“What do you mean?” Layla’s heart thudded in her chest. Even thinking of Adrian brought a memory of his searing aqua eyes to her mind. Her skin was suddenly crawling with the desire to see him again, to feel his touch. A bourbon-orange scent rose around her and Rikyava raised a blonde eyebrow.
“I meanthat.” Rikyava nodded to the air pointedly. “You’re flaring with magic just thinking about Adrian. And clearly he’s got no equilibrium around you. You have to understand, Layla. Adrian is a renegade, he plays by his own rules, but he still has them. He’s not only powerful, he’s alsocalculating.Adrian does nothing without a motive, and a damn good one, even though nobody can generally predict his wild chess-moves. He’s like a grandmaster savant at playing the game of power, Layla, which is why he’s risen so high so fast in a number of dangerous games.”
“I feel like I’ve seen that side of Adrian,” Layla murmured, “but he seems so… rash and passionate around me that people tell me these things about him and I don’t believe them.”
“That’s because he’s behaving differently since your Bind happened.” Rikyava lifted a blonde eyebrow, her face serious. “I’ve never seen Adrian lose his shit so fast as he did at the party, and I’m certain it’s because of the Bind. There wasn’t anyone home for a moment in Adrian’s eyes as Dusk separated you both and whisked you from the hall. I wasn’t just afraid you’d shift – but that Adrian was going to, and that he’d wreck ruin trying to get to you. Fortunately, Adam was there. He was a way with Adrian. It’s one of the reasons Adam’s Clan Second. Because when Adrian goes death-metal sandstorm, Adam can play pastoral pan-pipes in his ear.”
“Pastoral pan-pipes.” Layla’s lips quirked, glad for Rikyava’s humor. It helped ease the situation, and she sat back on the pillows, feeling tired. “Fuck. What am I going to do?”
“Heal first. We’ll figure everything else out later.” Rikyava gave the duvet a swift pat, then rose. “I need to go find Dusk and tell him about this new development. I’m sure he’ll want to question King Falliro personally about this void-shadow. You ok sitting tight? I’ve got six guards on your door. Anything happens in here, you just shout and they’ll be in fast.”
“Sure. Go do your thing.” Layla smiled. “And thanks for being here.”
“No problem. You – eat.” Reaching out, Rikyava thunked Layla’s soup-tray back over her knees, then gave a big smile and departed, whisking out through the doors and opening them wide enough that Layla could see Guards upon the other side. It made her feel better as Rikyava left. But as Layla spooned up Rake’s soup again, she found herself wishing Adrian was there with her. Even though his magic had made her flare, she suddenly wanted his arms around her, his warm heat against her back, holding her through all this uncertainty. But even as she sighed, feeling a dark hole open in her chest, another knock came at the door. Layla set the tray aside but didn’t rise, not caring anymore if someone saw her looking weak.
“Who is it?”
“Sylvania, dear,” a lovely silver alto voice breathed through the door.
“And Rake.” A man’s calm tenor followed the Head Courtesan’s, and Layla recognized it.
“Come in.”
They pushed in through the door, a duo of excellent and intriguing grace. Sylvania Eroganis, Head Courtesan of the Hotel, was willowy and tall, her pale skin luminous with moonlight as she swept forward. Her unbound white-silver locks were smooth as a river at midnight, her high-collared robe made of a white diaphanous material that showed far more of Sylvania’s willowy body than it obscured. Her lovely breasts were pierced with strings of pearls that trickled like waterfalls from her nipples, the same pierced through her abdomen and down to her groin, scintillating and decadent.
Rake André could have passed for human, even though he was ridiculously good-looking. Tall and built in a yoga-fit way, he wore a long-sleeved emerald silk shirt with crossover toggles and high Tibetan collar. His pants were tan rough silk, his usual attire for yoga class rather than the crisp waistcoat he wore bartending. His ash-blond hair was short, a blond stubble on his defined chin. His calm green eyes shone with gentleness as the duo came to Layla’s bed, one on either side.
“Poor dear! Such fatigue runs through you!” Sylvania crooned as she came close. Lifting the duvet and sheet, she slid beneath the covers, reclining and pressing her sensual body close to Layla’s. Before she knew it, Layla found herself pulled back against the Head Courtesan, her blue robe being shed by Sylvania’s elegant hands as Sylvania’s robe also disappeared – Layla’s bare back suddenly pressed against the Head Courtesan’s amazingly warm and luscious front.
“Um, what’s happening?” Layla blinked as Sylvania’s arms came around her, cradling her close. But then a soothing balm of light began pouring through Layla from all her skin contact with the Head Courtesan, and she relaxed. She found herself staring up at Rake André like an idiot as he moved in with a chuckle, taking her tray off the bed, then stripping off his shirt and baring his amazingly cut body as he slid under the covers also. Gathering her close from the front, Rake slid a hand over her bare hip, and Layla’s breath caught as he eased in close – his warm exhalation and sweet lips a mere breath away.
Silver light curled through Layla’s body from Sylvania. And gazing up at Rake, snuggled in so close their hips touched, Layla found herself fascinated by the golden color of his stubble. She had never been this up close and personal with Rake, and she suddenly had the urge to touch him. Sliding out a hand, she stroked his impossibly soft stubble. It was as smooth as it looked and Rake chuckled, stroking back Layla’s bed-tousled curls with a kind smile in return.
“So… what are we doing?” Layla asked again, her mind not quite working anymore as the sexy, luminous duo snuggled in close with her.
“Sylvania and I wanted to come help you feel better,” Rake murmured, his tenor voice gentle. “But Rikyava said we couldn’t until you woke up. We heard you were awake. So we’re here.”
“What? I mean, that’s nice…” Sylvania’s ethereal light was pouring through Layla from their skin contact, making her feel like she danced upon fairy dust now, calm and blissful.
Rake stroked her cheek with his knuckles, his calm green eyes knowing. “Just breathe, Layla. Close your eyes and breathe like we do in yoga class. Let Sylvania and I do the rest.”
“Ok.” Layla didn’t know what else to say. She could already feel Rake’s sweet energy breathing out from his parted lips, curling in through hers as they breathed together. Once she noticed it, their breaths were suddenly in synch, slow and deep with Sylvania’s silvery bliss pouring through Layla’s sinews also.
As Rake exhaled, Layla inhaled, taking his out-breath and letting it wash over her tongue and down her throat, deep in to her lungs. Normally, she got claustrophobic breathing someone else’s exhalation, but Rake’s breath was sweetened like dawn over the Himalayas, fresh and cool. Spreading out inside her in wave after wave of peaceful ecstasy, Layla made a sound of enjoyment as Rake’s breath synched to Sylvania’s luminous surges. Layla let their combined ministrations sweep her – taking her away from her tired, painful body as they sweetened her in slow waves of delight.
Layla drifted, caught in their magics. She didn’t know how far she drifted, but in her blissful trance, she began seeing visions. A Moroccan palace of blue tiles; a fountain-courtyard with potted palms and a kitchen with good scents of spiced meats, citrus, and honey. Adrian’s face. Sitting on his bed up in his Moroccan-styled apartment on the fourth floor of the Hotel, he thumbed through texts on his phone when his head suddenly lifted. He inhaled, his aqua eyes piercing her – as if he could see her also. Her heart beat hard as he looked right at her and whispered,Layla?
But a surge from Sylvania and Rake pushed the vision away. Layla drifted, luminous and fuzzy. She didn’t feel fatigued or painful anymore, only a blissful languor as Rake’s hand slipped up her hip and he closed the distance to her lips, kissing her gentle and sweet. As they kissed, he pulled her close, his silk-clad hips flush with hers. She could feel his arousal, but she also knew as he stroked her hip with his fingertips, that passion didn’t drive Rake André. He kissed Layla sweetly, opening her mouth with his tongue and exhaling his next breath gently down her throat. Layla sighed, swept away in pleasure – her Dragon rolling over with a contented smile, letting his energy play within her like sunlight.
And it was play, that moved the three of them upon the sweet tides of the morning. Layla found herself undulating in a quiet passion as Rake kissed her, pleasurable and slow, and as Sylvania flushed her with silver-gold light. It was divine, and they were divinity in her flesh, breathing through her in rippling waves.
But rather than feel devoured by their energies, Layla felt energized. Rake’s breath was in her throat, surging deep inside her. Sylvania’s light was building in her heart and sex, powerful with sunlit pleasure. As Layla and Rake kissed, he drew her closer, pressing his lips to hers and driving that morning warmth deep inside her. His hardness brushed her and she cried out at his mouth, surging in a wave of golden bliss.
As if they had planned the moment, Sylvania suddenly flared like a star at Layla’s back – flooding all through Layla in a wave of ecstasy. Golden light filled Layla. She exploded into climax, crying out into Rake’s mouth as he pressed another wave of ecstasy deep inside her, then another. Layla came again and again, arching in Sylvania’s arms as her lips and body pressed hard against Rake – joining them in a circle of radiant bliss.
Layla shuddered bonelessly as the power finally waned, undone by golden pleasure and light. The Head Courtesan cradled her, kissing her neck as she gradually drew her sunlit energy back. Rake’s smile was amazing as he pulled away also, setting one last kiss to Layla’s lips.
“Beautiful,” he murmured as Layla undulated against him in a sweet wave. He was still rock-hard, and the sensation of it made Layla surge one last time. Golden sunlight poured through her a final time and she cried out, arching as Rake clasped her close. And then Layla was finished, gasping gently in their arms, feeling like she glowed from head to heels and not giving a damn what Adrian might think.
