The world burned at Alexis’s demon souled feet.
Moli shuddered and moaned, as I screamed in pain. Blood began to pour out of my nose, and everything hurt.
Slowly, fighting for each inch, I climbed to the top of the hill and wrapped my arms around her.
In the last vision, Moli survived...
Together we…
A grand mal seizure rippled through my mind and threw both of us out of the foretelling.
--M--
I woke up, convulsing in her arms. The stress had been too much. My mind quivered and cramped, determined to drive out the death and horror of my life.
“Marcellina,” Moli whispered, saying my name for the first time.
Somehow, I hadn’t swallowed my tongue and died. But, my mind felt woozy, and just moving my head made me dizzy. I could feel blood pouring down my face, exciting the vampire, but at the same time revolting her.
“Don’t leave me,” Moli begged, as she fought not to drink the blood that was inches from her face.
I continued to spasm in her arms, as the unwanted vision of the futures rolled through my mind.
Leshrek burned as the Djinn danced to my tune.
The cursed city of Panikkar was released from its prison, and the Tigers ate the universe.
Adalisia stalked out of the Wicked Wood with a Darkelf legion of ghouls behind her, ripping down civilization, as she ate, and ate...
I screamed in agony, feeling my mind begin to rip apart.
The sun broke the horizon.
It’s deadly rays rippled across the land, barrelling towards Moli.
“Yes…” she said with a sigh, reaching her hand out to eternity.
It was enough to make me focus.
“No,” I groaned.
I… no he… loved her. My feelings were too entwined with the remnants of Maxwell’s. Every time I thought he was gone, he resurfaced like a bad dream.
The sun touched her.
Moli screamed in agony. Flames roared up and around us.
Unacceptable.
I felt something ignite my healing ability.
Without conscious thought, I willed my mind to heal itself. Emerald flames roared up around us, blocking the sunlight from Moli’s tender skin.
The flames tore away the compulsion to see all the futures that might have been... replacing them with the future that was needed.
Moli convulsed and collapsed into my arms. Her skin was molten hot. Only my flames were preserving her.
My soul shuddered and detached, flowing into her skin.
Under the burned exterior, her internal flesh and bones were ice cold.
Something directed my hands, warming her flesh… and, ordering her heart to beat.
Thud.
Moli shouted in pain, as her heart began to pulse and throb for the first time in six months.
Again, that alien something demanded that her body remember how to breathe, and love. It reached out and changed her flesh, making it less flammable to sunlight.
Her vampiric nature shrieked and fought against the emerald fire. She bared her black fangs to bite me. Flames rushed into her mouth… replacing her predator’s teeth with tiny, delicate, sexy sharp incisors that would only make pin-pricks in my flesh. Just enough to excite, but not enough to kill.
Her claws melted away, revealing fingers and toes… so that she could feel my skin again and revel in its wonder.
Out of my control, the flames changed her further, removing the overwhelming bloodlust that drove and tormented her.
Moli shrieked and tried to transform, to escape my magic’s caress.
The flames poured into her deeper, removing her ability to shift into a wolf or a bat, or into a mist so that she could soak back into the ground in search of a coffin.
Lastly, our link hurt… so the flames caressed it as well. Instead of chains around her soul like a leash around a dog’s neck, our link shifted, allowing Moli to balance her darkness with my light. It was the connection, the bond of a loved one, and not a slave.
Under the right conditions, it could grow and blossom into so much more. Or, it could safely wither, leaving each of us sane and safe. Maxwell had been foolish to bind himself so profoundly that death was the only alternative.
Connections between women were things of grace and light when they were done right. I let my love for life, and my memories of Maxwell’s love for her, flow through our new bonds.
I felt Moli’s confusion. She didn’t understand how Maxwell had been left behind and how Marcellina had been born.
I let her feel the truth… it simply was. Marcellina could not live, while Maxwell still dominated our soul. His memories were only faded dreams that would slowly mist away, as my life continued. He would no longer guide or control me.
I was becoming… Me.
- 32 -
I took a deep, shuddering breath and opened my eyes again, as the emerald flames misted away.
Moli was staring at the world around her in wonder. Her body was on top of mine, and I stared up at her face as she gazed at the sun’s beauty. All around us, tall warm grasses rose up, blotting out the surrounding landscape, making me feel like we were in our own, warm little cocoon of safety.
And, Moli was not on fire.
Moli looked at her pale white skin in awe, as when it didn’t ignite.
“You changed me,” she whispered. “Your emerald flames did more than heal, they…”
“Fixed you,” I added, wondering how they had done that. Several times, it hadn’t felt like I was controlling them at all.
Someone else had been in charge.
“I didn’t ask to be fixed,” she bristled, forcing me to focus on her.
“No,” I replied. “But, your soul screamed out in agony, and I couldn’t leave you to die.”
“Why not?” Moli asked as she leaned down and stared at my eyes.
We were so close that I could feel her breath on my face.
“He loved you,” I whispered.
“And you?” she asked.
“I have his memories,” I admitted.
Visions of her making love to me floated through our bonds. But, the memories were mixed up. I was no longer Maxwell in them. My mind opened wide, flooding Moli with Maxwell’s memories, that were now tainted with my body, instead of his.
Moli gasped and shuddered, as my sexual desire was revealed. I could feel the little hairs on her arms rise up as endorphins flooded us both.
“You destroyed the world so many times,” she whispered, reminding me of the Angel’s revelations.
“Except one time,” I answered, feeling her thoughts.
“Why do I matter?” Moli asked as she shifted off of me. I turned, so we were lying on the grass, nose to nose. Her fingers slowly touched my back and began to slowly caress me. I groaned when they started to slowly move up and down my spine, just barely touching, grazing my skin with delicious intent.
I could barely breathe. She was so close.
My body had slept with both men and women. I wasn’t a virgin.
But… I didn’t remember any of that right now.
And I didn’t want to.
Even Aubin, my memories teased me.
I blinked, chasing away his muscular arms on my waist, as he slid into me.
Aubin hadn’t touched me with love. His touch was all about lust and desire.
This was the first time that I had been touched since I awoke, by anyone who felt not only friendship but the possibility of love.
I wasn’t Maxwell.
I didn’t fall into love so quickly, or easily.
For him, it had been like breathing.
I needed to be wooed and fought for. And, I needed to know that Moli would be there for me, through thick and thin.
Hell, I needed to know that she would be my light in the bad times and be my companion during the good.
As a woman, I needed more than what Maxwell needed.
I wanted more.
All
of these thoughts, emotions, and desires flowed through our bond into my predecessor’s lover.
And, they shocked Moli.
She sat up, quivering, overwhelmed by my feelings.
My eyes were drawn to her tattoos. On her left arm, a large elk with rune carved horns brayed in a forest while a three-masted ship sailed the seas. Moli’s memories showed me how the ship represented her escaping into the world and exploring it.
Her father had told her tales of the sea. He had been a sailor before pirates attacked and he lost his leg. A one-legged sailor wasn’t much use, and he had been let go. But, he dreamed of the sea, and he had shared those dreams with his daughter.
Below them, a black panther stalked a gazelle under a crescent moon. Cat’s don’t feel conflicted when they hunt. They just enjoy the adventure. Moli respected and craved not hurting, and feeling the rush of the pursuit. She didn’t want to kill. Instead, she just wanted to feel alive.
On her left breast was a purple lily with a pixie peeking out from behind the flower. The pixie was holding a spear and had three skulls tied to its hip. The lilly stood for her uniqueness. And, the pixie for the death that was always hiding within her.
Except now, the spirit that she had swallowed was gone. She was no longer a spirit swallower, able to transform into a fantastic monster so she could defend herself in a dangerous world.
After Maxwell had abandoned her, she had added more tattoos. Her right breast had a series of blue butterflies, each more beautiful and intricate than the last inked into it. The tiniest insect hovered over her nipple like it was a flower that the butterfly wanted to suckle from.
Above the kaleidoscope of butterflies, on her shoulder was a red and black tiger. Its jaws were open, as it waited to snap at the closest butterfly, intending to eat it.
Her mind whispered the truth.
Each butterfly represented one of her children who had died.
The tiger was her daughter with Maxwell. Their child had been destined to set the world on fire if he failed to fix the church.
Maxwell had succeeded, making his daughter’s destiny unnecessary.
“Oh, Moli,” I murmured.
Insanity gripped my spirit, tearing away my nervous desire, and replacing it with caring. I leaned forward and kissed each of her beautiful little blue representations of a life snuffed out.
Moli lay back down and sobbed.
I pulled her close and just held the woman who had once been Maxwell’s lover and wife.
The word, “once,” rippled into her mind through our bond.
Moli raised her head off of the ground and searched my eyes, looking for something that only she could see.
Then… Moli kissed me.
- 33 -
Moli’s tongue felt warm and soft. She wasn’t forceful. Instead, a warm laziness flowed out of her.
Moli’s heart beat again.
She knew warmth and… understood friendship again.
The sun was touching her skin and kissing it with a lover’s embrace. I could feel Moli’s happiness at no longer being damned to Hell. If the Sunlord’s flames didn’t burn her, then maybe… just maybe… she was no longer a monster.
Her hand touched my cheek and caressed it, as she kept kissing me. Then, her fingers slid into my long black hair and got lost.
Her fingers and mouth felt like magic. There wasn’t a rush in her kissing. It was relaxed and full of potential.
Moli was tasting me, trying to decide if she liked what she was eating.
I just soaked it in.
I didn’t press for more. This was enough.
Her hand touched the back of my head and pressed my mouth harder against hers.
It felt… heart-poundingly intense.
I touched her back, and mimicked her touch, sliding my fingers up and down her spine, just letting my fingernails graze her skin.
My mind got lost in the soft spot, at the bottom of her spine, just above her ass. Her skin was so delicate and silky smooth, that I couldn’t think of anything else.
Moli broke off her kiss.
Then, her soft lips grazed my throat.
Fear thudded through me.
Would she bite me?
Did I want her to?
My body was stronger, and my senses were more acute now that I was a dragon. I could hear her heart pounding in her chest like a wild locomotive.
And I could smell her excitement.
Her lips kissed my neck, and I felt her breathe in my scent, tasting more of me.
Moli had been alone for a long time.
Her soul had been locked in a hellish torment.
A soft touch.
Friendship.
A lover’s kiss meant more to her than any gift of gold could give her.
I let the words, “You are not alone anymore,” radiate from my mind into hers. Moli’s kiss on my neck stilled, and she shivered with an intense longing. I could feel her need.
Did I want her to bite me?
Maxwell had always enjoyed a little pain with his pleasure, and I felt strongly that I might as well.
Yes...
I leaned back, laying my back flat on the ground, as I pulled her closer to me, guiding her face down to my breast.
Moli didn’t stop me.
I grew wet as she kissed me… on my breast. The feeling of her tongue licking across my nipple made it hard and rigid, pulsing with need.
Moli sucked hard, making me shudder and groan, but in her mind, I could feel her fighting not to bite me.
Monsters bit.
Maxwell had always liked dangerous women.
And… so did I.
I placed my hand on the back of her head and pressed downwards.
Moli moaned into my breast. She could feel, and sense, what I wanted.
She fought with her emotions, as I ran my other hand up her side. My thumb reached out and tweaked her nipple.
Moli moaned again, and then, I felt her tiny fangs slipped out of their sockets. Surprise filled her mind, as she discovered how good it felt to pop them loose. A wave of sexual need raced from her brain down to her wetness, making her clitoris throb.
But, she was so afraid of hurting me.
So, I pressed down on her head again, sending reassurance to her mind, as I wrapped my free arm around her.
It didn’t take much to pull her body on top of mine.
Then… I rubbed my clitoris against hers.
Moli bite me.
Instead of hurting, it arched my back. Gasping, I felt her venom race into my body, but instead of hurting… it filled me with an almost scalding heat. It ran down my spine and exploded in my sensitive places like an aphrodisiac of lust.
I slid one of my legs between hers and then wrapped the other around her body.
Then… I began to rub harder, angling my body so that my clitoris was dragging up and down her leg. I trembled and moaned, as little bolts of lightning caressed my throbbing need.
The hard that I rubbed, the better it felt.
Close…
So… close.
“OH…” I groaned as I shook my head back and forth, as my mind careened off of a cliff and exploded. I pressed my leg into her thigh even harder, rubbing my clit raw on her skin, as I rode my climax.
I expected it to end quickly like a man’s did. But, it kept going, as the pleasure never stopped. It had only abated when I came, but I was still tender and…
Moli bit my shoulder, and a second dose of venom pummeled my brain.
Moaning, I leaned back and sobbed with a pleasure that was almost painful.
Then, she twisted and pushed my body down into the grass as she changed positions.
Before I knew it, she was on top of me, and I was looking up at her wetness.
My Lady of Bones Page 11
