12. Devout Worship
Devout Worship
ALASTAIR
The hour spent with Kael had been filled with disclosures that further complicated everything.
He spoke of the insectoid creature that crawled from a summoned portal, which I quickly related to my interactions with the bat-like beings I’d cut through before Rohen’s arrival.
But that wasn’t what had convoluted my building assumption; it was Parran’s continued insistence, and Kael’s recollection of his ability to wield.
Magic.
The mention of otherworldly mysticism felt far from tangible, considering the king had banished it from our realm. It had been decades since even the dimmest spark of sorcery was spoken of in Wraelira, and Parran’s statement alongside the prince’s condition only disproved all we thought we knew.
“He tapped into power that exists outside of this realm, because he was born of the land beyond the veil, and has never once shared lineage with your corrupt king.”
Kael spoke of his ability to weave the shadows, to control fractals of darkness to obey his command. In doing so, my opinion shifted to the possibility of him being a Child of the gods—a Divari, as Rohen informed us—a possibility which was then refuted by the Daughter of Ellira herself.
Rohen shared how it felt to merge with her mother’s essence, and how the outcome Kael faced was unlike anything she’d ever felt, meaning another piece was missing from our complicated puzzle. Powers were seeping in from a realm beyond our own, and the poison tainting our lands banned its very use.
Only the Damned themselves could breach that line by channeling through their Children.
Where Rohen confirmed it, Parran warned of Kael’s continued use, stating that if he pushed himself as he had again, he likely wouldn’t survive.
When we asked how they’d accessed their power, they said it was a blessing from the gods to protect what they held dear.
But why the hell would they gift me Parran’s presence when—
Warm hands trailed along my bare back, a sense of healing clinging to them. Lips followed, tracing along scars before her hum seeped in and quieted my racing thoughts. “I thought you were coming to bed.”
Groaning, I reached back to sweep my fingers along Leilani’s silken legs before tucking my thumb against the front of her full hips, my palm resting against her lower back. “I was, I just…”
“Got caught up?” She stepped around me, kissing the fresh mark starting at my collarbone before continuing across my hair-laden chest. “Your mind is one of your greatest assets, love, but it is equally your gravest torment.”
I craned my chin to meet her mocha gaze. “Everything I believed to be true has unwoven, and I can’t help but feel guilty for how things have come to be.”
Scratching through my beard and along my jaw, she crooned, “None of that is your fault. Malicious entities have scoured our lands for as long as we can remember. What they have done to twist narratives and pin us against those who should be allies is not by your doing. And yes, the truth is unsettling, but without it, we would remain trapped, tethered to things we wish to break free from.”
“I know,” I whispered, leaning into her touch. “Gods, believe me, I know. And yet, that unease… It’s consuming me because it carries with it the realization that Caspian and I…”
“Could still be together?” The gentleness in her question made the ache in my chest amplify.
I wanted her to be angry with me for still caring, for still…
loving him, but I knew it was something she would never do.
“You yearning for what could have been is not definitive of how I see you, Alastair. I will never take your first love from you, just as Caspian will always hold that spot in your heart.”
Turning to face her, I stroked up her nude frame with one hand while cupping her face with the other. “I do not deserve you—”
Her mouth captured the rest of my utterance.
Lips meshing as if etched from the same soul, I melted into her as I always had.
Fingertips gliding across skin, I traced the curves of her body while she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck.
My palm found her ass, and I squeezed, which encouraged her to open wider for me.
Her resounding moan made me even hungrier for her essence, my tongue lapping against hers before caressing the back of her mouth.
She tasted like honey and life, as well as the various stars that littered our skies.
Every hitched inhale carried with it the power of a goddess, and every exhale revitalized my soul.
It was as if Ysalyne had birthed her spirit and carved her from her very will.
She was dangerous in all the ways she was beautiful, and I was no fool.
If anything, I was blessed, a devotee who would gladly crawl on my hands and knees if it meant I was allowed to worship her in this life and the next.
Gathering her in my arms, I directed her thighs around my waist as my reverence continued down her throat.
Each kiss to sensitive flesh awakened my possessiveness, my teeth quick to nip at her pulse point as I breathed against her bareness.
She responded to my ravenousness in kind, fingers weaving through my hair as she dipped her chin skyward.
“Oh, gods above, Ace.”
My cock throbbed with her pleasure-filled cry, need clinging to every syllable and threatening to suffocate my name.
Moving without the need for guidance, I slipped from the large windows and stepped around my desk.
With each footfall toward the bed we shared, my mouth explored her, scouring the length of her collarbone before worshipping her breasts.
As my thighs met the plushness of blankets, my knee greeted the firm mattress.
Hold loosening, I took my time laying her down, and only once my hips pressed against hers did I finally let go.
Pausing to caress her legs, I massaged them gently and pulled back just enough to settle my forehead on hers.
“You consistently remind me how desperate a man I am, my little fang.”
“Desperate? Or devout?” Lips curling into a smile, she brushed a fallen strand from my face. “I am yours whenever and however you wish, my flame. My heart beats for you just as my thighs part, and there is no better image than seeing you on your knees between them.”
A low growl rumbled free from my chest. Kissing between her breasts, I trailed down her stomach, peering up at her beneath hooded lids. “Gods, you are fucking exquisite.”
“More,” she whimpered breathlessly, her back arching. “Show me just how exquisite I am, Alastair Seridean.”
Obliging, my mouth descended. In reverence of her elegance, I mapped her sweeping curves.
They had always exuded classic grace, just as everything about her had always been addictive.
Her presence was delicate yet strong, and equally rich with hypnotic fullness.
It wasn’t hard to admit she had drawn me in since day one, just as I knew there would never be a moment that would arise when my cravings for her would cease.
I peppered kisses down her inner thighs, sucking on them as my lower half settled on the planks. Knees greeting hardwood, I wrapped my hands around her legs before coaxing them open. Softly stroking the tops of her calves with my thumbs, I watched her unfold for me.
Already slick with her essence, I groaned at the sight. “Gods, Leilani.”
Her chest hitched right as I averted my gaze to meet hers. With her deep honey skin flushed and her mouth slightly agape with her impending moan, I ran my tongue across my lips. She rolled her hips, trying to angle herself to meet my mouth, but I leaned back.
“What is it you want, my little fang?”
Eyes rolling, she huffed a whine, “You. Please.”
“Tell me where.” Continuing to rub her legs, I kept my attention pinned on her. “Where do you need me, Lani?”
“Fuck, Ace,” she whimpered. “I need your mouth… your tongue, your cock. I just need you in me, around me, whatever you—”
Not allowing her to finish, I slipped both of my arms beneath her knees and gripped her inner thighs with a refusal to let go. I granted myself one intentional breath before diving into her, my tongue lapping up her cunt.
“Oh, gods!” Her palms slapped against the bed before she fisted the sheets. “S-Shit… Yes, Ace. Fuck, yes.”
Cock straining against my trousers, I ignored the guttural ache that came with the need to be inside her.
Focused on her first, I drank in her essence as if it were the last sustenance the gods had offered.
I savored the feel of her legs trembling in my hold and continued devouring her like the obedient hound she had made me.
With each moan, I got drunker and drunker on her taste.
My lids fluttered right as she peered down, and I admired how her brows were drawn in tight by her arousal.
Offering her another lick from top to bottom, I leveraged the instinctual buck of her hips to my advantage.
The second she soared from the bed, I tightened my grip on her legs and rose, dragging her ass toward me.
“A-Ace,” she panted, nails sinking into my forearms. “I-I… Shit…”
Riding the tail end of her breath as if it were Dream Root, I sank my tongue into her.
She squirmed with the suddenness of my intrusion, and I bobbed my head, taking my time fucking her with my mouth.
Each plunge forward led to her clawing my flesh, the building sting of pain urging my actions further.
Lungs aching with the innate need for air, I drew back and inhaled through my nose.
Her intoxicating scent clung to me, and as the dull tingle encasing my mind lulled, I circled her other entrance.
Lapping her ass just as I had her cunt, our moans infused, consuming our quarters with our longing for one another.
Leilani’s whimper coiled around me with a taunt to allow my restraint to slip. “C-C-Close.”