Retribution (32 page)

She obediently repositioned her fingers, and he braced her with magic, his palms gripping her butt as he refilled her. The tightening of her muscles drew her thighs in, but she spread them open again, paving his way with slender appendages growing slick with her own moisture.

“Perfect,” he whispered, flashing his gaze over her aura, which brightened at the praise.

He eased back before burying himself inside her, and she quaked in his hovering spell, but her legs remained open and her hands stayed between them, her fingers enhancing her own pleasure as well as his.

Locking his hands behind his head, he built her up with long and steady thrusts, his view a delicious combination of billowing breasts, him taking her, and her aura thanking him for it. She began lifting her hips and rolling against him, her fingers rubbing herself more intensely, and a growl rumbled in his diaphragm as his gaze went to the treetops, his mind and body on the verge of exploding.

Her rhythm picked up, making his vision blur, and he cursed as he took hold of her hips, trying not to crush them while countering her pressure and speed. Looking down, he watched her body embrace the pounding he was giving it – the rippling of slick skin and the fluctuating of heavy breasts. Then her muscles tightened, flattening the waves of flesh. Her flexed core threatened to suck him dry as she arched, forcing him as deep as he could go. Then she let out a beautiful moan that made him unload.

When the intensity ebbed and the euphoria seeped in, he twitched and blinked open his eyes. “Damn, baby, the things you do to me – they’re mind-blowing.”

She gave a raspy laugh as she scanned his body and the air around it. “It’s not like it’s hard work – lying here on a cloud of magic while a sexy man takes me to heaven.”

He smiled as he hovered from the ground and leaned over her, wrapping her quivering body in a warm hug. “I guess you’re not mad about my timing.”

Her eyes flipped toward the lawn they’d just left, a grin tugging on her lips. “I think you wanted your friends to hear me scream.”

He laughed, nuzzling her hair out of the way so he could kiss her ear. “I doubt they heard you, and if they did, it’s not the first time they’ve heard satisfied moans coming from the forest. And that wasn’t my goal.”

“No?”

“No, love. I just didn’t want to wait for tonight.”

“I didn’t either, but we could have moved further away.”

“Then we would have had to conceal ourselves, including our auras.”

“Oh… ew.”

“Exactly. I love your aura, Layla, and I love watching it when we’re together like this. When I take your body, I take over your aura, too, and maybe it’s vain, but I love seeing myself painted with your colors.”

“Don’t you always find yourself in them?”

“Yes, but I’m not talking about having a place in your aura. I’m talking about owning it, being the only person on your mind and in your heart, and that only happens when I own your body.”

A moment of thoughtful quiet passed – just their combined pulse and the whisper of the trees. Then she softly responded. “You do, you know?”

“Do what?”

“Own me.”

Keeping his lips to her ear, he flashed his gaze over her aura while laying a hand over her heart. “How do you feel about that?”

She laid her hand over his. “It should bother me, but it doesn’t. I want it that way, because I love how it feels, and I can accept that without shame, because I know you’ll take care of me better than I take care of myself.”

“For as long as I live, Layla.”

He wanted to promise her a million lifetimes, all of them filled with love, security and happiness, but he only had one, and lurking danger threatened to cut it short. “We need to go, love.”

She sighed and nuzzled his neck. “I know.”

Sunset was about an hour away when Layla and Quin made it back to the community, so they went straight to Aedan and Rhosewen's memorial. Quin stood on the edge of the small clearing, making contact with his dad's mind, while Layla took a moment by herself, revealing the names on the boulder and covering the ground in emerald-green roses.

Quin listened to his dad, but he watched Layla lie against the rock and close her eyes, glad she was comfortable enough around him to do so. When his mental conversation ended, he stayed still, waiting for her to finish her silent exchange with her parents.

She eventually pulled away from the stone and looked up. “Have you been here before?”

“Yes,” he answered, doing his best not to crush her roses as he moved to sit beside her.

“To visit them?” she asked.

He took her by the hand and raised it to his lips, magically warming her up. “To pay my respect, yes.”

“When was the last time you were here?”

“The morning after I met you.”

“Really? Why?”

“I had to come tell them how beautiful their daughter is. And I wanted to thank them.”

“For what?”

“For giving you life… for giving you to me.”

She smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Were you that confident you’d get me?”

“Not at all. I was a wreck that morning, plagued by doubt like never before. I didn’t know if I’d even get you to the community, let alone earn a piece of your heart. But no matter what was in store for us, I’d found a beautiful face to go with my sweet dreams, and for that, I owed your parents the world, least of all a thank you.”

She pulled his palm into a kiss. Then she placed it on the boulder, smiling as she scanned the dark-brown roses sprouting alongside the emerald blooms. “I didn't know if it would work the same since you're not related and didn't know them.”

“They're as much my family as anyone else in the coven.”

“But you don't share blood, and you were only a year old when they died.”

“That's true, but Rhosewen and I connected when I was born, and Aedan and I connected when he joined the coven.”

“You did?”

“Yes. When a baby's born into a coven, those who aren't blood relatives take part in a binding ritual with them, and your dad went through the same ritual you did when he moved here.”

“Oh. I didn't know. I wonder why he didn’t show me that in the memories.”

“Maybe he wanted you to experience it without relating it to sad memories.”

“That makes sense.” She scooted closer to him, working her fingers between his so they were both touching the stone. “I like that they know you. I like to think that if they're aware of what's going on right here, right now, they can rest easy knowing I'm in good hands; knowing I’m happier than I ever thought possible because of a man they know and love.”

He smiled as he played with a spiral falling across her cheek. “I have to believe that's the case, Layla, because I wouldn't feel worthy of you if I didn't believe your parents would agree.”

“Hmm…” She playfully wrinkled her nose as she shifted her gaze toward the memorial. “What do you think, guys? Is he worthy?”

More roses bloomed – dark-brown at the base with tips of emerald-green, the two colors bleeding together for a marble effect – and Layla gawked at them before finding Quin. “I didn’t know they’d answer. Guess that’s a yes.”

Touched by the occurrence, Quin swallowed, hoping he could live up to the role of hero to such a precious life. “It would seem so.”

Noticing his concern, she moved onto his lap and pulled his hand from the boulder, bringing it to her heart instead. “You take perfect care of me, Quin.”

“I wish I could do more, Layla. I want you to have everything you deserve in life, but you keep getting things taken away.”

“That’s when I come to you,” she countered. “I can always count on you to fill the void and heal the hurt.”

“I’m glad I give you a reprieve from the sorrow, but I'll never stop trying. Until my final breath, I'll do everything I can to give you the life you deserve. My heart might as well stop beating if it’s not beating for that purpose.”

A small smile of acceptance touched her lips as she watched his eyes. Then she fidgeted with his hand as she looked at the darkening sky. “Um… feel free to tell me no if you think it's weird, but will you lie here with me for a while?”

“Sure,” he agreed, vanishing a patch of roses. Then he lay down and tucked her in beside him, resting her head on his arm. “And I don't feel weird about it. We’ll stay like this until you're ready to move.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

She silently traced hearts on his chest for several seconds. Then she found his eyes and blushed. “There’s something very comforting about this.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Do you want to hear about it?”

“Of course.”

“You might think it's morbid or depressing.”

He smiled as he rolled her into a hug. “Try me.”

“Well, it's nice to know that when all this comes to an end, whether that's tomorrow or a week from now or a hundred years from now, I'll be able to spend eternity just like this, tucked in your arms and next to your soul. I don't know where my parents are, but my heart believes they're together, and it gives me hope that no matter what kind of death we face, we’ll still have each other when it's over. And if we're lucky, maybe we'll have a memorial that the people we love can visit, touch and talk to. And maybe we can talk back by sending them gorgeous flowers the color of their eyes.”

He smiled as he touched his forehead to hers. “That's a beautiful outlook, angel. And while I'm not going to go into a lecture on spirituality at the moment, I will tell you this. There is a heaven, and someday, when our time on earth is over, we'll see your parents there. We'll be able to experience the afterlife with the loved ones who passed before us, while staying connected to this life through the survivors we love.”

“If that's true, why is death so scary?”

“Because you can’t come back, not in a way that would satisfy you, and even though you remain connected to survivors, you can't touch them like you want to. This is our only chance to experience this leg of our journey. If we didn't want to live this life to the fullest, it would be like going to our cliff without making the jump.” He wrapped his fingers into her hair and softly kissed her nose. “You and I have not lived long enough, Layla. There are so many things we haven't done. It’s only been two weeks since I found my reason for living. No way am I ready to give up the journey. And more than anything else, I want you to experience everything this stretch of road has to offer.”

“That's not possible, Quin.”

“I know, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up.”

“You put too much pressure on yourself.”

“No I don't. I understand I may fail. I may not be able to get us through next week, but if I don't try, I might as well end it tonight. Besides, like you said, if I do fail, we still have eternity waiting for us, and I'll get my chance at a new purpose. A million and one ways to please my love in the afterlife. How does that sound?”

“Perfect.”

“No, love, it's not perfect. It's plan C. Plan A is perfect and very unlikely. Plan B is flawed but beautiful. And plan C is a contingency plan we'll use as a last resort.”

“I find them all lovely, Quin. I’d rather go to our cliff and not make the jump than never go at all. If I can't have the whole pie, I'll take a slice.”

He smiled as he moved his mouth to her neck and softly nibbled. “I’d definitely consider this a slice of heaven.”

She giggled as she nuzzled her way to his throat, and after a few kisses, she tucked herself into his chest. She fell silent, her body tranquil, and he played with her hair while watching her aura. He could tell she was reflecting on her life – past, present and future – and he could tell her heart hurt for the things she’d lost… for the things she’d never get. Ever connected, his heart followed suit, squeezing with a pain more real than any he'd endured. But unlike physical wounds, there was no healing this one, not his own or hers, so he just hugged her tighter, focusing on the slice of heaven in his arms rather than the pieces he’d never hold.

Chapter 22

A light drizzle arrived with nightfall, so Layla was damp by the time she left Quin's chest and sat up. The bitter wind penetrated her lace dress, but Quin had been frequently filling her with heat since they took up their position.

“We should go,” she said, magically drying his hair.

He helped her to her feet. Then he dried her hair and dress and summoned her cloak on over them. “Anytime you want to come back here, let me know. We'll make time.”

“Thank you.”

After studying his bare torso for a moment, she magicked his cloak over it, and he pulled her into a hug as he kissed her curls. “We have three people to meet when we get to the lawn, so we need to hide our lights.”

“Okay. You get mine and I'll get yours.”
 

They concealed each other's auras and bonded lights. Then he carried her as he flew through the forest.
 

Despite the rain, there were over thirty people on the lawn, standing or sitting around a large fire, and the atmosphere seemed more hectic than usual. When Quin and Layla landed, several people approached them at once.