Chapter Sixteen

              

 

 

   Arim did his best to breathe, hoping against hope that Lexa had at least retrieved what she needed to make herself whole. He could no longer see out of his right eye, and his stomach boasted more holes than a wooden flute. Groaning, he didn’t have to feign weakness as he struggled to stand.

   He and ‘Sin Garu had taken their fight from the commons out of the castle onto Tanselm’s dying grasses. The land shuddered as every blow from the demon-infested Dark Lord struck him, and thus her, deep into her core.

   It was as if Tanselm had invested the last of her energy in Arim, her chosen Guardian of Storm, and were he to die, he’d take her with him. So not only to save Lexa, but the land as well, he’d forced himself to stay conscious and breathe, when every cell he possessed wanted to lay down and die. The demon poison burned and ached, and made him want things he shouldn’t. It ate at the Light fuelling him and force-fed his Darkness, making Arim both weaker and stronger because of it. A contradiction that was keeping him alive, if barely.

   All around him Light Bringers battled the Netharat. Here, in the western territory, it seemed the Light might actually prevail…if Arim could fucking kill one pain in the ass Dark Lord.             

   ‘Sin Garu screeched a warning at the wraith that shadowed his every move and angled to cover Arim’s weaker side, leaving the wraith free to attack Arim’s less damaged flank. He wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.  He probably wouldn’t live through this, and he wanted badly to see Lexa again, to at least know he’d helped to save her now, as he hadn’t been able to back then.

   Tired of watching ‘Sin Garu control this particular fight, Arim called on the Darkness seething within him and tangled a stray beam of Light in his power. He focused on ‘Sin Garu’s lackey, the bloodless Sirral, and sliced the wraith in two. ‘Sin Garu hissed his displeasure and reached out with one clawed hand at Arim’s face as he raced towards him.

   “Arim! Mother of Light,” he heard Darius exclaim. Dimly aware of Samantha and several Light Bringer sorcerers gathering close, Arim held up a hand to shield them from his personal battle as he braced for impact.

   Caging himself and ‘Sin Garu together, Arim would allow no one but himself to fall at the Dark Lord’s hands. His nephew would have to protect the others from the small number of Netharat still living. But if Darius was near enough to this outlying portion of Tanselm’s western forest, the battle was likely almost over. This skirmish…not nearly so.

   ‘Sin Garu had suffered some damage to his body, but the damned demons holding him together seemed to absorb most of his injuries. Even with several severed fingers and a broken knee, ‘Sin Garu moved as if he felt no pain.

   The two slammed together and Arim felt as if he’d been hit by a brick wall. He managed to avert his eyes from the talons stretching close, needing his precious sight to survive a while longer. ‘Sin Garu raked his neck instead.

    Arim cursed at the blaze of pain racking his aching body. “Get. Off.” He allowed the last bit of his Light to pour through his wounds, cauterising them to stop the bleeding, as well as to score deep furrows in ‘Sin Garu’s rotting flesh.

   The Dark Lord screamed, cursing Arim, his progeny and his ancestors to every imaginable concept of damnation.

   “You’re weak, as you’ve always been,” Arim said hoarsely. “Weak and pitiful.” Not smart, but the insult shot straight at ‘Sin Garu’s major vulnerability. His pride. The Dark Lord pushed Arim away, and he fell hard on the ground. Tanselm’s magic had dulled enough that her earth did nothing to help him as he landed flat on his back.   

   “Weak? Me? I’ve brought the Storm Lords and your precious Tanselm to its knees. You are nothing. A Light Bringer with no more power than that of your flailing world. You have nothing. My demons are feasting on Lexa even now. She’ll feed them forever.” ‘Sin Garu laughed, and his inner demons laughed with him.

   The sound made Arim’s eyes tear with the pain of such shrillness. He could only be glad he’d shielded everyone else from such torment. As he lay looking up at his enemy, a picture of Lexa came to him. Her soft blue eyes both loving and welcoming, her arms spread wide in welcome, eagerly awaiting their embrace… His vision darkened as untold pleasure beckoned him close. If only he could hear her one last time, the sultry timber of a woman in love…

   “You die on me and I’ll bring you back from the Next just to kill you again.” Lexa’s cold voice rang with fury.

   Arim managed to open one eye in time to see her, from inside his shield, blast ‘Sin Garu away from him and into the opposite confine of the bubble—at least sixty hand spans away.

   Unable to move, he chuckled and blinked up at her as she knelt over him. “I guess I don’t have to ask if you’re whole again.”

   Her tears hit his cheeks as she raged. “I leave you by yourself for a few minutes and you nearly die. What is wrong with you?” She ripped open his already torn overtunic and placed her hands flat on his chest.

   “Lexa…not…safe.”

   “Shut up.” The venomous look she shot ‘Sin Garu made Arim glad she wasn’t as angry at him. She waved a hand at ‘Sin Garu and Arim watched in astonishment as the Dark Lord froze like a statue. “There. Now I can focus.”

   The cold of her palms numbed the pain. Arim sighed as the sweet relief of oblivion neared. Then heat coursed through their contact, and he squirmed as tingles of energy hit him like angry, stinging bees.

   “Ouch. That hurts, dammit.” In one fell swoop, Arim felt life flow back into him. The earth beneath him swelled with power and began sharing it through the matted blades of grass and dark earth replete with new vitality. Lexa’s power smacked of Darkness, but it fed the Darkness in his soul and attracted even more of Tanselm’s Light.

   “Finally. Sava broke the demon bridge.” Lexa smiled with reassurance and love. 

   Arim, however, felt more than just her love. He was overwhelmed with Tanselm’s excited power, and with the bursts of joy surging in Lexa’s womb. It was that energy that brought back his focus. He stared incredulously at the proof of what he’d suspected before.

   “Lexa?” There was much he wanted to know, but Arim feared for Lexa’s safety so near ‘Sin Garu. Though her power seemed to have quadrupled, ‘Sin Garu was no mere Dark Lord, but a host of demonic forces that wanted more than anything to conquer this world of Light.

   Arim sat up with Lexa’s help. They watched as ‘Sin Garu tried to break through the paralysis holding him still, a paralysis that shouldn’t have worked considering the demons bolstering the Dark Lord’s reserves.

   It was then Arim noticed that the shield surrounding him had faltered, because the Royal Four and their affai, a host of other Light Bringers, Jonas, Djinn warriors and Aellei now surrounded the area where the shield had been. Which also explained how Lexa had been able to join him.

   “You did it, Arim. You broke the drain on Tanselm’s energy.” Aerolus grinned, the wind whipping around him with the force of a small tornado.

   “I didn’t do it. She did.” Arim nodded at Lexa, not at all happy everyone seemed to have disregarded ‘Sin Garu’s presence. The damned battle was far from over, so why was everyone smiling? And why the hell were his nephews here and not fighting in their respective territories?

   Sava suddenly appeared next to Jonas with a body draped over his shoulder, startling the Djinn into a battle crouch. When Jonas saw Sava, he grinned and raised a hand, as if to clasp Sava’s. After a moment, he faltered, then backed away and erected a shield of Dark between them.

   “Demons,” Jonas hissed, which had everyone defensive and readying to attack Sava.

   “Wait.” Lexa left Arim’s side and approached Sava. “I have the one you’re looking for.” She glanced over her shoulder at ‘Sin Garu.

   Sava considered her, then shifted his stare to the frozen Dark Lord. “What’s stopping me from having both of you?” He grinned, showcasing a mouth awfully similar to ‘Sin Garu’s.

   Arim preceded his words as he teleported between Lexa and Sava. “I won’t allow it.”  He didn’t need to be told that Sava wasn’t himself. He could smell demon on the Aellein’s skin, like a musky, Dark cologne.

   “Arim, it’s okay—” Lexa tried but he cut her off.

   “It’s not okay.” His soft voice should have warned her to tread warily. She didn’t seem to understand the chaos of his emotions. He’d been one breath away from death and then she’d reappeared to save him. Arim might have lost her in that demon hell. He might have died, separating them until she joined him in the Next. But now she was here, and she put herself in deliberate danger confronting a possessed Aellei. That hazard was not only to herself, but also to the precious bundle she carried in her belly.

   Arim turned to Sava and spoke to the demons invading his body. “Remove yourselves from the Aellei. He’s your host no longer. Take the rotting Dark Lord. The evil in his soul is one that can feed you for an eternity.”

   Sava dumped the body over his shoulder to the ground and walked to ‘Sin Garu, studying him intently. Arim allowed himself a brief glance at the ground and swore when he saw the unmoving frame of Brother Giles, his lone informant in the Church of Illumination. The young man had a bad case of hero worship, and Arim had used it to learn what he could about the Church. Too little, too late, apparently.

   Seeming to sense Arim’s concern, Lexa looked from him to Giles and knelt by the young man’s side. She placed a hand on his forehead and nodded. Moments later, Giles groaned.

   “I’ll take the Dark Lord,” Sava declared in a horrific cacophony of sound, causing everyone around them to cringe. “Him and the white one.”

   White one?

   “No.” Lexa stood, and again Arim put himself between her and their present danger. “Sava’s not yours to keep.”

   “He’s not,” Alandra said from the periphery, stepping forward.

   Aerolus and the other Storm Lords stepped forward as well, their elemental energy throbbing with vigour. Tanselm seemed to feed off their emotions for the land shuddered with power.

   “Finally.” Arim made use of the magic that had once been his to manipulate at will. He hadn’t felt such pure power in hundreds of years…not since Lexa had left his life. Staring at Sava, he focused on looking into the male, seeking the forces he needed to deal with.

   A true Light Bringer might not have been able to mark the demons in Sava, but Arim tapped the Dark centre of his being. Using the Light that was Tanselm, he easily saw the bevy of demons fighting for supremacy in Sava’s body. Recalling his own bout with a possession spell, Arim began chanting, pleased when Aerolus, a powerful, if novice, Wind Mage, joined him. And then Alandra lent her considerable magic.

   It didn’t take long for the demons in Sava to release him from their hold. A large black cloud with green threads poured from Sava’s mouth, and he dropped to the ground in a heap. The cloud hovered and began to disperse in the violet twilight of Tanselm’s sky.

   When it drew near ‘Sin Garu, Arim knew he had to close the deal. He stepped away from the others and absorbed the energy around him. He called on Tanselm, on the Storm Lords, on his love for Lexa, and with a beam of pure light stared into the decaying body of ‘Sin Garu.

   The paralysis broke from the Dark Lord long enough to showcase his terror. While ‘Sin Garu shrieked with horror, the noxious demon cloud screamed as well, a sound that shook the area in a violent tremble of earth before the cloud simply disappeared in Arim’s Light.

   “No. Not like this. Don’t do this to me. Not to meeee…” ‘Sin Garu looked suddenly like a Djinn burning in truth, but without the black flame surrounding his body. One giant mass of blazing Light in the form of a man clawed at itself in a fire so pure even Arim had to turn away. Power suffused every pore in Arim’s body, and the extreme rush made him giddy.

   “Mother of Dark,” Lexa exclaimed with the others as ‘Sin Garu exploded in a shower of sparks and golden dust that floated away on a warm breath of wind.

   Sudden silence fell over the gathering, and it took a moment for it to sink in.

   ‘Sin Garu was dead. The threat over Tanselm for so many years had been vanquished. Faustus, Ravyn and the deceased Storm Lords had been avenged. The Netharat, or what remained of them, would be rounded up and dealt with. The future they’d all prayed would come to pass finally lay in reach for all of them, Light and Dark alike.

   Lexa was the first to move. She tended to Sava while several others looked after Brother Giles. After laying hands on Sava, Lexa nodded to Alandra and several nearby Aellei, who took him in their midst. “He’ll need rest, but he seems fine, physically at least.” She glanced back up at Arim and frowned.

   “What’s wrong?” Arim felt not himself, as if he was floating just outside of his body. He was suddenly ravenous, needing to fill the void slowly eating away at him. A backlash of energy was all he could think.

   “You’re glowing, and the Light’s starting to hurt.”

   He tried to contain it, but the Dark pushing inside him bellowed for more. To feel the pain he craved but could never understand. Lexa saw it. He reached out a hand, unable to control his desire, “Come with me.” The voice was not his own, yet it was. The pitch seethed with need, a Dark echo lined with Light.

   “Arim?” Darius looked concerned, as did the rest of his nephews.

   “Is it more demons?” Cadmus asked with Ellie wormed under his shoulder.

   “I don’t think so,” Aerolus said, studying Arim. “But—”

   The hunger began to hurt. Arim tried to content himself with the Light Tanselm provided, but he couldn’t ignore his craving for something more. His confusing ache grew clearer as his gaze met and snared Lexa’s. The need, the want. It was all for her, for the tempting Dark Lord who teased with every breath she took. Her full lips parted, her round breasts rose and fell, and the sultry scent of desire clung to her, a scent he wanted to absorb into his very being.

   “Mine. Now.” He pulled her to him with bands of Light that threaded through her Darkness. She squirmed but froze when she felt his erection growing against her, and the contact of her slight frame against his made him want to howl with lust.

   If he didn’t find them some privacy, now, he feared he’d take her regardless of their audience.

   “Not a demon, unless you account lust as demonic influence,” Aerolus murmured in an amused voice.

   Unable to wait a moment more, Arim teleported with Lexa into the one place he’d never shared with anyone. Deep within Morn Mountain, in one of the Darkest places in Tanselm, sat a world none of the others knew about, not even Ravyn. She had taken him to a place in the shallower section of the mountain, an area of healing baths and mineral deposits full of gems and stones that accentuated his magic.

   But here, in this place, Arim had created a private domain where he alone soothed those instances of savage Darkness that raged inside him. In a cavern he had fashioned to suit as a private retreat, Arim arrived with Lexa tight in his arms. The spacious area was lit by candlelight spelled to illuminate whenever he entered. A large bed stood in once corner of the comfortably temperate space. There was a dining area, a place where he worked on his magic, and another to surround himself with Tanselm’s abundance that flourished in the Dark, vibrant flowers and bushes that had use only for the Arim’s powerful presence.

   It was the massive bed in which Arim was interested, a hedonistic confection littered with silken pillows and a firm yet luxurious mattress—one he’d never shared with another. He appeared right next to it. Standing together with the woman he loved in his Dark, easy resting place, Arim shook with the violent need to release inside her. He squeezed her tighter. The things he fantasised about with this woman. His life, his love, his children…

   It was the last thought that prompted him to temper his waxing aggression.

   “Arim, I can barely breathe—”

   He stole her protest with a kiss, greedily devouring her Darkness with his carnality. He’d never desired so much. The power within him writhed and seethed, wanting all she had to give him. To his surprise, Lexa met him lust for lust. She nipped at his mouth and pulled at his clothing while rubbing up against him like a cat in heat.

   “Yes, yes. More,” he panted as he yanked her clothes from her body. Too far gone to concentrate on a spell, he simply ripped until nothing stood between them. “I need you so damned much.”

   “Yes,” she whispered and sucked hard on his neck. He growled and pressed harder against her belly, feeling his cock slide over her skin as it glided through the moisture seeping from his tip.

   Dark’s Mother, but he was so close to coming.

   “Do it now,” she urged and lay back on the bed, her eyes glittering like diamonds.

   Arim wanted to but couldn’t, not like this. It was more than the physical, though he couldn’t identify what exactly he wanted. Giving himself over to instinct, he flipped Lexa onto her belly and nudged her thighs wide. Like a plaything for my own enjoyment. Mine. The thought made him even harder, and he couldn’t help himself as he knelt between her thighs.

   Her scent was so sweet, her ass so firm and pale.

   “Arim?”

   “Stay down,” he commanded, his voice both gruff and filled with power.

   She shivered, but not with fear. He could see her excitement as her pussy glistened, dew sliding over her folds. Arim spread her thighs uncomfortably wide and leaned close, kneading her ass with large, hungry hands. Tilting her pelvis up, he saw what he’d been looking for. The smooth, wet pussy that was his.

   He stared at the pink flesh beckoning him closer and licked her with a long, smooth stroke. More than satisfied with her moan of delight, he still knew it wasn’t nearly enough. He had to consume every part of her. Closing on the hard little nub that felt so good between his lips, Arim began eating her in earnest. He licked and sucked, drunk on her taste. Barely aware of her first climax, he pressed on, needing to swallow her cream and the Dark that passed through her sex like honey.

   “Blue,” he rumbled, unable to form coherent thought apart from her body. Her clit was like a tiny cherry, hard yet bursting with flavour. She tasted like ambrosia, a heady mixture of Light and Dark, of Lexa… She was his, and he needed to hear her say it. “You’re mine. Say it.”

   She groaned and clutched at the bed, her skin so cool in contrast to her heated sex. The differences excited him unbearably. Arim quickly rose and lifted her waist, angling her for better ease into her tight, hot pussy. Poised at her entrance, he felt sweat beading on his forehead, his craving to possess her riding him hard.

   “Say it, Blue. You’re mine.” He pressed slowly inside her, inch by inch, seizing what belonged to him and him alone.

   “Please, Arim. I need all of you.” She squirmed, trying to shove back onto him, but he held her fast.  

   “Say it.” He gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to take what she needed to give.

   “I’m yours,” she cried and he plunged deep, no other thought but satisfaction blazing in his brain.

   He fucked her without mercy, thrusting in and out, so hard he thought he’d explode several times over. Yet the desire compounded like a madness, and he was helpless to stop himself from pushing as deep into her as he could go.

   “Arim! Night and Stars.” She moaned and screamed as another orgasm shook her.

   The feel of her tight walls sucking him in opened the floodgates on his Darkness coiling to be let loose. He spurted, the beginning of a mind-blowing orgasm escaping before he could contain it. But this was no ordinary sex, and after he emptied between her thighs he roared and pulled out of her, only to push inside her ass, his cock still hard, still needy.

   He brought her hips firmly against his and shoved through the tightness of her anus, knowing he gave her as much pain as pleasure. He was covered in her cum and his, but the roughness of his intrusion could by no means be smooth.

   His little Dark Lord, however, shook from the force of her pleasure.

   “It burns. Oh more, please,” she said in a hoarse voice.

   That quickly, his body built towards another inferno. A few thrusts more and he was too close to turn back. Arim shackled their energy as he rode her, taking what he wanted and giving her everything he had. Love poured from him in waves as he crested another unbelievably high peak into climax.

   Raw ecstasy blinded him, and he was frozen in the moment as he shot inside her, his cum filling her ass and dribbling down her pussy and thighs. Yet still the orgasm wasn’t enough. He pulled out and found himself still hard, still hungry.

   Lexa turned over, her body awash of his seed and her cream. The scent made him dizzy with lust, and the Darkness of the mountain increased the hunger.

   “What have you done to me?” she breathed, the sparkle in her eyes enchanting. The blue in her eyes had never been warmer. The love shining from their depths threw his heart into a rhythm of unbearable feeling.

   “Light, what you do to me.” He groaned and closed his hand around his throbbing cock. “I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m so Dark and you’re the only thing I can see, can want.” He made no sense, but he spoke from the heart, the words pouring out of him. “I love you so much. I can’t contain it.” And he couldn’t. He could feel the emotion bleeding out of him into her, his Light and Dark a tangle of contrasts and compliments waiting to find its equal.

   Lexa’s eyes welled with tears that she angrily wiped away. Arim knew he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life. “I love you too. And if you ever do anything so stupid as to take on a sorcerer and demon without me, or sacrifice your damned soul, I’ll… I’ll…”

   A tear fell over her cheek and the sheer Dark glory of her love pushed him over the edge.

   He kissed her hard, bruising her lips in his need to dominate. Her raspy breathing told him she liked it, and more, that she welcomed it. He fisted his hands in her hair and pulled her away from him.

   “Come to me.”

   He watched her crawl to him, and his cock ached to feel her mouth around him. He waved a hand to cleanse them of the mess covering them both and waited for her to look up into his face.

   “Arim?”

   “My love,” he corrected and brought her mouth to the tip of his cock.

   “My love,” she whispered in a throaty voice.

   Arim stared at her beautiful lips, wanting nothing more than to slide past them into love. “Suckle me. Take me down your throat.”

   He couldn’t contain the thrill, knowing he possessed the dangerous creature who could kill as easily as she could heal. The woman behind the ice blue eyes was warm and passionate, but she met his Dark needs more than he could have dreamed. His love for her spilled into the room, making the Darkness within glow with a bright blue light.  

   “I love you so much,” he rasped as he watched her wet her lips with her tongue. “I need to fill all of you. I want to fuck that mouth, Blue, until you’re brimming with my cum.”

   She took him balls deep, her lips warm around him as he nested in the heat of her mouth. He clenched his hands in her long, black hair and held on as she took him to the gates of the Next with the light rake of her teeth and the swirling of her tongue.

   She ran her hands up and down his thighs, cupping his balls that hardened into  needy stones.

   “Mmm,” she moaned around him, her lips sucking and stirring a thirst he was more than ready to fulfil.

   Her hands crept around his hips, and she pushed him further down her throat. Then she spread his cheeks and shoved a finger hard into his ass. The pressure made him roar his pleasure and he increased the tempo of his thrusts, nearly there.

   She began fucking his ass with her finger and the combined stimulation was too much to bear.

   He shouted her name as he shot down her throat. His body trembled in the aftermath of so much stimulation. When he finally withdrew, he found himself unsteady and pulled her to her knees, only to topple back onto the bed with her.

   As a deep peace settled over them, Arim drew Lexa deeper into the curve of his body, watching her sleepy eyes as she stared back at him—eyes for once not guarded or cautious about revealing her feelings.

   “You can’t take it back, you know.”

   She frowned. “I won’t.”

   “I love you. You love me. And we’re going to be a family sooner than you think.”

   She palmed her belly, her eyes glued to his when he placed his larger hand over hers. “Is this what you wanted?”

   “Yes,” he said softly, completely open to her. “The question is, is this what you wanted? A man who loves you without reservation, a family to love and cherish.” He prayed she would take his words to heart. “No matter what.”

   She chewed her lower lip, that delicious piece of flesh he wanted to kiss and caress until he came inside her again. “I’m still a Dark Lord.” Her expression changed, to one he couldn’t read at all.

   “Lexa?”

   “Does it matter what I am? Or what you are?”

   “No. I can honestly say it doesn’t. Lexa, if you aren’t happy here, we’ll leave.” They both paused when Tanselm literally groaned in protest. “Not that I want to go, but your happiness comes before anything now. My nephews can manage Tanselm. Our enemy is dead.”

   “The enemy that you know of. The way you Light Bringers act, I’m sure you’ll have more,” she muttered.

   He grinned. “Probably. But we’ll soon have another overking to take care of all that. The affai are pregnant. The future is unfolding as we speak.” He rubbed his hand over hers again, wanting to feel the life inside her under his palm. “I’ll do anything for you, Blue. Just name it.”

   She stared at him, her gaze full of wonder. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

   “I do.”

   Lexa cupped his cheek and smiled. “Don’t think I won’t hold you to that. Hmm. You won’t have to call me Dark Mistress…all the time.” She laughed when he tickled her and then sighed into his embrace. “Just promise you won’t leave me again.”

   He kissed the top of her head, his throat understandably tight, his voice gruff when he answered, “I’ll never leave you again, Blue. I promise.”