Awakening (40 page)

Auberon's eyes closed and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.
Turning to leave, he paused, a million words he wanted to say frozen in his throat. When he spoke, his voice came out as a shattered rasp, "Thank you."

He was gone by the time
Celeste made a whimper and Adam’s attention returned to the beautiful woman lying in their bed. He cupped her cheek, whispering, “It’s all right, my love; it’s all right.”

She wrapped her fingers around his wrist, holding his hand against her face. Opening her eyes, she looked up at him with
shimmering tears, “Don’t leave me.”

“Never,” he murmured, maneuvering his body and sliding between the covers, gathering her into his arms. Kissing her forehead, he closed his eyes, letting waves of healing
energy flow over her, through her. “I’ll never leave you.”

She sniffled, “Promise me.”

“Hush, love,” he said gently, not making any promises just yet. “We’ll worry about that later; for now, rest.”

“I don’t have time to rest,” she grumbled, curling her fingers into a fist over his heart, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. “There was nothing I could do to escape and I hated feeling so helpless. I’m supposed to be this new and improved Queen and I
couldn't do anything. I was strapped to the table, unable to move, to prevent them from taking our child; I don't want to be so helpless ever again."

She sighed, letting her fingers relax until her hand was splayed across his chest and she felt the beat of his heart beneath her palm. The steady rhythm was calming and she loved him all the more for his strength. If she had
had the ability to teleport, to move through solid matter, she could have escaped; she could have saved her baby. But now there was no more time for tears; she needed to get strong, to prepare for war. “I need to learn more. I need to learn everything.”

“You need to rest,” he told her.

She twisted around until she was facing him, her body draped over his. Excited, needing the excitement after the last few days of numbness and debilitating grief, she grinned, “Teach me how to teleport, like you did in Paris.”

The shock in his eyes as he stared at her with a slightly opened mouth made her giddy. “You were aware of that?”

“Of course,” she answered earnestly. “But at the time, I was more interested in other things.” His expression turned darkly sensuous and while she relished the idea of making love to him, there was too much to do. “Adam, the teleporting thing; you have to teach me.”

“I will, love,” he promised, sliding his hands down to the firm, round cheeks of her ass. Willing the clothes away, he smiled slowly, “I can teach you other things as well
but you need this first.”

She grinned at his
carnal expression, feeling his hard, naked body beneath her. Grateful for the distraction, she rocked her pelvis against him. It didn’t erase the pain that consumed her, but it at least made it bearable. And if she could forget for just a few moments…. “You’re incorrigible.”

“
You love it,” he whispered, kissing her neck, feeling her body melt.

“I
do,” she breathed, feeling his hands move along her skin. Celeste let out a low groan as she felt Adam’s fingers tugging at the hem of her gown. She wanted to kiss him but he turned her away from him, so the length of his body was burning her back. His broad hands smoothed over her skin as his lips trailed kisses along her shoulders.

Adam
moved his hand over her bare thigh, across the folds of her sex, and her breath hitched in her throat. She reached between her legs, curling her fingers over his, and she could feel the damp heat of her body. He rubbed his erection against her back, teasing her, as he played with her clit, dipping his fingers into her flesh in a pale imitation of sex. She whimpered, his touch so wonderful and yet at the same time not enough. The muscles in her stomach quivered in anticipation. “Adam.”

She felt his smile against her shoulder as he urged her legs apart, as he prodded her with his erection.
Instead of entering her, he grabbed her around the waist and rolled onto his back, bringing her to sit backwards on top of him. The covers fell away and they were two naked souls desperate for the connection of sex. Her legs were sprawled open, one on either side of his body and she felt the heat of desire burning her skin. “Adam!”

She pushed herself up into an almost sitting position to turn
around and scold him but he pressed his cock into her and all she could do was shudder in pleasure. From this angle, she could feel him in the deepest parts of her body yet she controlled the depth of penetration. “Oh, Adamanteros.”

She felt the vibrations in his abdomen as he chuckled and her legs quivered. With her arms holding her body up, she was unable to prevent him from reaching around and running his hands over her breasts, her stomach,
her clit. She didn’t want to stop him as he rolled her left nipple between the fingers of his left hand and rubbed the engorged head of her clit with the fingers of his right hand.

Her head tilted back, her hair falling to his chest, and she closed her eyes, letting sensation take over her body, her mind. She could feel power radiating from the inside of her bo
nes outward, feel it coursing through her veins, just beneath her skin. Her body rose and fell, taking Adam deeper and deeper until she didn’t know where he stopped and she began; they were no longer two separate beings.

“You’re
magnificent, Celeste,” he breathed, lifting his hips to penetrate her deeper still as her skin shimmered with energy. Her hair brushed over him, its sweet fragrance filling his nostrils. He fervently stroked the silken clit between her spread thighs, pushing her to explode. “Come, my love, let it go.”

Her muscles convulsed around him and he had to remember how to breathe as bliss imploded around them, taking them under. She looked over her shoulder and he swallowed at the power twirling in her eyes, sparks of gold and green and blue flashed within the hazel depths. Her mouth opened in rapture and he saw the exquisite fangs and his heart stilled in his chest; she was
dazzling!

“
Adamanteros,” she breathed, the colors in her eyes fading to hazel, the fangs in her mouth receding back to normal. Her arms trembled and she collapsed back onto him, breathless as she rubbed her forehead along the underside of his jaw. “That was incredible.”

With his heart racing, his breath raging, he dragged his fingers up her stomach. Tracing her lips with the fingers he used on her clit, he whispered, “Taste yourself, love; it’s the food of the gods.”

Her lips parted and she wrapped her tongue around his finger, tasting herself on his skin, the musky flavor of sex and Adam and herself. His groan sent an aftershock of pleasure through her body and she shivered. Quickly, he turned them until she was on her back in the middle of the bed once more and he covered her with the blankets. “Adam?”

“You’re freezing,” he faltered, making sure to
wrap her up completely so he could use his body heat to warm her up.

She laughed
softly, reaching up and cupping his cheek, “I love you, Adamanteros.”

He stilled, staring down at her and seeing the woman he was going to spend the rest of eternity with. His heart nearly exploded in his chest as he bent his head and placed a tender, almost chaste kiss on her lips. “I love you.”

The door opened and Kim’s voice cut through the tender, romantic atmosphere, “I hope the two of you are decent; there are a few things I would like to discuss with my beloved,” again with the snort. “Of course, it doesn’t matter if you’re not decent; I’m coming in anyway.”

“Go away!”
Adam growled, though it was too late, Kim was already through the door, oblivious to the hostility coming her way from the male occupant on the bed.

“Kim, now really isn’t a good time,” Celeste said, holding the sheet against her naked body, blushing at having been caught so soon after spontaneously combusting. “

“We need to talk,” Kim said, not taking the hint. “It’s important and I have already given you too much time. I wish I could give you more but you need to be prepared. Things are moving too fast and we can no longer wait.”

Heaving a sigh,
Adam re-dressed her in a barely there piece of frothy gauze, conveniently forgetting the panties. She noticed that he chose to remain naked; splendidly, deliciously naked. Thank the gods for covers; she didn’t want to share his delectable body with anyone, including her best friend. It was just odd that her friend had disappeared for a few days and then all of the sudden wished to appear in the afterglow of some phenomenal sex.

“What is so important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”
Celeste asked, watching as Kim made her way around the massive bed and sat down on the other side, trapping Celeste between Adam’s hard, naked body and her best friend. “Where have you been?”

“I
had things to deal with,” Kim said evasively, not quite meeting Celeste’s eyes. The corners of her mouth pinched as she pursed her lips. “But I’m back now and I have to talk to you.”

“What about?”
Celeste was cautious, not exactly happy to see her friend at the moment but morbidly curious to what Kim had to say. It didn’t appear Kim was in any rush to leave, so it was probably better to let Kim speak and then get back to love making as soon as she was gone.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to release you when you asked me.” Kim lowered her lashes, “
But the Goddess told me that it was the way it had to be otherwise you would be dead.”

“That little girl is frightening,” Celeste
murmured with a shudder.

Kim snorted again, “That’s for damn sure; when this Guardian Angel finally woke and flooded me with her power,
I felt like I was going to die. That little girl took all of the pain away. Of course that didn't stop Seruli from establishing her dominance, the bitch.”

“Who’s Seruli?” Celeste asked
, her voice muffled against Kim’s shoulder.

“My beloved,
” Kim said, only her voice was back to being that smooth cadence. The Guardian Angel had returned. “It is my pleasure to be of service.”

Celeste could only gape as Kim forcibly shook her head and scowled,
“I hate it when she does that; it’s annoying as all hell.”

Before she knew what was happening, Kim was climbing under the covers, just like she had so many times in the past when
she needed comfort. Only, in the past, Celeste was wearing flannel pajamas and there wasn’t a gorgeous, naked man behind her, his cock pulsing against the small of her back. She heard him growl low in his throat and his arm pulled her back even further. Her eyes widened as she looked at Kim and asked in a flustered voice, “What are you doing?”

“Celeste, don’t be daft,” Kim said, wriggling around to get comfortable.
She offered a conspiratorial smile, “We have a Queen to bring down. Now, the first thing you have to know is that you have to believe in your powers. Once you know you have power you will discover how strong you are."

Remorse continued to gnaw away at Auberon until he thought he would go mad with self-loathing. Three weeks after stealing her baby, he couldn’t bear to be in the same room with Celeste
yet he couldn’t bear to be apart from her either. Seeing her smiling, laughing, filled him with bliss and bitterness. Seeing her with his brother made him want to scream. And they were always so eager to describe in detail the growth of her powers, growth that seemed to occur each time they fucked.

He wanted to rip his ears off and grind them to dust
. Then he wanted to gouge his eyes out and boil them in oil; anything to rid himself of the sight and sound of Adam driving Celeste to the heights of pleasure. They invaded his dreams until he could taste her on his tongue, feel her on his skin; until it was him fucking her, drowning in oblivion with her. He would never tell her, of course; wanting her was his burden to bear, his and his alone;

“Auberon,” her sweet voice drifted over him, calming and damning. Her fingers curled into his shoulders and he wanted to close his eyes and fade away. If she knew what she did to him she wouldn’t be so free in her touch, so generous in her concern. “You’re so
pensive; it's not like you. What’s going on in that head of yours?”