44. WEN

“You have to be pulling all this doom-and-gloom stuff out of your gorgeous ass!”

At my exclamation, Godric gives an incredulous huff. “White, you have a void inside you that ate a black hole. You have abilities that range from making the most addictive drug out of Angel Essence, to yanking Life Essence out of Angelbloods, and now you can see and use their Energy. That you still think anything I project is far-fetched is the unbelievable thing here.”

“Ugh … when you put it that way?—”

“Is there any other way to put it? Whatever my misgivings were about the two of us, I believe I got corroboration from Existence itself.”

“Oh, existence schmexistence! I reject your theory! Not because it’s far-fetched, but because it’s stupid. That must have been our powers butting heads and having a meet-explosive, much like we did. They’ll soon have their tongues down each other”s throats too, so chill!”

He barks a surprised laugh, and my knees almost give at the fathomless, growly sound. “You are inexplicable, in every possible way. I guess there’s nothing to do now but give that mouth of yours something to occupy it.”

The images of having my mouth full of him change the course of my life for the moment before his head descends, and I realize I’m not going to be that lucky yet.

Groaning, I meet him halfway this time, trying to possess him back. But I’m soon drowning in his kisses, until I hear myself whimpering. “Oh, Godric, when I found you just floating there …”

He un-fuses our lips, raises his head to gaze deep into my eyes. “How did you find me?”

Struggling with the loss of his touch and taste, I mumble, “It felt as if the leash tugged on my heart.”

His eyes darken, before his lips quirk. “Ah, the leash. Nothing but good uses. Delightful ones.”

“Say more stuff like that, Godjerk, and I’ll enforce that striptease-at-breakfast raincheck.”

His grimace is dismissive. “That was a use-it-at-once-or-lose-it offer.”

“We’ll see about that. Now, take back your Energy.”

“Keep it.”

I gape at him. “It’s not change, Godric! You don’t tip me with your non-replenishable Energy!” He shrugs, and I stomp my foot. “Fine, I’m shoving it back into you.”

I focus inside, see the manifestation swathed in its dark flames, purring deep in the corner it elected within me.

“Hey, you.” It stirs even as I realize I spoke out loud. So it can hear me, on every level. Feeling sheepish with Godric watching me, documenting my actions as always, I clear my throat, and try to sound nicer. “Can I call you Mani?” I feel as if it ponders my request. Then it stretches, much like a cat and flips to face me, or what stands for that with its formlessness. Considering this permission, I grin at it. “Thanks for your help, Mani. Not that your humongous hunk of an owner needed help, or that we managed to do anything to budge him, but that ice missile to the nose was great. You were pretty great. But let’s not meet this way, ever again. Now, it’s time to go home.”

I can swear the thing glares at me, before tumbling around, giving me what must pass for its back.

All attempts at geniality disappear. “Don’t you dare turn your—” I gulp down the rest when a tendril of lightning judders right to my big toes. Before I dive after it and drag it by its non-existent one, I freeze again, unable to believe what I’m hearing. I snap my gaze back to Godric. “That imp zapped me! Then went back to sleep! And it’s snoring!”

One dimple flashes in answer to my furious incredulity.

Before I can poke a finger in it—what I’ve been dying to do since it and its twin made their first appearance—it disappears as he purses his lips. “Interesting.”

Struggling with post-dimple gooey-insides syndrome, I glare up at him. “That’s all you have to say about that thing’s behavior? It’s as grumpy and entitled as you are.”

He gives a sage nod. “It is an extension of me. And as such, I’m the last being you can complain about it to. But Mani? How did you come up with that?”

“I’ve been thinking of it as a manifestation. So, Mani.”

He shakes his head, merriment literally twinkling in his eyes. “It never ceases to amaze me how your mercurial mind works.”

“Yeah, I’m a hoot-a-second. Now, take it back!”

“Whyever for? ‘Mani’ isn’t in any hurry to come ‘home.’”

“It’s because you’re so Godawful, everyone wants to get away from you. Even your own Energy would rather vacation somewhere as messy and noisy and voidy as Chez Wen to stay away from you.”

His bedeviling eyes raise my temperature a million degrees more. “You never want to. You go berserk whenever I have to stay away.”

“I’m—different.”

He knots a hand in my hair, dragging me against him. “Yes. You are. Totally and absolutely. And it drives me to insanities, too.”

His roughness, his words, just right, exactly what I need, sends my banked arousal roaring to life in a heartbeat.

Fighting not to rub myself against him like the nymphomaniac he’s turned me into, I gasp, “Just take your fucking brat back.”

“Leave it be. It’s a negligible amount anyway.”

Mani rumbles something that sounds so reminiscent of its factory of origin.

I burst out laughing. “Mani is not happy you called it negligible.”

Godric inclines his majestic head. “Apologies, Mani. All my Energy is indispensable. That’s why I’m glad you’re staying with White. I would say make her your new home, but it seems you already have.” My objection turns into a moan when he tugs again on my hair. “I want you to have the extra protection. Just never enlist Mani’s help while others are around, unless it’s a supreme emergency. Once your Null powers are out in the open, everyone will be watching your every breath for any evidence of Energy theft.”

The idea of being under such a hostile microscope makes a shudder rattle through me. I wish it would happen already so we can get the fallout over with.

“I’m not stealing anyone’s Energy, starting with yours,” I mumble.

“Mani is choosing to be with you.” His other hand scoops my left buttock, grinding me against his hardness. “Expected really, for a part of me to want to be inside you.”

“That’s not the part of you I want inside me.” Jumping up, I wind my arms and legs around him, squeezing with all I have. “Now, take it back. Then take me. Give me the part I really want.”

Next thing I know, we’re fast-forwarding. Or it’s fast-backwarding for me. While he’s kissing me out of my mind and hurtling me across realms where only the two of us exist.

I don’t care where he’s taking us or why. I just want to drown in him, in the knowledge that he’s with me, and I can feel him and touch him.

And devour him.

The intrusive thought lashes me out of my feverish stupor, only to realize we stopped. Back at our cavern. Our decimated cavern.

Going limp, my limbs fall off him. He steadies me as I take in the devastation as if seeing it for the first time.

My heart wrings with loss and regret. It hasn’t even crossed my mind that he zoomed away to the lake, before witnessing the aftermath of the explosion. This is the first time he’s seeing this.

Forcing myself to look at him, dreading what I’ll see, I bite back a moan.

His eyes are bleeding obsidian lightning—the terrifying involuntary kind—and his jaw muscles are bunching so hard I fear he might tear his skin.

“Oh, Godric,” I choke. “I-I’m so sorry.”

He looks down at me, the lightning receding. “You shouldn’t be.”

“How can you say that? I-I destroyed your sanctuary.”

At the word sanctuary, he looks around again, and I can feel him barely holding back something vast.

I wish he’d turn it on me, flay my flesh from my bones. It might assuage some of the guilt crushing down on me.

Instead, he brings himself under control before cupping my jaw, his thumb stroking its tremors away, his gentleness a shocking contrast with the violence of his emotions. It’s at this moment I realize I never had anything to worry about.

Godric would never hurt me, under any circumstances.

He exhales. “According to my theory, Existence did, as a warning, a deterrent. According to yours, the blame is shared between our powers, for picking this explosive manner to work out their sexual tension. Though I doubt they’ll ever get along.”

I grab his hand, pressing it harder into my face, turning my lips into its power-incarnate roughness. “Why not? We do!”

His brows rise, the image of skepticism. “Do we? What we have is too tempestuous, and yes, too explosive, to ever be called ‘getting along.’ Now I’m wondering what level of destruction to expect every time I make you come.”

“This didn’t happen because you made me come!”

“Not the actual detonation, no, but your orgasm triggered seismic shocks powerful enough to destabilize the cavern.”

“Seismic shocks?” I repeat numbly. “My orgasm caused an—earthquake?”