Amazingly, the Nocumat, Oxcen apparently, protested her presence like a sullen little boy but did nothing to harm her. Aerolus could almost see it shuffling its globby feet petulantly as it voiced strenuous objections to returning home.
“I don’t care. You shouldn’t have encouraged the fair one to call on you. And wait until I tell your mother what you’ve done. She hates the Dark Lords.”
The Nocumat quickly lost shape, its man form dripping into the puddle from which it had grown, and soon withdrew altogether from the floor, rolling back into itself until only a drop remained before it, too, disappeared.
Marcus dropped like a stone the last few inches to the floor, no longer held by the viscous Oxcen. Cadmus did nothing to catch his brother. Instead he stood frozen over him, as if unable to see or hear anything.
“He can’t hear us or move,” the woman in white said. Her face and form were ethereal, stunning and regal in bearing, reminding him a bit of his mother. She circled him, staring at him from head to foot, until his shock grew to annoyance.
“I don’t know who you are but—”
Her ageless features brightened, their fierce perfection slowly morphing into a younger woman, one of flesh and blood with softer features, and one who made his blood roar as the bright glow around her faded.
“Yes, you do.” She circled to his front again, a broad smile on her full, red lips. “And I’m tired of waiting, Aerolus. But I admit the view’s been nothing but pleasant.”
Her gaze ran slowly over his face to his chest and lower, lingering over his groin.
To his dismay, he felt direct, intense sexual need that lanced something inside of him he’d held distant for so long.
“Finally,” she said, her mouth curled into a knowing grin.
He flushed, his erection evident and entirely inappropriate considering what he’d been through tonight.
“I appreciate what you’ve done with the Nocumat,” he said, though he didn’t understand it, “but my brother is—”
“Waking up from a bad dream.” She shuddered, and he felt like a sex-starved fool for noticing the full shape of her breasts as they pushed against her fine white robe. “I’d have nightmares too if Oxcen wrapped his greedy little hands around my neck. That boy needs a firmer hand.”
“Boy?” He stared at her incredulously. “Dream?” His gaze flew to Marcus, expecting to see the worst, and he caught his breath when Marcus groaned and rolled his head on the floor.
“Tessa?” he murmured and reached out a hand. “I had the worst dream…”
“Oh, and don’t worry about Tessa. She’s sleeping it off, I expect. Quite a woman,” she said brightly, a gleam of approval shining in her violet eyes.
“Who…what are you?” Aerolus stared, conscious of the tremendous power radiating from her slight yet womanly frame.
“Tsk, tsk, Aerolus. What, indeed? How rude. Whatever would Ravyn think?”
He stared, growing more and more aroused, and just as uneasy, as she neared. “What do you know of my mother?” he asked coolly.
She grinned, a dazzling expression that confused the hell out of him. Emotions and sensations coursed through his blood, and the normally unflappable Storm Lord had the overwhelming urge to throw her over his shoulder and show her how rude he wanted to be.
“Aerolus, I know everything about you.” She sighed. “I have to go. It won’t be long before Oxcen lets slip the queen has been here. And since she’s in council, they’ll know something’s wrong.
“I’ll be around, but if you really want to find me, look for me the next time you cross planes. And whatever you do,” she paused as her face turned serious, “don’t tell Arim or the others about me. They won’t understand, and you and I aren’t nearly ready to convince the Aellei to leave the Storm Lords alone. It’s bad enough one Dark Lord has them rethinking their position on interfering. But then, maybe it’s not just one.”
“What?” The ‘All-ay’? Dark Lords?
Her face screwed in irritation. “You know, this would be a lot easier if I had help. I changed my mind. Stop playing around and find me, mage. I’m getting tired of watching and sleeping alone.”
Aerolus blinked but before he could demand answers, she flared to a brilliant white again and vanished.
As if time had not just stood still, Cadmus swore in disbelief. “What the hell happened? Two seconds ago he was covered in Nocumat shit, and now he’s asking for Tessa?”
Marcus opened his eyes, confused. “Why the hell are you leaning over me? Where’s Tessa? And why am I on the floor?” He sat up slowly with Cadmus’ help. “I feel like I’ve been beaten with a stick.” He stared suspiciously at Cadmus, then frowned. “You look terrible.”
Aerolus saw the perplexed look on Cadmus’ face and started laughing. Both his brothers stared at him in astonishment, but he couldn’t stop. Marcus, who should be dead, wasn’t. Cadmus, one moment a Storm Lord and the next a Djinn, was complaining already. And Tessa, lovely, powerful Tessa, slept like a baby while their enemy had vanished into the Next, or hopefully Hell, at the hands of a rebellious Djinn.
“Aerolus?” Cadmus asked hesitantly, his eyes haunted but sincere with concern. “You okay?”
“Fine,” Aerolus said honestly. He felt alive, deliriously happy and surrounded by brotherly affection. Within him resonated Darius’ satisfaction that all was well, and he turned to Cadmus with a smile. “Let’s go home.”
Tessa murmured for Marcus and smiled when she felt him running strong hands up her thighs. Succumbing to her superb lover, she spread her legs wide and sighed with pleasure when his hands found her.
One finger penetrated while another rubbed her hardening clit. She writhed as her body pooled with want. A warm mouth covered one aroused breast, and when he nipped lightly, she arched up with a moan, completely at his mercy.
“Yes, sertia, more,” he rasped and added another finger, widening her passage. His fingers slid in and out easily, coated with her slick need that continued to grow as he played.
With amazing skill, he coaxed her to a quick orgasm. Unable to stop, she shuddered and came, tightening around his fingers as she rode his hand.
“That’s it, sertia.” He withdrew from her body and began kissing his way up her belly.
She could feel his cock hot and hard against her leg, and just the thought of him wanting her sparked her desire.
Marcus, however, would not be rushed. He kissed her gently, touching and stroking until he’d built her need once more. And he refused to let her touch him.
“If you touch me now, I’ll lose it,” he warned in a thick voice. “I want this to last. I want to watch you come around me when I spill inside you. I need to see your eyes when we’re one.” His blue eyes deepened to black.
“I love you, Marcus,” she whispered and circled his neck to bring his mouth to hers.
He deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking and sliding along the recesses of erotic zones she hadn’t thought existed in her mouth. But each swipe of his tongue against the roof of her mouth made her breath hitch, and when he thrust his tongue against hers, her sex quivered, wanting his shaft deep inside.
She arched into him, pressing her breasts against his chest and scraping the hardened peaks in slow circles.
“Tessa,” he groaned, reaching between them to position his cock on her clit. He rotated the head of his shaft, applying pressure to her sensitive area, sliding closer but never close enough to allow penetration.
He was killing her.
Not wanting another orgasm without him, she took charge. She battled and assumed control of the kiss, pulling and pushing at his tongue until he was panting and thrusting against her clit in time with her mouth’s rhythm.