Page 140 of Elas

We touch everywhere.

Back to chest, ass to hips, thigh to thigh.

The back of my head drops onto his shoulder, panting as he holds me there. “I love you,” he repeats, peppering wet, frantic kisses along my cheek and neck. It turns into a chant as he pulls his hips back, sliding all the way out of me. The stretch burns all over again as he slips back inside, thrusting until there’s no space between us.

He keeps doing this, pulling out of me completely so I can feel the ache as he fills me. “Need to see you,” he murmurs, sliding out and turning me to face him. “Need to know you’re here with me.”

My arms wrap around his neck, pressing my forehead to his as our lips brush. “I’m here with you. Always. Where you go, I go.” He grabs my thighs, lifting them to circle his waist. Gasps pass between our lips as his cock finds my hole again, his hips tilting as he thrusts into me. A new battle between hot and cold rages, the tiles chilled againstmy back and Elas’s body scorching every part of me he touches.

A snap of wet skin makes my spine arch as his palm slaps against my ass. My mouth drops open, and his lips tug into a playful grin. “Again,” I beg, and he chuckles as he swats me a second time. My fingers scramble to pull him closer, digging pits into his shoulders as I move my hips. I trust him to hold me as I let go of my inhibitions, writhing in his arms. Trapped between us, my cock gets all the friction it needs as I climb even higher.

I relish every drag of skin. Every muffled sting as he grows longer and thicker inside me. Every brush of our bellies against my cock. My fingers fist his hair, his mouth dropping open in a snarl as I chant his name. I chase my release, no finesse or rhythm to my movements as we fall into nothing more than carnal, instinctual need. He pulls back, only the very tip left inside me as he holds me against the wall. When he drives forward, I shout as my whole body jolts.

“That’s it, baby,” he murmurs as he does it again. “Let them all hear you. Remind them who you belong to.” His name leaves me in a needy wail as my orgasm barrels down my spine. My throat burns with my cries as he growls in pleasure, thrusting up into me faster and harder. Pure bliss explodes through my body, every nerve ending igniting as my climax shoots between us. My muscles clench and release, and he groans as he slides in as deep as he can.

His cock fills me until it aches in the most amazing way, and quiet grunts leave his throat with every pulse as he comes inside me. His lips scramble to find mine, thrusting and rutting against me as he tries to get even deeper.

Like he could never be close enough, but he’s never going to stop trying.

My mouth is dry as I float down off this high, my throat clicking as I swallow. Our hearts race in sync, chest to chest, as he slumps against me. “Thank you for coming for me,” I whisper, emotions clogging my throat and stinging my eyes. “Thank you for helping me when I needed you… for not denying me, even when you knew how dangerous it was.”

“I will always come for you, August,” he murmurs, dragging his lips across mine in a featherlight kiss. He pulls his hips back and thrusts as I gasp. A monstrous gleam flickers in his eyes as his head twists to meet my gaze. “And you, my love, will always come for me.”

Elas

Flameslickthebottomof a large pot of oatmeal as we make a circle around the fire pit. Everyone sits on the ground or uses the rocks for chairs, while August perches in my lap. Xeni is across from us, slightly removed from the group, leaning against a trunk and refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. Instead, he picks at the grass beneath him. He looks so lost in his own head that even I can’t help feeling sorry for him.

Nyx emerges from the forest with Cameron and Ronan at his side, but when he spots Xeni, a pained whine leaves his throat. His entire body locks up stiff. Xeni’s face tightens further when he glances up to see him, and quickly stares at the ground once more.

Ronan kneels, speaking to Nyx in low, calming tones. “It’s okay if you don’t want to be here,” Ronan whispers to him in our language, and Xeni’s ears perk up as he listens. “It’s alright not to trust him just because we say you can. You’re free here. Free to do whatever you choose, and ifyou’d rather not be part of the conversation, that’s fine. It’s always your choice.”

Eventually, Nyx calms down enough to respond with a few broken words. “I trust… I trustyou,” he whispers to Ronan, his long fingers absently gripping the hem of Ronan’s shirt like a security blanket. “I trust you to keep me safe.”

“Of course I’ll keep you safe,” Ronan responds, his voice thicker than usual. The tiny Drüinae brings forth a fierce sense of protectiveness from all of us, and he seems to realize that as he glances around the group. Surprisingly, Lillith doesn’t seem to bother him. She lies flat on her back with her head in Taryn’s lap, smiling up at the sky as the clouds roll past. Taryn runs her hands through Lillith’s short hair, focused intently even though the conversation hasn’t started yet.

Reyes sits to my right, eyes locked on Nyx as he speaks with Ronan and Cameron. Eventually, they join us with Cameron taking the spot to my left. Nyx stands in the shadows, like a forest nymph that’s as much a part of the trees as he is the group. He’s nearly invisible, and can only be seen when the light shifts in certain directions. After what we saw at Ljómur, after knowing what he spent a lifetime experiencing… I don’t blame him for being wary.

Ronan dishes breakfast, narrowing his eyes at Lillith before tossing an extra scoop of oats into her bowl. She’s extraordinarily pleased at this, showing off her overflowing dish to Taryn with a cheerful smile. Conversations murmur in a lull as everyone eats, and once our bellies are full, we share everything that happened at Ljómur.

The story is told in fragments as we move between our different experiences. The bulk of the talking is done by me and August, but Xeni chimes in to add bits of information as needed. Taryn and Lillith share their account, and the whole of the picture finally forms.

“But why?” Ronan crosses his arms. “What could be worth all the sacrifices?”

Xeni shifts uncomfortably and his gaze meets mine before his eye flicks away. Our conversation as he was opening my cage comes rushing back. “You know what they were doing, don’t you?” I ask, and he purses his lips and chews on the inside of his cheek. “What was all this about?”

He deflates, crossing his arms and choking out a bitter laugh. “Fuck it. It’s not like I can put a bigger target on myself, can I?”

“Enough with the dramatics,” I taunt, and August squeezes my hand with a sigh.

Xeni glares at me again before staring at his fidgeting fingers. “They’re trying to reopen the passageways.”

Dead silence falls over the group until Xeni takes a deep breath and continues.

“Years ago, when I was stationed at Ljómur, I was…closewith a scientist. The Commander divided the tasks, so no one really knew the full scope of what they were working on, only their individual pieces. But he failed to realize that the scientists were friends, too, and eventually, some of them compared notes and figured out their plan... or at least, what they assumed it was.”

“This whole time, they’ve been trying to reopen the portals?” Ronan asks, and when Xeni nods, Ronan’s lips pull even tighter. “How?”

“That’s what they were trying to figure out,” Xeni says, dragging a stick through the loose dirt at his feet. “Everything was on a need-to-know basis. Scientists weren’t aware of the methods we were using on the subj—” He falters, a grimace tugging on his face as he glances between August, Taryn, and Lillith, and finally Nyx at the treeline. “They didn’t know what techniques were being used on the prisoners,” he corrects softly. “And we had no idea what they were doing in their labs. All the years I was there, I was never once allowed inside that hallway.”

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