Savage Shifters Box Set, page 157
“What?”
“This is important.”
He locked eyes with hers. There was something personal in that gaze now, and she figured it out easily: an understanding, despite the obvious reluctance. “It is. Nina?”
“Yes?”
“I need you.”
Nina’s stomach fluttered with longing, but she desperately swallowed her emotions in. She was suddenly so tired, and it wasn’t just the physical aspect of her condition. Accepting this meant being vulnerable to the possibility of someone discovering her secret.
But refusing would mean more trouble coming, and that just didn’t bode well for anyone. This involved their freedom.
And this involved Jade’s and the people’s eventual happiness.
Nina’s resolve strengthened, despite warning bells sounding in her head. Maybe the answer had been cemented for her from the start.
She nodded, willing herself to be casual.
She needed to be casual about everything regarding him now.
“Then I’ll do it. I’ll recover from this, and I’ll do it.”
Chapter 251
“My name is Elila, and I only have one thing to say on the matter.”
“And what is that?”
“Fuck you. Fuck you a thousand times over.”
The words weren’t necessarily harsh, but they were said with such relish that Khalil was pretty sure the siren meant a part of it. It made his hands fist, made him want to shake her for being so crude and unapologetic about it. Instead, Khalil let his emotions calm down—let himself stay still in one corner of the prison room, where he was invisible under his wings.
In the middle was Elila, still bound by the unbreakable cords and sitting like she was on some throne instead of a stone chair.
In front of her was Nina, unperturbed at the insult. In fact, Nina was so unbothered that she tilted her head almost casually.
“Is that really the best you can do, Eli?”
It wasn’t an insult, but it was certainly not said in a nice manner. There was a mocking hint to it, toned down so it still seemed polite. But Khalil had already come to know Nina well in their time together during the escape and in Matsa, and he noticed two things right off.
That Nina’s eyes were too calm when insults would usually have heated her up.
And that she called Elila by the nickname that the siren had repeatedly said she didn’t like.
It had the desired effect—or at least, it got a reaction. Elila’s eyes flashed, hair glowing again and lighting up the dim space. There was hate brimming on the surface, and she crossed her legs almost languidly.
Then she spat, the saliva landing near Nina’s feet.
Nina didn’t bat an eyelash, merely glancing down with a raise of brow. She then looked at the siren, her expression amused. “Really now, Eli? Spitting? Isn’t that tasteless, even for you?”
“I told you not to call me that,” Elila hissed, uncrossing her legs. She made a move to lunge forward, but the binds prevented her from doing so. In turn, that made her cry out in frustration and struggle some more.
Khalil watched from his spot, while Nina watched unabashedly. The siren kept thrashing, her hair brightening even more. But it had lost a lot of its blinding light, and he knew that meant Elila was also slowly losing her old self.
Nina knew it, too. She eyed the hair now, her lips clamped so tight that they were turning white. But her face was as calm as ever as she talked, and the words she wielded held a certain softness to them.
“You lost the right to ask to be called Elila after what you’ve done to the princess—your princess now, considering you traveled with us. Bonded with us. Why aren’t you fighting this?”
“Why aren’t I fighting what?”
“Whatever is taking control inside of you.”
Elila scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do,” Nina said easily. She leaned forward, face close. “And you still have a chance to be free.”
“I do?”
Nina nodded, eyes boring into the siren’s. “Yes. As long as you tell us who else here is involved in this.”
The words were...almost soothing, and it took Khalil that second to realize that they weren’t just words. Nina was already using her persuasion in the most subtle way possible. In fact, it was so subtle that Khalil couldn’t detect any energy leak at all, which was impressive and scary at the same time. It had Elila’s eyes glazing over, and for a second, Khalil was sure that they got her.
Power whispered over his skin, like tiny little tendrils. Perhaps he was wrong about Nina’s energy leak, then. It tried to get inside him, not necessarily obtrusive, and he shuddered. But he tried not to make any movement as he kept his invisibility, understanding Nina wanted to do this alone, as she thought the siren would trust her more.
“You will tell me what you know,” Nina intoned, voice melodic now. Pleasant. “You will tell me how many people are involved. You will tell me what you can, Elila, so we can help you out.”
Elila leaned forward, too.
“I will tell you to bind yourself and leave me the fuck alone. You have no power over me. Surprising, actually. I didn’t know you were one of us.”
“You’re not one of us,” Nina said shortly. “You’re not Elila, either. And you can’t compel me.”
The siren smirked, and it was one filled with glee. “I wasn’t trying to compel you.”
Nina’s eyes widened. At the same time, Khalil felt the tendrils around him sinking straight into his pores, shooting up his mind before he could stop it. It grabbed hold, rendering his thoughts blank. Filling it up with suggestions.
Show yourself. Bind yourself.
His hands moved, and his wings were thrown off. Nina whirled to face him, but it was too late as he moved too fast, wrapping the wings around their waists and rendering them trapped. Pain filled Nina’s expression, and Khalil desperately tried to fight against his tightening wings as it started to choke them.
Elila laughed, crazed and hysterical. No one could hear them from the outside, because the place was soundproof, as Nina had requested, to make sure her energy didn’t leak out and affect anyone else.
Now it had become their trap, too.
“You see what happens when you think you have the upper hand?” the siren asked, voice sweet and filled with power—the same power that played all over Khalil’s body. It slid in his blood, rendered him helpless. Powerless. “You lose it just as easily. We will destroy you.”
“You’re not plenty enough to do that,” Nina spat out. “Not in Matsa.”
“We don’t need plenty. Three is enough.”
Three.
Three.
Elila seemed to realize too late that she just blurted out what she’d been trying to keep inside, and her eyes widened in horror. Then, fury. That fury boiled over, turning her hair dull and coating the air with it. It was dark, and again, it didn’t feel like the siren’s usual seductive energy. It made Elila’s body tremble, and her mouth opened as she directed her furious stare at Khalil.
“You should never have meddled,” she snapped. “Now tighten those wings up and kill yourself first. Let me watch.”
Energy jumped towards him, and he braced himself to fight it with all of his power. But before he could, another energy slid in—one completely different, growing by the second and spreading across his body more than the first one did.
Then that energy yanked so hard that his teeth felt like they would shatter. It took the first energy along with it, pulling it off.
Elila smirked.
“Weakness at its finest. I knew she’d protect you. Now she’s vulnerable.”
The siren convulsed after her words, her eyes widening as more energy dripped out of her—as that energy was pushed towards Nina. Elila opened her mouth, her words jumbled.
Her tone was no longer charming or vicious.
“Oh, no. Oh, no. Nina. Nina...”
The siren jerked before slumping, her eyes closing and her head lolling. Her sudden weight tilted the chair to the side. Khalil fought through the compelling one last time, feeling his wings loosen up. He reached out to catch Elila before her head cracked on the hard ground, placing her lying on the side and unconscious.
Someone whimpered, and he turned to look at Nina.
What he saw had his heart dropping to his stomach.
Energy dripped out of her, too, rendering her whole body white as a sheet as she struggled with it. But it wasn’t just her energy. At first, he thought she was fighting to get that foreign energy away from her, and he reached out to try to help her out.
Nina lurched back, frantically shaking her head.
“It’s trying to pull at my power,” she said, her words shaking. Her voice trembling. “It’s trying...Khal, get me in an isolated place. I can’t...my power can’t get out. My power can’t...”
But it was already getting out.
Khalil didn’t hesitate, trusting her right off. He moved—this time, towards her, yanking her off her feet and carrying her struggling form. He felt the foreign energy fade off now that it didn’t have a host, but the other energy...it was slowly increasing, a dangerous snap that was about to explode. He pushed the door open, eyeing the fairy guards there.
“Get the siren checked. Cover her mouth. Get Jade to test her. Don’t follow me until an hour or so passes. That’s an order.”
Then he was running off, further down into winding steps that led to a dungeon, where another proofed prison room was located. Energy bubbled over, spilling out of Nina in waves as she fought against his hold. His eyes set on the room door, and he slid her in without so much as a pause. Nina didn’t stop from there, further entering the room in a dead run despite the dimness of the lighting, brought about only by a single torch.
“Get out of here,” she said, her voice coming out in choked heaving. “Get out of—”
Khalil closed the door, but with him also inside. They both heard the quiet click of the lock, one that could only be unlocked from an outside source.
They were both trapped in.
It was stupidity at its finest, he knew—but it was also instinct telling him that leaving her alone was the worst decision there was, ringing in his head until it was all he could hear. So he went with it, even while he watched her lurch away to the opposite wall from the door, where she glared at him furiously.
“Get out,” she said, miserable. “Get out, please, get out, I don’t want to hurt you...”
Tears fell from her eyes as her body trembled from the effort of keeping the energy in. It made his whole body hurt just standing there and watching her, and it made his hands shake violently. Her body repeatedly flew and hit the wall she was leaning on, almost as if she was distracting herself from the pain of having to deal with her own power.
And he couldn’t bear it anymore.
Khalil strode over and let instinct dictate him, crossing the distance between them and ignoring her shaking head. Without thought, without pause, he took her arm and pulled her in, watching her pleading green eyes for a second or two.
Then he damned all the consequences and slid her in his arms, covering her up and easing her from her struggling at the same time.
Coldness transferred to his body immediately, and he realized she was frozen from it. His hands moved to soothe, even while shock filled him as her energy detected him and tried to wrap around him. Unlike the one earlier trying to defend him, this one was curious—and that curiosity came in the form of magic so heavy that it drowned, making him feel like he was losing air.
He couldn’t imagine how it made her feel.
“Let it go,” he urged. “You’re safe here. This place is sealed. It won’t get out.”
She kept silent, still visibly fighting it. At first, she even tried to fight him, pounding her hands at his shoulders and trying to pry her body off. But Khalil refused to allow her to do so, using his strength to his advantage and keeping them both wrapped around each other.
He navigated her to the wall, trapping her back against it and her front against him. Keeping her there.
“Khal...” she sobbed out, the agony in her throat like pinpricks to his heart. “I can’t...it hurts...”
“Let it go,” he repeated, looking her in the eye. Refusing to budge. “Nina, I can handle it. Let it go. Please.”
She fought once more. But the fight was no longer hers, and he knew the moment her body gave up as it slumped against his. He expected her energy to slide out like silk, to wrap around them like it did earlier and make him do things he didn’t want to do.
Instead, it exploded, a surge that blasted out in all directions and coated his vision with darkness.
He smelled the power, and he tasted it. It slid inside him, but there was no fighting it now as it rushed them both like an electric charge—like a rainstorm come with a vengeance. Khalil understood that it was the repression of that energy that had it bursting out now without control, and the only way to stop her pain was to let it all out until she was drained.
The energy shifted and re-shifted in the air, a quality of darkness in it that he felt was like a mix of Nina’s and Elila’s—the power she wasn’t able to fight earlier, it seemed. It swept around him, swept over them, until his body was so brutally tossed like waves.
But it wasn’t just darkness, because there was brightness there, too. It danced in the air, struggling and cheering at the same time. Khalil sunk in it and had to take in deep breaths. As he did, he held Nina tighter, feeling her hands cling to him and feeling her shoulders tremble. The blankness of his mind was slowly coming back to life, and his thoughts started to form words.
“Nina, hang in there. Stay with me,” he murmured, whispering near her ear before he buried his head on her shoulder. He inhaled her scent, felt her softness, letting it anchor him and encourage him from the hopelessness at the same time. “Nina...”
“Khal,” she whispered. “Khal.”
The darkness...it started to fade off, and so did the constricting feeling in his chest. He stopped drowning, which allowed him to take long, refreshing breaths of air again. Her body arched, and she inhaled, and he could imagine that it felt like music to her lungs.
It felt like that to him, and he reveled in it.
Nina choked on a sob, and his hands slid across her back in gentle motions. Down her arms as he kept her in, a physical protection as much as he could.
“The darkness...” he trailed off.
“It’s gone,” she whispered. “Elila...”
“She’s alive. You did it.”
“I almost killed her. I almost killed you.”
“None of that now,” he scolded. He felt around in the air, where energy still remained. All bright now. “Where did the darkness go?”
“Nowhere. It’s gone. That’s...that’s my power now.”
“Hmm.”
He was relieved to note that her voice was steadier, even while her body continued shaking quietly against him. Belatedly, he realized she was pulling the energy back in: a slow, gradual process that almost felt like a cajoling. The energy shied away at first, simply floating in the air and ignoring her. Then, after a while, it slid down, recognizing her.
Recognizing him.
It slid across his body, tingling. Moving like silk, like electricity that was no longer painful. It jolted his stomach, a reaction that he didn’t think was possible at a time like this. Her breathing came out in strange, breathless gasps, and the sound was no longer scared but...almost erotic now.
She was aroused. She was aroused, and…
Belatedly, Khalil realized why—because his hands were moving, and they weren’t moving in a polite manner.
No, they were moving across her skin: sliding across it in soothing waves at first, before that changed and they moved to touch. They whispered across her breasts, where her nipples puckered into tight, achy points. They moved across her legs, which were effectively spreading as his leg slid in between and he...rubbed.
Energy still coated them, fading off now. Sliding off into reality.
But this was reality, and she almost died in his arms—and she almost died alone, all because of some jaded sense of wanting to protect the people.
Of wanting to protect him before she protected herself.
Without pause, Khalil rocked against her. The fact that his cock was already iron hard despite being fully clothed spoke volumes, and he tried to refrain himself from crossing boundaries.
But a tiny moan came out of Nina’s mouth, and her body...it rocked back against him. Arched against him, until he was fully nestled in between her thighs.
And that was his undoing.
Some of the energy remained in the air, reminding him why he was there. Why they were there. But it also reminded him of this shared moment—of all the shared moments he had with her, of all that he lost because he was trying to keep in control. His head came up, and his eyes met hers.
Desire clouded hers, and the pleading in there was rendered both by magic and reality, tangled together.
There was no thinking ahead then as he kissed her hard, no longer able to fight it. The energy whispered, slinking in and encouraging him for this. It encouraged her, too, as she eagerly moved her mouth, hot and wanton and everything he’d ever imagined.
More than he’d ever imagined.
Nina bit his lower lip, right before she soothed with a gentle sucking. All his desire rushed downward as pleasured breaths came out of her throat. He lifted her up, took what she gave so freely. Lost himself in it.
But he didn’t stop there, as desperation took him to new heights and had him wanting to please her this time—wanting to do it hard and slow until she was screaming for him.
Khalil’s hands slid down.
His mouth followed.
Chapter 252
The kiss was barely done when Khalil turned her around, almost as if he didn’t want to face her and this. Refusing to be touched in that manner but wild with the knowledge that she was affecting him so badly, she whirled back to face him—a movement punctuated by a groan from his end before he was re-capturing her lips in heated glory.
“This is important.”
He locked eyes with hers. There was something personal in that gaze now, and she figured it out easily: an understanding, despite the obvious reluctance. “It is. Nina?”
“Yes?”
“I need you.”
Nina’s stomach fluttered with longing, but she desperately swallowed her emotions in. She was suddenly so tired, and it wasn’t just the physical aspect of her condition. Accepting this meant being vulnerable to the possibility of someone discovering her secret.
But refusing would mean more trouble coming, and that just didn’t bode well for anyone. This involved their freedom.
And this involved Jade’s and the people’s eventual happiness.
Nina’s resolve strengthened, despite warning bells sounding in her head. Maybe the answer had been cemented for her from the start.
She nodded, willing herself to be casual.
She needed to be casual about everything regarding him now.
“Then I’ll do it. I’ll recover from this, and I’ll do it.”
Chapter 251
“My name is Elila, and I only have one thing to say on the matter.”
“And what is that?”
“Fuck you. Fuck you a thousand times over.”
The words weren’t necessarily harsh, but they were said with such relish that Khalil was pretty sure the siren meant a part of it. It made his hands fist, made him want to shake her for being so crude and unapologetic about it. Instead, Khalil let his emotions calm down—let himself stay still in one corner of the prison room, where he was invisible under his wings.
In the middle was Elila, still bound by the unbreakable cords and sitting like she was on some throne instead of a stone chair.
In front of her was Nina, unperturbed at the insult. In fact, Nina was so unbothered that she tilted her head almost casually.
“Is that really the best you can do, Eli?”
It wasn’t an insult, but it was certainly not said in a nice manner. There was a mocking hint to it, toned down so it still seemed polite. But Khalil had already come to know Nina well in their time together during the escape and in Matsa, and he noticed two things right off.
That Nina’s eyes were too calm when insults would usually have heated her up.
And that she called Elila by the nickname that the siren had repeatedly said she didn’t like.
It had the desired effect—or at least, it got a reaction. Elila’s eyes flashed, hair glowing again and lighting up the dim space. There was hate brimming on the surface, and she crossed her legs almost languidly.
Then she spat, the saliva landing near Nina’s feet.
Nina didn’t bat an eyelash, merely glancing down with a raise of brow. She then looked at the siren, her expression amused. “Really now, Eli? Spitting? Isn’t that tasteless, even for you?”
“I told you not to call me that,” Elila hissed, uncrossing her legs. She made a move to lunge forward, but the binds prevented her from doing so. In turn, that made her cry out in frustration and struggle some more.
Khalil watched from his spot, while Nina watched unabashedly. The siren kept thrashing, her hair brightening even more. But it had lost a lot of its blinding light, and he knew that meant Elila was also slowly losing her old self.
Nina knew it, too. She eyed the hair now, her lips clamped so tight that they were turning white. But her face was as calm as ever as she talked, and the words she wielded held a certain softness to them.
“You lost the right to ask to be called Elila after what you’ve done to the princess—your princess now, considering you traveled with us. Bonded with us. Why aren’t you fighting this?”
“Why aren’t I fighting what?”
“Whatever is taking control inside of you.”
Elila scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do,” Nina said easily. She leaned forward, face close. “And you still have a chance to be free.”
“I do?”
Nina nodded, eyes boring into the siren’s. “Yes. As long as you tell us who else here is involved in this.”
The words were...almost soothing, and it took Khalil that second to realize that they weren’t just words. Nina was already using her persuasion in the most subtle way possible. In fact, it was so subtle that Khalil couldn’t detect any energy leak at all, which was impressive and scary at the same time. It had Elila’s eyes glazing over, and for a second, Khalil was sure that they got her.
Power whispered over his skin, like tiny little tendrils. Perhaps he was wrong about Nina’s energy leak, then. It tried to get inside him, not necessarily obtrusive, and he shuddered. But he tried not to make any movement as he kept his invisibility, understanding Nina wanted to do this alone, as she thought the siren would trust her more.
“You will tell me what you know,” Nina intoned, voice melodic now. Pleasant. “You will tell me how many people are involved. You will tell me what you can, Elila, so we can help you out.”
Elila leaned forward, too.
“I will tell you to bind yourself and leave me the fuck alone. You have no power over me. Surprising, actually. I didn’t know you were one of us.”
“You’re not one of us,” Nina said shortly. “You’re not Elila, either. And you can’t compel me.”
The siren smirked, and it was one filled with glee. “I wasn’t trying to compel you.”
Nina’s eyes widened. At the same time, Khalil felt the tendrils around him sinking straight into his pores, shooting up his mind before he could stop it. It grabbed hold, rendering his thoughts blank. Filling it up with suggestions.
Show yourself. Bind yourself.
His hands moved, and his wings were thrown off. Nina whirled to face him, but it was too late as he moved too fast, wrapping the wings around their waists and rendering them trapped. Pain filled Nina’s expression, and Khalil desperately tried to fight against his tightening wings as it started to choke them.
Elila laughed, crazed and hysterical. No one could hear them from the outside, because the place was soundproof, as Nina had requested, to make sure her energy didn’t leak out and affect anyone else.
Now it had become their trap, too.
“You see what happens when you think you have the upper hand?” the siren asked, voice sweet and filled with power—the same power that played all over Khalil’s body. It slid in his blood, rendered him helpless. Powerless. “You lose it just as easily. We will destroy you.”
“You’re not plenty enough to do that,” Nina spat out. “Not in Matsa.”
“We don’t need plenty. Three is enough.”
Three.
Three.
Elila seemed to realize too late that she just blurted out what she’d been trying to keep inside, and her eyes widened in horror. Then, fury. That fury boiled over, turning her hair dull and coating the air with it. It was dark, and again, it didn’t feel like the siren’s usual seductive energy. It made Elila’s body tremble, and her mouth opened as she directed her furious stare at Khalil.
“You should never have meddled,” she snapped. “Now tighten those wings up and kill yourself first. Let me watch.”
Energy jumped towards him, and he braced himself to fight it with all of his power. But before he could, another energy slid in—one completely different, growing by the second and spreading across his body more than the first one did.
Then that energy yanked so hard that his teeth felt like they would shatter. It took the first energy along with it, pulling it off.
Elila smirked.
“Weakness at its finest. I knew she’d protect you. Now she’s vulnerable.”
The siren convulsed after her words, her eyes widening as more energy dripped out of her—as that energy was pushed towards Nina. Elila opened her mouth, her words jumbled.
Her tone was no longer charming or vicious.
“Oh, no. Oh, no. Nina. Nina...”
The siren jerked before slumping, her eyes closing and her head lolling. Her sudden weight tilted the chair to the side. Khalil fought through the compelling one last time, feeling his wings loosen up. He reached out to catch Elila before her head cracked on the hard ground, placing her lying on the side and unconscious.
Someone whimpered, and he turned to look at Nina.
What he saw had his heart dropping to his stomach.
Energy dripped out of her, too, rendering her whole body white as a sheet as she struggled with it. But it wasn’t just her energy. At first, he thought she was fighting to get that foreign energy away from her, and he reached out to try to help her out.
Nina lurched back, frantically shaking her head.
“It’s trying to pull at my power,” she said, her words shaking. Her voice trembling. “It’s trying...Khal, get me in an isolated place. I can’t...my power can’t get out. My power can’t...”
But it was already getting out.
Khalil didn’t hesitate, trusting her right off. He moved—this time, towards her, yanking her off her feet and carrying her struggling form. He felt the foreign energy fade off now that it didn’t have a host, but the other energy...it was slowly increasing, a dangerous snap that was about to explode. He pushed the door open, eyeing the fairy guards there.
“Get the siren checked. Cover her mouth. Get Jade to test her. Don’t follow me until an hour or so passes. That’s an order.”
Then he was running off, further down into winding steps that led to a dungeon, where another proofed prison room was located. Energy bubbled over, spilling out of Nina in waves as she fought against his hold. His eyes set on the room door, and he slid her in without so much as a pause. Nina didn’t stop from there, further entering the room in a dead run despite the dimness of the lighting, brought about only by a single torch.
“Get out of here,” she said, her voice coming out in choked heaving. “Get out of—”
Khalil closed the door, but with him also inside. They both heard the quiet click of the lock, one that could only be unlocked from an outside source.
They were both trapped in.
It was stupidity at its finest, he knew—but it was also instinct telling him that leaving her alone was the worst decision there was, ringing in his head until it was all he could hear. So he went with it, even while he watched her lurch away to the opposite wall from the door, where she glared at him furiously.
“Get out,” she said, miserable. “Get out, please, get out, I don’t want to hurt you...”
Tears fell from her eyes as her body trembled from the effort of keeping the energy in. It made his whole body hurt just standing there and watching her, and it made his hands shake violently. Her body repeatedly flew and hit the wall she was leaning on, almost as if she was distracting herself from the pain of having to deal with her own power.
And he couldn’t bear it anymore.
Khalil strode over and let instinct dictate him, crossing the distance between them and ignoring her shaking head. Without thought, without pause, he took her arm and pulled her in, watching her pleading green eyes for a second or two.
Then he damned all the consequences and slid her in his arms, covering her up and easing her from her struggling at the same time.
Coldness transferred to his body immediately, and he realized she was frozen from it. His hands moved to soothe, even while shock filled him as her energy detected him and tried to wrap around him. Unlike the one earlier trying to defend him, this one was curious—and that curiosity came in the form of magic so heavy that it drowned, making him feel like he was losing air.
He couldn’t imagine how it made her feel.
“Let it go,” he urged. “You’re safe here. This place is sealed. It won’t get out.”
She kept silent, still visibly fighting it. At first, she even tried to fight him, pounding her hands at his shoulders and trying to pry her body off. But Khalil refused to allow her to do so, using his strength to his advantage and keeping them both wrapped around each other.
He navigated her to the wall, trapping her back against it and her front against him. Keeping her there.
“Khal...” she sobbed out, the agony in her throat like pinpricks to his heart. “I can’t...it hurts...”
“Let it go,” he repeated, looking her in the eye. Refusing to budge. “Nina, I can handle it. Let it go. Please.”
She fought once more. But the fight was no longer hers, and he knew the moment her body gave up as it slumped against his. He expected her energy to slide out like silk, to wrap around them like it did earlier and make him do things he didn’t want to do.
Instead, it exploded, a surge that blasted out in all directions and coated his vision with darkness.
He smelled the power, and he tasted it. It slid inside him, but there was no fighting it now as it rushed them both like an electric charge—like a rainstorm come with a vengeance. Khalil understood that it was the repression of that energy that had it bursting out now without control, and the only way to stop her pain was to let it all out until she was drained.
The energy shifted and re-shifted in the air, a quality of darkness in it that he felt was like a mix of Nina’s and Elila’s—the power she wasn’t able to fight earlier, it seemed. It swept around him, swept over them, until his body was so brutally tossed like waves.
But it wasn’t just darkness, because there was brightness there, too. It danced in the air, struggling and cheering at the same time. Khalil sunk in it and had to take in deep breaths. As he did, he held Nina tighter, feeling her hands cling to him and feeling her shoulders tremble. The blankness of his mind was slowly coming back to life, and his thoughts started to form words.
“Nina, hang in there. Stay with me,” he murmured, whispering near her ear before he buried his head on her shoulder. He inhaled her scent, felt her softness, letting it anchor him and encourage him from the hopelessness at the same time. “Nina...”
“Khal,” she whispered. “Khal.”
The darkness...it started to fade off, and so did the constricting feeling in his chest. He stopped drowning, which allowed him to take long, refreshing breaths of air again. Her body arched, and she inhaled, and he could imagine that it felt like music to her lungs.
It felt like that to him, and he reveled in it.
Nina choked on a sob, and his hands slid across her back in gentle motions. Down her arms as he kept her in, a physical protection as much as he could.
“The darkness...” he trailed off.
“It’s gone,” she whispered. “Elila...”
“She’s alive. You did it.”
“I almost killed her. I almost killed you.”
“None of that now,” he scolded. He felt around in the air, where energy still remained. All bright now. “Where did the darkness go?”
“Nowhere. It’s gone. That’s...that’s my power now.”
“Hmm.”
He was relieved to note that her voice was steadier, even while her body continued shaking quietly against him. Belatedly, he realized she was pulling the energy back in: a slow, gradual process that almost felt like a cajoling. The energy shied away at first, simply floating in the air and ignoring her. Then, after a while, it slid down, recognizing her.
Recognizing him.
It slid across his body, tingling. Moving like silk, like electricity that was no longer painful. It jolted his stomach, a reaction that he didn’t think was possible at a time like this. Her breathing came out in strange, breathless gasps, and the sound was no longer scared but...almost erotic now.
She was aroused. She was aroused, and…
Belatedly, Khalil realized why—because his hands were moving, and they weren’t moving in a polite manner.
No, they were moving across her skin: sliding across it in soothing waves at first, before that changed and they moved to touch. They whispered across her breasts, where her nipples puckered into tight, achy points. They moved across her legs, which were effectively spreading as his leg slid in between and he...rubbed.
Energy still coated them, fading off now. Sliding off into reality.
But this was reality, and she almost died in his arms—and she almost died alone, all because of some jaded sense of wanting to protect the people.
Of wanting to protect him before she protected herself.
Without pause, Khalil rocked against her. The fact that his cock was already iron hard despite being fully clothed spoke volumes, and he tried to refrain himself from crossing boundaries.
But a tiny moan came out of Nina’s mouth, and her body...it rocked back against him. Arched against him, until he was fully nestled in between her thighs.
And that was his undoing.
Some of the energy remained in the air, reminding him why he was there. Why they were there. But it also reminded him of this shared moment—of all the shared moments he had with her, of all that he lost because he was trying to keep in control. His head came up, and his eyes met hers.
Desire clouded hers, and the pleading in there was rendered both by magic and reality, tangled together.
There was no thinking ahead then as he kissed her hard, no longer able to fight it. The energy whispered, slinking in and encouraging him for this. It encouraged her, too, as she eagerly moved her mouth, hot and wanton and everything he’d ever imagined.
More than he’d ever imagined.
Nina bit his lower lip, right before she soothed with a gentle sucking. All his desire rushed downward as pleasured breaths came out of her throat. He lifted her up, took what she gave so freely. Lost himself in it.
But he didn’t stop there, as desperation took him to new heights and had him wanting to please her this time—wanting to do it hard and slow until she was screaming for him.
Khalil’s hands slid down.
His mouth followed.
Chapter 252
The kiss was barely done when Khalil turned her around, almost as if he didn’t want to face her and this. Refusing to be touched in that manner but wild with the knowledge that she was affecting him so badly, she whirled back to face him—a movement punctuated by a groan from his end before he was re-capturing her lips in heated glory.
