Chapter 17

 

 

 

 

A few days ago, Chloe had been prepared to throw the clothes she could fit into a suitcase and leave her life behind, again, to escape an abusive ex-husband intent on stalking her. She’d been soaking herself in bourbon, crying in a bathroom stall, and sure that she would spend the rest of her life on the run from the horrible man she’d chosen when they were really little more than children.

Chloe hadn’t known that happiness like she felt in the Twilight with Sparrow could exist for her. She wouldn’t have believed it had someone told her.

She hadn’t believed it when Sparrow had said basically that very thing.

But they were together now, in this beautiful place, and Chloe didn’t care if they ever left. Worries about her job, her house and possessions, her ex-husband were as far away as she supposed earth was from the Twilight. And the idea that she might never need worry about any of those things again sparked a kind of joy she wondered if she really deserved.

Sparrow’s arms were wrapped around her midsection. She sat on his lap facing away from him, and they had actually put on clothes for a change. She’d grown comfortable being naked in his presence in this place, but one or both of them kept getting derailed as they tried to grow her powers. The lessons kept stopping early, because they seemed to have made it their mission to have sex in every corner of his cottage and the whole outdoors.

They both thought maybe even a little clothing would help them focus better. She wore a long white nightgown that had once been his mother’s, and he wore soft white pants that were similar to sweat pants but a silkier material. He didn’t wear a shirt, and Chloe thought maybe he was going to have to put one on if she was supposed to concentrate on anything except the firm muscles of his chest and abs.

“Chloe?”

“Sorry.” She’d been thinking about his lean, hard body again.

“Think flame.”

His hands found hers. As she closed her eyes, she heard the fire being born, and felt the heat against her face. Chloe smiled as she opened her eyes to see the crackling fire in the hearth.

“You did it.” He kissed her behind the ear.

“I think we did it.” She giggled when he nibbled her earlobe. “I couldn’t do any of this without you.”

She turned to look at him over her shoulder, then decided that wasn’t enough, and spun completely to wrap her legs around his hips.

Sparrow tilted his head and regarded her with a wry smile. “I was merely the key to unlock your power, my love. Everything you’ve done with it since, that’s been all you.”

Chloe’s breath caught. Of course they’d said they loved each other, but hearing him so casually call her my love like that moved her in ways she’d have been hard-pressed to describe.

“I’m glad you won,” she said in a rush.

“The Selection?”

“Yes. I’m so glad it was you. I suppose it was always going to be, wasn’t it? This was destined, long before you ever took an interest in joining the palace guard?”

Sparrow pressed his lips to hers with a sigh. “It must have been, Chloe. Because I refuse to believe that what we have would be possible for me with anyone else.”

No, Chloe could never feel this way with another. The sense of belonging, the rightness, that was because of Sparrow, not just some random winner of a grueling set of physical and mental challenges to earn her hand.

She loved him, not what he’d done for her.

And the clothes they’d donned so they could focus on something other than themselves were no longer doing the trick. Chloe slipped her gown up, and slid her hand into Sparrow’s silky pants to grip his cock. He was already hard, once again perfectly in sync with her and her needs.

“No one else could have made me feel this way,” she whispered to him as he held her hips and lifted her up until his cockhead pressed against her. With a groan from both of them, he lowered her around him.

“My goddess,” he breathed against the skin of her neck.

“Yes?” She rocked against him until they both shuddered in pleasure. The fire roared in the hearth and burned white hot before dying back to glowing embers.

 

***

 

Sparrow, again in his silky, soft pants but this time wearing a thin, short-sleeved shirt as well, sat at the rough-hewn kitchen table and tossed an apple into the air. Chloe, in another of his mother’s nightgowns, thought eat, and a bite disappeared from the apple in mid-air though she never moved. The crisp sweetness of it rested on her tongue, and she chewed it, delighted.

Sparrow caught the apple and took a bite, chewing as he smiled at her. “Excellent, Gaia.”

Chloe still wasn’t used to the name, but it felt right in a way it hadn’t before. And then she wondered if he could take a bite out of an apple by merely thinking…

Chloe arched her brow and looked down the lean, strong line of Sparrow’s body, her eyes resting on his pants and the treasure she knew lay behind it. Without moving, she thought of what she’d like to do to him with her tongue. The light musk of him filled her senses, and the tang of him spread over her tongue.

Sparrow dropped the apple and gasped, reaching for the table next to him to steady himself. “Chloe!”

She laughed, but didn’t let up. She thought he might drop to his knees, but instead he lurched forward, gasping, to grab her arms and pull her to him for a hungry kiss.

“That’s a use of your powers I never considered,” he said with another soft laugh.

He was pulling her against him so she could feel what she’d caused with her “powers” when three loud raps sounded against the front door of the cottage.

The sounds startled Chloe, but Sparrow went rigid. His green eyes glanced at the door, then down at her. “This isn’t right.”

“Your mother’s been gone for some time. Maybe someone else doesn’t know and wanted to say hello?”

Sparrow gave his head one quick shake. “No, it’s unlikely, even—”

Chloe had already left his arms and stood at the door by merely thinking it. Sparrow’s discomfort over someone at his door had prompted her to handle it for him, and as soon as she’d thought it, she’d appeared there.

“Chloe, wait,” he said, reaching toward her. But she wanted to see who’d wandered into their space, because the sooner they found out, the sooner they could exchange niceties and the person could leave.

She was eager to explore her newfound powers and what sounds she might draw from Sparrow with them for the rest of the night. Chloe opened the door, expecting to see someone who looked like they belonged here. Someone like Sparrow, perhaps.

She hadn’t expected Norman.