Page 126 of Return of the Nine

“Hello, my groom. Well, are we going to stay here all day?” She blinked up at him as her light continued to spread.

He lifted her wrist to his lips, and she jolted in surprise as he licked the wound closed. She shivered as the touch of his tongue resonated in parts of her that had remained dormant until this point.

When he lifted his wrist to her lips, she could see that the cut was already healing, but she stuck her tongue out daintily and licked away the visible traces of blood. Her mouth felt lit up from the inside as if she had just consumed energy, which she supposed she had.

He pulled his hand away from her, and she could feel his body vibrating. Without another word, he lifted her in his arms and he headed back down the path, out of the mating garden.

Ziggy, Rothaway and Darthuun were waiting, but they flinched back as Deniir passed them. With huge sweeps of his wings, he lifted off with her weight in his arms, and a moment later, they were going down the halls with all the decorum of a loose meteor.

She could see the shadows that were cast in their wake, buther focus was on the winged man carrying her home.

He didn’t put her down until they were in his quarters and the door was locked.

She smiled up at him, her arms around his neck and her body pressed to his. “How do we turn the light off?”

“You will control it... after a while.” He nibbled at her lips, worked down her neck and he released her gown with a few deft moves.

She shivered at the cool of the air, but he wrapped his wings around her with that strangely comforting flexibility. Ula found and released the closures of his shirt, but she was afraid to pull in case it was hooked on his wings.

As his hands skimmed over her, she focussed on the heat that her body was generating. When he tipped her to the bed and tossed her shoes aside, his own clothing was not far behind.

Deniir entered her mind as he entered her body, his wings protected her on all sides as he moved with her, his light and hers blinded them both when they reached climax and his thoughts tangled inexorably with hers.

He shifted some of his weight off her but remained covering her. He kissed her, “Hello, mate.”

She smiled and returned the kiss. “Hello, mate. So, how long for the glow to fade?”

He chuckled. “Give it a week. You will have it throttled back by then.”

Ula sighed. “I don’t have a week. I have to get my stuff to safety.”

“Then, we will go down to Gaia with you glowing like the stars. I don’t see a problem.”

She covered her face and tried to imagine explaining herself to her friends. Mind you, they were mated to members of the Nine themselves, so they had probably seen stranger.

Niika looked her over. “Well, you will save on power bills, and you can work until midnight or beyond without any problem.”

Ula crossed her arms and looked at Emharo. She beckoned for an insult.

“Nothing here. I think you could be a boon for either Niika’s cavern work or my underwater investigation. Where do we plug you in?” Emharo chortled.

Three shuttles had landed to take her stuff up to the mother ship. A steady stream of men carried objects that were understood only by Ula.

“You two aren’t upset that I am leaving?”

Niika put her hand on Ula’s. “You were not happy here and we are no longer at war. If we need your help, I know you will give it, and if I just want to visit, I am sure my other half would be happy to run around in space once again. I am having him do most of the hunting, and it is wearing on him.”

Ula chortled. “I have seen what you hunt. He is lucky he is still alive. So, does your guy do anything physically weird?”

Niika gave her an innocent look. “Like in bed?”

“No, like glowing.”

“Oh, that, yeah. He turns to living stone when I am threatened. Emharo’s breathes underwater, so he is weird from the get go. How is it flying?”

“You mean with him carrying me or with my mechanical wings?”

That led to a chat with the girls about the wings, and it was a good thing she had brought them with her, because they didn’t believe her.

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