4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Steig
Two weeks ago
The passageways of the Underworld were dark as Steig made his way back to his chambers. It was the middle of the night, and most daemons were still asleep, blissfully unaware of the absolute clusterfuck that the Underworld had descended into.
And all he could think was: what in the fuck was he supposed to do now?
Cole had backed him into an Iblis-damned corner, and he knew it. He’d had to agree. There was no other choice.
Right?
Fuck. He needed to talk to Lara about all this—but it was so fucking hard to concentrate with this new…thing inside him.
Gaia. This perception of the balance, the peace, the…stability around him. Where before there was only chaos, disruption—the jarring back and forth of the world, an eternal struggle—now he noticed the balance in all things. The way they fit together, waxed and waned, in a perfect, endless rhythm.
It was so weird.
But what was weirdest of all was that Ty, Ena, and Turner had clearly done it—they’d broken the bond.
He was incredibly curious how they’d managed to get a witch from each Coven to participate, and he hoped one day they’d all be reunited again so they could regale him with what was no doubt a harrowing tale—but right now, he was being sent out as their enemy.
And he didn’t know how the fuck to even begin to handle that.
Opening the door to their chambers, he quietly walked into their dimly lit family room to find Lara sitting awake at their large dining table.
“Steig,” she whispered, standing up. Her auburn hair glowed in the light of the single blue darkrock lantern sitting on the table before her as she rushed towards him. “What’s going on? Is it true what I feel? Did they do it?”
“They did,” Steig said, speaking in a hushed voice so as not to wake the children in the other rooms. “Everyone else feels it too.”
A wide smile lit Lara’s beautiful face. The joy of it always took his breath away—the pure wonder she exuded made his heart soar. But then, just as quick, his heart broke a little as he thought of everything she didn’t yet know—because he would have to be the one to tell her.
“But your father…” Steig began, watching with regret as the smile fell off her face.
“How’s he taking it?” she asked cautiously, as if already knowing the answer.
“Not great, as you can imagine. He suspects Ty.”
“Well, at least in this instance, you can’t say he’s paranoid,” Lara said ruefully. “What is he planning?”
“He’s sending me, Gunnar, and Chans after him and Ena. To capture them.”
“What?” Lara asked, a look of fear on her face quickly replacing the joy that had been so fleeting. “He’s sending you?”
“Yes,” Steig admitted, hating it all over again.
“And you agreed?”
“Agreed? No, I didn’t fucking agree, Lara, but he threatened to put me in a collar if I refused.
To take me away from you and the kids. What the fuck was I supposed to do?
” He knew his tone was too harsh, that she was just trying to catch up to all that had happened, but he felt so guilty for having said yes, the frustration just spilled out of him.
“Of course I know you didn’t agree willingly,” she said, reaching out to soothingly stroke his arm.
“But Steig, you can’t capture Ty and Ena and bring them back here.
You’d be bringing them back to their slaughter.
Heir or not, Cole is not going to let this slide.
He’ll find an excuse to kill them both.”
“I know that,” Steig said, struggling to keep his voice down as he ran his hand through his thick, dark curls. “It’s a death sentence.”
Lara took a deep breath, clearly now on the same page with him about how absolutely fucked they were. “Okay, this is bad, but…maybe there’s something you can do.”
“Like what?” he asked, and for a millisecond, he let himself be so incredibly grateful that he wasn’t alone in this. That he had her to help figure it out.
“I don’t know…sabotage his capture, maybe? If you do find him, that is.”
“And do that without Gunnar and Chans noticing and ratting me out to Cole?”
“I know it’s a long shot, but maybe an opportunity will present itself. If you’re smart, and cautious.”
“That’s as good a plan as any, I guess. But Lara,” Steig said, needing her to understand what he already did, “he’s not going to give up until he finds him. Until he makes me find him.”
She nodded. “That may be true, but there’s nothing we can do about that. We just need to get through this right now, day by day, and hope we figure it out later.”
Steig hung his head in resignation as he reached out to stroke her arm, the feel of her in his arms bringing him comfort.
“When do you leave?” she asked quietly, looking up at him with sad, hazel eyes.
“First thing in the morning. He’s sending us to the Auster Coven, to look for them there,” he replied.
Lara nodded sadly, heartbreak written on her face. It was obvious to both of them that no matter what—through a collar or a mission—this was a punishment from Cole designed to keep them apart. He’d never been worthy of Lara in Cole’s eyes.
“Should I wake the kids? So you can say goodbye?” she asked, trying and failing to keep the waver out of her voice, and the sound of it broke his heart.
“Yes, but…not yet. Please,” he said, looking into her eyes.
All he’d ever wanted was to be with her, to be near her fierce joy, and the love of the family they’d created together.
But it had never been that simple for them, and it never would be.
Not until Cole was gone and Ty became king. “I’m so sorry, Lara.”
“Don’t,” she said, shaking her head and bringing her hands to his face. “Not for one second, okay? It’s all worth it to me, Steig. All of it.”
He pulled her into him, kissing her fiercely, as his hands tangled in her soft hair. She tasted of home and sunshine—the warmest flame from a fire, almost too hot to touch, and yet he couldn’t care less if he got burned.
Their kiss deepened, almost frantic as they both knew that this separation…
it would be a long one. He stroked her tongue with his, holding her hard against him, and he could feel her lust rising with his own.
With his Power, he could feel that thread between them tugging in his mind… did she want him to feed it?
He only used his cupido on her sometimes, to heighten their experiences together, and only ever with her explicit permission.
But she knew it was sometimes hard for him to hold it back when he was so caught up in her, and right now, fucking Iblis, he wanted to be caught up in her.
He had no idea how many cold, lonely nights away from her and their family he had ahead of him.
He needed this memory to carry him through.
He broke the kiss, his heart aching and his lungs breathless. “Do you want me to?” he asked darkly.
“Yes,” she said, just as desperate as he was. “Show me how you feel.”
Feeding that thread between them in his mind, he poured himself into her.
All his lust, his desire for her—the feel of her warm, tight body against his.
Her breasts, soft and heavy against his chest, and how much he longed to suck on them until they were raw.
He kissed down her neck, feeling her soft skin, licking and laving at the sensitive spot under her ear until she moaned, and with every thought, every feeling, he sent his own lust through the thread, amplifying hers tenfold.
“Steig,” she groaned, the sound of it sending another bolt of lust through him, which he also shared with her. “To the bedroom. Now.”
Scooping her up so her legs were wrapped around him, he squeezed her ass as he carried her through the archway to their bedroom, hoping they’d be quiet enough to not wake the kids.
Roughly, he threw her down on the bed and felt through the channel in his mind how much she liked it.
“You want me to be rough?” he asked, his voice low.
“I want to feel it, Steig,” she said, looking him dead in the eyes. “I’m going to miss you, so make me remember.”
“You asked for it,” he said, sending more of his lust her way as she tilted her head back in ecstasy.
“Iblis, Steig, you want me that bad? After all this time?” she asked, a dazed smile on her face.
“Always,” he replied, hoping she could tell with just that one word, how much he meant it. How much he loved her.
Roughly, he ripped at her pants, pulling them off in one smooth motion before undoing the buttons on his own.
He grabbed her legs in his hands and spread them apart before pulling her sharply to him.
With one hand, he pressed down on her stomach, holding her in place, and with the other, he spread her legs wider as he sank to his knees.
Without preamble, he stuck his tongue inside her, tasting her sweet cunt, before licking up her center.
Lara let out a choked sound, like she wanted to cry out but stopped herself, knowing she needed to be quiet. He felt through the channel in his mind how much she liked that, so he did it again. And again. And again, until she was shaking like a leaf in front of him.
“Iblis, Steig,” she whispered, her voice tight as her climax approached.
“Not yet, my joy,” he whispered against her. “I want you to come with me.”
“Then stop licking me so good and fuck me,” she growled.
Rising up, he came above her, pushing her hair back from her face so it spread across the bed like a halo around her.
Looking into her face, he let his desire surge once more.
Not just for her body—her warm, delicious cunt, and those bitable lips that were parted before him—but for her.
Her fierceness, her love, her fire, her kindness, her softness, her spark.
Everything, everything about her. And he fed her that desire too.
“Steig,” she moaned, her eyes rolling back in her head. “Fuck,” she muttered, breathless. “I love the way you love me.”
“I’ll never stop,” Steig said, before sheathing himself inside her.
She had asked for it rough, so he gave it to her—pounding into her with all his strength.
She bit his shoulder—hard—leaving teeth marks as they fucked like animals.
And soon he couldn’t hold it back anymore, so he released himself, spilling inside her—the woman he loved more than anything in this world taking all of him.
He felt her clench around him, her own orgasm meeting his as he’d intended, until her body went limp.
Breathless, he collapsed on top of her, kissing her jaw, her neck—holding her like he never wanted to let go.
She nuzzled into him, holding him tightly in return. They stayed like that for some time, just feeling each other breathe, until eventually, he got up the courage to release her.
He stood up slowly, reluctantly, and started redoing his pants.
“Give me a few minutes to pack, then we can wake the kids so I can say goodbye. I have to be at the entrance in an hour,” he said, forcing himself to move.
Lara nodded silently as she, too, dressed, then wordlessly started grabbing clothes and handing them to him, helping him to fill his saddlebags.
He savored every minute they were together, even in silence, but the closer they got to being done, the more the dread started to slowly creep back in.
Dread for what was ahead of him—traveling with Gunnar and Chans, having to find Ena and Ty.
Because even if they did find them, and he managed to sabotage their capture without revealing his intentions to Gunnar and Chans, how could he return after that?
To his wife. To his kids. Cole would never let him rest until Ty was found.
It all seemed so impossible and insurmountable, and he just hoped to Iblis, or even fucking Gaia, that when the time came, he’d know what to do.