Shadow Rising (29 page)

She carefully turned on his stomach until her ass was in his face and her lips hovered over his cock. “No, I have an idea.” She swiped her tongue across the pearl of fluid on his crown.

He hissed in a breath. “Oh, hellfire. Do that again.”

She smiled, taking his large shaft in both hands as she fit the first two inches of him into her mouth. She sucked hard and massaged her hands up and down his length.

With a groan, he kneaded the globes of her ass and ran his tongue over her rump. She squirmed against him, never having his tongue explore other parts of her before. She licked him clean, and then, despite his girth, she went down on him another inch until he filled every corner of her mouth and throat.

She felt the rumble in his chest when he sank two fingers into her sheath and lapped at her tightly knit bundles of nerves with his tongue. Her hands might have paused in their brisk strokes when he circled her hot mound, she wasn’t sure, but the next thing she knew, he was thrusting up into her mouth, urging her on.

She reveled in the feel of his silky skin in her hands as her mouth feasted on his essence. She needed more—couldn’t get enough. But instead of letting her simply enjoy him, he was driving her insane as he thrust his long fingers inside her and rhythmically stroked her clit.

She wasn’t going to come before he did this time. It wasn’t going to happen. She squeezed tighter with her fists and sucked harder, increasing her speed on his shaft until he was panting against her.

He pulled away. “I want to be inside you. Please.”

What could she say to that? “Hell, yes.”

She spread her legs wider and clawed at his skin when he shifted on top of her and plunged inside her already slick channel. With his hands on her ass, he pulled her tight to his groin every time he thrust. He was so thick and long, it might hurt if her body hadn’t been made for this.

“This is my fantasy,” he said as he kissed her roughly. “Tasting us both when our lips meet, watching your eyes close in ecstasy while I ride you. I’m going to come so deep inside you, you won’t ever be rid of me.”

She couldn’t talk. Her skin was hot and damp. He filled her so completely, she could feel every vein in his cock as he plunged into her. Her pussy held him tight, devouring him as her hips rose up to meet his thrusts. She strained toward him, her clit getting pounded over and over until at last, she screamed. Under his passionate onslaught, there was no holding back. No waiting.

Julian captured her mouth as she cried out, breathing in her moans of ecstasy, and then he was driving harder and faster, until she could do nothing but submit to his body as he possessed her.

His lips parted in a feral growl as he released his essence into her. She clung tight to him, riding the wave of rapture as her pussy milked his shaft. Her neck lolled back, unable to support the weight of her head as she focused everything she was on the bliss of being taken by him. He lifted a hand under her neck, allowing her to go boneless in his arms.

Her channel was clamping around him as he expanded inside her. When he started to pull away, she gouged her nails into his ass and growled. “I’m keeping you this time.”

He answered by kissing her mouth and tilting his hips, pushing deeper inside her. “As you wish.”

When they dropped a foot, Kara’s heart dropped, too.

“Not again.” She pushed her wrist against his lips, and he latched on without protest. “Let’s go home.”

Still connected, groin to groin and mouth to wrist, Julian swept through the skies and laid Kara down in her bed. She saw the strain of concentration on his face as he took her blood, as if he was willing himself more time in her arms.

His muscles relaxed a bit, then he fanned his breath over her skin, healing her wrist. She kissed his cheek and sighed. Nothing on this planet could compare to the feeling of coupling with the man she loved. She swallowed, amazed by the current thrumming through her body. It was like a slow, steady orgasm that went on and on.

“Was it like this between you and Julian?” he asked.

She smiled and smoothed her hand over his back. “Always.”

“How can I be jealous of him?”

Kara looked into his eyes, trying to judge if he was serious. “You’re jealous…of yourself?”

“He had more time with you. More memories. This new body I have doesn’t seem compatible with your world.”

She ran her hand from his back to his nape and pulled him in for a kiss. “To have you inside me like this…I’ve never felt so
compatible
.”

He rolled her on top of him, her head resting against his shoulder and her legs draped to either side of him. They didn’t talk for a while but simply held each other while Julian stayed locked inside her. And then, even after her body released him, they didn’t move.

As the minutes counted down to Gavin’s arrival—and Julian’s subsequent departure—Kara felt as if she was going to break down and weep. The only thing that kept her strong was her promise to Julian that she could go on without him if she needed to. She didn’t want him to worry about her tonight. She wanted him to focus on making his way to his true home, where he could be whole again.

“I don’t have much longer,” he said, his voice a wisp of breath.

“Oh, hell.” She clutched him tight and grabbed the sun charm at her throat. “Gavin!”

“Shhh…” Julian whispered into her hair. “Calm down, love. It’s going to be all right.”

He was beginning to shake, and Kara didn’t like the look of it at all. Damn her and her willpower. She’d known having sex with him was a bad idea.

Within seconds, Gavin appeared at the foot of the bed, his eyes scanning the room. “Yes?”

Then he saw them, tangled up on the bed, Kara lying naked across Julian’s body, and he looked down, some dark emotion creasing his brow.

Kara rose and covered Julian with a blanket. “He’s not feeling well. I’ve given him blood, but maybe he needs more…”

Gavin averted his gaze from Kara’s naked body, meeting Julian’s eyes instead. “Aiden is preparing the mark of the Maker for a special blood ritual. We’ve never had need to try it before, but then we’ve never encountered a weak Aniliáre that we would want to help.”

Julian growled at Gavin’s words—probably the “weak” part. Even now, as he blinked, looking as though he was fighting to stay awake, he still thought he was a badass.

Kara’s hands knotted, the tips of her nails biting into her palms. “Take him now, Gavin. Hurry.”

Gavin nodded and approached Julian, but Julian pushed him away and stumbled to his feet. He came to Kara and kissed her once more.

She felt the tumult of emotion behind the kiss and answered it with her lips against his. “I love you.”

He smiled, trying to support himself on weak knees. “Of everything, being loved by you will be my greatest memory.”

And with Julian’s gaze still holding hers, Gavin reached out and carried Julian from her life.

For a long time after they left, Kara simply sat naked on the edge of the bed with her head buried in her hands. Then finally, she rose and pulled the vial from the nightstand drawer.

“Time to get this over with.” Time to bring Abbey and Jaxon home.

She pulled out the card with the number she was supposed to call and dialed. She could tell it was Claudius as soon as he answered. “Yes?”

She tightened her fist around the vial. “I have it.”

Chapter Eighteen

She heard his soft intake of breath across the line. “This had better not be a trick. If I find out you substituted—”

“Claude. I have it. But Abbey isn’t back yet, so we’re gonna have to wait to do the ritual.”

He laughed. “So that’s it. You’re stalling. I knew you couldn’t get the blood.”

“It’s in my hand.”

“Then bring it to me.”

Kara sighed. “You can’t come pick it up?”

“I’m not going to do your work for you. I’ll be waiting in the parking lot of the Jamul coven grounds. You have one hour.”

“Crap!” Kara said into the phone at the sound of him disconnecting. She cleared the screen and dialed Tray.

“Kara?” His voice was tense. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I stopped by your place like five times. Are you okay?”

No, my insides were ripped out, and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.
“I’m fine.”

“Where have you been? I was worried.”

“Gavin and I were helping Julian get situated.”

“Black-wing Julian?”

“Yeah.” He was quiet, so Kara continued. “I have the blood for Abbey, and I need your help.”

Gavin and Julian materialized in Julian’s old room, and Gavin could tell by his friend’s expression that he didn’t recognize it.

“Aiden!” Gavin called, his hand on Aiden’s charm.

Within seconds, the blond-haired lord appeared beside them. “I was just next door,” he started to say, but when he saw Julian he stopped, and a smile spread across his face. He stepped forward and slapped Julian on the back. “By Brakken’s bow—it is you!”

Julian growled, his fangs extending and his lips curling back from his teeth. Gavin quickly got between the two before Aiden had a chance to do something else that might send the weakening Aniliáre over the edge. “Yes, it’s Julian. As I told you, he needs our help.”

“Of course.” It seemed to be occurring to Aiden that Julian didn’t recognize him, but that apparently didn’t diminish Aiden’s joy over seeing him again. “So what is it like?”

Julian stepped back and almost stumbled. Gavin could see he was trying to hold himself straight, but fatigue was etched into the curve of his spine and the droop of his shoulders.

“What is what like?” Julian asked, his voice colder than sleet.

“To experience the first Shadow Rising? To go from a demibreed to a true Son of the Sky?”

Julian squinted and rubbed the back of his knuckles across his forehead. “I wouldn’t know.”

Aiden looked surprised. “What do you mean you don’t know? Those look like black wings coming from your back.”

“Yes, but I don’t know what it feels like to be a demibreed.” With a moan, Julian dropped to his knees and grabbed his head in both hands.

“You stupid sack of wing dust,” Gavin growled at Aiden. “We don’t have time for family reunions. He doesn’t have much longer.”

Concern registered on Aiden’s face for the first time. “How was I to know he was that bad off? You left him with Kara for almost an hour, and I don’t have one minute to welcome him home?”

“Did you prepare the mark?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to risk flashing with him in this state. Help me carry him down to the main hall. The others should be there shortly.”

Gavin picked up Julian under the arms, and Aiden got his feet. “I can walk,” Julian protested, his words weak and winded.

“I know you can, brother,” Gavin replied, as he and Aiden brought him swiftly down the stairs. “Just tuck your wings back for me. We’re almost there.” Julian had always been proud, but to be a black-wing and have to rely on another to carry him must have been insufferable.

Gavin had spent a good portion of the hour here talking to Aiden until he felt convinced Aiden was stable enough to do the ceremony. Aiden had assured him that since Riana, he hadn’t had another female. But addictions were never that easy to dismiss. It would be weeks before Gavin let his guard down again around Aiden, and weeks beyond that before he believed the other lord wasn’t in danger of slipping back into old patterns. It was just the two of them now, for better or worse. And Gavin needed him.

On the white marble of the entry hall, Aiden had constructed a large isosceles triangle with crushed lapis lazuli. Careful not to disturb the thin blue line, Gavin started to lay Julian down in the center.

“No,” Aiden said, still holding firm. “I’ll cross his feet at the ankles and position them at the tip of the triangle. You stretch his arms out along the bottom, and place one hand at each corner.”

In a thousand years, Gavin had seen the mark of the Maker several times but he’d never had occasion to use it himself. From his angle of view, it appeared as though Julian was lying in an upside-down triangle, with the flat base over his head and his feet tucked into the point at the bottom. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

“It had better,” Aiden answered. “I used our entire supply of lapis lazuli to make it.”

“Kara?” Julian shifted and pulled his arms to his chest.

“It’s all right, brother.” Gavin moved Julian’s hands back into position. “Don’t move now. Kara is fine.”

Julian was his oldest friend, and Gavin wondered how, after so many centuries together, they could have come to this moment. Julian, on the cusp of the Abyss, a black-wing, with the name of the woman Gavin loved on his lips and her scent on his body. But Julian deserved Kara. He deserved happiness more than Gavin ever would.

Aiden flipped through the pages of an ancient tome and laid it open beside them on the cold marble.

“Bring me the vial,” Julian murmured, but he didn’t resist the pressure of Gavin’s hands locking his wrists into place. “Bring it quickly.”