Wintertide Read online

  I leaned over and gently kissed her, as my hand trailed down her shirt, unbuttoning it as I went. “You like the ice, don’t you?” I asked as I nipped her bottom lip. She let out a small sound of approval as I again let my power flow through me and formed an ice cube in the palm of my hand.

  I pushed her shirt to the side, and stared at her beauty. The gentle swell of her breast pouring from the top of her thin bra, all the way down to the flat of her stomach. I was stunned that she was mine, even for the moment. “Jax,” she moaned. I held the ice cube above her and squeezed my hand around it, letting the chilly water drip onto the flat of her stomach. She sucked in a breath, her stomach catching as arousal raced through her, a mirror of my own.

  I lowered my hand and traced the ice across her smooth flesh, the goosebumps running along her skin telling me everything I needed to know. I pushed her bra down and found her nipples already pebbled and hard as I ran circles around the soft pink nubs. She groaned as the ice melted and ran down her skin and I leaned over to trace kisses along the melted trails.

  The last of the ice melted and I leaned over and gently kissed her nipple, slowly sucking it into my mouth as I flicked my tongue over the sensitive tip. I worked my way across her chest before giving my attention to the other one, softly nipping the pebbled peak.

  “Jax,” she breathed as her hands darted down to undo my pants. She unfastened the button quickly and had me trembling myself in anticipation as her hand closed around my shaft. I kicked my pants off while she shifted herself to continue stroking the length of me as I tossed them to the floor.

  “Are you sure?” I asked her, still not believing this was actually happening.

  She leaned forward and kissed me in response, guiding me to her wet core. She slid me up and down the folds of her pussy, my own precum now mixing with her arousal, making her even more slick for me.

  I slowly eased myself into her tight pussy, begging myself to not come from the sensation of it. I braced myself on one side of her while my free hand gripped her hip. I held her motionless for a moment, giving us both time to adjust. I didn’t want to come right away, I wanted her to find her climax with me.

  She arched her back and took me even deeper as any coherent thought left my mind. My hips rocked against hers as I thrust into her long and deep, again and again. Her body tightened around me and I could tell she was aching for her own finish, but I was going to draw this out. Make her take her orgasm so agonizingly slowly that when she finally climaxed she would explode.

  Over and over again I eased my way into her pussy, languidly enjoying the feeling of making love to her. Enjoying the sounds of passion that escaped her lips each time my dick hit home. She began to clench around me, and my own dick jerked as she thrust her hips upward, taking more.

  With one last long thrust, she had me coming undone as I came inside of her, the walls of her pussy tightening around me, draining every ounce of pleasure from me. I thrust a few more times, quivering above her as I made her ride out her own finish before collapsing onto the crate next to her.

  I jumped as a voice spoke up, “I don’t know about you guys, but she looks just fine to me,” Sebastian laughed as he crossed the room to us.

  My cheeks flushed and I sat up straight under their scrutiny. “Don’t be embarrassed Jaxon, it was hot as fuck to watch you bring our girl pleasure,” Calex told me, his dark eyes roaming over Eva’s semi exposed body. For some reason I felt no jealousy that he looked at her, not even after I just had her crying out my name beneath me.

  Sebastian leaned over and kissed her deeply, surprising me with his openness in front of me. “Yup, definitely okay,” he murmured.

  “You guys aren’t mad?” I asked, yet again astonished by the level of acceptance of this group that I had previously only considered assholes.

  “Of course we aren’t mad. We can tell you have feelings for Eva, and she for you as well. It would be dumb and selfish of us to get mad over the two of you having a thing.”

  “I can’t say I’m happy with it, but it makes her happy, so I’m not mad,” Calex stated, watching us heatedly. If I didn’t know better I would say them walking in on us had made him a little excited.

  I sat up and slid my pants back on as Eva straightened herself out and Sebastian looked her over. He declared her free of pixie dust before he looked back at me. “Jack is looking for you, Jaxon,” he states solemnly.

  “I figured he would be. I better go, rather than make things any worse,” I replied.

  “Hey, be careful,” Eva added, her voice laced with concern. Her show of emotion had me wanting to say fuck it and bust out of here as fast as possible, keep her safe forever. I knew that leaving here would have to be carefully planned though, and I couldn’t risk my father getting to her in the meantime.

  “I’m always careful,” I stood and grinned down at her, burning the image of her in my mind. Damn she looked beautiful sitting there, her lips still swollen from our lovemaking and her clothes still slightly askew. My dick twitched again in response and I huffed out a breath. “Better get this over with.”

  “You’re not in this alone now Jaxon,” Calex spoke up, surprising me. “If you’re hers, that means we are on your side too and will have your back.”

  “Thanks,” I said in awe. I had never had anyone on my side, and the thought of it was humbling. “I will try to throw him off, to buy us time. But we need to figure out a way to protect Eva,” I told him.

  “Hi, right here,” Eva waved her hand. “We need to work on a plan. I’m not some damsel in distress here and I created this mess, I’m capable of helping.”

  “Sorry, you’re right,” I admitted. “I’ll see you soon,” I flushed a little as I gave into the urge to bend down and kiss her, leaving quickly before they could say anything.

  I pushed into the hall, thoughts of how I would deal with my father racing through my mind. The coast was clear so I slowed and tried to appear normal. Groaning when my father's lackey rounded the corner and headed straight for me.

  Well, that was short lived. “I’m going,” I growled at him as he approached me, my irritation growing by the minute as I started slowly moving in the direction of my father’s office.

  Even though I had initially loathed Eva for letting the others claim her the way she had, I understood why. It was nice to feel part of something, and they all melded together so well it was as if it were the most natural thing in the worlds.

  The way she had easily accepted me, forgiven me, showed me exactly what they all saw in her. Why they were all driven with a need to claim her.

  She was stunning, and not just in looks. Her personality shone above anyone else I had ever come across before. I knew she had been through some shit, but still, even when her sister threatened her, she had tried to give her another chance. When she had decided enough was enough though, it was magnificent.

  The way the snow whipped around her and obeyed her every command. The energy that poured off her as she channeled her magic, determined to not let her sister best her.

  Her powers were only a small part of her beauty though. Her light blonde hair, almost white in color, whipped around her angelic face. Snow clung to her lashes, making the turquoise seem brighter than ever before as they glowed with her strong emotions. Hell even when she wasn’t demonstrating her power I had always found it hard to tear myself away from them. I could lose myself in those eyes, time and time again.

  I had taught her so much about her magic and she had impressed me with how quickly she learned once she had myself and Sebastian to guide her. Eva had been so nice to me through it all, aside from the time I accidentally set her off in our first meeting. She had been a ticking time bomb though, and I hadn’t helped that at all. Even then she had felt awful and apologized, not something that was expected, or normal for our kind. She had gained control over the course of a few days and it was mesmerizing to watch. Breathtaking almost as she went after her sister in a controlled explosion of snow and ice. How
had I ever considered hating someone that literally held such beauty in the palm of her hands?

  It was my own pride that put me in this fucked up position and I hated myself for it. I was pissed at myself for being too much like my father. I had no business expecting everyone to bow down to me, do what I wanted them to do. I had no reason to expect her not to fuck who she wanted and when she wanted. I really had no reason to hate her and I fucked up bad. I felt too damn much for the sorceress and I didn’t like it one bit, so when things hadn’t gone my way, I lashed out, exactly like my dickhead of a father would have done.

  I was only glad that I came to my senses before it was too late. That I had let myself be vulnerable with her for the first time in my life. Making love to her had been like nothing else before and I only hoped to make it out of this unscathed enough to experience it again.

  I guess I just hadn’t realized how much I was blinded by my own anger and feelings of rejection. Hell, until just now I hadn’t really admitted to myself how I felt. I loved her as I had no other before, and I would do anything it took to keep her. Starting with this.

  “Move it,” my father’s lackey shoved me hard, slamming my body against the office door when I hesitated. My face scraped along the metal door plate and I felt the blood well to the surface before it began to drip down my brow. I could feel it closing just as quickly as my fae healing kicked in. I hated ever facing my father looking less than pristine. It just would give him something else to bitch about.

  “Give me a fucking second to twist the knob, asshole!” I snapped at the guard as I pushed away from the door and grabbed the handle.

  “What’s the matter Frost? Afraid of your daddy?” the guard mocked me from behind.

  I whipped around to face him, “As if you aren’t? Or are you just a sadistic asshole that gets off on torturing and killing magical beings because you have none and are nothing more than a human? Way to get your rocks off big guy.” I didn’t give him a chance to respond as I stepped through the door and slammed it in his face. I knew he would try to make me pay for it later, he was sensitive about his lack of magic as his parents hated him for having none. Normally I would be a little more sensitive toward it, there was nothing wrong with not having power, but in my irritation I had lost my filter.

  The cold ice that was as much a part of me as breathing hummed inside me, just at the surface as I steeled myself to face my father. I took a step forward and found him sitting already behind his desk, his hands folded in front of him and his features completely void of emotion.

  “You lied to me, Jaxon,” he stated, his voice calm and smooth, something that was more frightening than when he raised his voice.

  I acted cool, “I didn’t, Jack. I told you everything I knew. How the fuck was I supposed to know she was hiding that,” I waved my arm as I sat in the chair and leaned back. “I’m not a damn ice whisperer,” I grumbled, pretending that I wasn’t shaking inside, while every fiber of my body told me to run, and run fast. To get Eva as far the fuck away from him as possible.

  “Language, Jaxon,” he scolded as if that was the most important thing at this moment. “You’ve worked with her for days. That kind of power doesn’t just hide. You had to see something that you could have told me about. There is no way you didn’t know. Not to mention, I saw the way you chased behind her after that little show. Shall I call Sebastian down and get the truth out of him?”

  I almost blanched at what he insinuated, a torture session of the one man in this place that I gave a shit about. Sebastian had saved me when I tried to escape. The standing policy was anyone who tried to escape was to be killed by the dragons, no mercy, no exceptions. Yet Sebastian had seen my tortured soul, seen how broken and desperate I was. He had the dragon bring me back, rather than allowing it to carry me off for its dinner and drop me on the roof where he stood.

  I collapsed to the stone of the turret, my body shaking, and my mind reeling. He showed genuine compassion and understanding where no one else had my entire life as he sat on the cold stone and talked to me. He even told me that day about who his mother was and what had happened with his brother, something else that he said no one else knew, but he felt I needed to know so I would understand I was not alone. It was the one and only secret that I would never expose because of how kind he had been at that moment. Just like Calex, I dealt in secrets in this hellhole, using them to my advantage at every opportunity, just not his.

  I had thought back then I would have a chance to get out, to go back home to the cold tundra that I missed so much. Sebastian had been the one that made me believe that no matter how bad life was here, it was worth living, and I believed him. He was the only good staff member in this prison. He was hard on us, no doubt, but that was because he truly cared and wanted us to succeed.

  My father knew I respected him and it was more than just his capacity as a guard. There was no way he didn’t know, with his spies everywhere. Yet I knew he hadn’t found out why, if he had I was certain he would have tossed me back to my original fate and punished Sebastian as well. So, I treated him like all of the other guards, though admittedly not to the same level.

  It was my way of protecting him from my father’s wrath. Selfishly so at first, and then I realized he was just a good person. It made me want to have him on board at least as long as I was stuck here. Though he seemed hurt at first, I think he understood. I still felt that if I needed him, I could go to him and he wouldn’t hesitate to help. Just as I was certain if my father could figure out how to take a druid’s power he would. I knew that if he learned exactly what Sebastian was, it would make him susceptible to my father’s endless quest for power. There was no way my father would hesitate to take the power of someone that rivaled even him.

  “I knew you would want her after her show downstairs, so I followed to see if I could find her. She was too quick though, and I have no clue where she disappeared to. Like I said, she didn’t show anything in our sessions. She seemed weak and pathetic and emotional. She was obviously pulling one over on me, on all of us. I’m sure given time, both Sebastian and I would have figured it out.” I made sure my voice was strong and sure, leaving out any of the fear that welled up inside me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get the information you needed before this. Now, at least she has finally shown herself, there's no reason for her to keep it under wraps any longer,” I shrugged hoping that he would take the bait. Hoping that the need for him to see more of her power before he consumed them was greater than his need for more at the moment.

  He was silent for a long time as he stared at me. I forced myself to remain still and not squirm under his scrutiny, an act I was well versed in keeping up. Finally, he spoke, and my heart dropped, “Now that I know her true power, I have everything I need to know. The tiny miniscule things are trivial, as I will learn them in time.” His smile, an evil grin like a villain in any movie, had me speaking out before I could think.

  “You can’t do that to her! It’s not right!” I jumped up and shouted, my fists balling at my sides as anger rolled through me.

  He looked at me and arched his eyebrow, still staring at me coolly. “I can, and I will.”

  “How many people must you kill before you’re powerful enough? Five more? Ten? All of us?”

  He calmly stood up and I felt the ice wrap around my throat, a move that he always did with me. One he knew was a sure way to shut me up. “Suddenly, you’re developing a conscience? You were happy to offer her up to me when you were striking a deal for yourself. Why the sudden change?” he sneered as he tightened his hold.

  “Oh, I see,” he stated darkly as my stomach sank. “You care for her? Oh, isn’t this rich?” he scoffed. “You are no son of mine.” My breath heaved as he kept the ice around my throat and slithered around his desk. He stood right in front of me, leaning over so I could see my reflection in his pupils. “We can’t have you warning the girl, now can we?” he asked maliciously.

  He crossed to the bookshelf to the left of his
desk, one that I knew held the passage for a hidden door. He pulled a book and with a small woosh it swung inward, exposing a small room within. Without giving me a second glance he walked forward, using his powers to drag me along with him.

  I spotted the chair in the middle of the room, one that I still had nightmares about to this day. It was like a dentist’s chair but with straps on the arms and the legs. One that I had spent more hours in than I cared to remember. I tried to fight against him, to escape, but my legs refused to move, I was too secure in his power to do anything at the moment than go along with it. He used his hold on me to lift me from the ground and slam me into the chair. My head bounced against the hard headrest as the little air I had left whooshed out of my lungs.

  “It’s been a long time since we’ve had our sessions, Jaxon. I’ve so missed our time together,” he cackled darkly as his power pressed down on me like a brick wall, making it so I was immobile as he strapped me in and pulled the buckles tightly. When the last buckle was secured the weight lifted from me and I could wiggle, but it did me no good. The iron from the chair and the buckles had already begun to sear into my skin and render my magic virtually useless. He turned to the far wall, and my stomach sank as I saw it was covered with all too familiar torture devices. “Ah, I think I remember what your favorite one was.”

  My head spun as memories assaulted me of being in this chair at our home, before he became the headmaster. He was so sick that when I was transported here, he had the chair brought with him as an extra source of keeping me in line. The way he had tortured me for not having enough power, for not controlling it exactly the right way replayed again and again in my mind as he ran his finger over the instruments of torture. Every one of the magical devices that were intended to get past my fae healing ability and cause unimaginable pain.