Chapter 30 Kaelren #2
“Kaelren,” she breathed, her hands finding my hair, holding me to her like she was afraid I’d stop.
I had no intention of stopping. I lavished attention on her breasts, the sap making my tongue glide smoothly across sensitive skin. I used my teeth carefully, scraping across peaks already hardened with need, and felt her whole body shudder in response.
When I was satisfied—when she was trembling and gasping my name—I moved lower, kissing a path down her stomach that made her forget how to breathe. The marks there pulsed under my lips, responding to my touch, to my need, to the bond that sang between us.
“Please,” she gasped, not sure what she was begging for. “I need—”
“Let me take care of you,” I said against her hip, pressing a kiss there. “Let me show you how precious you are.”
I lifted her gently, adjusting her position on the petal-covered bed with reverence that made my hands tremble.
When I settled between her thighs, spreading them wider to make room for my shoulders, I had to pause for a moment just to look at her.
Flushed and wanting, her marks glowing, her chest heaving with anticipation—she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
My hands settled on her thighs, and when I looked up at her, I knew my eyes were dark with desire and something deeper—worship, maybe, or wonder at the sheer privilege of being trusted with this.
The first taste of her was intoxicating—earthy and sweet with an undercurrent of that wild power she carried, like summer storms and growing things and magic barely contained. I groaned against her, the sound vibrating through her in a way that made her cry out.
I took my time, alternating between broad strokes of my tongue that made her whimper and focused attention on the bundle of nerves that made her cry out and arch off the bed.
I remembered from our first time together what made her fall apart, but I wanted to learn it all over again, wanted to discover new ways to drive her mad.
Her thighs trembled around my head, and I had to hold her hips down to keep her from arching off the bed entirely. The plants glowed brighter around us, responding to her pleasure, to the power building between us.
“Please,” she gasped, her hands tightening in my hair almost painfully. “I need—I can’t—”
I knew what she needed. I doubled my efforts, adding my fingers to the mix, sliding them inside her while my tongue worked that sensitive bundle of nerves.
She was tight and hot around my fingers, her body clenching in rhythm with each stroke.
I found the angle that made her see stars, curling my fingers to hit that spot inside her that made her scream.
Her hands were desperate in my hair now, holding me in place, and then suddenly they left, reaching up to find—
My ears.
Her fingers traced the pointed tips—more pronounced here in the dreamscape than in reality—and the sensation shot through me like lightning. I actually growled against her, the vibration making her hips buck against my mouth.
“Do that again,” I demanded, pulling back just enough to speak, my fingers never stopping their rhythm inside her.
She did, her fingers tracing delicate patterns on the sensitive points of my ears, and I had to fight not to lose myself completely. Instead, I channeled that pleasure into my efforts, my tongue working faster, my fingers hitting that perfect spot with each thrust.
We were learning each other all over again, mapping new territory, building something between us that existed outside of prophecy or destiny or the roles we’d been forced into. This was just us—just two people who wanted each other with a desperation that defied logic.
I felt her getting close, felt the way her body tensed, the way her breathing grew ragged and desperate. Through the bond, I could feel her pleasure building like a storm about to break, and I wanted to be the one who shattered her.
“Let go,” I murmured against her. “Let go, love. I’ve got you.”
When she came, it was my name on her lips—my name, not a curse or a prayer but something in between.
Her whole body went rigid, her marks blazing so bright the entire room seemed to glow with golden light.
Through the bond, I felt her pleasure as if it were my own—waves of it crashing over both of us, drowning us in sensation.
My own marks pulsed in response, the bond between us singing with shared ecstasy.
I worked her through it, my fingers gentling inside her, my tongue softening its assault until the waves began to subside. Even then, I continued with soft, careful touches, drawing out every last tremor of pleasure until she was pushing my head away with shaking hands.
“Stop, stop,” she gasped, oversensitive and trembling. “Too much—”
I pressed one last reverent kiss to her inner thigh, then slowly withdrew my fingers and crawled up her body. She was trembling, her breathing ragged, her marks still glowing softly in the aftermath. I gathered her against me, holding her close while she shook.
“I’ve got you,” I murmured, pressing kisses to her forehead, her temple, her flushed cheeks. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
She buried her face against my neck, her arms wrapping around me with surprising strength for someone who’d just come apart so completely. “That was…” she started, then trailed off, apparently unable to find words.
“Perfect,” I finished for her. “You’re perfect.”
She relaxed into my embrace, her head finding the hollow of my shoulder like it was made to fit there. We lay tangled together, skin to skin, our marks glowing softly in the dim light.
“I’m scared,” she admitted quietly. “Of what’s coming. Of what might happen to us.”
“Me too,” I said, because she deserved honesty. “But I promise you this—no matter what happens next, no matter how this ends, I will fight with everything I have to give us a chance.”
“The seed,” she reminded me. “You have to get the seed.”
“I will.”
“And Kaelren?” She pulled back enough to look at me. “When the moment comes, trust Peeble. Trust what they tell you. They’ve been preparing for this for longer than any of us can comprehend.”
The dream was already starting to fade, reality pulling us back to our separate hells. I held her tighter, trying to memorize the feel of her, the smell of her, every detail I could capture.
“Find me,” she whispered as the world dissolved around us. “When it all begins—find me.”
“Always,” I promised. “In this iteration and every other, I will always find you.”
I woke to cold dawn light filtering through the tent flap, Elle’s warmth replaced by the chill of corruption spreading through my veins. But I could still feel her, still taste her, still smell her scent on my skin even though it had only been a dream.
More than a dream. A gift. A promise.
I dressed quickly, my mind already planning the detour we’d need to make. The seed. Elle had given me a mission, and I wouldn’t fail her.
But when I emerged from my tent, I immediately knew something was wrong.
The others were gathered in a tight cluster, their voices low and urgent. Peeble sat on Vashael’s shoulder, their wings vibrating with distress in a way I’d never seen before.
“What happened?” I demanded.
Vashael turned to me, her expression grim. “Bryx is gone. And Kevin with him.”
The words didn’t process at first. “Gone where?”
“We don’t know.” Sarnyx gestured to Bryx’s tent—empty, his pack missing, no sign of a struggle. “Nimor says they left during the night. Quietly, like they didn’t want to be followed.”
“Why would he—” I stopped, remembering his odd behavior last night. The whispered conversation with Kevin. The way he’d avoided my eyes. “Damn it.”
“There’s no note, no explanation,” Eltrien said, his marks pulsing rapidly. “Just… gone.”
Peeble launched off Vashael’s shoulder and landed on mine, their usual sass completely absent. “He knew something. Kevin knew something. I could feel it yesterday—they were planning this.”
“Planning what?” I demanded. “Why would Bryx abandon us now, right before everything?”
“I don’t know,” Peeble admitted, and their uncertainty was more frightening than their usual confident snark. “But if they left, they had a reason.”
I wanted to go after them. Every instinct screamed to track them down, demand answers, drag Bryx back by force if necessary. But—
“We don’t have time,” Vashael said quietly, reading my face. “The Convergence is in three days. If we delay even half a day searching for them…”
“Elle dies,” I finished, the words bitter in my mouth. “And everything ends.”
“Bryx made his choice,” Sarnyx said, though her voice held regret. “We have to make ours.”
I looked at each of them—Vashael, Sarnyx, Nimor, Eltrien. Four where we should have been six. Two losses already, and we hadn’t even entered the tunnels yet.
“I saw Elle again last night, and she told me something in the dream,” I said, making the decision. “There’s a chamber beneath the Heartspire, hidden even from Auradelle. A seed grows there—created by the Root, preparing for a second flowering. We need to retrieve it.”
“A detour,” Nimor said, understanding immediately.
“Yes. But it’s necessary.” I looked at Peeble, remembering Elle’s words. “When we reach it, something will happen. Peeble you’re supposed to know what we need to do.”
Peeble’s entire body went still. “She told you.”
“She told me to trust you. That you’re more than you seem.”
Peeble silently nodded, and the others stared.
I gathered everyone close. “Here’s the plan. We enter the tunnels now. We move fast but carefully—there will be traps, guards, obstacles. When we reach the branching passage that leads to the seed chamber, Eltrien, Pebble, and I will go for it while the rest of you secure our exit route.”
“Why Eltrien?” Vashael asked.
I met Eltrien’s strange eyes. “Because I think he’s been preparing for this moment for a very long time.”
“Longer than you know,” Eltrien agreed quietly.
“We have three days,” I said. “We cannot afford mistakes. We cannot afford mercy. Anyone who stands between us and Elle dies. Understood?”
Grim nods all around.
“Then let’s move.”
We gathered our supplies, checked our weapons one last time, and approached the tunnel entrance. The symbols carved into the stone seemed to pulse as I drew near, responding to my corruption in ways I didn’t understand.
Before we descended, I paused and looked back at the morning sky, wondering where Bryx and Kevin had gone, what could possibly have been important enough to make them abandon us now.
But there was no time for waste.
“For Elle!” I said, and stepped into the darkness.
“For Elle!” the others echoed behind me.
The tunnels swallowed us whole, ancient and aware, and somewhere far ahead, destiny or doom or both awaited.
The countdown had begun.