fae lands yet, but it sure tastes like beef.
Daelera opens the door, and a new Guard, a somewhat short man by Fae standards with an arrogant tilt to his shoulders and some extra decorations on his tunic, enters. “His Excellency orders your presence.”
“Tell him to fuck off,” I reply, picking up a bit of cheese. “Give my compliments to the chef though.”
“Excuse me?” the man replies, looking like I just slapped him in the face. “His Excellency—”
“Is not my master,” I retort, cutting him off and letting a little bit of my frustration from the past few days shine through. “He can declare me his ward all he wants, but I’m not some underling who can be ordered to do anything. I’ve been polite to him, tried to act with respect toward him, and what do I get? Three days of being told to sit in my room, without my Guardians, having my requests ignored. Now, if Kaelen would like to be polite enough to ask me, I’ll consider it. Until then, you can shove your order up your butt.”
The Guard looks like he’s about to have a fit, but Daelera intercepts him before things ratchet up too much. “Captain Connor, perhaps what Miss Eve is saying is that there was some confusion as to the nature of His Excellency’s request?”
I lift an eyebrow, watching the man who’s apparently taken a lot of glee in making my Guardians work themselves to the bone over the past few days squirm for long moments before clearing his throat. “Apologies, I’m a military man. His Excellency kindly requests that you accompany me to see him.”
“Well, in that case,” I reply, tucking a slice of meat between two chunks of cheese and carrying it like a sandwich, “lead on, Chief Quimby.”
Connor gives me a confused look, but Daelera only smirks. Either she got the reference or she just knows that I’m still mocking the man. Either way, I follow Connor out of my chambers and through the castle, enjoying the chance to stretch my legs more than walking laps in my room.
“By the way,” I tell Connor as we walk the hallways and it’s just the two of us, “if I even hear a whisper that you’re treating my Guardians as rudely as you treated me in my room, you might want to be on the other end of the realm when I get these bracers off.”
It’s the best I can do, but Connor blanches at my implied threat, and it adds a little lightness to my step as we wind our way through the castle. Connor leads me to what looks like just a chunk of wall before pressing a brick, and moments later, the wall dissolves to reveal a chamber. “Miss Carter.”
“Thank you. Remember what I said,” I tell Connor as I enter the secret chamber. The wall rematerializes and lights begin to glow, showing Kaelen looking much better than he did three days ago. He’s dressed simply, shirtless this time instead of in one of his ornate tunics, and when he turns around, his face doesn’t quite have the same haunted look that he had when he went into the castle three days ago. “Kaelen.”
“Eve. First, I’d like to apologize for the past three days. I got your requests, but what happened to us shook me very deeply. I had to meditate for a long time
to make sure my thoughts were steady enough to see you again.”
He gestures toward a chair, and I nod, sitting. “That’s fine, Kaelen, apology accepted. But there are several things we need to get clear between us before we keep talking about this. Your Captain, first of all. He needs a serious lesson in manners.”
Kaelen nods, stroking his chin. “Connor has been Captain of the Solarian Guard for three decades. When I appointed him, I was still looking for a connection to my father’s reign, and he was a trusted Lieutenant of my father’s.”
“That may be, but he’s a bully who throws his rank around like it makes him better than me, and he’s been bullying my Guardians,” I reply. “Now, they’ve got no problems working, but considering what I’ve heard from them—”
“I heard the report about the assassin,” Kaelen says. “I have launched an investigation. Connor is a man who relishes in his rank, but he’s also a thorough investigator. He will find out who sent that man after Cole.”
“Thank you. But I want to bring to you again your ban on my Guardians. Kaelen, I’m Bonded to them. The Declaration Dance we did was just a fraction of what the five of us share. I need them with me if I’m going to be centered enough to help you with your plans.”
Kaelen inhales deeply, tapping his fingers together. “Eve, they’ll interfere. The closer they are, the more your Bond could interfere with your thoughts. The magic we’re dealing with is dangerous to an extreme.”
“Which is why they want to be there, to make sure things go smoothly,” I counter. “Those four know me. They know when I get into trouble better than anyone in the realm. And with my bracers off, they’ll be able to Link with me and lend me their strength.”
“But they would also want to save you from harm, Eve. And with what we’re looking at doing, you know that we will be facing a lot of danger,” Kaelen counters. “So, what do you think is the right thing to do?”
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