21. Ellie

I sat up in the gazebo as Cadmus entered. "Where have you been?"

He wrapped me in a warm embrace, making me forget all about keeping my distance. His strong arms both comforted and aroused, making me feel safe and desired.

"I heard you've been having a time of it." He pulled back to look down at me, and I noticed a strange, almost sleepy sheen over his eyes.

"Are you okay? You look a little tired."

He gave a short laugh. "Tired? You could say that." When I would have questioned him further, he kissed me and drew me to a nearby bench. "But I'm more concerned about you. Tell me what has you so upset."

I sighed. "Am I that obvious?"

"To me. Jonas told me a little bit about your conversation."

Before, my only concern had been to see if Cadmus was all right. And, I admitted, to share my feelings and find a haven in his solid embrace. But now that I'd touched him, saw with my own eyes that he really did care, a flood of love overwhelmed me, bringing with it a brood of worries.

"Tell me, Ellie. I'm here for you."

Still hesitant, I wavered until he turned me around and pulled me back against his chest, running his hands up and down my arms and over my shoulders in an incredibly tender massage.

Surrendering to his care, I recounted my parents' conversation. "I'm so confused. It's like the people I once thought I knew never existed. I understand why my mother wanted to keep me safe growing up, but to let me believe my father didn't care about me for so long? I'm twenty-eight, for God's sake! I've spent my whole life despising my father while wishing he loved me, even a little bit. And it was all a lie."

Tears welled, and I angrily brushed them away.

"I'm sorry." Cadmus wiped away my tears. Then he tucked my head under his chin and hugged me tight. "Seems like your parents both wanted what they thought best for you. They love you very much."

"I know. That's what makes this so hard. I spent so much of my life trying not to be like my father, even while I wanted him to love me. I thought he just didn't care. But now I find he cared — cares — a lot."

"And you feel guilty for the way you treated him." Cadmus huffed. "Ellie, the way I see it, both your parents screwed up."

"What?"

"Your mother could have dealt with your father without dragging you in the middle. And your father could have told you the truth. No offense, I like your mother, but she's not perfect."

A sense of justified anger at my father sparked. "You're right. Ethim could have sought me out, but he didn't."

Cadmus stayed quiet and rubbed my arms. It felt so good to be with him. I could feel the soothing warmth in his hands, the depth of his concern in the gentleness of his touch.

"Why didn't he tell you, do you think?" he asked, leading me in the direction I'd been heading.

"Because…because I never embraced that part of me that was like him."

"The Djinn."

"That Dark side of me. The side you can't stand," I couldn't help prodding, trying to work out my resentment.

"Nice jab." He kissed the top of my head. "We really do have a lot in common, besides both of us being exceptionally attractive, I mean."

"Oh?" I rolled my eyes, openly smiling because I knew he couldn't see my face.

"We both like to take shots at people when they're trying their best to comfort us. We both have loving families, and we've both suffered the loss of our fathers, though you're at a lucky point in your life enabling you to mend that hurt. Then there's that most important trait we have in common."

Touched by his insight, I completely relaxed against him. "What's that?"

"We both love my body." The smile in his voice started a chuckle out of me. I turned to face him, to thank him for his understanding, and stilled at the hunger in his gaze.

"You have no idea what you do to me, baby."

He kissed me softly, increasing the pressure of his lips when I pulled him closer. Just the taste of him made me hungry for more of him.

"Cadmus, I want —"

"So do I, baby. I want you to be happy. But more, I want you. I always do." He stood with me, kissing me until I could do nothing but kiss him back, my thoughts in a sensual daze. When he broke the kiss, I moaned my displeasure. But he left me only to toss several pillows to the floor, creating a makeshift bed.

"Pretty handy, aren't you?"

"You could say that." He grinned, his eyes alight, and I couldn't help falling into absolute love.

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.

"Ah," he groaned and closed his eyes, leaning back. "Fuck, that's good."

I noted the steely erection now caged in his hand and gave him a sly smile. "Let me take care of that for you."

"Anything you want, baby."

I wasted no time switching positions with him. I took him in my hands then my mouth. His hiss of satisfaction as he arched into my touch pleased me like nothing could.

"Light's breath, Ellie."

He felt like steel in my mouth, his flesh cool and hard, and wet with need. I swallowed a tease of his seed and sucked harder, running my teeth gently along his shaft, licking the slit at his crown. I cupped his balls and caressed the soft globes in my palms, aware of the contrasting energy of my hands against his flesh.

"Oh yeah, baby. Fuck," he swore, grasping my head, his fingers captured by my dark flame. "You're killing me."

He gasped my name and pumped. And the harder he thrust, the more I took, making him shake with lust. I felt the tightness in him and knew he was close.

Come for me, Cadmus. Come hard.

He thrust one final time and came down my throat with a hoarse shout. I swallowed him, thrilled at his vulnerability to my touch. He continued to come, moaning my name, and Dark pleasure streaked my soul, making me want him in ways that shocked me.

No, baby, that's me you're still reading, he sent. Finally spent, he withdrew from my mouth. I've never felt so good in my entire life. He hugged me close.

Without thought, I reined in my energy and lay against him, flesh to flesh, no longer in truth.

Aloud, he said, "I want you to flame in truth the next time I fuck you. Especially when I take that pretty ass of yours again."

He whispered more erotic suggestions, words that had my blushing and wet, readying for more. Glancing around me, I noted the creeping tendrils of purple-flowered vines wrapped around the gazebo. I inhaled deeply and sighed. The scent of scythia had increased as well.

"This happened before too," I murmured.

"Hmm?"

"After we made love in the woods, the plants and moss around us exploded."

"That's me, sweet. When you excite me to certain levels, apparently, my power outlets to the earth around me."

"Apparently?"

He stroked my shoulder, his eyes bright with satisfaction, and if I wasn't mistaken, possession. "I told you, I've never lost control like that with anyone else. Only with you, Elliara."

For the first time, the name didn't bother me. Smiling, I burrowed closer, reveling in his male scent and earthy strength. I wondered if I should tell him how I feel right now. Screw perfection. This feels right. I screwed up the courage to confess my feelings.

"Ellie," he looked unsure, all the sudden, and hesitated.

Shit. Not now. Don't you dare break off with me now.