34. Aerolus

I couldn't breathe. I knew I was in Tanselm and that I lay next to my affai, but I knew a sense of wrongness. Alandra faced grave danger.

I wanted to turn to her, to feel her again. But I couldn't move my hand, couldn't move anything at all.

Struggling, I reached for my winds as my aid but found nothing.

I slipped, edging closer to the murky warmth where thought and feeling didn't matter, and everything faded.

"Not yet." A husky, familiar voice called me back. Cool fingers brushed my brow, bringing comfort from the pain of almost losing everything. "You're needed here by so many who love you."

Images of Alandra, my mother, my brothers, and new sisters flashed through my mind. The scents of iria, of musty, ageless scrolls and withered texts, of a fresh breeze lingering over the magic of Tanselm, filled me with joy.

"Come back, sweet." Alandra kissed me.

A gentle coolness breathed new life into my tired body. Suddenly, my aches and pains turned into dire, urgent need for the one special woman I'd ever love with my whole heart as friend, lover, and mate.

A soft surge whispered over the wind, and I opened my eyes to find Alandra smiling down at me.

"There you are," she teased, feathering kisses over my lips. "I've missed you." Her eyes misted, and she kissed me with desperate elation. "Don't do that, Aerolus. I don't like it when you lay so still."

"Then what would you suggest, affai?"

Tears slipped down her cheeks, and her lips trembled with love — for me.

A surge of lust, a zeal to reaffirm life and embrace the magic and passion of my love, overwhelmed me.

Spelling the clothes from our bodies, I lifted Alandra over me and brought her down, filling her with the storm of my need.

She moaned and ran her fingers through my hair as I licked and nipped at her full, distended nipples. "You're so big inside me."

"Like warm cherries," I murmured then breathed over them, stiffening the already taut peaks.

Alandra undulated over me, her aura pulsating with love and hunger. I studied her with my inner eye, blissfully content as I once again saw our auras entwined.

Brilliant Light and fathomless Darkness streamed as we kissed and fucked, our carnal desire growing.

I gripped Alandra's hips, controlling her movements with rough hands against such soft skin.

"Oh, love. Do it to me. Make me come." She sat up and bounced against me, her flesh gripping me with a tightness that made me see stars.

Wanting her more than breath, I grazed her clit and pushed up. She rocked over me, slamming down with force while my winds encouraged her ride.

Loving the eroticism of watching us make love, I described her beauty, my feelings, how hard she made me. We neared climax, the friction and heat of our bodies fed by the power in our joined energies.

Wanting to see her explode, I rubbed my thumb over the ripe berry of her clit. She gasped and moaned my name as she clenched around me, slick and sweet as she came.

I roared my pleasure, unable to help the spasms that shook me as I jetted inside her. So much love I had to give, and I filled her with all of me — my magic, my seed, my life was hers now and always would be.

In a hoarse voice, I confessed, "You bring me hope where before there was loneliness and duty."

She smiled and blinked back tears. "Go on." She leaned down to kiss me. "Tell me more about how wonderful I am."

Still joined, I kissed her back and drew her down for a hug.

We lay together and looked into each other's eyes.

I never wanted to move from this spot. "You, darling Alandra, have the most luscious, milk-white breasts and crimson nipples. Such a smooth, taut stomach and lovely ass for one so petite."

She raised a brow, and I laughed, knowing she wanted more.

I cleared my throat. "Your body and face are perfect. And I never want you to change even one small fraction of any of it. Your beauty is beyond compare."

She beamed.

"I love you, Alandra. I'll never forget what you've given me, or what you've given up for me."

"Now that was really good." She kissed me with tenderness, then more passionately as I hardened inside her again. "So soon?"

"Not soon enough." I moaned as she levered off me.

"How about if we do it this way?" she asked, going down on all fours as she glanced over her shoulder. "It's much more masterful like this, my prince."

I grinned. "Trying to control me, hmm? We'll just see about that."