14. Cadmus

The cool touch of Ellie felt like the calm before the storm. The physical need to connect with her overwhelmed every other thought in my mind. Her beauty, her touch, her scent. The mingled desire filtered over us like a heavenly perfume.

All of it fueled my desire, pushing me to fulfill my darker fantasies.

As if Foreia had totally opened its arms in greeting, the land's energy spiraled up through my knees on the bed of grass, in the plant life whispering to me from all around, to sprout and grow new life. To nourish that what I most loved.

I moved closer and spread Ellie's needs wider, positioning myself where I needed to be. I coated my shaft in the combined moisture of our release and pressed my steel-hard cock against the tight rose of her ass.

"Cadmus," she growled. "What… I want you?" After a moment, she moaned. "I want you."

She sounded as confused as I felt, and as needy. Knowing she buzzed with the same passion I felt, but also with a hint of nerves as well, stroked my excitement. A little bit of fear fired up our arousal, a Dark hint of rapture coming closer.

She squirmed against me, backing onto my cock.

I froze, the urge to ram hard and deep overwhelming. But I didn't want to hurt her, and I had a feeling she was new to this type of lovemaking.

"Cadmus," she breathed then stilled, letting the small intrusion settle before she tentatively pushed back again, taking more of me. "Move. In me."

The primitive rush of conquest washed over me, the darkness of the moment emblazoned in the hunger steadily building within. I would have her. Mouth, sex, ass. Every part of Ellie belonged to me. My Darkling. My lover.

I ran my hands over her back and shoulders and leaned closer to hug her, cupping her full breasts and kneading the globes with an urgency that stoked her own. Her nipples tightened, twin buds scoring my palms as I nestled deeper inside her.

Slowly, stretching that virgin flesh to take all of me.

"Ellie, love, I can't get enough of you," I whispered in her ear and nipped at her lobe. At her sigh, I pushed a fraction deeper, fighting the need to thrust fast. "Being with you, seeing you every day and not feeling your heat around me, it's torture." Dark needs rode me with brutal pressure. "I need to fuck you long and hard, to fill you up until we're one."

She panted and moaned my name, wriggling and making it impossible not to push deeper inside. Her Darkness swept through me, a challenge demanding I finish what I'd started. She drew me into her thoughts.

Images of us making love in every way, dark and decadent, light and tender, made my blood burn. The ground beneath us shook as I reached around her to tease her clit. The harder I rubbed, the more she pushed back, impaling herself on my steely cock even as she gasped against the intrusion.

I couldn't take much more and, sharing those feelings with Ellie, was thrilled to find she couldn't wait either.

"Cadmus," she moaned.

"Yes, baby, now. That's it. Push me out, baby, let me feel that fine ass gripping me."

Her tight muscles clenched me, and suddenly I was seated as far inside her as I could go.

She should have felt uncomfortable, but the intensity of our mixed thought and feelings steadied us both. The elemental thrumming I continued against her clit had Ellie verging on climax.

The beauty of the moment locked into my heart, and I blinked away an absurd welling of tears as I started fucking her, gently at first, then with harder thrusts as Ellie exploded, coming hard with a keening cry.

Familiar pressure started in my balls, urging me to take what I needed, to fill the woman under me with what only I could give her. When her energy pulled me deeper, I lost it completely.

I groaned and spurted, my orgasm ripping away all thought as sensation overtook me. The trees and flowers echoed my pleasure, their blooms growing brighter, their leaves greener. The blue moss multiplied, covering three times the area of the small bed upon which we knelt.

Lost in Ellie, I could only wonder how it had taken me so long to see the truth. She and I fit. I'd never felt this way about anyone before. Certainly none of the women I'd lain with while in the mundane plane had stirred me to such heights.

The paramours I'd courted in Tanselm had never seemed to want Cadmus Storm, the man. They'd been eager to bed a prince. I was the funny royal, the lighthearted rogue who would steal kisses but never a heart. And while I'd been more than happy to maintain such a reputation in my youth, as I'd gotten older, I tired of the role others had forced upon me.

Everyone I'd ever known treated me like a court jester. Even my brothers tended to treat me like a younger sibling, despite the fact we'd been born quadruplets.

Yet Ellie, my blonde, magnificent Djinn, took me seriously. I'd been caught the moment I'd laid eyes on her. But it was more than beauty that kept my attention. Ellie had a natural charm, an intelligence and wit that made everyone around her happy. Even the assholes at the bar constantly coming on to her had received gentle yet firm rejections.

While kind, Ellie was also strong. Her only vulnerability seemed to do with family, and I knew exactly how family could turn you in knots.

I hugged her before withdrawing from her body. Even apart, I could feel her inner magic calling out to me, her Darkness beckoning my Light. The old me would have been alarmed, but this new, satisfied and mature Cadmus, I thought I might be falling in love with the enchanting woman.

She turned onto her back and watched me with dreamy blue eyes. And there was no "might" about it. I'd fallen for my own Darkling.

A surge of humor took me by surprise. When Arim realized I had found my affai, and that she was not only Djinn but the daughter of one of the Dark's most powerful rulers, his head might explode.

But I had no choice in the matter. My soul had spoken for me. Ellie Markham, Elliara al Ethim il Ruethe, was my affai, my destined mate. And soon, she'd be my partner in rule over the northlands of Tanselm.

Unfortunately, telling her now would only spook the stubborn woman into never accepting her destiny — me. Damn Ethim and her mother for putting their daughter between them in their painful war of affection. Now I had to woo a woman resistant to magic and wiles and Light Bringers.

Though I had to admit, the challenge of winning over my affai sparked my interest more than a little.

"What has you grinning like that?"

"Like what?" Could Ellie feel the powerful emotions roiling within my heart?

"Like the cat that ate the canary."

I lay next to her and propped myself up on an elbow. "So I'm the cat and you're the canary?" I had "eaten" her a little while ago. I grinned.

She blushed. "Very funny. But maybe I'm the cat. I have given you blowjobs."

"Oh ho. Nice mouth, Ellie."

She stuck out her tongue at me, and I'd swear I heard her purring.

"What's that noise?" Her eyes widened. "Are you purring?"

"I thought that was you."

She shook her head. "No. But now that you mention it, I'm surprised you heard it. It's the same sort of sound I hear before Jonas shows, when he's courteous enough to give me a little warning."

"Likes to pop in unannounced, hmm?"

"Sometimes."

I planned to put a stop to that. Then recalling what I'd done to Jonas earlier, my good mood promptly vanished. "Shit."

"Excuse me?" She leaned up and looked for her clothes. "I'm going to take that as an ‘I wish we had more time to spend together' shit."

I couldn't help laughing. "I'm a real pain in your ass, aren't I?"

When I wiggled my brows, she blushed. "Yes, you are, you pervert." She let me clean her before she quickly dressed. "I can't believe I let you do that to me."

"Come on, Ellie." I lazily dressed and stepped into my boots, wanting to take her all over again. Something about Ellie called to me on a purely visceral level. "You know you liked it. I guess that makes you the perfect pervert for me."

She smiled at me, but I saw a flash of caution in her gaze as well, reminding me of how I'd hurt her in the past. I had no way to right that wrong, but I could pave the way to a joyous future.

Rejuvenated, I smiled with all the charm I had in me. "Mother of all that's Light, I never feel as good as I do when I'm around you, Ellie." I took her in my arms and kissed the breath out of her. "I'd be a fool not to admit how we fit. You make my head spin." I paused. "You are all right, aren't you? I didn't hurt you?"

"No." She looked down with a becoming shyness so at odds with the strong woman I'd come to know. "As much as I'd like to tell your ego to pound sand, I have to admit I never would have agreed to what we did if I didn't…"

She trailed off, and I knew it was too soon for her to admit what I prayed she was growing to feel. She needed time—and wooing, my conscience added—to tell me what I suspected she might feel for me.

I looked deeply into her eyes, caught by the fierce yearning I didn't think she knew showed.

She cupped my cheek and brushed her fingers over my stubbled cheeks. "It was wonderful, Cadmus. You're a very giving lover. And you've shown me Light in so many new and wonderful ways."

My heart stuttered under her touch, and I reveled in her praise. I wryly likened myself to a beast brought to heel by a beautiful maiden. She had well and truly snared me, and I knew I'd give my last breath to make sure she had every happiness she deserved.

"Cadmus, I need to tell you something."

"Anything, Ellie. I'm yours." I meant that wholeheartedly.

"It's hard for me to say. You see, I think I —"

I froze as a familiar spread of Darkness enveloped us.