Soulceress (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 2) (31 page)

“I was an ass too. If it comes down to it, of course I choose you over her. Giving me one more chance with her is the safest way. We don’t stand a chance of winning in an outright fight. I just need a few hours.”

“I won’t let you risk your life for my soul.”

Esha flinched even as her heart soared. He wanted her life more than his own soul? The thing he’d wanted more than anything else for centuries? It wasn’t that simple, though. “But with your sickness, your soul is your life now. You won’t survive if she keeps it. You’ll just be incapacitated and in misery.”

He shrugged, his eyes still on hers. “I’ve lived a long time. I won’t trade your life for mine. I thought I wasn’t complete without my soul, and maybe I’m no’. But losing you would take a bigger piece out of me than I’d be able to recover from.”

A golden warmth spread through her at his words. She had no idea what to say, but she had to believe she could fix this with Aurora. He had to have his soul back, and soon.
 

“Come here.” She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. Not a kiss of desire, but of closeness. This was what she’d wanted for so long. Not the sex, not the flirting or the long glances, but the closeness and the caring. The kind that might last a lifetime. The idea took the breath from her. It was like a chance at sunlight after a life underground, but terrifying in that it might not last.
 

How could something so good endure? It wouldn’t; her luck had never run that way. The only thing she could do was grab and hold on with both hands for as long as it lasted.

She was shaken from her dire thoughts when Warren’s big hand ran up her back and cupped her head. The other wrapped around her waist. He held her so closely that she felt as though she were one with him, his heat pushing out the cold spaces in her heart that the hot springs hadn’t been able to vanquish. His lips were firm on hers, stealing her breath.

Too soon, he pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. The loss was palpable, the chill all the greater for having known warmth.
 

“We have to finish this discussion,” he said.

She shook her head. “No. No.” She kissed him. “Let it rest. Just for now. Kiss me. Please.”

He groaned, a rumble from low in his throat, and pulled her mouth back to his. He slipped his tongue between her lips, his clever mouth making her moan, then pulled the towel from her.

“In the water,” he growled.

She swallowed hard, then nodded. But only once he’d torn off his clothes and stood before her naked, with the golden light flickering off planes of muscle, did she turn around and step into the water.

When she reached the middle and it lapped at her stomach, she felt him behind her, his rough hands on her waist and his erection hard against her ass.

“You scared the hell out of me.” His dark voice at her ear sent a shiver down her spine. Barely leashed control radiated from him, no doubt left over from his tension in the temple.

She jumped when his hand slipped between her thighs, his fingers stroking and finding the place that made her moan.

“Fuck, you’re soft.” The words were guttural, his need clear.

The stroking of his hands and the water blended to make her mind spin. When he pushed her forward so that she bent over and rested her hands on the rim of the pool, she parted her legs, tilting her ass up.

A shiver of anticipation racked her when his hands gripped her hips. The hot, hard length of him prodded at her entrance and she moved back, needing him to drive out her fear over the future.

His groan was harsh as he pushed forward, parting her flesh with the broad head of his cock. Her eyes slid shut in acute pleasure as she savored the feel of him, hot and hard against her. She cried out when he began to move, thrusting steadily while his fingers rubbed her clitoris. The slapping of water and flesh was a glorious and dirty accompaniment to the sound of his breath heaving in her ear.
 

“Come now, Esha.” His voice broke on her name. “I’m no’ going to last.”
 

His fingers stroked her, making the tension coil tighter and tighter. But it wasn’t until his thrusts lost their grace and his hand bit into her hip that it exploded into an orgasm that tore through her and took him over the edge with her.

Hours later, Esha gazed down at Warren, his harshly beautiful face peaceful in repose. She’d just woken after several hours of sleep to see that it was nearing two in the morning. After the hot springs, Warren had carried her up to his room. They’d fallen asleep nearly immediately.

Now, she lay on her side in the big bed and looked down at him. In all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him looking so relaxed. He had so much weighing on him, so much at risk these last few weeks. He must be exhausted if he slept so deeply.
 

She couldn’t, now that she’d awakened. Too many thoughts played in her head. A few weeks ago, she’d had so little in her life. Work, the Chairman—who was worth his furry weight in gold—and Ana. She was lucky. She was. But sometimes, the missing parts glared too brightly to ignore.
 

Then Warren asked her to help him, and everything had changed. She’d fallen for him. For all her big talk about keeping her heart separate and protecting herself, she’d failed miserably. How had she thought to resist this kind, strong, determined man?
 

Somehow, during the course of their search, his goals had become as important to her as her own. She had to get his soul back for him. And they couldn’t agree on how to go about it, that was certain. She was grateful they’d been too exhausted to talk any more. He was so set on his path, but so was she. She just needed one more chance with Aurora.

If she couldn’t convince Aurora this time, she’d agree with Warren, as much as it would hurt her to do so. But for now, she had the perfect time to sneak away and try again.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Twenty minutes later, Esha opened her eyes on the beach. Stars twinkled above, the moon a heavy orb hanging low over dark water. The silence was broken only by waves lapping at the sand.

Aurora was probably at the house, so she headed up onto the patio, around the twinkling pool, and toward the brightly lit floor-length windows of the white mansion. The giant sliding glass doors led directly into an expansive living room, where TV sounds blared. Knocking would be no use, so Esha pulled on one of the doors, unsurprised when it wasn’t locked.

“Aurora?” she called over the TV. Hesitantly, she wandered through the white and blue living room and under the archway that led to the kitchen. It was an enormous space, with acres of white marble counters and clear glass cabinets. Every appliance was sitting out on the counters, plugged in and ready to go.
 

Aurora’s familiar lounged on the island counter in the middle of the kitchen, graceful and sleek under the hanging glass lamps. When the Chairman’s ears perked up and he stood a little straighter, she realized that the other familiar was definitely female. She watched in disbelief as the Chairman sauntered toward the lady cat.

Good luck, dude.
 

Aurora popped up from behind the island counter, headphones on her head and a big grin on her face. Her skin gleamed golden in the white kitchen, and she was dressed in a bikini with a sarong tied around her waist. The shadows still swirled around her like black smoke, but they were calm. She gripped a shiny steel toaster in her hand.

There were two different Auroras, that was certain. Goofy Aurora with a toaster, and deadly Aurora who came out to play occasionally. Esha hoped that it would be goofy Aurora in residence tonight.

“Esha!” she cried, yanking the headphones off her ears. The faint pounding beat of rock music drifted across the kitchen. “You’re back. Do you know what this thing does?”

“Um, it makes toasted bread. Just stick the slices in.”

“Huh. Okay, then.” She put it on the counter and pointed to another appliance. “What about that thing?”

Esha stared at it, her brow scrunched. She wasn’t much of a cook, but hadn’t she seen one of those on an infomercial? “I think that one pops corn kernels into popcorn.”

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s a snack. Light and airy. Are you fond of cooking?” She gestured to the myriad appliances.

“Nay. No’ if I doona have to. But I freaking love electricity. All the things you can do with it! And all these strange things for making food. Did you know there is a fire that bursts into flame in my bedroom? All I have to do is push a button on a little box and poof! Fire!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice.” Aurora would really get along with Ana, Esha thought. They were equally entranced by technology—Aurora because she’d lived in a time without it, and Ana because she’d spent the last few thousand years stuck in Otherworld, where nothing had changed since the time of the Celts.

“Gods, I’m starving. Do you know how to make any food with this stuff?” Aurora said.

“Sorry, not much of a cook myself. Unless you’ve got frozen pizza in the freezer, we’re out of luck.”

“Pizza?”

“It’s some fabulous food.” Which gave Esha an idea. She wanted Aurora on her side, after all, and she really didn’t want Aurora’s shadows freaking out the way they had before. Esha was more convinced than ever that they were making Aurora crazy.
 

Food would be a good distraction. Because she was in the aether, it wouldn’t take much energy to aetherwalk to get some. Distances weren’t applicable in the here and nowhere, so she’d save her much needed power. She called the Chairman to her. He gave her a disgruntled look, but with one last longing glance at the female familiar, he came to her.

“Hang on. I’ll bring some back,” Esha said before they disappeared.

In the haze of sleep, Warren reached out for Esha and found only cold sheets. He snapped awake, his eyes taking an interminable time to focus on the dim room lit only by a single torch in the corner. She wasn’t here.

His heart pounded a staccato beat as he leapt up, threw on trousers, and grabbed a flashlight from the floor near the bed. A frantic search of the three floors of the house revealed that his dire feeling had been correct. She wasn’t here.
 

Damn it.
She’d gone back to Aurora.
 

Fear made his chest feel too tight. He raced up to the bedroom and threw on a shirt and shoes, grabbed his sword and the dagger he’d taken from the museum, then charged down the stairs and out the front door.

The disorientation hit him immediately, a false confusion cast by the magic that protected the place. “Fuck!”

He looked from side to side down the narrow street. In the darkness cut only by a moon that was beginning to set, they looked identical, but he was almost certain that they’d gone left when they’d sought out the temple before. He stepped into the street and his certainty vanished. Every memory he had of traversing these streets was gone, and he knew as soon as he got out of sight he wouldn’t know how to get back to the house. He could be wandering the labyrinthine city streets until he collapsed.

Bloody hell. Didn’t have much choice, did he?