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He sheathed himself inside her, the tightness only making the pleasure more intense. He paused in a bid to relax. He was so close already, the slightest movement might end it before he got started.
“No more waiting,” she whispered, grinding herself against him.
He clenched his jaw against the sweet friction. So much for relaxing.
He thrust deep into her. Long, steady strokes that wound him tighter and tighter. She wrapped her legs around his waist, joining the dance as together they found their tempo. Knowing that they’d have only tonight made every se
nsation sharper, brighter.
He moaned, throwing back his head as each push sent him spinning closer to oblivion.
She bucked and cried out, her release all it took to send him tumbling. His mind fractured, his body burst into fiery pieces. He cried out her name as he held her close against his chest, the beating of her heart in his ear like music.
Magic danced in the air between them, the energy almost visible as it moved back and forth over them, around them. He stretched out his mind, sensing the change in himself, the strengthening of some talents, the weakening of others. All courtesy of Ellery’s mysterious ability.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing coming in great sobbing gasps. He pushed a strand of hair from her face, thought about telling her. Not exactly pillow talk. He’d wait. He wanted to linger here, enjoy every delicious second.
If he was right, his seconds might be fast running out.
She lay naked on top of him, his heart only now beginning to slow.
The night had spun out, the two of them spending the hours exploring each other. Tasting. Touching. Whispering words best spoken in darkness.
Guilt should be sucking away at his enjoyment. Pressure should be making him restless. Distracting him. Instead, the only emotion even touching his drowsy contentment was sorrow. These few hours might be the only time he and Ellery had. He wanted to live them to the hilt.
He clutched her tight, stared into the dark as if the true fey might have changed their minds and written his future there.
“Mmmm, it’s nice,” she murmured, “but I can barely breathe.” He released his grip on her. She opened her eyes.
“That’s a fierce look.”
“I’m thinking.”
“I can see the wisps of smoke,” she teased. He gave her a weak smile, but his heart wasn’t in it. She rolled off him. Sat up, pulling the blankets around her.
“He’s out there. Waiting. I can almost feel him. My chest is tight. My skin goes all crawly.”
Her sudden departure left him cold. His arms empty. “Ellery, I won’t let him harm you.” And this time he meant it. No lies.
Even if it cost him his own life, he would confront Asher alone. Without the blood of the trespasser on his blade.
“But what if you can’t stop it? Simon has already succeeded once in getting through the wards. How did he manage that if Daggerfell is as protected as you said?”
He sat up beside her. Cupped her face, running a thumb down her cheek. “He took advantage of the one thing I didn’t plan for when I brought you here.”
“What?”
“You. Your power.”
There, he’d said it. Not exactly how he meant to broach this subject, but now was as good a time as any. He didn’t know why he’d put off telling her. But watching the consternation and confusion pass across her face gave him a clue. Submerged within a world of Other and fey, he’d wanted some small corner that magic didn’t touch. A place where being an amhas-draoi meant nothing. But being a man meant everything.
“I haven’t got any power. I’m plain old me. What you see is what you get,” she said.
“And you’ve seen rather more than most.” She attempted a smile, but it never reached her eyes. Rising, she took a few steps away, resting her cheek against the bedpost, her arms encircling it as if it would hold her upright. “I’m just Ellery Reskeen. Nobody special.”
“You are special, Ellery. You’re Other. You have an ability that moves in ways I’ve never seen before. It defies everything I know of magic.”
Her head came up, interest keening her gaze. He continued, relieved that she didn’t persist with her denials, or worse run from his words as if she could outrun what she was. “It’s a reactive talent. It works in tandem with the magic around it.”
