Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aaran
W ith Harper’s hand slipped through the crook of my elbow, we walk through the grand corridor and into the garden. To me, this is my home, but her eyes are wide and her mouth slightly agape with every new sight.
A maze of rose bushes leads to a center fountain. Late summer means that many flowers are blooming and the air is heady with lovely scents.
One of the maids runs after us and wraps a shawl over Harper’s shoulders.
“Thank you, Mari.”
Mari makes a quick curtsy and runs back inside.
“You already know the names of the staff?” Everything about Harper is lovely and kind. I don’t deserve this woman. I’ve taken her from all she knows and nearly gotten her killed a dozen times.
“She made my fire.” She clutches the cream-colored shawl tight. “Did you think the captain believed our story? He looked…I don’t know, skeptical.”
Mother was right about the dress, but the color be damned; it caresses Harper’s curves well enough to make my mouth water.
“Rían is a soldier through and through. He’s not one to show emotions. He believed us and will think over what he heard. Tomorrow, he will likely have questions.” I turn us down a path that leads to a gate.
She shivers.
Stopping, I pull her into my arms and rub her back. “I was going to show you something, but perhaps we can do that tomorrow when it’s warmer.”
“It has been a long day. Can we go back to my room for the night?”
I freeze, not certain I’m understanding her correctly. “You want me to stay the night with you?”
“Is that frowned on here?” She looks at me and toys with my unbound hair where it lies on my chest.
“No. I didn’t know if you’d be comfortable having everyone know that we’re intimate.” By the old gods, I’m an idiot. Suddenly, I feel like a child afraid of being caught stealing from the larder.
Her moss-green eyes are mesmerizing, even as she shakes her head at me. “Since Lila already asked me to confirm that we’re lovers, I’d say that cat is out of the bag.”
My cheeks heat despite its ridiculousness. “I’m not familiar with that phrase, but I take it that a cat would run rampant once freed from the bag?”
She nods. “If you don’t want to stay the night, just hold me until I fall asleep.”
Is it possible she doesn’t know how I feel? I’ve told her. I’ve said it more than once. Could she think anything has changed because we’ve come home? “I would spend every second, day and night, with you if that were possible, Harper.”
“I would like to remember lying on a mattress with blankets and not waking with dirt in my nostrils and hair.” She makes a face that is at once not pretty and also adorable, with her lips twisted and her nose wrinkled.
“I’m not sure you realize what it means to have my full strength back.” I lift her and sling her over my shoulder like a sack of flour.
Slapping my back, she laughs. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you to bed.” Using elf speed, I run through the garden, the lower level of the house, and up the stairs in a few seconds. I slow in the hallway.
“What the fuck was that?” She pushes until I let her slide to her feet. Her hair is flying in every direction. Looking wild and excited, she pokes her finger in my chest. “Since when can you move like that?”
“Since I was a boy of about twelve suns.” I open her bedroom door, and once we’re inside, I bolt it closed.
“Why didn’t I know that?” Standing with her back to me, she points at the buttons at the back of her dress.
Caressing down her shoulders to her hips, I love how this frock hugs her curves. One by one, I slip the little pearls free from the russet loops. “You look beautiful in this.”
“Answer the question.” There is my human woman who ran from me and my portal, then brandished a stick of metal to beat me with in her automobile.
“There was no need for it when we first met, and after I used so much magic the day we saw your mother, I never had enough to risk expending it on a whim. Besides, you’d be ill if we traveled like that for too long.” On the last button, I push the strap from her shoulder and kiss her warm, soft skin.
Turning toward me, she lets the material slide from her body to a heap on the floor. She steps free and kicks off the shoes as well. Only small bruises remain on her ribs and arm. Every inch of her is pure perfection. With sultry eyes, she wraps an arm around my neck and lifts on her toes to kiss me. “You’re probably right, but I don’t mind that you got us here quickly tonight.”
I press one hand to the small of her back and the other cups her bottom, pulling her against my painfully hard cock. “I didn’t want you to think any hesitation on my part was because I don’t want you. Believe me, Harper, I want all of you so much it hurts.” I press my hips forward, letting her feel what she does to me.
Her soft moan is like a drug as she wraps her legs around my hips. Pupils dilated, she grips my neck and shoulders and devours my mouth. Her silken tongue slides along mine in a desperate dance.
Sharing her need, I grip her ass and press her back against the wall. I lower my head to her throat and kiss my way to her pulse and suck her earlobe between my lips. “I wanted to take it slow. You should be worshiped.” Even as I say it, I grind against her open legs.
“We can do that next. Now I need you inside me. I need to feel you, Aaran.” Fisting my hair, she meets my trouser-covered thrusts.
Slipping my fingers into her wetness I tease her sensitive pearl until she calls my name and pulls my hair. “Do you know what other magic I have that you’ve not seen?”
“Other than that you’re going to make me come in a few minutes?”
Pressing a finger inside her and then a second, I conjure my magic. “That’s your magic, not mine, mo chroi . I know a little trick.” I will my clothes off and an instant later, I’m naked, my bare shaft poised just under where my fingers tease her wet folds.
She grips my bare back. “This is a very useful piece of magic.” She rocks against my hand and makes the most arousing sounds.
“I should take you to the bed.”
“No. Now. Here.” Her eyes are intense, and her voice is commanding.
Gripping my cock, I slip the head inside her and let gravity draw her down. My growl is half animal.
Her legs tighten, and she presses on my shoulders to lift herself and take me inside again and again. Her body pulses around me, and she bites her lip to keep her cries muffled.
I stop to give her time to enjoy her orgasm.
Digging her nails into my shoulders, staring fierce and feral, she demands, “Don’t stop. I need you.”
It’s taken all my will to be gentle. After finally bringing her to a safe place, I don’t want to scare her. My longing is too great. Maybe her needs are the same. I clutch her smooth ass and pound into her hard and fast.
She meets every thrust with the tip of her hips, which brings me that much deeper. The sex is animal, elf, and human. It’s a desperate need and pure love. This want is more than any I’ve felt in my life. My legs shake, and the tingle begins at the base of my spine. “Harper.” I devour her lips, tongue, and teeth.
Both of us grunting and moaning. Holding on as long as I can, I reach between our bodies and rub her bud.
A long low keen rents the air as she comes hard around my cock, pulling me over the precipice.
I mean to pull out, but it feels too right.
Meeting my gaze, Harper tightens her legs around me, locking me inside her as my pleasure overtakes me. I press my forehead to hers. “I love you. I’m not sure about the wisdom of risking a child now, but I cannot regret something so beautiful.”
Her smile is soft, and the ferocity has gone from her. “You can take me to bed now if you want.”
As if she were made of the most delicate porcelain, I lay her on the mattress. “I’ll be right back.”
Following me with her eyes, she bites her bottom lip.
My cock is back at full attention by the time I reach the washroom. I wet a cloth and return to clean her. Pulling the covers over her, I kiss her cheek. I wash up before getting under the covers and wrapping Harper in my arms. “Would you consider staying in Domhan, Harper?”
She rolls to face me, our heads on the same pillow. “What would I do here? I have no useful skills in this world.”
“I don’t think that’s true. Look at how the freed elves and the children adore you. When this war is over, you will see there are many goals you could pursue here. As far as being queen, my mother is not giving her throne up anytime soon.” I brush her hair off her face and still marvel at how soft her skin is.
“I suppose that’s true.” Her focus grows distant. “How long will you live if we survive this?”
Not liking where this is going, I say, “It doesn’t matter.” Her sharp look is enough. “Some elves reach five hundred. Most at least three hundred.”
With a sad smile, she sighs. “I will be dead in seventy or seventy-five years, if I’m lucky. What will you do then? Perhaps this is why our peoples separated in the first place.”
She could be right, but I’m not giving up. “We have to go to the oracle in two days. Will you hold your decision about the future until after that? We can ask them about how and if such a joining could work.” At her nod, my entire body relaxes. I have two days to convince her. “Maybe they’d be willing to allow us to portal painlessly so you could visit your mother, and we could spend part of our lives in your world.”
Pressing my chest until I roll to my back, she swings her leg over me and straddles me with her thighs. “If you lived in my world, I would say yes, Aaran. I love you. But the Jersey Girl in me thinks this is impractical. Is love enough?”
I want to scream from the great Cumhachdach Mountains that it is more than enough, but it’s Harper making the sacrifices, not me. “Once this is all over, and my brothers and I are all alive, I could pass my responsibilities to Liam and come and live with you in your world.”
Astride me like a goddess, she cocks her head and stares for a long minute. “You would do that? You would leave this castle and the one we’ll take back from Venora?”
Letting my thoughts flow freely, I push how much I love her through, so there is no mistake. “I will do what is needed to make you happy. Liam is more than capable.”
With a long sigh, she leans over and presses her cheek to my chest. “I will think about it and see what your oracle has to say.” She kisses between my ribs, then lower. “We may die, and none of it will matter.” Trailing her lips and tongue to my belly button, she dips inside and kisses lower, with her mossy eyes focused on mine. “Until then, we can have these moments.”
My body burns for this amazing human woman. I’ll never get enough of her.
Harper shares a wicked smile and sucks my cock deep into her mouth.
Her name grumbles from me, long and low. “That’s…” There are no words. My hips press for her to take more, and she does.
Lifting away, she lets me pop free while gripping my shaft in her fist. She sucks me deep again and again and slides her fingers gently along my balls.
Unable to bear any more of this beautiful torture, I reach under her arms and lift her up and over my body until her sex hovers over my waiting lips. Grabbing her ass, I pull her tight, sucking and licking until she’s riding my face and repeating my name like a prayer.
On a long keen, she comes apart, and I lap up every drop of her sweet nectar. Before I can roll her to her back, she skitters away and impales herself on my cock.
“By the old gods, Harper. You’ll be the death of me.” I clutch her thighs to keep her still, so I don’t come too fast.
She presses her fingers to her sex and circles the pearl. “It’s not a bad way to go.” She rises and falls, over and over, until we’re both panting. Riding me like she’s the goddess and I’m her steed, she has perfect rhythm and never falters. Harder and faster.
My body tightens, and I shoot my seed deep inside her on a groan of pure rapture while her sheath milks every last drop from me. With a shaky breath, she folds forward. Her hair spreads out like a silken veil across my chest. “I love you, Aaran.”
Those words are everything. I kiss the top of her head.
A n hour past dawn, we head to the east ballroom.
It is a different scene than the day before, and I feel Harper’s trepidation ease. There are still guards at the door, but not as many.
It appears that every healer in the city has come to help.
My mother sits with Cara and Dorian by the large windows. Despite the rainy day, light filters in. We stop to see the children. They’re playing with four wood-carved dragons. Clean and dressed in new clothes, they’re hardly recognizable. It’s wonderful, but hard to think about the three who are not here and safe.
“What do you have there, Nond?” Harper asks the oldest boy.
“Drac.” He flies it over Fort’s head and lands on a bed.
“Are you hungry?” She rubs her stomach to make them understand.
Nond shakes his head, his focus on the toy.
Off to the side, two young elves watch over the children. One is Lori, if my memory serves. She’s only been working here for a few months. I met her once when she was first hired. “They all ate very well, miss. Yesterday, two meals, and they broke their fast with eggs and toast only an hour ago.” Her voice is soft and kind, just as a nanny’s should be.
Harper shakes the hands of the nannies. “Thank you for watching over them. They’ve been sleeping with us this last week. I worried they’d be lonesome. And with their family…” She swallows down the building emotions.
Lori’s eyes swim with her own. “We’ll see they’re distracted and cared for until they can be reunited with their families.”
Once Harper has thanked them again and said goodbye to the children, we cross toward my mother.
Smiling, Beran rushes toward us.
I have to blink several times to recognize that this is the same dour man I’ve traveled with these weeks.
He pulls Harper into a hug. “My magic has been restored. You can’t know what it’s like to have this part of me returned. It’s as if I were blind and had my eyesight given back.”
“I’m so happy for you, Beran.” She holds his hand and grins back at him. “Was it difficult to restore?”
“No. It was done with a reversal spell, but this is only simple for certain elves.” He takes a deep breath. “Your father healed me, Aaran. I’m forever grateful.” He shakes my hand.
“I’m pleased for you, my friend.” I’ve never seen a person altered so much for the better in so short a time, but I can imagine having one’s magic stripped away would be a horrible half-life without being enslaved. “I’ve asked the captain of the guard, Rían, to speak with you. He’ll ask about fortification and such at the black tower at Tobhtá.”
More sober, Beran nods. “I’d be pleased to help in any way I can.”
We continue to the windows where Mother and Cara are practically nose to nose. Every few feet one of the freed stops us to offer thanks. It takes twenty minutes to make the thirty-foot walk.
Mother looks pale and tired, and it’s still early morning. Her hands rest on Cara’s head and throat. She lets out a long breath. “I’m sorry. This magic will require some research to reverse, Cara.”
Cara nods, her expression somber and resigned.
Dorian presses his hand to her shoulder. “Thank you, Ma’am. We’re grateful for my magic’s return and all your kindness.”
“Mother, you look like you need a rest.” I kiss her cheek.
Cara nods.
“I just need some fresh air and sunshine, but that’s not what the gods have given this day. I’ll step onto the veranda.” She squeezes Cara’s hand and walks to the doors at the end of the long row of windows.
Harper stays with Cara, but I follow Mother. The drizzle doesn’t affect a few feet of cover outside. “I’m glad the freed will have their magic back.”
She nods. “We found one whose magic is dark. He has been taken to the lower-level cells until Rían returns from patrol and can evaluate the cause.”
The captain has a gift for knowing if Venora’s magic holds a person or if they’ve chosen a dark path. I ask, “Who is it?”
“His name is Cormac.” She breathes deep, as if denied clean air. “He claimed he’s not a follower of the witch queen.”
I picture the quiet man who carried injured children and helped in many small ways during the journey. “I never noticed anything off-putting about him.”
She shrugs. “Better to be cautious. He’ll be well treated until an evaluation can be made.”
“And if he follows Venora of his own free will?” A few months ago, if I were in her place, I’d be tempted to rid the world of all dark magic. Now, I know that all shadow is not evil.
“We’ll hold him or banish him. I don’t know yet, Aaran. I don’t want to become what we’re fighting.” She slumps on a bench, and her lips tighten into a straight line.
“No. I agree. Venora destroys what she can’t use. We have to be better than her.”
Mother stares at me. “You’ve changed. Is it the human woman?”
Sitting beside her, I say, “In part. Harper’s magic is filled with light and shadow. She has taught me that all things can be used for good and evil. Maybe I haven’t changed so much as I’ve grown up a bit.”
Her smile is lighter and full of pride. “Are you in love with this human?”
“I am.” I can’t lie to my mother, though I’d hoped to keep this from her for a while longer. “Her soul’s song sings to mine in a way I never dreamed possible.”
“I see.”
“You’re displeased.” I ready myself for a different kind of battle, though I feel as committed to winning this as I do to defeating Venora.
“No. She’s a smart, powerful woman who clearly adores you. She came here to help us when she didn’t have to. That shows courage. What more can a mother ask for her eldest son?” Rising, she kisses my forehead.
“I will return to the human world if Harper won’t agree to remain here. Liam will take my place at your side. He’s a fine soldier and will learn diplomacy.” It feels as if I’m disappointing her, but this is not negotiable. I need Harper, and once Domhan is safe, I’ll choose her over duty.
Looking out over the Cumhachdach Mountains that rise to the west, Mother sighs. “I will accept whatever you decide, Aaran.”
“You’re not going to try to talk me out of this or demand we stay here?” It’s hard to believe she’d let me go without a fight.
As she cups my cheek, her smile is sad, but pride shines in her steel-blue eyes. “All I have ever wanted for my sons is for them to find happiness. I want you to live, have babies—some girls would be nice—and enjoy every moment.” On a deep inhale, she steps back. “Venora must be our first task. After that, you are free to do what will make you and Harper happy.”
I hug her tight. “Thank you, Mother. I hope Father is as understanding.”
Laughing, she breaks our embrace. “You might want to hold off on this discussion with him. However, I think he’ll be swayed.”
Feeling a hundred times lighter knowing Mother approves and the freed are healing, I leave her and the veranda to find Harper and claim her time for the rest of the day. I just have to tear her away from the children.