Her Guardian's Heart (12 page)

“I can barely move without feeling the writing pressing down on me. Don’t tell me that you have to wait until the ink dries before you can take advantage of the work that you’ve done.”

He shook his head. “Not at all.” He traced some of the writing with his fingers and immediately the gesture sent a bolt of pleasure through me. It felt like a million feathers had wiped across my skin and it was beyond measure. I cried out and was already wet for him. Tannin continued to trace the letters. Each time he did, he mouthed the words to himself. They flared silver across my body. When he breathed on them, it sent another intense quiver of fire along my nerves. The more he did this, the more I was drowning in a bliss-filled lake where I was going to die because the true orgasm seemed out of reach.

Tannin’s lips claimed mine. I struggled to regain my senses and wrapped my arms around his neck. I clung to him while I pressed against his body. Having skin on skin was almost worse and more painful than only having him hovering just above me because when my flesh touched his, I saw his body flash silver as well. The writing swirled along his flesh and writhed. I tried to watch it, but it made me dizzy. His fingers trailed over my shoulder blades. I jumped and cried out when he did that.

“Are you ready for the next step?”

“It depends on what it is. Does it get any worse than this?” I sighed.

“There will be some pain for your first time. Let the pain wash away and into me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Coax your wings out. It’s better to do this during a pleasurable encounter than having them rip from your flesh.”

He began to stroke the ridge of my shoulders, working slowly. Tannin muttered something in my ear that I couldn’t understand. Each time his fingers worked over the bumps along my back, something moved underneath my flesh. I tried to reach out and connect with my inner Guardian, but she was already buried inside of me and our personalities had meshed. All I had to do was learn how to control my abilities. Those thoughts blew away from me when I felt something poking through my skin. It was a pressure at the base of my back coming from the inside out, like needles searing through my skin. As he went faster down my back, I felt the ridges of my wings. He held me close. I pressed my eyes shut because the pain was building the way he said it would. Right at the moment when I thought the pain couldn’t get any worse, I felt a tear in my back. The weight of my wings unfurled. Darkness clung to my vision. I breathed and connected with Tannin. His mind brushed along mine. I let the pain flow from me into him. The agony began to lessen. This time when Tannin touched my shoulder blades, it was the sensitive skin where my wings were fused with my flesh. I cried out and my wings opened.

Tannin kissed my neck while his fingers explored my back, until they settled on my hips. He ran his hands along the top of my thighs and opened my legs. His fingers found my clit. I raised my head and arched my back. I thought I would fall over, but my wings opened and helped to balance me. I needed him inside of me. The feelings and experiences that he had put me through was nothing that I had ever experienced before. Not even with my other two mates. The more Tannin kissed me along the angelic writing, the more my spirit soared. He brought me higher and higher until I didn’t think I could go any further. I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me. The lust in his eyes could have made him a little devil.

“I need you to fuck me,” I breathed, finally able to make a complete sentence from my addled brain.

“I’m getting to that.” He pressed his lips to the base of my throat and licked. His tongue connected with another line of writing. I bucked forward and felt an orgasm rise up and take me. It wasn’t enough.

“Tannin. Please. Can’t…”

“Shhh…” He did the same thing again. When my hips rose up, he drove his cock deep inside of me. I cried out from the swift entrance. I buried my head in his shoulder and let Tannin push into me. He slid his arms around my back and under my wings. I kissed his collarbone, trying to take my time and pleasure him as well. It was hard to stay focused. Each time he thrust into me, he hit my clit and I was brought to new layers of ecstasy. I was flying higher than I ever had before. The air was hard to breathe, and yet I could, because he was there with me.

Tannin groaned when my fingers slid over his shoulder blades. Words popped into my mind that burned silver in my thoughts and came out on my tongue. I whispered them in his ear and kept repeating them until skin swirled on his back. Tannin buried his shaft inside of me once more. His fingers raked my back between my wings. I kissed his neck, nibbled on his ear, and said the phrase once more. At that moment, his wings burst from his back. Tannin plunged himself inside of me one last time and then folded his wings around us. Mine did the same and we held one another in the safe shelter that we had created.

Chapter Seven

The pleasure of the experience coursed through me. I didn’t want to let him go. I placed small kisses along his chest and watched the silver lettering whirling over his body. It was beautiful, like watching rainbows dance over a sky. Everything in me was content. I didn’t think I could feel that way again. Being with Tannin made me realize how much I missed Landon and needed him with me as well. I wanted him to experience the same pleasure that I had with Tannin.

“Does this last forever?” I asked.

He wove his fingers through my hair. “It can. We can let the world fall away and think about nothing except ourselves. In the end, there is always the real world to return to.”

I sighed. “What did you do to the werewolf who attacked me?”

“I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re wondering. I just showed her what her life could be like if she didn’t behave. You and she can both work out the polyamorous lifestyle that belongs with the pack. Does it bother you that Landon has been with other women? That he might be with more in the future?”

Landon had brought other women home when Nick was alive. It had made me a little jealous, but he had always reassured me that I was the first one in his life. “No. I’m okay with it. Landon has always been good to me. Starting a pack and being accepted was one of the things he was striving for. I’m glad that he has it, but he has to carve out a place in the world for himself. I know that I can’t be a lycan mate for him. He always understood because it wasn’t exactly normal for him to bond with a vampire, since they are bitter enemies. They worked out their differences. That was the reason he was exiled in the first place, because he turned down the woman he was supposed to mate and went with Nick instead.”

“You know, you can still be the mate that he desires. You can shift into a wolf as well as being a vampire.”

I looked up from his chest and stared into his eyes. “How is that possible when the combination of the Guardian inside of me and my magic negate the vampire and the werewolf infections that have raged through my system?”

“It doesn’t completely neutralize it. Being part angel, Guardians are allowed to blend in. Some Guardians are lycan. Some are vampire and Guardian. Guardians can become chameleons. They take on the strengths of the other being they mingle with, but not their weaknesses. There is more than just watching doorways. So much more that you have to learn.”

“So then a Guardian could be a witch?”

He shook his head. “No. The magic of both species shouldn’t be mixed. As chameleon with the other species, there is something supernatural in them. The witch part of you is elemental. Most pairings between a witch and a Guardian don’t result in offspring.”

”But witches draw on the supernatural power of the world around them.”

“No. They draw on the natural power around them. Witches can tap into the universe. Guardians are supernatural. We manipulate the energy around us and through us, but we are not able to influence the elements. That’s why we can filter the other supernatural creatures’ powers through us.”

“It seems like a Guardian walks a fine line between defining exactly what kind of a creature they are. I think there are only a few who can take on the characteristics of the other creatures you spoke about. Like my grandmother. She can because she’s darker, but my sister, she doesn’t have it in her. Am I right?”

“Yes. There are classifications within the clans. The lighter Guardians help aid in the passing of other creatures. They don’t have to battle the dark forces out there. Think of them as mentors, and you’d be the general that would go into battle.”

I nodded. It made some sort of sense. “So how do I get those fangs to come out?”

Tannin kissed my neck. “How about we save that lesson for another day? First, you need to get your wings back in. You can’t walk around with them out.”

“How do I do that?”

He ran his finger between my wings. “Think about folding them back against your skin.”

I thought about it and was surprised when they unwrapped from around him, leaving me embraced by his white gold wings.

“Good. Now think about your skin covering them.”

I envisioned skin growing over the feathers again. To my surprise, it seemed they sunk back into my flesh. I rolled my shoulders. I could still feel them underneath the flesh, close to my muscles. I reached around my back and touched the spot where they had been. I didn’t feel anything. I smiled and then looked back at him. Tannin stroked my shoulders. My wings quivered from the anticipation of his touch. I touched the ridge along his feathers and saw him shiver. He thrust his hips against me the lower I went with my fingers, until I came to the tip of his wing. His feathers were softer than any other bird down I had ever touched before.

“You need to stop that before we get carried away again. Landon wants to know where you are.”

“How do you know that?”

His brow furrowed. “I can sense him now through you. He’s worried, even though I told him that I'd take care of you.”

I followed my bond back to my werewolf and felt his distress. Yes, he needed me. “I should go back too. Can you take me there?”

“Of course, but you don’t have any clothes to wear since yours were shredded.”

“Just bring me back to my room and I’ll take it from there.”

Tannin scooped me up in his arms. He wrapped his wings tighter around me until the world fell away and I was shrouded in darkness. The air rushed around me. We were flying faster than any plane could take us. Even faster than Superman could fly, maybe. It was only a split second. The darkness receded and he unwrapped his wings. My angel set me down on my bedroom floor. Even before I could unwind from his arms, Landon burst through the door. His harangued expression and the concern in his eyes told me how worried he was. He ran his fingers over my skin, but the more he touched me, the more he ignited the angelic writing that was still visible on my skin.

“Landon, stop. Oh, God, please stop.” My nerves were on fire with pleasure from him running his fingers over every part of my skin to see if I was whole. I curled my toes into the rug to remind myself that I was still on Earth, but my words came out in pants. It was a struggle to think. When Landon touched my back where my wings were, I cried out and fell into him.

He caught me with ease, but the expression of trepidation still hadn’t left his eyes. My mate glanced between me and Tannin, who was still naked and had his wings out. Landon smoothed the hair from my eyes. A low growl rumbled in his throat.

“I thought you said that you were going to bring her back unhurt.”

“She is. There's an explanation to what is going on.”

“I don’t want to hear your reasons. You swore to me that she'd be unharmed and you would protect her. Melina told me that you had rejected her. Now you bring her back naked and in pain. What the hell did you do to her?” Landon's muscles bunched together. He was holding onto his control by a thread.

I touched the side of his face and stroked his skin. “Landon, I’m fine. Tannin’s right. There’s an explanation.” I kissed his lips. “Let me tell you all about it after he’s gone. He kept his promise to you. I’m not hurt. He healed me. I’m okay. Calm your wolf, my love.” I kissed him again and felt him starting to melt.