Soul Forge (Book One of the Soul Forge series)

Elda was reading when Sypher groaned and lifted his head several hours later. She’d managed to lean over and reach the book on his nightstand, curious to see what story had captured his attention.

“I was reading that,” he mumbled, voice still husky with sleep. His arm tightened around her.

“I saved your page,” she reassured him. “I didn’t have you down as a fan of fairytales.”

“I have an eclectic taste.” He knelt up and took the book gently from her hands, pulling her close until she was sat on his lap. His lips found her throat, soft kisses peppering her skin.

“I brought you food but you were asleep,” she commented, fighting to keep her voice even when his hands began wandering across her waist.

“I’m not interested in food,” he murmured against her skin.

“You should be. You need to eat.”

“Later.”

Elda planted a hand firmly on his chest and pushed him back. “Now,” she insisted.

“Fine,” he grumbled. She chuckled, sliding off his lap to go and fetch the tray from the dresser and removing the linen wrap she’d used to keep it fresh while he slept.

“Here. Red meat, bread, fresh fruit and pressed apple juice.”

He arched an eyebrow. “A meal fit for a Prince.”

“Exactly.” Elda beamed.

He took a strip of beef and ate it, frowning at her. “Are you really going to watch me eat?”

She laughed again and reclaimed the book from the dresser, reading patiently until he was done. As soon as the plate was empty Sypher put the tray on his dresser, pinched the book from her once more and pulled her legs until she was lying on the bed beneath him.

“You’re supposed to be resting,” she admonished, her breath hitching at the searching kisses he planted along her jaw.

“Would you like me to stop?” His low voice in her ear sent a shiver down her spine. A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “I didn’t think so.”

Elda’s heart beat like a drum, smashing against her ribs when his mouth trapped hers, his tongue tracing her lower lip. She felt his emotions flow through their bond suddenly, properly sensing what he was feeling for the first time since he’d admitted he loved her. The strength of it left her dizzy. He seemed to notice, pulling back to look at her.

“You’ve been keeping your feelings from me,” she whispered breathlessly.

“I didn’t want to overwhelm you with them all at once. I think you’re ready to understand what it means for me to love you though.” He spoke softly, his face just inches from hers.

Her brows rose, creeping upwards when she examined the messages being transmitted down the inexplicable connection they shared. A lump formed in her throat when she saw what he saw, his memories filtering through to her clearly.

Dressed in blue, petrified but radiant, Elda saw herself looking up at him in the corridor after Horthan’s assault. She felt the way his breath faltered at the sight of her in her wedding gown, the way he shook it off and forced himself to ignore it. The admiration at her insistence on getting to know him, the barely-there hope that she was different to the rest.

And then came the slow realisation he’d reached, the quiet acceptance that he was irreversibly changed by her. The fear that if he lost her he’d be left hollow. The elation at her touch, the disbelief every time she smiled at him like he was the most important person in her world.

“Se maite nireh,” Sypher whispered as the feelings and memories continued to surround her.

“I want…” Elda trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes at the raw, vulnerable love he conveyed to her.

“What do you want, El?”

“I…I wantyou.” Her fingers knotted in his pale hair, pulling him down to crash her lips against his. He sighed against her mouth, fingers working to unfasten the tie at the neck of her tunic and slip it over her head. Nerves welled up inside her when he began to unfasten her basque, but she swallowed them down and kissed him harder, certain that she’d never been safer than she was right there, in his arms.

Within a minute she was bare beneath him, her cheeks flushed as his eyes took her in, looking at her like he was sure she’d disappear if he blinked. She reached up and touched his cheek gently.

“Maite,” he whispered, and then his bare chest was pressed against hers, one hand gripping her thigh to hook her leg over his hip. Just like the first time he’d touched her, her skin rippled with goosebumps from head to toe.

Her arms became empty when he stood and kicked off his trousers, but he filled them again a second later, kissing her like she was his air, long and slow and deep. His touch was lightning, his kisses laced with fire that consumed Elda until she ached for him. Sensing what she wanted, he pressed himself against her, moving back to look her in the eyes.

“Hold onto me,” he said softly. “This will hurt a little.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder when she felt the sting of her purity being gifted to the imperfect, damaged,beautifulcreature between her thighs. She clung to him even when it stopped hurting, the two of them fitting together like they were made for one another. Her fingers traced the contours of his scars, each one a testament to his strength. His muscles bunched and rolled under his skin with their rhythm, wings flexing to brush her arms every so often.

Fire was building, growing into an inferno low down in her stomach with every thrust of his hips, her breath a series of quick, shallow pants in his ear. Sypher’s own chest heaved, his lips trapping hers to swallow every noise she made. When she let go of his neck he captured her wrists and pinned her beneath him, teeth nipping at her throat and sending a shiver down her spine. His pace grew more urgent, both of them close to the edge.

Safe in his embrace, Elda’s nerves were far away in the ether. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t a chaste little girl hidden away in a castle. She was a Keeper, a wife. Awoman. She chose to follow her desires, arching her back to meet his thrusts. For a fleeting moment, his eyes darkened, and a low, appreciative hum escaped him as the demon soul made himself known.

Sypher shook him off, determined to remain in control, and his lips seared hers with a bone-melting kiss, stealing her breath until she could hardly see straight.

“Say my name, maite,” he purred into her ear. The sound broke her, and say his name, she did. It burst from her in a breathless cry of ecstasy when the pressure inside her released all at once. She didn’t care that the whole villa could hear. All she cared about was the man in her arms, shuddering under a wave of his own pleasure.

She stroked his pale hair gently when he laid his head on her chest, her whole body warm and languid, rippling with aftershocks from his touch. His breathing was uneven, his heart thumping hard enough that she could almost feel it tapping against her through his ribs. Neither of them spoke for a while, both of them content to enjoy the company of the other in silence.

Eventually, Sypher lifted his head and kissed her softly before rolling onto his back. Elda followed, nestling into his side to lay her cheek against his chest. His pulse had steadied, his breathing relaxed and even again. His arm coiled around her automatically.

“How do you feel?” he asked after a few more minutes of contented silence.

“Like I could sleep for a month,” Elda replied, tracing the vivid scar bisecting his torso with her fingertip. “You?”

“I feel wonderful.” He kissed the top of her head. “I never imagined I’d be able to let anyone so close to me again.”

“The first time we touched like this, you said you weren’t ready.”

“I wasn’t,” he agreed.

“What changed your mind?” she pressed, folding her arms over his chest and resting her chin on them. He tucked his free hand behind his head.

“I don’t know. All I know is that I woke up and I wanted you. I haven’t wanted anyone in a very long time.” He smiled. “I expected you to say no.”

“Well, I wanted you too,” she shrugged, blushing.

“I can’t believe you still get embarrassed over it,” he chuckled. A wide yawn struck him and she saw his eyelids growing heavy again.

“It was my first time. Of course I still get embarrassed.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed by, maite. You were beautiful.” His voice became a mumble as his drowsiness grew. “I’ve been through a lot of hardship in this life and my last. All of it is worth it because it led me to you.” As he drifted off, she smiled, blinking away more tears. She nestled into his side, letting his familiar scent of vetiver and leather lull her to sleep.

Red. The air was red, stained by the glow of lava constantly flowing through weathered veins in the rock. Ash rained down from the sky, fuelled by the ever-present fires raging beneath the ground. Elda walked through rock and ruin, lungs filling with smoke on every breath.

It was hot, wherever she was. Too warm for comfort. The air felt like a physical touch, a burning hand on her skin wherever it was exposed. The atmosphere rippled in places with the sheer intensity of the heat, yet her body didn’t blister.

She was wearing a dress of some sort, too tight, deep crimson, made more uncomfortable by the stifling temperature. It felt like she was standing in a fire, yet she saw no flames surrounding her.

Up ahead there was a break in the smoke, a dark shadow rising from the haze and the heat like a phantom. As she drew nearer a jagged shard of rock materialised, standing apart from the rest. More appeared in the smoke.

She’d seen this place before. She knew in her gut that she’d seen it, that it was just a memory of an image, brought to life by a dream. It felt so real.

A black stone monolith loomed through the haze, rising high enough that Elda had to crane her neck to see the tip of its spire. Energy, throbbing and powerful, rattled her bones, vibrating through the ground beneath her feet like a pulse.

Something was wrong with it. The energy was cold, bitingly so, even in the midst of the claustrophobic heat emitting from the rock beneath her. She reached out to it, drawn to the smooth, shining spire, surrounded by the jagged teeth reaching up towards the sky like a set of jaws about to snap shut and swallow it whole.

Before her fingers could make contact, scores of symbols bloomed across the surface of the structure, burning the same shade as the fire in Sypher’s eyes. How strange that it should burn so brightly, yet the air around it turned to mist in the freezing waves it emanated.

She touched the stone.

A loud bang woke Elda and Sypher with a jolt when the door swung open and bounced off the wall. Julian barged through, a look of alarm on his face.

“What the fuck is going on?” Sypher growled, his wing curling around Elda to shield her bare skin from their uninvited guest. She was too focussed on the panic in Julian’s eyes.

“Julian, is someone hurt?” she asked.

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “It’s Lillian.”

“What has she done now?” Sypher groaned.

“Sypher, she’s gone.”