22. Ellie

"Break off with you?" He sat up.

I swore. Why hadn't I closed off my thoughts? Now, he knew how vulnerable I really was.

"Cadmus, I —"

"Break off with you? How could you think that?" His eyes darkened, not with sensual passion but with anger. "I poured myself into you, Ellie. Shared my soul with you. And you think I'd break off with you as if it meant nothing?" His lips flattened. "Or maybe you think that way because it meant nothing to you."

My own anger flared, and I gave it the freedom it deserved. "Don't you put this back on me. You're the ass who told me how I disgusted you, how my kind didn't deserve to live. And I was a heartbeat from telling you how much I lov —"

He froze. "How much you what?"

"Forget it." Wrapping my arms around myself, I sat up, looking for my clothes. Too bad I hadn't paid more attention to Jonas' teachings. He could fashion clothing on a whim.

"Focus, Ellie," Cadmus snapped. "All those months ago, what were you going to tell me?"

Not so lighthearted now, hmm? I watched him with new speculation, noting the panting breaths, the overeager gleam in his eyes. His erection returned, standing stiffly under my attention.

"What do you think? I'd only spent weeks making love with you when I hadn't given Darius the time of day. I hate to break it to you, but I could have had any man I wanted with the snap of my fingers." Damn, if felt good to say that.

"All the more reason I'm curious to know, why me? Why Cadmus Storm, Elliara al il Ruethe?"

The jerk. After making me climax, sending me in truth, he now wanted me to lay my neck on the line. I'd tried that once. I was damned if I'd do it again. So I sealed my lips and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Don't want to say it, hmm?" His eyes danced, the anger in them fading under an amused smile that made me want to smack him. "How about you show me instead?"

With a wave of his hand, he cleared the center table of everything on it. Food and wine fell to the ground before he yanked me to my feet. I struggled, dismayed at my growing arousal. Irritated, I refused to give in to his demands when I only wanted a simple declaration of his feelings first.

"Why don't I show you instead?" he murmured, setting me belly-down over the table. When he palmed my ass, I knew what he meant to do, and the carnality of his energy had me squirming for more.

He shoved my legs wider and thrust inside me, pumping into me sex with hard, firm strokes that started me down the road to climax once more. But instead of giving me what I needed, he withdrew and spread my ass, only to prod it with something hard and slick.

"You want to know how good you feel to me, let me show you. Let me love you, Ellie. Let me in." He penetrated me slowly, pushing painfully past my sphincter.

Then he was in and sliding home.

"Cadmus," I gasped, feeling so full, so stretched.

"Yeah, baby," he rasped, pulling out only to push back in. "You're so tight, Ellie. So perfect." He rocked against me, increasing his thrusts. "So mine."

He stimulated my clit with magic while riding me, making me feel naughty and excited all at once. The things he thought about doing to me had me so wet that his finger slid easily into my pussy while he took reamed ass.

My mouth over his cock, my pussy under his lips. Coming on my breasts, over and in my ass. Climaxing over and over, until we were one writhing mass of sensation.

"You are…such a…perv," I managed, closing on an orgasm so intense I wanted to scream. He pumped his fingers a few times before removing them. Then he braced his hands on my hips and rode me hard.

"Go ahead and yell, Ellie." His balls slapped against me as he rammed harder, his possession thrilling. "I'm going to." He shoved again and groaned my name, filling me to overflowing.

As his milky seed slid down my legs, he shifted his mental touch over my clit. I came harder, squeezing him as my body clenched, wanting the feeling to never end.

"That, Ellie," he gasped, "that never-ending feeling of joy. That's what you are to me. Love is far too tame a word to describe what I feel for you."

Stunned, I felt emotionally connected in a way I had never been before.

"Do you really mean that? You're okay with all this?" I hated to sound so weak and needy, but I couldn't take another heartbreak.

"Okay with this?" He pressed harder, and over my shoulder, I saw him grinning ear to ear. "Honey, every time I'm near you I want to come. What do you think?"

"Not this." I blushed and moved to separate from him.

"Not yet. Mmm." He rotated his pelvis, and a flare of heat stole through my core. "By the Light, I love your ass."

I felt foolish. "I can't talk to you in this position. I need to see you."

He pulled out, and as much as I wanted to see him, I missed him inside me.

I turned around and faced him. "I'm Djinn, and the Djinn have done some pretty bad things to your family."

"Jonas saved my life, not once, but twice. He saved my brothers too. Your father provided sanctuary when needed. I'm not so big a fool I can't differentiate one Djinn from another." He flushed and stroked me cheek. "I was an idiot when I left you before. But, Ellie, understand. I was in shock. I'd fallen so hard for you, only to learn you weren't who I'd originally thought. Up to that point, all I knew of the Djinn is what my family had suffered."

I looked down, feeling his pain like my own. He lifted my chin and met me gaze.

"That was all before." He turned on his high-wattage smile, causing that small dimple in his left cheek to flash.

I blinked. "Are you trying to charm me into believing you?"

"Why, is it working?" He looked hopeful, his eyes twinkling. "I love you, Ellie. All of you. The human, the Djinn, even the little perv who likes what I do to her body."

I laughed and knocked him back to the floor, gliding over his sweat-slicked frame. "It's about time you admitted it."

"What? That you're a perv?" He snickered, and I rubbed my knee perilously close to his cock. "Hey, now. Easy there, killer. I love you, Ellie. All of you. And I think you know what that means." He gave me a knowing stare that had me pulse racing. The word "Affai" whispered in my mind.

"That you no longer need an affai since you've got me?"

"It's a good thing you're pretty, because you sure are dense."

I smacked him, and he pinned my arms between us, capturing my mouth in a loving kiss.

"You're my affai, Ellie. My love."

I couldn't speak. The dreams I'd had of one day finding someone to love and who'd love me had seemingly come true. Chaos blazed through my mind, my Dark magic pulsing as joy and anxiety surged. I wanted to believe in a future with Cadmus so badly. But I was only just now coming to know myself. Could I be what Cadmus truly needed?

At my silence, Cadmus cupped my cheek. "I know it's a lot to take in, especially considering you didn't want anything to do with magic and the Djinn for so long. This is a lot to handle, and as much as I wish I could just work on us, I can't yet. I have a responsibility to my people that I can't walk away from." His speech quickened at my silence. "I know what you're thinking. I swear, though, on my soul, that in my heart you'll always come first. It's just that the situation in Tanselm is so precarious now. Look, you'll have plenty to do there. You're needed, more than you can possibly know. And I don't just mean by me. With your help, we can mend the bridge between Dark and Light, we can —"

"Shut up, already. Geesh, you confess to loving me and then you run off at the mouth. I get it, Cadmus." Though my nerves kept jumping, I was glad he relaxed. "As your affai, I'll live in Tanselm with you. I can do that." I swallowed around a dry throat. Talk about change. Moving to Tanselm wouldn't be like moving to another state. Try another plane of existence.

But I had always prided myself on my ability to adapt. Despite a host of flaws, I'd never lacked the courage to do what was right. I'd run from my destiny long enough. The time had come to embrace my Djinn heritage and a future with my soon-to-be husband.

"That's it?" His eyes glinted with humor. "I don't have to beg you with jewels or promises of vast power? You're going to simply accept my life as your own?"

"Now, now, Prince Cadmus. Don't get ahead of yourself. We're not married yet. You still have some courting to make up for, and I like flowers and chocolates. Jewelry, not so much." I relaxed, knowing I'd made the right decision. Foreia, for that matter, was practically dancing in a delirium of happiness. "Have I mentioned yet how pissed off my father is going to be about this?"

He laughed. "Just icing on the cake, baby. Not that I've got anything against your people…exactly. Well, not much of a grudge. Nothing too serious."

"What happened that you aren't telling me?"

"Which time?"

I squeezed the nearest appendage I could find, and he moaned.

"I don't know how you do it. I'm totally wrung out, yet my body wants in you again, right now. At this rate, we'll have little princes in a year."

At his mention of children, I froze.

"Ellie?" He sobered. "It's okay, honey. I was joking."

"We haven't used any protection." I sat up and put a hand over my belly, not sure how I felt about thoughts of his child inside me. Scared and excited, nervous yet exhilarated.

"Not yet, baby. Trust me, when it happens, you'll know."

"And our differences won't matter, you being a Light Bringer and me being a Djinn? I mean, physically?"

He frowned. "Not that I know of. Aerolus married Alandra. Both Marcus and Darius married women from your world, or should I say, from one of yourworlds."

"It's not that I don't want kids," I said quickly, realizing how he might take my comments. "It's just that?—"

"It's too soon, especially on top of everything that's happening. I understand." He kissed me, soothing me. "Now let's get dressed before Jonas tries to pop in here again."

"Jonas?" I squeaked, mortified he might know what I'd been doing.

"Relax. It's my ass, not yours, that bothers him."

"What?"

"Inside joke." He handed me my clothing.

We dressed in amicable silence. I couldn't believe how much I looked forward to the future. With Cadmus by my side, life looked much more pleasing than it ever had. I believed in him, in his power and what he stood for. He had more right than most to hold onto prejudice against the Djinn, yet he looked beyond his pain at the truth. And he had pushed me to accept me heritage when he could easily have steered me the other way.

"Ellie," he said softly as he guided me towards the pavilion's entrance. "Believe me when I say I want you exactly the way you are. You're my little Djinn, no matter how tall you are, and you always will be." He smacked my ass. "Now get a move on. And if you liked that smack, just wait until I get you alone again." He wiggled his eyebrows and had me laughing as we left the gazebo. "I love you, affai."

Unfortunately, Jonas was not the only Djinn awaiting our exit.

My father, my cousin, and what looked like at least fifty Djinn warriors stood behind him, grimly clutching weapons.