As she continued to caress him, she bit her lip, her eyes shining and her aura pulsing with…love.
His eyes widened, and he wondered if he truly was the idiot Arim had accused him of being. All this time he’d been playing word games and second guessing both himself and her, when all along the answer had been right in front of him in their tied magic.
Still joined, with Tanselm’s boost he could now see the love bonding them together. His Light and her Shadow forged into an altogether different energy, one vastly more accepting, and one that made use of everything around them, giving Aerolus nearly the power his uncle wielded.
Her grip tightened over him, and his excitement increased, both at the physical pleasure and at his important discovery. “Ah, love, you are a treasure,” he said on a sigh as he rocked into her.
“I am, aren’t I?” She laughed, her joy a part of their connection. “And I want to see you come, my little Wind Mage.” Her eyes twinkled.
“Little, eh?” he grumbled and carried them both to the ground on a pocket of wind. With a thought, he spelled their clothing gone and shoved her thighs wide.
“Aerolus?” she questioned, her voice high with excitement.
“Quiet, purie. Let me love my affai as a true Storm Lord should.”
He stared into her eyes, waiting as the carefree joy in her expression changed to one of shock and disbelief.
“Affai?” she squeaked.
“Well, maybe,” he teased, coating his cock in her moist sex. “I’m willing to make a bargain with you. But it’s on my terms, take it or leave it.”
He leant down to suck her nipple, groaning at how sweet she tasted. Such a petite frame with such generous curves, and so incredibly delicious. Licking and nipping at her breasts, he brought her to near-orgasm with his mouth and tiny hands of wind that stroked her heated skin.
“Aerolus,” she gasped. “What are you doing to me?”
“I’m loving you, affai,” he said, liking the sound of it more and more. ‘Affai’, in conjunction with Alandra, sounded magical, but more, it sounded right. He moved lower, trailing his mouth over her taut abdomen and through the silky curls covering her mound. Nosing through her hair, he licked at the ambrosia glistening between her thighs and parted her folds with his fingers.
He stared, enthralled, at her sex. “Don’t you want to know what I want out of the bargain?” he asked in a thick voice.
Her breathing heavy, she tried to draw her thighs closed. “If you’d give me a minute to think—”
“Now we can’t have that,” he said wickedly and closed his lips around her clit. “So fucking sweet.” He nipped and pulled, teasing the flesh into a ripe nub near to bursting. All the while, Alandra squirmed and begged, pleading for him to enter her.
“Tell me you want me,” he said, thrusting a finger inside her.
She arched into his touch, her body coiled like a bow about to release. “I want you,” she gasped.
“Now and forever.”
She moaned as he pumped another finger inside her, thrusting his digits harder and faster. “Now and forever.”
“And admit you’ve known for some time that you love me.”
He stopped all motion and waited as she quivered beneath him. Her eyes opened, and within their depths he noted silver striating the lavender in her gaze. He truly was a part of her, and she of him. But he had to hear her admit it.
“Aerolus.” She squirmed, her cheeks flushed. She tried to move closer to his mouth and fingers but he held her still, his winds more powerful now than they’d ever been.
“Tell me, purie, how much you long to be my wife. How the thought of another woman clenching me, taking my cock and my seed, makes you rage.”
She shuddered, Dark waves of energy emanating from the passion that dwelled within her. “Dammit, Aerolus!” She struggled but remained in his hold. “You’re mine,” she said rebelliously. “You’ve been mine for a year. My charge, my responsibility.”
“Your what?” he asked coolly, keeping his affai in check. Did she really think they could continue by ignoring the truth? By the Light, he wanted her so badly he was near to coming just from her taste. His cock ached as much as his heart, and he strained to hear her admit what she deep down knew to be the truth.
“My mate,” she said with a disgruntled sigh. “My love,” she repeated on a sultry note, soft moans trickling from her lips, and he buried his face between her thighs once more, his fingers working magic in her warmth.
He was completely out of his mind, drugged on her taste, her scent, her feel. He rubbed his swollen shaft against her leg when he really wanted to drive inside her. He quickly climbed over her, blanketing her smaller form with his own.
“You and I are in this together.” He paused at the entry to her sheath, waiting until she opened her eyes to meet his gaze. “Make no mistake, we are one.”
She nodded, a sly look on her face. “We are, once I agree to your conditions. So what are they, my prince?” she asked and shifted, taking the head of his cock inside her.
He caught his breath, fighting the urge to plunge deep. Damned if she didn’t bait him, and damned if it didn’t make him want to master her all the more.
“You will become my affai, live with me here in the kingdom over MornMountain. You’ll bring a handful of loyal Aellei you deem worthy of Tanselm to live here, a bridge to gap our worlds of Light and Shadow. All this can be yours, if you do one small thing.”
Her eyes widened. “What small thing?”
“You must never, ever lie to me again.”
Before she could answer, he thrust deep, groaning at the incredible satisfaction rumbling through him. A tightening at the base of his balls warmed, bliss spreading throughout his entire body as he pounded into her, bringing her with him body and soul into a mesh of existence too pure for words.
“Aerolus, love, more,” she cried, locking her thighs around him as he thrust deeper and harder.
Her voice, her touch sent him spiralling out of control, and the light breeze covering them turned into a massive vortex of wind and energy that swirled around them, leaving them in the centre of the storm’s heart.
“Promise me, Alandra,” he gritted as he thrust, a heartbeat away from coming.
“Yes,” she cried, clamping around him and pulling him into the cataclysm with her. “I promise.”
They remained locked, each one firmly tied to the other, heart to heart, mind to mind, as he poured his love into her.
Magic unfurled, a dance of winds and a wave of the mountain’s shadow caressing two lovers with loving acceptance.
“I am finally home,” he breathed, struck by the truth of his words. Tanselm, Aelle, Seattle, none of it mattered if Alandra was not there to share his life. His dissatisfaction with Tanselm vanished. In its place was a desire to share with his affai, to watch as she experienced every breath of Tanselm’s vast beauty and magic.
“You tricked me,” she murmured and brushed back a lock of fallen hair from his eyes. “I can’t believe an inexperienced Wind Mage, a snotty little Light Bringer, tricked me.” She sighed and stretched, tightening around him again and making him groan at the exquisite feel. She stroked his cheek and grinned into his eyes. “It must be love.”
Joy spread through his soul, radiating from their joined existence. Where the shadow of the mountain met the ground around them, dark flowers sprang, the sultry scent of new life blossoming with wonder.
“Aresla,” Alandra murmured in surprise as she stared at the sight. “They only bloom in Aelle, and only in the presence of Shadow.”