Chapter Twenty-Nine

Aranren didn't have to teach me how to make love to him. We moved in perfect harmony. By the time he came inside me, I was ready again. He straddled my waist and rode me, his hair whipping around him and the sunshine casting his face into darkness. And after I came, he took me again. It kept going for what seemed like days, with us stopping only to sleep, eat, drink, and take care of our other bodily functions. But oddly enough, I didn't feel the need to expel what he put inside me. It felt good to keep him there. Treasure that gift while I thrust into him and gave him something to keep.

We were lying on our sides, sucking each other's cocks, when someone called Aranren.

"Master!" the voice came from afar.

Aranren groaned and sucked his way off my shaft to lift his head and shout, "Enter!" Then he went right back to pleasuring me.

"Master, there are Wraith Lords at the ward," the voice was much closer now.

I looked up, continuing to suck at Aranren's beautiful dick, and saw a soldier standing at attention nearby. He didn't look at us, nor did I feel any shame for what I was doing in front of him. These people were just tools. They were inconsequential. I moaned and sucked down Aranren's length.

Aranren paused to say, "I don't care."

"But, Master, they are shouting for you."

Aranren sighed, then leaned back to stroke my flank. "My love?"

"Mmm?" I asked around his cock.

"Perhaps we should confront your ex-lovers and send them away. Otherwise, they may never leave."

I drew off him and sighed. "Fine. I'm getting hungry again anyway. We can eat afterward."

"Very well." Aranren stood up and held out his arms. Silk robes fluttered up and slid over him. Then he held a hand down to me.

I took it, drawing magic around me as I got to my feet. Silk robes that matched the flowing, full-sleeved style of Aranren's encased me, but in gold and pale blue to counter his silver and cerulean.

"Well done, my love," Aranren said as he looked me over. "Death Magic comes easily to you now." He ran his fingers through my hair, combing it away from my face. "There. You're lovely. Are you ready to say goodbye to your past?"

"Absolutely." I took his hand.

Aranren led us across the meadow and as he did, the grass and sky disappeared. We were left in a vast stone chamber, pillars spotting the expanse and stretching up toward a ceiling that was lost to darkness. I shivered, a memory returning—I was running through this place, hunted by Death.

"Now, you rule Death," Aranren said.

I looked over at him, unsurprised that he had seen my memory. We were so connected that I often got flashes of his thoughts too. For instance, as we left Death's domain, Aranren's chest constricted with apprehension. He didn't want to leave our magical world. He wanted to stay there forever, lost in me. He was afraid of losing me. To them.

I squeezed his hand. "You won't lose me. I'm with you now. This is so much better than what I had. I can focus on you instead of dividing myself between many lovers, and you fulfill needs that I never knew I had. Don't be afraid, Aranren."

His eyes went glossy, but the tears didn't fall. "I love you, Ember. I always have. Even when I hurt you."

"I know. It's all right. I love you too."

Aranren pulled me into his arms and kissed me. There was fear in that too, but it only made me love him more. I stroked his cheek as I kissed him, letting him feel what I did for him. When we ended the kiss, our foreheads bent together, and we spent a few minutes in silent communication, strengthening each other.

"All right," Ara said as he lifted his head. "I'm ready."

"I am as well."

Aranren wrapped me in his arms and the Death Magic took us, sweeping us up in shadows to transport us to the edge of Aranren's lands. There, directly before us, was a ward—a wall of shimmering misty magic that rose so high into the sky, its end couldn't be seen. No one could surmount that wall, not even a Makhan. There was only one way past it—with Death.

But Aranren didn't want to go through the ward. Instead, he thinned it, drawing back the veil of mist to make the barrier transparent. An army stood on the other side of the window, men armed with swords and covered in steel. The Wraith Lords. I stared at them without emotion. They had once been my friends, but they wouldn't understand me now. That lack of understanding might turn us into enemies.

They shouted and pointed, then four men raced over to stand directly before the window. My old lovers. I thought I might feel something when I saw them. But my heart was empty of them now. The bonds that had once connected us were so faded that I couldn't feel them. Maybe they were gone.

"Ember!" Xaedren shouted and slammed his fist on the invisible barrier.

Rath gripped his shoulder and drew him back, but even as he did, Taroc and Keltyr came forward, both of them snarling.

"You evil son of a bitch!" Keltyr shouted. "What did you do to him?"

"I've done nothing," Aranren said. "Death has opened Ember's eyes. He understands now."

"Understands what?" Taroc asked, his tone deadly and his stare locked on me.

"The world," I said. "Life. Death. Love. And I know you won't understand me now. I'm so sorry, but I can't be with any of you now."

"What?" Rath swung around, stepping as close as he could, even laying his gloved hand on the ward. "Say that again, Ember. Look in my eyes and tell me you don't love me."

I met his stare. My lips parted. Nothing came. Frowning, I cleared my throat and tried again. No sound emerged. Not a single syllable.

"Ember?" Aranren asked, his fear lashing against me.

"I'm all right," I said to him. "It's just residuals."

"Residuals," Rath repeated scornfully. "Our love is eternal. Nothing Death does can destroy it. Whatever it has done to you, Ember, it can't take our love away. And we will never stop fighting until will free you."

"You'll fuck up, Corrupter." Xaedren punched the ward, and it rippled like water. "He's stronger than you know. Death is no fucking match for my Ember!"

"He is not yours any longer, Wolf," Aranren pulled me in against his side. "He's mine now."

I felt Ara's need and went into his arms as if we had coordinated the maneuver. My hands slid up his chest as my old lovers shouted and slammed their fists on the ward. But their fury faded into the background when I met Aranren's ice-blue stare. And then my eyes closed and the delight of his kiss consumed me. I kept kissing him as his hands undid my robe, sliding it halfway down my back. The shouting grew worse, then became a roaring.

I glanced over to see Taroc bashing at the ward with his sword. His eyes were glowing and the blue scales at his temples had spread down his cheeks and across his forehead to form a mask. I'd seen him like this before, but I couldn't remember when. Then Ara turned my face back to his, and I forgot all about Taroc. As we kissed, the roaring stopped.

Shadows swept Ara and me away, back to the fortress. When I opened my eyes, Aranren and I stood on the topmost floor of a tower, only a low wall separating us from the drop. A conical roof perched atop slim columns, protecting us from the weather without impeding the view. I sighed and snuggled into my lover's arms. A light snow had started to fall, but I couldn't feel the cold.

Aranren cast my robe aside, then gently moved me to lean over the wall. A cushion formed beneath my arms, padding the stone so I could lay my face upon it. But I didn't lay my face down. I lifted it and looked over my shoulder to enjoy the sight of Aranren casting aside his robes, then spreading my cheeks.

The fear had left him. Only lust rode him now. Lust with a sprinkling of love.

Aranren slammed into me even as something slick coated my channel. I cried out and gripped the padded wall, bliss sending me back into my beautiful world. Here there was only pleasure and power. And Aranren.

Lifting onto my forearms, I pushed back into his thrusts, taking him as deep as I could. My legs were spread in a powerful stance and my back arched. Before me spread our lands, rolling meadows and small spots of trees cloaked in snow. Soon, all the land on Varr would be ours. We were more than two men deeply in love, we were also the most powerful mages on the planet.

Together, we would bring peace to the world at last.