Affinity (Halfblood Club Book 2) Read online

  Perplexed, she took it. She followed him out into the night. A horse of midnight with flaming eyes was waiting for him. For them. He lifted her into the saddle and swung up behind her. Seated thusly, with her thighs plastered on top of his, she could definitely feel his interest. While one hand controlled the reins, he let the other roam over her breasts and belly.

  “What are you doing?” Her voice was a little breathy, even to her own ears.

  “Taking you home with me. Your father has asked me to take you as my lover. I have accepted the honour.” His mouth was bent near her ear, and his breath snaked inside to send a shiver through her.

  “Well, as long as we are clear on the details.”

  His laughter rang out across the crystal clear night. He spurred his steed to increase speed, and her laughter joined his while their hair whipped around them.

  The heat of the animal and the elf beneath her thighs had her blood singing in her veins. A suspicious dampness made itself known to her, and she blushed, glad that the wind gave her cheeks an excuse for their rosy glow.

  Soon, they reached his home. A stone edifice rising out of the nearby hills. The full moon was rising behind the house and gave the whole night a surreal feel.

  He carried her from the horse and through the dark house, into his bedroom. Very romance novel cover.

  He carefully laid her on the bed then loosened her gown and gently tugged it off her shoulders. It caught on her breasts, and he stopped to admire her caught in her own clothing. She gleamed in the dim starlight coming through the windows. A few brief tugs and the gown was off, her only defense was a scrap of silk between her thighs and a lacy bra.

  He bent over her, fully clothed. His shirt rasped against the soft flesh of her belly as he kissed her. His hands smoothed away the scrap of fabric at her hips, whisking it off and to the floor.

  In reflex, one of her hands tried to shield her secrets. The other was mysteriously fisted in his hair, holding him close for their kiss.

  His long fingers tangled with the defenders to the gate at the juncture of her thighs, sliding between them and touching the mysterious flesh within. Her hand relaxed, and his fingers stayed with hers, learning her folds and how a grazing touch on her neck sent a surge of wetness to the core of her. He kept up his ministrations to her mouth, teasing his way inside and stroking her tongue into joining the play.

  Her bra disappeared some time after she began to twist in his arms. His fingers were on their own now, delving into her velvet heat to draw out the moisture. She was flushed and panting. When he finally discarded his own clothing and returned to her, gleaming bronze in the moonlight, he covered her with his body and entered her with a groan. She groaned at the release of the feeling of emptiness within her. Until that moment, she hadn’t understood the craving within her to be filled with a hot and hard cock.

  He began to thrust deeply into her, stroking her breasts and gnawing at her neck as he plunged his hips in a steady beat. Soon, she felt him moving faster and took matters into her own fingers. She slid two between their heaving bodies and began to caress the nub at the top of her sex with every shift of his hips. A few moments later, she was bucking and crying out her satisfaction, and he followed shortly after grunting and shuddering with his own crisis.

  He let his torso collapse onto hers, and she wrapped her limbs around him as their heartbeats returned to normal. Aegar lifted his head after long minutes and gave her a sweet and tender kiss then disengaged their bodies in a slow slide.

  He tucked her against him and fell asleep.

  When she woke in the morning, she turned to look in the mirror and sighed. Her eyes had changed and her midnight hair had golden streaks running through it. Her breasts were the same, but her narrow waist was even narrower.

  He was not the one for her. She had transformed into his ideal, and it was not what she wanted in a long-term mate.

  She kissed him awake, explained her transformation and asked him to take her back to Isowyn’s.

  She briefed her grandmother when she got back and waited for the next candidate to be presented.

  Chapter Five

  Tyne was even more handsome than Aegar. His talent was darkness—he could summon it at will. He was pale, with piercing blue eyes and golden hair. His features were stamped with arrogance and cruelty.

  Esmerelda was hesitant about leaving with him, but all transpired as it had before. This time, they transported through a mirror into his home. He led her to his bed, and things began to get a little weird.

  He stripped her completely before laying her down on the bed. He spread her legs slightly and moved her arms out to her sides. He then removed all of his clothing and stood at the foot of the bed looking at her. He had not said more than a few polite phrases to her all night, and now, he was looking at her as if he would consume her. A coil of fear snaked through her.

  Suddenly, shackles of darkness wove themselves from out of the shadows around the bed. They pulled her arms out to their full extension and dragged her heels apart until her thighs were straining for mercy.

  “Tyne? What?” was all that made it out of her mouth before a strip of darkness gagged her.

  The cruel lust in his gaze at her helplessness infuriated her. His member twitched at the picture of submission she presented and began to flare up and out.

  He called another strip of darkness to him—he beckoned to it, stroked it and set it between her thighs.

  Esmy felt the touch on her outer lips and felt the worming sensation of the darkness against her. It was cool and seemed to take the heat from her flesh. Steadily, it worked itself against her, rubbing and twisting in the most delicate region of her body. It would retreat, and her flesh would relax and warm then it would return, and although she was beginning to get moist with her own slick honey, the fear pushed aside, and she was beginning to get angry at Tyne.

  As the anger flared in her eyes, the darkness pushed against her. Sliding into her in one quick motion, it moved in a parody of sex that drove Esmy’s rage higher. At the same time, her hips were beginning to work against her control, moving with the thrust of the darkness and shadow inside her.

  Suddenly and completely surprising to Esmy, she climaxed. Her mouth gagged, she could only moan as ripples of satisfaction flowed through her.

  She glanced down her body to Tyne and found him stroking himself to completion. Walking closer to the bed as he came closer to releasing his cum, his hold on the shadows weakened. She drew one fist against her body and called her power to her. He was going to jerk off and spew his spunk onto her body. That she could not allow, not after coming to him in good faith.

  As his balls began to tighten, she watched his hand and cock closely. The second that his head fell back and his hand used short, sharp jerks, she struck.

  As the ropy cum began to exit the engorged head of his cock, she sent a wave of power toward him that sent it up into his face.

  He fell back, his concentration shattered. She jumped up off the bed, grabbed her gown and underwear, and ran for the mirror. Quickly, she chanted the spell to open it then ran through it.

  Arriving on the other side, she locked the mirror from the entrance. A shimmering of the surface told her that someone was trying to follow. She had run to her own home out of reflex and didn’t want that creep anywhere near her.

  She walked over to a phone and dialled her grandmother’s number.

  “He’s a freak, Gran. He bound me with magic, raped me with shadows, and tried to jerk off on me.”

  “Are you all right, Esmy? Did he hurt you at all?” Her voice was genuine concern.

  “I’m okay. But I never want to see that freak again. Please make that clear.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I went home. I feel safe here.”

  “I will talk to your father; he will deal with Tyne. You will not be troubled by him again.” Her voice was grim.

  “I will research the last one for you, carefully and thoroughly. You will
only have to meet him.” Isowyn’s voice was quite clear. Only one more; then, if it didn’t turn out well, she was on her own, they would not interfere. “I will make sure that he gains your official consent to sex, but would you prefer to meet him at your home?”

  “Yes, okay. The last one can meet me here. Tomorrow. I will determine if I sleep with him or not.” A sudden thought occurred to her. “He will count as my third, even if I don’t have sex with him?”

  “I will make sure that he does.”

  Chapter Six

  The next night she was wearing her most unflattering clothing. Baggy jeans and an oversized sweatshirt, with socks in a garish orange. She had taken a long bath in her Jacuzzi tub to take the feel of the shadows from her, and was feeling almost human... uh... elven again.

  The doorbell rang promptly at seven. She walked over and opened the door. What she saw astonished her into laughing.

  Two handsome and strong elven warriors in full regalia stood on her porch. They bowed as one and spoke as one. “Esmerelda Hawks, we are your date for the evening.”

  “I am Orlyn, my talent is fire.” His eyes and hair blazed in the colours of flame. His skin was a bronze hue, visible only on his face, neck, and hands, which were the only parts of his body exposed beyond the formal tunic.

  “And I am Boral, water is my specialty.” He gave her an easy grin, from a face as pale as his companion was dark. His eyes were an ocean blue, his hair a matching hue.

  “So, which one of you is my date?” She looked down at her attire and grimaced. She had thought it a good way to break the ice with the new candidate for her bed. But now, she just felt stupid.

  They turned and exchanged a glance. “We both are. We have been friends and companions for a few hundred years. We will not be separated by a woman.” Orlyn’s voice was toneless.

  “So, you guys want to watch a movie and eat pizza?” She stood back and waved them inside. Her collection of frozen pizzas was second to none. She practically lived on the stuff.

  Boral led the way, “Just pepperoni on mine. Don’t get too fancy.”

  When she had loaded the pizzas into the oven, she returned to the living room, where they had made themselves at home. She paused for a moment to admire them.

  There on the middle of her comfy green couch sat two of the best-looking guys she had ever seen, and they were willing to watch a movie and eat pizza with her. She didn’t even mind the pointed ears that were peeking through Boral’s hair.

  “Twenty-five minutes ’til food, guys. What kind of movie do you want to watch?” She took the chair across from the couch and began to flip through her DVD collection.

  “Do you have anything with both action and comedy?” Orlyn spoke. His solemn face focused on her as she made a few selections.

  She spread the movies onto the table. “Here, you pick. Can I get you wine, beer, soda, anything?”

  “Beer.” Boral was engrossed by the movies.

  “Wine.” Orlyn was letting his friend do the reading and was sitting giving his veto vote every time one was chosen.

  She bustled about the kitchen, set out plates and the wine and beer. She put everything on the coffee table, and by the time they had chosen a movie, the pizza was done.

  She placed the steaming pizza on the table and sliced it into wedges. She looked up as she finished the necessary tasks and found two very interested pairs of eyes focused on her cleavage. Esmy looked down and saw that the opening of her sweatshirt was gaping at the neck to show an alarming amount of creamy flesh. Her hand slammed to her collarbone in reflex, cutting off the view.

  “Aww. That’s not fair. We would let you look.” Boral was amused at her face flaming with embarrassment. Orlyn merely kept a slight grin on his face.

  “It wasn’t intentional, and I don’t recall you offering. Or me offering, for that matter.” She grumped at them. She sat on the loveseat, ignoring the space for her that they had left between them.

  They ate in silence. After the food was demolished and a fresh beverage in everyone’s hand, she started the movie that they had selected.

  As the opening credits rolled across the screen, Esmy relocated to the couch. It wasn’t exactly her choice. When she sat back down on the loveseat and started the movie, Orlyn stood up and scooped her up. Without a word being spoken, he dropped her onto the couch between them and scooted so that her thighs were bracketed on either side by theirs.

  “This is better.” Boral draped one arm over her shoulder and drew her close. Sighing with resignation, she relaxed into them and watched the movie. They had not made any weird advances, and she was content to be surrounded by two really good-looking guys who smelled great and had enough sense to keep her wine glass filled during the movie.

  By the time the hero had solved the mystery and blown up the terrorists that held the entire world in their evil clutches, she had gotten more comfortable. Her head was on Boral’s nicely muscled shoulder, and her legs were draped over Orlyn’s lap. Based on the reaction she could feel in his trousers, he liked them there.

  When she finally began to sit up and move off her couch-warmers, they gently repositioned her so that she was lying across both of them. Boral leaned in to kiss her. He was gentle and did not seek entry into her mouth.

  “Your grandmother said no sex unless you said you were willing.” Boral was completely calm.

  Orlyn chimed in with a low husky voice, “Are you willing?” His hands drew slow circles on her denim thighs.

  “Wait a minute. Hold on just a second.” She struggled to a sitting position, her hips were pressed against Boral’s, and he definitely appreciated her position.

  “Which one of you am I supposed to sleep with?” They both looked at her with calm eyes, and she had her answer.

  “Both of you? Are you nuts?” She scrambled off their laps and landed on her butt on the floor. Jumping to her feet, she backed up to the TV.

  “You don’t have to have sex with both of us at the exact same time, though that would definitely be pleasant. One at a time would be sufficient.” Orlyn was completely reasonable in his tone, but his eyes had begun to burn with a banked flame.

  “Okay, why both of you? Why do you two come as a set?” She was stalling for time as her hormones called out the possibilities. Two fey. In her bed. At the same time. Together. Wow.

  They turned to look at each other, and Boral spoke. “We have been friends for the better part of five centuries. After several relationships where we slept with different women, we found that the result was that we drifted apart. We felt it was unacceptable. We swore we would only take on women who were willing to accept both of us as lovers. Even for a half-fey, you are the only one who has even considered it.”

  “Considered, not agreed. I want that clear.” She knew she was going to give in—she was getting wet just thinking about it. But she didn’t want them to know that.

  They met each other’s eyes for a moment then stood up to walk over to her. “Is there anything we could do to convince you?” They spoke as one again then proceeded to stroke her face and neck, one on each side.

  She sighed at the contact, “Lord, am I easy.” She closed her eyes and winced. “All right, how is this going to work?”

  “We don’t know, no one has ever said yes before.”

  Esmy opened her eyes and saw two very delighted fey in her living room with demonic twinkles in their eyes. Boral scooped her up in his arms as Orlyn led the way to the bedroom.

  “Small bed. Hmmm.” He chanted a small charm, and the bed began to expand.

  “Hey, that sucker is plenty big.” Two very derisive looks were shot at her, and she subsided. Looking at their tall and impressive physiques, she concluded that if they were both in bed with her, things would be a little crowded. Heck, even one of them would be pushing it.

  Once the bed expanded to his satisfaction, Orlyn closed his eyes and whispered again. Magic filled the room, and soon, it was covered with silks of every colour. Panels billowed from
the ceiling and flowed across the floor. It looked like an Arabian Nights fantasy on acid.

  “Uh, isn’t that a little over the top?” She was quelled again by a squeeze that let her know her quips were not needed. One more whisper and the lights went out to be replaced by twinkling fairy lights in the fabric itself. The room glowed like the inside of a treasure chest.

  Boral slowly lowered her onto the bed then stood back. “Would you like us to go first or you?”

  “Uh, you guys can go ahead. I’m good.”

  As one, they unbuttoned the neckline of their tunics. Corded necks were exposed as the clasps came undone. When they were sufficiently loose, they removed them over their heads.

  “Wow.”

  Grinning at her admiration of their heavily muscled chests, they pulled off their footwear and unbuttoned their trousers. Keeping their eyes on her the entire time, they slid the pants to the floor. Exposing not only their erections, but also the smooth and heavy column of their thighs. They stepped free of the cloth and looked at her.

  “Your turn.” They moved toward her, and she didn’t know where to look. It was all good.

  She was startled when they removed her from the bed and put her at the foot of it, where they had been standing as she watched them.

  “Any time.” Orlyn crossed his arms over his chest and sat against the headboard, as Boral moved his hands behind his head and watched her from a fully reclined position.

  With hands shaking from embarrassment and excitement, she started at her socks. One orange monstrosity was peeled off and dropped to the floor then the other.

  She moved her hands to the snap of her jeans and watched their eyes flare as she lowered the zipper then peeled off the denim and let it slide to the floor. Her sweatshirt covered her butt and panties, but she knew that it was the next thing to go.

  She stood and pondered its removal options then opted simply to peel it off over her head. She grabbed the hem and slowly dragged it up across her belly, exposing her tiny black silk panties to their avaricious gaze. She whipped it off over her head and dropped it onto her jeans in a forlorn heap on the floor.