Loved by Light (Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 4) Read online

  “Ah… Ian,” I choke out as we meet hip to hip one more time, the silence in the air around us palpable as the tension reaches a breaking point and I finally come.

  “Liz.” His voice is strained too, his body practically glowing from exertion.

  Then I come, hard and fast, and Ian comes with me too, cock jerking inside me as we clutch each other at the same time, caught up in the throes of our release and perhaps something much bigger.

  I scream his name as I hold his shoulders, and he buries his face in mine, breathing ragged, hot breaths. Firework after firework is going off inside me. Still, I’m caught up in a sense of wonder and connection even as my body is coming so hard I can’t tell where one of us begins and the other ends.

  And even as Ian starts to relax and I can feel myself starting to slowly come off the incredible high as well, his hard length still sends aftershocks of release through me that make my toes tingle.

  The perfect night.

  Ian pushes himself up on his hands, looking down over me in that way that always sends a thrill down my spine, and gives me one more kiss before slowly withdrawing and going to the bathroom to clean up.

  And as expected for someone as overprotective (and a little obsessive) as he is, Ian comes back to the bed and pulls me into his arms. We exchange a few more words, though everything is hazy between the pleasure and exhaustion, and it’s not long before Ian’s asleep next to me, sleeping soundly as I lie on his chest.

  I can’t help but wonder if something brought us together in this time and place.

  And as I watch the stoic, defined outline of his profile beside me, I realize he looks more peaceful than he ever has since I met him.

  It makes something well in me softly, deep in my heart.

  I can’t help but feel like it’s a little bit magic, and for the first time, in his arms, I feel more than human.

  11

  Ian

  The next morning when the sun rises and its gentle but bright rays fall across Liz’s face, I don’t know how to make sense of what I’m feeling.

  I meant to swim in the shallows, to keep us both safer emotionally, but I know I’m in deep.

  I want her to be mine. Possessiveness sinks its claws deep in my chest, along with the need to protect. To stay beside her forever.

  But what does that mean?

  I’ve already decided my destiny.

  I force myself to get up and leave the room because I need to make breakfast, and also, I need a moment to think about whether I really should have done that.

  It was the most wonderful moment of my life. The first time I truly felt not alone and bonded to someone in every way.

  She gave herself to me and I gave myself to her, and it wasn’t only the enjoyment of one moment.

  It can’t only be one night. I knew that the moment she came beneath me, arching back against the sheets and filling my heart with something that burns around all my edges.

  Fills me to my core.

  I shake my head as I put some bread in the toaster and open the fridge to take out some eggs.

  I turn on the coffeemaker as well because humans seem to have a fondness for the burnt-smelling stuff. It does make one energetic if you drink enough of it.

  We have better things in the fae world, not that it’s relevant.

  And there’s the darkness again that comes whenever I think of home.

  I have the eggs almost finished, cooked with salt, pepper, and generous amounts of cheese, when Liz comes out, looking gorgeous in a bathrobe that contrasts beautifully with her smooth skin and hugs every perfect curve.

  I flush and turn back to the stove in case she doesn’t want me looking at her. “Breakfast should be ready in a minute. Coffee’s on too.”

  “Look at you, so domestic,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice as she sits down at the table with a happy little sigh.

  I don’t know how to face her after everything that has happened.

  I didn’t even know I could be like I was last night in bed.

  “You’d better not be embarrassed or regretting anything,” she says as if reading my mind. Then again, Flynn always did say I was easy to read.

  “I’m not,” I say.

  How could I regret the best moment of my existence so far?

  “Good,” she says. “Because that was amazing.” She stretches and yawns and looks utterly relaxed as she sits at the table. “I don’t remember the last time I felt that good. Maybe never.” I can feel her watching me. “Need any help?”

  “I think I’ve got it,” I say, serving up two plates, putting toast on them, and setting them on the table to go back for coffee.

  As I sit down, putting cream and sugar out, she makes a happy little squeak and reaches for both, along with coffee.

  Damn, making her happy is everything.

  I need to get my head on straight.

  Focus.

  “This is so good,” she says, moaning as she tries the eggs.

  I grin, unable to forget the last time she made noises like that. I badly want to make her make them again.

  I dig in as well because I need my strength after last night, and we eat quietly, sharing secretive, hot little smiles.

  I never thought I could feel this comfortable yet alive with anyone.

  I can’t imagine ever letting her go. And that’s a dangerous feeling. But for some reason, all of that floats away when I look into her eyes.

  There’s just here and now, and I want her.

  And I feel so light… How could this be wrong?

  We’re just finishing when my phone rings, and I pick it up as I leave the table, not wanting to be rude.

  I walk over to stand by the door, then answer. “Hello?”

  “It’s Dallin.”

  Ah. The code name Ultraviolet’s dragon henchman uses. At least, I think he’s a henchman. He’s not a serf or a pet but seems to follow the fairy’s orders in most things.

  “What is it?” I ask nervously because Liz is looking over at me. When I wave a hand to show everything is fine, she turns back to her eggs.

  “I need a favor,” he says in that rough, blunt voice that declares it’s not really an option to say no.

  “Okay. Where and when?” I say, though I’m a little confused as to how I’m going to pull this off with Liz here.

  Perhaps I can ask her to stay with the other fae just for the afternoon.

  Because I can’t say no to Dallin. And besides, I like the things I do with him far more than I like the favors requested by Ultraviolet.

  When I help Dallin, there is at least a sense of fulfillment, of purpose, rather than only anger.

  Though, there is plenty of anger as well.

  He gives me the address and says as soon as I can be there would be best.

  “Got it,” I say quickly.

  “Can you come?”

  “Of course,” I say, glancing at Liz again, already trying to figure out how to tell her.

  “Good. See you then.” Dallin hangs up, and I do the same, then slowly slide the phone back into my pocket.

  I take a few steps toward the table. “Look… I have something to do. Something my friends can’t know about. I don’t want to leave you alone, so—”

  “I’m coming with you,” she says, standing and brushing off her hands. “Just give me a moment to get dressed.”

  My jaw drops. “Wait, I meant for you to go to Flynn’s place or something.” He and Callie still owe me for telling Liz before I was ready.

  She shakes her head. “No. This whole thing seems dangerous. I won’t tell on you, but you have to let me come watch out for you.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “It is dangerous. That’s why you should stay here. You don’t have your powers.”

  She nods. “I know, but you won’t let anything happen to me.”

  “I can fight better if you aren’t there,” I say.

  “Maybe,” she says. “But for some reason, I don’t really trust you t
o watch out for yourself. So it’s either you let me go or I tell your friends someone needs to watch out for you.”

  I frown. “You’re being quite difficult.”

  She folds her arms, looking so beautiful in the morning light. “You’re not the only one bonding here, Ian. I feel it too. I care about you. So yeah, I saw your look when you got that call. I can’t let you go. I can feel in my bones that it wouldn’t be right.”

  Deep down, I guess I’m relieved because I couldn’t have gotten her involved in this without feeling awful.

  But if she insists, then I suppose I do feel better not going alone. It should at least keep the darkness at bay that I sometimes feel when working with either Dallin or Ultraviolet.

  And to be honest, I’m tired of keeping a secret from everyone around me. Not having anyone to put my trust in.

  “You promise you won’t tell anyone? They can’t know about this.”

  “You’re not doing something bad, right?” She shakes her head. “What am I talking about? It’s you, so of course not.” Her eyes meet mine bravely. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise. My loyalty is to you first, Ian. No one else.”

  My heart warms, being able to depend on her even just to keep my secrets.

  It truly feels for the first time like I’m not totally alone.

  Sure, Flynn and the others were my friends, but I couldn’t bond fully with them.

  With Liz, I can. With Liz, it feels like my heart is flying.

  “All right,” I say. “We’ll take Mr. Rollie.”

  “Mr. Rollie?” She lets out a snort. “Is that your car’s name?”

  I nod. “Why? Is there a problem?”

  “No, it’s just sort of diminutive and cute. I expected something like Rollmaster the Destroyer.”

  I wrinkle my nose. “He protects, not destroys.”

  She laughs. “Well, he’s your car. Mr. Rollie it is, then.” She giggles again like that’s funny, and I have to smile as well because her joy is always contagious.

  She goes into her bedroom to change and I go into mine to do the same, and then we meet back in the living room, staring at each other with resolution.

  “So this thing we’re doing, is it dangerous?”

  “Maybe,” I say. “But just stay behind me. You know I’ll keep you safe.”

  I reach the door just as she reaches me, putting her arm through mine and smiling up at me.

  “Yeah, I know,” she says simply.

  Her trust in me makes my heart do backflips, and I try to tell myself to focus as we head out together into the hallway.

  I wish I could just stay inside with her, but there are things I still have to do.

  Things to atone for.

  Steps to take as I get closer to reaching those at the top.

  The ones who betrayed me.

  12

  Liz

  I can’t help but feel sort of tense and excited as we drive to wherever Ian is taking us.

  It feels like my first taste of adventure in this new world.

  Even if I’m a bit nervous about the fact that Ian can’t tell his friends about what we’re doing.

  But who am I to second-guess him? I just want to be here by his side to protect him, as crazy as that sounds when he’s so much stronger than me.

  He pulls up to a large, rundown industrial lot where there’s a single, gigantic building surrounded by numerous parking lots.

  As he parks, I squint up at the building, trying to determine what’s wrong with it.

  Oh yeah, the top right corner is broken straight off, and you can see inside to what looks like a sterile white lab.

  What’s left of it anyway.

  I notice rubble flying from an area in the parking lot just below the broken side.

  “Stay in the car,” he says. “I trust Rollie to protect you.”

  “No,” I say. “I’ll stay back from the rubble, but I’m coming out with you.” He frowns, but I put up a hand. “Ian, if it’s not safe for me, it’s not safe for you.”

  “But I’m a—”

  “Are we going to argue about this or go help your friend?” I gesture to a tall, bearded man with an absolute tank of a build striding toward us with an expression like someone spit in his oatmeal.

  “That’s Dallin,” Ian says, getting out and coming around to open my door. “He’s probably not going to be happy that I brought someone.”

  “Well, he should know you have friends who want to protect you,” I say stubbornly. I don’t know what it is that makes me suddenly so confident, but I know for a fact that I’m not letting Ian out of my sight when he could be in danger.

  “Ian,” Dallin says, jogging to catch up with us. His voice is rough and husky like someone who has been coughing but still pleasant. “Glad you’re here. I’ve been trying to knock some sense into him, but—”

  A roar makes the air practically vibrate, making me nervous down to my bones as I look up to see a large black creature appearing from behind the building, sending rubble out in front of him.

  Now I know why we had to drive so far out into the middle of nowhere. Clearly, no one was taking any chance of people seeing this monster.

  It just makes me wonder how much I don’t know about this world.

  It’s a dragon, I think, almost dazed at what I’m seeing. It has to be a hologram. Nothing that huge with that many spikes, that long neck and pointed face with so many teeth, could be real.

  Black slime drips from its mouth, and its dark-blue eyes have a hollow look to them.

  Ian turns to Dallin. “Is he chaos infected?”

  Dallin nods, raising a hand as a bright-green, glimmering wall of crystalline rock shoots up between us and the dragon, and the dragon lets out a terrifying shriek as he tries to barrel into the wall. He hits it with his head and falls to the side immediately, then gets up, still enraged.

  “He’s from the main lab,” Dallin says. “We had him under sedation—”

  “Dallin and his friend are rescuing dragons that are being used as experiments in the fae world.” Ian looks at the dragon, who is still ramming his head against the wall. “That one has been infected with chaos. They have a way of injecting it—”

  Dallin’s vivid turquoise eyes, an odd contrast to the rest of his hard, rugged face, fix on me. “Who’s the runt?” he asks Ian.

  “Rude,” I say, stepping forward. “I’m here to watch out for Ian.”

  Dallin eyes me skeptically, then dismisses me with a glance. “Weird.” He turns back to Ian. “You aren’t supposed to bring anyone. Especially a runt who can’t even help.”

  I put my hands on my hips, stepping up to go toe-to-toe with Dallin. “I’m his friend. And I’m a fairy too. And personally, I don’t trust anyone who separates Ian from his friends and takes him on dangerous missions. So yeah, I’m here to watch out for him, and I don’t care if I’m a runt.”

  I glare up at the dragon, daring him to defy me, and a small smirk curves one side of his lips, which I realize are fairly full and prettily shaped underneath that awful beard.

  “I like her,” he says, turning away from me to look to the wall and the dragon.

  “She’s mine,” Ian says with a growl, surprising both of us.

  Dallin just gives him a glance, then gestures to the dragon. “So yeah, do your thing.”

  “A radiant fae would be better for purification,” Ian says. “I can cleanse somewhat, but—”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know your friend is mated to a radiant fae. But I’m not interested in teaming up with any other shifters. So just like… take him down.”

  Ian raises an eyebrow. “You can’t?”

  Dallin shakes his head. “I don’t want to. I need to gain his trust.”

  Ian nods. “Right.” He rolls up the sleeves of his gray tee shirt as he walks forward, muscular legs outlined in jeans.

  So beautiful.

  He doesn’t look afraid to face such a huge creature as he reaches behind him to pull out a long, shining white st
aff with a sparkling crystal on the end that shines like the sun.

  “Using his wand. Interesting,” Dallin says. “I don’t think I’ve seen him do that.”

  I frown. “Why not?”

  “Fae princes usually reserve that for fighting for their soul bonds.” He squints at me. “How do you know him again?”

  I fold my arms, flushing. “Just a friend.”

  “Right,” Dallin says, rolling his eyes.

  Ian hits the shining green wall with a blast from his wand, shattering it to glittering dust immediately. The dragon lunges forward, and Ian darts to the side, then points his wand at the dragon as a flash turns everything a blinding white just for a second.

  The dragon shrieks and stumbles forward, falling on the ground and clawing at its eyes.

  “Are you ready to talk?” Ian asks. “Because we’re only here to help you. I took your vision for a moment, but I can do much worse.” It’s so empty here that his voice easily carries to us.

  I can’t help but shiver a little at the authoritative tone of his voice, as though he was born to be a leader.

  How come I don’t see this Ian more often?

  The dragon waves his head, then hisses and suddenly shrinks from view in a puff of dark smoke.

  Then I squint and realize he’s not gone. He’s just smaller. Human, tall, and muscular. Somewhere between the dragon next to me and Ian in build.

  He has flaming green wings of pure fire behind him, and as he reaches out his hands, tree roots shoot up out of the ground, wrapping around Ian’s legs and pinning him.

  “He’s half fae,” Dallin says, shaking his head, his turquoise eyes wide with disbelief. “I have some fae blood, but he’s… able to take both forms.”

  The dragon (now fae) has long black hair tinged with green in the sunlight and scowls as he faces off with Ian. “I don’t have a wand, but I can still kill you.”

  Ian appears shocked as he looks from the roots to the man in front of him. “What are you?”

  “Something that hates fairies,” the creature hisses. “With every piece of my soul.”

  He lunges forward, but Ian points his wand at the tree roots, easily burning them.