Gale Season

Chapter Seven

“Alandra, wait.”

She ignored him and raced into the adjoining bathroom, slamming the door between them. Frantically searching her image in the mirror, she studied her reflection now glowing with a strange light. Running her hands over her body, she was relieved not to feel anything physically out of place.

Testing herself, she shimmered into the images of Trudy Warner, Queen Lidra, even Arim the Light Bringer. Each persona looked like the real thing, and she breathed a loud sigh of relief that her magic seemed not to have diminished. To all outward appearances she was the same Alandra le Aelle. And yet, clearly, something had changed.

After a few moments her racing heart began to calm, the fear that she was somehow in mortal peril beginning to wear off as she noted, surprisingly, that the Light in her aura was actually becoming.

Fascinated, she couldn’t help reaching for the strands of Aerolus’ force. What should have hurt her didn’t. His energy soothed, strengthened, and surprisingly, aroused her simply by being there.

She stared at her reflection, turning left and right, looking over her shoulder to view her perfect backside still as lily white and round as before. She turned to the side again.

Peering closer, she thought she looked…taller. She beamed, a broad smile replacing the look of horror she’d shot Aerolus. She’d have to apologise to him for that.

She winced, knowing her actions weren’t exactly the stuff of romance. The sex with Aerolus had been indescribable, but her sudden panic at still being linked with him made her wonder just how she felt about him.

For a year she’d watched, studying him like a complex puzzle that wouldn’t quit her mind. No doubt one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen, he also possessed an intellect and an overt curiosity about everything that made her feel as if they shared several traits in common.

Alandra was curious, smart, and studied with a veracity that had surprised her fellow students. Unlike Aerolus, she enjoyed life openly, unafraid to show her emotions, risking a bit of pain in her quest for the ultimate pleasures life had to afford.

Funny how she’d almost thought herself in love with him. But seeing their auras entwined felt so…permanent. Though he wasn’t like most of his kind, she was a creature of Shadow. And what being of Shadow wanted to cling to the Light, especially since the Light Bringers were so intent on erasing anything with a hint of darkness from Tanselm?

Aerolus wasn’t like that. He was special, no matter the circumstances of his birth. Her damnable conscience, that irritating speck that had taken her from Aelle and made her the self-appointed guardian to Prince Aerolus Storm, refused to leave well enough alone.

Light and Shadow aside, Aerolus made her feel things she’d never felt before. He made her laugh. He aroused her beyond normal, into an entirely different realm of passion altogether. When they physically joined, she felt as if she’d come home, and the longing for Aelle didn’t hurt so much.

Startled to feel so deeply for him, when she really hadn’t even talked to him until a few weeks ago, she could only stare at her perplexed reflection shimmering with too much Light.

Their magic mingled, still flowed together seamlessly, as if neither had a beginning nor ending without the other. How could this be possible? She’d studied and knew why the Storm Lords had been sent to this world. To find their affai, brides of the Royal Four, to complete the Tetrarch necessary to the magical, much sought-after world of Tanselm.

Where would a disgraced, hunted, royal Aellei fit into Aerolus’ Storm Lord lineage? Hell, rumour had it that his people still battled the rebel Shadren lingering in the shadows of Tanselm’s MornMountain.

A foreign sense of sorrow hit her as the truth of her situation penetrated. There was no future for her and Aerolus, except for their attempt to rescue Tanselm from ‘Sin Garu’s threat. And she still didn’t completely understand why she cared so much about Tanselm, a world from which her kind had been banished over a thousand years ago.

Her aura sparkled like Christmas tree lights, and she couldn’t help admiring Aerolus’ magic—her magic now. But mingled magic could be remedied. A broken heart, on the other hand, she couldn’t handle again. Sadness was not a natural state for an Aellei.

Alandra lived with joy, humour, suspicion and frustration on a daily basis. But she couldn’t cope with true sorrow. When her parents had died many years ago, she’d grieved so hard her magic had all but consumed her. Only her parents’ good friend, Lord Sava, had helped her through the darkness.

Since in Aelle matings of the heart were readily discouraged, most Aellei felt only a passing sadness for departed mates and friends. Alandra, however, felt too much. She clung to loyalty when most Aellei considered fidelity to be a liability.

Already she cared way too much for the domineering Wind Mage. And that worried her.

Though they now stood apart, she could see him in her mind’s eye. He would be standing in the bedroom glancing at the bathroom door, a hint of worry around his eyes, while a burning intelligence lit his face as he calmly studied his own aura. He’d be processing and cataloguing all sorts of ideas about their change, and she couldn’t help admiring that about him.

Much as she knew this new malady she suffered could only lead to further intimacy with Aerolus and eventual heartache, she didn’t think she could ignore the temptation of being so near him. For a year she’d watched and waited for her chance to finally meet him, to feel the raw power he emanated from every pore.

Shadows, but when he’d finally entered her, the pleasure had been so intense she’d never wanted it to end. But the feelings, the raw emotion she felt between them, it made their relationship tangible, almost as if they had a future together.

She could still feel him in her, could still remember his concern and gentleness after Arim’s attack. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had come to her defence since Sava had taken her in a hundred years past. Certainly no one in the past five decades had interceded on her behalf for anything.

Frowning at the morose thoughts that began gathering like a dark cloud, she deliberately turned her mind to happy thoughts, that of pissing off Lidra by continuing to aid Aerolus. She started the shower and let the water soothe her. It was a secondary substitute for the balmy air that had lifted her earlier, but she was in no hurry to flex her wings again.

Just thinking about the crippling pain of losing a wing made her cringe. Closing her eyes, she faced the spray of warm water sluicing over her body and tried to figure out how best to tell Aerolus what he needed to know.

“Want me to scrub your back?” he asked quietly, startling her into a shriek.

She jerked around and slapped his naked chest with the soap. “Will you please stop doing that?”

His eyes darkened as he stared at her tightening nipples, following the trail of bubbles down her front.

“By the Light, you’re beautiful,” he said, his voice thick. Oh, he was getting to her. He really was. She hardened the heart that throbbed at his nearness.

“I don’t know why this is happening, Alandra.” He lifted her hand, staring at the magical shades of Light and Dark pulsing in sync, an identical match to the energy covering his own frame. “But it’s nothing to fear. My Light will never hurt you. On this I swear.”

Her heart melted though she tried to remain annoyed.

“I can’t explain it, but I want you again.” His voice sounded strained as he stared, helplessly fascinated, into her eyes. “I can’t stop wanting you. You’ve bewitched me, and I don’t even know the first thing about you.”

She scowled, bothered by his honesty. It’s not as if they were complete strangers. By Shadow’s Bend, she’d watched him for over a year. “You know I’ve protected you.” She batted his large hands from her shoulders, not wanting to be appeased and wishing she didn’t desire him so much. “You know I’m from Aelle, and that I could have left you and your brothers to ‘Sin Garu and Oxcen weeks ago.”

He nodded, reaching and drawing her against him. She lost her breath as his chest rubbed against her breasts, stirring new longings she should have been too tired to feel. Yet he did no more than hold her, providing comfort when she needed it, and she finally conceded defeat, sliding bonelessly into his embrace. She’d never felt so safe, so cherished, and though she knew he presented more a threat to her well-being than any Dark Lord or Aellein warrior, she succumbed to his touch.

“Shh, love. It will all work out.” He massaged shampoo into her hair, releasing knots of tension in her body with a soapy massage. “Just leave it all to me,” he murmured, making her body sing as he brought her to climax with strong, sinful hands. But he made no move to ease his own needs, proving himself a devoted, unselfish lover.

They rinsed and dried off together, and he wrapped her in his robe that dragged along the floor when she walked. She felt as if she could sleep for a week, completely eased by his tender treatment and by the uncanny way he had of making her body hum.

She saw him stifle a smile and sighed. How could she fault him for anything when he acted like this? So caring, so protective, so…oh! He watched her knowingly, the gleam of satisfaction in his silvery eyes a dead giveaway.

“You underhanded Light Bringer!” She glared, suppressing the ridiculous urge to commend him on his craftiness.

“What?” He tried to look bewildered, but a small spark in his eyes told her he knew he’d been found out. She should have been annoyed that he tried to control her with sex, yet unwanted pleasure lit. Aerolus was every inch her match.

“You know.” Woo her with kindness, with flattery. Distract her with pleasure, and she’ll be as pliable as a dish rag, she could almost hear him thinking. It was ingenious really, something an Aellei would have done, and she felt her heart take a suspicious tumble over the cliff she’d been steadfast in her refusal to crest.

Losing herself in his gaze, she wanted to curse, to confess, to make love with him all over again. “Hell,” she mumbled under her breath. She flushed and ignored his raised brow. “Forget it. We’ve more pressing matters to deal with.”

“I suppose,” he said on a sigh and sat on the bed, the simple towel around his waist driving her to distraction. “Why don’t you tell me about your dreams?”

Alandra’s eyes widened, and Aerolus fought not to smirk. Bonding with her had brought them together, not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. He’d been in her dreams earlier, an observer watching the fascinating world of the Aellei, and the Dark Lord insidiously worming his way towards their queen.

Whoever the Dark Lord was, he brought another dimension into Tanselm’s battle with the Netharat, a precarious playing field growing more and more crowded as unknown foes were flushed from other worlds.

Aerolus stared at Alandra, sidetracked from thought at her utter loveliness. The Light only enhanced her soul, pure at its core, yet surrounded by adversity and a devious strength.

As Trudy Warner, she’d tricked him and Arim. But she could never pass for a mortal in Seattle without a glamour. She was as comely as her kin, though far less conniving. Oh, he knew she could lie and deceive like the best of them, but there was no real evil within her. She liked her fun, but had no inclination to unduly harm anyone not deserving it.

Staring at him suspiciously, she frowned. “What’s going on in that mazelike mind of yours?”

Interesting that she pegged him as the trickster, her paranoia stemming from her own quirky morality. He still felt unsteady after she’d accused him of being an underhanded Light Bringer. How could she so easily read him? Even his brothers, with whom he’d lived for thirty-four years, couldn’t predict his actions, at least not without using the gift of clairvoyance. Her uncanny ability to read him simultaneously stunned and pleased him.

He’d thought hard on Arim’s words and knew the key to handling Alandra was to always have the upper hand, or at least, be perceived as having it. He had been sincere in the shower, offering compassion and comfort, despite his cock’s ache to part her thighs and plunge in.

Her confusion after they’d made love had torn at him, and he’d reacted naturally, wanting to soothe and reassure his affai. Pretending it was all a game made her feel safe. Games and competition were familiar to Alandra, and by playing by her rules, it was as if she still controlled their relationship. Light forbid he actually confess what he was starting to feel about her.

Though come to think of it, when she’d perceived his intent—way sooner than he would have expected—she’d groused but hadn’t been angry. Instead, she’d seemed almost impressed. There had been a gleam of emotion he hadn’t seen before in her face, a hint of what he thought might be growing affection. Trust Alandra to make life complicated.

But just the thought that she might care deeply for him blew life into his tired body, and much as he wanted to lose himself in her magic again, in her sultry scent begging for loving, he knew he needed answers only she could give. He just hoped he’d be able to recognise the truth when she said it.

“I want to know about you, Alandra.” He stared up at her, disconcerting her with his stare. He wanted to smile when she kept glancing at his erection, poorly concealed by his towel. “Tell me more about the Aellei. And tell me about the queen and her new lover.”

Alandra blinked, focusing on his face. “I only know what I dreamt, and I’m not entirely sure how that happened. I’m not exactly clairvoyant.”

He cleared his throat and spoke softly, not wanting to alarm her again. “Actually, I believe you tapped into my abilities.”

“Excuse me?”

“I can sometimes view another’s dreams. This perception is rather new, and until now, it’s only extended to my brothers and Arim.” His uncle didn’t know that, nor would he, if Aerolus had his way. “But I don’t think you had a dream, more like a vision.”

She stared at him, her head cocked to the side in thought. “It did feel real, didn’t it? That was my aunt, Queen Lidra. Though she doesn’t really look like that. She deliberately projects an air of…,” she paused, trying to find the right word.

“Sex?”

She scowled at him, her jealousy more than welcome. “Yeah, sex. Lidra’s actually a thousand years old, and in reality, looks like a stately matron.” The glee in her voice told him Lidra would rather die than be referred to as a ‘matron’.

“The Dark Lord with her, though, reminded me of ‘Sin Garu. There was something about him, I don’t know. But that answered my question about more than one Dark Lord involved in this mess.” She frowned. “I have to say, I don’t like the idea of Lidra encouraging a blood drinker. They’re way too dark and unpredictable.”

“Unpredictable?” His curiosity stirred. The familiar anticipation of learning something new sharpened his faculties. He’d been interested in the blood drinkers for some time, but had thought them more myth than real.

“Most creatures of the Dark are, well, they’re into pain and anger, deep emotions that normally debilitate the one feeling them. The magic resulting from absorbing negative emotions is powerful, too powerful. I mean, I got a kick out of Arim being annoyed, even a bit angry, but real rage burns. It’s too hard to handle. And the Dark Lords play too freely with rage and pain for my tastes.”

Aerolus pondered that. “So is it just you that avoids negative energies, or do all the Aellei subscribe to that philosophy?”

She looked uncomfortable, and after several moments passed he wondered if she would answer. Then she cursed under her breath and met his gaze, her eyes troubled. “You have to understand, every race has its good and bad elements. Even you Light Bringers have your fair share of fanatics.”

He opened his mouth to object, then thought of the Church of Illumination, or what he and his brothers called, the Congregation of Idiots. She had a point.

“Most of the Aellei are content to play amongst themselves, from time to time toying with the humans on this plane and the occasional Light Bringer.” At the tightening of his mouth she hurriedly continued. “But Queen Lidra is the only Aellei I know of to openly encourage a blood drinker.” She shivered and looked at him for understanding. “Something’s not right there. Aunt Lidra’s selfish, vain,” she paused and blushed at his look. “Okay, we’re all a little vain, but she takes it to the extreme. My aunt’s a bitch, to put it bluntly, but she’s always put Aelle before her needs.”

“Then something’s changed if she’s consorting with a Dark Lord. His like will only bring Aelle to war, if not with Tanselm, then with Kreer or Gralt. Dark Lords are a destructive, chaotic race. And their rule over Tanselm over a thousand years ago almost tore the land apart.”

She rolled her eyes. “I know. Believe it or not, Aerolus, I was a scholar before I left Aelle.”

He stared in surprise. Alandra, a scholar? She stood with her arms akimbo, the robe gaping at the collar to reveal the upper slope of her full breasts. Her full lips parted in wait. Between one breath and the next, he hardened like iron.

“I can see you as a revolutionary, easily as a seductress.” He lifted his gaze from her mouth to note the darkness of her eyes, the uneven rise and fall of her breasts. Damn, they were going to have to speed this discussion so he could have another round with his affai. “But a scholar? You have the brains, but the discipline I’ve yet to see.”

He wanted to laugh when he saw the pique on her face. She clenched her fists and leant forward, the robe parting more to reveal a tantalising view of her nipples. He felt his towel slide as his erection grew, but Alandra glared into his eyes, unaware of his reaction.

“I’ve been studying Aellein history since before you were conceived.” She smiled slyly at his surprise. “That’s right, Aerolus. You’re a babe in the woods to a veteran of magic like myself.”

He eyed her up and down, his focus lingering on her breasts. By the Light, she made him so hard. He needed to know more about her. But damn if he could think of anything but licking her until she cried his name.

“You’re saying you’re an older woman, then?”

She grimaced and opened her mouth to speak when her gaze slid down his torso, noting his arousal. “I think you’re the one with the discipline issues,” she murmured, her voice husky.

He knew he wouldn’t get a better chance to find the truth and unashamedly used her sexuality to his advantage. He grasped the root of his cock and began sliding his hand up and down, creaming his palm with the need that continued to build after bringing her to orgasm in the shower.

“Tell me why you’re really here, love,” he murmured and groaned when she licked her lips.

“You can’t think such a blatant attempt at seduction will break me?” She sounded incredulous, indignant, and definitely turned on.

“I want to fuck you so badly I ache. But I need answers, answers you’ve been avoiding.” He stared through shuttered lids and saw her take deep breaths for calm. “You need me, love. I can see the hunger in your aura.” He grinned at the muttered cursing under her breath. “There’s no point in hiding how you feel. Just tell me what I need to know, and we’ll be together again.”

She bit her lip and frowned. The robe parted completely as she took a step closer, and it was all he could do to slow down his fist. Her breasts swayed as she moved, her hips begging to be held down as he took what was his by right, by law.

“I’ll tell you, Aerolus.” She held up a hand. “But not because of this.” She swallowed loudly, a testament that his seduction had not been in vain. “But because it’s time you knew what you were up against.”

“I’d much rather be up against you,” he murmured and grinned at the exasperated sigh she sent him.

“You’re making this hard, no, don’t say it! Just let me explain as quickly as possible. Much as I hate to admit it, I’m so hot for you right now I feel like I’m going to combust.” She sounded disgruntled, but her gaze caressed him like winds of Light.

“Talk fast, purie.” He groaned and deliberately held his hand away from his cock. “I’m so hard and so close to coming it won’t take long before I’m filling you with my seed.”

She swallowed, her eyes fixed to his erection. “Right. Well, it goes back a year, when I overheard Lidra and her Der captain in a private conversation…”