As if reading my emotions, his gaze darkened, and the smile on his face faded. “Take off your clothes and lie down with me.”
I moved my hands to the hem of my shirt and bit my lip. I hadn’t seen the inside of it before, but what if Cadmus’ Light magic made us both visible? “But the gazebo —”
“Is private. Trust me. I won’t let anyone interrupt us.” With a flick of his wrist, spectral bands of Light wrapped the pavilion. “Now take it off.”
He leaned back against a post and crossed his arms over his chest.
I slowly stripped. First my shirt, then my jeans. I wriggled and gyrated, taunting him with the curve of my breasts and the fullness of my ass. Cadmus was far from unaffected. I could see his erection straining through the front of his trousers.
“Where did you get those clothes?” I toyed with the strap of my bra.
“From Jonas,” he answered in a thick voice, his eyes glued to my hands. “The bra, Ellie. I need to see.”
I reached behind me, thrusting out my breasts as I did so. His eyes, I noted with satisfaction, were so dark they looked black. After I unhooked the bra, I eased it off my shoulders, letting the scrap of silk slide to the floor. My panties soon followed.
“By the Light, your beauty is breathtaking.”
I flushed, pleased by his praise, and waited for him to approach. When he only stood there staring, I took the initiative and stepped forward.
“No, wait.” He stripped out of his clothes with harried movements. “Lie down.”
Excitement quivered in my belly as I complied. On my back, I gazed up at him, wondering how, in such a short span of time, I’d gone from sad and angry to loving and aroused. Cadmus’ sweltering gaze lingered over my body, his hands clenched by his sides. His velvety cock bobbed and grew, and my mouth watered.
I wanted so badly to taste him. I breathed a sigh of relief when he finally kneeled. But I started when he settled between my thighs, nudging them wider, and stared from my belly ring to my sex, licking his lips.
My pulse skyrocketed.
“That ring drives me crazy.” He leaned forward, the hard tip of his shaft brushing my cleft and making me hunger for more. With a gentle bite, he tugged at the silver ring, licking my belly and sucking at the tender flesh. I moaned, and his mouth trailed lower.
He licked his lips. “That brief taste of you in the shower wasn’t enough.”
He ran his thumbs through my blonde curls, sliding through my folds but not any deeper. He barely glazed my clit, but the fiery touch was enough to have me arching to meet him.
“That’s it, baby. I want you wet for me.” He lowered his head and nuzzled me. “You smell so damned sweet.” He splayed my folds wide open and lowered his mouth.
I gasped, unbearably aroused when his hot breath settled over my clit, and he began licking me in earnest.
His lips whispered along my flesh, stroking and teasing, deliberately keeping his touch light. I writhed, needing more, and he inserted a blunt finger inside me. He wouldn’t move it, so I rode him, moving with the pressure of his tongue and teeth.
Dark need settled over me, and I realized with some surprise that part of my arousal came from Cadmus. Our energies meshed, sensual desire building as our bodies demanded more.
Great stores of power flowed into me, and when he added a second finger and rumbled small, elemental vibrations over my clit, I cried out with pleasure.
“That’s it, love, tell me how much you like it.” I could feel how much he desired me. His Dark arousal mirrored my own. “Give it to me, baby. I want you to come in my mouth.”
His words were like a fever, and as he teased me, he stirred something Darker, something foreign and yet familiar within me. He groaned and aroused me with nips and bites that made me crazed. I was so wet, so close, on the edge between sensation and utter chaos, when a tendril of Light whipped through me, a thread of love that snaked from Cadmus.
I exploded in an orgasm so fierce I lost awareness of everything around me. Power rushed, a sudden understanding of who and what I could be, and the half of my heart that had been missing for so long joined mine in a whirl of joy. Glorying in the feeling, I barely registered Cadmus’ worry under his passion, caring, and love.
“Ellie. Fuck. You’re in truth.”
Gradual understanding dawned, and I stared at my lover with new eyes. In truth, I saw everything differently. Cadmus looked like a dark flame, a man suffused with bright white light and strange streaks of black that I instinctively knew came from him. Yet the feminine power surrounding him was mine. Like an aura of sex, my Darkness clung to him like a lover should. An unbreakable bond, the erotic beauty in Cadmus called out for equal measure, and as my power thrived, so did my feelings.
“Cadmus, this is so incredible.” I held a hand up to my face, seeing in it the pure energy of my being. “I can feel all of you, your magic, your strength.” Your love. I kept the words close to my heart, aware I might have projected onto Cadmus what I myself felt for him. What we shared went far beyond the physical. But rejection had never been an easy thing for me to accept. From Cadmus, I knew it just might crush me beyond repair.
He kissed my palm and smiled. “It’s funny, but you’re even sexier now than before. Naked energy is so appealing.” He stroked my breasts.
I sighed, the feel of his hand over my body — my energy — like liquid climax.
