AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eason moved away from the wall, pulling me with him. His arms tightened around my waist as he held me. The heat of his embrace warmed the ice that had formed in my veins at the thought of what the morrow would bring.
“Stop tensing up. Tonight is not for worrying,” Eason scolded, voice rough with emotions he was working to hide.
“You are right, my love.” Giving him a smile, I placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
Tonight I would enjoy my mates, even though my heart was aching painfully at the absence of my most troublesome mate.
Closing my eyes, I blinked myself to the quiet cove above the castle. It was still dark out, the sun not yet awake.
Had I been human, I would have missed the man sitting on one of the rock formations a few feet away. But I wasn’t human, and my vision was as good in the dark as it was in the bright light of day.
Last night, after everyone was asleep, Bion had stepped from the shadows to speak with me. I wondered how long he had been there, but I didn’t ask. I’d asked him to meet me here this morning to take me to Iolatara, and to my surprise, he had agreed.
“Ready?” I asked, all business. Last night I could afford to have emotions. Today I was going to war, and being soft wasn’t something I could risk.
Bion shoved to his feet and moved to stand in front of me. Even in the dark, there was no hiding the swirling emotions behind his eyes.
“I don’t want to take you,” Bion bit out.
“You don’t have a choice,” I retorted. “Take me, or I will figure out how to take myself. With or without your assistance, I will be going to Iolatara today.”
We stared at each other as the crickets chirped and the occasional fish splashed in the distance. Finally, Bion caved.
“Fine, I’ll take you.” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. “There’s something you need, Fishy Girl. Once we’re in Iolatara, I’ll be unable to blink or teleport us around the planet.”
“What?” My mouth dropped open. “What do you mean? you won’t be able to blink wherever you want?”
“I meant exactly what I said,” Bion grumbled.
“But you blink all over the place here! Lokene is always teleporting around and scaring us.”
“Yeah, but that is here on Earth, not Iolatara. On Earth, some of our magik works differently than it does in our realm. There are stones that are landing spots and they scattered around Iolatara. Those are the locations we blink to when we arrive from other worlds. We can also travel around Iolartara by blinking from one landing stone to another.” Bion didn’t look happy about the limitations of his magik.
“The good news is we can blink to another world from any location on Iolatara, not just the landing stones… which is good in case you cause trouble. But anytime we want to teleport back onto Iolatara, we can only arrive on one of the landing stones. So, once we blink onto my planet, be prepared to do a lot of walking.”Bion gave me a wry smile.
That wasn’t a problem. I could handle a walk.
“We will arrive a short distance away from where the Elders meet. Which is probably for the best anyway. If I blinked you directly into the Elders’ meeting room, I think it would be a shock for not only the Elders, but also for you.” Bion bit his lip in thought, and the simple action caused my body to clench in sudden desire.
I wanted to bite his lip. I wanted to taste his kiss.
Bion cleared his throat. “The landing stone is a safe distance from the city, and you aren’t likely to be seen. That will give you a chance to get used to our world and how your body reacts to the environment, but it means we’ll have to walk the rest of the way. Is that okay with you?”
Shaking my head to clear the lust, I spoke, my voice a little huskier than normal. “Yes. I’m in agreement with your plan. Enough wasting time. Let’s go.”
To my surprise, Bion bent down and caught my mouth in a hungry kiss. Unable to help myself, I curved my arms around his neck. The stars swirled around us as the earth I called home faded away.
Ready or not, here I come.
* * *
Bion caughtmy arm as I staggered, trying to catch my footing on the rocky ground. He steadied me, and I found myself thankful I’d had Bion to blink me into Iolatara. Without Lokene, I wasn’t sure it would have been possible for me to have safely blinked myself to the Ancients’ world.
It didn’t change the fact that I wanted to be irritated at Bion, if for no other reason than because it wasn’t supposed to be him at my side. But it was impossible to stay mad, especially when Bion was trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.
He was trying to give me my space. But he was also still trying to support me, and not just in my plans to help the Ancients. Bion had given his assistance, without my needing to ask, during the meeting with the human politicians as well. He’d helped me impress on their minds that they weren’t dealing with another human. And now, he’d been the one to teleport me to Iolatara.
My cheeks warmed when I realized I’d been staring just a little too long at his chiseled, ridiculously handsome face. I yanked my gaze away, ignoring Bion’s laugh.
