Braving Fate (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 1)

by Hall, Linsey

  She gasped and he grinned at the sound, delighting in the way her eyes widened.

  He began by tracing kisses down her neck, stopping briefly to bite her gently at the curve he knew excited her so much, and was rewarded by a moan and a shudder as he laved the spot with his tongue.

  Impatient, she arched against him, rubbing her body along his to make him move faster. He chuckled low in his throat, content to let this game play out. This was their first time together, their real first time, and he was going to make her cry out and beg and tremble beneath him. He wanted her to come so many times she forgot who she was.

  He needed to make this even. Needed to know that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  He trailed his mouth lower, slowly massaging one lush hip with his hand and slipping his fingers beneath the waistband of her panties as he leaned on his other hand.

  He pressed his mouth to the curve of her left breast. When she moaned and squirmed beneath him, he unclipped the bra and kissed each of her nipples, stroking them with his tongue until they were shining and wet.

  “Please, Cadan.”

  “Please what?” His shaft dragged against the bed as he moved lower, the friction from the bedding making him grit his teeth and groan low in his throat. He didn’t know how long he could last in this little game, with her writhing and begging beneath him.

  “Please,” she panted, arching her hips off the bed.

  His face hovered above her center, and the rich, sweet scent of her filled his nose.

  “Please touch me.”

  “Here?” he asked, as he kissed her low on her stomach. He stroked the soft skin with his tongue, nipping gently when she squirmed beneath him. He reached up and grasped the low waistband of her panties, dragging them down a mere inch so that he could press kisses along the top of the curls that were barely covered.

  “Lower.”

  “Part your pretty thighs for me, Diana.”

  She didn’t hesitate, letting her thighs fall apart.

  “Farther,” he rasped, and with both hands, he spread them wide. He raised one hand and laid his thumb against her clitoris and began to stroke, teasing her, and occasionally slipping beneath the edge of her panties.

  “Please,” she cried out. “You’re torturing me.”

  “That’s the point, now, isn’t it?”

  Her pussy was wet now, the lace damp. He continued to press kisses along the edges of her panties, but even that was becoming too much for him. He had to taste her. Sink his tongue into her flesh and feel her quiver against him as she had in his fantasies.

  His control was slipping.

  Cadan yanked her panties down and threw them off the bed. He gripped her ass in his hands and pulled her to him, draping her thighs over his shoulders. He sank his tongue into her flesh, parting the soft pink folds and dragging his tongue up to the cluster of nerves at the apex. She was more than he’d dreamed she would be.

  Perfect. She tasted perfect. She was his. He’d see to it. He’d mark her mind and her soul tonight so that she never forgot it.

  Diana’s hips arched up off the bed at the first touch of his mouth. Pleasure raced up her spine as his tongue stroked her.

  Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

  Diana squirmed beneath the onslaught of Cadan’s mouth, his hands firm on her ass and his tongue plunging into her sex. She shuddered beneath him, overwhelmed by the vulnerability of being held so tightly by such a huge man while he played her body with his mouth.

  Hot. So hot.

  Not just the feeling of his tongue, which felt like magic running back up to her clitoris and making chills and heat break out alternately along her body, but the feeling of being helpless beneath him as he took her toward orgasm.

  She could push him off and climb on top, but she didn’t want to. Not now. She liked the feeling of him positioning her body, looking at her with hot eyes, and stroking his tongue along her sex.

  “You’re going to come for me,” he growled against her, and she swore she could feel the vibration of his gravelly voice.

  Yes. He flicked his tongue against her clitoris repeatedly and she fisted her hands in the sheets. She pressed herself against his mouth.

  “Please.” Her voice shuddered.

  “Please what?” He gave one long lick. “You’re going to have to tell me what you need.”

  Her cheeks burned briefly. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. But the need was too great to be ignored. “I need you,” she panted, “inside me.”

  She looked down to see him grin up at her. “You’ll come against my mouth,” he told her, and then bent his head back to her.

  This is happening. This is happening. She gasped as she felt his fingers against her. He slipped one inside her, gently but inexorably pushing forward, and her hips jerked as he curled his finger upward to rub against the sensitive pad of nerves. It was hot and rough and delicious, and as he laved her clitoris with his tongue, he began to push a second finger inside her.

  “Gods, you feel good,” he said.

  He sounded pained, and she wanted to fix that, but more than anything she wanted him to put his mouth back on her.

  All thought left her head when she felt his mouth again and he began to thrust his fingers. Her breath strangled in her throat as she felt the orgasm begin to coil in her core. Her thighs trembled uncontrollably as it broke through her.

  She writhed, eyes blind, as it wracked her body and Cadan worked her through it. Too much. Her legs fell apart weakly when it was over, but rather than rise up away from her, Cadan set back in against her sex.

  “No.” She tried to push him away. “I want you inside me.”

  “You’re no’ finished.”

  He bent to her again, his tongue both rough and soft, and she jerked as it swept over her sex. He pinned her down until she began to clench around his fingers, this orgasm more powerful than the last. By the time it had faded, she was panting and desperate for him.

  She needed him inside her. Now.

  Diana grasped his hard shoulders and tried to pull him up toward her, but he wouldn’t budge, his tongue continuing to swirl and stroke.

  She tugged again and he looked up at her, his full lips gleaming from her wetness.

  “Please.” She felt like her soul was in that one word. “I need you.”

  He gave her one burning look and rose up along her body, dragging his well-muscled form against her softer one, and fit himself to her perfectly.

  Finally.

  Fear and excitement made her breath short as she looked at him above her, dark and strong, an angel of destruction and her salvation.

  The hard, hot length of his cock pressed against her. She reached up and clasped his face. He pressed his mouth hard against hers until she could taste herself on his lips, then grinned down at her with a soul-stealing, beautiful smile.

  She stared into his eyes as he reached down and positioned his cock at her entrance, the broad head pressing against her sensitive sex. He thrust gently and she gasped. He pushed farther in, his hot, hard flesh parting hers easily. She bit her lip and shifted beneath him, adjusting to accommodate his size. He hesitated, giving her time to adjust, but she thrust up to take more of him. She winced. Maybe that hadn’t been the best idea.

  He noticed the small movement and looked down at her with fierce concern in his eyes. “Are you sure this is okay?”

  “Yes.” She wanted this, wanted to know where it would go when it was with someone who mattered. He reached down between them and stroked her clitoris as he began to thrust slowly. Her flesh soon grew slicker and there was only pleasure.

  More.

  Cadan rose up above her on his knees and jerked her toward him. He was illuminated in the streetlights from below, his face a work of art cast in shadow and light as he gazed down at her. The muscles of his arms bulged as he worked her hips.

  So close.

  Cadan bit back a groan as Diana writhed beneath him. He had her lush hips clamped betwe
en his palms and he feasted his eyes on her small form. A bolt of lightning highlighted her quivering breasts and the need in her eyes.

  He wanted her to lose control. The feel of her, tight and wet around him, made him want to fuck her hard, pounding into her until he came in an explosive rush. He was so close. He bit his lip hard, hoping the feeling of his teeth sinking in would stave off the orgasm. She would come. He wanted her as wild and frenzied beneath him again as she had been before.

  Diana had been more delicious than he’d imagined, her flesh warm and soft and sweet. When she’d clenched around his finger in orgasm he’d nearly lost himself on the sheets. She’d been tight when he’d first thrust into her and he’d tried to go slow, but it had been one of the most difficult things he’d ever done.

  He needed her now, hard, and the sight of her stretched out before him was almost more than he could bear. He reached down and yanked her up against him so that she sat in his lap, he upon his knees.

  “Faster,” she demanded.

  He growled as she gripped his hair and forced him to stare straight into her eyes.

  “I need you faster. And harder.”

  He groaned at the command and began to pump her harder upon his cock, lifting her body with ease, his hands gripping her slick skin. He felt the pressure building in his balls and was desperate to make her come before he did.

  He stared into her eyes as he reached down between them to rub her clitoris once again. Her eyes began to darken and her breath came quicker.

  “Come for me,” he gritted, and his words made her cry out breathlessly. “You’re mine.”

  Her eyes went shocked and blank and she cried out as her pussy began to clench around his cock, her thighs shaking and her breath coming in strangled gasps. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen as she shook in his arms, her entire body quivering. He’d wanted to hold her through her orgasm and make her come again before he found his, but he couldn’t.

  His thrusts lost their grace as he felt the orgasm rip through him, his cock plunging into her clenching core as his seed shot from him. She continued to come around his shaft even after he’d finished, and when he finally felt her quiet and begin to breathe more normally, he cradled her in his arms and looked down at her. He felt like a god from the way she looked at him.

  Then she collapsed in his arms. He laughed low in his throat as he slipped out of her and laid her back upon the bed.

  “Oh, wow,” she sighed, shifting so that she was more comfortable. “I mean…” She was still panting, trying to catch her breath, and he dragged her up against his side. “Just wow.”

  He swore he felt his chest puff up. He drew her closer to him, tucking her head under his chin.

  He rolled over then, and looked down at her sprawled on the bed, skin flushed and her form lushly curved. She grinned up at him with a happily seductive smile.

  “Why did you resist doing that for so long?” she asked.

  He frowned. “A couple of reasons. Intimacy and trust between us could help you regain your memory. Because of our connection in the past. But mostly because I was afraid I’d fall for you.”

  He’d tried to save himself the pain. Gods, he couldn’t lose her. She had become everything to him. Fear turned his contentment to a sick anxiety. But how could he keep her safe when she was the one who had to put her life in danger and he wasn’t allowed to interfere?

  He couldn’t go back on his word, but would he be able to stop himself, when her life hung in the balance?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “Does anyone have any ideas about how to keep me from dying?” Diana asked Cadan, Esha, and Warren. They’d just assembled in Warren’s office to discuss her options. It was still fairly early, but nerves made the idea of coffee or breakfast repulsive.

  “Your task takes place in Erebus, a Roman afterworld. The only way for a mortal to enter an afterworld is through death,” Warren said, his face grim.

  Cadan’s hand tightened around hers and she felt the tension that surrounded him as he fought to say nothing.

  “I presume I have to kill Paulinus,” Diana said. “If I was reborn for this, it makes sense that I would have to repeat past deeds.”

  “I think that I could possibly get you into Erebus,” Esha said, her brow scrunched thoughtfully.

  “Nay.” Cadan bit out the word. Diana squeezed his hand.

  “No, I mean, I think I can get you in without dying,” Esha said. “You know how I can see into the portal and helped you do the same? Well, since you were reborn for this, it’s possible that I can send part of your soul through the portal. Maybe it would be enough to allow you to do what’s needed.”

  “How?” Diana asked.

  “I can manipulate souls if I have permission from their owner. All soulceresses can. I couldn’t send just anyone to an afterworld, but because your soul is linked to Paulinus’s through death, then maybe I can project part of your soul into Erebus.” She paused. “I think.”

  “You think?” Cadan’s voice was cutting. “That’s enough to send Diana’s soul to hell? A hunch?”

  Diana pushed away the dread that filled her mind like black muck and squeezed Cadan’s hand to get him to shut up.

  “Only part of her soul,” Esha said. “Like an illusion. That’s why it would be safe. Part of it would stay tethered to earth with her body.”

  “What are my odds of dying from this?” Diana asked.

  Esha stroked the disheveled black cat who jumped onto the couch next to her. “Slim, I think. Since I’m just projecting part of your soul into Erebus, your body would stay at the entrance with us. So he can’t kill your body. And he could only kill part of your soul.”

  “Honestly, that sounds terrible,” Diana said.

  “This is all terrible,” Esha said. “And there’s a very slim chance I wouldn’t be able to call your soul back if you get in trouble. But that’s never happened before. It really should be fine.”

  Diana swallowed hard. Should be fine. Her life expectancy was now should be fine. To think that only weeks ago, her biggest concern had been whether or not she got her promotion.

  “Any one else have any ideas?” Diana asked. Because she certainly didn’t.

  “Aye,” Cadan said. “Doona do this. Let the Praesidium handle it.”

  She scowled at him.

  Cadan held up his hands. “Just giving other options here.”

  Ha. It was a subtler expression of his control issues. “I was reborn to do this. If anyone else on the planet could have, I wouldn’t have been reincarnated. And it’s my best friend trapped there. No matter what possible evil could come of ignoring this threat, there’s definite evil in leaving Vi there.”

  “She’s right,” Warren said.

  Diana nodded at him, grateful that he backed her up, yet annoyed that he’d had to. “I think we should try it. How am I supposed to get Vi back?”

  Esha bit her lip. “Well, she’s not supposed to be there in the first place, since she doesn’t practice that religion. Presumably. It’s been dead a couple thousand years, after all. So I think it’s the spell that’s holding her there. I can’t guarantee that when Paulinus dies and the spell is broken that she’ll wake from her coma. But at least her soul will escape. Try to grab her arm or something if you can, see if you can drag her out with you and back to earth. That way her soul could maybe reunite with her body. Otherwise her soul will go to whatever kind of afterworld she believes in. And mind you, this is just me guessing. It’s the best I can do.”

  Diana nodded. She had to believe it would work.

  “I want to go with her,” Cadan said.

  Esha shook her head. “I can’t send two. It’s too difficult.”

  “Then—”

  Diana’s glare cut Cadan off. She wouldn’t object to him coming with her, but she wanted him to talk to her about it first. But it seemed it didn’t matter. She’d be going into hell alone.

  Two hours later, the four of them stood in the chambe
r that held the portal. Two Mythean Guardians who’d been stationed in the chamber to guard the portal stood with them. Diana eyed Cadan suspiciously. He was shifting back and forth on his feet, clearly anxious and wanting to take control of the situation.

  She wanted his help. She wasn’t stupid. With him, her odds of success were higher. But only if he didn’t try to take control and do this for her. She really believed that she was the only one who could do this. She had to believe it in order to go through with it. And she didn’t want him dying for her, especially if it wouldn’t accomplish the end goal. He’d had thousands of years being himself, living according to his code of ethics. He wouldn’t change overnight. But he was trying.

  “Are you ready?” Esha asked.

  Diana gripped her sword and nodded. Esha had needed to make a stop at a Mythean bar to refuel her power from other Mytheans’ souls. If this was ever going to work, it would be now, when Esha had as much power as possible.

  Esha approached her and took her hand. Cadan and Warren stood to the side and Diana could almost feel Cadan’s anxiety.

  “Don’t let go of my hand,” Esha said. “I’ll link our vision, so you can see what I see. Then I’ll try to project part of your soul.”

  “Will I feel it when it splits?” Why hadn’t she thought to ask that before?

  “No, because it’s not really tearing in half or anything, because it’s not a physical object. I’m just sending part of it in, and you shouldn’t feel it.”

  Diana nodded. It sounded so simple in theory. But when Esha squeezed her hand and a cold frisson shot up her arm, she realized that it wasn’t simple at all. The frisson turned to heat. Then darkness. She shook her head, and realized that it wasn’t darkness, but shadows. She had to stop herself from stepping backward as they pushed out, writhing and clawing from a space at the edge of the chamber.