7. Cadmus

I stared at a male version of Ellie in helpless fascination. Good Light, but Ellie was his spitting image. Ethim had the same high cheekbones, the same stubborn nose and strong chin, identical bright blue eyes, though his glowed with a fierce anger that had Arim braced for attack.

The Djinn's aura was Dark, so much so that I had no trouble seeing it. Yet the Darkness of the man in no way detracted from his physical presence. Ethim il Ruethe looked like a walking piece of art.

It was all I could do not to reach out and touch the man to see if he was real.

He had unnaturally attractive features. I'd just spent the last few weeks among the Djinn, but I'd never seen a creature so physically striking. Well, except for Ellie. Glancing at her, I noted the guarded look in her eyes as she stared at her father.

Interesting.

I'd known from her many comments she had no close ties to the man. But watching the two, I thought perhaps her distance had been of her own making. Ethim glared at Arim and me, but his gaze softened with love and worry when it lit upon his daughter.

"I asked what you're doing here." Ethim's tone shifted, seeming to echo throughout the small room, commanding obedience.

"I don't think so." Arim waved his hand, and the compulsion to answer the Djinn faded.

"Don't think you can come in here and take charge like you try to do everywhere else. This situation goes beyond the Light Bringers now. At least, it's beyond you." Ethim looked past Arim to me and nodded. "Jonas mentioned some of your troubles, but I have to admit I never thought he'd bring you back here."

I thought it telling that Ethim had yet to address his daughter.

"Why are you here?" she finally asked, her voice flat.

Ethim drew himself up to his formidable height, and his features tightened. "I just wanted to see for myself that you were all right. I know you've been having trouble with the university and wanted to offer my assistance."

Ellie blinked. "You did?"

"You didn't think I would notice your troubles? I see everything, Elliara."

She blushed and darted a glance at me, and I did my best to look uninterested. Elliara? A beautiful name and one that spoke of Djinn ties, a connection that for some reason she wanted to sever.

"It's Ellie, Ethim."

He looked like he wanted to argue, but after a glance at Arim and me, he changed the subject. "Are these two bothering you? I've found a suitable place where we can stash the Earth Lord until a time where he may be of some use."

Arim's expression darkened. "It's funny you mention his use. What exactly do you intend for my nephew? The last I knew, Jonas was doing us a favor by keeping Cadmus safe. Now, it seems there's an agenda we know nothing about."

I shrugged. "Don't look at me. I have no clue what you're talking about. I had a slight altercation in Foreia, so Jonas whisked me away. If you'd open the doors to Tanselm, we could take care of everything right now," I challenged my uncle.

But oddly enough, I didn't want Arim to make it that easy.

For over a year, I had been dying to return to my homeworld. But being around Ellie again made me long for some alone time with the woman, without distraction. If Arim took me back home, I'd have no excuse to stay behind with Ellie.

"You know you can't return home without an affai," Arim explained matter-of-factly. "So work your magic and find her. I have the feeling time is moving us toward something we're not quite ready for."

"I know." I had felt a shift in the possibilities of the future for some time. My clairvoyance had deserted me of late, and the only visions I now had involved sex with the alluring blonde next to me. "But I can't see what's coming, no matter how hard I try."

"Would one of you care to explain just what's going on here?" Ethim asked again, this time with more patience. "If you'd like, we can take this conversation someplace safer. I have space in Foreia that would be perfect for you, Earth Lord, while we?—"

"No," Ellie blurted, surprising all of us. "Cadmus is fine here, and with everything otherworldly happening around me, I feel safer having him around."

She wouldn't meet my gaze and refused to respond to my mental questions.

"Safer with him around?" Her father sounded as incredulous as I felt. But satisfaction danced through my soul. Ellie didn't want me to leave. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter.

She nodded. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, pushing me out of this. But I'm already a part of it." She shrugged with a nonchalance that didn't fool me in the slightest. "I might as well see this through to the end. You know, make sure the Djinn are taken care of."

Ethim beamed, a blazing display of affection that made me cringe. Especially because his Darkness compelled me. I wondered if Ellie found it hard to refuse her father anything.

"I see. Well then. I'll leave you two alone. Protected, but alone. Arim? There are things we need to discuss."

Arim glanced from Ethim to me then focused on Ellie with a puzzled frown. "I suppose. As long as you stay put," he directed to me. "We're not even close to being done ourdiscussion."

I prayed my uncle wouldn't see the darkness inside me. "Fine, sure. I'll be right here, protecting Ellie."

Arim snorted his disbelief before turning back to Ethim. "How about Shathra in the Between?"

"It's in Shadow." Ethim considered it. "That will work. Ellie, call if you need me." He disappeared without a whisper, and Arim soon followed, leaving us alone at last.

"So," I said slowly, taking in her unsteady breath, her wandering gaze that rested briefly on my lips. "You don't feel safe?"

"It was the best I could do to get my father out of here. When he gets that look in his eye, you just want to disappear." She began roving the living room, straightening pillows and magazines that didn't need straightening.

"If my being here makes you uncomfortable, perhaps I should go with Ethim," I said quietly, wanting her to look at me.

At my words, she stilled, her back to me. She was so tense, so uneasy, and I didn't understand what her father had done to make her so unnerved.

"It's not my father, it's you," she said sharply and turned to face me. Her eyes were so bright they glowed, and I took a step back. Dark, hungry energy slid through the air, caressing and curling around me, drawing me closer to the precipice I didn't want to cross.

"I can't stop thinking about you. You're all I can see and hear. All I can think about." Her breath caught, and she glided nearer, as if stalking me. Her nipples beaded through her T-shirt, and I swore I could sense her desire as if a living thing. "You're like a spell that's taken me over. Magic in my once-normal world."

"Ellie," I said thickly, telling myself over and over that this had to be her decision. The urge to take her, to throw her down on the floor, and fuck her until neither of us could walk was overpowering. But I refused to let my cock direct my actions.

Ellie took the decision out of my hands. Snarling, she closed the distance between us. "You jerk." Plastering her mouth over mine, she stole every thought as my blood rushed below my beltline.

Moments later, when she finally let me go, I gasped for breath. "Fuck, Ellie."

"Yes, fuck Ellie," she urged, tugging at my shirt and unsnapping my jeans. She ran her hands over my chest, leaving trails of heat surging through my blood. Mountains of lust erupted, consuming me despite my desire to take things slow.

She whispered my name, and I was lost.

Cotton and denim flew everywhere until skin met skin, and I sighed into her mouth. The feel of her full breasts against my chest nearly made me come, and her answering need pulsed in her thoughts, images of what she wanted me to do her sending me over the edge.

"I'm going to make you scream," I whispered in her ear before darting in my tongue to make her shiver. Running my lips down her throat, I sucked at her hammering pulse. She arched closer, responding as if made for me.

I kissed and nipped my way to her breasts, bringing us to our knees as I sucked, biting with enough pressure to make her sigh with pleasure.

Unable to resist, I stroked down her belly and toyed with her breasts. The silver ring piercing her navel felt cool against my fingers, and I tugged gently on it before continuing my search lower. I petted the blond curls guarding her sex then thrust my finger between her soft folds, lost in the wet heat of her.

"You're ready for me," I growled and unconsciously thrust my swelling cock against her belly. "So ready for me to fuck you."

"Cadmus." She held me to her breast with shaking hands. "I can't believe how much I need you."

Need you. Not need this. Male satisfaction poured through me, a heady mixture of lust and affection for the woman in my arms that made me want to do more than simply fuck her body. I wanted to claim her, to brand her as my own so no one else could touch her.

"Elliara." I thrust my finger in and out of her, then added another. She was a goddess I planned to worship with reverence. I sucked her nipple deep, gratified by her moaning and trembling. "I'm going to love you so hard, so deep, baby."

I continued to kiss her, moving back to her luscious mouth. By the Light, my Ellie knew how to kiss. She used her whole mouth, her lips inviting while her tongue ravaged my mouth. Stroking and sliding, she mimicked lovemaking so urgently I was soon lost to finesse.

With an animalistic growl, I brought us to the floor. Looming over her, I nudged her thighs wide, lowering myself to the heat of her. Her wetness covered my tip, and with a loud curse, I plunged deep through the tight, hugging flesh that welcomed my intrusion.

"Cadmus," she cried, clutching me tightly. "Oh, yes, yes."

She wrapped her ankles around my waist as I took her like a man possessed. In and out, hard and without cease. I deliberately rotated my pelvis to rub her clit, the slap of my flesh against hers beyond erotic.

Her moans escalated, and I could feel her nearing her own climax. I wanted to hold her there, but I had no room to play. Dark ecstasy wound around and through me, trapping me in her feminine power. I quickened my movements, pounding into her as her cries increased my pleasure.

She moaned long and loud as she came, her body clamped down around me, squeezing me into a mind-blowing climax.

Shocks of energy shot through me, leaving us connected body to body and mind to mind while I jetted into her womb, filling her with my Light.

I shuddered, my orgasm so intense I could only ride the wave and pray I had enough strength not to come crashing down when it was over. On and on, I pulsed, moisture trickling down my thighs as I continued to come more than I ever had.

More than should be possible.

When I could again think, I stared down at the woman who had robbed me of speech.

"Cadmus." She sighed. Her eyes were hazy with contentment. "Am I alive?"

I chuckled and pressed deeper inside her. Leaning on my elbows to keep from crushing her, I marveled at her beauty as remained buried in her heat. "If you're not, we're both in the Next."

"Heaven," she agreed and pulled me close for a kiss. Lazy yet stirring, her kiss had me twitching within her.

"Not yet," I groaned, needing more recovery time. Hell, she'd nearly made me lose my mind and now me him hardening when I should have had nothing left to give her. "Ellie," I warned as she squeezed around me. "You're asking for trouble."

She grinned and arched a brow. "Are you saying you can't deliver?"

I pulled out and surged back inside, thickening with every push. "Baby, I'll more than deliver. Can you take all of me?"

Her lips parted, and her lids lowered. "Baby, I can take anything you're giving."

"Good," I said with a wicked grin. "Then get ready for more of this."

She moaned and writhed as stiffened inside her, my humor soon replaced by the all-consuming lust that only Ellie aroused.