Shadow and Bones (Dullahan Book 1)

by Ryvr Jones

  She turned her head to him without lifting it. “Well, I’ve saved your soul, it seems only fair that I get to see you naked.” She wiggled her brows as she’d seen Caeron do, and pain shot up her forehead. “Ouch. My freaking eyebrows hurt. How’s that even possible?”

  Rhys chuckled, and Tamerah’s heart filled with happiness.

  “I’ll never get tired of hearing your half-laugh.”

  “It comes easy when you’re around.” He scooped her from the bed and carried her to their private bathroom. “Let’s get rid of the blood and grime.”

  While he adjusted the water temperature, she took off her clothes.

  When he turned back to her and found her completely naked, his gaze roamed her body, open appreciation shinning in his eyes.

  “I saw you naked the minute I met you, but every time is different. Each time I find details I’ve missed before, new treasures to explore.” He took her hands in his. “You’re amazing, Tarani. Not just your body, but you.” He tugged her closer and rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you’ve done for me.”

  Her heart swelled, and she squeezed his fingers fiercely. “Promise me you’ll stay alive. That’s all that matters to me.”

  “I will.” He kissed her, a soft brush of their lips. “I’ll do anything you want, Tarani.”

  “Anything?” She gave him a lopsided smile, wicked thoughts heating her blood. “Getting naked would be a good start.” She licked her lips. “I’m easy, you see.”

  Rhys graced her with his half-laugh again. “I see.” He got rid of his tattered, dirty clothes in no time, and stood in front of her in all his naked, muscled glory. His wounds had already healed, leaving just dried blood behind.

  He was hard, his cock standing up, the veins in stark relief. A proud, gorgeous warrior, fresh from the battle, filled with lust for her. Tamerah wanted to lick him all over.

  Stepping forward, she took his dick in her fist. “I want to suck you,” she whispered in his ear and delighted in his sharp intake of breath. “I want you to fuck my mouth like you did last time.”

  It had been like nothing she’d ever experienced, the absolute submission to his will, the knowledge that he took so much pleasure from her body. She craved to feel it again.

  “We need to clean up first,” he croaked. “Get in the tub before I shoot all over your hand.”

  She wouldn’t mind making him come with her hands, but the sooner they got clean, the sooner she could suck him. Fuck him. Wetness bloomed in her sex as images of the hard fuck he’d given her flipped through her mind.

  “Now,” he barked, then shook his head. “Wait.” He climbed in the huge bathtub, which offered enough space for both of them, and sat in the hot water, grunting with pleasure. He opened his legs. “Sit.”

  Tamerah sat between his bent legs, her back to his chest, moaning as the heated liquid started to undo the knots in her muscles.

  Rhys bit her ear. “Good, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” she panted, wiggling her butt against his cock.

  He moaned and bit harder. “Stay still. I’m going to wash you, and if you behave, I’ll fuck you senseless after we get out the tub.”

  Tamerah let her head fall to his shoulder. “Yes, please.”

  Murmuring sweet, dirty things in her ear, he took a sponge and soap from the tub’s edge and lathered her body.

  “I’m going to bite you here,” he promised as he rubbed her neck, then went down to the side of her breast. “And here.” He let go of the sponge and washed her breasts with his bare hands, massaging the sensitive mounds. “I’m going to suck and bite your nipples until you scream,” he said, pinching her peaks. Hard, harder. “Do you like it, Tarani?” A little twist. “Tell me you like it.”

  “Yes.” The shards of pain he inflicted on her heightened her pleasure, tugging at her core, searing her body with sharp pleasure. She dug her nails into his thighs. “I like it. Harder.”

  He did as she asked, squeezing and tugging her stiff nipples, sending ripples of heat to her sex. Then he got the sponge again, and she whimpered. She wanted more.

  “Patience,” he whispered. He washed her belly, her arms. When he got to her left arm, he lifted it and kissed the scar left by the dagger. “I’m so sorry, silver light.”

  “I’m not. It’s already healed. A cut and a scar are a small price to pay to have you here.” She turned sideways, searching for his lips. He kissed her ferociously, crushing her lips, banding his arms around her.

  After a moment, he let her go and went back to washing her body, caressing every inch of her skin with such reverence, she felt worshiped. Cherished.

  Once he finished, he grabbed her knees and spread her legs as far as they could go. “Keep them there,” he ordered, with another bite to her ear. His hands crawled slowly from her knees to the crease of her thighs. He sucked behind her ear, and she moaned, fighting to keep her legs open.

  A second later, his fingers found her core. “You’re so soft,” he whispered. Tamerah moved her hips without conscious thought, seeking more pressure. “Stay still,” he barked, sinking his teeth to her earlobe. He caressed her folds, softly, and she grunted in frustration. He chuckled, but didn’t tease her for long. He started to rub her clit with one hand, while the other crept up to tug at her nipples, one at a time. The slight bite of pain sent lightening through her lower belly. When it was too much and she was pleading incoherently, he turned the delicious torture to the other nipple, always leaving her wanting more.

  “Do you want me to shove my fingers in your cunt, Tarani?” His voice was scraped raw. “Say it.”

  A shiver snaked through her. She loved his filthy words, the possessive way he demanded her to voice her desires, to yield to his will.

  “Please, fuck me with your fingers,” she panted, turning her head to see his face. His eyes were dark with lust, his cock twitching against her ass. “Make me come.”

  Rhys plunged one finger into her sex, took it out slowly, only to drive back inside with two. She rode his fingers, unable to stay still, moaning incoherently as he applied pressure with his thumb on her clit, fucking her without mercy. He shoved another finger into her, filling her channel, in and out until she couldn’t see straight.

  “Let go. Come for me, silver light.”

  Just like that, her orgasm overtook her, dragging her under a tide of mindless pleasure. Her muscles contracted around his fingers, spasms making her entire body go rigid.

  It was too much. She tried to escape from the contact but he was relentless, hammering his fingers inside her again and again, mercilessly rubbing her clit.

  “You’ll take everything I give you,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re mine, to be used for my pleasure, until you tell me to stop.”

  “I can’t,” she whimpered. Her head swam under his power, the crude honesty of his need. She thrashed on his grip, the pleasure jagged and biting, cresting again.

  “You will.” He pinched one nipple, hard. “Ride it.”

  “Rhys.” The strangled plea escaped her lips as stars exploded inside her and she came again, still, she didn’t know anymore. All that existed was this acute bliss, tearing her apart with razor-sharp blades.

  When she came back to earth, her body went limp in his arms. He hugged her gently, kissed her temple. “I love to hear you scream my name,” he said. “I love you.”

  “I know,” she mumbled, closing her eyes.

  They stayed quiet for long minutes, touching each other, silent promises passing between them. After all the horrors of the Abyss, after almost losing him, it was reassuring to feel his warmth under her fingers, his heart beating steadily against her back.

  Tamerah floated on bliss until she could move again. She got on her knees, smiling. “My turn.” She washed every inch of his battle-hardened body, kissing all the small scars that marred his skin, and understood the reverence he’d felt before.

  There was so much beneath
that skin, inside the stories the scars told. Honor. Loyalty. Courage. Loss.

  He’d lost everything, more than once. And yet, he’d trusted her. Had let her love him, opened his heart to her.

  “I love you,” she whispered, kissing the scar the Black Dagger had left on his ribs.

  “I know.” His head fell back, his eyes closed. He seemed content, relaxed.

  Except for his cock, still hard as a spike.

  Tamerah licked her lips. “I want to suck you,” she said, and his head snapped up, his eyes locking with hers. “But I want to fuck you more.” She needed to feel him inside her, pulsing, filling her.

  He gave her a wicked grin. “What are you waiting for?”

  Taking advantage of the enormous bathtub, she straddled his thighs. Bracing her hands on his shoulders, she bit his neck and inhaled his scent. Leather and freedom and wilderness, heady and addictive as a drug. He shuddered and the hard muscles beneath her rippled, as she tasted the soft skin of his throat and ran her teeth over his jaw.

  “Stay still,” she ordered, rubbing her sex against his cock, the water and the wetness left by her orgasms making an easy, slippery glide.

  “You’re killing me, Tarani.” He grabbed her hips in a death grip, moaning.

  There was so much leashed power in him. She wanted his surrender, to see him let go and give himself to her.

  “Do you want me to fuck you?” She bit his lower lip, tugging it slowly. Wickedly. She grabbed his hair and yanked, tilting his head back to lick the column of his throat, his shoulder, his chest. “Tell me,” she demanded between licks.

  “Yes,” he grated, his voice low and guttural. “Fuck me, please. Ride me. Fuck me hard.”

  A shiver crawled up her spine. As much as she liked being at his mercy, this was a thrill too, making him beg. Her body burned with irrational pleasure, lost with desire and a need to consume him, to own him. She took his cock in her hand, keeping it still, and sank onto it, inch by inch. His heat scorched her, stuffing her full, stretching her.

  “So good,” she rasped. “So good it hurts.”

  He grunted, tightening the grip on her hips. Tamerah started a slow up and down, clinging to him, giving him slow and sloppy kisses. His hands wandered all over her, caressing her spine, massaging her breasts, her shoulders, her face.

  “Like that, fuck me, fuck me,” Rhys chanted as she picked up the pace. He followed her rhythm, thrusting up every time she went down, until they were battering each other, grinding together, seeking relief. Skin to skin, together as one, burning on the same fire, sharing their souls.

  “So close,” he murmured against her lips and shoved a hand between them, rubbing her clit.

  Riding him for all he was worth, Tamerah ground her hips on his hand, feeling her lower muscles tense. He dipped his head and sucked her nipple, grazing it with his teeth, intensifying the pressure on her clit and Tamerah came apart, screaming his name, feeling every inch of his hard flesh with each contraction.

  He shoved his cock inside her one more time and roared, his back arching as his muscles locked tight. His dick throbbed, unleashing a wave of pleasurable aftershocks in her sex.

  Panting, they collapsed together into the water. Rhys brushed a strand of hair from her face. “We need to get out the tub,” he murmured. “The water is cold.”

  “Just give me a century or two to recover, and I’ll get right out,” she mumbled against his shoulder.

  Rhys chuckled. “Come on. I’ll carry you to the bed.” He got out and patted himself dry, then made her stand while he dried her with a fluffy towel. Finally, he took her to the bed.

  Our bed. Warmth spread through her chest, and a soft smile curled her lips as she closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder. She was still tired to her bones, but she was happy. Rhys was alive, they were together, they were safe.

  “Let’s get some rest,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

  Tamerah entwined her legs with his, enjoying the feeling of hard muscles and his lightly furred skin. “I’m so on board with this plan,” she murmured before falling asleep.

  As Caeron watched Rhys carry Tamerah away, the familiar pain of being alone spiked in his chest.

  And now I don’t even have Nell to mock me, to share our loneliness.

  He needed to find her, fast. If she hadn’t gone away of her own volition, she was in danger. If she had ran away on her own, he was going to kick her ass for putting herself in danger. She didn’t have to fight if she didn’t want to, but his place was still as safe as it got.

  First things first. Seersha still stood on the same spot since they got there, seemingly lost in thought.

  “Boss,” he called and she turned to him. “I thought you should know—I managed to put a tracking spell on the blind fucker. Who isn’t blind, by the way. At least as far as I could tell.”

  She nodded. “I don’t think his eyes are blind, even though he is.”

  “What do you mean?” Oh, how he loved cryptic shit. With the hate of a thousand suns.

  “I don’t know. Yet.” She shrugged. “Give me the tracking signature and I’ll see what I can find. I can’t tell you shit, though.” She gave him a hard stare. “Not if you want your secret to remain hidden.”

  “I know.” He couldn’t take any more risks.

  Seersha tilted her head in a way that made him think of Tamerah, then deflated with a heavy sigh. “And you’re not going to tell me why you’re doing this.”

  Not a fucking chance. He grinned, putting his hands in his pockets. “Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?”

  Looking bored, she brushed her hair off her shoulder. “Suit yourself. I don’t give a shit, as long as you don’t screw with me. Or them.” She nodded towards the stairs. “Take care of them.”

  Caeron dipped his head. “I always do.”

  After he showed her the tracking signal, she disappeared into the Shadows, saluting him.

  Silence filled the library. Looking around, Caeron felt…empty. He’d grown used to having four people around, laughing, bickering, talking, sharing the good and the hard.

  Giving meaning to his life.

  He was here for a reason, an important one. But it had always been an impersonal, abstract reason. His four friends had given him what he’d known Rhys needed—something to fight for. Someone to fight for.

  They were still there. He still had them. Seersha would come back, Rhys and Tamerah were a few steps away, and he would find Nell, no matter what.

  But I’m alone once again, all the same.

  “Whatever,” he said out loud, imagining what the little human would tell him. “Grow a pair, bonehead.” He smiled, sighed. He’d find her.

  A presence touched his consciousness, and his wistful smile died. Someone was calling for him at the cemetery. What the hell?

  He raced to the side gate and entered the grounds, all his senses on full alert. A couple of yards ahead someone was partially hidden in the shadows. His eyes widened.

  A rotten fucker. Not as rotten as most he’d seen, but there was no doubt about it. Caeron let his true form take over, unsheathing his sword.

  The stupid corpse stepped back. “Wait!” He rose his arms in surrender. “I came to help. My name is Percival. I have part of the Prophecy of Dark Days with me. I seek refuge.”

  Well, fuck.

  Two nights later, Tarani took Rhys back to Farat.

  He hadn’t wanted to go, but he’d been unable to sway her.

  “We need to be there at least once without you dying,” she’d argued. “If there’s even a hint of trouble, I’ll ship us back to Caeron’s in a second.”

  Rhys had finally relented, and here they were. Everything was quiet, but it was the natural stillness of the night. Pale moonlight shone over the grass, the distant trees swaying in a soft breeze.

  As they stood over the hill, where the castle of his youth should’ve been, there was sadness in his heart. And yet, he wasn’t bitter anymore.

  “Can you fee
l it?” Tarani whispered, awe in her tone. “Life. It wasn’t here before.”

  Taking a deep breath, Rhys filled his lungs with the scents that surrounded them. The wild grass, the bushes growing here and there, the dark soil beneath them. Even a hint of the fragrant trees of Ryannan was present.

  He closed his eyes, feeling the breeze over his skin. Listening to the faint noises made by the small animals and nocturnal birds that lived in the fields. It was as if nature greeted him, telling him that yes, life was still there, even after the battle, even after all the death and carnage.

  “I was right, that first night.” He opened his eyes and tucked Tarani to his side, encircling her shoulders. “Your kindness was my undoing.”

  “I don’t understand.” She looked up to him, a confused frown creasing her brow.

  Rhys kissed her nose, grateful for this amazing person, his little demon, his silver light. “I was dead, Tarani. I was as much a living corpse as those rotten fuckers. I just look better.” He winked.

  “A lot better.” A huge grin illuminated her face. “You’re handsome, Rhys.”

  He threw his head back and laughed out loud, remembering the first time she’d told him that. “Don’t you mean I’m ugly?”

  “I remember that conversation.” She tilted her head, her eyes shining. “It was the first time I heard you laugh like this.”

  “It was the first time in centuries I laughed like this. I had lost all reason to laugh a long time ago. I had lost everything.” He cradled her face tenderly, his chest tight with affection. “You tore apart the dead thing I’d become, and you gave me life.” He rested his forehead on hers, his eyes locked on the light of her gaze. “In more ways than one.”

  She threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug and kissed his cheeks, his nose, his jaw, his lips. Then she leaned back, dipping her head and staring at his chest, her eyes downcast. “In the ruins, after we kissed, you said you were worthless. You said a lot of horrible things about yourself.”

  The ruins. That day seemed like a lifetime ago. A memory from another life, when he didn’t have hope, when he was an empty shadow, being slowly devoured by nothingness.

  “And I knew you were wrong.” She caressed his jaw, her eyes rising up to his face. “You were so sad, all I wanted was to make you happy, to take your pain away. To be with you. That was the moment when I started to realize I loved you. We barely knew each other, but I felt it, all the way to my soul.” She bit her lip. “Later, I got angry and confused.”