Forgotten Elements

The next day, when we weren’t exhausted and healing, Alora and Starling told us how Seth had sent them after a cursed sister without warning them. Gabsrielle was the one to tell Starling she was pregnant. Starling hadn’t believed it was true until Gemini checked her energy yesterday after we came home. Sure enough, Gemini confirmed Gabsrielle had been right. Had Gemini not been looking for it, she wouldn’t have noticed since she was in the early stages.

It was more than a little creepy that Gabsrielle knew this without touching Starling. What else did she know?

“This bitch is just as bad as her sister,” Jade grumbled when they told us about the sleeping draft and the fucked up choice.

We didn’t spend much time talking about her or her sisters, needing a break from all this bullshit. It was clear the quiet break from the prison realm and the creature’s realm was coming to an end. With this knowledge in mind, we took a much-needed lazy day, where we didn’t do much other than enjoy being in each other’s company. Ari emerged from her room in the late afternoon, still looking exhausted. At least she was coherent and walking on her own. Sort of. She bumped into an armchair when heading into the kitchen for a snack.

Several times, she would mutter under her breath how she wanted to get her hands on fake Seth the next time he emerged and kill him for real this time. While I understood her need for revenge and to get answers, killing him would require the rift being open, and that wasn’t something any of us ever wanted.

Call me crazy, but I didn’t want to see the prison’s inhabitants in person, nor did I want to find out how many were there or the different species. They’ve already wreaked havoc in our realm, and I had a feeling that was only a fraction of the number of those imprisoned there.

None of us stayed up late and ended up going to bed early. While we weren’t physically tired, the events from the Land of plenty drained us mentally and emotionally. I was still having a difficult time believing and processing everything we learned.

When I awoke the next morning, the moon was still in the sky, and my wristband said it was before five. Disentangling myself from Parker, I climbed out of bed and headed outside, needing to feel the connection to the earth.

After spending weeks outside all day, every day, it was strange to be inside. It was also weird to be wearing my wristband again after growing accustomed to not having it.

On the horizon, the sky began lightening to a dark purple with the emerging sun. All was quiet as these were the hours when even those stayed up late were now asleep, and those who got up early had yet to wake. There was something peaceful about being awake during this time, staring at the horizon and connecting with nature as a gentle breeze fluttered my hair around my face.

I wasn’t so lost in my connection to the elements or this peaceful moment that I didn’t hear the front door opening and closing or notice the faint warmth tingling in my chest as Parker came up from behind. He grabbed my hips, pulling me against his body as he dipped his head down close to my ear. “Late night?”

A smile tugged at my lips at the question he’d asked me every time I came back home after staying out all night.

“I wish.” I tipped my head back and looked up at him with a mischievous smirk. “The guy once promised he’d fuck me so hard I wouldn’t be able to walk, and yet here I am, walking with no problem.”

“That’s awful,” Parker murmured, trailing his hands up my sides in a teasing touch. “We should do something to rectify this.”

I started to turn around, ready to head back into the house, but Parker’s hold on my waist tightened, preventing me from moving. “No.” His lips brushed my ear, and I swore I could hear a smile in his voice. “I want to fulfill a fantasy of mine that I’ve had for a while.” His hands trailed down my waist, and I immediately understood where his thoughts were headed.

Heat built up in my core as desire pounded between my legs at his hands moving down my body and the thought of doing this out in the open. “What if someone comes out and sees us?” My halfhearted protest was marred by how breathless my voice was as he trailed a hand down my thigh.

“Then they’ll see me showing my mate a good time.” His husky whisper between kisses pressed against my shoulder, along with his words, had me wiggling against him, feeling his hard cock against my back. The deep-seated throb between my legs grew in intensity as he trailed his fingers up the inside of my thigh, pressing against my clit through the fabric of my shorts.

My breath hitched when his fingers slipped under the waistband of my sleep shorts, his touch still light and teasing. “Over these past months, I’ve come up with multiple ways to fuck you on these stairs. Ever since I first saw you, I always knew we’d end up here eventually.” As he casually spoke, his hand slipped into my panties and brushed over the tight bundle of nerves. My hips jerked as he pressed down, and began rubbing in a small circle.

I grabbed his wrist, holding his hand in place as he rubbed slow circles against my clit, trying to get him to pick up his pace. He licked up my neck to my ear, his low chuckle brushing my skin and inciting shivers. Despite my hold on his wrist, he was able to continue his downward trajectory and brushed a finger through the pooling wetness of my entrance.

He slipped a finger inside, and I groaned and rocked my hips against him, but it wasn’t nearly enough. “Tell me, were you as wet as you are now that first morning?” Another finger joined the first, pumping in and out of my pussy. “Were you considering my offer?” His pace was torturously slow, making me tug at his wrist, trying to get him to go faster.

“Yes,” I choked out as he curled his fingers, hitting the right spot that had me dropping my head back against his chest.

Just like at the Winter Solstice festival, he had me unraveling within record time, leaving me leaning back against him as my breaths evened out. I whimpered as he pulled his fingers free and removed his hand from my shorts despite literally just coming.

“Shhh. Don’t worry. I will never leave you unsatisfied. You’ve dealt with enough of that these past months.” He pressed a lingering kiss to the base of my neck, and I tilted my head to the side to give him better access.

He pulled away and came to stand in front of me, his hands landing on my hips as he brushed his lips against mine. “I want you to sit down,” he murmured as he backed me up the stairs and guided me to sit on the top step.

I opened my mouth to speak. Honestly, I had no clue what I’d say, but it didn’t matter since the words died on my tongue as he knelt on the stairs in front of me and spread my legs. “Lift your hips for me.”

Following his command, I placed my hands on the ground behind me and lifted my hips so he could pull off my shorts and panties in one go. The concrete was cool beneath my bare skin, and I sent a small amount of my magic down into the ground to warm it. Despite being an elemental and having a love for nature, I’d never had sex outside before him. When I told Parker this, he grinned. “Finally, I’m your first in something.” He punctuated his words with a long lick up my pussy, wringing a gasp from me as one of my hands threaded through his hair.

Unlike when he was fingering me, he didn’t let up or ease me into it. His tongue worked against me, building up the coiling tension in my core as buzzing warmth spread from my chest through the rest of my body. My breaths quickened, and I pressed my lips together in an attempt to stifle the moans trying to slip free. My magic naturally connected to the earth, and rather than distract or take away from the way Parker was working up my body, it only served to enhance the moment. The dual feelings of connecting nature while Parker devoured my pussy melded together and helped shove me closer to the edge.

With my magic flaring up, Parker’s rose in response, heightening the bond and speeding up my impending orgasm. He directed some of his magic toward my clit. The warm electric vibrations had me falling back on the concrete as I was thrown headfirst into a spiraling orgasm.

When he said he had planned out what he would do to me, he wasn’t kidding. He continued lapping at my pussy, building me up once again before trailing his attention up to my breasts, giving them special attention that resulted in several more releases.

The sun had begun rising by the time he sat on the top step, pulling me onto his lap with the command to ride him. His hands held my hips as I rolled my hips, setting a quick rhythm as I chased yet another orgasm. Using his hold on my hips, he took control of the pace, slamming me down on his cock. My nails dug into his shoulders as I dropped my head back. He whispered in my ear every once in a while, telling me all the things he wanted to do to me. While I normally hated when men spoke during sex, with him it turned me on in a way I’d never experienced or expected.

He hadn’t been lying the other day in the shower. This time, he wrung so many orgasms from me that I was nearly ready to beg him to stop—something I never thought would or could happen. My legs shook after he came inside of me, and I wasn’t sure I could slide off of him, much less stand.

“Did reality live up to your fantasy?” I murmured as I buried my face against his neck.

He rubbed circles on my back as he chuckled. “Better.”

“Sorry, you had to wait so long.” The past day, I’d been kicking myself at how stupid I’d been. I was the reason he spent so much time waiting for me and watching as I attempted to sleep with other men.

If I hadn’t been so damn stubborn, we both wouldn’t have wasted so much time being unfulfilled.

“You were worth the wait. I would’ve waited years, just for this moment, right here, right now.”

I pulled back, looking at him in surprise. A genuine smile lifted his lips as his expression softened. His hands cupped my face, and he brought down his lips against mine in a slow and deep kiss.

The connection between our souls was stronger than before, the bond thrumming in my chest.

My swollen lips tingled from the heated kiss when he eventually pulled away, holding my gaze. The flecks of gold in his eyes were highlighted by the morning sun. He looked as gorgeous as he had that first morning, and I couldn’t believe I had the willpower to deny him for so long.

A sly smirk tipped his lips, and my core clenched with need. “Next time, we’re fulfilling my next fantasy on those steps.” He inclined his head toward the steps to his former house—the steps where he used to wait for me in the mornings.

I fought the grin rising to my lips as I glanced at them and back to him. “Do all of your fantasies involve stairs?”

His chest vibrated with his low chuckles that had my body warming with need despite having just come multiple times. “You’ll just have to wait and find out,” he said as he pulled me in for another kiss.