Reign of Ice (Forever Fae #4)(70)
He spread my legs and covered his body with mine. There was no going gentle tonight, there was no wasting time. It was just me and him, starved for each other’s love. He lowered his lips to mine and claimed me with his mouth before pushing himself inside of me, taking my body. Never once did we stop tasting and making love to each other with our mouths and our bodies. I couldn’t let go and I didn’t want to miss a single moment.
He kept his eyes open, gazing into mine the whole time. I could see and feel the love and passion in his heart for me, but I could also feel the fear and rage below that. The fear was what got me. He was afraid for me, of what was going to happen to me without him being there to protect me. I didn’t want to ruin the moment, so instead I let the tears fall down my cheeks as I let his feelings flow through my body.
Gripping me tighter, he pushed inside me harder until we were both gasping for air and on the verge of release. I felt him shudder and growl low in his throat as my body clenched around him and I called out his name, demanding that he not stop. We came together, him releasing his seed inside of me and me trembling in his arms as our love making came to a close. I had never felt so complete.
“Me either,” he replied to my silent thought. “You make me feel complete.”
We lay there, joined as one … always as one. It wasn’t until the dream realm started to fade that I panicked. It was over, and it was too soon. With wide, tear-filled eyes, Brayden held onto me tighter, almost bruising me as he shook his head and shouted, “No, this can’t be happening. Stay with me, angel. Don’t let go!”
It didn’t matter about letting go because I had no choice. The hands I held to his face started to fade and disappear. I could no longer feel his Winter skin beneath my fingers or the beat of his heart against my chest. This was good-bye.
“I love you, Brayden,” I murmured. I didn’t know if he heard me because one minute I was staring up into brown eyes, hoping that I didn’t have to let him go, and then the next …
The ground trembled and shook, jolting me out of the dream and into the hell I had awoken to. Merrick ran to the window and I immediately scrambled to join him, gazing out at what could be the cause of the disturbance. What I saw was way worse than what I could have ever imagined.
Coming through a portal in the middle of the village were not just a few mere mortals, but hundreds; marching one after the other. When they all made it through, there was one person who had yet to enter. Alasdair stepped through with a grin on his face, but it swiftly disappeared the moment he saw his village and the destruction that lay within.
“Oh no,” I whispered, horrified at the sight before me. “How am I going to do this?”
Merrick placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. “I don’t know, Ariella, but you’re smart and cunning. You’ll think of something. I have faith in you.”
I had to think of something fast because the sorcerer was furious and angry … and he was headed toward Gothin’s home. The place where I was standing.
“DAMMIT,” I HISSED quietly. “If he comes in here he might see Gothin’s ashes. I can’t let him come in here.”
Dismally, Merrick sighed and nodded. “You’re right, he can’t.”
Taking a deep breath, I knew what I had to do. Making sure my dagger was hidden at my back, I took the form of Gothin and headed for the door. Alasdair was coming closer because I could feel his anger pulsating all around him. Gripping the handle of the door with all my might, my fingers began to turn white and go numb. I could do this.
“I will be right there with you,” Merrick promised. I nodded and took another deep breath before opening the door.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I didn’t look back at him, but kept my head held high as I walked toward the sorcerer. He was dressed in all black armor with his long brown hair pulled back at the nape and his iron blade secured in his belt. I had to stay away from it.
The snarl on his face and the fury in his eyes made me want to kill him right then, but with his mortal army gathered all around I wouldn’t be able to strike. However, it didn’t stop the sorcerer from striking me. I saw his hand flying, but I knew I had to take it. The pain from the blow to my face vibrated throughout my body as I collapsed onto the ground. Merrick yelled for me to keep focus, to concentrate on what I had to do and to keep my glamour. It was so hard to get past the pain, but I couldn’t fail now.
“Ariella, what happened? I can feel your pain,” Brayden shouted in my mind. “Whatever is going on you better hold on. I am coming for you.”
I couldn’t answer him yet because Alasdair grabbed me by the neck and hauled me to my feet. “What the f*ck happened here?” he hissed in my face. Brayden’s cries and shouts in my head were so loud I almost thought the sorcerer could hear him. All that came through our bond was my grunts of pain.
Gritting my teeth, I wiped the blood from my mouth and took a deep breath. Gothin wouldn’t talk back to him, which meant I couldn’t. Wincing at the pain, I held in my anger and replied, “We were attacked, Master. The dragons came in unexpectedly and destroyed everything.”
He squeezed my neck, cutting off my air, and suddenly threw me back onto the ground. “Why didn’t you summon me? I would have destroyed them all!”
Hanging my head, I pretended to be the obedient servant, but inside I was raging, ready to end his miserable existence by shoving my dagger in his chest and watching him die. “There was no time, Master. By the time we heard them coming it was too late,” I informed him.