by L. A. Boruff
Bracing her hands against his chest she started slowly riding him, lifting and falling, feeling him slide in and out, but as the heat built in her core, her rhythm became a grinding of flesh as she desperately sought to find her release against him.
Jace tried to take control, but she quickly stopped him. She clasped her hands around his wrists and pinned them above his head. With the new angle, most of her body was deliciously pressed against his, and she could feel her muscles tightening with pleasure as her nerves were set aflame. Tighter and Tighter her body coiled as she listened to her lover groan and growl beneath her. And then Jace lifted his head and sucked her taut nipple into his mouth, causing her to gasp breathlessly as she shattered around him. Her inner walls clenched tight, refusing to let him go, her orgasm spasming around him, milking his own release as they both cried out until there was nothing left but weak aftershocks.
As she lay on his chest, she tilted her head up so she could look into his eyes. “I do love you,” she whispered.
He smiled, and with a genuine, loving softness said, “I love you too.”
“Looks like you’ll have to move in with me instead of the other way around,” she added, and waggled her eyebrows at him.
His smile deepened. “I guess so.”
Aaron was content just as she was, so she closed her eyes. She just needed a moment after their exhausting day—at least five sweet minutes without worrying about anything else but the spicy scent of Jace’s skin that always reminded her of Autumn.
Jace had woken up before Aaron, who he desperately tried not to disturb after she fell asleep against his chest last night, but he had managed to slip out from under her for a bit before reclaiming his spot. She was still naked under the thick brown blankets he had piled on top of them to keep her warm.
The heart shape of her lips kept drawing his attention, but not sexually. He was overcome by the kind of feeling where his heart beat in strange patterns and he thought he’d die if she ever left him. Not a very ‘manly’ thing, but he didn’t give two shits about that. Aaron was his everything. Even if the world hadn’t ended, he knew he would have still picked her out of a crowd, like a rose surrounded by weeds. Her stubborn independence and amazing smile always lifted his spirit and made him feel whole.
“Good morning,” he murmured as her eyes cracked open.
She blinded him with a tired grin, then lifted her hands above her head and stretched like a lazy cat, her hair sticking out in all directions. His heart swelled, and even though he hadn’t thought it possible, he loved her even more right then.
“Good morning to you too, you sexy devil,” she said through a second yawn. “I’m starving.”
Aaron noticed that Jace’s head look completely healed. “I knew it,” she whispered.
“Knew what?” he asked in reply.
Aaron pointed a finger at the healed mark on his head. “You have magic. I don’t know what kind, but I’ve suspected it for a while now. There was no way you built that bunker without it, and the wound on your head had at least a couple weeks before it healed this much.”
He blew out a long breath. “I’m not even sure what all I can do. My parents were completely normal, and I’ve never known anyone else with magic I could talk to. Plus, I’ve been hiding it my whole life, trying to fit in. I guess I didn’t tell you out of habit. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t care that you have magic. I wouldn’t care if you had eight toes on each foot or a tail, I love you silly,” Aaron said with a chuckle. The tension fell from Jace’s posture, and he smiled at her in awe. He didn’t think he could love her any more than he had when she first woke up, but she had just proven him wrong.
Jace had been so caught up in his confession, he totally forgot he had made them food while he waited for her to wake. He jumped up and grabbed the bowls off the worktable nearby before handing her one.
Aaron’s eyes grew as big as the moon as she moved the spoon around and inspected the contents. “Is this…?”
“Yep, maple and brown sugar oats—your favorite. I found a couple packs stashed behind some other things. They must have fallen out of the box somehow,” he explained. It was a lie; he had put them aside for her because they were her.
“God this is heaven,” she muttered through mouthfuls, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What kind are you eating?” she asked.
“There were some plain packets left; they’re not bad,” he said and ate a spoonful while trying not to make an unhappy face at the blandness. He had eaten a lot worse, and he certainly wasn’t going to stick his nose up at something decent like oatmeal whether it was his favorite variety or not.
Aaron glared at him and rose from the bed, bowl still in hand, and moved over to where he sat. Without saying a word, she grabbed the bowl from him and replaced it with hers, then sat back down on the mattress and covered her legs back up.
“I lied. Plain is my favorite,” she said with a completely straight face.
Suddenly, he didn’t want to eat oatmeal anymore—not when the most thoughtful woman on the planet was sitting a mere three feet from him. He already felt his cock stirring as he imagined licking his way up her tender folds in appreciation for being who she was. Jace got up, set the bowl back on the bench, and went to show Aaron just how much he loved her.
Note from the Author
Thank you for going on this adventure with Aaron & Jace! If you enjoyed this short story, keep your eyes peeled for my new series based in the same universe that will be released this month. You can find information about it and my Queen Lucy series on my website at the link below!
http://RhiannonLeeAuthor.com
THEIR LAST KISS
Katie May and Loxley Savage
A fantasy dystopian reverse harem romance short story
When her nightmares tell a future where her loved ones have all perished in the fires, Ana will do anything to see her dragon one last time. Follow Ana as she runs to find her lover and lose herself in his awaiting arms. Torrent and Ana share a night of passion before their last kiss...
1
Anastasia
I’ve always hated going to bed.
Since I was a young child, my stomach would clench with a tumultuous mixture of fear and anxiety at the mere prospect.
I wasn’t afraid of the dark like normal children.
I was afraid of my own mind.
My bedroom was at the top of our palace - an immense building carved into the side of a mountain. Dirt and spurts of grass coated the interior ground, and vines curled across the walls, obscuring every available surface. Only the window escaped its thorny green claws. I had heard that some Kingdoms used glass to keep out the elements, but I found that ridiculous. What was the point of a window, if not to get fresh air and sunlight?
It looked out into a forest of Cyprus trees and evergreen pines. Various subspecies of trees intermingled, their foliage creating a kaleidoscope of color. Despite being early fall, most of the trees still kept their dark green tint. However sprinkled throughout the green canopies were shades of deep burgundy and vibrant yellow. The entire scene was quite enticing. I could stare out at the boughs and sweeping fields for hours.
Or, as Knox so eloquently liked to put it, stare outside until all my problems diminished.
But they didn’t disappear. Not really. Instead, they became locked inside various boxes that I willfully ignored. No amount of digging would uncover them from the deepest recesses of my mind. If I pushed them away, then maybe, just maybe, I would forget.
That all shattered whenever I slept. Dreamt. They rose from the deepest crevices of my mind, assaulting me with their intensity. There was no escaping my problems.
My destiny.
“Can’t sleep?” Knox mumbled tiredly, languidly stretching at the foot of my bed. He had fallen asleep in his small animal form, but at some point during the night had transformed himself back into a man.
I tried not to be distracted by all of the skin o
n display. I honestly did.
Knox was my familiar, and a Phoenix. He could shift into a few different animals but he preferred his bird form. As a Phoenix he had onyx black features with blue, purple, and orange streaks adorning the wings. His eyes were the most fascinating characteristic, though I would never admit that to him.
They were flames. Brilliant combinations of red, orange, and yellow, flickering intermittently in his pupil. Sometimes, the flames were so large that they practically emanated heat. At other times, they were mere embers, burning steadily with banked fire. I could stare into his eyes for hours and never tire of them.
His man form, however, was an entirely different story. It hadn’t bothered me when we were kids. In fact, I loved having a playmate that wasn’t my brother or the stuffy noble children.
I hadn’t even noticed at first when his muscles became more defined, accentuating a six pack and a trickle of black hair on his lower abdomen. I was oblivious when his shoulders broadened. When his baby fat diminished, leaving behind high cheekbones and full pouty lips. When his shock of dark hair grew purple, blue, and orange streaks, heightening the color of his eyes.
Until one day...I noticed. I couldn’t tell you when or how, only that I did. Suddenly, he wasn’t just my lanky best friend, the person designed specifically for me, the other half of my soul, a gift sent straight from the gods. He was something undefinable. Trying to figure out what Knox was to me was like trying to stop the waves in the ocean from crashing into the shore. Impossible and exhausting.
“Can’t sleep,” I answered at last, turning to face him. He was watching me through half-lidded eyes, his hair sleep-mussed and tousled.
“Dreams?”
Dreams was such a soft term for what I experienced.
My silence must’ve been answer enough, for Knox sighed, throwing his legs over the side of the bed and striding towards me. His fingers traced across one of the twining vines as he walked.
Without a word, he wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head.
“You need to go to sleep. I can feel your exhaustion through the bond,” he murmured. I felt a brief flicker of guilt. I had noticed the bags beneath his eyes, but I contributed it to his own lack of sleep, not mine. “Don’t. Don’t feel guilty. You know I couldn’t care less about that.”
There was no doubting the sincerity in his words.
Being with Knox was like coming home after stumbling through a snowstorm. Immediately once you entered the house, heat would engulf you like a warm blanket. The smell of chocolate would waft from a nearby room mixing with the pervasive scent of freshly picked roses. You would curl up before a fire, the rest of the world disappearing as utter contentment and relief filled you.
Knox was my home. My safe place. My best friend.
And he was also right. My body was weary after so many days without sleep.
“You’re right,” I agreed reluctantly at last. Saying the word “right” to Knox usually resulted in a cocky-ass smile. “When did you get so wise?”
“I was born so,” he said lightly. He couldn’t resist flashing me a smug smile.
“Liar,” I quipped, walking towards my bed. I could hear his footsteps behind me before he plopped down into his usual position at the foot of my bed. “You weren’t born. You were created.”
He snorted. “Semantics.”
“There was no vagina or penis involved in your conception,” I teased. Knox had quite literally just appeared. He had no memory of where he had come from, only that his purpose was to serve me. The elders had confirmed the familiar bond between us, and we had been inseparable ever since.
“Quit talking about penises and vaginas.” His hand rested on my calf, giving it a quick squeeze. “It’s making me horny.”
“Kinky little shit,” I mumbled, but exhaustion was already creeping up on me. I tried to fight it, but my body welcomed the darkness with opened arms.
Just before sleep consumed me, I heard Knox whisper, “Sleep, my love.”
And then I was out.
The hills were coated in a gray mist, seeping from the ground and curling over the landscape like a dense fog.
Foliage crackled beneath my feet as I stared up at the gray sky. Bloated storm clouds hid the sun from view, and a frigid wind made goosebumps erupt on my skin. It was uncharacteristically cold for this time of year.
Spinning rapidly, I took stock of my surroundings. Or, more accurately, the lack of.
Where there were once trees now only held stubs and dead leaves. The mountain that had served as my home - the Earth Kingdom’s palace - had been reduced to shambles.
There was only one word to describe the landscape, from the grassless fields to the demolished forests. Dead. Desolate. The silence was almost stifling.
I was used to the caw of birds or the occasional critter scattering in the brush. Instead, I heard nothing, saw nothing, besides a decayed wasteland.
Each step forward felt heavy, my body coiled tightly. Still, I walked.
Dead grass. Dead trees. A deep hole that might’ve been a lake at one point. The air was thinner here, and I found that breathing was difficult. I imagined it would be similar to climbing up the highest mountain.
Fear polluted my lungs as I once more catalogued the damage. This wasn’t the world I remembered. It was...nothing. It had been reduced to waste. There was no fire, no water, no earth, no air.
It just was.
Only my footsteps pierced the silence as I walked through the wreckage.
“You must stop it,” a soft voice whispered. I spun, heart hammering in my chest like a sledgehammer, threatening to escape. My gasps were shallow, fear running rampant through me.
A familiar figure stood mere inches from me. Her blond tresses cascaded around her shoulders, and her dewy features were solemn. Elf ears protruded from either side of her head.
Me.
It was me.
“I don’t know what you mean.” I ventured a tentative step forward. Each heartbeat reverberated through my body. It would come as no surprise if it tore through my ribcage and chest.
“Only you can stop this,” she continued earnestly. Tears welled in her emerald green eyes, showcasing a vulnerability I was not used to seeing on my face.
She licked her lips and glanced down. Unbidden, my eyes followed her line of vision.
Fear strangled me, so sudden and intense that I dropped to my knees.
I saw him immediately. Blood matted his brown hair to his scalp, and his body was bent at an unnatural angle. His sightless eyes stared straight ahead, the warmth I usually associated with my lover absent.
A strangled sob escaped me as I crawled towards him.
No. No. No.
“You can save him,” the other me said. “You can save them all. It’s your destiny”
I woke with a gasp, tears burning in my eyes.
My gaze latched onto Knox first, still asleep in his bird form, but seeing him alive did nothing to quell the rising terror. I needed to see him. I needed to see with my own eyes that he was okay.
These dreams…
They were getting more frequent. More vivid. More real.
I would need to talk to my father or brother about these changes, but for now, I had somewhere I needed to be. My resolve strengthening, I pressed a kiss to the top of Knox’s tiny head and grabbed my cloak.
With only one more glance at my familiar and best friend, I ducked out of my room.
Only one person could set my mind at ease. After seeing his dead body in my dream, my nightmare, I needed to go to him. Be loved by him. Be comforted by him.
And so I began the trek towards the treetop home we had designated as our meeting spot, Torrent’s name a sigh on my lips.
2
Torrent
I woke with a start.
Usually, I was quite the grump in the mornings, especially if my precious sleep was interrupted. But not today. Or tonight, I should say.
Looking out my window
s, I saw the night sky still blanketing the lands in darkness, the bright yellow sun still slumbering below the horizon. A familiar feeling twisted inside my gut, pulling me towards the open window. Stretching, I threw my sheets off and planted my feet firmly on the ground before walking over to the open window. Peering down from my home, I noticed the clouds below me were a stark white against the dark night as the light from the moon reflected off their puffy cotton bodies.
“I feel you, my love. I’m coming,” I whispered into the breeze, hoping my words could somehow reach her, floating along on the warm gusts of wind. Opening my balcony doors, I took a final glance down, then launched myself over the railing.
I found the freefall to be exhilarating. Closing my eyes, I let the wind assault my body till a sheen of condensation coated my skin as I passed through the clouds. Twisting so my back was parallel to the ground below, I opened my eyes and watched the moon grow smaller as I plummeted towards the grass below. Turning myself to face down, I gauged that I had about thirty seconds before I smashed into the ground.
Shrieks and screams could be heard down below as I fell from the skies. You think they would be used to my antics by now, but I guess my risky behavior was less common off the military bases. With a smile on my face, I shifted, allowing my white dragon scales to replace my tanned skin. Wings surged from my back and clawed limbs replaced my arms and legs.
