Chapter 25 #3
I moved closer to examine the mark more closely. Gaelan said that we were soul mates, a different kind of bond. I know deep down I can feel it, but a part of me worries about what it will truly mean for me, for us, in this lifetime.
“We don’t need to worry about it right now.” Gaelan cuts into my thoughts and pulls me over to a bath filled with steamy water and bubbles. I didn’t even notice him turning the taps on.
He steps in first, leaving enough room for me. Gaelan sinks down and pulls me with him. I lean back and try not to moan when I feel his hard cock pressed up against my back. I close my eyes and let my body relax against him.
This feels perfect.
Gaelan lifts the sponge and starts washing me. I notice that he’s paying close attention to my breasts, making me smile—I think Gaelan might be a breast man—which makes me realize that I don’t know him at all..
“Do you like coffee?” I ask.
Gaelan stops moving the sponge and chuckles lightly. “Coffee? Not really, why do you ask?”
“I just realized I don’t know a thing about you.”
“You can ask me anything, Ari, I won’t hide anything from you.”
I turn slightly so I can look up at him, his eyes glowing so brightly—they seem to do that a lot. “Your eyes, why do they glow like that?”
He grins at me, and I watch in amazement as they grow brighter, lighting up the room in a blue hue.
It’s that fire I see in them again, curling around the dark black centers of his eyes.
. “They glow mostly because of the powers I have as an underworld lord. When I’m in battle, it shows my family’s birthright and that I rule over Illis. ”
“But you aren’t in battle now?”
He lowers his head and kisses my lips lightly. “Fighting my need to fuck you every second is one of my biggest battles, my Rose, but one that I gladly ride into.”
His words make me flush with pleasure. I shift slightly, trapping his cock, causing his eyes to flutter shut and a groan to leave his lips. I whisper, “Who’s winning today?”
His arms come up, and one of his hands wraps around my neck, as he lowers his head and whispers back, “I am, my Rose.”
“What does the winner get?” I say as I start to move my hips a little, my need for him increases with every moment that passes.
“You.” He runs his other hand down my stomach, moving in between my legs.
I’m already wet for him, and when he feels it, he sucks in a breath.
I part my legs further for him, his fingers finding my clit and starting to circle it in a slow and torturous way.
His hand on my neck squeezes tightly before moving me slightly so my head tips back, and he runs his nose along my neck.
“You know what I find so fucking sexy?” Gaelan’s voice is a deep timber that causes my breathing to quicken and my clit to throb.
I can’t speak, my body overwhelmed by the sensations Gaelan is causing. I feel the sharp edge of his teeth running along my skin, and I moan at the feel of it.
“You, at my mercy, wanting me to bite you.” He nips lightly at my skin. “Do you want me to bite you, Ari?”
I roll my hips against his fingers and nod my head.
“Use your words,” he orders through gritted teeth.
Still unable to form words due to the pace of his fingers, and the smell of him being this close to me. He is intoxicating. His touch pushes me too close to the edge. I open my mouth to speak and moan, “Yes… Gaelan, yes.”
“Louder, Ari, I didn’t hear you.”
I growl at his teasing, even if I do love it. “Yes! Gaelan.” This time, I almost scream the words. Gaelan groans and sinks his teeth into the soft part of my neck, the pain coils in my body and sends a bolt of pleasure to my clit, my hips bucking forward, and I begin to grind them against his hand.
I feel blood running down my arm and into the water.
When he bit me the last time, it was to heal his broken body…
this time, he’s nipping me hard enough to break the skin.
I can feel the warm blood running down my arm.
He licks at my skin, but doesn’t fully drink from me.
, I “Gaelan.” My voice is a low whisper.
His finger moves faster, making me shake, my body bows, and my orgasm hits me.
Gaelan pulls back from my neck and licks a long line to my ear, biting down on my lobe, causing me to shiver. His fingers slow, wringing out the last drops of my orgasm, before moving them to his mouth, to lick them clean.
I gaze up at this beautiful daemon, and my heart skips a beat. It’s too soon for me to be feeling like I love him—it’s been a couple of days—but I think I do. He grins down at me and kisses me.
“Any more questions, my Rose?”
“Shall we go to bed?” I ask because I can feel the ache building again, but he shakes his head.
“Let’s finish our bath first.”
“But…”
“I want nothing more than to take you to our bed, but I’m enjoying having you wet, naked, and in my arms; it’s been too long.” His eyes shine with emotion, and I reach out to cup his cheek.
“Did I die every time?” He nods his head and leans into my touch.
“Tell me about my last life with you?”
He shifts under me, clearing his throat.
“Makenzie Barron, but you loved being called Kenzie. I met you at your twenty-first birthday party. Your family was throwing you a huge ball; you hated it. You didn’t like that kind of attention,” he chuckles and starts to run his hands over my stomach.
“I found you hiding in the library with a book, eating chocolate, and drinking tea.”
“I love tea.”
“You have loved tea and reading in all of your lives.”
I turn my head to look up at him. “What do you mean?”
“In each life, you were very similar in your tastes and personality. But there was also something new each time.” He leans down and kisses the three marks on my cheek. “These marks here, your Orion belt birthmarks, you’ve had them in every life.
I lift my hand and touch my cheek where Gaelan had kissed. “What else?” I ask.
Gaelan lowers his head and kisses along my neck. “You also loved it when I would bite you.” His teeth lightly bite into my neck, making me whimper. “You love it almost as much as you love to bite me.”
Which is true, I’ve never been a biter with anyone else, but something about this man makes me want to sink my teeth into him and call him mine. Gaelan pulls back from my neck and starts to rewash my body.
“Tell me more about Kenzie.” I want to know more about my past self.
“As soon as you looked up at me, I knew it was you. The same amber eyes. Each time I see you, you are always so beautiful, and it takes my breath away.” I look up at him, trying to ignore the way his hands feel on my skin.
“We stayed up all night talking. I had to sneak out the next morning, so your parents didn’t see me,” he laughs.
“I had to bribe the housekeeper with my watch so she wouldn’t say anything. ”
“Why?”
“So, I could stay on your father’s good side, so I could court you.”
I’m smiling, feeling like I already know this, like I know that Gaelan isn’t lying, a part of me knowing deep down that this was my life at some point. Even back at my aunt’s house, with those photos, it just fit. Gaelan just… fits. He is mine. “What happened next?”
“We courted for a year and then got married.”
“We were married?” I ask, surprised..
“Yes, we’ve been married quite a few times, my Rose. This specific time, we were married for three years.” I can see his eyes clouding over with memories of my death, feeling his anguish over losing me, yet again.
“What happened?”
Gaelan drops the sponge and shifts, making us both sit up. “Let’s get ready for bed,” he says, changing the subject.
“Tell me, Gaelan.” I plead.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he barks, shutting down my question.
He lifts himself out of the bath, wraps a towel around his waist, and walks into the bedroom. I know I should drop it—I can see the hurt in his eyes, the pain—but I know I need to learn as much as I can about my past lives if I want to find the book.
Standing from the bath, I climb out, grab a towel, and follow. When I enter, Gaelan sits at the end of the bed, his head facing down. “Gaelan? I—”
“We were so happy,” he cuts me off, “planning for our life together, we had five months left until we were going to meet our little boy.”
My hand flies to my stomach… I was pregnant?
“She sent them to the house this time. I was in a meeting, so I didn’t know.
By the time I came home, you were already gone.
Macy took you, killed you, and left your body for me to find a few days later.
” He looks up at me. “She left you in the middle of town, tied to a fountain in the village square. The police called it a murder, saying that they were going to catch whoever did this. But I knew they never would.” The pain in his voice is breaking my heart.
This man has loved me and lost me so many times.
I walk over to him and move to stand between his legs.
He looks up at me, his eyes flashing brighter.
“I won’t lose you again, Ari. She won’t take you from me this time.”
I nod my head slowly. “She won’t. Not again.” Leaning down, I kiss his lips softly. I love my life even though I know it’s changing. Ever since Aunt May died, I’ve felt that things were different, and they have been. I just need to find this book.
“Gaelan? Where did Kenzie hide the book?”
“She never had the book.” He declares softly
I frown at his words, “What do you mean?”
“Some of your lives you had powers, and you found the book; others you were just human, it was almost as if someone was trying to hide you.” He says.
“Hide me from what?”
He leans his head on my stomach. “I don’t know, Ari. I’ve tried to find the answer to this, but there was never any.”
I run my fingers through his hair, wanting to give him comfort but also to comfort myself. The more I learn about what Macy has done to him, to me, the more worried I get. I just hope that this time I can make a difference, and she won’t kill me.