Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Harlan
The weight of the chest-press machine smashes down against the metal with a loud bang. I’m drenched in sweat from only fifty reps and curse to the empty room. This is what happens when you don’t train. Everything gets weak.
I’d let the girls have some time together while Kayla healed, knowing they needed to be around her to help her mend. But it has now been a week since Kayla and Alaric came rushing through our door. We desperately need to get back into training and find the final stone. Dara now has both the stones tattooed into her back. They look breathtaking—the mesmerizing green Emerald surrounded by the vine and the bright, clear-blue, fluorescent Topaz, also surrounded by the vibrant vine. We just need the last red Ruby to complete the set. I still have no idea what will happen when we get the final stone—if it will destroy James or what damage it will cause. All we know is it will give us power—and that’s exactly what we need to defeat James.
I often dream of our life after finding the three stones. What will we do and how will we all live together? It scares the shit out of me. Without training and constantly looking over our shoulders, what will we do to entertain ourselves? I know we won’t be able to keep our hands off our Dara, but is that enough?
I can’t even think of a time when my brothers and I haven’t worked on this mission. We’ve spent our whole lives dedicated to this, training for this and being her warriors.
I shake my head, trying to clear it of all these unanswered questions. I have to focus on the present and worry about the future later.
After grabbing a towel off the floor, I wipe off the sweat gathered on my forehead. It’s time to go round up everyone and get to work.
I find Blair and Declan in the living room, talking in hushed tones. I give them a nod, and they follow me up the stairs. The girls are still tucked away in Dara’s room as they have been for the past week while Kayla has recovered. We’ve given them as much time as we could, but we can’t forget our mission.
I’m surprised to find Oliver in here, cuddled up with a sleeping Dara. I’d thought he was with our father. He’s wide awake but not moving a muscle, perhaps afraid of waking her. I catch his gaze, and he knows instantly I’m here to crash the party.
He gently rubs Dara’s arm, and she stirs.
“Five more minutes,” she mumbles, shifting around. Her pyjama bottoms ride up, showcasing her fuckable arse. Damn, she’s perfect.
Oliver runs his fingers across her exposed arse cheek with a knowing smirk, and I roll my eyes. We haven’t seen much of Dara lately, and, God, I miss her. I’ve found it harder and harder to keep my distance as each minute has gone by; it’s taken a lot of physical energy to stop myself from being by her side. That draw we have to her—I’ve had to shut it down to let her have space while tending to Kayla.
Blair and Declan move into the room joining Jolie who’s on the floor. She leans against the wall, watching both Kayla and Dara sleep. She looks exhausted, with black rings circling her eyes. She must not have slept much these past few days.
Dara shifts, blinking one eye open and then the other. Lifting her head, she smiles at seeing us all in here together. But I can see the worry in her beautiful blue eyes. She knows that if we are all here, it must mean business.
She sits and nudges Kayla with her elbow. Kayla groans and rolls over into Alaric’s waiting arms. Her eyes shoot open and she blushes. I clear my throat, getting everyone’s attention as I stand near the door, leaning against the wall and propping my leg up.
“We need to get back into training starting tomorrow. We can’t let our guards down,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
Dara groans, causing everyone to laugh. Of course, our girl would do that, the cheeky vixen.
“Silvia is getting worse but not as quickly as before. I heard James is recovering and feeling the effects of losing the two stones. We need to take action now while he’s not in full power,” Oliver says, sitting up and glancing around at us all.
With Alaric back with us, we don’t have all the insight into what’s been happening in the kingdom, but we still have some of our men working as guards—they just aren’t as close with James as Alaric was. We did lose a good weapon, having Alaric on the inside, but he did what he had to do to get Kayla out alive. That’s what any one of us would have done.
“Jolie, I want you to work with Dara on her new powers from Topaz and on fresh techniques to find the Ruby.” I turn toward Jolie who nods in agreement.
“Oliver, keep taking to the skies to find out what’s happening around Silvia. Once Kayla is up to it, I want you and Alaric to help her transform into her new form and teach her how to use her eagle abilities.”
Kayla’s brows draw together in worry. I offer her a tight smile, telling her without words it’ll be okay.She sinks back against her pillow, and with a yawn she closes her eyes.
“Blair and Declan, get back into fitness training. You both need to regain your form. That goes for everyone else, too—we need to be ready to fight hard for the final stone. James won’t let this one go without an all-out war.”
As I finish, I glance around the room at my brothers and sister and the friends who have become our family. They all have the same look written on their faces. Their brows are drawn together in worry, but there is determination there, and that’s all we need to have any chance of succeeding. That’s the hope we hold onto—the only thing keeping us going. We need to save Silvia and restore it to its former glory. It’s our home and our reason for living.
I make my way over to Dara, who’s cuddled into Oliver’s chest.
I lean over Oliver, taking Dara’s cheek in my hand and rubbing light strokes over it with my thumb. She sighs, and my stomach alights with butterflies. Dara makes me come alive. No one else makes me have butterflies like she does. But as much as I want to explore those lips, that mouth, that delectable body, now is not the time.
We have a job to do, and that starts now.
“Who’s up for a jog?” I ask, letting go of Dara.“I want to warm myself up so I’m ready for some squats in the morning.”
Oliver groans, running a hand over his face and saying, “Count me out.”
“I’d love to get out of the house, but only if someone stays with Kayla,” Dara pipes up.
Alaric’s hand shoots up just as the words leave Dara’s mouth. I chuckle. I’d known that he would be the first to volunteer. He has it bad.
“I’ve got nothing else to do today, so I could,” he mumbles, scratching the back of his neck and trying to play it cool.
Dara jumps up off the bed, then gives a now-sleeping Kayla a kiss on the cheek. I make my way down the stairs and wait for her.
She’s down within minutes, and we head out. We start running through our village, the only safe zone right now. James burnt out everything else in Silvia apart from the twenty-odd tree houses surrounding our home because Jolie had a protection spell around it. Thank Silvia for Jolie.
Everything outside looks depressing, with black ash as far as the eye can see. It enrages me to think that James caused unthinkable destruction to make us fear him and hurt us. We move through the village to the outskirts where it’s quiet. No one is out here, they are all back in their houses. It’s just us and the last parts of the lush forest.
I glance over my shoulder to check on Dara, but she speeds up, overtaking me and giving me a perfect view of her arse. She’s wearing tight short shorts that hug the globes of her butt cheeks firmly. Fucking hell. My dick strains against my shorts. It’d been way too long and those shorts—goddamn.
Fuck, Dara, do you have any idea how hot you look in those short shorts? I mentally ask her.
She looks back over her shoulder, smirking. Of course, she knows. I pump my legs harder, catching up to her. I slap her butt as I pass her, and she squeals in delight.It’s like music to my ears.
She grabs hold of my hand, pulling me to an abrupt stop in front of her. She looks up at me with hunger in her eyes. Her chest rises and falls. In the next second, she jumps up, and I grab her arse, bringing her toward me, wrapping her legs around my waist. She runs her hands through my hair then her lips find mine. The moment they touch, everything around us disappears. I spin us around and push her back as gently as I can against the closest tree. She yelps in surprise. We both fight for dominance, giving everything to the kiss. Our tongues dance together as my hand moves up her T-shirt. Grabbing hold of her breast, I give it a tug, twisting her nipple in my finger as she moans into my mouth. I push my erection into her, and she arches her head back in pleasure.
“I need you,” she pants.
She lets her legs go and drops the short distance to the ground. My hands are instantly on her hips, and I slowly pull down her sexy-as-fuck black short shorts. I groan as they come away to find she’s got nothing on underneath. My cheeky vixen is completely naked from the waist down. She gets to work pulling down my shorts. I line myself up to her entrance and push in with one swift movement. I don’t want to fuck around with foreplay today. I need her now. She wraps her arms around my neck as I push into her and screams out to the quiet forest. I quickly cover her mouth drowning out her screams, I don’t want anyone in the village behind us to hear and come out. We are far enough away but still. We meet each other’s thrusts. It doesn’t take long for me to finish just as Dara moans out in pleasure. She collapses in my arms, her head resting on my shoulder. We stay like this for a few minutes, both catching our breath. I lower her down to the ground, giving her a light kiss on her forehead and pushing her hair out of her face. She smiles up at me. Once we get dressed, we’re off again.
We keep running through the forest; it’s another cloudy day, and the sun’s nowhere to be seen. I can’t remember the last time we saw sunlight, which is odd here in Silvia. But with James causing havoc, everything’s out of whack. The once lush, vibrant forest outside our village is now burnt and dried out, all thanks to him. We make it back home and Dara jerks to a stop. She leans over, her hands on her knees, gasping for air.
“Looks like someone is out of shape,” I tease, running my hand over her back.
“Yep, so bad. Just give me a minute,” she says between breaths.
The door opens and Blair comes out. He looks to Dara, and I give him a nod, walking back inside. I glance back to catch him putting his arm around her back to help her get inside. Looks like training is going to be tough for not only Dara but all of us.
Let the fun begin.