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Author: Amber V. Nicole

Chapter 81

Eighty-One

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Dianna

I rolled over and reached out, only to find the bed empty. I frowned and

sat up. “Sami?” I called, but there was no answer.

I tossed the covers off and stood to pad across the floor. Had he left for the Higher One already and not said goodbye?

“Sami?” I called again, grabbing a robe and tying it around myself. I skipped down the stairs and headed into the living room, but it was quiet. I checked the kitchen and the room he used as a small office. Nothing. I wrapped my arms around myself and walked back into the living room, freezing when I saw the pictures on the mantle vibrating.

I walked closer, seeing that they weren’t just vibrating. They were melting. I took a step back, bumping into someone behind me. The room melted away.

I sidestepped and spun around. Gabby looked at me, paint splashed across her shirt.

I was back at the house where Gabby and I had lived. Only this time, it was a complete and utter disaster. The furniture was destroyed and in pieces, frames on the floor, shards of glass everywhere. It looked as if a tornado had ripped through the house.

I swallowed and asked her, “What are you doing?”

“Fixing the cracks. We’re broken.”

“What?”

She ignored me, humming as she slid her brush over a large crack in the wall. Cracks spread across every wall. Unease quivered through me.

“If we can’t open the door, we can’t fix the cracks,” she mumbled as she painted, “and the world ends.”

“What?” I shook my head. “I don’t know what that means.”

She hummed the song from our childhood.

A long, jagged darkness pulsed in the far corner. It had grown since the last time I had been here and spread like cancer through the house. It breathed, and I felt the rush of its breath blow against my hair.

At the end of the hall, past the kitchen and the wall where we’d carved our initials, faint light crept from beneath a door. I turned from Gabby, needing to see what was behind that door. I stopped in front of it, my hand reaching for the knob, but paused, unease growing.

“You won’t like what’s behind that door.” Gabby appeared at my side.

Her hair was still in braided pigtails, and she still wore the same shirt and overalls covered in paint. She smiled and held up her brush. “You have to open that door,” she said, pointing down the hall at the door covered in

chains and locks larger than my hands.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Then the cracks grow.” She hummed.

As if they listened, another fissure split the wall near us, heading toward that damned door. It stopped right at the top of the doorframe, spreading in spider-like veins.

“What is that?” I pointed at the cracks.

“It wants out.”

“What does?”

“Me.” Her eyes turned red, and her hair darkened, her features bleeding into mine before scales replaced skin and talons replaced her short nails.

The Ig’Morruthen grew, filling up the entire house, but could not break free.

I realized the cracks were from her shifting and trying to break free.

Thick heavy wings spread and pressed against the ceiling. Her long mauling jaws opened, ember flames burning behind her tongue. I didn’t even think before opening the door and falling through. The door slammed shut just as flames lit the space where I had stood. A howling scream filled with despair and rage nearly shattered the house. My ass hit the floor, the cries of the beast reverberating through my head. She begged for her freedom.

I stood and spun, wanting to escape this room. Shock froze my feet to the ground. I was no longer in our house. Water seeped from the cave walls, and I heard a stream hissing nearby. A thunderous roar ruptured the sky, startling me so badly that I stumbled and nearly fell again. A yawning hole formed above me, exposing a swirling mass of purple and silver stars.

The sky shimmered, violet and blue wisps of magic swirling above.

Stars and planets floated far closer than I’d ever seen them. A roar resonated in the cave, but this time, thousands of others answered it. My heart lurched, and I covered my ears, the sound deafening. As it faded, the beating of wings took its place, the beasts waking from their slumber and taking to the sky, finally free.

Worlds, so many worlds, I could see it all, and it terrified me. The barrier between our realm and the next had opened.

No.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kaden asked, appearing beside me.

“This isn’t real.”

“No, not yet, at least.”

“I’m dreaming,” I said and closed my eyes tightly, trying to will myself to wake up. “I’m dreaming.”

“Are you?” My eyes snapped open. Kaden’s head was tipped back, and I followed his gaze. Massively powerful creatures flew through the galaxy, curling around worlds and diving into them. “Or is it more?”

“What is this?” I demanded, pinning him in place with my glare.

Kaden grinned and nodded behind me. I looked over my shoulder, my stomach dropping. I moved so fast I didn’t think my feet even touched the floor, stopping at the large stone altar that erupted from the middle of the room. Flowers, yellow and spotted, clung to the sides, but what was on top

filled me with panic.

Samkiel.

He lay there perfectly still, his skin a deep, ashen gray. His body was clothed in ancient sacral garb with his hands clasped across his chest, a chest that didn’t rise or fall.

I was at the stone slab in an instant, shaking him. Cold, he was so cold. I grabbed at his shoulders and arms, anything to make him wake up. A hot burning rage hit my gut, and the beast behind the door raged.

“What did you do!” I screamed at Kaden as he walked around the stone slab. His form was blurry from unshed tears, and if I had fangs, I would have bared them.

“What I promised.” He stopped on the other side, staring down at Samkiel’s remains. Kaden met my gaze, his eyes glowing crimson.

Silhouetted figures formed behind him, walking in unison. It was an army, but that wasn’t what made me step back. It was the two figures that flanked

him that sent terror shivering down my spine. They were as tall as Kaden, one just as muscular, the other a slender female shape but no less foreboding. Even with their features concealed in darkness, I felt the power radiating from them and knew without a doubt that whatever Kaden was, they were too. These were the three crowned figures from my last dream.

“The last guardian is dead. No more protectors. No more peace. The end begins.”

M y eyes shot open . M y body flushed with heat as if my insides threatened to boil. I placed my hand over my heart, trying to slow the pounding beat. I sat up and looked at Samkiel stretched out asleep next to me. His mouth was slightly open, and his eyes danced behind his lids.

Sleeping, dreaming, and alive. I lay back down as quietly as I could. No light showed in the dark bedroom. Sunrise was still hours away. I took a deep breath, trying to process what I’d just seen.

The last guardian is dead. No more protectors. No more peace.

I scooted closer to Samkiel, lifting his arm and tucking myself against his chest. His massive frame draped over mine as I wiggled, nestling further beneath him. His arms tightened around me as he adjusted, pulling me into the crook of his neck. I placed kisses on every part of him I could reach.

Warm, heated flesh met my lips. Not gray. Not cold. Not dead. Alive.

Samkiel moaned, shifting his weight again, this time his hand curling in my hair. He pulled me back, his mouth slanting over mine.

I slid my hands over his sides, shoulders, and back. Not cold. Not dead.

Alive. I kissed him harder before pulling back and whispering, “Bite me.”

His hand cupped my chin, turning my head. He lowered his head and licked at the curve where my neck met my shoulder. My breath caught, and I moaned as he bit and sucked hard enough to bruise. I just needed to know that I wasn’t dreaming, that he was not cold. Not dead. Alive! My hips rose, rubbing against him as he bit again, this time just below my collarbone.

“More,” I moaned.

Samkiel’s mouth closed over my breast, sucking and grazing my nipple with his teeth. My back arched, his hand squeezing and plucking at the other nipple. I felt his smile against my skin as he started to travel lower, but I didn’t want him like this, not this morning.

I pushed against his shoulders, and he lifted, his head cocked to the side.

I grinned at him and turned, flipping onto my stomach. Samkiel groaned, realizing what I was doing. His strong, calloused hands slid over my back. I gripped the pillow under my head and lifted my ass, releasing a soft hiss when he slapped first one cheek and then the other.

“You’re so beautiful.” Heat danced across my skin in anticipation as he placed a kiss to the middle of my spine. “And all mine.”

I nodded, gripping the pillow tighter.

Samkiel nipped at my skin, leaving a trail of blazing kisses down the center of my back. His hands gripped my ass painfully tight as he moved lower. His teeth raked over one cheek, then the next, biting my flesh before his tongue swept between.

I gasped at the darkly intimate touch, moaning at the sudden sensation.

My hand snaked down the front of my body to my clit. I rubbed the small bud in quick circles, moving my hips in tandem with his mouth.

He grabbed my hand and pulled it away as he rose. “Stop. That is mine next.”

A soft whimper escaped me as he gripped my hips and lifted them a fraction higher. I spread my legs wider, showing him every single part of

me.

“You’re so beautiful, Dianna.”

“Hmm, you keep saying that.”

“I mean it,” he said, then his mouth descended onto my pussy. His tongue ran from my clit to my center. I buried my face against the pillow, muffling my low moans. I reached back, gripping his hair, forcing his mouth where I wanted it. His tongue speared into me, and I rocked back, pleasure tightening my belly.

“Fuck,” I whimpered. “Sami. I’m going to come like this.”

He laughed, the sound vibrating against my already overly sensitive flesh. Samkiel licked and sucked at my clit, every nerve so sensitive the sensations bordered on pain. This was what I needed to chase away nightmares of death and dying. I needed his touch to stave off the overwhelming dread and fear of losing someone else I lo—

Samkiel flicked his tongue just right, and my body shattered, pleasure ripping through me. He didn’t stop as I trembled, his hands gripping my hips when I tried to pull away, relentlessly drawing another orgasm from me.

I panted, aftershocks rippling through me as Samkiel rose behind me.

My body wept with my release, my inner thighs wet, but I knew we weren’t done yet.

My hands snaked between my legs, reaching for him. I cupped his balls tenderly, very carefully sliding my nails over the sensitive skin before wrapping my hand around his shaft.

His groan sent another shiver through me, my body so attuned to him that even the sound of his pleasure made me pulse with need.

“Desperate are we?” he asked, his voice an octave lower and laden with hunger.

My only response was a nod and a few long, slow strokes up and down his shaft before I placed the thick crown of his cock at my entrance. I rubbed it up and down my swollen sex, coating him in my wetness.

“I need you,” I whispered, looking at him over my shoulder. And I did. I always did. It was a truth I denied for far too long.

I felt his cock twitch in my hand at those three little words. “Take me,” he demanded, his control slipping. “I am only ever yours to have.”

I rocked back, taking him inch by glorious inch. We moaned in unison when he was fully seated. I clenched around him, adjusting to the fullness, welcoming the burn.

“Gods, Dianna,” Samkiel gasped out, his hands tightening on my hips.

“You feel so good.”

I could only whimper as I began to rock back against him. He was so deep, almost too deep like this, but I didn’t care. I needed to feel him, the

heat of him.

Not dead. Not cold. Alive.

“Do you know how many times I have fantasized about every single part of you?”

I shook my head and lowered my shoulders to the bed, arching my back and lifting my ass, grinding back against him, wanting him as deep as possible.

Samkiel’s hand came down hard on my ass. My body jerked at the contact, a rush of liquid heat bathing his cock at the sting. My hardened

nipples rubbed against the sheets, sending another wave of pleasure shivering through me.

I glanced over my shoulder as I thrust my hips backward. Samkiel’s hands flexed, and I knew I would wear the marks of his grip. We rocked back and forth in a rhythm all our own. I looked over my shoulder, pushing back hard into his thrust. Samkiel’s mouth hung open slightly, his gaze lowered, watching his cock disappear inside me. My hands fisted the sheets.

With his every thrust, he hit that spot inside me, sending sharp, intense shocks of pleasure through my entire body.

“Take all of me,” Samkiel ground out through his teeth.

I slammed my ass back hard against him and cried out, my whole body trembling.

“Good fucking girl.” He groaned as he leaned forward, fisting a handful of my hair. My body arched, and I pushed up onto my hands. He held me right where he wanted me and took me harder, faster until I could only cry out his name. He hit some deep spot inside me that had me damn near sobbing with every thrust. Flesh pounded against flesh, the sound mixing with our cries of pleasure.

This was what I needed, what I wanted. To be completely owned by Samkiel, belonging to no other.

My body trembled, straining, reaching for my orgasm, the tight wet heat of my pussy clenching around him.

He yanked my hair, lifting me onto my knees and pulling me back against him.

“Choke me,” I gasped out, his every thrust driving the breath from me.

He let go of my hair and wrapped his hand around my throat. I tipped my chin up and leaned into his palm. “Harder,” I begged. I just needed to feel. He had to prove to me that this was real and I was not dreaming.

Samkiel’s grip tightened, his rings biting into my skin, and all the while, he drove into me in a steady rhythm. I felt the phantom touch of his fingers between my thighs, spreading the lips of my sex around my clit before the flick of his tongue teased at the sensitive nub.

I nearly sobbed, overwhelmed with sensation and need. Reaching back, I grabbed his thighs, needing to hold on to something.

His voice was a hot, breathy whisper against my ear. “I am the only one that gets to touch you. Fuck you. Say it.”

“Yes, you,” I cried. “Only you.”

He moved his power away from my clit, replacing it with his other hand drawing circles around my aching flesh. My cries turned into demands as he slammed into me. His rings pinched my throat as I begged him to go harder, faster. He met my every demand and more. It was too good. My pussy clenched every time he groaned, the sound intoxicating, knowing that they

were because of me, for me.

“Do you want to come?”

I nodded and whimpered, feeling his hand flex against my throat.

“Beg me for it.”

“Please,” I cried, but his thrusting slowed, and that release I wanted

slipped further from my reach.

“You can do better than that.”

“Samkiel!” I screamed, rocking my hips back to meet his every thrust. I could feel how close I got every time, and so could he. He withdrew until only the tip of his cock remained inside me, and his fingers stilled on my

clit.

I slapped at his thigh. “Samkiel.”

He grabbed my hand and placed it where our bodies joined. I jolted at the feeling of our fingers against the swollen, ultra-sensitive flesh.

“Do you feel how wet you are for me?” He slid both of our hands to where the tip of his cock was still gripped inside of me.

I gasped and nodded, feeling my pussy clench around him, tempting him deeper.

He moved his hips, pushing his cock inside me at an agonizingly slow pace. “How easy it is for me to slip in and out of you. You’re dripping down

me, baby.”

His mouth, that fucking mouth.

I clenched around him as he withdrew once more before sheathing himself inside me at the same torturously slow pace.

“So tight.”

“Please,” I moaned, tossing my head back against his shoulder. “Please make me come, baby. Samkiel, please.”

Samkiel pushed me down on my stomach and thrust into me from behind, full, deep, and hard. The sound he let out was damn near primal, and something in me answered. He leaned over me, bracing his hands on either side of my head. I gripped his wrists for support, the bracelet he wore cold against my fingers.

The heat of his now familiar power moved under me, pinching at my nipples before moving lower. One sweep over my already aching clit, and I came undone. My body shook as my orgasm shot through me. My nails dug into his wrist as I came, my body feeling as if it would fly apart. That was okay. I knew he would put me back together.

His thrusts slowed, and then he slammed as deep as he could. He came, saying my name over and over as he emptied himself inside me. He lowered his head, pressing a kiss to the bruise and bite mark at the curve of my neck. His hands slipped beneath me, and he held me tight, his weight pressing me further into the bed. I’d never felt so needed, so cared for, so protected.

“Mm-hmm, wake me up like this every morning,” he murmured against

my neck.

I sighed and held tightly to his arms.

Silence fell, and a thought ripped through me, all my fears creeping back.

“Promise you’ll come back to me.” I didn’t try to hide the pitch of insecurity in my voice. Not now, not after everything.

He shifted, holding me a fraction tighter, his head resting on my back.

“As if you could ever be rid of me.”

“I’m serious.”

“Dianna,” he said, trailing kisses along my spine. He brushed my hair away from my face and gently turned me over. I trembled against him.

“There is no force in this world or the next strong enough to keep me from you. Do you understand?”

His words soothed the dark, broken ache of the dream.

“Okay.” I nodded once, my nose brushing his. “But if you don’t come back, I’ll have to destroy the world or do something drastic, and who is going to clean up that mess?”

He laughed before kissing me softly, his thumb caressing my face. “And you say you are not sweet.”

“I’m not, but…” I didn’t say it, didn’t say what I wanted to, just letting the words trail off as I changed the subject. “Okay, shower, eat, and then you leave to visit your mystical ex.”

He groaned and sat up, pulling me with him. I squealed as he tossed me over his shoulder and strode to the bathroom. “So jealous.”

We showered, and I watched as he dressed. He placed a kiss on my lips, then my forehead, and I smiled one last time as he left for the Higher One.

He shot away with a flash of bright light, and my stomach twisted. After that dream, I really wished I could have gone with him, but maybe I was just crazy. I’d lost Gabby. It was normal to fear losing him, yet some instinct insisted that it wasn’t just a dream but an omen.

And a lock on a door in a house rattled.

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