He groaned as he took his cock in hand again and pressed himself into her, pushing in fits and starts because he was coming unglued with need on every front. Even his mating vibration had started to buck.
He wanted to calm down, but then again, he didn’t.
Once inside her, she cooed and groaned and fondled his back muscles, then his ass. It felt so good.
He licked her throat again, his lips dripping saliva. He popped his head back in a quick jerk, struck with his fangs to the right depth, and her blood poured into his waiting mouth.
Sweet Goddess who rules us all, you taste of heaven. He formed a seal around the wounds and began to suck. The earth rumbled again and the elf-lord power flowed.
Stone continued to move his hips into her, staying seated deep so that he could piston evenly and hit her sweet spot over and over. But as the elf-lord power flooded his body, for the first time he felt the seductive nature of it, that it was something he wanted moving through him forever.
He felt stronger than he ever had with Rosamunde’s blood flowing into down his throat. But the elf-lord power was doing something to him. He broke the flow and licked the wounds to seal them. He then lifted up so he could look at her, though he continued to thrust into her.
She met his gaze but her violet eyes shifted to brown and back repeatedly. Her features altered as well in a way that made her more beautiful than ever. She was both Rosamunde and Aralynn. His mind became filled with an array of images, from the center of his world and expanding through the universe in brilliant waves of light and heat and every color imaginable.
His cock fueled the images and for Rosamunde he added the vibration she loved so well. She cried out, her back arching. She dug her nails into his arms, then squeezed her eyes shut. Pleasure flowed over every lovely feature.
His muscles expanded and he rolled heavily into her now, waves of movement that had her writhing beneath him.
Rosamunde, open your eyes and look at me.
She obeyed and as he made this connection with her, his mating vibration dove into her body and covered her. She cried out repeatedly. So close. So close.
Yes. He began to thrust faster, vampire fast.
She threw her arms back and screamed, her pelvis arching against him, her body writhing. His release came for the second time like a wave of pleasurable fire pulsing through his cock. He shouted and groaned. The images in his mind exploded into a mountain of light. He saw stars, the birth of the heavens, the seat of the angels.
He was light and heat and man and vampire. He was of elven and troll stock, and the son of Inez and Davido. He was Rosamunde’s man and the receptor of her blood rose power. He was everything he was always meant to become.
He hovered between two worlds as the reality of his elf nature came to the fore. As the elf-lord power hurtled through him, he could feel the call to become what Davido had warned him against. An elf-lord.
But he held back. Somehow, especially buried inside Rosamunde, it didn’t feel right, so he let the desire go.
~ ~ ~
Rosamunde was breathing hard but she wasn’t sure where she was or who she was. She’d been both her fae and wolf self in alternating fits, while Stone had fed from her and made love to her. He was still thick inside her and she was loose, relaxed and deeply satisfied.
She felt so much in this moment that it was hard to separate the different strands of thought and emotion. For one, Stone looked like a god as he stayed in an almost statue-like position. He was still connected to her, but his arms were fully flexed and his body bowed away from her. His face was glowing, his lips parted, his eyes closed.
As she looked at him, her throat tightened. Her gaze searched his face, the strength of his cheekbones, the muscular line of his neck. His chin and nose. His brows were thick and arched giving him a regal look. The knife-like tattoos along his upper chest stood out like warrior blades and the glow of the elf-lord power made him appear invincible.
She could feel that he was in this moment almost an elf-lord. She didn’t know whether to be awestruck or deeply afraid. She understood Vojalie’s biggest concern, that Stone would surrender to his elf-lord potential and take on a mantle that would require his execution.
Yet, the way he looked was incredible. She wasn’t sure what all was involved, but it was a lot more than merely channeling the power. In a burst of fae insight, she saw that a decision of the will would bring the elf-lord power permanently into his body, changing him forever.
A terrible prescience came to her that soon he’d be faced with the decision.
Slowly, he came back to himself. The arch of his back decreased and his head leveled out so that he could look down at her. “I swear I saw the heart of the universe just now.”
She stroked his arms and shoulders deciding then and there that she would do everything she could to help him keep from following the deadly path. “You’re glowing.”
He lowered himself onto his forearms and kissed her. “And you’re beautiful.” He glanced around. “The mist you made was exactly what we needed.”
She smiled and pushed back some of his thick hair with her fingers, dragging it over his shoulder and down his back. “And I definitely needed to howl.”
“And so you did. It was hot as hell.”
She nodded. “Everything about this was amazing. And the vibration you can send through your cock.” A shiver went straight through her at the memory.
He used his thumb to stroke her cheek. “I love being able to give you pleasure like that. I also love that our mating vibrations are so fully joined. Not quite a bond.”
“No, not quite, but the nearest thing.” She smiled. “I don’t want to let you go.”
“And I don’t want to leave your body.” He shifted his hips so that she felt him. He was in that beautiful half-state of arousal.
“I never thought I would feel this way,” she said. “Ever. Or even have the chance to experience this kind of closeness. And now, I’m here with you. It’s beyond imagining for me.”
He kissed her again and again. They were on the ground in the forest surrounding his estate and she didn’t want to leave.
“How about we go to my bed and talk a bit more.” He reached down and stroked her breast, fondling the tip. “What we did here was great, but it was so quick. I’d love to slow things down. How does that sound?”
This time she leaned up and kissed him. “We could make sandwiches, have some beer, then find out how strong your bed is. I’m still feeling very ‘Aralynn’ right now.”
He smiled and it was such a look of joy that she gasped softly as her heart made a swooshing sensation. “I love you, Stone.”
He kissed her in response. “I never expected love. I was committed to the Nine Realms especially after the slaughter at Charborne when my parents died. I dated a lot over the centuries but this,” he pressed a hand to his chest, “was made of flint.
“Yet here you are, beneath me and I’m inside you and your blood is in me and you’ve allowed me this amazing gift of channeling the elf-lord power. I’m so grateful for it all and for you and your steadfastness as queen and for the part you played in the battle earlier tonight. I love you, too, Rosamunde.”
The words caused her heart to soar so high, she was sure she would start levitating, then rise to the moon and keep on going.
When he finally released himself from her body, he grabbed the remnants of his shirt and tucked it between her legs. “Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
He then tried to draw her dress around her, perhaps with the intention of flying her to the house. But she stopped him. “Grab your clothes. We’ll teleport.”
He looked relieved. “Good plan.”
It took a moment for each of them to pick up the shoes and torn clothing. But once everything was in hand, she hooked his arm. "I think I’d like a shower right now. What do you think? Care to join me?”
His lips curved. “Love to.”
She thought-the-thought a
nd with a blink, she took them both right next to the large shower. She dropped her clothes to the side, then turned to set the heads running and the water to warming up. There were several, including an overhead rain shower.
After removing the pins in her hair, she stepped in. Stone joined her and the next half hour became a playful time of soapy body parts, a lot of massaging and at last finding her back pressed up against the tile as he entered her again.
Being in the shower was genius because afterward clean-up was really simple.
Sandwiches followed, as well as a very nice amber ale.
When he took her to bed sometime around dawn, he was as good as his word and this time, he slowed everything down. She was pretty sure he’d kissed every part of her body before easing his cock between her legs.
He told her he loved her many times and she reciprocated. It all seemed so beautiful and easy that she wondered for a moment whether they should heed Vojalie’s advice and complete the bond. Maybe, in this way, she could help keep him from being seduced by the elf-lord power.
But his loving attitude pleased her so much that in the end she chose not to disrupt the moment with the difficult idea of completing a bond which neither of them had fully accepted.
By the time he took her all the way for about the tenth time, Rosamunde was in a state of blissful contentment and afterward fell fast asleep.
When she woke up that evening, with the sun just setting, she rolled onto her back and a wonderful feeling of euphoria flowed through her. She could hear the shower running and the sounds of Stone washing his long hair.
What a night!
She knew the troublesome bonding issue sat just offshore, but right now she took a few minutes to savor all that had happened between herself and Stone. In addition to several rounds of amazing sex, vows of love had been exchanged. Her mating vibration, though now separated from Stone, still hummed from the number of times his frequency had covered hers.
All. Amazing.
She sighed and smiled as she stared up at the ceiling. She was completely naked beneath Stone’s comforter and content beyond words.
Except…
She pressed a hand to her lips. She felt young right now, unversed in relationships and especially timing.
Her fae senses warned her that she’d erred, but in what way? She sought about in her mind. Stone now knew who his father was and he had begun to enjoy her two separate identities.
Her lips curved slowly. She’d loved transforming into Aralynn several times, especially when she wanted Stone to be extra physical with her.
She sighed contentedly.
Just as she started to relax, there it was again, a fae sensation, growing more and more intense that she’d left something undone.
Of course, there was the issue with the Margetta visions.
And there it was, the one issue she’d refused to touch.
Her heart began to thud in her chest.
She had to tell Stone about the nature of the visions and Margetta’s purpose in sending them to her each time. More specifically, she needed him to know that she’d seen the attack on Charborne before it happened.
She shook her head. Surely by now, Stone would trust her judgment. But would he understand the terrible position that Margetta’s visions had put her in and that it had taken enormous courage for her not to take action? The Nine Realms would have fallen if she’d even once given into the horror of the visions and tried to contact someone.
Yet as a man of action, she knew in her gut he wasn’t going to get this.
She recalled that when he’d learned Davido was his father, he’d cursed a very long line of words. A similar collection passed over her lips.
She’d forgotten one thing: Vampire hearing.
Stone appeared in the bathroom doorway. “Anything wrong?” He was laughing.
He’d just shaved and showered and had a towel wrapped around his hips. She had to blink several times to make her brain stop moving in the wrong direction.
Dear sweet Goddess. She now knew she’d screwed up royally and had no way to soften the truth or to make him understand. “Is there coffee?”
He nodded. “Can I get you some?”
She shook her head, for a moment uncertain how to proceed.
Then it suddenly seemed that the only thing she could do was say it straight out. “I knew of the attack at Charborne before it happened.”
He cocked his head. “I know you did. You went to the mine to protect Elias.”
“Not the recent attack, Stone. The one that occurred shortly after you joined the Tannisford Vampire Guard.”
She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She tried to gauge his reactions, then had to look away.
From her peripheral vision she watched him draw close to the bed. She bolstered her courage because she had to face him, had to make him understand it all.
She shifted slightly in his direction, lowering her knees, but pulled the comforter up to cover her breasts.
He was frowning. “I don’t understand. You had foreknowledge of the attack that nearly destroyed the village, the same attack that took the lives of my parents?”
She nodded very slowly. She became lightheaded and forced herself to take a breath. “It wasn’t the usual fae vision, not the kind you and I have used to battle side-by-side for the past several weeks. It wasn’t even like Vojalie’s fae visions, not at all. And that’s what I need you to understand. These visions were delivered to me, by Margetta, for a specific reason.”
“You’re saying Margetta warned you what she intended to do?”
“Yes. They originated from her.”
“They? You mean that over the centuries there have been several visions.”
She looked away from him, remembering. “Dozens. Each one a painful nightmare.”
“What did you do about them? Who did you tell? I don’t understand. I don’t recall any warning about the attack that killed my parents.”
“That’s what I’m trying to say. I couldn’t tell a single person about the visions, not while they were in progress. Stone, try to understand. Margetta laid them over my mind with the hope that I would reach out to someone, to anyone. But if I’d done so, she would have locked onto my physical location and teleported into Ferrenden Peace. The moment she succeeded, she would have channeled the elf-lord power and the Nine Realms would have been lost.”
The color drained from his face. “But if you’d let anyone in Tannisford know about the attack on Charborne, so many lives could have been saved. My parents would still be alive.”
“Margetta would have acquired the elf-lord power and who knows what would have happened that night at Charborne. But every fae ability I have tells me that she would have used the resulting power to take over our world. Think how many realm-folk would have died then?”
His nostrils flared. She felt his temper in hard, bitter waves, rolling off his skin. “All I’m hearing is that you’ve confirmed my original take on your character. You’ve always lacked the courage to act, to do what’s right. You should have contacted the ruling mastyr and given him a chance, given all the mastyrs a chance.”
She shook her head. “You’re not seeing the bigger, much more horrible picture. Try to envision what it would have been like if Margetta had gained control of the elf-lord power? If I’d reached out to anyone, and I mean anyone, Margetta would have used my position to get inside Ferrenden Peace.”
Stone closed his eyes. She watched him swallow hard as he shook his head back-and-forth several times. “I need to understand everything here.” He opened his eyes once more, but his complexion remained pale, almost gray. “In the visions that Margetta sent you, did realm-folk die?”
Her throat closed up and tears sprang to her eyes. Of all the things she’d suffered through the years, including the painful solitude of her castle life, the visions had been the most difficult to endure, even worse than the physical pain of receiving the elf-lord power each time. Having knowle
dge of the death of hundreds of realm-folk over the years, possibly thousands, yet being unable to act on that information, had required a great deal of prayer, of fortitude and of self-forgiveness.
Vojalie and Davido knew of the visions and had counseled her as well. But she’d still had to live with the results.
In response to his question about whether or not realm-folk died with each vision, she could only nod solemnly.
His nostrils flared and he bent over at the waist to plant his fists on the bed. His arms were spread wide, so that he could dip low enough to look her in the eye. He wasn’t but a few inches from her face.
She felt his growing anger. “How do you know for sure that Margetta, even if she’d made it inside Ferrenden Peace, would have been able to access the elf-lord power? How, Rosamunde? Because I’m telling you right now that the deaths of all these people are on your head. Every vision you received and failed to report to the ruling mastyr who could have taken action, placed a dagger in your hand that might as well have slit each throat.”
He breathed heavily through his nose, raspy, fiery sounds that set her heart to pounding once more. “What’s more, you’ve confirmed my original belief that you’re a coward. For what realm-person could have done this who had the smallest shred of either a conscience or a heart? You disgust me. You always have.”
He drew back full of so much righteous fury that when his color returned, his golden skin had a reddish hue over every visible surface his body.
“You don’t believe me, then, because I want to be clear on that point. You don’t trust that my fae instincts were and are strong enough to warn me not to act on her visions.”
“That’s what I’m saying exactly.”
Rosamunde straightened her shoulders. “Then I think it a very good thing that we didn’t bond last night.”
“If we’d bonded, and you’d revealed all of this afterward, I swear I would have killed you, or myself if need be, in order to be free of such a despicable connection. Now get out of my sight before I do something I’m sure at some point I’ll regret.”