Page 50 of Phoenix Chosen 2

“Oh myGod,” he groans. “How are you so good at that?”

With an appreciative grin, I descend and flick my tongue across his tip, lapping up the dewdrop gathering there. So delicious. Better than the finest Athenosian honey. As I continue rubbing his length, I push my lips to the soft wrinkles of his pouch, gently kissing and sucking my way down until I reach his entrance. His rim twitches in reaction to my teasing, and I draw the full flat of my tongue across him and lick up his balls and the underside of his shaft. A shudder of pleasure goes through his body as I wrap my lips around his head and push a finger into his hole and curl it against the sensitive spot inside of him. His cock twitches in my mouth and more of his sweet, delicious juicesspread across my tongue. He clenches around me as I massage him, and my aching need to thrust my cock inside of him grows ever more unbearable.

Tyler reaches out and grabs one of the bottles from the silver tray beside the nest. I sit up onto my knees and lift the front of my chiton, freeing my cock. It falls heavily against his, and he turns his hips back and forth to nuzzle his shaft against mine. Then he dabs a spot of oil onto his fingers and spreads it across his entrance and my tip. Without hesitation, I grab his thighs and push his legs back. Tyler follows through, pulling his knees back to his shoulders and exposing himself fully to me. His eyes beg me to fuck him, and they flutter back into his head as I slowly sink my cock into him.

His warmth welcomes me, surrounds me, and squeezes me tightly. There is nothing better in this world, or any other. A snarl of pleasure escapes my lips as I pump into him. Tyler whimpers for me to fuck him harder, and I rock my hips to thrust in as deep as I can go. The pounding thud of our bodies is like that of two wrestlers locked in combat. His legs hook around my hips and my lower back, pulling and holding me in with astounding strength.

Thunder booms outside, and a white flash washes across the room, perfectly capturing the beautiful expression on Tyler’s face at that moment. He calls for more, and I give him everything I have. I’m at my peak, and my cock tightens as I fight to hold back my climax for as long as I can manage. It comes like a landslide. I explode into him, emptying my seed deep inside with every thrust. Then I push in to the hilt and hold myself there. I feel his cock throbbing against my stomach, his warm finish flowing down his shaft.

I bring my lips to his, and we trade slow, satisfied breaths as the waves of our climax make their final retreat.

He is my home, my purpose, my comfort. He is all I need.

19

TYLER

I’m in the cave again, standing in the center of the stone circle. My surroundings glow from a light that seems to be coming from within me, and I can now see that this small chamber is a tunnel that climbs up on a gradual slope. Kalistratos is there, and he turns and makes his way up the tunnel towards an infinite blackness.

“Wait!” I call, following after him.

He doesn’t stop or slow down, and the tunnel’s gentle incline seems to be getting larger. The way ahead is pitch black, and even his back is barely illuminated by the light that moves along with me. My steps are labored. I look down and realize I’m trudging through a dark reflectionless liquid. It swallows my feet and quickly rises to my knees. I look back up, and I’m alone. The cave is gone. I’m standing in a vast black lake under a night sky. I see a distortion in the air ahead of me, like flickering heat waves are warping my view of the stars.

“Kalistratos!” I call. I try to move forward but my feet are stuck.

The shimmering wave takes the shape of a person, and then the stars and everything within it fall away, leaving what looks like a hole stamped out by a man-shaped cookie cutter. A chill goes through my body. I know this feeling. This presence has been permanently scarred into my consciousness.

The black form turns, and a hooded satin cloak hides moon-white skin and long black hair. He pulls back the hood as he glides silently towards me. His slender face is like Aethereos’s, but without any of the kindness or wonderful radiance the Great Phoenix has. I feel my happiness and hope being drained away. I’m standing on the edge of sanity and being prodded into the abyss.

“Why are you doing this?” I demand.

He stares at me in silence as a cold wind whips around us. I fight to take a step, pulling with everything I have. I have to get back to Kalistratos. I have to find him.

“You’re just a human,” Umbrios says. “You’re not special. You don’t belong. You will always be alone.”

“Yeah. I’m not anything special. I’m just a regular guy who got pulled into some crazy shit. But I’m not alone. I have my mate.”

Umbrios’s cold eyes and expressionless face sink into the darkness as he lifts his hood. “You havenothing.”

The wind gusts and everything around me seems to rip away. I see Kalistratos reaching his hand out to me as dark tendrils wrap around him. I shout for him and frantically try to take his hand, but the ground is like tar, and it pulls me down and consumes me until there’s nothing left.

My eyes fly open, and I sit up. I’m back in the nest. Kalistratos sits up beside me and is already getting out of bed.

“Something is wrong,” he says. “Something has changed.”

We hear the elevator car arriving, and Kalistratos steps protectively in front of me. It feels like an agonizingly long time before the doors slowly roll open.

It’s Feather. He emerges from the elevator, and though his face seems as calm as ever, it’s clear that we are no longer safe here. Whatever Aethereos was doing to protect this place, it’s no longer working.

“We must get you out,” he says. “Come with me.”

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Jesus Christ, your arm!”

As Feather turns to usher us into the elevator, I realize his right arm is missing from the elbow. There is no blood or anything—just a jet-black stump, as though he’d dipped it into a vat of oil.

“Umbrios’s shadows have breached the shroud,” he says. “I and the others were overrun. They come now for Aethereos, and for you.”

The doors close and the car begins to rise. Feather’s expression breaks, and he clutches his arm in pain.

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