A Lost Light (The Bestiary #4)

22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Elijah

A ndy lay propped up on the bed before me, every luscious curve on display, her smile welcoming and her eyes hooded with desire, despite what I was. She was beautiful, in that lush, fertile way that only a female witch could be, her entire being an expression of the ancient whispers of primal, earthy pleasures, of knowing you were truly one with nature and all creation, put on this plane to experience all the wonders of being alive.

But what sang to me, what called to more than her physical beauty, or the power of her magic, was the very essence of this amazing woman herself—her heart and soul, the reason I was free from the slavery of the bestiary, the reason I stood here now, in a physical body, able to burn with this desire in a way I had never experienced before, even in my old life.

My heartbeat was loud, thrumming through me. My body was awash in heat. My cock throbbed, bobbing heavy and needy against my belly as I crawled to her. My people had tricked most of the mortals in the Planus realm—and no few beings in Magea as well—into thinking we were the mouthpiece of some all- powerful god. But the only deity I worshipped was the goddess before me.

Long ago, I had been indoctrinated, as all young angels were, fed the same lies that the mortals were fed to keep them in awe of our greatness and power. A vast majority of angels—the lower classes who weren't part of any governing choir—thought there was some truth to our origin story. That we really were the superior race acting on messages from god, passed down to the holy choirs. I had the fortunate misfortune of being born with powerful magic. I was recruited, brought into the inner circle, and began training to join a choir. Until then, I had lived under the belief that base desires of the flesh were not befitting our kind. That we should be pure. Holy. Devoutly adhering to the morals we were taught in every way.

It was all a lie meant to keep the choirs in power and in control of not only the other realms, but their own subjects as well. I soon learned—accidentally, and before they were ready to impart that particular knowledge—that it was all bullshit.

And now I knew, without any shadow of a doubt, that pleasure of the flesh, that the sharing of mind, body, and soul with another being, was actually one of the most holy experiences a person could have. We were meant to savor all life had to offer. We were meant to glory in the beauty and wonder that came with having a physical form. And I wasn't going to squander that gift a second time.

I started at her feet, sliding my hands over the tops, noting the shapes of her adorable toes, the arch of her foot, the way she squirmed when my newly sensitive fingertips slid lightly over her ankles. Ticklish. That was a new sensation as well.

Though I had lived in a physical body once upon a time, it had been so long. The memories of the experiences of that time were nothing more than ghostly wisps, impossible to grasp. When I first woke in this new body, everything was too loud. Too bright. Every sensation too strong. Even the touch of clothing against my body seemed like a cacophony that I couldn't bear. And though that had improved significantly, still… every experience was heightened. I watched the others around me, and I knew they didn't see and feel the world quite as I did now.

The sensation of my fingertips and palms gliding over Andy's soft skin demanded every bit of my attention, drew me into a sort of trance. I could happily spend the rest of my life just touching her, feeling her skin against my own. My hands glided upward, over her lower legs to her knees as I wantonly crawled between her legs. She bent her knees, planting her feet on the bed, and I ran my hands up the backs of her generous thighs, loving the softness of them, the weight of her flesh in my hands. I squeezed, earning me a little laugh. A sound of fond amusement at my fascination. I rewarded her with a kiss to the soft inner side of each knee, my lips lingering, each press of my flesh to hers like a drug.

She didn't complain. She didn't comment on my fixation, or demand that I hurry up and provide something more. She understood. My witch knew me. She saw me. And judging from the little shivers as I moved higher, she was just as delighted by this moment as I was.

Her fingers slid though my hair as I pressed kisses along her inner thigh. The sensation of her fingers skating across my scalp, curling to lightly grip my hair, was pure heaven. And still, she didn't hurry me along. So patient. So Andy. I wondered if any of her other loves ever saw this side of her. The gruffness and bluster dropped. The desperate, frenzied rush to completion abandoned as she let herself just be.

I reached the thatch of lightly trimmed green curls between her legs and playfully nuzzled there, earning another of those soft, surprised little laughs. The contrast of rough and soft against my skin filled me with delight, and I finally let myself move on to more urgent desires. Parting her folds with two fingers of one hand, I tasted my witch, slowly laving her lips, swiping the flat of my tongue from her opening to her clit, playing, tasting, and reveling in every stuttered breath from the woman I loved.

This was heaven. I had felt her pleasure as the others loved her, in those moments when she invited my ghost self into her aura. I had also felt her joy as she pleasured them. But I had never tasted her. Never felt her against my tongue. Never held her in my own arms as she came apart.

Her grip in my hair tightened, sending a delicious zing of pleasure down my spine and straight to my cock. I glanced up as I swirled my tongue around her swollen nub, my gaze taking in the lovely sight of her soft belly and her voluptuous breasts before I met her eyes, watching her face as I latched onto the little nub and sucked lightly.

Her gray eyes were full of love and lust. At my attentions, she threw her head back and gasped. So I did it again. I wasn't lying when I told her I had been a virgin at my death. But I also wasn't lying when I said I knew her body in a way no one else did. I had been there with her, feeling what she felt, and I knew all the little things that drove her higher.

I shifted my hands to her hips to hold her still when she arched her back, pressing her mound closer to my face. My cock ached, trapped against the blankets and throbbing near to burst. When Andy's body tensed, I sped up, flicking her clit with my tongue as I slid two fingers into her hot, wet core, curling upward to find that spot she love so much and apply pressure. She fluttered around my fingers, yelping as she released my hair to grip the bedsheets.

“Elijah!”

She sound of my name on her lips as she came was more glorious than the singing of any chorus of angels. I nearly came myself, right then. But I somehow held on. I wanted to release inside of her. To fully be part of her in a way I never could before.

I slowed my motions, easing my fingers from her and gently swiping the flat of my tongue over her clit as she came down from her climax. When her body relaxed and her breathing evened out, I moved higher, hungrily sliding my hands over the dip of her waist, kissing the soft round of her beautiful belly, pausing to dip my tongue into her belly button just to get her to laugh again.

She obliged, squirming as she tried to get away. “Not again. I don’t think I can take much more of this attention,” she muttered.

I grinned against the soft skin over her solar plexus, my hands skating higher to cup her heavy breasts. “Mmm… and yet, I've no doubt you'll find a way to survive. Somehow. I mean to savor every inch of you, Oleander.”

She sighed, but I knew the put-upon sound was just her way of teasing me. Bracing myself over her, glorying in the brush of my skin against hers, I drew one of her nipples into my mouth, savoring, rolling my tongue over the hard nub the way I knew she loved. I suckled lightly, and she moaned as I finally pressed our hips together, letting my cock press along the wet heat of her slit.

I nibbled at her collar bones and tasted her throat as she arched up into me, grinding along my cock in a way that made us both moan. Her hands came to my back, and she clung to me as if her world was coming apart. Finally, I kissed along her jaw and made my way to those sweet, deliciously plump lips.

Andy hummed into the kiss, her breasts flattened against my chest, one leg coming up to wrap around my hip and give her better leverage in order to rub against me again, providing the friction I was denying us.

I moaned, pulling back to rest my forehead against hers, my eyes falling closed as I breathed deeply, centering myself and breathing her in at the same time. “I know what you want, Andy,” I whispered. “I'm just as eager as you are. Probably more so. But I'm afraid I won't last more than a single second once I'm inside you, my beautiful goddess.”

She huffed a laugh. “Goddess? Careful, or I might get used to all that flattery.” Then her hand came to rest along my cheek. “Elijah. I don't care. It's not like this is some grand performance. You don't have to try to be perfect. You already are. I just want to share my body with you. I just want this.” She kissed me softly, then withdrew, and I opened my eyes to meet her gaze, so filled with love and adoration that I scarcely thought I deserved. “I just want you. Us. I want you to feel as amazing as you've made me feel every day since we met.”

My wings flared out behind me in a blinding flood of magic and emotion. Shifting my weight, I guided my cock downward, stroking the head across her clit and through her folds. Then I slowly pressed home.

The feeling was like nothing I'd ever experienced. Her heat enveloped me, and she arched into me with a low moan. I pressed a hard, graceless kiss to her lips. Then I was lost.

Sensation overwhelmed me once more and I was reduced to nothing but the slide of my flesh over and inside hers. My aura slipped from my conscious control, reaching for her, craving the feeling of her soul.

The next thing I knew, we were one. One body, one being feeling the sensations and emotions of two. I gasped, pressing deeper, harder, determined to drive us both to the pinnacle of this maelstrom of feeling. Andy gasped and clutched at me, her nails digging into my flesh. Everything was too much, every sensation too strong. And even over the intense flood of sensations, the beauty of her soul sang, warm and all-encompassing. It sang for me .

Slamming home, I let out an unholy shout as I spilled inside her, feeling as though I had just been turned inside out.

I slammed back home into my own body, the dual sensations fading, and opened my eyes to look down at the completely blissed out woman beneath me.

“Holy shit,” she mumbled.

I let out a surprised chuckle. It was a very Andy response. “Indeed,” I said, kissing her forehead before gently withdrawing to lie beside her and gather her up in my arms.

As I was trying to catch my breath, I felt a strange sort of… twang in my chest. I frowned when Andy rubbed the same spot on her own body.

I was about to ask what the strange sensation could be, but as I opened my mouth, someone started pounding on the bedroom door.

“Andy!” Niamh called out, her tone one of tight impatience. “You just got another letter. And it's on fire.”

“Fuck me,” Andy groaned, flopping onto her back and closing her eyes.

I chuckled and leaned over to kiss the tip of her nose. “I'm pretty sure I just did.”

She shook her head. “No. No snark from you. I get enough of that from all the other assholes. You just keep being sweet.”

I laughed as I went to gather our clothes.

Even though my chest still hurt.