Chapter 4 Izzy
IZZY
“Well, this is awkward,” I whispered to Myel as we quickly undressed.
He gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah.” Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry… for all of this.”
“What did I tell you about apologizing for things you have no control over?” I reminded him.
“I know, but… this is just so… well, awkward, like you said. And I know it’s not my fault, but it also sort of is, because this bond didn’t come from you, it’s a shifter thing.”
I could see his point, but this wasn’t the best foreplay talk.
Still half dressed, I dropped to my knees, took his now free and rock-hard cock in my hand and brought it to my mouth. “Do I look like I care about any of that?”
His reply was a strained grunt as I took him deep into my mouth and sucked hard, playing my tongue over him and tasting his strawberries and cream scent as I sucked him off.
Perhaps this tantalizing aroma was some strange effect of this world to encourage blowjobs, because all the guys here tasted fabulous.
Well, I’d only gone down on Rook and Myel, but between Rook’s s’more flavor and Myel’s strawberry shortcake…
why would any girl want to stop sucking on either of them?
His fingers combed through my hair as I bobbed my head working him hard, knowing this wasn’t going to be a drawn out affair. With our need to hurry and three men waiting — and potentially listening — on the other side of this room, this was going to be quick and dirty, and Myel and I both knew it.
“Yes!” he hissed. He was close, straining not to come right then and there. Instead, he pulled my face away and knelt to give me a long kiss.
“Your turn,” he breathed, nodding toward the bed.
I sat and Myel tore my pants down, opening my legs to press his lips to my already drenched core.
He didn’t need to repay my oral favor. His arousal had transmitted to me through our bond, so I was more than ready to take his thickness, but this was Myel, always so giving.
He devoured my folds, licking my seam and sucking my clit, before slipping two fingers inside me to stroke my G-spot.
And when I came — as quietly as I could, biting my lips and panting through desperate moans — he drew back and lifted me.
I wrapped my legs around him as he pinned me to the wall, then he drove his thickness into me, thrusting hard.
Oh yeah.
There was something about a rough fuck with no pretense. Pure unadulterated sex.
We were both desperate, and neither of us were as quiet as we probably should have been, cutting off cries and trying to keep our moans to a dull roar, but it wasn’t easy.
Then Myel exploded inside me as he let out a long groan, eyes wide.
I pulled back to watch him come. I loved his “O” face, so pure and exulted. All that dark hair tumbling over his deep, soulful eyes.
I gave a clipped cry as a second orgasm hit me, straining my body. Every muscle tightened, my legs around his waist clenched like a vise.
We stayed like that, frozen, statues in the throes of passion as we finished.
When Myel moved, easily carrying me, he turned toward a door, which I took to be an ensuite. I leaned down to whisper in his ear.
“No, put me on the bed.”
“But—” he began.
I knew what he was going to say, how much of a mess he was going to make when he pulled out.
That’s why I wanted him to put me on the bed. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Safir right now. Let him deal with the aftermath of our ecstasy.
“I insist,” I breathed into his ear. Hopefully, no one else would hear.
Myel hesitated, then shifted and took me to the bed, setting me down before pulling out and… yup, good luck cleaning those sheets.
Did I feel bad? Maybe a teensy bit. Though mostly I regretted that Safir wouldn’t be sleeping any more tonight. We’d probably be leaving right away.
Myel brushed some sweat-damp hair from my neck and kissed my pulse.
“May I?” he asked, breathy.
Oh right, he needed to feed. Myel had a disease, which meant he needed blood to survive, and since we were bonded my blood was all he wanted. Apparently, I tasted great and everyone else was shit.
I nodded and he bit into me, humming with delight as he drank. He didn’t take much, enough to last him the couple of days I’d be gone. Then he drew back and I healed myself with little effort.
Now it was my turn to ask for something.
“Hold me, for a bit.”
Myel smiled softly and curled up behind me on the small bed.
Time was short but snuggle time with Myel was nearly as good as sex.
The bond ensured we both loved fucking, but it also made sure we wanted to be close.
No drug could compare to the serene bliss of being in Myel’s arms. Even with the world going to shit around me, I always felt so damned good being held by him.
So, I gave us a few minutes of cuddling, for me, and for him, and for the bond, before I sighed and wiped myself off with more of Safir’s sheets, then got dressed.
Time to go.
“I love you,” Myel whispered as he dressed in record time — must be a shifter thing — then hugged me again from behind.
I still hadn’t said those words to Myel, and frankly, given the bond and our permanent attachment, I probably should, but when I opened my lips to speak, what came out was:
“I’ll miss you.”
He smiled when I turned to kiss him.
Did I need to say it? The bond ensured we both knew exactly how the other felt. So Myel knew my feelings… but still… Perhaps?
“I l—”
The wall of light came down.
“Are you ready to leave?” Safir asked, marching across the room.
I couldn’t help the little smile on my face when he saw the mess on his bed and grimaced.
“I’m assuming I can’t go back and get anything?” I asked. I’d be leaving behind everything I owned. Ever since I’d gotten here, I’d gone through cycles of having nothing, then buying things, then losing them. I didn’t know what it said about me, that I was starting to get used to it.
“No,” Safir said, gathering a few things of his own. “We can get you what you need in the capital. Let’s go, before Saldrea locks down the Sigil Point.”
Vyns came to me. “I won’t be gone long. I’ll ask Koar to come and get me in a day or two. Luckily, our spirit link doesn’t need any more than this.” And he kissed me softly. A warmth, like wet summer heat, filled me.
The kiss ended all too soon, then Vyns nodded to Koar, who put a large hand on the angel’s shoulder. The two of them spiraled in on themselves and vanished. So that’s what it looked like when a dragon moved between worlds.
It reminded me of my trip to this world, with Myel and Svokol and a dragon lady whose name I didn’t know. We’d all had to touch, then the world had spiraled and dissolved around us, becoming a strange and twisted rainbow-filled darkness, like light on an oil spill.
I’d had no clue what had been happening at the time. Hell, I barely had any clue what was happening now. Everything moved way too fast.
Myel took my hand, drawing me from my reverie, and I smiled, soothed.
He took Safir’s hand and in a puff of shadow-smoke, we were outside again.
Stars twinkled above us in an inky black sky. No moon.
“Love you,” Myel whispered, then he was gone, swirling shadows barely visible where he’d been.
“Think of a city of pearl-white spires amidst vast towering trees,” Safir whispered. “Then say the name: El’Anderyn on the count of three.”
“Hey! You there! Stop!” some guard at the edge of the massive circular platform yelled at us.
“One… two… three, El’Anderyn,” Safir whispered.
I said the word in sync with Safir, voice hushed. I expected the same psychedelic colors over darkness like moving between worlds, but instead there was a flash of blue-white light and a sense of being pulled…
Then we were back on a large circular platform… still in darkness… stars twinkling above… but we weren’t on campus anymore.
Safir’s description of the capital had left a lot to be desired. It was stunning!
There were tall, delicate, pearlescent towers. Yet what he hadn’t mentioned was how — even with the lack of moonlight — they glowed in the night, filled with their own inner brilliance.
And yes, trees towered all through the city, but I hadn’t expected them to be that big, nor that kind of tree.
Back on earth, I’d heard of the great redwoods and giant sequoias, even if I’d never seen them myself.
They were evergreens, tall but relatively narrow: pointy.
The trees here weren’t pointy. They had massive sprawling canopies which were not only hundreds of feet tall but spread-out hundreds of feet in all directions. Absolutely gigantic!
And yes, those were the first two things which caught the eye, but the rest of the city was a sparkling wonder in the night.
Most of the buildings were made of the same glowy-white stone as those tall towers, setting the night alight with a pleasant opalescent aura.
And other buildings were built into those massive trees and out on their wide branches.
I slowly turned to take it all in… then lost my breath entirely when I saw the palace.
That was the only thing this massive structure could be, too beautiful and colossal and wonderous to be anything else.
White stone intertwined with massive trees as if they were one thing.
A high wall stretched between trees, which acted like towers.
At the corners, stood trees larger than any others I’d seen.
Delicate webs of arching stone connected the outer tree-towers to impossibly high peaks farther back, within the walls.
My mind couldn’t comprehend how those white towers could be so narrow and delicate and tall. But then I remembered elves were masters of earth magic. If anyone could create stone minarets like these, it would be them.
“We must go,” Safir said, tugging on my arm.
I followed in a daze, still awestruck by this place. Then it struck me: this place was beautiful on the outside, like the elves themselves, but it was probably as corrupt and ugly on the inside?
And the fantasy of this city vanished.
When it did, I became aware of a gnawing ache in my gut, which made me want to stop and puke.
Was I travel sick? I didn’t know how we’d travelled, but that seemed likely.
Yet as we hurried onward through the capital, I came to realize this sensation was my connection to Myel, and it clearly didn’t like being this far from him.
Even though we’d just renewed our bond, being such a great distance from my bonded made me feel ill.
It wasn’t an overpowering sensation, just awkward and uncomfortable, but I had a feeling it would only get worse.
And running didn’t help. I was forced to stop, yanking on Safir to halt him.
“Wait. I… need a moment,” I huffed, hand on stomach. I put my other hand on a nearby wall and leaned forward. I tried a few dry heaves, but it didn’t help. This wasn’t a physical sickness, not yet. I was soul-sick, not stomach-sick. Still, I hoped maybe one good puke would make me feel better.
“What’s wrong?” Safir asked, clearly upset. “We need to move. It won’t take long for those at the academy to track where we went. And they may not know it was you, but if they did get a good look… well, we can’t be near the sigil point when they arrive!”
“Give me a fucking minute for fucks sake!” I yelled at him. “I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach and it’s your fault!”
“My fault? How? I had no clue you’d react to Shadecasting like that?”
“Shade-what?”
“Ley line travel,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “It’s called Shadecasting or shading. Didn’t they cover that in your magic class?”
“Must be next week’s lesson. And that’s not what’s bothering me.” I wanted to heave again but knew it wouldn’t do any good. Instead, I drew in several long, deep breaths.
“This is because you took me so far from Myel.”
“Preposterous,” Safir snorted. “Your bond can’t be that strong, you’ve only known him a few days.”
Something became clear in that instant. Safir may have been a shifter and known — theoretically — about mating bonds, but he’d clearly never experienced one. He had no clue what I was feeling.
I forced myself to stand, turned Safir to face me — he’d been scanning the road ahead — and slapped him.
I made sure to pull the strike. I’d surprised myself last time when I’d seen him crumple to the floor.
I hadn’t meant to do that, even if he’d been a jerk.
Yet, with my elven nature no longer bound, I really didn’t know my own strength.
He staggered to the wall and leaned on it.
“What in the name of the spirits…?”
“Don’t you ever presume to know what I’m feeling. I have zero tolerance for men who think they know what’s going on with other people, especially women. I know what I feel. You don’t!” I gave him time to recover, so I could do the same.
“You told Myel he’d be fine, that we’d be fine away from each other, but you had no clue how we’d feel, no clue what you were talking about.”
Safir glared at me. “We don’t have time for this! Suck it up.”
I slapped him again, a little harder. “You suck it up.”
He growled and for a second a man-shaped-tiger-being took his place, shimmering in the night.
“Don’t test me,” he snarled.
“Don’t test me either,” I warned him. “I don’t like you and you’re not doing anything to change that.
He steadied himself with several deep breaths. “If you don’t like the bond, break it. You can do that now. You’re an elf. And if you can’t, we’ll find someone who can. Myel is unimportant and he knows it. You’re the only one who doesn’t. Better to break the bond now and be rid of him.”
Wait… what?
Break the bond?
I could do that?
Yet, the shock of that realization was secondary to another much more significant revelation. Safir had no intention of returning to the academy as he’d told Myel. He meant to keep me here and force me — or someone — to break the bond which he saw as a burden.
The realization hit me so hard I staggered back, gasping for air, which wouldn’t come.
My dislike for Safir turned into a raging hatred.
How could he do that to me? How could he do that to Myel, who clearly looked up to him?
“Now come on, we need to move!” Safir hissed, grabbing my arm while I was off balance and dragging me along behind him.
I let him, because he was right about one thing, we were in danger. But as soon as we were safe, he and I were going to have a long talk about lying to his princess, and bonds, and so much more.
It was time for Safir to learn he wasn’t in charge anymore. And I very much looked forward to teaching him that lesson.