“And you,” I say, and she squeezes my hands and lets them go.
“I will leave you now,” Tiamat says, then ushers a very large blonde lady into the room. “This is Aida, she will be guarding you.”
I nod at her with a smile, but all I get back is a blank stare. She is like those guards at Buckingham Palace that you could dance around naked in front of and they would just stare straight through you. Well, she seems more than capable. Standing around six-feet-three-inches tall and solidly built, I wouldn’t want to try and get around her. Especially with that sword she is wielding.
Tiamat leaves and I turn to Xanthe. She says, “Your mother has little experience with this. I told Her I would take care of you.”
“Oh,” I say, a bit disappointed. “Demons go through this as well?”
“Oh, yes,” Xanthe says. “The more removed we get from our Dragon heritage the lesser it gets, but we females still go through it. I have helped all of my daughters and several of my granddaughters as well.”
Nicely qualified then. “So, what exactly is going to happen to me? Tiamat wasn’t very specific.” As usual, I add to myself.
“Well, you will start to feel feverish soon. It will drain you and you will want to sleep. Your skin will feel very sensitive and you will be really thirsty.” She indicates to the bed where there is a basin, a washcloth and a jug of water. “You will have lucid periods every couple of hours and then it will be over.”
Okay, doesn’t sound too bad, I suppose. At least I get to sleep. Xanthe goes to the armoire and carefully pulls out a sheer gossamer gown. It is absolutely beautiful, and I admire it as she hands it to me. “This won’t irritate your skin as much,” she says and I quickly strip off my cotton nightgown (really, CK has got to get on board with satin and lace negligee) and carefully pop the gossamer gown over my head. It falls gently around me, caressing my skin. I ignore the fact that it is see-through because this is strictly a no-guy zone. I climb onto the bed and wait. Xanthe sits in one of the chairs and picks up her cross-stitch and gets to work. I twiddle my thumbs, bored already, and ask her, “How is Xane?”
Her eyes frost over for just a second before she smiles again and answers, “He is busy preparing for the Trial to end on Friday. I trust you will do your part for our family?”
“Of course,” I say. “Anything.”
She smiles serenely and then goes back to ignoring me. I don’t have too much longer to wait for the fever to set in. It arrives with a set of cramps that makes me wish this wasn’t happening to me. How come no one mentioned the cramps?
“Sorry, dear,” I hear Xanthe mutter as she takes my hand. “That must be a Dragon thing.”
Oh, great, of course it is. I groan as a wave of pain goes over me and then I am just out of it. The room goes all hazy and the best idea is to close my eyes. Xanthe places a cool, damp washcloth on my forehead and it feels like the best thing anyone has ever done to me. I start dreaming of standing under a small waterfall. The cold water is hitting my bare skin and it feels like Heaven. I close my eyes as I stand in the pool, the icy water washing over me. I wet my hair and step out from under the cascade and straight into a pair of strong, waiting arms. I look up in surprise and piercing blue eyes smolder back at me. His smile, slow and sexy. My breath catches as he bends to kiss me, and his lips are cool touching mine. His tongue caresses mine and I shiver. Both from the chill and from the pleasure. He turns us in the water and whispers, “Open your eyes.”
We are standing on a beach at sunrise, the most beautiful sight of white sand and palms trees and cool, blue water. I run towards to ocean and splash in with delight. He follows me quickly and sweeps me off my feet. I laugh with him and he kisses me again, running his hands down my naked body. His touch is still cool, and it eases the heat that my body is letting off. He lowers us to the sand, and despite myself, I cling to him, wanting him to continue cooling me. He kisses me again and lowers his mouth down my feverish body. He sucks on my nipples and I cry out, digging my fingers into the soft sand. His tongue on my hot clit is pleasure in its purest form, and I come with an icy orgasm. I gasp as he rises above me and enters me. I feel a chill inside and I never want him to stop. He must stop though. Somewhere on some level my brain knows I need to push him away, but he just feels too good. He makes love to me on the beach, with the waves lapping over us, matching our rhythm. He grips my hands tightly as he thrusts one last time to push us both over the brink.
Chapter 16
The Underworld, September 2013 – Liv
I wake up with a start and sit up. The
washcloth drops into my lap in a soggy heap. My heart is beating like a hummingbird’s wings and I put my hand over it to slow it down. Xanthe looks up from her sewing and says, “Everything okay, dear?”
Err, no. No, everything isn’t okay. “Have I been here, alone the whole time?” I ask.
She peers at me curiously. “Why, yes, of course,” she says. “Did you think you had gone somewhere?”
I shake my head. That dream felt so real. Talk about a feverish delusion. Christ. I flop back to the bed and keep my eyes very firmly open. No way am I risking going back to sleep. Nobody has any business seducing me in my dreams. Although, it was a very hot dream, and not in the temperature sense. I push it from my mind and think about other things. Mostly Lincoln. I am going to have to go to him the second I get back from here. There is a tension there that isn’t just about our Pack getting aggravated that I have been nowhere in sight for the last three months. My lucid period doesn’t last very long, and the fever sets in again, this time accompanied by spasms.
Really? My eyes go blurry and I have to close them again. I fall in and out of a daze and when I open my eyes again, I see a blurry vision standing over me. I can hear a muted chanting and I flail out blindly to grab whoever it is that is hovering over me. I must look like a right lunatic, waving my hands in the air, but I was sure there was someone in here with me.
“Xerxei,” Xanthe says to me, grabbing my hands. “Whatever it was, it was just a dream.”
“No,” I insist. “There was someone standing over me. Was it you?”
“No, Xerxei,” she says. “There was no one else in here and I was sitting in the chair in the corner.”
I must have been hallucinating. She sounds completely confident and I believe her. I feel like I am losing my mind. She shushes me and pushes me back down and replaces my cool washcloth.
The fever finally breaks again and Xanthe tells me that it is over. Thank the old gods for that. I feel a chill now on my sweaty skin and shiver. I pull the covers up over me and say thank you to Xanthe for staying with me and ask her how often I should expect this.
“My pleasure, my dear,” she says. “About twice a year. You will be able to leave shortly. There is just one person you need to see first,” she says and waves as she exits. I expect her to let my mother in on her way out, but instead it is Finn.
“Hi,” I say a bit warily, hoping there are no residual effects floating around the room that will make him jump on me.