Authors: Lynda Aicher
“Airiana,” he breathed.
He didn’t question the action. It was as if his body knew what she needed. The energy accelerated, racing through his limbs and igniting the dampened fire. Turning slightly, he shifted to his side and pressed his lips to hers in a tender caress. She inhaled sharply through her nose, then pressed forward to bring his lips closer. He spread his fingers through her hair and pulled her tighter before his lips stroked over hers in repeated passes of temptation. Her body softened and her lips parted on a sigh, allowing his tongue to stoke between the opening.
She tasted like sweet cherries—fresh, tempting and full of hidden secrets. A groan pressed deep in his throat and he plunged fully into her mouth, taking what she offered and wanting more. He stroked the warm interior, and she responded. Her mouth moved on his, her tongue reaching out to dance with his.
Her hand lifted to stroke around the back of his neck and her body shifted until her breasts were press tightly against his chest, the hardened nipples rubbing against him through the material of their clothes.
He wanted more. Needed more.
The energy burned from him and poured into her. He gave her everything, opened himself until there was nothing hidden. And she accepted. She pulled it into her as if she depended on it. Needed it to live.
He moved his leg and nudged it between hers until his thigh rubbed against the juncture of her sex. His dick was rock hard and throbbing in need behind his jeans. She squirmed and moaned at the contact, pushing down on his leg and creating a friction that pummeled against his erection.
His hand shifted from her hair to run up her side until it cupped against the fullness of her breast. He brushed his thumb over the hardened nipple, and she moaned. Her body arched into his palm and he squeezed the mound, desperate for more. She was perfect. Beautiful. Right.
His.
Again, the possessiveness smacked against him with its heavy fist of acceptance.
Then he felt it—it tumbled into him in hot steams of pure strength. Her energy surrounded him, invaded every crevice and filled him with a burning sense of power. She withheld nothing, gave everything and continued to push him for more.
Power—pure, undiluted, enormous—billowed up from within and circled them in a whirlwind of desire. It was overwhelming, yet welcomed. Foreign, yet gentle.
Airiana pulled back and opened her eyes to look into his. The dark depths were almost black with their need. Her fingers brushed over his cheek in a gentle stroke of amazement.
“You.”
The whispered word brushed over his lips and slid into his heart in belonging. He reached for the completeness and knew she held it. Without her, he would never be whole.
“You,” he breathed back, then brought his lips to hers in a hungry demand for everything. He wanted it all and she gave without resistance. The kiss turned desperate, the energy built and the raven flew high on the power, on the pure joy of the moment.
The power burst forth, exploded out and crashed against the energy that circled them. The two meshed, twisted and whipped outward in a punishing leveling of everything in its path.
Louk flipped her beneath him in one smooth movement of protection. Airiana’s hands braced against his chest, her eyes opened wide in wonder. His chest heaved as he met her questioning gaze.
“Again?” she finally said. “What the hell was that?”
“Evidently, we’re a very combustible couple,” he tried to joke, but the words came out flat when braced against the significance of what was happening.
The moment was broken by a loud pounding on his bedroom door. “Louk! Open up. What happened in there?”
Phelix. Louk dropped his head and rested it against hers. “My brother.”
“Where are we?”
“My bedroom on the compound.”
She inhaled and attempted to push him away. “Get off me.” She gave a solid shove, but he remained firmly above her. “I have to get out of here before they kill me.” Desperation edged her voice and she continued her struggles.
“No one will harm you,” he insisted as he caught her hands and held them still against his chest. “Trust me.” The simple words stilled her movements—her eyes met his in a deep search for the answers.
“There were no other options, Airi.” He held her gaze and silently begged her to see the truth. “After you took the swan dive into the fire pit, I had no choice. I barely stopped you before…” His breath hitched at the memory of how close he’d come to losing her. “After that, the three men from the cave were close on our trail. There was no place else to take you without getting trapped by them.”
The banging returned. “Louk! What’s going on?”
“Do you trust me?” He held his breath in silent desperation as he waited. She looked into his eyes, into his soul, and searched.
Finally, she inclined her head. “I trust you.”
Relief exited in a gush of air, and he crushed a quick kiss against her lips. “Together. Right? We’re in this together.”
Her lips curled up in a slight smile, one that still held a mingling of doubt. “Together.”
“Louk,” the voice insisted again. “You need to open the door. Now.”
Since his bedroom was in the shape of a circle—like all rooms on the compound—with an energy ring cast by him, Phelix would have to wait until Louk got around to opening the door.
Louk pushed off the bed and extended a hand to help Airiana up. He shoved back his own doubt and turned to pull on his boots.
Airiana followed his lead without question. “Rule of engagement number six—always go into a battle prepared,” she said as she slipped her boots on and reached for her coat which he’d left on the end of the bed. Finished, she stood, shook her hair back from her face so it flowed down her back in a straight curtain of silk, squared her shoulders and gave a quick nod. “Ready.”
Pride, pure and smooth, slammed into him. She was courageous, strong and beautiful. He wouldn’t fail her.
“What happened back at the cave?” He moved to his dresser and quickly tucked the normal arsenal of weapons onto his body as he waited for her answer.
She sighed and her voice wavered softly when she spoke. “I don’t know.” She paused and shifted her feet against the carpet. “One second I was with you and then the darkness invaded and pulled me under. I couldn’t fight it, couldn’t resist the commands that were filling me and forcing me to…jump.”
He paused to look at her. Her lips were pulled tight, her hands shoved deep into her pockets as she stared absently at the carpet.
“You scared the shit out me, sweet cheeks,” he said with forced lightness. “Don’t do it again.”
She looked at him and after a moment, smiled. “Right. I’ll try not to.”
He turned back to the dresser and picked up the throwing stars. He turned them over in his hand and contemplated. They were cold in his palm, the tiny blades sharpened to lethal spirals of death.
“What brought you here, Airi?”
He heard her sigh, a deep pressing release, but she didn’t pretend to misinterpret the question. “Doubt. Questions. A search for answers as to why I never felt like I belonged with the Shifters. Why I always questioned their words, doubted their beliefs. Why I was always so alone. A quest to find what the energy was pushing me to search for.”
“And did you find it?”
Silence. “Well, I found you. So, yeah, I think so… Louk?” She waited until he turned to face her. “Why didn’t you turn me in?”
It was his turn to sigh. “I told myself it was to find answers about my brother, Damian.” He contemplated the objects around the room for a moment, taking in the small mementos that reminded him of his family, of how little he still knew about his older brother, before his gaze came back to meet hers. “But in truth, I was drawn to you from the first time I touched you. There was a part of me that couldn’t turn you in until I figured out why.”
“And did you?”
A slow smile slid across his lips. “Yeah, I think I did.” In a quick decision, he held the throwing stars out to her. “Here. Take these. Just in case.”
Her lips compressed and disappeared between her teeth as the point of his gift registered. There were no guarantees.
“You could still go,” he offered even as the thought tore at him. “There’s nothing holding you here.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, then her chin lifted and she reached for the weapons. “There’s nowhere to go. I’m dead the second I leave the safety of this compound.” The truth of her statement tightened his gut. She distributed the weapons in her pockets and gave a shrug. “Besides, you wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight without me. We’ve already established that.”
He laughed, the tension leaving his body. Louk strode to the door, a beat of optimism in his step. He swung the door open and the optimism switched immediately to rock hard dread.
The cold, blue gaze of his father nailed him with a flat look of disappointment. His patrician nose was lifted in disdain, his mouth set in a grim line between compressed lips. He held his hands clasped behind his back, the strength of his hold displayed in the strain of the tendons on his neck. Clothed in an expertly tailored white silk shirt and slacks, he exuded the power that bespoke his position as the head of the House of Air.
Behind him stood Cronus, the oldest Energen in their enclave, an Ancient and their respected leader. His timeworn face told nothing, but Phelix’s said everything. His brother stood stiffly off to the side, the pain flashed across his features and nailed Louk in the chest.
His father narrowed his eyes and his lip curled up in a show of pure disgust. “Louk,” he said, then rolled his tongue in his mouth as if the taste of the words offended him. “You have betrayed us.”
There was nothing he could say. The truth of the words echoed in his mind even as Airiana stepped up behind him and placed her hand on his back. The energy pooled into him and gave him the needed strength to straighten his shoulders and face his fate.
Wrong. Their fate.
And for them, he would fight.
Chapter Ten
Strong. Airiana kept her shoulders back and her head up as she faced the enemy. That’s what they all were. Except Louk, who stood beside her, his hand tightly grasped around hers. It was his energy flowing into her that kept her balanced. Kept the complete hopelessness of the situation from pulling her under.
Again, it was the two of them against a foe. United when only that very morning
they
were enemies.
She felt his doubt, though. It whispered over the energy that circled within her. He wasn’t as confident as he was presenting. That unnerved her, but she wouldn’t let it show. Weaknesses were only exploited, and she would give them none.
In truth, she was still shaken by her encounter with Gog. She had no question that the dragon had controlled her and manipulated her into jumping. How, she didn’t know. Without Louk, she would have been dead.
“Explain yourself,” the voice boomed across the chamber. The man who spoke was one of the men who had greeted them outside Louk’s room. He was dressed in a long white robe that draped to the ground and covered his feet so it gave the appearance that he floated more than walked when he crossed the room to stand before them. His hair was white with remnants of gold giving hint to his one-time color. The energy proclaimed him to be another Ancient, but his posture and carriage gave no suggestion to his true age.
He looked them over with cool blue eyes, pausing at their joined hands with a pointed glare. His own hands were locked before him, but hidden beneath the folds of his robe.
“We are waiting for your words before a judgment is passed.”
“What do you want to know?” Louk spoke stiffly, none of his usual jovialness showing in his voice or expression.
Airiana made a quick assessment of the large, circular room. Currently mostly empty, it was obviously a judicial chamber of sorts with bleacher style seating lining the walls of the room going ten to twelve rows high. At each directional point was a throne style seat that she assumed was reserved for the Head of each House. She knew enough about the enemy to understand that the Energen were aligned under Houses that were associated to a directional navigation and thus its corresponding elemental power.
Louk’s father stood to the side, his face a mask of anger. “Don’t you dare smart off to us,
son
.” The cold tone was emphasized by the tight hold of his mouth and jaw.
“I’m not,
father
. I will tell you whatever you want to know. I’d just like to understand what I am accused of first.”
Smart. Airiana gave a mental nod of approval. Rule of engagement number seven—get the enemy to divulge their information before you give them any of your own.
Besides Louk’s brother, who stood back from the group with his hands in his pockets and his face deceptively blank, there were two other men and one woman in the chamber. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they must be the other House Heads who had been rounded up for their impromptu inquisition.
Airiana sucked in a breath and prepared herself for the coming battle, for there was no question in her mind there would be one. The faces around them said it all and it was verified by the energy that radiated off them. The pretense of a fair hearing was nothing more than a sham. They had been judged before they entered the room.
She tightened her hand around Louk’s and mentally planned. Together, they would make it out. Alive.
“Why are you with her?” Louk’s father pointed at Airiana like she was the lowest life form on earth. “How could you betray us? Did I not warn you about Damian often enough? You were told of his betrayal, of how he aided the Shifters in the death of your oldest brother, Kristoff. My
son
. Damian’s actions tore our family apart. Ripped your mother’s heart out. And still, you stand here with your hand attached to one of
them
? Have you no dignity? No honor?”
Shame engulfed him, but Louk wouldn’t let it prevail. Airiana was not evil and neither was he. “I have not betrayed you.” He looked around and met the gaze of every person in the room. “Any of you. We have been brought together for a reason. One I don’t yet understand, but it is
not
to harm any of you.”