Soft words that didn’t belong with the memory reached him. Promises of pleasure, rewards for giving her what she wanted, more tender touching—they all accompanied the sultry timbre of that voice.
The witch
.
“Please.” The choked cry ripped open every old wound. He experienced one rolling emotion after another, every evil ever held in Pandora’s box bleeding through damage that had never properly heeled. He purged old regrets, older hatreds and, oldest of all, anger. On and on it went, his cries answered every time with a touch. Soft, persistent forgiveness he could no more deny than he could go back and change the road that led him here.
“Come back to me, Seth.”
He heard her but couldn’t articulate anything more than a grunt, couldn’t drag himself up from the lake of darkness he thought might drown him.
Metal clinked and his feet were free.
Soft buzzing began to fill his head.
Sounding farther away, more clinks. His wrists were free.
“I want you, Seth. Need you to lose yourself in me.” Gentle fingers untied his blindfold. “Come to me, Seth Setekhis. Love me. Take what’s never been mine to keep.”
He spun on her, confused. Then his eyes focused, found her—the hope that truly remained. “Eden.”
* * *
She froze. He’d called her by name. Not witch. Not Red.
Eden
. Stepping close to him, she traced her fingertips over the marks left by the blindfold. “Seth.”
Carnal hunger that had simmered on a slow burn now flashed out of control. She leapt at him.
He met her halfway.
Mouths tangled together. His tongue thrust against hers, both giving and taking. She nipped his bottom lip and swallowed the resulting growl. Her sex ached, the throb of anticipation driving her higher. Hiking a leg around his thigh, she reveled in his strength as he picked her up and drove her, back first, into the nearest wall. His cock ground against her clit. There was nothing tender in the moment. White-hot need fueled shared desires that raged out of control.
Power surged through her. A faint wind whispered against her skin.
Notnownotnownotnow.
Bearing down, she wrangled control of the swirling elements. Merriam-Webster would undoubtedly choke at her definition of control, but it was the best she could do.
Seth thrust against her.
She arched into him, seeking consummation. “Take me, Seth.”
Pinning her to the wall with his chest, he reached between them and angled the head of his cock.
“Do it,” she screamed as her tenuous grip over her power slipped.
He gripped her hips and yanked her onto his hard length.
Nothing had ever felt so good. She burned for him, inside and out.
Seth cupped her head, met her gaze and began to move. Skin slapped skin as he drove into her with thoughtless force. Heartbeats pounded out counter rhythms. Sweat slicked their bodies as they slipped and slid over each other, every touch frenzied.
Eden grabbed Seth’s neck and pulled him in for a searing kiss. Her orgasm was fast approaching, and if she didn’t take him there now, she was going to lose herself in him and forget—forget to do this. Forget to issue the only command she’d make in this moment.
“You’ll take back what has always been yours when you come for me.” The whispered words wrought a shiver from him that passed straight to her core. She lay her cheek next to his, her lips by his ear, her palms pressed to his throat and heart. And then she said the words she hoped would change everything. “Come for me, Seth Setekhis.”
“Eden.” Her name again, though this time it seemed violently ripped from his throat. “Eden!”
His orgasm rocked through him. Hard fingers dug into tender skin and she fought not to cry out in distress. Instead, she isolated the element of fire and pushed. The flame refused to split in two, instead beginning the total transfer to Seth. Instinct kicked in and her magic fought the separation. She couldn’t help it. Instead, she went with it, trying to distinguish the sources of flame and keep only what was hers. It was like trying to isolate each individual color in a flame, though. Impossible.
Then she felt him. His magic, the source of what he was, brushed against her. For the briefest moment, their souls touched. The intimacy of the moment wrecked her. She let go.
The elements went wild, whipping into a frenzy that drove her passion out of control. An inferno surrounded them. Her head fell back and she shouted, half in ecstasy, half in fear. She’d made her choice, though. She’d experience this—him in his rawest form—and the fallout would be what it was, the consequences hers alone. Her orgasm surged through her. Heat like she’d never known boiled the blood in her veins. She clamped down on Seth’s cock. Her heart thundered so loudly it drowned out everything else. Riding it out, she knew she’d crossed some line, gone to a new level of consciousness she could never not know. Until she met her end, Seth had ruined her for loving anyone else.
Loving.
Did she love him? It was too large a question to answer, too impossible to contemplate in the moment. All she knew was that she loved his skill. That was enough.
For now, it was enough.
Chapter Eleven
Seth wondered for the briefest second if he’d died because there was no way could he experience that kind of physical release on this plane without dying. The thundering in his chest affirmed he was very much alive. That, or his heart was about to explode. Shaking and fighting not to drop the sprite in his arms, he went to his knees. He hit the wood floor—the
charred
wood floor—with a sharp crack that stole a groan from his raw throat. His brow furrowed. “Did I yell?”
Eden’s forehead thumped his chin when her head tipped forward. “You were louder than a high school cheerleader at Friday night homecoming.”
He pinched her ass. “I’m not a cheerleader.”
“You should be. Hell of a set of lungs, Seth.”
He took her chin and lifted it at the same time the shakes took over. “F-f-fucking h-hell.”
She eased him to the ground and stumbled into the kitchen. He managed to avoid the fetal position until her feet reappeared. Then he gave in to the impulse.
Curling into himself, he shivered. “Sh-shock.”
“You did a lovely job as a reluctant sub, you beautiful man.” She cocooned him in the cashmere of the blanket he’d given her earlier before rolling him onto his back and supporting his head. “Slow sips.”
“Aftercare—”
“Is important in a good Dom…or Domme. I read up on this stuff before seeking you out, you know.”
He sipped the water, not sure anything had ever tasted so good. The weight of reality slipped over him. “Smart girl, my Eden.”
“Yours?”
The breathy question would have terrified him before. Now? Not so much. He was uncomfortable, though. No, not uncomfortable exactly. Tugging the blanket higher, he fished around inside himself and jerked upright. He housed two distinct flames. His eyes widened and he scrambled to his knees, inadvertently knocking Eden aside. “What did you do?”
“Experienced the best orgasm of my life?” Her innocent avoidance spoke volumes.
The elevator dinged and the doors whooshed open to reveal two very morose men. They hesitated at the sight of Eden and him crouched on the floor, clearly unsure whether to stay or go.
Eden squeaked and dove for the edge of the blanket.
That decided it for Seth. “Later.”
Dominic immediately turned around.
Not Griff, though. He stepped into the room. “Your element?”
“It’s a little confused at the moment.”
Thunder boomed nearby, rattling the apartment’s floor-to-ceiling windows. Rain lashed the glass in wind-driven torrents.
Eden’s shaking grew worse as the storm raged.
“Hey.” He lifted the blanket and peered down at her. “You okay?”
“F-fine. Why w-wouldn’t I b-be fine?”
Fear fouled the still air. “You tell me.”
She curled into his side. “I need a minute.”
Tucking the blanket around them, he peered over the edge. “Give me a few minutes, guys. Things are fine.”
“Hell of a storm,” Griff murmured, never taking his eyes off the little lump of woman under the blanket.
“She’s not responsible,” Seth growled. “Now go. I’ll call you when you can come back up.”
“No long-distance goodbyes,” Dominic said quietly.
Seth’s chest tightened and his eyes burned. He looked up at the ceiling and swallowed repeatedly. “No goodbyes at all.”
“Good.” Griff stepped back into the elevator and the men disappeared.
“Eden?” Seth folded the blanket back to find her eyes squeezed shut. “What’s going on, baby?”
“I still have your flame. Oh, goddess, I’m so sorry, Seth.” Twin tears slipped free to trail down flushed cheeks.
“No, you don’t. I don’t understand it, but I seem to have two distinct flames now.”
Her chin snapped up and cracked his chin, clacking his teeth together. She fought to untangle herself from the blanket and kneel in front of him. “Say that again.”
“The I-don’t-understand part, or the I-seem-to-have-two-flames part?”
She paled. “Two flames. It’s not possible.” Fisting one hand, she parked it between her breasts and closed her eyes. Her skin took on a translucent tone that seemed to emit a faint light as she slowed her breathing. Gentle winds caressed his body. A faint mist shrouded her and softened the contours of her luscious body. The pungent smell of damp earth surrounded him. Sulfur, as strong as a freshly lit match, tickled his nose.
“Eden?”
She opened her eyes and peered up at him through the thick fringe of dark lashes. Cupping her palms, two distinct flames hovered there. “I have two fire elements. That shouldn’t happen.”
But Seth knew it could. Seth closed his eyes and traced the length of his lineage to his father. The king was the Keeper of all
ifritis
and could be called upon in times of need. What Seth encountered, though, made his breath hitch. His lineage had been—
“What have you done?” The whisper of fury blazed through the room. Candle flames surged two feet into the air, wax puddling in the intense heat.
Seth shot to his feet, pulling up Eden and placing her behind him as she struggled with the blanket. “She didn’t mean to.”
Eden’s gentle touch rested at the small of his back. “What did I do?”
“She is
heka
, a priestess. Their way is to steal that which is not theirs.” His father materialized a few feet to Seth’s right.
“She took nothing from me.” Seth bowed his head both in deference and to guard his true feelings. He hadn’t seen his father in centuries, and here the man was. No greeting. No threats. No anything.
Asshole.
Seth cringed, waiting for a blow that never came. His eyes widened. His father could no longer hear his thoughts on a whim. Raising his face, he stared at the king. “She took nothing I did not give freely.”
This time the blow came.
His father’s rage was palpable, the heat of it creating a mirage on the air.
Seth had been through this so many times, endured so many beatings. But now, after experiencing Eden, the control he had over his emotions had shattered. Shame, anger, resentment and diluted love, all for this man, coursed through him.
Eden stepped in front of Seth at the same time the king’s next blow descended.
* * *
Hands up and hackles raised, Eden spoke quickly and angrily. “Stop.” Power circled her in a heady rush.
The king’s hand glanced off the air she’d hardened between them.
“Strike him again, and I’ll put him on the throne before the ventilation system sucks your sorry leftovers out of the building.”
Seth stiffened.
The king’s mouth thinned into a hard line. His fists opened and closed as he considered her, his gaze flicking to his son and back only once. “He cannot ascend to the throne. You’ve stolen that from him, stolen his blood right.”
Eden lowered her hands. “How?”
Seth pulled her into his side. “When you severed my connection to the king.”
“But I didn’t mean to.” And that was the hell of it. She hadn’t. Again. All she knew was that Seth hadn’t wanted to end up king, and… “Oh, shit.”
“This is larger than ‘oh, shit,’ little
heka
.” King Aganjú seethed power.
Well, she could do the same. Unleashing control of her elements, the storm raged. The ground trembled. Flames hovered in the air around them. Control like she’d never known swam victory laps in her veins. She could do this, would do this, for Seth.
King Aganjú’s eyes widened. “No one controls the elements with such ease.”
“None but the Elemental Guradian,” Seth said, stroking a hand up and down her back.
She wanted to purr at the voluntary caress.
“Fiction.” The single word was hurled like a challenge.
“No.” Eden grinned. “Nightmare.” Waving a hand at the storm, the clouds parted to reveal the setting moon. “And if you think this is impressive, oh, great and mighty however-you-say-your-name, you should stick around for the full moon ceremony tonight. I’ll rock your socks.”
Seth’s grip tightened. “No rocking anyone’s socks but mine.”
Her heart lurched. “Mean that?” she asked, never taking her eyes off the king.
“With every bit of what I am.”
The king’s gaze grew so cold it crystalized. “You will not return to the
ifrit
until you are free of this woman.”
Seth went so still Eden reached out to touch him, to ensure he was real. “You’re disowning me.”
“Until you are man enough to retrieve your flame, you are not strong enough to rule.”
“Then I bid you farewell, King Aganjú. My element has a new Keeper, one whom I will be pleased to serve. So long as she lives, I shall remain loyal to her.”
The king’s eyes flared bright, and then he was gone.
She rounded on Seth. “I’m not your Keeper. I can’t be.”
“You most definitely are. I have to have a Keeper to nurture and feed my flame. Until you, it was the king’s job. But when our elements united, it became impossible to truly separate them. It’s like trying to pick a single raindrop out of a lake.” He grinned, genuine affection shining through. “You’re stuck with me.”