Chapter 101: Explanations

Several hours later I finally managed to extract myself from Allie and her team. She’d dozed off with Nora wrapped firmly around her and Therese somehow draped over both of us. Once I’d managed to free my lower lip from between Therese’s teeth, give Allie a (not so brief) kiss, and even pressed a quick peck to Nora’s crown, I located my pants and slipped out of the door.

I didn’t even bother looking for the shirt. If it wasn’t already on one of them, it would be soon. I just summoned one of the many extras I kept in my storage and called it a day.

I’d just finished inhaling several portions of dinner when Karina walked in looking hesitant. The second she saw me her brows came together and she started chewing on the inside of her cheek, then she headed towards me with Jayme on her heels.

“Zaren. Can we talk?” she asked.

I nodded, then gestured to the food. “Hungry?”

“We ate,” she said, looking away.

I stood. “I take it you’d rather have this conversation somewhere a little more private?”

“Yeah.”

She stepped aside to let me pass, then she and Jayme both followed. We went into one of the other small sitting rooms that hadn’t been used for sex all day (hopefully). An awkward silence settled over the room as we all took our seats. Me on one couch with her and Jayme on the one directly across from me. Jayme lounged with one hand on Karina’s leg, but the Seelie sat with her back ramrod stiff and her hands folded in her lap. One of the servants popped their head in to see if we wanted anything to eat, but since we’d all apparently already done so we elected to simply have some drinks brought in.

It wasn’t until after they’d arrived that Karina finally broke the silence. “I… I’d like to know what it is that’s changed the mood around here lately. The last thing I want to do is stick my nose where it doesn’t belong but…” She took a breath. “But I can’t help but feel like I’m involved somehow.”

There was no point in lying any longer, all things considered. “You’re right, you are. Both of you,” I said, nodding to Jayme, whose brows twitched upward in surprise, “But I have to warn you, the truth is a little… fantastical.”

Karina looked down at her hands. “That man… he went to extreme lengths to try and take me from you. I think his obsession with me was a part of that, but so was my class, even if I don’t know why.” She glanced back up at me with those eyes that seemed to be brimming with liquid silver. “But you came for me. You killed a lot of humans to save one Seelie.”

“I killed my enemies to protect a member of my household,” I corrected.She swallowed. “I’m important to you.”

“You are.”

“Important beyond whatever deal you made with King Rolar.”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t know about my class until after you saved me.”

My lips quirked upwards. “You saved yourself, from what I saw. I just got there in time to escort you home.”

I thought I saw a hint of a smile on her own lips, but it wasn’t long before whatever was eating at her washed it away. “This… fantastical explanation you’ve got. Does it…” She cleared her throat, then looked away. Her already rosy pink skin darkened around her nose. When she spoke again it was so quietly I nearly missed it.“Does it help explain why I really want to curl up in your lap right now?”

My reaction had nothing on Jayme’s. The poor girl had been mid sip, and until that moment I’d never actually seen drink come out of a person’s nose.

“Ah,” I said as Jayme violently coughed in an attempt to clear out the drink she’d just inhaled and exhaled, “Sort of. It’s complicated, but I think I can answer your questions.”

She just nodded curtly, but Jayme looked between us incredulously. “Hang on, we’re really just moving past this?”

Karina blushed even harder. I managed to suppress a chuckle, but I couldn’t hide my smile. “Hopefully things make a little more sense in time.”

“Please,” Karina said, waving a hand for me to continue.

“Well, there’s no easy way to say this, but you’re the reincarnated soul of someone I once knew. Both of you.”

There was a long beat of silence. They exchanged a look, but there wasn’t nearly as much disbelief in their eyes as I thought there would be. They leaned together and exchanged a few whispers before they sat back up. “I have… some logistics questions…” Karina said eventually.

“Understandable.” I leaned back on the couch with my arm over the back. “Well, long story short, thirty years ago after I helped end the war with Grimsbane the goddess Allura approached me with a deal. Prepare the world to stand against the threat of some outerplanar god and she’d reincarnate the souls of the people I cared about that died before they ever really had a chance to live. We’re almost certain that you two are two of those souls.”

Karina just blinked. Eventually, Jayme whistled. “Damn, boss. You, uh, look pretty damn good for pushing fifty then.”

“Technically I’d be a little over fifty,” I said, shrugging, “but Allura put me in some kind of divine coma for thirty years. For Rolar it’s been three decades since the war ended, but for me it’s been months.”

Jayme slumped back. “Fucking hell. No wonder you dusted those idiots so easily. I bet they’re chumps compared to the soldiers you’re used to fighting.”

I inclined my head. “Not a bad problem to have, I guess.”

Karina’s gaze had dropped back to her hands. “And us? Were we fighters in the war or something?”

That made me wince. “Not… exactly.”

“It’s not good, is it?” she asked.

“No.”

She bit her lip. Jayme leaned in to whisper something else and she nodded. “I’d like to know. We would, I mean. Even if it’s bad.”

“I understand.” I took a long sip from my drink. “Before the war, I was a slave.” Even without looking at them I knew their expressions were that of shock. “A man named Valethar Karn performed experiments on me and the other children he had enslaved. He used magical iron collars to take away our autonomy.”

Karina paled and her hand shot up to her throat. I nodded. “Yeah, the very same ones. We think our enemy is somehow related to the things he did thirty years ago, but that’s a discussion for later. The experiments were brutal. I was the only one to survive them.”

“And you think we were two of the other experiments?” Karina asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“I do.”

“How…” she started. I knew what she wanted to ask, but it seemed she wasn’t ready to ask it yet. “How old were we?”

“If you are who I think you are, then Jayme was thirteen or fourteen. We aren’t fully sure when your birthday was. Karina, I know for a fact you died on your sixteenth birthday.”

Jayme looked like she might be sick. Neither of them said a word as they digested that. Then Karina stood. Jayme jumped to her feet as well, looking slightly confused. Karina didn’t even look at her as she grabbed Jayme’s hand and dragged her over to the couch.

Jayme didn’t so much as make a sound of protest as Karina yanked her around so her back was to the couch then shoved her down onto the cushion next to me. Jayme hadn’t even finished bouncing before she spun and sank down between us. She pulled my arm over her shoulder and tucked it into her chest while at the same time twisting so her back was to my side and kicking her feet up into Jayme’s lap. Then she grabbed Jayme’s hand and pulled it into her own lap.

“Please,” she said softly, once she’d settled in, “keep going.”

Jayme and I exchanged a very bemused glance over her head, but I didn’t comment. Not with how pleased my shadows seemed to be with her proximity. “The test we were a part of involved being trapped underground in pitch black darkness from when we were thirteen to when we got our classes. There were six of us. Jon, Louis, Maris, Eve, Ina, and me.”

I bumped Jayme’s hand where it sat in Karina’s lap only an inch from mine. “You were Maris.” I hadn’t been sure, but I was now. “You weren’t the most trustful, but then again none of us were in those days. We were never that close, but we did have an understanding. I did my best to keep everyone physically safe, you kept the mood light with humor. If Ina and I ever butted heads, you were there to support her after.”

“And you,” I said, squeezing Karina into my side, “were Ina. The unofficial leader of our group. You kept us moving. Kept us together. Kept us from falling apart in the dark.”

Karina tucked her face into my bicep. “How did we die?”

I let out a long sigh. “You’re sure you want to know?”

It was Jayme that answered this time. “Yeah, we do.”

“At one point, Karn started releasing criminals and slaves into the tunnels. Adults, usually with one order. Kill one of us and they’d win their freedom. We didn’t know they were coming, though. We didn’t know yet how important it was to stay together at all times.”

I leaned my cheek on the top of Karina’s head and she relaxed into my side and put my hand over Jayme’s in Karina’s lap. “The very first one got ahold of Maris before we even knew what was happening. He… he hurt her. Planned on hurting her more. But he wasn’t used to the dark like we were. We heard the screams and came running. He heard us coming and panicked. You were gone before we could get to you.”

Jayme sniffled and blinked back tears. “The guy who killed Maris?”

“I’ve always been good at killing,” I said softly, “even if it took me a while to get the ‘efficient’ part down.”

She just nodded once. I felt Karina take a breath but I already knew what she was going to ask. “The day the second of us turned sixteen we went into a room just barely enough to be able to see one another. You didn’t get the class Karn wanted you to, so he put a crossbow bolt in your chest. You died reaching for the first shred of sunlight you’d seen in three long years.”

I pretended not to notice her wiping at her eyes. “My fear of the dark…”

“Yeah. And now you’ve got a class that’ll make sure you’ll never be in the dark again so long as you have mana.”

A sound between a laugh and a sob slipped out of her. “We were close?”

“As close as two kids trapped in hell wearing body controlling collars could be,” I said carefully.

“Then… we weren’t…?”

“Not… exactly.”

She shifted enough to look up at me with puffy eyes. “And what does that mean?”

“Well, we weren’t together. Romantically speaking, I mean. You were my friend, someone who’d been with me through the worst stretch of my life. Given time, who knows what might have happened? But…”

She twisted again, bringing her face even closer to mine. “Zaren, if you leave one more sentence hanging I might actually attack you.”

I couldn’t help but grin. There was the fire I remembered. She hid it well under the mask of subservience being a demi-human demanded she wear, but I was starting to live for the moments I saw the real Karina peeking out from beneath it. “You may or may not have been my first kiss.”

The smile that broke out on her face warmed me from the inside out. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. Planted one right on me.”

Her smile fell. “And then I died, huh? Damn, Zaren. I…” she put a hand on my chest. “I can’t even imagine how hard that was for you.”

I put my hand over hers. “You’re the ones that died.”

“And you’re the one who had to live with it after,” she fired back.

“Maybe,” I acknowledged. “In the end, though, as awful as it sounds, there were times I was glad you died when you did. The way you did. Both of you. Because what came after…” I leaned back into the couch. “I was always the only one making it out alive. Thinking of either of you having to endure what came after the trials? I’m not sure I could have handled that after what we went through together.”

She leaned her head against my chest. “So then the way I feel about you now?”

“Assuming we’re on the right track about all this, your soul recognizes mine. If you had romantic feelings for me then, they might well have carried over to now. Your body and mind don’t remember me, but your soul does. It can lead to a kind of… confusion, I guess. Your soul doesn’t understand why you aren’t pursuing me even though you have no idea why you’d want to. Hypothetically.”

“So then all this?” she asked, trailing her fingers down my chest. Wisps of light twisted with tiny tendrils of shadow trailed up from where her fingers touched me as our magics twined together. “You’re feeling the same thing as I am, aren’t you? Just a dozen times over between all of us.”

I covered her hand with mine to still it before we ended up with another problem. “Something like that, yeah.”

She bit her lip and looked up at me, but there was considerably less anxiety in her gaze this time. “You’re okay with this, then? With me being, um, on you?”

Jayme barked a laugh. “Oh, he’s okay with it alright.”

Karina blushed and kicked at her friend, but Jayme caught her foot with a grin. Then Karina looked up to me with a heated look. “Jayme’s had a thing for you ever since she saw your swordplay.”

“Oh you slut!” Jayme said. She yanked on Karina’s leg until the Seelie was in her lap and pinned her arms to her side. “I told you that in confidence! It’s not my fault you’ve been having wet dreams about him since day one!”

“I have not—”

“Always mumbling your name while she’s sleeping,” Jayme continued while Karina struggled to break her grip, “blushing when you get her all flustered, drooling when she sees the other girls all over you, wishing she was one of them.”

There was a blinding flash of light from Karina and suddenly they were reversed with Karina on top. She held Jayme’s wrists above her head while pinning her legs with her knees while bands of light restrained the blonde. “I am hardly the only one who—”

She froze while Jayme just smirked up at her. I didn’t have to look hard to see the heat in Jayme’s eyes, nor did I miss how quickly Karina had pinned her. Like it was a position they weren’t unfamiliar with. When Karina’s gaze slowly rose to meet mine, heat and shame and worry all warring in them, I felt my pants starting to tighten.

Karina opened her mouth but Jayme beat her to it. “What are the rules on getting into the harem? Is it a one-at-a-time thing or do you take in groups?” Her words were directed at me but her eyes never left Karina’s face.

Blushing furiously, Karina slapped a hand over Jayme’s mouth. “Don’t answer that!” she commanded.I just shrugged. “Considering I spent lunch with Allie’s team and not a lot of clothes I’d say my girls have no problem welcoming groups into the fold. As for getting in, there is some kind of process where those already in the harem discuss potential members. Whether it’s unanimous or majority I have no idea, I just get told the final verdict.”

“And?” Karina asked before she could stop herself.

“I’m not saying you have to make any decisions now, but you’ve both got the stamp of approval,” I told them. “Though, if you’re concerned, I’m sure any of my girls would be happy to discuss things further.”

Karina blanched while Jayme went still under her. She gingerly dismounted Jayme and returned to sitting next to me, only close enough that our shoulders touched. “Then you really…”

“I do,” I told her honestly. “I’m not saying we should jump in feet first or anything. I’m more than happy to figure things out as we go. Take things at your own pace while we figure out where you fit in the scheme of things.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “That’s probably a good idea. Though…” She looked back up at me and once again that bottom lip was trapped between her teeth.

I gingerly placed a hand on her lower back. “Now who’s leaving sentences hanging?”

Her eyes flicked towards my mouth, then she was moving. Her soft, plump lips pressed against my own. I barely even had time to reciprocate before her tongue was tracing the seam of my mouth. I returned the favor eagerly and the exotic, sweet taste of her exploded over my tongue. When she pulled back, she was panting.

“I’ll definitely think things over. But, um—”

“You’re welcome in the big bed any time,” I promised her. I had to fight a chuckle since this was the second time today we’d had this conversation. “If it makes you feel better you can always take a corner and section it off. The curtains are plenty thick enough to block light if you want to bring your lantern. Both of you,” I added, nodding to Jayme.

She licked her lips like she wanted a taste just as badly, but she just sat back. “I’m sure we’ll take you up on that. She might act all tough and dominant, but she melts as soon as you start cuddling her.”

Karina whirled on her friend. “Says the big, tough guard to gets wet just thinking about being bound and gagged!”

Jayme blanched. She looked to me like she feared I might judge her for it. I just chuckled. “I probably shouldn’t mention Rhallani’s growing toy collection or Serena’s proficiency with ropes, then.”

“See?” Karina said, smacking my chest, “I told you that you had nothing to worry about. You can be a badass with a sword and still enjoy getting trussed up and toyed with.”

These two were really not helping the tightness in my pants.

Jayme opened her mouth, likely to drop another kink bomb on the conversation, but I held a hand up. “As entertaining as this is, there are other matters we need to discuss.”

Karina’s face fell. She threw one last dirty look at Jayme before settling back into the chair next to me. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“First things first, I don’t want to ever end up in a situation where I don’t know where you are or what’s happening to you. I have a skill that will Forge a Link between our souls that provide a host of benefits.”

“Done,” Karina said immediately. Jayme nodded as well.

I arched a brow. “You don’t want all the details?”

“That Link is how you knew we were in trouble, wasn’t it? It’s why Tiana knew you weren’t far off?” Karina asked. When I nodded, she shrugged. “Then I want one, too. I’ve already basically decided I’m going to be one of your girls, I just need to finish convincing myself it’s not completely ridiculous that my powerful, rich, human Patron wants me as more than his servant. And with my class, I’d feel a lot safer at night knowing you’ve got some way to sense if I’m in danger.”

Jayme just huffed a laugh. “What she said.”

If they were willing then I wasn’t going to argue. Forging the Links went about how I expected it to. The second I connected with Karina’s soul she was in my lap with her tongue down my throat, grinding on my erection through our pants. It took some considerable willpower to avoid ripping her clothes off then and there, especially when I saw the very same struggle mirrored in her eyes.

As it was my hands snaked underneath her shirt to touch her bare flesh as magic crackled between our skins. I finally managed to collect myself enough to offer the Link to Jayme, though Karina made no move to vacate my lap.

Jayme held back a little longer than Karina when I offered the Link to her, but the end result wasn’t much better. Heat flooded her eyes and her nostrils flared, then she was on the move. Karina was already taking up my lap, so Jayme pressed into my side. Her lips crashed into mine, but the second I started to dominate the kiss she folded.

She sagged into me while I controlled every bit of the scorching, frantic kiss. The next thing I knew she was between me and Karina with me tasting one side of her neck while Karina attacked the other. Whether she’d climbed into my lap on her own or Karina had pulled her between us, I had no idea. Jayme groaned between us as both me and Karina explored her body. My palms traced her muscles while Karina stroked her thighs and her hips.

“Unless you two want our first time together to be here and now,” I managed eventually, “you might want to stop.”

Karina let out a frustrated growl at the same time a needy whimper escaped Jayme’s throat. “I need,” Karina said through clenched teeth, “to think. Even if I know my answer already, I need to be sure.”

“I understand completely,” I promised.

She nodded, but she didn’t get up until her hands had trailed up Jayme’s front and to her breasts where I was pretty sure she tweaked both nipples. “But as soon as I’m sure…”

I grinned at her. “Looking forward to it. You’ll have to get Rhallani to show you her stash.”

Her silvery eyes flashed. “Careful what you wish for, Zaren. You just might get it.”

For a brief second I thought she might say fuck it and go for my pants anyways, but we were interrupted by a knock on the door. Karina grumbled something before she stood and dragged Jayme along with her back to the couch they’d started on. Jayme was still a little checked out from the Linking so she didn’t so much as resist while Karina manhandled her onto the couch and sat in her lap, then pulled the blonde’s arms around her.

I headed to the door—after adjusting myself, of course—and was surprised to find Jack waiting on the other side. She was smirking, but she only held my eyes for a second before her gaze slipped away. “Sorry if I’m interrupting. Figured we could have that chat.”

“Good timing, actually,” I said. I stepped aside to let her in.

Jayme tried to scramble out of Karina’s arms when she saw Jack walk in, but Karina just tightened her arms. It didn’t take much to get Jayme to fold. Jack turned an arched brow from them to me and I couldn’t help but grin.

“They Linked?” she asked finally.

“Just finished.”

“Good.” She crossed her arms. “You want to have this talk now, I’m guessing?”

“Might as well.”

She nodded. “Let’s do this, then.”

I shut the door and locked it, then returned to the couch. I pulled a fireproof stool out for Jack that I’d grabbed earlier and handed it to her. She sat next to me, facing the other two who looked both confused and concerned by the sudden development. “Right,” I said, “we need to talk about your class, Karina.”

She paled. “You told her?”

“I tell my girls everything.” I leaned back, crossing one leg over the other. “But it’s alright, you’re in good company. You remember how I said my class is called Shadowborn?” She nodded. “Well Jack here is a Fireborn. Together we make half of the six Primal classes.”

That finally snapped Jayme out of her haze. “Wait, you know about Karina’s class?”

Karina ducked her head sheepishly. “I meant to tell you…”

“What makes it so special?” Jayme asked.

Jack looked to me to answer, so I said, “We aren’t sure yet. All we really know is that they’re powerful classes that our enemy will stop at nothing to control, as evidenced by Davvon’s actions. I’d like to promise to protect you, but at the end of the day there’s simply too much we don’t know.”

Karina ran her hands through her hair. “So my class makes me a target. Lovely.”

“I’d like you to work with Tiana, Therese, Jack, and me to learn to fight well enough that you can protect yourself. Tiana and Therese are two of the most skilled mages I’ve ever had the pleasure of fighting alongside and me and Jack have magic that’s likely similar to yours, so maybe between the five of us we can figure these classes out.”

I wasn’t expecting Karina to make a big deal out of it after her scare, but I was still surprised to see the relief in her posture. “I’d like that a lot.”

Jayme cleared her throat. “I want to be able to protect my friend, so I’d like to get stronger as well. I know it might be a big ask, but—”

“Jack is damn good with a sword,” I interrupted, “and I’d be more than happy to work with you as well. Ideally I’d like all those in my household to be able to protect themselves, but especially those I care deeply about.”

Jack nodded. “I won’t go easy on you, but by the time I’m done you’ll be a force to be reckoned with. You should have seen Zoey when I found her. Girl could barely tell the pointy end of the sword from the hilt.”

Jayme couldn’t fight her smile. “Fucking right. Shit, I can’t believe a real life member of the Seven is going to teach me swordplay. Talk about a dream come true.”

After that we talked logistics for a while. Planning and goals. Jack had a loose plan set up in no time, but I couldn’t help but feel like she was withdrawn from the conversation. Something was bothering her, but I didn’t want to ask what that something was while we had an audience.

Eventually it was time for both Karina an Jayme to (reluctantly) take their leave. Once they’d headed off, presumably to discuss whether they were sure about joining the harem, Jack turned to me. The reluctance in her posture bothered me, especially when she sighed heavily.

“I’m guessing you didn’t single me out earlier just for that, huh?”

“I did not. I had something else I wanted to talk to you about, but it’s best if we have this conversation somewhere a little more private.”

Her expression tightened, but she just nodded. “Lead the way.”

# # #

It was a tense walk to the testing room we’d set aside for Rhallani’s experiments. Jack didn’t say much, but it wasn’t hard to see that something was bothering her. She wore her standard attire—nothing more than the lightest version of my shadow armor, a set of black bands that held up her breasts and a tight pair of shorts that left little to the imagination—with that fiery red hair tied back, but I couldn’t help but think she felt… disheveled.

I was reminded of the time period when she’d misplaced the nipple piercing that was part of the array that kept her body from collapsing into flame. The effort needed to keep herself together and not send the camp up in flame had made it impossible for her to get real sleep. She’d grown irritable and the mask of Vivian had started to slip more and more. I knew it had to be a different problem this time for a couple reasons. Partly because I knew she had backups in the city, but mainly because I could see the outlines of her nipple piercings through the bands that made up her top, the piercing on her bellybutton was still in place, and as far as I knew she hadn’t misplaced the magical butt plug that tied the array together.

Nope, that still wasn’t any less ridiculous.

The array that Rhallani, Stella, and Elisa had worked together to create wasn’t exactly subtle, but Jack didn’t so much as glance at the metal pieces when she walked in. She must have assumed I’d taken her to a Jack-proofed room though, plopping down in a chair before I even had the chance to mention the array.

She leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees, and sighed heavily. “I’m thinking of taking a job,” she said before I could speak.

I paused. “A job?”

She nodded without looking at me. “Something to get me out of the city for a few weeks. I’ll wait until after I’ve worked with those two first, of course, but I…”

I sank down onto another of the chairs with a frown. “What’s wrong, Jack?”

After a heavy breath, she leaned back in her chair to look at the ceiling. “I’m not sure how much longer I can do this,” she admitted.

My gut twisted. “Define ‘this.’”

She waved her hand vaguely at the room around her. “Being here. Being around all of them and not being able to so much as bump into someone without worrying I’ll set them on fire.” There was a pregnant pause, but I got the feeling she had more to say. “Being around you and not being able to do anything.”

I opened my mouth but she cut me off. “It’s not even the orgasms. I mean, I’m just as horny as always—if not more so, all things considered—but those shadows of yours have made me cum more in the last few weeks than I’ve cum in the last few years. And I don’t want to say that I’m jealous of the others, but…”

“But you are,” I finished for her.

She nodded, still without looking at me. “It’s the stupid shit, y’know? Light touches. Being able to just toss an arm around you. Leaning into you after a long day.” She huffed heavily. “I—”

I felt a little nauseous as she choked on her words. How could I have missed how miserable she apparently was? I should have brought her here the moment Rhallani had finished the room, but things had just kept coming up. I’d taken for granted that Jack was a badass capable of handling anything. She always seemed so… put together. Confident. Cocky. It hadn’t even occurred to me that she might be struggling.

She finally dragged those amber eyes up to me. Sometimes they looked like they held flames in them, but right now they were dark. “I was Ria, right? Before?”

“Makes more sense than anyone else,” I acknowledged.

“And you guys were friends with benefits?”

I winced. “That’s probably the closest term to what we were, but—”

“But you were more?” she guessed. “Or you were becoming more?”

“Yeah.”

She nodded and crossed her arms. “Mornings are the worst,” she said softly. “Sometimes I—sometimes when I first wake up I’ll reach out like I’m expecting you to be there. Before my eyes are even open I’m looking for you. Then when my hand hits empty space I feel… despondent. Angry, but with myself more than anything. Each time I feel like… like I’ve let you down. It hurts, Zaren. Waking up alone.”

“I’m so sorry, Jack,” I said softly.

She shook her head angrily. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. This shit is my fault. It is,” she insisted the second I opened my mouth to argue. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Noticed the trend. I mean, take a look at those of us with the stronger classes. Tsuki went through hell, but now she’s strong enough to protect her sister. Allie’s had a shit run lately, but she’s strong enough to stand by you in a fight. Tiana worked her fucking tits off to get where she is. I literally burned alive to get where I am.”

“Serena mentioned overhearing part of some deal,” she barreled on, “and the more I think about it, the more I know what it was. Allura gave me a choice, I’m sure of it. When I look at my fucked up situation I don’t blame anyone but myself. If she’d have told me that you’d need me someday, then she offered a powerful class at the cost of plenty of suffering, I’d have taken it in a heartbeat. If Ria thought how I think, then I know she would have, too. Looking back—hells, looking forward at all the shit we’ve got looming over us, I wouldn’t have done a damn thing different. Not when the shit I’ve survived made me strong enough to help you. To have your back.”

“I just…” she trailed off, her energy running out, “I need to get my head on straight. Collect myself. Figure out a way to take a breath. I’m sure theres some shit we need to take care of outside the city that’ll further our agenda, so I won’t even be hanging you high and dry.”

It felt like someone had stuffed my mouth with cotton balls. Knowing she’d been suffering so close to me and I hadn’t even realized? That made me want to put my fist through a wall. But Ria had been like that, too. The letter I’d found on her body had revealed so many things she’d been hiding from me because she felt that I wasn’t ready for them.

I didn’t speak as I stood. Her eyes tracked my every move as I slowly walked across the room and to the fixture that would activate the array. It was a relatively small piece of metal shaped not unlike a clock. On it was only a single ‘hand’ that someone would have to turn down so that it clicked into place. If the gem in the center was filled with mana, it would serve as the key to activating the other pieces of the array placed around the room.

I touched my finger to the gem, filling it with enough of my mana to last for twelve hours. Rhallani had done extensive testing with jars of Jack’s flame, and I knew it was capable of suppressing my own shadows, but we hadn’t tested it on Jack herself yet.

“If you feel that’s what you need to do,” I said eventually, “then I’m hardly going to stop you. Even if I’d much rather you stayed.”

She got to her feet and walked over to me. From the way she hugged herself I knew she was having to resist the urge to reach out towards me. Ria had always been quick with touch. A clap on the back. A light punch to the arm. When I was in a mood she’d always throw an arm around my shoulders to pull me down to her height so she could muss up my hair. I should have put two and two together ages ago and realized Jack would have been the same if she didn’t have to worry about setting people on fire.

“You would?” she asked softly, in a very un-Jack-like voice. “Even if you can’t…”

“I’d be lying if I said I had to constantly remind you that physical contact would end poorly for me,” I acknowledged, “but the idea of you not being here?” I brushed my thumb against her cheek. Her skin was too hot to the touch for anything more, but it made her eyes flutter and a shiver roll through her. I watched as she fought the urge to lean into the touch.

She scowled. “I know. Trust me, the thought of walking away at all fucking sucks, but I can’t…”

“And if you could?”

Her eyes snapped to me. “Zaren, I’m a little too pent up for hypotheticals right now,” she said in a low voice.I inclined my head. “Fair enough. Still, I’d like to try something. You may feel odd for a second, but let me know if it hurts.”

She frowned, the confusion clear on her face, but her eyes just flicked to the fixture on the wall. The second I turned the metal ‘hand’ to its downward position I felt the magic click into place. My shadows retreated deep inside me, to a place I couldn’t reach. The world seemed to grow quieter, but I felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest.

The effects on Jack were even more profound. She let out a surprised gasp and swayed on her feet. After reaching out to steady herself against the wall, she looked at me with wide eyes. “What the…?”

“Zaverrian rune arrays, courtesy of our Runeweaver. A combination of the same kind of magic found in the Jailer’s blade and the array you’re wearing right now to keep your flames under control.” She looked down at her hands with wide eyes. “This particular array is meant to suppress Primal magic like yours and mine. This version should last for twelve hours, but we haven’t had time for more than a few tests.”

I watched closely as my words slowly sank in. She looked up at me slowly, her face slack. Then with trembling fingers, she slowly reached out towards me with one hand. She let her fingertips brush my chest first, but when nothing caught fire she kept pushing until her palm was flat against my sternum.

I slowly pressed my full hand to her cheek. She was still far warmer than the average human, but it was tolerable. “Once we do some stress testing, we can try to find the best version to help you—oof!”

The hand on my chest slammed me back into the wall hard enough to knock the air out of my chest. Before I could even take a breath, she’d followed. Her lips crashed into mine. Her hand sunk into my hair while the other trailed up the side of my face.

I wrapped my arms around her and pushed back immediately. She kissed me aggressively. Frantically. Barely pulling back long enough for either of us to take a breath between assaults. I let my hands roam the solid muscle of her body, going lower and lower until they cupped the globes of her ass. Then I went even lower until I reached her thighs.

She groaned against my lips as I yanked her up and spun, pressing her back into the wall. Her powerful legs wrapped around my waist as the new angle let her kiss me even deeper. I cupped her ass at the same time I brought my other thumb up to brush the red gem sitting in the hollow of her throat.

The armor faded away at my command. “Yes!” she cried as her naked breasts pressed into my chest and my fingers dug into her bare ass. My fingers brushed against the plug in her ass and her back arched.

She panted heavily with hunger in her eyes as she grabbed two fistfuls of my shirt in her hands and yanked. The fabric didn’t stand a chance. She ripped the cloth from my body so she could run her hands down my chest. I did the same in return, trailing my palms up her sides until I could dig my thumbs into the undersides of her breasts. She gasped, then I went higher until I could touch her nipples, either with a tiny metal bar embedded in them.

“Fucking finally!” she breathed. Then she was diving back in. She shifted low enough to grind against the bulge in my pants. She cried out as her bare pussy finally found the friction she’d been craving so badly. “Really fucking burying the lead on this one!”

I smirked, then I let her feet hit the ground. “I’ll just have to make it up to you.”

“Wha—” The second her feet hit the ground I dropped until I was looking up at her. Jack’s eyes widened as I threw one of her legs over my shoulder and delivered a long lick up her core. “Fuck!” Her body shuddered and her eyes rolled up into her head.

She was absolutely dripping wet, so I didn’t waste time. I started with her outer lips, working them with my tongue while watching her every reaction. Absorbing every sound she made. Keeping track of which spots made her twitch and jerk the most. Gods, she was even hotter down here. Her taste coated my tongue. Her smell invaded my senses. Her hands hovered over me, like she was fighting to keep from touching me still.

Then I plunged a finger inside her at the same time I dragged my tongue over the nub at the hood of her core and she shattered. Her fingers sank into my hair as she rode my face, screaming my name as her orgasm made her taut muscles ripple and shift beneath her skin. I dipped back to her pussy and thrust my tongue inside her. With one hand I fingered her clit, with the other I gripped the plug in her ass and started pushing and pulling on it, shifting it around to create even more pressure while my tongue searched for the deepest parts of her. Hunted down every spot that made her thrash and scream as her fingers tightened in my hair, pulling me even deeper into her.

After I’d sent her crashing into her second orgasm, only held up by the wall and my face between her legs, something between us shifted. “I appreciate getting eaten out as much as the next girl,” she panted, her pupils blown wide, “but if I don’t get a real fucking cock in me soon I’m going to lose my godsdamned mind.”

“That can be arranged.” I licked my way up her toned body and grabbed her by the back of her neck to pull her face to mine. I caught her bottom lip between my teeth and bit down as I played with one of her breasts, tugging and twisting the piercing in her nipple. She moaned sweetly, then her hands were at my belt. She frantically got it undone, then I heard fabric tearing as she freed my cock. Fiery hot fingers wrapped around my shaft and it was my turn to groan. From the flare in her eyes, I knew she liked that sound a lot.

There were many words that came to mind when I imagined Jack. Slow and gentle were not two of those words. Her leg had wrapped around me before my pants even hit the ground. Her heel dug into my ass as she pulled herself high enough to line me up with her entrance. The second I felt her dripping heat pressing into my head I pushed. Her tunnel resisted the intrusion for the briefest of moments, then I was slamming into her tight, impossibly hot tunnel.

“Fuuuck!” Her head falling back and her chest heaving as our hips met. I tilted her head back so I could shower her neck with kisses while her nails dragged down my back. While she’d had my shadows in her any number of times, I knew she’d never been with a man before. Her hymen might have been long gone, but I still gave her a moment to adjust to my size.

When her eyes finally found their way back to me, they were glowing. She grabbed my face in both hands and pulled my forehead to hers. “Zaren,” she said breathlessly, “I’m only going to say this once. You’d better fuck me like you mean it.”

Well, when she asked so nicely…

I put my palm to her neck with my thumb under her jaw. I didn’t squeeze, but just my hand being on her throat made her clench around me. Then I sunk my fingers into the flesh of her thigh to hike her leg even higher as I slowly dragged my cock out of her. She tried to wiggle her hips and use her leg to pull me in deeper, but right now I had all the leverage. Especially when I tightened my grip just enough for her eyes to flutter and her lips to part in anticipation.

Then I slammed home with a single thrust of my hips and those eyes rolled back into her head with her lips stretched wide in a silent scream. I didn’t stop there, either. Her body hadn’t even started to come back down from the force of my thrust before I was pulling back to do it all over again.

She reached for the ground in vain with the leg not wrapped around me as I fucked her into the wall, but she soon gave up. She wrapped it around me the same as the first, slowly getting a little more leverage each time my hips slammed into hers. Her legs squeezed me so tight I thought she might crack a rib, but that just freed my hand up to sink my fingers into her breast.

Her voice finally found its way back and she screamed out her pleasure while her insides clenched down on me. She twisted her fingers in my hair and dragged my lips back to hers. Her long, toned legs let her slowly start angling herself for better and better thrusts. I felt her walls fluttering as another climax approached. Her kisses grew sloppier. More desperate. Her moans sweeter. Faster.

Then her head was falling back as she screamed my name again, cumming around my cock. I had to slow my pace from the sheer tightness of her tunnel as her inner muscles clamped down on me. The last thing I wanted to do was blow my load this early. Not when I still had many, many plans for her.

But she had plans for me, too.

Just when I thought it was time to start thrusting into her again I was falling. I slipped free of her as she shoved me onto my back, but I didn’t feel the cool air on my cock for very long at all. I’d barely hit the ground before she was on me, impaling herself with a single move.

“Fuck! You feel so good, there's so much!” she panted. Her hands braced against my chest as she started riding. In this position it was much easier for my hands to explore her. Her thighs. Hips. Her toned ass. Her impossibly soft breasts. I trailed my thumb down her center, across the piercing at her belly button and lower until my thumb brushed against her clit.

Her back arched and she cried out as I pressed down. Her hand went to her own breast as she rode me even faster. I thrust up into her from below, not content to let her do all the work.

“This is so much better than your shadows,” she panted.

“I’ll make sure to tell them to step their game up,” I grunted.

She tried to say something in response, but I could already feel her getting close again. Her head tilted back and her eyes closed halfway as she picked up speed, and that was when I struck.

A pleasure filled yelp slipped past her lips as I rolled us until her shoulders were the only part of her on the ground. I pressed one leg to her chest and rammed down into her. “You fuck!” she cried, her nails dragging down my back hard enough to draw blood. But her walls clenched down on me even harder than before.Using one hand to hold her leg in place and the other to hold me up I slammed into her with all the force I could muster. Her leg wrapped around me to try and get leverage, but she was too close to shattering to muster up any real strength.

“Fuck, you’re tight,” I panted

“Yeah?” Her eyes flashed as suddenly her walls clamped down so hard I could barely move. We both groaned as my pace slowed by necessity at the sudden, intense tightness. “How about now?”

“Gods!” I gasped. I responded by shifting her leg even higher, folding her in half as I picked up the intensity of my thrusts.

“Ahhn! So fucking deep!” Her hands scrabbled for purchase of any kind. I didn’t relent, slamming into her as hard as I’d fucked any of my girls so far. I let her leg go so it pressed into my chest and shifted so I could attack her clit with my other hand. She squirmed and writhed, but with her pinned under me there was nothing she could do but cum.

“Fuck, Zaren!” she screamed, eyes jamming shut as release ripped through her again. I let off as I fingered her through her climax to let her ride out the pleasure.

That was my mistake.

Her powerful legs tightened and her body shifted underneath me. Then we were rolling again with me still buried inside her. She ended up back on top and I saw the challenge in her eyes. From there, it was on.

We fought one another for dominance, each trying to pin each other. I never slipped out of her for long before I was thrusting back in, but neither of us ever truly got the upper hand. I wasn’t sure either of us wanted to, really.

We rolled and twisted, our limbs wrapped up and me buried inside her. At one point we sent a chair rolling away, but that just made her laugh. I followed, and suddenly we rolled to a stop with her on top. Her legs on either side of mine. I sat up so our fronts were pressed together and wrapped a hand around her back. Her arms were over my shoulders as she looked down at me with a hooded gaze.

The battle for dominance slammed to a halt as we both stopped to simply chase one another’s pleasure. Our faces only inches apart. Hers so close I could feel her breath on my lips. Our gazes not breaking even to blink as she rode me and I thrust up into her in perfect time. The hectic, aggressive fucking faded in that one moment into something slower. Softer. Sweeter.

Fingers trailed my back and I pushed forward so our lips met. It wasn’t the hectic, frantic exchange from before. Like our fucking, it was slow. Easy. I took my time drowning in her taste as we slowly picked up the pace. Both of us had the perfect amount of leverage in this position. Each thrust brought us both closer and closer to the edge.

Jack kissed me back at first, but the closer she got to her breaking point the slower her lips moved until they’d stilled altogether. Her eyes were screwed shut as she rode out the pleasure. Her breath came in short gasps and her nails dug into my back. Her walls started to flutter, and I knew she was on the precipice.

“Look at me, Jack,” I whispered against her mouth.

Her eyes fluttered open, the amber almost completely drowned out by the same swirling gold and orange of her flames.

“You’re mine, Jack. No matter how far you go or how much space you need, that’ll never change.”

Her breath hitched.

Then she fell apart.

She buried her face in my shoulder to muffle the cry as she came. Her limbs wrapped around me tightly and I let the clenching of her body send me into my own orgasm. I let my eyes fall closed and buried my face in her hair as I spilled myself in her.

I gently stroked her back while her chest heaved, flush with mine. She seemed more than happy to just sit there with our bodies slotted together like pieces of a puzzle. I hummed when she started playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.

“So I say we call it a draw,” she said in a small voice.

A laugh burst from my throat and it wasn’t long before she was joining me. Once we’d managed to rein in our giggles she pulled back, gasping as my still-hard cock shifted inside her. “Damn, and here I thought you’d be spent after fucking Allie’s team into a group coma.”

I gripped her chin between two fingers and pulled her into a soft kiss. “I’ve been waiting for this for far too long to just be sated with one round.”

She grinned and started to slowly rock her hips. “Yeah? And just how long have you been waiting?”I hummed in thought, but the answer was an easy one.

“Well, probably sometime around ‘Lady Vivian Cross. A pleasure.’”

Her eyes glowed with mirth. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going anywhere. Not when you can dick me down like that.”

I chuckled. “Thank goodness. I was trying to come up with reasons to get you to stay.”

Her lips quirked upwards. “You could always try asking.”

“Stay,” I said immediately, pressing her to my front. “Please?”

Her smile widened. “How can I say no to that face? Besides, I’ve been taking lots and lots of notes these last few weeks. I think I need to test this divine stamina of yours out myself.”

My grin matched her own. “Be my guest. After a draw like that, I think I need a rematch.”

From the look in her eye, I had a pretty good feeling we were about to put Rhallani’s design through all the stress testing it would ever need.