Page 39 of A Dream Shrouded in Fury
“Again, Kalia bredtha me.Lutrena bredtha me.Please.For the love of the sky, do it a-fucking-gain.”
His begging tightened my stomach and made me grind against him, a second climax building.
I tightened my grip on his hair and bit into his neck on the other side.Blood spurted into my mouth, warm and delicious, and when he cried out and his body stiffened, a buzz ran over his skin and the world...changed.I raised my head, his sinful blood dripping from the corner of my mouth, and stared.For the briefest moment, barely a breath, the sky brightened into true daylight.A clear blue sky and leaves that weren’t near black but actual bright green.
When everything darkened again, I couldn’t stop staring, my gaze feasting on that glimpse of a version of the world I’d never seen before and never would again.
I was so dazed by the vision it took me a while to realize Jael was calling my name.
“Lutrena?Kalla?Are you all right?”
I blinked a few times before looking at him.“I saw blue sky, Jael.I’ve never seen that before.Ever.I should never have seen it.How is that possible?”
A stunned laugh escaped me as I returned my attention to the star-filled sky through the dark leaves, but when Jael tensed against me, I dropped my gaze to him, curious about the sudden blankness on his face.“That’s—It’s fae magic,” he said.“Light magic.Mymagic.”
Confusion infused my joy.“Yours?I thought you said…”
He’d said it was gone.Crushed.Forgotten.
His expression didn’t change—showing no sign of pain, joy, hope, or fear.I had no idea where his thoughts had gone.“I haven’t been able to reach it in so long.”He focused on me.“But you made that happen, Kalla.Whatever you saw—it’s because of you.”
A single tear ran over his cheek, and I kissed it away, then trailed my lips to his mouth and continued to kiss him while I unwrapped my legs from around his waist.“Come on.The real sun’s going to be up soon.We should find a place to hide.”
I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the woods.Nothing but the peace of a quiet night flowed around me.No tension, no screams, no racing hearts beyond ours, no blood.Everything was calm.Safe.
With a need to embrace my last night of true freedom, I grabbed my clothes off the ground and started through the trees.
“Shouldn’t we go back to the cave?”Jael called after me.
I laughed, feeling as light as a summer wind.“Do you want to spend the day next to Corban?”
“I’d rather be roasted by the dragon on your mountain.”He bundled his clothes in his arms and chased after me, but I put on a burst of speed every time he got close.
If anyone had spotted us, two naked fools running through the woods at night, they might have thought us mad, but I found myself cackling with unburdened happiness.And by the looks of it, Jael was enjoying himself as well, if that’s what I could call the slightly predatory gleam in his eyes.
Suddenly he was catching up, the smile spreading across his face a playful threat.
I yelped and ran faster, a laugh in my throat.The blind came into view up ahead, one of the heaps of branches and thick foliage Cliff and I had built a few weeks back.I aimed for it, ready to dive inside, but Jael caught my arm and spun me around.My chest slammed against his, the lines of his muscles and the streak of silver scars stark under the moonlight.My mouth went dry, while other parts of me grew wet with want.Fae magic.That had to be the cause of my constant arousal around this man.
“Come on,” he said, his voice husky as he trailed his mouth over my ear.“We need to get you safe.I can’t have you burning up now that we’ve made it this far.”
I was forced to release him to enter the blind, and he crawled in behind me.
“What is the blind for, anyway?”he asked as he struggled to make himself comfortable lying on his back.
As soon as we were in, I pulled the extra branches across the opening, shrouding us in absolute darkness.
“Hunting.We’re close to shifter territory here.Lots of big, hot-blooded meals just waiting for us to strike.”I settled in beside him and snapped my teeth at his cheek with a chuckle.“Or non-shifter animals.That’s far more common.This deep in the woods, we find all kinds of worthwhile prey.Even the occasional band of outlaws.But it does mean we often get stuck without cover, so we build these shelters.We have to make them lightproof, which is why they’re so small, but since we only use them to sleep, it’s not usually an issue.”
“The darkness doesn’t bother you?”
If I’d been able to see his face, maybe I would have missed the tension underlying his question, but all I had was his voice and the elevation of his heartbeat beneath my palm.
With a pinch of guilt, I remembered his reaction when I’d first bought him to my unlit haven.“That’s right, you hate the dark.”
“Just a little.”His fluttering pulse battered my ears.
I ran my fingers over the side of his face.“You can go.Head back to the others.I’ll be all right on my own.”
