Andromeda's Reign

by K. S. Haigwood

  She laughed. “Where are you? And, how is it that you can talk to me? I thought the meditation blocked you out?”

  “It doesn’t last for as long as the bond allows us to be apart, but, you’re right, it usually does last longer than a few hours. Maybe I’m just better at it than you are.”

  Andra snickered. “That’s a possibility.”

  “Listen, I’d like to talk to you before either of us meditates again. I have a small issue.”

  “Sure,” she said as she began to untangle the sheet from around her waist and legs. “Let me get dressed and I’ll come to you.”

  “Wrap the sheet around you,” he said. “Nobody will see you. They’re all gone or asleep.”

  Andra ripped the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, tugging it closed at the front. “Where are you?”

  “Follow the music, baby,” he said sweetly, and then he was suddenly gone from her mind.

  She frowned as she headed toward the bedroom door. “Block me, did ya?” She opened it, then yelped and jumped back when a guy, wearing barely anything and built like a freaking runway model, walked past the door.

  He gave her an approving smile as he dipped his head in a greeting. “Good afternoon, Andra.”

  “Um… hi. Good afternoon,” she said, still stunned. He kept walking as if the fact that she was wearing nothing but a sheet and he was wearing nothing except a man thong was normal stuff to him.

  Sinna’s door opened and she walked out, dark sunglasses covering her eyes. She leaned back against the door after it closed, and mumbled something that sounded a whole lot like, “Coffee.”

  “Kitchen,” Andra said, quietly. So much for nobody seeing her.

  “Good idea,” Sinna said as she pulled herself off the door and walked by her, without commenting about what Andra had chosen to wear for the day. Matter of fact, she wasn’t sure Sinna had even looked at her.

  She was just about to turn around and go put clothes on when Ace’s presence became known in her head once again. “Shit! I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t realize everyone would be returning now. Can’t see the time on my cell phone. Their shift is up and the second crew is about to go out. Calm down and come to me. I’m on the third floor. Go by Karma’s room. There’s another staircase about twenty steps after it on the right. I’m the only one up here.”

  Andra pulled the sheet tighter around her and darted for the staircase. She saw the handrail, and didn’t slow down as she rounded the corner and took the steps two at a time. About halfway to the top, her right foot froze on a step when she heard the sound of a piano being played.

  Not wanting to interrupt him for fear that he would stop playing, she crept up the remaining steps until she spotted the side of his face. He played with passion and rigor at the same time. The piece he was playing was beautiful, but watching him play was a splendor in itself.

  He hit a wrong key, and then his head whipped around in her direction. He smiled brilliantly at her. At some point since he’d left the bed and come up here, he’d managed to find his aviators. Even with him being fifteen feet away, she could see her cheesy grin in the reflection of the mirrored sunglasses.

  He held out his hand to her. “Come. Play with me.”

  “Oh, I can’t play—” she began, but he cut her off with only the curl of his index finger. She swallowed then walked to him. He scooted down the piano bench a bit, and then patted the empty space beside him.

  After she sat down, he said, “I want to try something. Do you remember back in Montgomery when we were on our way to fight Daryn?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “I picked up sign language in only minutes from your memories. You can do this, but you will have to find my memories of me learning to play in your mind.”

  “Um…”

  He was quiet for a moment. “What is it?”

  “Well, one of the reasons I haven’t looked at any of your memories is because I don’t know how to access them in my brain.”

  Those sunglasses stared back at her as his lips parted. Finally, he grinned. “And here I was thinking you were just being a bitch.”

  She bit the inside of her cheek. “I was being that, too. Sorry.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he said.

  She blew out a breath. “Because I was being a bitch and didn’t want to know you. I was afraid of what would happen if I found out you were so awesome.”

  “Careful. You’re stroking my ego.”

  She laughed, but a blush came to her face when she remembered him stroking something else on his anatomy only a few hours earlier.

  He smiled, like he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Shit!” she said, and slapped her forehead as she threw her walls back up.

  Ace laughed. “I’m going to need to be in your head to show you how to open the door to my memories, Andra.”

  “I really don’t want you in my head right now,” she said, embarrassed.

  He sighed as he reached over and placed his long fingers on her thigh. “Let me in just long enough to give you the memory and you can shut me back out. That’s the easiest way. I’ll show you how to see my other memories later. How’s that sound?”

  She nodded, and then remembered that he couldn’t see her. “Okay.” She dropped the walls and an image of sheet music and young hands placed delicately on piano keys appeared in front of her.

  “Okay, I’m out. Just let the memory consume you, sort of like the meditation process. Just relax and it will bleed into you.”

  Not bothering to put the walls back up around her mind, Andra took in a few deep breaths, letting each one out slowly as she watched the fingers of the young boy glide over the keys, and suddenly the need to put her hands on the piano was too much to fight.

  “Go ahead,” Ace said softly, and she raised her hands to the piano keys in front of her and began to play the same piece the boy was playing. She could see each and every note on the sheet music, and she knew exactly what each note on the sheet music went with which key under her fingers.

  She gasped as she jerked her hands back, the memory floating away, like a wisp of smoke.

  Ace laughed as he reached for and grabbed one of the binders on the top of the grand piano. He placed it in front of her on the stand space and opened it to a random page. “Remember the memory. You know how to read sheet music, Andra. Relax. Play.”

  “There’s no way—”

  His sunglasses gave her a pointed stare, and she looked back at the paper in front of her. Placing her fingers back on the keys, she relaxed, and then began to press the keys down in a fluid motion, as if she had been playing the piano all her life. She laughed out loud, and reached up to flip the page when she finished the last bar. She finished that song and two others, before she stopped and threw her arms around Ace’s neck.

  “Thank you,” she breathed as her throat tightened.

  He chuckled. “For your information, I’m an expert at ballet now. But you are not getting me in tights and pointe shoes. And don’t tell anyone that.”

  A burst of laughter bubbled up her throat, surpassing the tightness. “I would love to see you dance.”

  Ace pressed his lips together, and he blew air through his nose. “And I would love to see you dance. You should do that.”

  “Do what?” she said on a light laugh. “You can’t see me and I’m naked, Ace. I’m not dancing in here.”

  “No, you should open a dance academy and teach people to dance. It’s your passion. You love it more than anything. I know you, Andra. Do it. Wherever we settle next. We can get you the proper credentials you’ll need to teach without you actually having to go to school.”

  Her mouth fell open. “I can’t—”

  “You can,” he stressed. “You’re immortal, Andra. You’re going to want to find a lot of hobbies to keep from getting bored. Might as well do something you love.”

  She beamed at him, endless ideas taking over her brain. “Seriously? This is really a possibility?�
�

  He shrugged. “Of course it is. The problem with the people in this world is they aren’t really living. They are just existing. They will be dead before too long with nothing to show that they were even here. You have an eternity. Make the best of it. Make your mark on the world.”

  Suddenly excited, she squealed and hugged him again. She was happy, and her heart was full. It didn’t surprise her that she wanted to blurt out that she loved him in that moment, but she managed to clamp her mouth shut before the words tumbled out. “I’ll do it,” she said, instead. “I’ll open my own dance academy and teach kids and adults to dance.”

  “You’re sounding more like an Alpha every day, Andra. I’m proud of you.”

  “Thanks!” She swiftly turned and played a small bit of Mozart from memory on the piano, with just her right hand, since he had claimed her left one.

  Ace frowned. “We don’t have that piece in any of these books, Andra.”

  Her mouth quirked to one side. “I guess your memories are seeping out without my knowing, because I know the piece by heart.” She pulled her hand from his and let the whole song play out through her fingers.

  Ace covered his smile with a hand, and then he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You’re amazing.”

  She stopped playing and shifted toward him on the seat. “I have a question.”

  “Shoot,” he said.

  “Why was there a guy walking down the hall in nothing but a man thong? Don’t any of you care about modesty around here?”

  Ace’s eyebrows popped up over his lenses. “Um… that would be Jensen. He works for a male revue. He more than likely just got home from work and was too lazy to put his damn clothes back on. Slade was supposed to send him a text to let him know that he needed to be back in time to leave out with the second crew to search for the girl. If you saw him, I can only guess it’s sometime around noon.”

  “Explain male revue.”

  Ace chuckled. “Jensen is employed at Hunk Mansion.” When she didn’t say anything, he continued, his smile growing wide, “as… a male stripper.”

  Andra gasped, and he chuckled. “Oh.”

  “I think he gets off work around two a.m., but he always hits a party or a club afterward. Sometimes he gambles. Since he was in his skivvies, he more than likely did a private party before returning home. As long as he makes the rent, I don’t give a damn what he does. Though I will talk to him about wearing more clothing while you’re here.”

  Andra shook her head quickly. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. I don’t mind. Really.”

  Ace cleared his throat as he turned back to the piano and began to play a soft tune. “You may not, but I certainly do. I’m not thrilled that he saw you wearing only a sheet, but that’s my fault.”

  Wanting to change the subject, since her jealousy skyrocketed all of a sudden, and knowing damn well that it was coming from him, she said, “You said you have an issue with the meditation.”

  He nodded, but didn’t stop playing. “Yeah, I was wondering if it would be okay for us not to meditate until I get my sight back. The blindness is messing with me, and I can’t tell if it’s night or day. I’m tired, but I can’t turn my mind off and sleep. I think the bond would help me sleep when you sleep.”

  “Yeah, that’s not a problem for me. What about during the day, though?”

  He grimaced, like he’d been thinking about this a lot. “I panic when I can’t feel or see you. I know it has nothing to do with the bond when we meditate, but I can’t stand it. Plus, if we’re under meditation and I can’t see you or feel you, I won’t know if you’re in danger.”

  “Back to the danger, eh?” she retorted, smirking, and then sighed. “All right. Being connected to you isn’t exactly a hardship anymore. I suppose we can try it as long as you can keep your temper and jealousy in check.”

  Ace stopped playing and gaped at her. With those sunglasses over his eyes, she could’ve sworn he could see her smiling back at him. “I’ll have you know that they are both very much in check. You should see me when I’m not holding back.”

  She shuddered. “I don’t ever want to.”

  “Don’t ever leave me, and you won’t ever have to,” he said quietly, but there was a trace of a threat in his tone.

  She laughed nervously. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She watched him as he ran his fingers under his glasses to rub his eyes, and then he moved them around to the back of his neck and squeezed the muscles there. “I’m too invested in you now to ever let you go, Andra. The bond is only part of it. After tasting you and being inside you, I’m sure I would lose my shit if I ever lost you. I don’t want to scare you or piss you off, but I’m not sure how I am going to react when Phoenix gets here. Before we had sex, I was fairly certain I could deal with it.” He huffed as he shook his head. “I’m not sure I can now. Just the thought of him touching you nearly sends me into a frenzy. I’m trying to be good and do this your way, because I’m afraid that you will hate me if I slip. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to cope with that.”

  Andra wrung her hands together in her lap, processing everything he’d said, and she knew, beyond a doubt, that what she was about to say was the right decision, the only decision, really. “Don’t worry about losing me, and don’t worry about Phoenix. I’m going to call him and tell him not to come. I’ll mail the Nexus spell antidotes to Roel.”

  Ace’s jaw came unhinged as his breath caught in his throat. She could tell he wanted to respond, but he was clearly at a loss for what to say or how to say it. His hand trembled as he brought it up to her face and caressed over her cheek with his thumb. His lips tried to form words, several by the looks of it, but he eventually gave up and just pressed them together, choosing to speak with only his thoughts, instead.

  “I’m in love with you, Andra.”

  “I know,” she whispered, and then threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself onto his lap, not caring that the sheet fell away, exposing her bare body to the empty room. Ace was the only one here, and he had every right to see, touch, smell and taste every part of her.

  He inhaled deeply, and a low growl resonated in his throat as his palm smoothed up the inside of her leg. When his fingers found her wet and wanting, she gasped as her head fell back. Ace’s lips touched her neck, and then his tongue slipped out to taste her.

  “Mmm… Tell me that you’re mine, Andra.”

  She panted. “I’m yours.”

  He slipped a finger inside her and massaged her inner wall. She cried out. “I want you, baby.”

  She moved her hips closer, urging him to take what he wanted. “Take me.”

  He slipped two fingers in and picked up the rhythm of the in-out-rub miracle he was doing with them. “You know if I take you now that I physically and mentally won’t be able to ever let him touch you again, don’t you? You’ll be mine forever.” His thumb rubbed over her clit and the orgasm burst out of her.

  “Yes!” she screamed as she shuddered and trembled around his fingers. “I’m yours, Ace.”

  “Christ,” Ace breathed as his mouth came down on hers in a crushing kiss that sucked all the air out of her. Strong hands palmed her butt then he lifted her from his lap and set her on the far edge of the piano. Folders and sheet music scattered across the grand piano’s top and fell to the floor. Spreading her knees, Ace situated his hips against her as she rested her heels on the piano ivories, loving the off-key echoing throughout the music room as several keys were mashed simultaneously.

  Ace’s tongue explored the inside her mouth as his hands spanned her hips, clutching her waist tightly. She fumbled with his jeans, eager to have him inside her again, and he willingly complied, yanking them down and kicking his boots and the denim behind him somewhere.

  As he nestled his hard length against her entrance, she looked up at him, the aviators suddenly a barrier she didn’t want. Andra ripped them from his face, exposing golden eyes, darkened with lust that took her breath away
.

  An animalistic grunt came from someone, she wasn’t sure who, but the next thing she was aware of was him filling her, deliciously so.

  As she climbed again, Ace’s head fell to her shoulder where he sucked and nipped. His hips kept up a tortured pace, relentlessly thrusting in and out.

  The beast inside her rippled under her skin, wanting desperately to connect to Ace’s beast. Her eyes burned hot, and somehow she knew they had turned the glowing silver of her species.

  Ace growled in delight when her nails sank beneath the flesh on his back, and he pounded into her harder, faster.

  With each slap of flesh against each other, Ace hit something inside Andra that sent her careening closer to oblivion.

  She couldn’t remember anything being like this before, this mindless ache only he could fulfill. Andra cried out, as a blinding flash of brilliance prefaced her own climax, and she could feel the rigor of her muscles as they clenched around Ace, holding him in, like a vise.

  Ace’s fingers dug into her hips as he growled, probably leaving bruises, but neither of them cared. She was mindless to everything.

  Until a throat cleared loudly in the stairway.

  “Ace…” It was Slade. Andra recognized his voice, in her fugue of delirium.

  Andra froze, but Ace reacted differently. He was suddenly frantic, chasing his release, as he roared over his shoulder, “Not now, Slade.”

  “But—never mind.”

  Clutching her tighter, Ace mumbled obscenities into her shoulder, as he pounded in and out of her. She buried her fingers in his hair, satisfied Slade wouldn’t walk in on them.

  When Ace clutched her chin in his hands and brought her face to his, he groaned out his release, and in that moment, Andra could swear he saw her. Really saw her.

  His eyes widened a bit, and then he shook his head as he blinked rapidly. After a few seconds, his jaw tightened for a brief moment, and then he relaxed. His face softened and he kissed her sweetly. “I fucking love you, Andra.”

  “You saw me, didn’t you?” she said, instead of repeating what he had told her. She was almost sure she did love him, but she didn’t want to say it during sex. So many times lust was mistaken for love.