Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (28 page)

Their
powers had never been quite as attune as some Matches’ seemed to be, probably
because she’d been hold back from him all these years.  She had so much control
over her energy that she could allow him to feel her arousal or not, with
nothing more than a blush.

The
younger him’s pupils dilated as Mara blinked innocently.

“Aw,
Christ.”  Had he been blind before?  She wasn’t bashful about some unwanted,
inconvenient biological urge.  She was seducing him. 
Deliberately
using
her energy and body and everything else about her Mara-ness to get what she
wanted.

Real-Chason
was never going to survive this.

“I’m
very sorry to impose on you in the middle of your workday.”  Mara continued,
not meeting his eyes.  “I know this is very unusual, but I don’t think it will
take long, if…”

“No,
that’s
fine
.”  The former Chason interrupted hastily.  “Perfectly
fine.”  Not even the other him wasn’t
that
much of an idiot.  He
gingerly laid a palm on Mara’s shoulder and guided her towards the fortress,
before she could change her mind.  “Perfectly natural for your energy to
sometimes… Uh…  I mean, it’s nothing to be embarrassed by, so…”

Jesus. 
It was a wonder Mara didn’t just give up and go find some who
wasn’t
a
babbling moron.

She
tilted her head.  “Sometime I find my needs are… different than you’d expect.” 
Black eyes lifted to meet his as they headed up the stairs.  “Would you mind
terribly if I tried an experiment?”

“No.” 
Both Chasons said instantly.

Memory-Chason
was dazzled by the unexpected good fortune of Mara initiating a Phazing with
him and willing to pretty much say anything.  Real-Chason just wanted to
experiment with every inch of her lush body.

Mara
looked genuinely touched by his quick answer.  “You’re such an accommodating
Match, Chason.  Thank you for your patience.”  She pushed open her bedroom
door, and then turned on the threshold to look up at him.  “I’m really trying
to… do something here, so just bear with me.”

“Of
course.  Anything you…”  Memory-Chason broke off with a gasp as she found the
front of his pants and started unfastening them.  “Mara?”  His hands came up to
grip the doorframe, even as he glanced over his shoulder towards the
staircase.  “We’re still in the hall.  People could come up here and see.”

“Yes,
I know.”  She agreed gravely and started massaging the length of him with her
elegant little palm.  Long hard strokes that left him seeing stars.  “You’ll
need to be lookout.”

Real-Chason
felt his mouth curve.  If there was a heaven, it would be reliving this moment
on a continuous loop.

Memory-Chason
swallowed hard and kept his eyes on the stairs.  “We could go into your room
and…
Yes
.”  His jaw went taunt.  “God, Mara, just like that.”

She
grinned.  Memory-Chason missed it, because he was dutifully monitoring for
voyeuristic Phases who’d be dead in a few days, anyway.  But, Real-Chason saw
her smile at his groan.  Not the reserved, polite smile he was used to, but an
expression of triumphant happiness.

He
stared at her in shock.

A
week before the Fall, she’d been smiling at him with mischief and… love.

He
wasn’t too late.

She
hadn’t left him alone in the dark or given up on their Match.  Mara was still
fighting for him, even though he didn’t deserve it.  Tears burned the back of
Chason’s eyes.  Gaia hadn’t forsaken him, after all.  Instead, She’d given him
a second chance with his Match.

A
chance to be
more
.

“Would
you mind if I tried something else, Chason?”  Mara asked.

“Nnnoooo,
that’s fine.  I…”  The former him kept his attention on the stairs, although in
retrospect it was hard to remember why he’d even worried about being caught.

Chason
was king of this House.  The most powerful Magnet Phase alive, aside from his
secretive little Match.  He’d do whatever he wanted to in his castle and anyone
who didn’t like it could get the hell out his kingdom.

The
current Chason didn’t care if a marching band came down the hall.  He watched
in something like rapture as Mara sank her to knees in front of him and replaced
her hand with her mouth.

“Oh,
God
.”  The other Chason forgot all about watching for intruders and
squeezed his eyes shut.  “Mara!”

Despite
the throbbing in his own body, Chason chuckled.  He could remember the frantic
mental counting, trying to stay in control as her tongue traced over him.  The
former him’s fingers dug into the doorframe so hard he left marks in the wood. 
His other hand tangled in her mass of dark hair, trying to resist the urge to
guide her even faster.

Mara
couldn’t feel him, but Real-Chason still ran a hand over the purple streak at
her temple.  A week before the Fall, she’d spent the day watching erotic movies
so she could seduce him.  In reality, all she’d ever had to do was show-up and
he was hers, but –Gaia!-- did he appreciate the extra effort. 

He
watched in frustrated fascination as her lips slid up and down the shaft of the
other him.  It was insane to be jealous of
himself
, but he wanted her to
be touching him.  The
real
him.

He
tore his eyes away from her to glare over at his former self.  “You’d better be
appreciating this, you son-of-a-bitch, because from now on she touches no one
but me.”

“Mara.” 
The former him was struggling to breathe.  “I can’t… I’m sorry…”  He pulled her
to her feet and looked down at her with desperate eyes.  “I… I need to moment
to…”

His
words skidded to a stop as she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the
floor.  Under it was a thin ivory slip embroidered with lilacs.  She took a
step back, black eyes hot and sparking with white lights.  “Chason, please.  I
have need of my Match.”

Memory-Chason’s
energy surged.  For the first time in their relationship, he wasn’t careful
with her.

Real-Chason
didn’t blame him.  Although, at the time, he’d been appalled by his brutish
behavior.  This part of the memory he hadn’t been looking forward to, but now
he couldn’t look away.

He
watched, his own desire screaming, as the other him grabbed Mara and hoisted
her up so she was pinned between his uniformed body and the wall.  On the day
he’d received the Magnet House armor, he’d imagined Phazing with her like
this.  Of her voice begging him to take her.

She
was the princess in every storybook he’d ever secretly read as a kid.  All the
fairytales about knights and dragons he’d daydreamed about, even though his
father said they were a waste of time.  The girl the prince risked everything
for, because there was nothing without her anyway.

The
other him shoved her modest, insanely sexy slip up to her waist and yanked her
stockings down.

Mara
positively beamed.

Real-Chason
felt like his brain was on fire.  How had he missed the delight on her face the
first time?  The way her legs wrapped around his waist and she fitted her body
over him?  The way her mouth parted in pleasure as he slammed into her?  The
way her breasts pressed up against his emblazed chest plate as she rocked
against him?

She
loved
this.

Like
all the other lies he’d once believed, everything he’d been taught about proper
Magnet House ladies had been horse shit.  His Match was the undisputed arbiter
of feminine propriety for the entire goddamn realm… and she didn’t
want
restraint.

She
wanted fucking Tarzan.

Chason’s
eyes gleamed, his attention locked on her flushed face.  Mara might keep distance
between them with her powers, but her instincts knew it was wrong.  She needed
more.  She needed
him
.  If Mara Phazed with him fully, her powers would
combine with his the way they were always meant to.  No more distance.  No more
gap.  Just Chason and Mara.

He
had
to convince her to let go.

Had
to convince her to trust him.

All
his training in strategy focused in on the clearest path to his goal with ruthless
determination: Taking the sweet, refined, independent Magnet Queen in every
wrong, depraved way he’d ever dreamed up.  The woman was dying for exactly what
he’d always wanted to give her.  Nothing graceful or gentle, but a total
surrender to hedonistic pleasure.  If he pushed her to the edge, she’d let go.

Chason’s
gaze slid down to where Mara’s body was joined with the other Chason’s.  A
gentleman would have no doubt looked away, but he’d wasted enough time trying
to be something he wasn’t.  This woman was
his
Match and no obsolete
code of conduct was going to tell him what he could do with her.  As soon as
Elementally possible, it would be
him
inside of her and he wasn’t going
to stop until she screamed.

And
why the hell hadn’t the other him taken off all her clothes?  He scowled at the
top of her slip, which block his view of her breasts.

Unbelievable
that a woman like this had been given to such an idiot.

“
Oh
Gaia.
”  She was about to explode.  Even in the memory state, he could feel
it in her energy and his heartbeat sped up.

This
time her brush of powers weren’t calculated to seduce him.  They’d slipped
loose because she was about to lose control.  The closer she got to the huge
climax that loomed, the closer she came to releasing that last piece of
energy.  He could see her trying to hold it back from him, even as she panting
for more.

Chason
braced his hand next to her head on wall and ground his teeth together.  She
had
to let go.  It was the only way.  Even with her struggling against it, her
energy was more vulnerable to him in this moment that it had ever been before.

He
could claim that hidden part of her, if he could just get her to this point,
again.  The former Chason couldn’t make it happened, but once Real-Chason got
back to the present
he
would make sure that he discovered every
succulent part of her.

“That
boy inside of you right now doesn’t know what you need, princess.”  His palm
drifted down to touch one of the perfect breasts that he still couldn’t see. 
Her nipple beaded under his palm, even though there was no way she could feel
him.  “That Chason has a soldier’s uniform, but he’s a gentleman, not a
warrior.  He’s not like me.  He doesn’t understand you’re a Light Phase, under
the silk and lace.  That you need more.”

She
whimpered as if she heard him, and the small sound nearly sent him to his
knees.

Chason
leaned closer to her ear.  “Maybe you’re not surrendering yourself to him,
because you know he’s not your Match.  Maybe you sense the truth.  That you’re
my
Match and he’s not me, anymore.”

“
Chason.
”

She
called the other Chason’s name, but it still had his jaw clenching in need. 
“You’re mine, Mara.  When I get my hands on you, you will give me
everything
inside of you.  If you won’t surrender it on your own, I’ll just fucking
take
it.  Do you hear me?”

“
Yes
.” 
Her head went back on a gasp.  “Yes!  Take me, now.  Please!”

In
the movie, that dialogue had been ridiculous.  Coming from Mara, the breathless
words made Chason’s whole body jolt.

“Take
her now, you moron!”  He shouted, even though he knew how this ended.

His
former self still battled for control and it was ruining the pleasure for all
of them.  Mara needed this.  Christ,
he
needed this.  She was so close
and it was going to be so beautiful.  Another hard thrust and she’d go over the
edge.  He wanted to see it more he wanted to keep breathing.

He
wanted everything she had.

But,
the other Chason thought he was being too rough.  That he was overstepping the
bounds of propriety.  That he might be hurting her.

“No,
no, no, no, no.”  Real-Chason chanted as he watched the idiot he’d been two
years before slow his movements, pull back, and be considerate… which completely
fucked up both their orgasms.

Mara’s
teeth sank into her bottom lip as things ended in unspectacular fashion.  Her
energy pulled back from him and vanished.  They both climaxed, but it wasn’t
what it
should
have been.

It
wasn’t enough.

“Christ.” 
Real-Chason looked up at the ceiling, wanting to go back in time and kill
himself.  “I’m sorry, princess.”

“I’m
sorry, Mara.”  The other him said at the same time.  He set her down on the
ground and hesitantly touched her face.  “I should have shown more restraint. 
I tried, but I was…”  He shook his head in defeat.  “Can you forgive me?  Did I
hurt you?  Are you alright?”

“No. 
I mean, yes.  I’m fine.”  She busied herself fixing her clothes.  “It was
fine.  Everything’s… fine.”

Fuck. 
If he never heard the word “fine” again it would be too soon.