They stole away to his rooms, slipping through corridors empty of life at the height of a sleepy autumn afternoon. Music and distant laughter floated through the air from some far wing of the palace, or perhaps from the city beyond, but they passed not a soul.
As soon as the door was locked behind them, Jex began backing her towards the bedroom. His hands clutched at her hips and his mouth ravaged hers until she could barely breathe. Gasping, tugging feverishly at the ties of her bodice, he pulled it down to free her breasts.
Enari helped by shrugging her arms out of the sleeves and letting the fabric pool about her waist. Though he didn’t speak, she could see his desire in the boiling, swirling emotions that filled his mind and it took an enormous amount of mental effort not to be dragged under.
Her bottom hit a small table and impatiently, Jex reached behind her and swept it clear, ignoring the sound of breaking glass as the contents struck the floor and something shattered. The strong scent of wildflowers filled the air.
Grabbing the back of her thighs, he lifted her up and sat her on the hard surface before eagerly bundling her skirts out of the way and stepping between her legs. She wrapped them around his hips, drawing him even closer. The only sound in the room was their ragged breathing and the rustle of clothing.
As he began to pull his tunic off over his head, pain lanced through his chest from front to back and it was like nothing he’d ever felt. He staggered and doubled over, sucking in a pained breath. Enari scrambled off the table to kneel beside him, even as she hastened to slip her arms back into her gown. His face had gone ashen and he was sweating profusely.
It was happening again and she felt the familiar helpless frustration. Every time he showed signs of improvement, it was fleeting. He simply wasn’t recovering like he should and even the pompous Master Illyrian was at a loss. No one could explain why a previously healthy young man was taking so long to regain his strength
“Goddess,” he groaned in despair and embarrassment, covering his eyes with a trembling hand, “Whatever this is, I’m not…and when I least expect it, it hits me like a kick to the guts.”
She touched his face. “Should I get the High Mage?”
“No, no. I’ll be alright. Just…just let me sit a minute.” He scrubbed at his face with both palms. “After everything, it seems I’m to be unmanned before you as well. You must be very impressed.”
“Perhaps Master Illyrian—”
His laugh was short and bitter, broken by a wet cough he hadn’t had before. “That stuck-up ass? The last time I tried to speak with him, he told me to stop wasting his time.”
That sounded about right.
Suddenly, he cried out in agony and toppled forward onto his hands and knees. He dry-heaved once, twice, then began to vomit violently.
What came spewing from between his lips, however, was not his lunch, nor anything she’d ever seen the like of.
The fluid was dark, viscous, and flecked with crimson, and wherever it hit, the rushes hissed, blackened, and disintegrated. It continued to come long after his stomach should have been empty and Enari could do nothing but watch him retch onto the marble floor, every muscle in his body straining to expel the noxious stuff.
Eventually, it stopped and Jex collapsed face down, just barely missing the thick puddle. It roiled as if alive and began to gather itself. Enari stared in dawning horror at the figure that coalesced before her.
It wasn’t large, standing only as tall as a man’s elbow, but it was monstrous. The skin was perfectly black and glossy, seeming to absorb the light around it. Overlarge, leathery wings unfurled from between the hunched shoulder blades and wicked, claw-tipped fingers and toes gouged furrows into the stone beneath its feet. It grinned at her, revealing rows of rotten, serrated fangs and red eyes smoldered at her balefully. The reek of the thing was indescribably foul.
“Mortal Seer,” it rasped, forked tongue licking out to taste the air, “you stand before Rhazlanakad. Pledge your allegiance and I may yet spare your life.”
Rhazlanakad. She’d seen this one’s sigil on a page etched with runes of warding and obscuring in the Treatise Maldicta. It turned out that in addition to containing secret rituals and eldritch knowledge, it had also been a book of demons.
This was Plague, one of the Greater Maelstrom, and he could only enter the mortal world if summoned. Someone had called him here with a blood sacrifice, the ultimate sin in the eyes of the Goddess and Her Consorts, and sent him after Jex. Images from her nightmare of a dead little boy and burning eyes flashed through her mind and she scrambled back.
This…this was wholly beyond her. She was a novice, a healer—not a mage or warrior. Scores of men and women far greater than she had fallen in battle with the Maelstrom in the last Great War. This being would crush her like an insect underfoot, and a quick death would be the kindest outcome she could hope for.
“Trust your gut, girl. Don’t be afraid to follow your own intuition. That may make the difference between life and death.”
The Master Librarian’s words came to her in a rush, accompanied by a calm that seemed to come from outside herself. Everything around her slowed, and it was as if she had a lifetime to make a choice. She could go for the High Mage, or Vasi, or even the Master Physician, but Jex would be long dead and devoured by the time she returned with help and that was if any help could be found.
Or she could follow the quiet whisper in her soul telling her to stand and do battle. She knew they could both die here—would very likely die here—but she refused to run. If this was her end, then so be it; she would face it with honor and dignity. Tanith’s daughter would not go down without a fight, nor leave a vulnerable friend to face such peril alone.
At the thought of her mother, something flowed into her and she suddenly felt as if her body was no longer under her control. Yet she wasn’t frightened. The presence was warm, familiar, and she took comfort from its strength. Whatever this was knew what it was doing, and so, offering up a silent prayer to the Goddess, Enari closed her eyes and let her arm extend of its own volition, palm out and fingers spread, in the direction of the dark creature. The other hand settled on Jex’s back and she was dismayed to find it still. There wasn’t much time to do what must be done.
“You have no power here!” Rhazlanakad shrieked, “You’ve passed beyond the Gates!”
A soft, feminine voice that blew in on a breeze through the open window answered.
“Her sire granted me a single boon on the night of her creation, and its use was not limited to this life. While I have not the strength to banish you, creature, I may hold you until the work is done.”
Tears coursed down Enari’s cheeks. She had no doubt that this was her mother here with her now and wondered if it had been her mother guiding her all along, giving her the gift of Sight when she’d looked into the mirror, and leading her to the Treatise...
A single white blossom, blown up from the broken vase on the floor, slid across her forehead like a gentle kiss and her breath hitched on a sob.
“Mother?”
The flower was only the first of many. The gentle breeze became a gale that sent papers flying and a cascade of leaves and petals whirling around the demon in a spinning cloud. He swatted at them angrily, but his clawed hand seemed to rebound without making contact.
“Weep not, daughter. There is no time for grief now,” the voice breathed in her ear, “Do what you must, but be quick. His power returns when the last petal falls.”
Rhazlanakad continued to scream curses and threats, yet remained bound in place, able to do nothing but watch from his prison of whirling greenery and paper.
Recalling what Vasi had taught her, Enari rolled Jex onto his back, then tilted his head and pinched his nose shut. She made sure his mouth was clear before covering it with her own and blowing until she felt his chest rise.
After the third or fourth breath, her own lungs were heaving, but she continued to force air into him as hard as she could until there was no more. Exhausted, she pulled away. It would have to be enough.
Jex inhaled sharply and his eyes flew open, but for a moment he saw nothing but fire. Then it fell aside and he found it had only been Enari’s hair across his face. A trio of tears pattered onto his cracked lips and he licked them away, tasting more than the expected salt on his tongue. His eyes traveled up her face and found it wasn’t Enari staring back at him.
The change was subtle, just a slight blurring of her features, as if he were looking at an older face overlaying her girlish features, but it was disconcerting. He also thought he could detect a faint silver-gold halo around her.
“Little time remains,” advised a voice he didn’t recognize, “and there is much you must hear. You are an errant spark, cast adrift on the night of your birth into a world that has long awaited your coming. Whether you will catch fire or die out, temper or destroy, is up to you. Today you come into your true power and today you face your first true test.
Before you stands Rhazlanakad, Plague, and he is one of the Greater Maelstrom. You’ve met before, though you do not remember. He will be free once the last petal touches the earth and you must send him back to whence he came.”
With that, Enari’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed. He caught her and laid her gently on her side, then looked up at the fuming Plague. Their eyes met, and fire roared to life in his veins. It was more power than he’d ever felt in his life, and he knew exactly what he was going to do with it.
Jex rose to his feet and took a step forward. A ball of flame, blue-white instead of the usual yellow and red, crackled to life in his left hand.
So this was the thing responsible for his suffering? Well, it wouldn’t be standing on mortal soil for long. He had every intention of sending it back to Diu where it belonged in as unpleasant a fashion as he could manage.
“Wait,” the demon hissed, trying to move back. “I yield. You are free of me, but we may yet be able to palaver, you and I.” It sent an angry glower at the few petals that still spun around it. Most had fallen into drifts of white and green around its feet.
“I know better than to make deals with the Greater,” Jex told it with a sneer. “We learn that lesson early.”
“Perhaps, but you’re also wise enough, I hope, to know the power it took to summon me.” A single leaf now remained in the air, and its flight was rapidly slowing. “And to know the power I could give you if under your command. We could be great, we two.”
“No thank you. Your kind are notorious deal-breakers, Rhazlanakad, and I’ve no desire to be enslaved when you find a loophole I didn’t consider.”
The final leaf touched the stone and the demon spread its wings. “Be it on your own head then, mageling. I am only the first of many! My brother, Pasusabael, already stalks the halls of your pathetic stronghold and his coming shall make mine look like a pleasant spring shower.”
Jex hurled the ball of fire as it leapt forward and it streaked towards the gloating creature with a howl. The detonation when it struck shook the stones of the walls around them and engulfed Rhazlanakad in a pillar of flame.
There was a brief and wordless shriek of pain and outrage, and then both the fire and the demon were no more. All that remained was a blackened patch of soot on the floor in the shape of the creature’s sign. Jex strode forward and obliterated it before turning back to Enari.
She lay on her side, eyes closed and breathing shallowly. Upon close inspection, he found no obvious injuries and her features were entirely her own once more. It appeared he now had something else of import to discuss with Eryk and Vasi that night.
First, however, they needed dry clothes and rest. With a weary sigh, he bent and carefully hoisted her into his arms, silently thanking the Goddess that his bed was mere steps away.
* * *
The moon had already risen when Jex awoke, feeling better than he had in what seemed an age. He stretched lazily and sighed. His body ached a little, yet it was no longer the pain of illness but rather the burn of muscles well used.
Movement drew his attention and he turned his head to find Enari, still fast asleep at his side. He stilled, barely daring to breathe lest he wake her.
She lay on her back, face turned slightly away from him and one arm flung over her head. Moonlight fell across the bed, illuminating her delicate features and glittering in the fiery strands framing her face. The blanket he’d managed to pull over them before falling into bed was nowhere to be seen and her undertunic had bunched up, revealing her strong legs to mid thigh. He’d stripped her of her gown and loosened the ties of her corset once they were safely in his room, but having found her ankle-length chemise to be mostly dry, he’d left it.
A draft from the open window cast a few tendrils of hair across her cheek and she murmured and shifted restlessly, turning on her side to face him. Her hand brushed his as she settled and for just a moment, he saw into her dreams. The images made him smile; she was dreaming of him and the pond.
Goddess, but she was beautiful, and so tiny and vulnerable-looking in the center of his bed. It was hard to believe that this was the same girl—nay, woman who’d stood over him to do battle with one of the Greater only hours before.
But she had, and because of that courage he now had the privilege of seeing her thus. His heart ached a little at the thought and it was a new experience for him. He’d always prided himself on not letting that particular element get involved in situations like this…but he also wasn’t in the habit of self-delusion, either.
Since that first meeting on the plains of Tesriel, he became a little more lost with each passing day. Enari had remained unfailingly kind and patient, no matter how boorishly he’d behaved or how much Kylan tugged and chattered or how poorly some of the other women had treated her. He could admire that kind of strength of character; it was a trait he rarely encountered and he found it surprisingly appealing in her, even if he tried his best to ignore his feelings.
And not just because of her dragon of a Sura, though Vasi de’Curande would be deterrent enough to any sane man.
There was his own history to consider as well—his prior relationships, to use the term loosely. His past was littered with the corpses of abandoned romances and the bones of whirlwind flings. A lot of hearts had been broken but not one of them had ever been his. He was in the habit of taking a lover for a time and then moving on to the next once he grew bored, although he always made sure his partner enjoyed the experience while it lasted. He understood any reservations Enari might have about being involved with him like this, but…
For the first time in his life, he could see himself giving up all others to be with her and only her.
“Jex? Is something wrong?”
He’d become so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed when she awoke. He sat up swiftly and flicked a hand out, lighting a few of the candles in the room and igniting the logs in the hearth to lessen the darkness. Neither missed the slight unsteadiness of the gesture.
Raising herself up on an elbow, Enari tilted her head and studied him with some concern. She absently tugged at the hem of her chemise, trying to cover her exposed legs and her tongue swept out to wet her dry lips.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you?”
She shook her head and shivered slightly, eyes darting swiftly to the mirror and back to his face.
“The Greater?” he guessed, and she nodded.
Jex rose and crossed the room to retrieve a bottle from the cupboard. Splashing a small measure of its contents into a glass, he hesitated briefly before adding more and returning to her side. He bade her drink and she did, grimacing at the taste and handing it back to him half-empty. He drained the glass and set it on the night table before facing her again.
Her hand ghosted over the back of his. “Tell me.”
“You saved my life. Again.”
“You’d have done the same for me.”
“Without a second’s hesitation,” he agreed, “but Black Goddess, you should have gone for help! Yet you stayed and faced him alone.”
“I wasn’t alone.”
“Yes, about that—”
“Please don’t. Not tonight.” The plea echoed in his mind and showed in the sudden anguish on her face.
“We need to talk about what happened, and Eryk and Vasi need to know, too.”
Enari looked away from him and folded her arms stubbornly. She started to consider retiring to her own room.
Sighing in defeat, Jex put a finger beneath her chin and turned her face towards him again. “As you wish, Nani. We can discuss it in the morning.”
She nodded and leaned into his side. His arm slid around her and he pressed a kiss to her temple. It lingered and when she looked up, she found him watching her the same way he’d been in the garden. The fire burning in the depths of his emerald eyes stole her breath and all she could do was stare back, mesmerized. Staying, letting this continue would be foolish, and if Vasi caught them—
Gently, Jex lowered his face to hers and the image of Vasi’s displeasure evaporated.
His kiss felt just as good as before and she twisted to face him, seeking to bring herself closer, but in the process accidentally pulled away. He raised one raven eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak. She knew that if given the chance, he’d spoil the moment with one silly line or another; he just couldn’t help himself. So before he could say anything at all, she moved onto his lap, her chemise riding up as her legs spread to straddle his and she wound her arms around his shoulders.
With a faint groan, he grasped her hips and pulled her hard against him, his eyes sliding shut in pleasure. One of his hands slipped into her hair and he tugged gently, drawing her head back. His kisses descended along her exposed throat, but Enari quickly trapped his face in both hands and guided his mouth back to hers. When she experimentally flicked her tongue against his, it caused his breath to hitch and grow ragged.
The muscles of his thighs shifted under her and then she was being pressed back and down into the soft mattress. She opened her eyes to find him gazing down intently, cheeks flushed and breathing rapidly. One of his knees rested firmly between her legs and she was suddenly very aware of herself in a way she’d never experienced.
“I wish you could see how beautiful you look right now,” he whispered, the corners of his mouth tugging up in a smile. “Stunning as the Goddess Herself.”
Lowering himself carefully so as not to crush her smaller frame beneath his weight, he kissed her again. Her arms came up to circle his neck as his hand skated down the front of her body, caressing her breasts through the thin materiel covering them. Sensations unlike anything she’d ever even dreamed of chased up and down her spine, radiated out to the tips of her fingers and toes, made her skin prickle. She was no longer able to focus on anything but his mouth and hands on her.
Never breaking their kiss, his hand left her breast and began to draw her skirt upwards. Enari tensed.
“Slowly,” she touched his cheek, “please.”
He brought his hand back to safer territory and she relaxed again. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she ran her nails lightly along his scalp and down the back of his neck. He jerked against her with a little moan, and she repeated the gesture, happy to discover her touch could affect him so strongly.
“It always has,” he murmured, “I’ve just not acted on it.”
“Show me how,” she entreated him.
“Gladly.”
This was going to be better than he’d ever dared hope and he planned to savor each second. She’d be the first lover to come to his bed with so much inexperience but he thrilled at the prospect of being the one to teach her.
Jex smiled at her and took her hand, pressing it over his heart before turning it palm up and pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. Her lips parted on a sigh as his mouth moved across her heated skin. He could feel the flutter of her racing pulse beneath his lips and the way her body trembled in anticipation drove him on.
Slipping a hand beneath her bottom, he pulled her closer and rolled his hips against hers, letting her feel his desire. When she arched into the movement, he did it again and neither was able to suppress a full-body shiver as the contact sent a jolt of heat sizzling through them.
His mouth moved, trailing a line of open-mouthed kisses from her throat to the flat of her chest, grazing over the top of one breast where it peeked above the neck of her chemise. He lay his cheek there, enjoying the smoothness of her skin and watching as the emotions played across her exquisitely expressive face. There was confusion, uncertainty…but the open desire that finally replaced them all was almost too much.
He made short work of the ties holding the front of her corset closed, drawing the fabric apart and out from under her before dropping it over the side of the bed.
“Stand up,” he requested softly.
She complied and in a moment he’d divested her of both undergown and smallclothes and she stood before him gloriously nude. A scarlet blush began at her breasts and rushed up to color her cheeks. His gaze roamed, pupils dilating with arousal as his eyes traced the swells and hollows of her body.
Embarrassed, she started to cover herself, but he shook his head and she reluctantly lowered her hands to her sides.
“Let me look.”
And he did.
For several long minutes, he stared at her as if trying to memorize every feature. Perhaps he was, but it still took every ounce of her self-discipline to keep from fidgeting as the moment stretched.
His visual tour at last reached the apex of her thighs and he looked a little startled. She felt her cheeks redden further and she looked away. He reached out, but stopped just short of touching her and she couldn’t find the courage to move that last inch.
“You’ve no hair here,” he observed with interest.
Her brow furrowed. “Is that customary?”
“Generally, yes, but some women…remove it.” He glanced up at her face. “Do you?”
“No. There’s never been any to remove.” She looked suddenly uncertain. “Does it bother you?”
“Mmm, no. Just wasn’t expecting it is all.”
Jex leaned down and kissed her hard, and she submitted completely to his questing mouth. He brought his hands between them to cup her breasts, feeling the weight of them. They filled his palms to overflowing and he began to caress them in tightening spirals. Reaching her nipples, he rolled them between his fingers until they peaked.
“Do you like that?” he whispered.
“Yes!”
He bent a little at the waist and his lips slipped around a taut nipple. Her hips jerked and she clutched at his shoulder with one hand and pressed his head closer with the other. His tongue swirled and his mouth pulled, the tempo and strength of the suction ever-changing. Her heart pounded and she knew he must feel it, probably even hear it, as it raced. Then he withdrew, releasing her with a soft pop and the sudden rush of his retreating breath made her want to cry in disappointment.
Her frustration was short-lived, however. The wet heat of his mouth settled on her other breast, and it was matched by a burst of equally wet heat between her thighs. The spring of arousal in her belly coiled tighter and she began to tug at the waist of his trousers.
His stilled and then straightened, studying her for a moment before stepping back and pulling the knot loose. Letting the last garment between them fall away, he kicked it aside and came back to her. In her arms once more, he pressed himself against her and reveled in the supple warmth of her skin.
A hundred impulses clamored at him, a thousand needs demanded to be fulfilled, and right now. He wanted to bury himself in her, feel her body, mind, and soul surround and welcome his, to let himself be lost. It would be strange to make love to a woman who wasn’t enthusiastically vocalizing her pleasure, but he suspected that Enari’s silence would only heighten the other aspects of their joining. Even now, her body was telling him what her voice could not, shouting her desire with every shift of her hips and press of her mouth on his.
The slickness between her legs made her restless, and she was eager to move, so while he nibbled and teased, she began an exploration of her own. She spanned the width of his shoulders with shaking hands and ran her nails down his back. When she feathered her fingertips through his sparse chest hair and over his nipples, it tore a groan from deep within his chest so beautiful it nearly stopped her heart.
Though she was still too nervous to look down, she was curious; he could feel the little tendrils of her thoughts and questions as she considered him. It was endearing, this mix of interest and shyness and he was more than willing to indulge it.
He carefully guided her hand down to his erection and pressed it there. Her fingers closed and a rush of pure lust momentarily obliterated every other thought. He took a ragged breath, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed convulsively.
Enari watched his expression closely as she touched him. His length beneath her fingers was thick and hard, the flesh exquisitely and pleasantly smooth. Lower, she felt a velvety pouch of skin and when she gave it an experimental squeeze, his whole body went rigid. She ran her grip down to the base of his erection and back up, delighting in the drawn-out groan it pulled from him. He pursed his lips when she rubbed a finger over the glistening tip, using the moisture she found there to slick her way as she measured him again. A few more strokes and then his hips began to thrust.
"Nani, I—ah! If you don’t s-stop, I’m going to—”
The sound of his voice, hoarse so close to his breaking point, was magnificent. She wanted to find out what else she could do to him and how far she needed to push before that last filament snapped. She stroked him faster, squeezed just a little harder, and he swore.
Clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes shut, he fought to hold onto the tatters of his self-control. He had to have at least some relief from this torment, delicious as it was, before he lost all reason and simply took her.
Grasping her arm, he jerked it up, pinning it to her chest.
“This first time is for you, and your pleasure. Time enough for me later.”
So saying, he ran one finger between her breasts and down her stomach to circle her navel until she squirmed away with a smile. Then, watching her face for the slightest hint of uncertainty, he moved his hand lower and was gratified when she widened her stance to give him better access. He could smell her arousal now and the desire to feel the burning, slick heat it promised nearly drove him mad.
Carefully, he eased his middle finger into her wetness and stroked upwards to the bundle of nerves nestled there. Her eyes went wide and he did it again before daring to enter her. She bit her lower lip and her eyes rolled up into her head. He hesitated, afraid he’d hurt her, but then she pushed toward his hand.
It wasn’t long before her muscles began to accept him and he inserted another finger. The added pressure would bring her closer to her climax, he knew, and he curled his fingers in search of just the right spot. He rubbed at her slowly and deeply, and when he found it, she bucked as if struck by a lash. Instantly rubbing the spot again and adding the circle of his thumb over her clitoris, he set up a steady rhythm, pleasuring her until she was shaking. He licked his lips, sensing in the incoherent jumble of her thoughts that she was rapidly approaching her peak.
When she reached it a few seconds later, she tensed and her inner muscles tightened. She held her breath for a long moment, then relaxed almost bonelessly and he eased her down with a slow caress of his fingers. He waited until she looked up at him again before sticking the fingers in his mouth and swirling his tongue around them. Her eyes went round in shock.
“Jex, that’s filthy!” she admonished him, clearly taken aback by his action.
“If you think that’s filthy, just you wait,” he promised. A small, wicked smile turned his lips up at the corners.
She felt a twitch against her belly. His eyes asked, and she nodded.
With a sound of relief, he bent his knees slightly, hooked his hands under her thighs and hoisted her up. Lifting her weight seemed to cost him nothing and she abruptly felt vulnerable and small. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging as he took her back to the bed.
Jex looked down the length of her body as he laid her gently atop the sheets. He settled between her thighs and then shifted to sit back on his ankles. With a pull at her hips and a prayer to the Consorts, he rocked forward and began to fill her.
She was tight and hot and dripping wet, and how he was going to las