When I could think again, I opened eyes I hadn’t realized I’d closed, shocked to still be hard inside her.
Alandra toyed with the hair at my nape, a sly yet contented look on her face. “We’re one…once I agree with your conditions. So what are they, my prince?”
She shifted, and I couldn’t help from making love to her all over again. I wanted nothing more than to fill her with new life, to cement our ties so we would always have this warmth and passion between us.
“Fuck, Alandra.”
She laughed then moaned when I took her harder.
I was panting as I said what I’d been planning for a while. “You’ll be my bride and live with me here in the kingdom over Morn Mountain. You’ll bring a handful of loyal Aellei you deem worthy to join us, a bridge to gap our worlds of Light and Shadow.”
I was close to climax, and I could feel that she was as well, her Shadow pulsing in time with my Light.
“Aerolus, come, baby. In me.”
I groaned. “I will. If you do one small thing.”
She kissed me, and I jerked, nearly coming. “What?” she whispered. “Oh, oh. I’m close.”
“You must never, ever lie to me again.”
Before she could answer, I thrust deep once more and came, and she joined me, our energy, our love, spiraling into the air and down, into Tanselm.
“Aerolus,” she moaned, clenching me to her.
A massive vortex of wind and energy swirled around us, leaving us in the center of the storm’s heart. We remained locked, each tied to the other, heart to heart, mind to mind, as I poured my love into her.
Magic unfurled, a dance of winds and a wave of the mountain’s shadow caressing the two lovers with loving acceptance.
I didn’t dare think she might keep a promise to never lie to me. She was an Aellei, after all. But I’d said what mattered.
“I’m finally home.” Struck by the truth of my words, I felt tears come to my eyes.
Tanselm, Aelle, Seattle. None of it mattered if Alandra wouldn’t be there to share my life..
“You tricked me.” She brushed back a lock of fallen hair from my eyes. “I can’t believe an inexperienced Wind Mage, a snotty little Light Bringer, tricked me.”
She sighed and stretched, tightening around me again.
By the Light, how this woman commanded my body. It was truly magical.
She stroked my cheek and winked. “Taken in by a Light Bringer. I’m pathetic.” She laughed. “It must be love.”
Where the shadow of the mountain met the ground around us, flowers sprang up, the sultry scent of life blossoming with wonder.
“Aresla.” Alandra blinked in surprise. “They only bloom in Aelle, and only in the presence of Shadow.”
“But that was before.” I kissed her cheek and stroked her shining hair, feeling a tenderness for the tricky female that warmed everything inside me. Finally sated, I gently withdrew and kissed her again.
“Before?”
“Before your randy efforts nearly ruined everything,” a hard voice sneered, blasting us apart, each of us flying away from the other and landing hard on the ground.
With a bellow of anger, I leaped to my feet and commanded the air to aid me. Lost in fury, I dragged Alandra to me without thinking, protecting her as I reflected whorls of raging wind and bolts of electricity into the once-blue sky.
To my shock, the spells bounced harmlessly off my opponent—a large male with hazy features and a hint of Djinn flame. He jerked Alandra from me and gripped her arm in a punishing grip.
“Get off me, you cretin,” she snarled and did her best to go free. To no avail.
