CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT #2
She lowered down slowly, letting out a breathy moan at the familiar stretch as he eased into her, but then stopped after the first inch to pull her hips back up.
Elias groaned, and Cadi flicked her gaze to his, grinning when she saw the desperation that burned in his eyes.
He knew she was teasing him, and that just made her want to do it more.
Settling onto him again, she waited for his eyes to drift closed before pulling back once more. This time, the look he gave her was practically incandescent.
“Cadi …” he breathed against her ear. “If you’re trying to kill me, it’s working.”
She let out a giggle and flicked her tongue against his ear. His body shook against hers in response, his frayed breath cascading over her shoulder.
“I just needed you with me …” she echoed.
Elias let out a feral growl as he guided her the rest of the way down, seating her on him fully. The floor was hard beneath her knees when she rolled her hips against him, and his answering hiss fused into her bones. She moved again, gripping his shoulders to steady herself as she found her rhythm.
The feeling of him inside her was fucking electrifying.
Elias leaned back to prop a hand behind himself for leverage, meeting her movements with his own and setting her soul on fire with every shift, every thrust he drove into her. Her clit pressed against him, and each rock of her hips sent tiny shock waves to her core.
“More,” she breathed, a sultry sound bleeding from her chest when he angled deeper. “Fuck, Elias, I need more of you.”
His hand traveled up her body to cup the back of her neck, and he brushed his lips to her exposed throat.
A soft gasp escaped her when his teeth nipped at the sensitive flesh.
Something about it was so primal, so raw.
She never wanted him to stop. Her hips moved faster, chasing every sensation, absorbing every inch of him.
A low, steady sound reached her ears, and her attention shifted to the gods standing around them.
The words of their ancient chants filled the room, echoing off the stone walls to fuse with her very soul and fuel her movements.
She had never felt power like this, and she needed more of it, needed them to see everything she could do.
Laying her palms flat against his chest, Cadi pushed Elias back until he was resting on the cement floor.
“Fuck, Cadi,” he groaned with the first rock of her hips. “That’s it.”
His hands roamed her body, tracing every inch of her as if the need to touch her might drive him mad if he couldn’t claim every piece all at once.
A teasing smirk slipped onto her face at the hunger she saw in his eyes, an animalistic greed taking over his expression as he watched her ride him.
She traced a finger against his neck, his head tipping back when she carved a path to his stomach before she reached behind herself to grip his thighs.
Cadi writhed against him, every inch of her exposed as she ravenously chased her own pleasure, using her body to work Elias toward his. A shuddering cry tore from her throat, the sound blending with the gods’ chants to create a haunting chorus that reverberated through the air.
“There you are,” Elias said as his hand slid over her stomach. “Fucking magnificent.”
He pressed his thumb to her clit, moving it in soft, steady circles. Cadi’s breaths came faster and harder with each pass of his thumb driving her closer to her peak. The muscles of her stomach tensed, and her thighs began to shake where she gripped his hips.
Fuck, she was so close. “Gods, Elias …”
Elias sat up, and his lips crashed hard into hers. “I know, love, I know. Let go for me.”
Her body begged for release as her desperate cries grew louder, echoing off the walls around them. The coil in her belly pulled tighter, and with a final roll of her hips, the tension shattered and tipped her past the edge.
She cried out, digging her fingers into the muscles of Elias’s back as the orgasm tore through her.
It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, wracking her body with blinding ecstasy that was amplified by the cosmic power saturating her veins.
Cadi battled through the waves of her climax, straining to focus on their goal against the intensity that raged inside her.
Elias watched her come undone, his breaths breaking, hips bucking with the closeness of his own completion.
The sight of her fractured what was left of his restraint, and he gripped her tight, burying his face in her neck as a guttural sound pulled free from his chest. His hips drove up with hard, frantic movements, and his entire body shook as he spilled inside her.
Cadi clung to him, unable to move, unable to breathe, her body still quaking where he held her. After a moment, Elias pressed his lips to her shoulder, then her neck, before he found her mouth again. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you,” he whispered.
She let out a breathless laugh. “Good.”
A charged silence wrapped around them, their bodies still entwined as Cadi breathed him in, memorizing the feel of him against her, the way he looked at her like she was the most holy thing in the room.
Until a piercing scream cracked the peace.
Sera pitched forward, doubled over to clutch her head as her pained cries tore through the chamber.
“Sera!” Cadi yelled, moving to go to her.
“No!” áine warned. “None of the connections from the ritual can be broken until the vision is complete.”
Cadi looked between áine and Sera, fear and helplessness twisting together as she watched, though she knew there was nothing she could do. Elias’s thumb brushed against her shoulder, doing what he could to comfort her, but the look in his eyes told her he knew it didn’t help.
After what felt like an eternity, the sound cut off, and Sera crumpled to the ground, motionless. With áine’s nod of approval, Cadi raced to Sera’s side and crouched down to take her hand. Something warm touched her shoulders, and she looked back to see Elias draping a blanket around her body.
Sera gasped as her eyes flew open and darted around the room.
She stared at each of them with a look of confusion, almost as if she had no idea who they were or where she was.
Cadi had never felt so helpless. She didn’t know what to do or what was happening or if this was even normal after a ritual like this.
áine knelt beside them, her hands framing Sera’s face to focus her attention. After a moment, Sera’s panicked breaths slowed, the fog in her eyes began to recede, and Cadi let out a breath at the comforting signs of Sera’s returning clarity.
“What did you see Sera? Did it work?” áine asked, her voice strained.
Sera pulled in a harsh breath, her grip tightening on Cadi’s hand. “I saw her,” she whispered, “I saw Ananke … I know exactly where she is.”
Night had fully descended while they were inside, and now the air that blew off the sea was even colder than when Cadi and Elias first arrived.
She pressed her body against him, desperate to steal every ounce of his heat that she could as the group gathered beneath what appeared to be the only streetlight in the entire area.
Its flickering cone of illumination was fighting for its life against the darkness, barely extending to the end of the building, where the street gave way to waves.
Cadi groaned and nestled deeper into Elias’s arms. Her entire body was aching, and not in the fun, rewarding way that she was used to after sex.
This felt closer to what she imagined it would feel like if she were to lie down in front of a steam roller for fun.
That, combined with the way her heart seemed determined to remain permanently in overdrive, left her more than a little concerned.
It would be just her luck that she claimed a fake illness to get out of her shift at the temple that evening only to come down with an actual illness and a bonus heart condition in the process.
Elias’s hand rubbed against her arm in a gesture of comfort, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him it felt like his hand was covered in needles.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Sera leaning over in an exaggerated attempt to catch her gaze before she stepped away from the others.
Cadi looked up as she approached, noting the concern that shadowed her friend’s perfect features.
“Hey, sweetie,” she said, her voice soft. “How are you feeling?”
Cadi groaned. “Like I got hit by a bus.”
Sera gave her a gentle smile and nodded her head as if this was something she’d expected. “Yeah, post-ritual sickness can be a real bitch when you aren’t used to them. We’ll get you some food, and you’ll start feeling better in no time.”
Cadi lifted her head, brows pinched. “But I never got sick from Somnium, at least not like this.”
Sera raised a single shoulder. “The two of you just channeled a shitload of power for that rite. At Somnium, it’s dispersed among hundreds of other people. This one just packed more of a punch.”
The lingering buzz beneath Cadi’s skin seemed to hum in quiet confirmation. That would definitely explain the dull throb that radiated through every single one of her joints as she stood there clinging to Elias.
Elias, who seemed completely and infuriatingly unfazed by the entire experience.
She leveled him with a petulant glare. “How come you aren’t sick?”
He looked down at her, a gentle concern in his eyes as he traced his knuckles against her cheek. “I guess I’m just better at rituals than you are.”
Cadi huffed in offense, moving to land a punch against his arm, but the stabbing pain that shot through her in response to the movement had her curling back into him with a pathetic whimper instead.
“So, what’s the plan?” Kai asked as he and áine approached.
Sera gave Cadi an encouraging wink before she turned away. “We need to find a place where I can debrief everyone on what I saw. Preferably some place with food for this one.”