Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
“What happened?” I ask as we walk outside with our purchases.
Jayden rubs at the back of his head. “I was watching for her and she still snuck up on me.”
“Yeah, I saw that. What did she say?” I ask.
“She had nothing to say to me, just a whack on the back of the head and she moved on to the others.” Jayden shrugs.
I take a sandwich from the bag and unwrap it, then take a big bite to calm the rumbling in my stomach. It won’t be enough, but it will curb the appetite for now.
“Did she give you any clues?” Kira asks Dax and Draven.
“Just that we have missing pieces and when the time is right, we will know what to do,” Dax says, rubbing his forehead where Aggie hit him.
“Pieces?” Kira asks. “As in more than one piece.”
“Damn, three isn’t enough?” I chuckle.
“Apparently not,” Kira huffs.
“She said there are big things on the horizon and those on the right side of fate will have hardships but will be rewarded. Why is she always so cryptic?” Draven asks.
“She’s a fate,” I say. “She can’t tell us what’s happening or it could change everything.”
I shove the rest of my sandwich in my mouth and open the next one. This magic drain is hell on my stomach. Can’t I just eat like a normal person? Oh wait, I’m not normal, I’m a freak.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Jayden asks as he grabs a sandwich from the bag.
“Just remembering when everything about me wasn’t freakishly annoying.” I shrug.
“C’mon, let’s find a hotel and order some real food and get some rest.” His hand flexes on my hip.
“I know I said I didn’t want to stop but rest sounds amazing.” I lean my head on his shoulder as he guides me toward the SUV.
We all load up into the SUV. The map we bought at the gas station turns out to be helpful in finding a place not far away to order food and get some sleep. I glance warily at the major chain hotel. Are we walking into a trap? We haven’t had the greatest luck with hotels in the past.
“It’s fine, baby. Let’s just eat and rest,” Jayden says as he opens my door.
I grab my bags and the take-out bags from the floorboard as I jump from the seat. “Did I doze off or something? Where’s Raven?”
“She went to get us a few rooms. Is she okay?” Jayden asks as she walks toward us.
“I think so. It’s going to take some time for her to understand that he’s still here.” I shrug.
I still have problems remembering that Jayden is here sometimes. That he didn’t die or choose to stay on the damn Island of the Lotus Eaters. There are too many other things for me to think about that keep my mind off it most of the time, though.
“Is that the same with you? Do I still need to remind you that I’m yours and will never leave you?” He wraps me up in his arms.
“You became a giant ball of mush.” Raven gags. “Room key so you don’t rot everyone’s teeth in the hotel like mine.”
“Fuck off, Raven,” Jayden growls.
He takes my bags along with the takeout from me and stalks toward the elevator. I grab the room key and wave to the others before rushing after Jayden.
“You don’t even know what floor we’re on, Jayden,” I say with a giggle.
“I knew you would follow me, baby.” He winks.
This man should never ever do that. I think my panties just spontaneously combusted. A shiver rolls down my spine as the elevator doors open. We step inside and Jayden crowds me in the space.
“What floor, love?” he asks.
“What? Oh, ten,” I say, flustered.
Jayden chuckles, the sound low and filled with gravel. “You okay, baby? You look a little hot.”
“You’re doing this on purpose,” I breathe.
“I promised you a punishment for using your magic when you were depleted.” He runs his nose up my neck.
“Jayden,” I whimper. “We’re still in the elevator.”
“So, what’s the problem, baby? Am I getting you worked up?” He licks my throat where his mark rests.
“Yes,” I say.
There’s no point in denying it. I rub my thighs together to get friction where I need it most. His hands aren’t even on me and I’m about to combust at the touch of his lips and tongue on my skin.
“If we didn’t need rest and food, I’d have you on the edge for hours, bringing you so close to coming and then stop until you were begging for me to let you come.” His shadows pulse around us.
Jayden’s lips slam against mine, his kiss hungry and predatory. His tongue delves inside my mouth, dancing with my own. Wisps of shadows caress every inch of exposed skin as Jayden covers my body with his, blocking the elevator doors in case they open while he’s devouring me like his favorite meal.
“What about the food?” I ask as his lips trail over my jaw and back to my neck.
“Food will have to wait. I’m starving for something else right now, love.” He nips at my neck.
“Hmm, and what might that be?” I ask.
“You, naked on the bed, with my face between your thighs and screaming my name so loud that the neighbors hear you,” Jayden growls against me.
“Oh gods, Jayden,” I say as the elevator dings.
“Just like that but you’ll be screaming it when I eat this pussy until I’ve had my fill.” He kisses me hard, then turns on his heel and stalks out of the elevator.
What the fuck was that? I follow him down the hall to our room. Jayden holds out his hand and I pass him the key card.
Jayden opens the door and places the bags on the small table next to it. He spins on me and presses my back against the door, hands roving over my body.
“You scared the shit out of me today using magic when you were already depleted. Then add on what happened to Greyson. Fuck, I need to feel you. I need to know that you’re really here, safe, with me.”
“Jayden, I’m okay,” I whisper.
I press my forehead to his and wrap my arms around his neck, threading my fingers through his white-blond hair. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and let it out through my nose.
“I love you. I can’t lose you. You can’t ever leave me.” Jayden crushes his body to mine.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say.
For the first time since the queen proposed her deal, I mean it with everything I have.
I won’t take the deal even if it means saving everyone.
I can’t because a life without Jayden isn’t possible for me.
Not even a life in the underworld. Being in Elysium today made me remember just how much I hate it there.
I can’t leave my friends to deal with Hera’s oppressive rule. I won’t. This is my fight and I will see it all the way through to the end.
Jayden’s hands slide up beneath my shirt and my sides prickle with the skin-to-skin contact. His thumbs brush the underside of my breasts through my lace bra and a groan tumbles from my throat.
“Mmm, I love the sounds you make. You’re so responsive to my touch.” He licks a path up my neck to my ear. “Need you naked on that bed, legs spread wide for me.”
I spin out of the circle of his arms and lift my shirt up by the hem, pulling it slowly over my head. Jayden’s gaze tracks my movements as I lift the shirt over my head and toss it on the floor. I stand there in my bra and jeans, staring at him.
“More,” Jayden growls.
I toss my hair over my shoulder and trail my fingers down my neck to my shoulder. I teasingly pull the strap of my bra down my shoulder and shiver at how sensitive my skin is to my own featherlight touch.
“Like what you see, baby?” I ask as I move the other strap equally slow.
Jayden reaches out and pulls the cup of my bra down and pinches my nipple, hard. “Do you enjoy teasing your mate, love? Making me so hard it’s painful and you’re not even fully naked yet.”
“Yes,” I moan, rubbing my thighs together.
He rolls my nipple between his fingers as he takes a step closer into my personal space. “I need you naked and spread open for me so I can devour you until you’re sobbing my name, baby. Now.”
Jayden reaches behind me and with a flick of deft fingers, he flicks open the clasp of my bra and it falls to the floor at my feet. A shudder runs down my spine. Jayden’s hands roam my back and lower, gripping my ass. He lifts me off the ground and my legs wrap around him instantly.
I grind down on him and my lips meet his in a searing kiss as he carries me to the bed. I need this friction. Jayden runs his hands up my body, tweaking my nipples again and my back arches as I grind on him again.
My nipples scream in protest as his hands move down my body to the button of my jeans and he pops it open. The sound of them unzipping is the only sound other than our harsh breathing.
“Are you wet for me, love? Do you want to get fucked?”
“Yes, please,” I whimper.
“Not yet. You will come all over my tongue and fingers first.”
I wiggle my hips as he removes the rest of my clothes with an aching slowness that rivals my own movements from before. He presses a finger inside me with a groan. Jayden squeezes his eyes shut and a strangled groan bursts from his throat.
“Fuck, you’re dripping for me.”
“Yes. I need you, my love. I need you to do something.” I squirm.
My hands fist the sheets at my sides so I don’t remind him that I’m not restrained in shadows like he loves to do so much so I can’t make him lose his careful control. I want him wild and out of control.
“Mmm,” he growls as he licks a path up my inner thigh. “I have been thinking about this the entire day. Dreaming about when we could be alone and I could taste you again.”
Jayden buries his face between my thighs as he licks all the way up my slit and circles my clit in slow teasing strokes. My back arches and sparks zap off my body and into Jayden.
“Jayden, I’m losing control,” I whisper.
“You can’t hurt me. Your magic feels fucking incredible.” The vibrations of his low baritone push me higher toward that peak.
My fingers in the sheets ignite with sparks. I release my grip on them, afraid that the bed will catch fire. It’s valid. It’s happened before. Jayden groans as I grip his shoulders instead, the subtle sparks zapping him every few seconds. The groan vibrates through my clit.
“Jayden, fuck,” I scream as my head thrashes back and forth.
He presses a finger inside me, curling it until he hits the spot inside that I love so much. The orgasm climbs higher and higher as he adds a second finger and sucks my clit into his mouth.
Tingles wash over my entire body and colors burst behind my closed lids as a scream explodes from my lips and my body convulses. Warm wetness gushes from my pussy. Jayden growls as he laps at it hungrily.
“Fuck, baby, that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced. You came all over my face like a damn goddess.” Jayden nips my thigh.
The sting only heightens the pleasure still coursing through my limbs. “Jayden, fuck, I need…”
“I know exactly what you need, love.” He crawls up my body even as his shadows pulse.
“Please,” I grumble.
“I’m going to watch as my shadows play that perfect body first. You need to come at least two more times before I even think about fucking you, love.”
“At least get naked. I want to see you too. Stroke yourself while you watch me get fucked by your shadows,” I say.
“Mmm, you want to see how I touch myself when I’m in the shower, thinking of slamming into that perfect body of yours or imagining you on your knees for me, deep throating me like the fucking goddess you are?”
“Fuck, yes,” I squirm and the shadows pulse around me.
“One rule. No touching me. I’ll come too quick with your hands on me and it will be over before it even gets started.”
“Fine.” I pout.
Jayden kisses me gently, then stands from the bed. He yanks his shirt over his head first and the muscles in his abs flex as my gaze wanders down that deep V that makes my mouth water.
“Like what you see?” Jayden asks.
“Yes,” I moan.
Jayden’s shadows writhe along my body as he strips down completely and he lies down on the bed with his back against the headboard. With a flick of his wrist, shadows encase my arms and my ankles, spreading me wide for him to see everything his shadows are doing to me.
“Hmm, I may be onto something with this voyeur thing. Only with my shadows bringing you to the brink, though. I’m way too possessive and I can feel everything they’re doing to you right now. Every stroke of your clit and lick to your nipple.”
“Jayden,” I mumble.
Jayden strokes his cock in time to his shadows thrusting inside me hard and fast. They press in and out in a rhythm that defies anything I have ever felt before. I climb quickly up the cliff again, squeezing my eyes shut as a scream tears out of my mouth.
“You’re so perfect like this,” Jayden whispers. “Engulfed in my shadows while I watch them have their way with you.”
“I need you, Jayden.” I yank at my arms in his shadows, desperate for him.
“You just came for me again. What do you need?” Jayden runs his nose down my throat.
“Fuck me, Jayden. Please.”
Jayden rolls on top of me and kisses me hard. I attempt to pull my wrists free from his shadows again but they tighten their grip. Light sparks slip from my fingers as Jayden trails kisses down my neck and positions his hard cock just where I need him most.
“I don’t know how long I’ll last with your magic sparking on your fingertips like that. Control it. You’re depleted,” Jayden growls against my throat.
My legs fall open and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to stop the errant magic from tipping over the edge of my control, but when Jayden circles my clit, any hope at control is lost. My hips buck against him and my back arches.
Jayden grips my leg beneath my knee, pulling it up, and slams into me so hard and fast white spots tint my vision.
“Fuck, you scared me so bad. Need this. Need you,” he says, slamming into me over and over.
His shadows pulse around me, finally releasing my hands, and I thread my fingers through his hair pulling him down to me in a brutal kiss.
I tilt my hips, giving him better access, and with every thrust, he hits that sweet spot inside me, quickly sending me over that cliff.
The orgasm crashes over me like a tsunami destroying everything in its path.
“Oh fuck, Beth,” Jayden shouts and collapses on top of me.
Jayden rolls to the side and pulls me into his arms. He kisses my forehead and his arms tighten around me as he sighs.
“I’ll try not to do it again, Jayden, but I can’t make any promises until the queen is defeated and we are free of this war.” I press my face into his neck.
Jayden shakes his head. “I know, love. It just scares the life out of me when you don’t take care of yourself and put yourself in danger like that.”
He’s not wrong. I scare myself sometimes, but what am I supposed to do? Failure is not an option. Failure means death and destruction.