Closing her eyes, she held him close as she remembered the way he’d looked just a few months ago when he’d awakened her from her slumber.
She’d been so angry to find him in the shadows of an abandoned abbey. So terrified of the foreign landscape that had seemed eerily familiar and completely alien. “What is this? Where am I?”
“You swore an oath to protect the Myrce.” It was, after all, what her name, Marcelina, meant. “They’re being threatened and I need your help to banish their threat back before it eradicates the last of the people you guard.”
Stunned, she’d stared up at him in total disbelief. “I saw you dead. How are you here?” Dumbfounded, she’d glanced around the overgrown courtyard. “How am I?”
“I was returned to life to fight the threat. Because I’m back, so are you. Are you with me for this?”
She’d nodded without full understanding of what he was proposing. Without knowing about Thorn or his Hellchasers, or the fact that it was her sister they’d be up against.
While her people weren’t warriors like Duel’s, they did use their magick to control the elements and to shield those who came under their protection. Their idea of battle and war was vastly different than his.
And his people had no concept of love.
At least that was what she’d always been told. But as she met his gaze and saw his tender expression and felt the hesitancy of his touch, she finally knew better. He did know what love was. It showed in everything he did for her. All those little things that he’d gone out of his way to ensure were done to make it easier for her, such as having food ready, or lodgings. To guarantee that she was always respected.
Seeing him clearly now for the first time, she lifted her hips as he slid her nightdress up so that he could skim his hand over her thigh, to her waist. A moment of panic went through her at the shocking contact, but she forced it away. There was nothing to fear with Duel. Of all beings, he wouldn’t hurt her. Not intentionally. She knew that without a doubt.
He left her lips so that he could kiss his way down her body, to her exposed belly. Hissing, Mara sank her hand into his wavy mass of soft black hair and held him closer to her as his hot breath caressed her skin.
Devyl took his time sampling every inch of her skin, and especially her breasts. He still couldn’t believe he was here and that this wasn’t a dream. That she was finally allowing him to have her.
How many times had he imagined being with her like this? Dreamt of her touching him with something other than scorn or hatred? And the reality was so much better than anything he’d ever concocted in his fantasies.
Licking his lips, he pulled her gown over her head, then rolled to trap her under him. “Are you feeling better?”
She touched her nose playfully to his before she answered. “You were right. My mind is completely off my misery.”
Too bad his wasn’t. The pain of wanting to be inside her was excruciating. And it took every bit of his will not to rush, but this was her first time and the last thing he wanted was to ruin it for her.
Or worse, cause her pain.
A smile tugged at the edges of his lips as she bashfully reached for the waistband of his breeches, then hesitated. He kissed her again. “You can touch me, Mara. I promise you, I won’t mind at all.”
A bright red blush crept over her cheeks.
Tsking at her, he took her hand into his and slowly guided her toward his cock, then showed her how to stroke him.
Mara bit her lip as she watched the pleasure play across Duel’s face. He was so hard and soft at the same time. Like velvet stretched over steel.
That familiar tic returned to his cheek as he growled deep in his throat.
It made her feel powerful to hold him like this. To know she controlled his pleasure.
At least until he returned the favor and began stroking her intimately. Arching her back, she cried out at the most incredible pleasure she’d ever felt. What was he doing to her?
But even more incredible was the unexpected surge it gave her powers. They sizzled through her body. “Can you feel that?” she whispered.
“I feel it.”
Mara gasped as she realized that his eyes were no longer red or dark. They now glowed a vibrant amber … the color of a Deruvian magus’s eyes. She trembled at that significance. “How much power do you wield?”
“My grandfather was the king of the Adoni, and my mother a daughter of Yggdrasill.”
Mara’s head swam at that confession. A daughter of Yggdrasill would have held unbelievable powers. No wonder he could predict the weather. Which made her wonder …
“Can you control the elements?”
