Page 5 of The Surrender

More tingles erupt upon my skin from the weightlessness flowing all around me. As if I’m floating upon a current of silk sheets. I alternate my arms, rippling one and finishing with the other, marveling at how it slips through my fingers. My muscles soften as I focus on inhaling deeper, letting the surface carry me, bear me.

The water becomes my sanctuary. I become magic and wonder and the fabric of dreams.

Soon, my whole body is gliding. Until white shock bursts through me, chilling me, draining all the blood from my face. Because Kyan has let go of my feet. As soon as my muscles tighten and my body stiffens like a board, I sink. Splashing and thrashing with the water, I cry out his name, but the lake blurs the sound.

Before the water reaches my nose, he’s there. Gripping my hips and bearing me into his muscled arms, Kyan presses me to his chest. His heartbeat is placid compared to my drumming one. Gasping, I fall against his chest, sighing a moment later from its warmth.

“There now, Quinny. Breathe in and out. Let my air flow like a ghost to kiss the air in your lungs.”

His air? I almost question, but he raises up my chin and captures my lips instead. He seals his mouth to mine, but he doesn’t steal my breath. Instead, he gives it to me.

Whether it’s tears or the lake droplets, I can’t tell, but all I know is this moment’s emotion. His mouth mates with mine in a deep and intimate kiss I know I will covet from him from now on. While binding my legs tighter around his waist, I dive deeper, seeking more of that breath to feed me. More of him to grant me breath…and life!

5

I will stop at nothing to claim him, to claim all of them…

QUINTESSA

He feasts on me. With my legs firmly anchored, he frees his palms to explore, and I whimper into his mouth, knowing I’ll never grow tired of his touch. Or any of theirs.

I explore, too. His hair is shorter than Drago’s but also not as coarse. Probably nowhere near as soft as Mayce’s. I love the thickness of Kyan’s and the little hints of curls at the ends. They’re only damp from the lake water while mine are soaked. Once I sink my greedy nails into his scalp, the fallen angel squeezes my breasts, fondling harder and biting my lower lip, teeth tugging at the supple flesh.

“Mmm…” I moan and drag my nails to the back of his neck.

I remember that night beneath Drago’s castle when Kronos brought the half-souls. I remember how Kyan created the little whirlwinds. And how he could even harness all the others’ abilities. I wonder if it’s the gift of his heart—how he can touch those closest to him and gift them with an invisible bond. I see the effect he has. Merikh is the dark one. Mayce is the smart one. Drago is the leader.

“You follow them. You’re all around them,” I murmur against his lips and blink back tears as I study his beautiful face. Angelic. Ethereal. Deep-set eyes, sensual, with the color of winter storms. “You’re the loyal one. And you’ll always be there…here.” I curl my fingers onto his chest, feeling the thumping of his heart. “Waiting in the wings. Won’t you?” I glance back at those pinions as they curve around me, already sensing the energy radiating into my skin. I close my eyes, hissing from that energy. It only thrusts my breast into his hand more.

Kyan chuckles, the sound low and dark before he gives my nipple a light pinch. “Beware of that heart, little darling.”

My eyes fly open at the new pitch, the new tone—so unmistakable. And that’s when I notice the change in his eyes. My jaw drops. My lips part. While one eye is the color of frost and blue velvet, the other is darker, colder. Two sides to Kyan, so similar to Drago. Do Mayce and Merikh have other sides I can’t begin to fathom?

While tracing my areola, the fallen angel brings his lips to my brow and whispers, “Your heart is too great, little spirit moth. You’ll fly so high, you’ll leave the sky, and oh, how you will fall!”

He drops me. I’m leaning back so much, I know my back will slap the water, but his wings catch me again. In a half cocoon, they bear my body along the water. At first, I splay my fingers on those strong yet silky feathers, rise part of the way to face the angel, and shake my head with a smirk. I should tell whoever stares back at me with that lone dark eye that I am well-accustomed to shadows and their tricks.

Instead, I tilt my neck, tossing my wet hair to one side, wholly aware of my glistening breasts and puckered buds. “Do you have a name, handsome monster?”

With a side grin, Kyan joins his hands behind his back and lowers at the waist until his eyes are an inch from mine. “Oh, little dear wants to know our name? No, we do not have such time. For now, you may call me Shadow. For Shadow is all you need to know.”

He kisses me again.

As he steals my breath with that kiss, I take the moment to explore. Beneath my wandering hands is the masculine body of a warrior. Ever since he’d regained his wings, more muscle had manifested in his body. I fawn over the magic of it all, smiling to myself at how lucky one girl could get. Well, luck had nothing to do with it.

No, I didn’t choose to enter the Sacrifice. But I chose to stab Drago. And to follow the monsters through the Wailing Woods. I chose to cross through the Veil of Souls. I chose to heal Drago—to touch him, to receive him fucking me, to share his fire. Did I think through every choice? Any choice? I smirk. Of course not.

But I bonded with Drago, claimed him as much as he’d claimed me. I freed his soul.

Now, I’ve bonded with Kyan. I will stop at nothing to claim him, to claim all of them…even if it sends me into the next life and back again. Been there. Done that. Came back breathing.

I open my eyes, and my breath stalls in my chest as this otherworldly monster Kyan holds is now kissing me, possessing me. Once his mouth descends to my chin and lower, I arch for him, baring my throat to his lips. A warm, wet tongue strokes down to my chest. Heat radiates from his mouth as he licks the flat end of his tongue upon my nipple. I sink my fingers into his rich mahogany strands, tug on those waves, and he growls, captures my nipple, and suckles on it with a vengeance.

“Gods, Quinny!” He snarls, breaking from my breast but not leaving it. I squeeze my eyes, trying to pull him back, but he holds strong against me, and circles the barest tip of his tongue around the erect bud, denying me the tingling thrill. “Drago thinks you taste like some fucking dark rose in winter?” He rises, presses his lips firmly to mine, then grips my neck to command my eyes to his contrasting ones. “To me, you’re no floral. You’re the moon in my blackest night, no matter what form it takes—broken or whole. I’ll take whatever sliver of light you will give me, Quintessa. My brother may have fucked you first, but you shine for me now.” He studies me, searching my eyes while I part my lips, then lick them, and muster the strength to nod.

Kyan lowers me onto those wings, which remind me of a velvet, feathery tapestry beneath my back. I keep my calves braced around his waist. A jolt rips through me when he stabs two thick fingers in my pussy, rubbing the soft insides.

“How does it feel, Quinny dear?” the fallen angel asks.

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