Whispers of astonishing organization in the wraith community. Rumors of the Aellei queen’s strange, insatiable sexual appetites, of her odd reluctance to share her Dark Lord lover with anyone else, a state completely contrary to Queen Lidra’s open desires.
The search parties thought it strange indeed that her lover had never given his name. Considering how well Sin Garu liked to brag of his conquests to anyone who would listen, his secretiveness seemed most curious.
An answer to all my questions hovered just out of reach, and had I not been so distracted with Aerolus, I would have figured out Sin Garu’s plan by now. Obviously, he wanted Tanselm. But why that land when there were others with as much, if not more magic? And how did he think to gain leadership over the Storm Lords and their all-powerful sorcerer, Arim?
A hand caught my tapping fingers, and I blinked in surprise down into Aerolus’ intense gaze. Staring into the central focus of his power was like looking into the vortex of a storm — one that could kill or pass over calmly in the blink of an eye.
“Purie?” He brought my palm to his mouth for a kiss and studied me through half-lidded eyes.
Reconciling this Aerolus with the academic mage who’d done without sex for a year confused me… and stirred an unwanted, erotic response. It was like I was melting on top of him.
“My name is Alandra, not ‘little one,’” I answered breathlessly, irritated at how easily he made me forget my resolve. I had to stand firm and distant from the captivating mage. “Look, Aerolus,” I began, only to stop when something nagged at the back of my mind. An unpleasant tingle made me shiver.
“You’re bossy for such a little thing,” he said with humor, his voice a husky rumble that distracted me long enough to allow his tug-of-war with my hand. A quick jerk had me off-balance and fully in his arms, my breasts kissing his chest, my legs draped on either side of him, our sexes pressed up against each other.
I could feel how wet I’d become, and it was impossible to ignore his hard, thick erection barely protected by his clothes.
“There’s something going on here,” I tried again, trying to listen to my instincts instead of my libido.
“There sure is.” He dragged me to him for a kiss that sent gales of desire coursing through my blood. The wild taste of him had reason retreating behind a storm of lust so intense it shook me with its power.
A small part of me was thrilled to know he was just as caught as I was. Tendrils of energy wrapped around us both, his latent elemental energy feeding my shadowy nature.
I was ready to strip him naked and ride him until neither of us could walk again. I squirmed on the ridge growing between my thighs, and he groaned and deepened the kiss, one hand wrapped in my hair as he angled my mouth over his, the other on my lower back, edging me harder over his erection.
When his tongue stroked mine, I moaned in pleasure. The sheer magic of the man, amazing for a Light Bringer, called out to my Dark energy, to the Shadow that dwelled within me.
“So sweet, so hot,” he murmured against my lips, leaning back to stare. “Your eyes are like stars, your lips like wine.”
I flushed, pleased to hear such flattery. But when he stopped, I prodded, “And my skin? Like pure-white marble? Or how about snow-spun down, maybe?”
“Like thick, sweet cream.” He ran a finger down my cheek to my neck, resting above my fluttering pulse.
“Cream?”
“Hmm.” His hand traveled lower, slipping between my legs to cup me. He rubbed his palm over my wet sex, teasing me by brushing his knuckle against my full clit. “Sweet, milky cream that just keeps coming and coming.” He drenched his fingers in my arousal.
I gasped but couldn’t help riding his hand.
“That’s it, love.” He nuzzled my neck and licked my pulse, making me shudder at the effort it took not to come. “I want you to climax again. And this time I’m going to come inside you.”
He stopped rubbing me to release the snap on his jeans.
But before he could tug the zipper down, my senses cried danger.
I shivered so violently Aerolus couldn’t mistake it for passion.
He stilled. “Alandra? Love, talk to me.”
I tried to speak but couldn’t catch my breath. The room seemed so cold and devoid of life.
“Something’s coming.” My teeth chattered, and I gaped at the taint of evil energy filling my small haven. Dark blue light surrounded the malevolence, a void where warmth should be. And then I knew. “Ice wraiths. A lot of them.”
As if saying the words had conjured them, a dozen ice wraiths suddenly appeared. Tall and thin, the creatures lived in the Dark, hungering for the Light in others to bring them some reprieve from the eternal cold hammering their bones.
Brittle skin spotted with black and blue bruises marred the sickly yellow of their rotting flesh. Lumpy, hairless skulls sat atop obscenely thin necks, their gangly bodies strong despite their frail appearance. A dozen pairs of white eyes searched unblinkingly for their quarry, and the ice wraiths laughed and shrieked in pleasure upon seeing us together.
Typical Sin Garu henchmen. Henchwomen? Hench-things.
