Page 33 of Shadows of Air and Earth
His gaze trailed over it as if to memorize details. "You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen and I hate the air for keeping the space between us," he whispered as if to himself, words that he never meant to say out loud.
Biting at my lip, I raised my chin, goddess how this fae undid me. But I needed answers.
He sighed again, his familiar breath pleasantly washing over my face, a smell of mint and fresh mountain wind. "My power is called possession. My mother and father had it, as does my uncle. When used correctly it can allow the exchange of energy to amplify one anothers equally." He shook his head, "But the power always designates a possessor and a host and it can be easily tainted. It can be used to force another to do whatever the will of the possessor has. It can be used as an enthrallment."
"Like your uncle," I breathed.
He nodded, watching me carefully. "Like my uncle."
“Why keep me bound, why not release me after I was healed?” I hissed through clenched teeth.
His head bowed and his voice wavered, the truth like a broken prayer escaping his soul. “Fear, shame, guilt, avoidance. Fear because to release you, would also leave you vulnerable not only to our world but also to my uncle. You are a very powerful and cultivated fae, Xi. Leaving you unprotected was something I was not willing to risk ever again.” He shook his head. “Shame and guilt because then you would have also known what I had done.” His eyes trailed back up to me, studying the kaleidoscopeof emotions shimmering across my face. “Avoidance because I never wanted to experience this exact moment, where you look at me like I am a monster—just like my uncle.”
Inhaling sharply, I studied the immeasurable agony in his eyes. It was more than just the fucked up situation we were in, the truth of it was deeper than that. "There is something you're still not telling me."
Pain etched into his features as he looked away and swallowed hard, his green hair plastered to his face. "As you know, my uncle was my father's brother,” he began slowly, “and he always obsessively coveted my mother. To an extent that was borderline madness. Due to this, he was never welcomed in our home.” He paused, swallowing again, “One night, my uncle visited our family unexpectedly while my father was away. You see, my father was a fae that enjoyed helping others. He’d stop anything and everything to lend a hand, and a town nearby had suffered from an abnormal storm. My mother did not wish to go that night so he left me in charge. My uncle saw that as an opportunity—I fully believe that he orchestrated the whole thing, from the storm to knowing my father’s weakness to assist others. We should have known he would have stopped at nothing to feed his monstrous desire to possess my mother."
Horror ran through my body like a ghostly chill. "Stop. You do not need to speak of the rest."
Riley's sad hazel gaze snapped back to mine full of resolve. "No, I do. You need to understand that my decision to possess you was never taken lightly. I have not told a single soul this story although I suspect the General knows—but you deserve the whole truth no matter what it may cost me. I owe you that much at least."
My brows pulled together, nodding, my ill-timed humor easing the discomfort we were both in. "We did agree that it was safe to say she knows all."
He snorted half-heartedly before beginning again. "My uncle he…he forced his power on my mother, he was strong and skilled, I was young and untried. He overcame us both and when he possessed her, he was impossible to stop. He used her power to keep me restrained.” Riley gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring with anger. “I have wished so many times that my parents would have used the possession on each other, then he would have never been able to take her and he would have never come. It is mostly the reason why I kept you bound to me—my fear of him taking from me again, something I will not allow. That fucking bastard would have to kill me and extinguish my soul from eternal life before I would ever allow him to take you."
“Ri,” I whispered.
His eyes roamed my face and I felt his air smooth out the wrinkles of horror I knew were etched there. It’s whispered caress trailed down my face to the tension in my muscles, kneading them until they relaxed. “I’m okay, terrella,” he whispered back before his air fell away and he continued the last of his story through graveled words. "My uncle forced me to watch while he controlled her, compelled her to—I could do nothing, not with her power added to his."
My hands reached up to cup Riley's face. "No more, you don't need to say anymore, Ri."
Riley's mouth turned into my hand and kissed it softly. "I need to." His warm breath tickled against my palm. "When my father returned the damage had already been done. After finally getting what he had craved for so long, my uncle cared not to keep my mother. You see you can only possess one fae at a time, and he enjoys the hunt and power of domination, but he is also a fucking coward. He fled before my father could exact retribution and my mother was so broken afterwards, my father didn’t dare leave her side." His eyes shuttered closed then, lost in the painful memories.
I pulled his face towards me, kissing his lips softly, giving him the strength he needed to say the rest. "What happened to them Ri? To you?"
His eyes opened and wracked my soul, penetrating it so thoroughly I inhaled sharply. "They made me vow to never use this power on another, and then they fell on each other’s swords. Killing one another. The pain and damage my uncle had caused was too much for my mother to bear. They were soulmates, Xi. My father felteverythingshe had gone through, her pain, her shame…he could not live without her and she no longer wanted to live. The fae cannot take their own lives but they sure as fuck can take it from one another and that's exactly what they did."
"Riley—" I stammered brokenly, the choices he made to save me so blindingly clear that my eyes burned and the proverbial weight of the collar lifted. It no longer felt like chains but an adornment of a broken, scarred love.
"Release me, terrella," Ri said, his strong voice fracturing even more, his eyes blazing with torment and devotion. "You are right, this is not a game and I no longer want to play."
Chapter 23
The earth slid fromhis body, back to where it came from, leaving behind nothing but our still bodies and aching hearts. Unsure, our eyes locked on each other seeing one another in a way we had never done before.
"May I kiss you?" Riley broke the silence, his uncertainty tugging at my weary soul.
I didn't bother answering, instead I closed the distance between us, pressing my body against his, feeling the tension-filled doubt dissolve when I leaned in to kiss his lips.
A soft press, a tentative slow swipe of his tongue, then my mouth parted, an unspoken consent of forgiveness and the telling need for more. But Riley kept his exploration slow, as if I was a new, breakable thing that he needed to savor and cherish, rather than devour and ruin. His hands threaded gently into my hair and my own responded, wrapping up his wide muscular back, moaning softly when his leg pressed into my core, sending a shocking thrill throughout my entire being. There was no stopping my slow grind on his leg. If I had ever desired Riley Dragoon before then this surpassed anything I had ever felt, a fervor instinct that I needed to live.
The soft caress of his hands trailing from my hair down my back made us both groan. Stopping on the soft curves of my ass, he pressed me closer to him. "Xi," he said reverently against my lips, his breath increasing and his hands tightening on my body, trembling from holding back. I gasped when his air suddenly swirled around us in a cyclone of unsuspecting wisps and glittering butterflies, swept up by his violent current. Spiraling in the tornado of air, their colors blurred, cocooning us in a dazzling display that blocked out the rest of the world.
It was beautiful—his power. All violence and enchantment, he wielded it with ease, never wavering even as he slowly licked his way down my body, his breath hovering hotly just above the base of my throat.
Wrapping my hands into his now wind-blown hair, he swallowed hard, kissing the golden ring that was heavy against my panting breaths. “I pray one day, you will see what I have done not as a way to imprison you, but as a symbol of mylove, terrella—a covenant of just how far I will go to ensure you survive this forsaken world. To either save or destroy, it does not matter which, but that it is done byyour willalone.”
Planting one last kiss at my throat, his hand curved upwards, trailing over my breasts to hook a single finger through the ring, pulling me even closer, leaving me gasping and reaching for his shoulders. Slowly wetting my lips with my tongue, his andalusite eyes blazed and a low growl rumbled in his chest making my core clench with a thrilling spark of desire.
