The Legends That Remain

by Cecilia Randell

  “Except for me.” Femi frowned, his wide lips pulling down to reveal a snip of needle teeth. “But the amulets are completed.” He passed a wicker basket to Shar, who placed it on the table. “The librarian now knows the way of making them as well. Each of you should take one to wear. Best to keep against skin.” The taller man of ba nodded and folded his arms.

  The amulets were simple: a piece of iron and a cutting of hawthorn, twined together with leather. Bat picked one up and raised it to the light.

  Oh. Magic glimmered along the leather, soft patterns swirling together and binding the strength of the iron to the protective properties of the wood. Interesting. She slipped it over her head. Would she get to meet the dragon-guardian? Eagerness and curiosity had her swinging her legs and bouncing lightly in her seat.

  Mell leaned toward her. “They’re just a construct, realta.”

  She stilled as heat rushed to her cheeks. Mell chuckled.

  “The shaft is complete,” Shar said. I laid some basic protective runes into the grain.” Shar nodded to his brother. “They won’t interfere with what you have worked up.”

  That means he does not need to work further tonight. Bat bit her bottom lip. Despite everything, she still intended to join with her giant tonight. The urgency, more than distracting her, had solidified her earlier decision. They really did not know what would happen after this, despite their plans and strategies. She did not know, despite her visions. And because of that she was done hesitating.

  Mell and Finn both looked at her, heat in their eyes. Mell, she knew, could probably sense her desire. Could Finn? His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. She tilted her head and her hand crept up to clutch at her necklace.

  Then she stopped. There was no reason to be nervous about that. In fact, if they could sense it, all the better. Bat allowed a sly grin to cross her face, and Mell echoed it. Finn’s and Dub’s eyes narrowed. The others in the room had gone silent, sensing the anticipation in the air.

  She rose. “Well, if there is nothing else that needs to be discussed for the next few hours, you will need to excuse me.”

  Shar stood a step behind her chair, her ever-present and steady guardian. She took his hand and headed for the doorway. With only a gentle tug of encouragement, he followed after her. Just as she turned into the hall, she shot a look over her shoulder. Mell’s grin was still firmly in place, Finn was shaking his head, and Dub stared at them with darkened eyes. He gave her a slight nod.

  Bat continued, Shar following along silently in her wake. He did not speak as they climbed the stairs, or even when Bat paused outside her bedroom. He did not say a word as she pushed open the door, and brought him inside, nor did he make a sound as she led him to the bed. When they stood beside it, she turned to look up at him.

  His single eye had darkened, just as Dub’s did. His expression was tight, his lips a thin line. Had she made a mistake in not asking him first? She did not think of that, just assumed they would want to be with her now that the hesitations on both sides were handled.

  “Are you—?”

  “Do you remember the night after I’d been stabbed by the soul blade? You stayed with me.”

  Her chest tightened. She remembered it very well. She’d been unwilling to leave his side for even a moment, afraid that the patch she’d made on his soul would not hold and somehow break open.

  It was also the day he asked her to stay with them, setting into motion a journey and adventure of a different kind—one where she felt she was finally becoming the goddess she was always meant to be.

  “Do you remember,” he continued, taking a step forward to mere inches separated them, “that I also said I could warm ya very well?” He brought up his hand and rested it on her shoulder, then skimmed it up to cup the back of her head, his fingers threading through her hair.

  He left heat in his wake, and it travelled lower, over her breasts where is swirled around her nipples, then farther, dipping into her navel, before settling at the juncture of her thighs.

  Oh. Oh, that is brilliant. The heat teased, bringing her need up another notch.

  “I remember,” she whispered, all her attention on what he was doing between her legs with just a hint of his power. “What is this?”

  He tugged her to him, so her breasts pressed to his chest. There was more heat, enough to penetrate both of their clothes. “This is… healing, in a way. It is a little bit of life. My life.”

  She laid her head against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. It was steady, if a little fast.

  “And I offer it to you, a stor. My little goddess. It is yours, to do with as you will.” He pulled in a breath, pushing his chest against her. “My heart, my power, my life.”

  She wrapped her arms around him. These were the words she had longed for, the ones she told herself she did not need to hear.

  Another of the pinpricks in her soul closed, and the hollow place filled with the gift of his declaration. His other hand settled in the small of her back, and they stayed like that, wrapped together.

  How had she managed without these touches the last two months? A kernel of anger stirred, but this was directed at herself. When she first arrived at the pub, she had been attracted to them, and while she had not wanted to cause them any grief, she had acted upon her impulses. Why, oh why, had she not continued to do so?

  “Cease.” Shar’s voice rumbled through her. “Cease thinking upon it. What is done is done. As you said this morning, you did not allow us to know you. Maybe this is true. But we also did nothing to change that. We can continue to blame ourselves, to regret, or we can move on with what we now have.”

  Her arms tightened around him and her fingers curled into the light sweater he wore. “You are correct. I know you are. But if I had continued to act as I did when I first came… Dub had kissed me, I was being held by you and Mell, and I thought nothing of responding to the three of you, not at first. I should have continued thinking nothing of it.”

  “No. No, that would have been the worst thing you could do. Because while you may have thought nothing of those actions of affection in the beginning, the ‘touches’ as ya call them, we were not ready to accept that all of us wanted to give them to you. A few flirting glances and a kiss or two are much different from a solid relationship. And…” His hands went to her shoulders and pushed her back enough that he could meet her gaze. “And whether it is what you intended, you allowed us the space we needed—that I needed—to come to terms with things. This I can admit.”

  “You are saying we all erred. This is true.” She thought for a moment. What was the saying? “It takes two to tango?”

  He grinned. “That one would work.” The smile fell away. “We have not had much of a chance to talk, just the two of us, have we?”

  “There was the library.”

  “Which was a few minutes of reassurance before you called someone who should have known better than to walk away from you.” Oh, there was anger in her giant’s voice.

  She let it go. “If we had tried to talk then, I am not sure how it would have gone,” she admitted. “I seem to have changed my mind a thousand times in these last few days. First, I was determined to keep my distance, then to wait for you three. Then I decided I would not leave you, but I would gain my physical pleasures and needs from another. At one point I was sure I would be willing to accept whatever you three would give me, and a few hours later I resolved to be selfish—I wanted all of you or nothing. If one of you were unwilling, then everyone—including Finn who had become my back-up plan—would be off limits. Now here I am, once more willing to take whatever you can give and waiting for the rest.” She let out a soft laugh and laid a hand against Shar’s cheek. “I am a fickle goddess, am I not?”

  “Or, you were simply coming to terms with what you truly wanted, for yourself and for us?”

  “Or, I was simply doing that.” She ran her thumb over his lips. Her gentle giant had such a way about him. “Are you sure you are not the one
with the power of emotions?”

  Shar shook his head. “I don’t envy Mell his powers. You were right, that time you accused him of hiding behind a mask of conjured emotions. It is not always easy for him to tell what is real, and what is something he has constructed. And his younger years…”

  Her earlier vision came back to her, of a younger and bruised Mell.

  “Well, those are for him to tell you, a stor. Not that he would mind me sharing, but I think he needs to do the telling of it.”

  Shar was correct. And they were now far from the reason she had brought him to her bedroom. She slipped her hand from his cheek into the hair at the nape of his neck and tugged, bringing his face down to her. She placed a firm kiss upon his lips. “Enough talking for now. It is not what I wanted to do this night.”

  “Yes, goddess,” he said. Then he took control of the kiss.

  She pushed into him, needing to be closer. Clothing. They needed to remove their clothing. Her free hand dove under his sweater and flattened against his back and the shifting muscles there. Their tongues tangled as Shar picked her up and kneeled upon the mattress.

  He laid her down then straightened, stripping off his sweater and loosening the button on his trousers. In seconds he’d removed the last of his clothing.

  She took him in. He was thicker than his brother, but not quite as long. He would stretch her to the point of near pain.

  But sometimes a bit of pain only enhanced the experience. And she was more than ready to take whatever he gave her. He climbed over her, his braid falling over one shoulder. Her hands studied him, just as her eyes had done, skimming over the muscles of his shoulders, and down his sides only to return to his front and the mounds of muscle there.

  He reached for her sweater and she sat up quickly. She didn’t have enough clothes with her for something to be ruined each night by one of her men.

  One of her men. They were hers.

  Heat surged in her, tightening the flesh of her breasts and causing her hips to rise in invitation.

  “Eager, are ya?” Shar stripped her of her sweater in one smooth move, and Bat shrugged out of her bra. He pressed her back down, alternating between kisses and teasing nibbles as his mouth made its way to her breasts. “These, now. These deserve to be worshipped.”

  His palm cupped her breast, and she sucked in a breath. His hand tightened, kneading her, then moved to the other, then back to the first. He plucked at her nipple, then pinched so carefully before rolling it between two fingers.

  He did it again, over and over, switching breasts until Bat wanted to cry out in frustration. Then he laid his mouth over the taut point of her right breast, and she moaned. As he had with his fingers, he switched to the other breast, over and over. Bat’s hips moved, pressing up and into his thigh in silent invitation and demand.

  “Almost, little goddess. Almost.” There was dark satisfaction in her protector’s voice. He loved that he drove her just a little mad with want, simply from his lips being laid upon her.

  She reached between them, determined to get rid of her jeans. There was definitely no reason to have these on. It was a struggle, as he continued to distract her, but she eventually got the buttons undone, and the pants pulled halfway down her thighs.

  “You will need to help me with this,” she finally ordered.

  With a grin, he began tugging on the cloth, teasing pulls that did nothing to remove her pants. With a growl of frustration, she pushed wiggled up the mattress and evaded his hands, finally pulling the pants off herself.

  “I would think you’d want to help with this,” she groused.

  Grinning, he reached for her, and for a moment she contemplated avoiding his hands.

  But, that would not only punish him, it would punish her as well.

  She allowed herself to be captured, and Shar grabbed her by the waist, pulling her to him for another kiss. They lay together, facing each other, one of his hands spanning her back, the other sliding lower to grab the flesh of her ass and pull her into his groin, grinding his erection against her lower belly.

  “Yer so soft,” he murmured, his voice hoarse.

  She rubbed her still sensitive nipples against his chest, then pressed her hands against him, rolling him onto his back. She followed, straddling him. Placing her hands over his pecs, and those wonderfully useless man-nipples, she braced herself.

  He reached out, steadying her with a hand on her hip, and then grabbed his erection, holding it in readiness for her—offering himself to her.

  Power surged into her. This was a position she had been in many times over her existence. And as with Dub, it meant so much more.

  She paused, taking in the moment. Shar, her one-eyed pirate-giant, tattoos swirling across his broad chest and over his shoulders, his skin damp with a light sheen of sweat, looking up at her as though she were his entire world.

  She was positive she looked at him in the exact same way, for right then, he really was her world. It was the two of them, loving each other, understanding each other—protecting each other.

  She positioned herself and slid onto him, working to take him herself, just as she had promised. She was slick, but his girth stretched her wide, and she rocked her hips, inching down onto him.

  He held himself still, allowing her to take control. When she was fully seated, he gripped both her hips, his fingers digging into the flesh there. “I love these,” he said, squeezing her. “I love how much of you there is, how I don’t feel as though I have ta be oh so careful of you, no’ in this.”

  She smiled. His words were such a contrast to Dub’s concerns. “And I love you.” The words were easier to say the second time. In fact, she would probably begin saying them all the time—she felt… free. Free to simply be herself, to love who she would love, however she chose to love them.

  Another pin-prick closed.

  Leaning forward, she partially pulled off of him, and gave his collarbone a light kiss. Then she leaned back, finding the angle she wanted, and moved.

  She rode him, his hands on her hips, his body laid out for her use. She rode him, her thighs and hips working. She rode him, claiming him as her own, finally.

  Their gazes locked. This was the part she loved. She enjoyed the heat, yes, and the burst of sensation, but it was the intimacy she loved, that she craved. And that was exactly what Shar gave her.

  She sped up, the tightening and light spasms in her channel telling her she was close.

  Shar’s expression tightened, as did his fingers.

  She would have bruises.

  Bat didn’t care.

  And then he was no longer still. She wasn’t sure how he had held out so long, but suddenly her giant not-man was moving. His hips thrust into her, matching her strokes, and he moved her.

  Her breath coming in short pants, she strained. Close. She was so close. The sensations and friction gathered at the juncture of her thighs then burst, and she threw back her head, breaking their eye contact.

  Shar sat up, still hard inside her, and wrapped his arms around her. Then he rolled, taking her with him, until she lay on her back and he was heavy between her legs. He buried one hand in her hair and propped himself on his other elbow, keeping a majority of his weight off her.

  “My turn,” he whispered, then pulled out until only the tip of his shaft was still inside her. He plunged in. She was both swollen and slick from her orgasm, and it was delicious. He pulled out again, then thrust once more. “Mine.” Another thrust. “For right now, you are mine.”

  She wrapped her legs around him and held on. This time was for him, now. In fact, she didn’t even want another release, not as long as he found his.

  “No,” he growled. “You come with me.”

  Did he have some mind-reading ability that he kept from her?

  “You.” Another thrust. “Come.” Thrust. “Too.” One more.

  The heat began to build once more, rising in a rapid wave. Shar’s braid draped over one shoulder, swinging with each of hi
s movements, and she reached for it, twisting it around one hand.

  The hand in her hair flexed, the taut pulling pressure shooting down to her core. She angled her hips so that his thrusts hit closer to her clitoris—if he was going to insist she find her release with him, then she had better comply, had she not? She met each of his movement with her own.

  When he lost the rhythm of his movements, and she knew he was close, she slid her free hand down her body and to the juncture of her thighs, scissoring her fingers around the hood of her clit and his penis, increasing the pressure for them both.

  His expression tight, he drove into, seating himself fully, and shuddered. Warmth filled her as he came. He jerked, hitting against her hand, pressing to the nub of sensitive flesh at the apex of her vagina, and the pleasure coalesced in a rush, sending her over the edge once more. The tingles she associated with sexual pleasure swept from her core and through her body, down her limbs and back, settling into a low throb between her legs.

  Shar sagged over her. She ran her hand up and down his back as he caught his breath.

  “You do know that this means you are now mine,” she said, keeping her voice teasingly light. “No other may have you.”

  He sucked in a breath and his shoulders shook. “I’d no’ want another, a stor. Ye’re damned near killing me, how could I handle a second one of ya?”

  She gave a mock frown and pinched his butt. Then grinned.

  Bat had her giant, and her grumpy not-man. Now she simply needed to claim the laughing immortal, and her guardi.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  BAT