Viola Grace Read online

  “I felt that you were on guard and then uneasy, and then our connection grew fuzzy.” He growled. “That was the point that I shifted to come to you.”

  She nodded. “You are... uh... big.”

  He laughed. “I will never shift inside a building if that is what you are saying. If you are referring to my current form, that is simply nature.”

  She blushed. “I have just always thought about the conservation of mass when there are shifts.”

  “Ah. Well, the Dremarai use interdimensional materials. We pull the stuff from ancient stars elsewhere and return that matter when we are done. The shape it takes is from within our souls.” He pressed his forehead to hers.

  She smiled. “I have shifted shape once in my life, and once has definitely been enough.”

  He grinned. “I like your shape.”

  She blushed as she felt his erection against her backside. “I can tell.”

  He eased her toward him and kissed her again, sliding his tongue along hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and twisted her hips against his. “Yelfon, I am sorry to say that I have a need.”

  He rolled until he was sitting and lifted her until she slid onto his cock to the hilt. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pressed the soles of her feet together. She flexed and used her legs to move on him. He leaned her back, and his mouth worked on her breasts as she clung to his arms. Her breath came in shallow rushes and low grunts.

  Her senses were under assault, and when he moved her on him with a fast and jolting pace, she gasped and moaned as her orgasm washed over her. He jerked within her, and they clung to each other as they tried to get equilibrium.

  She smiled and asked against his chest, “Is there ever an age where you stop rushing to the pleasure? I haven’t found it yet.”

  He nuzzled her ear. “We could try that another time. The slowest fuck possible.”

  “Oh, you think this will happen again?”

  He grinned. “You are a visitor to Mathlu, I was your first contact, which makes me your host, and as a host, your wellbeing is my responsibility. That includes your mental state, and sexual frustration isn’t healthy.”

  She laughed and nipped at his chin. “I am rarely frustrated. I have a personal best from interest to orgasm of under a minute.”

  He smiled, and his eyes were bright. “In public?”

  She chuckled. “Only once, and I was in a vehicle with a friend. That was years ago.”

  “How good a friend?” His grip on her got tighter.

  She sighed. “He was a good friend, and he died fifteen years ago.” Libby raised her brows. “Do you really want my sexual history?”

  He sighed. “I suppose now isn’t the time, but eventually, yes. I want to know who you have loved, lost, and loved after.”

  “Can I ask you the same?”

  “Of course.”

  She had a thought and then got shy. “Can I ask you for a favour?”

  He started to rock her against him, against the heavy pulse of him inside her. “I am listening.”

  “When we have completed our activities, can you give me a single memory?”

  He cupped her ass, and lifted and lowered her while he kissed her shoulder. “What kind of memory?”

  She ran her hands up his biceps, and she gasped as she moved into him. She exhaled and shivered as he continued moving inside her and moving her over him. “The first storm you remember.”

  He paused. “That’s it?”

  She looked him in the eyes and nodded. “That’s it.”

  He tilted her to her back, kissing her softly, and she wrapped herself around him, arching into every slow thrust.

  She could hear her voice and his as well as the sounds of their bodies connecting and then echoed off the walls. She moved with him with intensity. Good sex could be noisy or quiet; she was choosing noisy, and the waves of pleasure running through her were proof of the quality.

  She dug her fingers into his back when she came and arched against him while she shuddered. He ran his tongue along her neck, and when she relaxed, he shoved in hard, and she bucked as her orgasm fired again with heavy pulses that clasped him as he grunted and held himself inside her.

  Libby sighed, and she felt his lips curve against her neck. Yelfon murmured, “Yes, I will share the memory of the first storm.”

  She chuckled and stroked his hair. “Thank you. I think it might help matters if I don’t return empty-handed.”

  He rubbed his lips across her collarbone. “You can have more.”

  She smiled. “If you had asked for a visit from me, I would only have taken this, and it is all that I would have asked of Aloth if he hadn’t been a jerk.”

  He lifted his head and frowned. “Don’t mention him. I am still debating whether or not to remove him from this world.”

  “You mean like... on a shuttle?” She was hopeful.

  He gave her a dark look. “No.”

  “Oh.” She looked around and shifted her legs. “Can I get up now?”

  His expression softened. “No.”

  She chuckled. “Why not?”

  “You are delightfully tight around me, and I want to savour the moment.” He brushed her hair from her face. “You lived a lifetime, didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I did. I thought I was nearly done, and then, they asked me to go and play in the stars. I said yes, of course.”

  She ran her hands up his chest and down again.

  He smiled. “Am I an experiment?”

  She shook her head and wrapped a hand around his neck. “I have enough experience to know a good man when I see one.”

  He grinned and laughed when she flipped him onto his back and sat up. When he laughed, she felt him start to stir again.

  “Okay, I am just wondering, is that response particularly normal, or has it just been a really long time for you?” She started to move on him, dragging herself nearly off him and then plunging back. She shuddered at the response of her own body, so she did it again.

  “Both. The Dremarai are responsive to the wishes and desires of other species. We become what you need.”

  She blushed and froze. “So, I am taking advantage of you?”

  He flipped them again and thrust into her slowly. “No, but if you need me to, I shall rise a thousand times in the night... and the day.”

  She leaned up, and he kissed her, their tongues sliding and moving against each other while he stroked inside her. She pulled her legs up to either side of him, and he groaned and hammered into her until their bodies concluded their efforts in a rush of light and groans.

  She ached, and her body flopped to the side. She gasped, “Okay. I am done. You win.”

  He laughed and withdrew from her. “It was not a competition, but I am glad you enjoyed the race.”

  Blue-white fire started at her head and moved down her body. She went from hot and sticky to cool and tingly.

  He flared into fire, and she squawked and sat up, groaning.

  She watched as the fire faded. “What was that?”

  “Cleansing fire. It was my first power and very handy when there is limited water available.” He smiled and glanced toward the door of the cavern. The night was firmly in control. “I suppose I should return you to the monastery.”

  She grimaced. “I suppose so. Thank you for coming to help me earlier.”

  “You are welcome. Thank you for not needing anything other than a ride.”

  She grinned. “You are welcome.”

  He helped her with her robe and sandals and thought of the first time he was in a storm. She copied the memory of a wild alien world and a bright recollection of being a child in the heart of the storm, and the storm moved toward him and began his transformation.

  She pressed the crystal to her forehead and transferred the moment before she leaned against his chest and kissed his neck. “Where did your clothing come from?”

  He chuck
led. “It is magic. Come on, I need to get you home.”

  “Luon is asking?”

  “Yes. Apparently, Aloth is wanting you banished due to your action. Don’t worry, you have a witness. Climb on my back.”

  She nodded as he shifted to the Simurgh, and she climbed up onto his back, settling on the obvious seat of him a moment before he streaked into the sky.

  If Aloth raised a fuss, she had a memory that would deal with him. She had dealt with bullies like him before. Hell, she had been married to one.

  Chapter Nine

  The monastery was dimly lit, which was normal. Mathla’s garden was bright, and that is where Yelfon set her down.

  Mathla looked at her. “This is serious. You assaulted an ancient?”

  Aloth was standing there, looking foreboding and smug.

  She smiled brightly, and Yelfon transformed behind her, and she walked toward Aloth. “Did I assault you?”

  He blinked. “You struck me with the disk?”

  “Did I? How could I have knocked you down. I can barely reach your face from here. What possible position could you have been in for me to actually make contact with your head hard enough to knock you out?”

  He blinked and looked at the avatar. “We were having lunch—”

  “You were feeding me herbal sedatives...” She smiled. “Just a moment. Let me give you a little something.”

  She pulled the memory together and kissed him, using lust to break into his mind and give him one of the memories that had changed the men she sought in her life.

  He stumbled back and started shaking. He collapsed and sobbed.

  Mathla grabbed her arm. “What did you do?”

  “I gave him empathy. When I was eighteen, I married, and my husband liked to use drugs and force to get his way. We were married for four months and legally entangled for five years before I was free of him. My father helped me get away and stay away. Aloth is reliving my wedding night.”

  Mathla looked at him. “How long will it last?”

  “It lasted until dawn, but I gave him highlights. He should be a little more empathetic in five minutes. You might want to ask any female novices who have been near him if he tried to engage in psychic or physical seduction.”

  Her stomach rumbled. “I never did get any food.”

  Mathla frowned. “It is far too late to get anything.”

  Yelfon spoke. “Master Elizabeth, if you would care to have a snack. You have had a very tiring day.”

  She turned, and a huge picnic was spread over the grass. Yelfon was kneeling, and he poured her a glass of wine. “It is safe, I promise.”

  Mathla stared. “Yelfon? What are you doing?”

  Libby walked over and took the cup of wine from him, sitting at the edge of the picnic cloth.

  “I was the first to greet her when she arrived, and that makes me her host. She is hungry.” He chuckled and ate a piece of fruit. “Very hungry.”

  Libby spluttered the sip of wine she had just taken, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

  He smiled innocently and fed her an apple slice dipped in honey.

  Mathla frowned. “You have not allowed a visit.”

  Libby chewed and swallowed then held up the crystal. “He offered a memory.”

  Mathla stared at them and narrowed her eyes. “What is it?”

  Libby held her hand out. “It was his first remembered storm. It is quite something.”

  Mathla took the crystal and pressed it to her forehead. Her eyes widened while she watched, and she moved the crystal away from her forehead when the viewing was done. “That is... wonderful. Thank you, Yelfon.”

  Libby was snacking with a vengeance.

  Yelfon looked from her to Mathla, and he spoke in a deadpan voice. “This one is never satisfied.”

  Mathla walked up to them and extended the crystal. “Please, give this to Kiol in the morning.”

  Libby smiled. “Yes, Your Eminence.” She took the crystal with sticky fingers and tucked it away.

  She licked at her fingers, and she could see that Yelfon wanted to do it for her.

  Aloth was sobbing softly and curled up.

  Mathla asked, “Will he be all right?”

  Libby shrugged. “It depends. If he was convinced that his attentions were welcomed, he will be furious. But, if he knew that he was caught doing something wrong and accepts that portion of it, there is hope for him. I am just hoping that no other visitor is treated that way. I have nothing against a good seduction, and I might have found him intriguing if not for... reasons.” She flicked a look at her host.

  Yelfon grinned and tossed a date into his mouth. She sighed and shifted in place. She should have been exhausted, but her body was rallying again.

  She took a handful of snacks and looked to Mathla, “So, aside from the Hirn blundering in, did I miss anything?”

  Mathla was eating, and she grinned. “No. You only missed a Simurgh streaking through the sky for the first time in centuries.”

  Yelfon murmured, “I was in a hurry.”

  “Yes, that is what we surmised.” She chuckled. “Luon explained your communication. So, how did you know that she was in danger?”

  Yelfon continued to eat his favourite bits. “Instinct, and I bonded to her when I acted as her host on her arrival. It lets me know if she is agitated or unwell.”

  She looked at Mathla. “I was agitated. I had been warned about Aloth by a few of the ancients. Two were guys, so they weren’t his type, but they knew about it. This is a pattern of behaviour, and it is unfair to send prey to him in such a manner.”

  Mathla nodded. “His access to women will be curtailed.”

  Libby frowned. “That might not be the best way to continue. He needs to apologize to the women he took advantage of, and he has to be sincere when he does it. If he does not want to ask for their forgiveness, he should be banished and brought out when all of the women he targeted have passed on. One or two hundred years, and he should be ready to rejoin society.”

  “What if he chooses to apologize?”

  “If they accept it, they become his tutors and share their version of the incident so that he understands what they felt while he rolled over their free will. He donates his memories as atonement. If they don’t accept his apology, they will simply be assigned duties so that they do not see him again. There will usually be a split.”

  Mathla frowned. “I can also remove the incident from their minds.”

  “If you do, you have to remove it from Aloth as well. Seeing yourself in someone else’s mind is disturbing, to say the least.” She shivered.

  Yelfon looked at her. “I can kill him if you like.”

  She shook her head. “No. He’s a living treasure, so to speak. As are you, Ancient Yelfon.” She bit her lip as his eyes darkened with displeasure at the title.

  Mathla looked at the two of them. “Has something occurred between you.”

  Libby glanced at Yelfon and shrugged. “To be frank, Mathla-Luon, I have simply taken advantage of his hospitality. He helped me relax after the incident, kept me safe, and then returned me to the monastery.”

  Yelfon coughed at her summation. “She was very tense.”

  Mathla frowned, and then, her eyes widen. “Oh. Luon explained that. So, you two...”

  Libby continued eating. “Spent a very educational afternoon together. I am now satisfied, and he has satisfied the requirements of hospitality.”

  Yelfon smiled. “For now. Should her need arise again, I am happy to offer my body to her service.”

  Libby’s cheeks caught fire. She nibbled at some roast fowl and looked at him. “Um. Thank you?”

  He inclined his head, and she finally was able to take him in. He favoured leather trousers and boots, an open vest in lieu of a shirt, and there were tattoos moving under the skin of his chest. As she stared, the Simurgh appeared and made a slow circuit on his chest before it vanished in smoke. His hair was s
urprisingly dark and bound in thick silver clips down his back. It was either red or purple, depending on where the light struck it. He was just missing shades of green to become a type of bipedal and muscular peacock.

  He looked at her, and his eyes narrowed. “What is that smile on your lips?”

  “I was analyzing the colour palette that you are made of. You remind me of a colourful bird from Terra, in your shades only.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Which one?”

  She cleared her throat and murmured. “A peacock?”

  He looked at her and snorted. “What does that make you?”

  She looked at her skin and shrugged. “A pigeon?”

  He smiled. “Surely, a peahen.”

  “Ah, that would imply that we are a matched pair, and peahens are a very charming and tepid brown.” She smiled. “The only white bird that I am used to is the pigeon, perhaps a dove.”

  He nodded. “Mathla-Luon, is there a way for you to make a pair of birds that have my colouring for the males and her colouring for the females?”

  Luon’s eyes glowed and looked between them. “It is possible, but it will take six or seven years. The evolution of an existing species is normally much slower.”

  “I would offer my assistance, but my skills with living tissue are not great.” He smiled.

  Mathla-Luon cocked her head. “Why would you want such birds?”

  “It will be nice to have a mating pair that recognizes each other at first sight.”

  Libby sipped at her wine only to find that the cup was empty. She scowled into it then realized that she was trying to magic up more with her mind, and she figured out that she should call it a night, day.

  She turned to Mathla- Luon and said, “Is it all right if I seek my quarters? I am rather fatigued.”

  The woman smiled. “Of course. Good night, Master Libby.”

  Elizabeth turned to Yelfon. “Thank you for the meal, Ancient Yelfon.”

  He inclined his head. “You have been a charming guest, Elizabeth. I hope you have a restful sleep.”

  She nodded and wobbled to her feet, setting her cup down and nearly falling over in the process. She slowly righted herself and stepped away from the picnic, walking past Aloth and giving him another memory. Aloth stopped whimpering, and he looked at her with understanding.