Blind Spirit (Scourge Survivor Series Book 4) by JL Madore (27)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“Keep yer guard up, Luv,” Samuel called from the stone plinth he sat upon.

Gathered in the open area behind the Queen’s palace, a group of my protectors spent the better part of the next day drilling me in the damp shadows of the stone ruins. Kobi worked on the handling and wielding of weapons, Galan and Tham focused on using nature as a means of escape and concealment, and now Savage was brutalizing me in the ways of hand -   to -   hand combat and defense.

“It is hard to keep my guard up,” I said, grunting as Savage smacked my backside with a steel palm, “when I can no longer feel my arms.” I turned and thrust forward, my wooden sword swatted to the side like a bothersome fly by my tattooed opponent.

“You’re strangling the hilt,” Kobi said from the sideline. “Relax your grip and attack like you mean it, Highborne. I tasted the wildcat you cage inside. Let her out to play.”

I spun and threw the thing at his head.

True as an arrow, it soared through the air only to be evaded by an annoying demon. Kobi poofed to the side and plucked the projectile from the air, his chest bouncing with amusement. “There she is. Now this woman, we can work with, eh Sav?”

Savage swept my foot and I stumbled back and landed on my backside. Hard.

“All right,” Samuel said, easing off his perch with one arm bound against his bruised ribs. He strode forward tall and strong, saluting Kobi with his middle finger as he passed. “That’s enough for today, lads. Take the night off and we’ll regroup in the morning after Lia eats and rests.”

“What I need is to soak in a hot bath,” I said, more curtly than I meant. “I expect tomorrow will fail to bring much improvement.”

Galan poured something out of a tall thermos T hermos and handed me the cup. “Then we shall practice each day until you feel confident to defend yourself.”

I took a long swallow from the steaming cup and found there was quite a kick to the drink Galan gave me. Within moments it seeped a warm trail down my throat and pooled into my stomach. Enjoying the sensation, I tipped back the cup and drained it dry.

I accepted a refill as the air around us picked up with a succulent breeze. Zophia materialized in our midst.

The few times I had seen her, I marveled at her ethereal beauty: her long brunette hair, her flawless iridescent skin, her grace and natural resplendence. She was a goddess of the Veil. Tonight, however, her look of distraught   had my stomach churning.

“When am I to appear?” I asked. I knew by the sadness in her gaze I assumed correctly.

“Tomorrow . Castian will Flash you and your party to stand before my sisters at dusk. Normally, we hold proceedings within the grounds of the palace, but Castian doesn’t trust Abaddon to come to his home or Behind the Veil while Rheagan is spiriting around, so we will be meeting at Haven. The neutral ground, you could say.”

“Advantage, home team,” Kobi said, looking pleased.

The others looked anything but. It was amazing h H ow I loathed the idea of leaving this place.

“Tomorrow night then , , ” I said, ignor ed ing the heaving of my insides . I and bowed my head. “I thank you for bringing the news yourself.”

She managed a weak smile. “It is the least I can do after my last visit.”

I downed the second glass of heated spirits and felt the jagged edge of my mood recede still further. “The past is over. Now, on to the future. We shall see you there.”

Once again, the events of my life fell beyond my control. The thing I liked most about the idea of being the Queen was that in the past two days, I had an opinion and voice in things involving me and the safety of the realm.

Not with this.

Once Zophia vanished, I moved to Samuel, with as much confidence as I could muster. There was at least one thing I could do. Keeping a polite distance for the sake of my brother’s sanity, I gestured to the two dozen stone houses in the distance. “Go spend some time with your family. They need you now and I am fine here surrounded by protectors.”

His emotionless stare might have fooled the others, but I could read the tightness at the edge of his eyes and the subtle . “The Murray clan dinnae need nor want me, duck. And you are far from fine. Do ye not think I know what it does to yer insides to be called before the Fates?”

“Lia is right,” Galan said, joining us. “The four of us can keep her safe from harm for a few hours. You should be with your family. To mourn Colum’s passing.”

Samuel and exhaled. “I dinnae mourn him, but ye might be right. I should pay my respects to my uncles and my sibling. I’ll not be leaving Lia behind though, so ye might as well head home to Jade for tonight. We’ll see ye at the tribunal tomorrow night.”

Galan looked at me, visibly torn. “I shall stay if you have need of my support.”

I shook my head, noticing how it felt on my shoulders. “Samuel’s right. Give Jade a hug from me and we shall see you tomorrow. Between Samuel, Kobi, Savage, and Tham, I am safe enough here.”

Samuel held out his elbow and I accepted his gesture. “We’ll get cleaned up and head over to the town center around seven o'clock, lads.”

“Nice, fashionably late for a wake,” Kobi said. “Do you have many female cousins to console? Sisters maybe?”

Samuel scowled. “Lia needs to soak in a bath and get some food in her stomach. My Da will be no less dead after dinner than he is now. And if either one of you lays a manly touch on any of my kin, I’ll cast a spell to shrivel yer cocks so it’s the last thing ye ever do.”

 

The balance of life was a cruel, cruel thing.   Across the courtyard, the Murray clan mourned the loss of their patriarch while I held Colum’s oldest son in my arms, my heart full to bursting with contentment. We had bathed together, dried off, and tended to each other’s aches and pains.

“This is lovely,” I said, rising to my tip - toes to kiss his rough chin. The gashes and swelling on his face had yet to recede enough to shave properly, so instead, he looked very much the rugged warrior. “I enjoy spending the day together in common pursuits and then cleaning up afterward. You are becoming quite an unhealthy dependence.”

“Aye, it feels decadently domestic. If we could avoid the life and death struggles for a bit, that would be even better. The dependent part though, I like verra much.” He held me in his gaze as if he could view right into my soul.

My ears flushed hot.

He held his hand out to me and cleared his throat. “Ye must be exhausted after all the meetings and training. Maybe an hour’s rest is in order before we go.”

His words were innocent, but as he escorted me to the bedside, my intentions were not. He tossed back the coverlet and I slid my arms around him and pulled him down over me.

He winced as he fell and I froze. “Apologies. I want you whole so we can make love again. That was insensitive.”

A dark masculine musk filled my senses and he growled. “What injuries? I’m good if you are.” He moistened his swollen lips, his mouth just inches from mine. “I’ve been burning for days. I’m plenty healed up. Right as rain.”

It was impossible to say who lunged first, but in one sweeping move our lips fused, Samuel taking over, his arms grappling around me. The sculptured muscles of his chest pressed against the edge of my towel, the wild beat of his heart pulsing into my palm. As he licked his way into my mouth, I went loose all over.

“We should both spend an hour in bed.” I worked the tuck of his towel loose and tossed to the floor. The flesh of his torso intrigued me , : warm smooth skin with a gentle smattering of hair. I ran my nails up from his navel, over his abdominals and circled his nipples.

His moan triggered a delicious sensation, deep in my core — , the sudden awakening in my body, subtle but powerful. Swallowing, I grabbed the hem of my towel and opened it so we were flesh to flesh. “Better?”

Samuel’s eyes rolled closed. “Exquisite.”

With a surge of his powerful body, he came over me again. Nuzzling my neck, his breath warmed my . “We’ll play a little now, make an appearance at the wake, and then get back here as quick as we can, aye?”

“More,” I demanded, surprised by the rasp in my voice. “More kissing, more of your hands on my flesh. More of you everywhere, anywhere . . . just more.”

The succulence of Samuel’s need charged the air between us. Desperate and wanton, unadulterated lust overpowered his usual masculine musk. And that it was all for me.

My eyes rolled closed, my head swimming with the aphrodisiac. Caught in the wizard’s spell.

Breaking off the kiss, his head dropped to my neck, panting. “Gods, you taste good.”

I arched against him, sliding my hand up the thick column of his thigh, to the globe of his bare backside. His hips moved forward, thrusting his erection against my side. Leaving him struggling for control was empowering, liberating.

I sank deeper into my pillows, memorizing as many of the sensations as I could absorb. The way he moved. The unconscious sway and pump of his hips as he drew his tongue down the column of my neck. The thrill of his erection pressed hard against my thigh. The erotic sounds he made when utterly consumed.

Yes. I committed every nuance to memory, every part of this, each moment, the whole. For though we were the only two in the world at that moment, our time together was limited. By this time tomorrow night, I would be confirmed as Abaddon’s mate and Samuel would be off to find another female to devour.

Samuel stilled beside me. “Where’d ye go?”

He rolled back on his side, his eyes shimmering like quartz in the sunlight. Verily, he looked the picture of seduction, lying across the bed. His chest rose and fell as if he just finished a forest run with the Talon enforcers.

When he looked at me, he frowned. “Shit, what is it? Did I hurt ye? Are ye sore?”

I shook my head. Why think about the end when we were in such a good place? Stupid. Samuel’s hand closed over mine and massaged my fingers away from the sheet clutched to my chest. “Samuel, have you had many lovers?”

He propped himself on his elbow and frowned.“A few.”

As my chest tightened, my breath grew shallow.

“Hey. Hey, stop, Lia. Whatever it is yer imagining, stop. What’s this about?”

“If things go badly tomorrow. If we lose my right to reject Abaddon—”

Raising his fingers to my mouth, he shook his head. “Tonight, think about tonight. Tomorrow will come soon enough. Tuck the Elven logic away for a time and let us live in the moment. Now, what would you like to do for . . .”   he stretched to look at the clock and flopped back beside me, “the next forty-six minutes. Anything you want as long as it doesna involve leaving this bed.”

Samuel lay bare to me, his entire body mine for the tasting. “Well, your erection is lovely, lying thick and long upon your navel. It seems to be waiting for some attention.”

His shaft kicked, bobbing against the abdominals of his lower belly.

I giggled. “See, he agrees.”

Samuel chuckled, rubbing his palm across the mottled flush in his cheeks. “Aye, ye have that effect on me. The way ye stare with such wonder in yer eyes, it’s a heady thing.”

“I like you naked. Very much. If this is for me, I should have the privilege of enjoying it, should I not?”

“Would you like that? To hold free rein on my body?”

“I want for nothing more. You are a beautiful male and affect me in delicious and ways.”

His brow arched and now it was my turn to flush. “You and me both, Luv. You and me both.”

As heat crept up my ears he leaned in and nibbled the pointed tip. The pleasure was immediate. Too soon he stopped. Catching my breath, I ran my fingertips over my tight, pink nipples.

My heart ached for this to last forever, to be the beginning of something magical and not the end. I wanted more. I wanted everything. “Samuel, will you do something for me?”

“Anything,” he whispered against my neck. “Name it.”

“Call me Ryanne, my soul name. I wish for you to be the male to have it.”

Samuel stilled. He had studied Highborne customs and laws for weeks. I hoped he understood what my request meant, how it was the most precious gift I could give him.

“Ryanne,” he said, his soft Scottish brogue rolling off the ‘R’ so it sounded like a caress. “An exquisite name, for an exquisite female. I’m honored, mo chridhe.”

Kissing a heated trail down from my collarbone, he splayed a palm against the small of my back and pulled my breast to his mouth. Covering first one and the other with his mouth, his tongue swirled around the little bundles of sensation. His gentle suction causing a warm flood between my thighs.

This was the male I was meant for—the male I would choose if given the chance.

My head fell back as my body shuddered. “Sweet goddess, that feels incredible.”

He trapped my nipple between his teeth and gave a gentle tug. When I cried out, he suckled away the erotic sting and pushed me back to the pillows. “We got fairly well acquainted with each other the other night and everything was to yer liking, aye?”

“Oh yes,” I said, too eager.

“All right, open yer legs, sweet Lia. Show me how you glisten for attention.”

I opened my mouth to protest and he shook his head. “Dinnae be shy. Behind locked doors, there’s nothing ye need hide from yer lover. If yer uncomfortable, that’s one thing. I’ll not press ye. If yer being modest, ye need to trust me. Do ye trust me, mo chridhe.”

Beyond all reason. With my eyes locked on his, I let my knees fall open.

“Stunning,” he said, his ebony brow arched. Shifting to the end of the bed, he climbed between my feet. After kissing my ankle, he nibbled his way up the inside of my calf and continued to my knee. “Yer skin is softer than silk, I swear. I never thought having no body hair could be so damned sexy. But it is. Holy gods it is.

He lowered his mouth and continued his path along the ticklish skin of my inner thigh.

I thought I might combust into flame. My breath caught. My mind spun with sensation. When he arrived at the source of my growing discomfort, he dropped back down to the other ankle and began his torturous journey again.

For every inch he worked his way up my body, the throbbing in my sex grew more urgent. “Samuel? What are you doing? Please.”

“Trust me, the more ye burn the sweeter the release. Have I ever left ye wanting?”

I shook my head, my hips arching off the mattress.

Samuel laid a heavy hand over my pelvis and pressed me   firmly to the mattress a wicked gleam in his eye. “Now. Shall I ease yer suffering or shall we play some more.”

“Ease me, please. Definitely, ease my suffering.”

His deep, husky chuckle reverberated right where he was staring. He pressed my legs wider and lowered his mouth. The contact of lips to heated flesh was unlike anything I ever imagined. His tongue brushed through my ache, swirling, lapping, focusing at first where I burned and then stroking the length of my channel.

“Oh. Goddess,” I said, the sexual energy in my cells about to explode. Erotic as it was, it was equally frightening. My body, beyond my control, acted solely on hedonistic impulse.

“Give yourself over to me,” he said, stroking with his fingers. “Feel every touch. Know you feed my aching soul. Trust me to keep you safe. I love you, Ryanne,”

The intimacy of him speaking my soul name had pleasure exploding through me in powerful waves, vibrating to the depths of muscle, blood , and bone. My release shattered the female I had been and bound me to him irrevocably. Each pulse of pleasure clenched against his probing fingers and velvet tongue. He growled against my core and set me off again.   How did people survive this?

As the urgency eased, I dragged a labored breath.

Samuel climbed up my body and positioned his hips between my open thighs. He kissed me long and slow. Brushing errant curls back from my face, he kissed my bruised cheek. “Gods I love how your body shudders for me. Are ye , all right?”

Tears threatened to overtake me, but I fought to keep the moment light. “Mayhap a little better than all right.”

“Weel,” he said, his brogue unnaturally thick, his smile cocky, “if ye only give me a little better than all right, I better step up my game. Plenty of room to improve.”

I thrilled at the idea, caressing the corded muscles of his back and urging him to come inside me. “Well then, let us strive for perfection.”

He bit his bottom lip and nodded. “Perfection is a tall order. Might take a lot of trying.”

The entire realm fell away, as he slid inside me and began the magical sway of his hips. I knew nothing would ever feel this good. I wanted Samuel’s silky voice, his body, his heart. He filled me with both the most indescribable strength and desperate vulnerability.

How would I ever be able to give him up?