The Dark Read online

  Several thumps. A shutter banging against the window?

  “I just want to touch you.” He pushed her back on the mattress and unfastened her jeans. “And taste you,” he murmured just as he unzipped her jeans as he sucked in his breath. “You’re so ready for my mouth and tongue.”

  He was going to put his mouth on her?

  That thought made her head spin a little more.

  The room completely filled with gold sparkles. The scent of magic swirled around them.

  Jake was right.

  Magic did have a smell.

  Why had she never noticed that before?

  When Jake had completely removed her clothing, he took both of her hands and drew her onto her feet.

  “I want to see what you look like.” She ran her palms over his T-shirt as a nearby mirror rattled against a wall. “Please.”

  Jake jerked off his T-shirt and she noticed the scars from the Stormcutter blades. Her heart jerked at the thought of losing him.

  She reached up and traced the tattoo on his upper arm. “What does this mean?” she asked as she ran her fingers lightly over the tattoo. “An eagle on top of what looks like Earth, with an anchor behind it.”

  “Eagle, globe, and anchor.” Jake brought his fingers up to hers. “It’s the U.S. Marine Corps insignia. It symbolizes distant service under the American eagle. Service by land and sea to represent our nation’s interests in every clime and place.”

  “Oh.” Cassia’s eyes met his. “I wondered. I didn’t know you served in the military until we talked earlier.”

  “It’s been a few years.” He settled his hands on her hips and rubbed himself against her, over her star birthmark, causing more crazy sensations to spiral through her.

  “Princess,” he said. “I know I can’t take you the way I want to—yet—but I need to feel your hot little body against mine.”

  Cassia clenched her legs shut. His words made that ache between her thighs more intense.

  His feet were still bare from his trek through the forest. “I’m going to take you as far as we can go,” he said as he pushed down his jeans, and his length jutted out toward her.

  She caught her breath. The mirror rattled harder against the wood.

  Almost without thought, she reached out, wrapped her fingers around his staff, and began exploring with both hands.

  He groaned and tried to pry her hands away, but she refused to budge. “No.” She stared at him, fascinated. She’d never touched a man before, and had only seen one other naked man—briefly. “I need to see and feel you.”

  She eased to her knees so that her mouth was right in front of the head of his staff. “This is semen?” she asked as she smeared a drop of the pearly substance over the head. “What does it taste like?” she asked, just before she licked him.

  The moment her tongue swiped his length, Jake thought his bones were dissolving, like he had felt when the Mystwalker had used magic on him.

  “Oh, shit,” was all he could get out as he slid his hands into Cassia’s hair. “You’ve got to stop, Princess.”

  “Why?” Cassia asked, and his mind went blank as she slid her warm mouth over him.

  Jake gritted his teeth. Her golden magic swirled in the bedroom, but Jake knew it was the woman with her mouth on him who was going to drive him to his knees.

  “I want to get a taste of you.” His breath came in harsh pants as if he’d been running a good mile. “I didn’t plan—didn’t intend—damn.”

  Cassia had started sucking him. She closed her eyes, fondling his balls and licking and sucking him. When she stopped, he nearly cried.

  “Your body is so tense.” She looked up at him with her beautiful turquoise eyes. “You’re shaking.”

  “Yeah.” Jake tried to stop shaking and failed big-time. “Who’d have figured.”

  “What happens if I keep sucking?” she asked, her expression truly innocent.

  “Did you like the taste of my semen?” He clenched and unclenched his hands in her hair. “A whole lot of it is going to go into your mouth if you keep it up.”

  She swiped her tongue along his length and he wanted to shout. “Will it feel good to you?”

  “Hell, yes,” he said, and she took him in her mouth again.

  Dear God. Every nerve ending seemed focused around his groin. All sensation, all feeling, gathered in that one location. Sweat broke out on his skin as he tried to hold back a little longer.

  Not happening.

  His orgasm burst within him. His body rocked and sparks flickered in his head. He had to hold onto her hair to even keep standing. His mind drifted in circles like the golden magic swirling in the room.

  Jake gave a final jerk, and he pulled out of Cassia’s mouth. Her tongue darted out to catch a drop of semen that had escaped onto her lower lip, and he spasmed one more time.

  He didn’t think he could breathe any longer. His muscles gave way and he fell to his knees in front of Cassia, brought her into his arms, and pressed her head to his sweaty chest.

  “Thank you,” he said in between trying to catch his breath. “That was—” The best head of my life. “—incredible.”

  “I’m glad.” Cassia started kissing his chest. “You taste so good.”

  When he stopped breathing like he’d hit a home run and sprinted around all the bases at least half a dozen times, Jake forced Cassia onto the low mattress. Her back rested on the soft, filmy bed covering and her ass was at the edge of the bed. He hooked his arms under her knees and spread her beautiful flesh wide open.

  Thrills went through Cassia, as if the golden sparkles drifting through the room were in her belly, too.

  The mirror rattled harder.

  A sensation of power rolled through her as Jake leaned close to her, and took another audible inhalation.

  “You smell musky and sweet.” He pressed light kisses to her smooth mound. He looked up and met her eyes. She was feeling hotter and hotter from his words and his steamy gaze.

  “Have you ever touched yourself?” He stroked her, and she jerked as a spasm of sensation washed over her.

  “No,” she whispered as she shook her head again. “It was forbidden.”

  The mirror dropped off the wall and shattered. The tinkling of shards scattering across the floor seemed to be in time with the winking sparks of her magic.

  Stop. I’ve got to stop.

  Just a minute. One more little minute.

  I could hurt Jake.

  No more!

  “I know I can’t be inside you—yet,” he said in a gravelly rumble before she could say a word. “But I want to taste you and give you your first orgasm. Now.” He swiped his tongue over her, and she gasped and arched her back as sensations shot from her core throughout her being. “Is that okay with you?”

  She could barely think. Then her concern hit her again. “What if I hurt you?” she said as she slipped her fingers into his thick, dark hair. “What if having an orgasm does bring about the transition?” She swallowed. “What if it isn’t something that will only happen if I have a male inside of me?”

  “For a taste of you, Princess”—he looked at her from between her thighs—“I’m willing to take that chance.”

  She started to argue, but her words were nothing but a low wail as Jake dove into her with his tongue and mouth. He kept her legs spread wide and moved them so that her knees rested on his shoulders, and he now used his fingers and mouth to give her pleasure. Unbelievable pleasure.

  Gold sparkles continued to swirl around them. They seemed stronger. More intense.

  She wanted to scream. The whole room seemed to shake.

  He slipped one finger inside her and she tensed. He paused before slowly sliding in and out of her wetness until she relaxed.

  “If you aren’t the tightest thing I’ve ever felt,” he murmured as he pumped his finger in and out of her core, “I don’t know what is.” With his finger still inside her, he laved her in one long swipe of his tongue. “You’re so tight I d
on’t know if I’m going to fit when I do take you.”

  The sensual promise in Jake’s voice, and the vivid image of him sliding his thickness into her, added to the firestorm growing inside of her. Not to mention the ever-increasing glitter and crackle of light from her magic.

  Dear Anu. I’m going to melt the bed.

  Warning sparks lit off in her mind as she realized she had no control of the magic swirling in ever-tightening circles around them.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she got out in a hoarse whisper.

  “You’re not going to.” He raised his head just long enough to say the words then delved back into her soft flesh.

  What Jake was doing to her was like a hurricane. Wind, lightning, a battering feeling like moisture and debris stinging her skin as the magic sparks started flinging themselves at her and Jake.

  Were their clothes spinning around the room? Was that Jake’s shoe?

  He didn’t seem to notice the sparks, or anything that was flying near their heads, and Cassia was too far gone to get any more words out.

  Gold and fire and lightning followed by the low rumble of thunder in her ears dampened all sound. Her own moans and cries were as muffled as Jake’s hungry groans.

  Vaguely, from some distant part of her conscious being, she knew something was wrong. Desperately wrong.

  No, it was so right.

  Her. With Jake. Now.

  It was right for Jake to be the one to teach her pleasure, to give her the most beautiful experience of her life.

  Jake pumped his finger in and out of her core as he sucked the hard nub and licked her. Her skin prickled. More stars flung themselves at her.

  Now a hairbrush and perfume bottle joined their clothing in the dance around the room. Perspiration broke out over her entire body, making her slick with sweat.

  Everything shifted. Turned upside down. Like someone moved the moon and stars, and galaxies collided.

  She started vibrating. Distantly she heard her moans grow louder and louder until they became cries. One after another.

  Something was going to happen. She was right there. The world was tilting. Tilting. Tilting.

  White-hot light exploded from her entire being.

  Cassia screamed from the power of the climax.

  Somewhere she heard Jake shout. Felt him as the force of her orgasm and magic flung him across the room. She heard his body slam against the far wall, and a loud crack cut through the storm.

  The magic! It roiled within her, burned her inside and out. She didn’t know what to do as her body throbbed and bucked and burned.

  It was exquisite. It was painful. It was beautiful. It was terrifying.

  It was everything.

  It was too much.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to rein in the power.

  Somewhere—voices. Calming. Soothing.

  Calling her back.

  Bringing her home.

  Letting her fade away until nothing was left but pure pleasure and exhaustion.

  And the feeling that something so right had gone so terribly wrong.

  21

  She was rocking. Like a boat tossed on gentle swells in a vast ocean. Cool sea breezes, then warm sun, touched her skin. The smells, though—fresh, clean water, and orchids, roses, carnations—nothing like the salty ocean.

  More rocking. Cassia snuggled into a blanket in the swaying boat. She was tired. So, so tired.

  “Cassiandra!” The cold, hard voice jolted Cassia’s mind as she opened her eyes and the Great Guardian appeared.

  The Guardian was beautiful as she stood in the sun-drenched green meadow. Her white-blonde hair gleamed in the sunlight as her hair tumbled straight to her bare toes like a silken cloak. Her delicate features were lovely, even as her brilliant blue eyes turned icy.

  In an instant clouds obscured the sun and everything grew dark and dangerous-looking—including the Great Guardian.

  “Mother?” Cassia mumbled as she tried to speak and focus on the image of the Guardian. “Why are you upset?”

  In all my years, I have never seen the Great Guardian angry.

  What did I do?

  “You crossed me, Cassiandra.” The Great Guardian bit out each word. “I gave you nonnegotiable instructions. I made it clear you are not to have sexual relations with the human.” Her eyes seemed to glow in the growing darkness.

  Cassia reached out for her mother’s hand but the Great Guardian might as well have been a mile away. “I am sorry, Mother—”

  The Guardian’s robe stirred around her feet as a harsh gust of wind cut through the near darkness. “There can be no repairing what you have started.”

  “Started?” Cassia frowned as she dropped her hand back into her lap.

  She suddenly realized she was sitting in the grass in a meadow. She was naked. Grass prickled beneath her bare buttocks, and cold air swirled around her and raised her hair from her shoulders. Her nipples tightened, painfully hard in the cold wind.

  Heat flushed over her body from being naked in front of the Guardian, but it didn’t chase away the chill in the darkened meadow.

  Cassia crossed her arms over her breasts and shifted so that her legs were folded to the side in such a way that her sex didn’t show as much. “What do you mean, started? Did I not go through the transition with Jake?”

  The Guardian gave a humorless laugh. “What you experienced was a mere spark of what will happen as you proceed.” She had never seen her mother’s face look so dark. “Your human would be dead now if he had entered you. He would have taken the full brunt of your magic with no way to channel it.”

  Cassia hugged herself tighter. “No. I can’t hurt him. I won’t hurt him.”

  The sky lightened and the wind lessened until it was a light breeze caressing her skin. The Guardian’s expression softened. “If you care for this human, you must let him go.”

  Cassia’s heart nearly stopped beating. “Isn’t there some way? Some way at all that I can be with Jake? That he can be the one?”

  The Great Guardian stilled, and it seemed as if everything around them froze as she studied Cassia. The Guardian’s expression told Cassia nothing, and her own heart seemed to come to a stop.

  “This human—he means that much to you?”

  Cassia voiced the words she had been afraid to say to Jake. Now was the time for honesty above all else. “I love him, Mother.”

  A range of emotions passed over the Guardian’s countenance. Cassia found herself bewildered and confused to see her mother show emotion at all. Cassia’s entire body tingled, and she felt as if the roots of her hair stood on end.

  Anger, disappointment, sadness, hopelessness.

  Cassia wanted to cry. She didn’t want her mother to feel the kind of pain that seemed to be surging through her. The Guardian was solid, strong, perfect.

  Wasn’t she?

  She was the place through which the energy supporting the universe passed. Beyond-powerful energy. The Great Guardian’s magic allowed her to see every one of the conditions that must exist for the greatest good for all life-forms to be maintained.

  The Guardian worked to ensure those conditions, and her Guardian sons had done what they could to aid her.

  But the Guardian’s vision was so vast she couldn’t possibly explain all that she saw. Cassia knew it was likely her mother was so used to silence and non-interaction that she no longer really knew how to explain herself thoroughly and not be cryptic. Cassia wasn’t even close to that level yet because she wasn’t very old—

  But Cassia would see centuries, millennia pass.

  And one day she, Cassiandra, Princess of the Light Elves would be the Great Guardian.

  The enormity of her future slammed into Cassia as if the tree palace had fallen and crashed upon her.

  Her eyes filled with tears. She didn’t ask for this, didn’t want it. But how could she let her mother down? Allow her to continue to bear such incredible responsibility for millennia after millennia m
ore?

  Cassia bowed her head, a tear falling to land on a blade of grass, where it beaded before rolling down the blade.

  “Cassiandra.” The Guardian’s voice had softened. When Cassia brought her gaze up to the Guardian’s, her mother looked thoughtful yet pained at the same time. “When you come back to me from the Mystwalkers, I will offer your human two options.”

  Cassia blinked, not sure she was hearing right. The vastness of what lay before her made her mind, body, heart, and soul ache.

  “What,” Cassia said slowly, “do you mean by giving Jake choices?”

  The Guardian paused again before continuing. “I will allow the human to take you through the transition if he chooses one of two options.”

  The devastation in Cassia’s heart was still so great she wasn’t sure what to think of this now. “What are the conditions?”

  “Do not forewarn the human that I will do this thing for you.” The Guardian’s robe pressed against her slim form as another whirl of wind slapped Cassia’s bare skin. “Do you understand? You must leave him free to make his own choices.”

  Even as she hugged herself tighter, every painful thought whirling through her, Cassia nodded. “Yes, Mother.”

  The Guardian gave Cassia one last long look before turning and vanishing.

  Cassia collapsed on the grass and faded away. “Princess.”

  The soft voice tugged at her mind and she frowned. She didn’t want to return to reality. The reality she must face seemed so dark, so heavy.

  No. She wanted oblivion.

  “Princess.” The feminine voice was insistent now. “Wake, Cassiandra.”

  Oblivion.

  “Wake.” This time the woman spoke in a commanding tone. A force shook her. Hard. “You must come back to us or the human could die.”

  “Human?” Cassia mumbled.

  “Jake,” the woman growled. “Your human, Jake.”

  Cassia’s lids sprung open as she came fully to her senses. “Jake!” His name rang like a bell as she called out. “Where is he?”

  Alaia held Cassia like the Mystwalker had been cradling her while she had been unconscious. That was what had given her the sensation of rocking—Alaia holding her.