My Brother's Keeper (19 page)

"When I woke, Keelan was in my arms, and my father's grimoire was on the floor. My father made history that day as the first witch to pass physical matter across great distances in a dream state, but no one would ever know.

"To keep us safe, I bound Keelan's powers until he was old enough to do it himself and we moved back to Storm Keep. I figured that the enemy didn't know that Keelan or I even existed, and if we did, what were the odds we would live right under their noses? I took my brother's name, so that, in some small way, I could honor his memory and settled in as lowly archivist. I could monitor the council closely and slowly destroy the books of powerful spells my father was forced to leave behind."

"You don't look like a Julian," Meryn announced.

Kendrick gave her a grateful smile. "That's because I'm not, not anymore."

"But Your Majesty, this changes everything," Marshall started.

Kendrick shook his head. "This changes nothing. Without cutting off the head of the snake, history is doomed to repeat itself. I won't reveal myself and put my loved ones in danger for nothing. Only after we identify our true enemies can we hope to make any changes."

"Not to sound like a smart ass..." Meryn began. She had to stop when almost everyone around the table snorted. "As I was saying, I don't want to state the obvious, but aren't the ones in power now the ones who are responsible? Can't we just go kick their asses and call it a day?"

Lily shook her head gently at Meryn. "You are truly my niece. I'm afraid the answer isn't so simple, or I would have done just that years ago."

"Well, why not?" Anne demanded. She didn't like the idea that Kendrick was in danger.

"Because, Your Majesty, the ones in power were most likely manipulated in the same way as the people." Lily explained.

Anne blinked. 

All at once, the implications of Kendrick's royalty hit her. "Oh, my."

Kendrick reached over and began rubbing her back. "It's okay, everything is the same as when we sat down for Ryuu's wonderful soup. Breathe."

Anne turned and slapped at him with both hands. "Don't tell me to breathe, you royal pain in the ass! I'm fine!"

Meryn cackled. "I knew I liked her."

"Actually, Anne, you're hyperventilating," Rheia called out from the end of the table.

Anne took a deep breath and held it before exhaling slowly. She did that a couple more times all while glaring at Kendrick.

"Where's my levelheaded nurse?" he teased.

She flipped him off, and he chuckled. He winked at her and lifted his wine glass. She narrowed her eyes and leaned in close enough so only he could hear. "Keelan showed me a dream where I had triplet boys."

Kendrick sputtered in his wine glass and began to choke, which caused him to inhale more wine. Smiling sweetly, she now rubbed his back. "There, there darling, everything is okay. Just breathe."

Meryn licked her finger and drew an invisible line in the air marking Anne's victory over Kendrick.

It took a couple minutes for Kendrick to clear his airways. His chest was still heaving as he stared at her in wonder. "Truly?" Kendrick grinned at her with a goofy look on his face.

"Maybe."

"Well, I know what I'm doing tonight," he announced.

She gulped hard and stared at him. The dark, heated look he was giving her reminded her of the way a jungle cat watches its prey. 

"So what do we do?" Lily asked.

Kendrick broke eye contact with her and turned back to the others. "Do exactly what you have been doing. This secret cannot leave the room. If you don't think you can carry on as you always have, you need to let me know, and I'll erase it from your mind."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we will, of course, keep your secret," Gavriel replied formally.

"Our mission is over." Lily turned to Marshall.

Marshall smiled at his mate. "And we have a daughter, a new son and niece to get to know."

Aiden cleared his throat. "Actually, if you could call Caiden and resume your Elder role, that would help us out quite a bit."

Marshall nodded. "Of course, but why is that a problem?"

"Because we have multi-flavor douchebags from each of the pillar cities trying to cause trouble," Meryn explained.

Lily smiled and tapped her lips. "Really? That sounds like fun."

"Oh, Gods," Aiden, Marshall, and Elizabeth said at the same time.

Beside her, Kendrick stood. "Aiden, I'll let you catch Marshall and Lily up on where we stand with the Committee. I have other pressing matters to attend to." Kendrick turned to Anne and bowed, one hand over his heart and the other stretched out to her. "My Lady, may I escort you upstairs?"

"Bow chica wow wow," Meryn sung.

Anne felt herself blushing furiously, but didn't care. She placed her hand in his and stood. Turning, she noticed that everyone at the table was grinning ear to ear.

"Good night everyone," she said.

"Sleep tight!" Rheia called.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite!" Amelia yelled laughing.

"But let Kendrick bite if he wants to!" Colton smirked.

Everyone was still laughing as they walked into the hallway. Kendrick was every inch the gentlemen until they stepped into the foyer.

"I will give you a ten-second head start." His eyes flashed with lust.

"Fuck!"

"Exactly."

Anne didn't waste another precious second; she ran.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Anne ran as fast as she could, but he still caught up with her before she even reached the top of the stairs. She laughed as he swung her up in his arms and headed to her bedroom.

"Not to ruin the mood, but I need to check on Keelan," she said as they passed his door.

Kendrick stopped and set her on her feet. "Thank you for putting his needs above your own."

Anne opened the door and approached Keelan's bed. "He may not be my mate, but he is my best friend." She checked his feeding tube and his IV port and replaced his drip bag. "Does he know about your parents?"

Kendrick shook his head. "No. I never wanted to put him in any danger, he was better off not knowing."

"What did you tell him about your parents?" Anne asked.

"That they died in a boating accident trying to cross the river; neither one of them knew water magic. It was the most plausible explanation I could come up with." Kendrick smiled down at his brother.

"He didn't even think to doubt you, did he?"

"No. Growing up, he must have believed I walked on water. He was always following me around, getting into my spell supplies." Kendrick laughed suddenly. "When he was two, he ate almost an entire bag of saltpeter while I was engrossed in translating a manuscript. When I realized what he was doing, I ran around like a madman trying to find someone to help. The widow down the road laughed at me and gave him a liquid that made him start throwing up. I felt like the worst brother in the entire universe as I watched my little buddy empty the contents of his stomach for five hours. That episode made me want to learn about healing. I never wanted to stand by helpless when he needed me again."

"I can't wait to ask him questions about you." Anne held out her hand.

Kendrick took it and dimmed the lights in the room with a wave of his hand.

Arriving at her guest suite felt almost anti-climatic. When the door shut behind them, she sighed. Kendrick went to the dresser and turned on the small lamp. Its low wattage gave off just enough light to see but was easy on the eyes.

Kendrick looked up. "Do you want me to chase you around the bedroom?"

She laughed and shook her head. "It feels so obligatory now."

"Obligatory?" Kendrick slowly unzipped his hoodie. "I'll give you obligatory."

Anne watched him as he casually began to strip out of his clothing. When he was shirtless and unbuttoning his jeans, she held up her hand. "Stop."

Kendrick blinked. "Everything?"

She walked over and reached out tentatively. Kendrick's personality hinged on his brilliant mind, so she often forgot that he was extremely well muscled. The short auburn chest hair gave him a warm glow in the low light.

She started by placing her hands side by side in the center of his chest then moved them upward, caressing his muscles. She ran her hands down his sides and then around the front, tracing the indention his hips made, which led downward. His body, under her hands, was very still. She looked up and saw a look of wonder on his face. She leaned in, placed her cheek against his chest, and listened to his heartbeat. "You're beautiful, you know. You have one of the most perfect bodies I have ever seen."

She eyed the brilliant red, black, and silvery white tattoos on his right forearm and looked up at him. "Very nice," she murmured.

He winked at her and took both of her hands in his, kissing them gently. He let them drop, grabbed the hem of her shirt, and pulled it up over her head. "Do I get to return the favor?"

She nodded as he slowly and deliberately removed each piece of clothing. He stopped when she stood before him in just her bra and panties. "I think I prefer to take you slowly rather than in the heat of the moment." He slid her bra straps down before he leaned down to kiss her collarbones. "I want you to know that I am thinking of you and only you, every second I am making love to you. I want you to know that each touch, each kiss, and each caress is deliberate. I don't want you to give in to mindless passion, because your mind is the thing I love the most about you." He undid the clasp and let the bra fall to the floor. "I want to explore every inch of you. I want to memorize every bump, freckle, and scar. I want to burn into my memory how your body feels against mine so that it never feels complete without you."

Kendrick pulled her close and the heat of his skin against her sensitive nipples caused her to shiver. He looked down and it was almost as if his amber eyes were glowing like molten gold. "Would you rather I throw you on the bed and pleasure you so much that you don't know your own name? Or would you rather I love you tortuously, drawing out every single wave of ecstasy until my name is the only thing you know?"

Anne wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him. "The second one, then the first one twice, then the second one again," she grinned up him.

Kendrick looked up at the ceiling before smiling down at her. "You will be the death of me."

"Always," she promised.

Kendrick stepped backward and unzipped his jeans. When he let them fall, Anne began to have serious regrets about asking for multiple sessions. She doubted she was going to survive the first round. 

His cock was erect and reached his belly button. As if she wasn't worried enough about the length, the rounded head capped a shaft that she knew she would barely be able to wrap her hand around.

"It won't kill you," Kendrick said laughing.

Anne scrunched up her face. "It might."

"Let's see." He knelt down in front of her and rolled her panties over her hips and down her legs. She stepped out of them, and he threw them across the room.

"Have you ever made love to a witch before?" he asked as he used his thumbs to part her folds. 

She shook her head. "You know I haven't."

Kendrick looked up at her with an impish smile on his face. "Then let me introduce you to benefits of being mated to a witch."

One second she was standing, the next she was on her back, floating in mid-air. "Kendrick?"

"I've mastered air magic my love, you won't fall."

He floated her over to the bed, but instead of letting her fall onto the covers, he kept her floating three feet above them. 

She raised an eyebrow.

"The better to eat you, my dear." He spread her legs wide and ran his tongue up her slit until he was teasing her clit with his teeth. 

Gasping, she threw her head back. Over and over he alternated between sharp bites and rapid flicks of his tongue. With her legs straining, she reached for him, chasing the pleasure he promised.

He drew back and dropped her gently on the bed. She whimpered at the loss, and he chuckled.

"It gets better," he said as he reached down and began to enter her slowly.

She knew she was right to be concerned. He was stretching her too much. She began thrashing her head from side to side. "Kendrick!"

She was about to tell him to stop when she felt his hot mouth on her clit again.

Huh? How could he be pleasuring her with both his mouth and his cock at the same time?

She opened her eyes, and he was smiling down at her. "How?"

"Fire magic."

The heat twisted and turned. She clenched down on his invading cock, trying to capture that one thing she was desperate for.

He leaned forward and leisurely licked and nibbled on her left breast. When he pulled back, an icy biting sensation distracted her from the overwhelming sensations around her clit.

He surged deep, filling her completely before igniting his fire spell to send her into the stratosphere. He mercilessly kept her on the brink of climax and then brought her down with a bite of ice. Back and forth, he used the dueling sensations to drive her out of her mind.

Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, he was leaning over her, thrusting into her over and over again. His gaze was filled with love and his eyes with tears as he began to recite words that she somehow knew; it was as if they were written on her heart and only he could see the words to unlock her soul.

"As there is a sun and moon, a sky and earth, and a Lord and Lady, so there are two pieces to this one soul. Let us be complete once more, never to be torn apart. I give everything I am into my mate's keeping, let my love protect and guard our joined souls."

He thrust deep one final time, shuddering with his own release, which triggered her orgasm. As her heartbeat began to slow, she began to feel a gentle, warm wave begin to engulf her. It wasn't forceful or savage. It was kind and patient as it slowly invaded every cell in her body. She felt new connections as awareness flooded her senses. She was now tied to nature itself; it was so humbling and beautiful, and she began to cry.