Page 87 of Storm

Collecting my wits, I find Sera fanning herself. “Well, damn, you two. That was hotter than a fairy orgy on a spring equinox.”

The man behind me gags on a huffed laugh. “Come on, Sera. You got your permission.” I offer her my hand.

“Two for one. Definitely my kind of offer.” Winking, she takes my proffered hand.

“Just do it already, fae,” my husband complains.

“Impatient, much?” Sera stands close enough for me to smell the floral scent of her. A head taller than me, I feel boxed in by the two. Taking my hands, she places them on top of my mate’s. Her rueful smile reaches her eyes as she looks down at me.

Securing my chin, she angles my head towards hers, giving Melek no chance to renege, leaning down. I make contact with soft, pillowy lips that taste like sprinkled sugar. My husband strains at my back. Letting him know I’m all his, I push back into his sturdy body, linking our fingers.

Sera slips her tongue between my lips, sending a shock through my system. Gently cupping my face, her touch so different from Melek’s fervid need. The colourful fae seems to be gently searching for something, curiously exploring my mouth. I wouldn’t exactly call it sexual. It’s pleasant and tender, filling my insides with butterflies, neither good nor bad, my body knowing it’s not who it really wants.

While our tongues slowly dance, my skin begins to itch. I want to move my hands and start scratching at the irritation. I keep still for my husband’s sake. Melek begins a soft growl behind me that confuses my senses, my core aching for him. Seraphina gives one last swipe before retreating, giving us a wide berth. Her face drops to my bump, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” I ask the usually bubbly fae.

Her eyes meet mine, slight creases framing her mouth. “She wants me to give you a message.”

“She?”

“Your baby.” It’s my turn to frown.

“She said you need to go back with Melek and leave Sunny with Phoenix.” Arms set wide, bewilderment mirrors our faces. “I don’t quite get it. Babies have always been way-showers until they lose sight with age, but who’s Phoenix?”

“Phoenix is what we are naming the baby.” Melek speaks up, which is a relief, considering my mouth isn’t working. Did my unborn daughter tell me I had to go back to Halo with Melek? What is she playing at? The point of coming here was to never go back to that place again.

“But, how can you leave Sunny with Phoenix if Phoenix is stuck in there?” She points to the unmistakable bump. “And trust me, she’s still got a solid three weeks left, unless she decides otherwise. Babes can be fickle sometimes. So we do need to talk about healing your womb to prepare for the upcoming birth.”

“I… Okay?”

“The kiss is an easier way for me to read your body and heal at the same time. I can’t heal deeper-seated wounds that way, just surface-level. You’ll need my blood and more of an energetic exchange for next time.” She taps a sharp finger on her lips. “That sweet cherry vanilla taste did give me a prelude to what I might find—” The fae is treading dangerously, and she knows it.

“LEAVE.” Melek shudders, absorbing me to the point of pain, and Sera makes a quick escape, giggling before she shuts the door. That woman simply can’t help herself, her playfulness back with a vengeance. Besides Mam and Mary, she’s the only other woman in my life whom I can imagine growing close to, maybe even becoming friends.

“Hey.” I pat my husband’s merciless grip. “She’s just teasing you.”

“Tell that to the part of me that wants to rip her throat out, knowing she’s tasted what’s mine, smelled what’s mine. ARRRGGGHHH.” He’s always been possessive, since our first meeting. Now, it all makes sense.

I lift my hand in front of me and see smooth, unblemished skin reflected, even to the point that the scars on my palms have once again diminished. “She did what I asked.”

He’s pouting. I know it. Pushing at his hold, I turn, reaching for his neck. He leans down to grant me access. “You may not have enough time to fuck me senseless, but you definitely have enough time to kiss me breathless.”

“Wife, I love you so fucking much.” I freeze. He lifts me into his arms. “What’s wrong?”

“You’ve never said that before. I didn’t expect it.” I skim his striking features, his bronzed skin so similar to our son’s. The square jaw that is full of a week’s worth of scruff because he knows I like it. And swirling, iron and metallic irises, a mixture of fae and Halo. A man torn between two worlds. “I love you.”

For the second time in twenty-four hours, I swear, I see tears skimming his under eyes, but he smashes his mouth onto mine too quickly for me to take them in, and I’m utterly lost to him. Sera’s kiss is no comparison. If this is a kiss, that was merely a peck compared to the otherworldly devouring and pulling at my heartstrings I feel when Melek’s mouth is on mine. I’m sure I’m perfuming all over the place for him, and that only makes me crazier, knowing my husband can smell what he does to me.

Melek pulls back, resting his forehead on mine. “How was that?” I gasp out.

He gulps down air, growling. “Breathless.”

“Good. Let’s go see our son.”

CHAPTER 26

FROM OUT OF THE ASHES HE RISES