Then she realized why he'd blocked his mind from her. He feared she'd leave. He had no power here. If he tried to drag her back to Biston, Gildonner police and soldiers would stop him to protect her rights.

"I wouldn't. I won't keep you prisoner."

"You can't." She was free, finally free. She could be whatever she wanted here. Eleanor glanced out the open window. Below, calla lilies glowed and bluebells tinkled a soft melody. Beautiful. No deathly white prison walls or snow. Just luscious green and glowing, bright flowers of the colors Marilyn had draped throughout her cell. Colors of freedom.

She could have so much more here in Gildon. A whole new life. Tomorrow, the new year would start. Ceres would teach her every spell, millions of times more than Erick's gift.

The thought repeated in her mind. The first gift in five years. Before the Duran War, he had given her a kiss on the cheek and a carved knick-knack every birthday. He'd carved them at Gran's after Eleanor had fallen asleep. Wooden birds and flowers still sat on her bedroom windowsill at home but it was the kisses she'd treasured.

"If you don't want me, you can leave."

She wished she didn't want him. She wished she didn't see the boy she'd loved in his dark shimmering eyes. He wasn't that boy anymore. His masculine body flexed under her gaze and she wished her eyes glowed solely from anger. "I don't need your permission." But her voice broke.

"I know. But if you want me, then stay with me. Make me a better man. Call out your favors from Gildon and save Biston where I failed."

Was this a trick? Just to get her back to Biston? Why? He hated her. Not to mention, her father would kill him for using her as a whore.

"No. Ellie, that's not what I want. This isn't a trick. I need you for more than that." But his mind flickered with the memory of the last time they'd made love.

The image of his hands on her breasts made her neck hot and sticky. She shouldn't crave his electric touch and his warm mouth on hers. Her lit gaze trickled down the hard hills and deep valleys of his chest and abs to what she needed most. His cock twitched all the way up to his belly button. That submissive position displayed the power of his body so perfectly. Mmm, the possibilities. He could easily support her weight and pump up, buttocks taut, while she arched back on her elbows.

Oh, she was an idiot to want something so base when much more waited outside. Eleanor found her clothes at the foot of the bed but before she could tug them on, he hissed in breath. Sensations of his hand rubbing his cock, drove into her mind.

She couldn't help but look. Earth, he knew her weakness. The reason she'd donned that stupid mask.

Hint of a grin on his face, he masturbated in full view. Thick muscle rippled along his arm and chest, with each hard jerk. His thighs tensed, stiff buttocks lifted. His grunts rumbled through her.

Heat flushed the front of her body and gathered deep in her belly. If he was her plaything, her whore, she'd more than enjoy him in that position.

"Do you know what you do to me? How much I want you? I dream of you at night. In the morning, I imagine you in my bed when I do this." His fingers caught on the crown of his cock with each rough stroke. The tight muscles of his abs bulged as his hips thrust up.

Honey wet her thighs. Would it hurt to stay just a little longer? Just 'til morning? She couldn't do much else at night anyway. Everyone was probably celebrating New Year's Eve.

Eleanor sat beside him on the settee and dropped the throw that covered her.

He huffed out breath, gaze on her chest. Pre-cum drizzled down his knuckles. "Touch your breasts."

Butterflies tickled her stomach. "Like this?" She glided her fingertips slowly down her swells and circled her nipples. They hardened and twirled, sensitized by his hunger.

"Yes," he rasped. Rapid jerks shook his voice.

Earth, her mouth salivated, watching him abuse his veiny cock. Her cunt wept with the slick honey she planned to soothe him with. But first, she wanted more. She parted her thighs, letting him look at her puffy, dripping lips.

When she traced her center, down her furry mound, to her slick cleft, Erick moaned. She split her fingers in an upside down V to part her lips to his gaze. Air caressed her wet, firm opening and throbbing pearl. "Lick me."

He halted and grimaced, body taut and quivering. She feared he would come but he forced his fingers loose from his throbbing cock and dropped on all fours between her thighs.

He blew, chilling her cunt, sending shivers up her spine just before he lapped between her fingers. His velvety tongue flicked from her needy hole to her twitching pearl. Sparks burst and she bucked, squeezing his face, tugging his hair. She screamed, head thrown back. Waves washed over her to relax her trembling thighs.

That's when he seized her. He yanked her by the knees onto the floor.

She barely registered her head thudding onto the carpet. Before she could think, he plunged into her, hard and unyielding. The naked ridge of his cock's crown stroked her pussy on his hasty withdrawal. Each electrifying thrust came with a grunt.

She couldn't breathe. His mind so desperately clawed inside hers and filled her with his lust.

His fingers dug into her hips pulling her closer, pushing his cock deeper. The fervent rhythm drew her up into his approaching orgasm. An electric hum vibrated through their nerves until that last thrust held tight inside her. It exploded wave after wave of current through their clenched bodies.

Hot, thick, cream shot deep inside her, coating her already tingling tunnel.

Oh Earth. Eleanor tried to pull away but he firmly gripped her hips, so her quivering pussy milked the last drop from his cock.

How could she have been so stupid? Was this another ploy? Did he think if he made her pregnant she'd stay? Then what? Her eyes cooled, light extinguished.

Relaxed, his weight nearly crushed her chest as his breath heated her neck. "Mmm." He pushed himself up on his elbows. "You sure talk a big talk about love but when it comes down to it, you're just as scared as I am."

She huffed out breath, meaning an argument to follow but nothing came. It was true. She didn't want to feel the rejection that would follow tonight. If she let him touch her cheek, he'd see deeper depths of her betrayal and hate her. She had wanted the power that came with Marilyn's spells. It wasn't just for him that she'd learned. It was her pride too.

"I already peeked while you were sleeping." He grinned and rolled to his side, head propped up on his elbow. "You've always been proud, Ellie. That's not a surprise to me."

But she'd gone to his mother.

Erick just stared at her, mind distant.

Relief didn't loosen the knots in her gut. She shifted under his gaze. Even if he forgave her, could she forgive him?

"Now that I can think, I have a theory about our five years apart." He sat up on his haunches. "If you'd stayed, I'd have figured what you can do to me." He stroked her arm and a trail of sparks followed. "I'd have taken advantage too early and you'd have hated me. This is the only way we could be."

"I hated you for ignoring me."

"I'm not ignoring you. I can't." He brushed her hair back from her face and sparks skittered from his fingertips.

She shivered in spite of herself. Her eyes relit. Breath held, she waited for what she knew he'd worked up to.

"Only if you want me to," he said.

Binding would permanently link them, unlike the loose tangle from their childhood. If it was meant to be, they could never be more than a day apart.

"Would that be so bad?"

She licked her lips and sat up, legs curled in front of her. "No." But it would hurt. It wouldn't just be the good memories that would open up between them. Unlike the pretend touch they'd shared in her imaginary world, true binding would toss them through every misery they'd ever experienced.

Her hand shook when she reached up to palm his chiseled cheek. Her heart quickened as sparks burst from his skin.

Breath puffed from his mouth and she felt the air scrape his throat, through him. She felt his skin spark beneath her touch. Although his eyes didn't glow with memories, they raced from his mind. All consciously focused on her. Childhood games, her smiles, trust, times that she'd thought had no meaning to him. Warmth spread through her from his cheek. His younger self trained and showed off for her. The Revolution spewed from a tender spot but his mind slowed at memories of her comfort. He finally realized that he'd loved her then.

She felt like an ember fluttering high from a fire. Up into his tightening embrace, she rose. Her thigh slipped between his and where their bare skin touched, sparks blazed. But she needed more. She dipped deeper into his mind, hungry for all of him.

He tried to skip past the aftermath of the Duran War but she had to see, hoping it had somehow changed. Fresh guilt welled up at his callous judgments when he turned her away. Her growing hint of pheromone had scared him and severed what remained of their once close friendship. You were a child, he tried to explain but that wasn't all of it. He couldn't hide the true reason. He didn't want a hybrid queen.

She'd hoped his fear of her magic would disappear from the memory but how could it? It would always wound her. The sting would have jerked her hand away if not for his silent pleading.

Wait. I promise it gets better.

The electric hum grew between them but it shouldn't have. Worse judgments pained her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, yet her nipples beaded. Her chest heaved with a confusing mix of want and anguish.

Then he saw through Phil's eyes. Everything suddenly flipped upside down. His views completely shifted. He saw her, the real her. No longer a little girl from the past, not the demon he feared and not the fictional Violet Glass. Despair lifted into hope by the time he reached the end of the mountain pass.

Tension broke, current coursed and emotions scattered in all different directions. She sobbed against his neck.

His chest shook against hers. He kneaded her back and crushed her into him.

When the last electric spark dissipated and emotions settled into place, her mind sorted through the mess. She lifted her face from his damp neck. Through clear eyes, she saw him-every thought, every reason and every desire. He was hers. All his beauty and all his flaws. She touched his stubbled jaw. "I love you, Erick."

He kissed her mouth. His lips cradled hers while his tongue caressed her cavern. Their first true kiss.

He pulled back and her lower lip smacked her teeth like a released rubber band. "I've kissed you before." Hard lines marked his brow and she felt guilt squeeze his chest.

"Yes but you didn't know it was me."

"It counts." Before she could argue, he palmed her cheek.

Bright light blazed from her burning eyes. Where his renewed erection pressed against her belly, current grew and swirled. She puffed out breath and clutched his hand on her cheek. Oh, she wanted this, regardless of the darkness that waited in the depths of her mind.

When her early infatuation unfolded, he grinned and pride swelled his chest. Her every memory seemed to stroke his ego until the pain following the Duran War. Like a ship caught in a storm, they tossed about on a tumultuous sea of emotions. Waves crushed his pride on the rocks and left his ego bruised and battered. They both struggled to breathe, not just from pain.

Her wet sex swelled and ached.

His body rolled onto hers. Bare, hard flesh pressed heavy against hers, warming her skin, soothing the burn in her head. His knees pushed between hers, parting them to his firm thrust.

"Shhh. It's okay." His tears wet her hair as he slowly withdrew and penetrated her again. The healing stroke sent shivers of pleasure up her spine.

Tentatively he pushed deeper into her mind. Her efforts to win him, her failures to escape and the risks he'd forced her to take. With each memory, his cock stroked her, easing the ache. They grew closer to the present and he quickened. His harsh breath heated her scalp. Hot honey gushed from her with his pounding cock. When she felt only him, the veiny surface of his cock, the hard grip on her hip, his hand electrifying her cheek, she exploded. Current looped through them, over and over.

Her body spasmed, arched and went rigid as she squeezed him in her clutch. She trembled even after the calm flushed through her.

His scream echoed in her throbbing mind. His huffed breath, the tumbling rhythm of his heart, his relaxing flesh, all of him filled her mind as if his body was hers.

"I love you, Ellie."

New Year's cheers rang out below and rumbled the walls. The start of a brand new year.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

January 1, 9545 AR North Point, Gildon A brand new year. Slate wiped clean. Everything she was before no longer existed. All her sins, all her miseries-gone. Marilyn squealed like a child and kicked off the blankets. Oh, she could hardly believe it. A tingly feeling danced down the front of her body. Gildon. She'd slept and woke in Gildon.

All the amenities of the greatest nation in New Pangaea graced her hotel room. Running water at the flip of a lever, crystals that glowed from stored sunlight, rich fabrics, vivid color. Even bright red lilies glowed from a delicately painted gold-and-red vase.

Oh and Gildon's loyal elementals. Their lulling whispers had soothed away her aches throughout the night. Their energy pulsed within plants, trees and water, despite the lack of hybrids and elves on the western border of Gildon. Ceres probably fed them every few months. Not as magical as the elven land on Gildon's eastern border but nicer than any other chunk of mortal land. Gildon-it had everything.

Her first day as a free woman. She would do so much better this time. No men to lure her astray. She'd finish her studies. Then they'd have no power over her. No prison would hold her.

Earth, it would be a great year. A great beginning. Marilyn inhaled and held on to the scented goodness. More waited outside. She'd heard bluebells ringing on the wind, just after the cheers and Gildonner ballads that celebrated the new year last night.

She hopped out of bed and quickly dressed. She tied her hair back from her pointed ears. Here, in Gildon, she didn't have to hide them.

She practically skipped out of the hotel room and onto the cobblestone street. A gentle gust of chilly morning air caressed her face but felt like heated bathwater in comparison to Biston's bitter winters. Gildon had never known a destructive freeze, drought or blight during its hybrid queen's reign and it never would. Ceres protected them like a goddess from myth.

Ceres' colors of red and gold furled from flagpoles up and down the sidewalks along the street. At the base of the steel poles, perfectly tended gardens glowed and played music, barely audible above the growing crowd of shoppers. Vendors had already set up their wares on tables and carts between the flagpoles. Fresh baked breads and hardy winter fruit filled baskets plentifully. Wonderfully sweet aromas mixed with that of savory meats from a restaurant down the street. Mouth-watering. No one cooked like Gildonners. Their eclectic style incorporated every type of food with varieties of sauces and spice. A playground for the senses.

"Five coppers," a clean-cut vendor yelled at Marilyn and held up a length of red fabric. "Beautiful silk for a beautiful lady." Other vendors waved to her and yelled their prices, as if she was like everyone else. People didn't glare or cringe at the sight of her. A Gildonner police officer even strolled past without a second glance.

Earth, that felt good. Her steps fell lightly here. Even the weight inside seemed to rise a little. How had she ever given this up?

Her stomach growled. She didn't remember ever feeling so hungry in the past ten years. She could devour everything that made the savory smoke that billowed out from the restaurant's chimney.

At the end of the street, just before the restaurant's outdoor seating, a familiar mind tapped against her shields.

Marilyn halted. Laughter bubbled up from her gut. It couldn't be. Ceres?

With ethereal grace, the Gildonner queen seemed to appear from nowhere, though it was just a trick Ceres used to sneak up on people. She smiled that motherly smile of hers and spread her arms out wide.

Marilyn ran to her and grabbed on tight. The scent of home wafted up. Roses. "I never thought I'd see you again." Oh she wished she wouldn't tear. Joy split her lips with a broad grin, yet burned her eyes.

"I missed you." Ceres stroked Marilyn's hair and kissed her forehead. "I expected two. Where's your friend?"

Marilyn quickly wiped her face with her sleeve, grin fallen. The tender wound inside that had seemed to disappear suddenly throbbed, reopened. "Eleanor's young yet. She'll come around."

No longer a gentle tap, Ceres' mind broke past Marilyn's shields and touched every memory all at once, like the tentacles of a sea monster.

Ceres laughed. "Sea monster?" But her laughter suddenly stopped. She'd read what happened at the summit.

Marilyn flinched as the weight inside suddenly dropped deeper. It tugged on her chest and shoulders. Oh no. Was it wrong? Should she have ignored him and just let his abuse happen? Maybe she should have. Marilyn hadn't wanted to hurt him but she had to. Earth, would Ceres turn her away, or worse? Marilyn's invisible weight's tether agonizingly squeezed tighter.

Something too quick to identify flickered across Ceres' face. Was that disdain?

Ceres shook her head. "No. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Come on. Let's go home." She took Marilyn's hand.

Warmth spread up Marilyn's arm. Unconditional love. It soothed where guilt and fear had rubbed her. But she didn't deserve it. Ceres should have turned Marilyn away for what she'd done at the summit. Earth, Marilyn could still see Erick's face contorted with pain as he bled.

"Stop. You're never going to heal if you keep picking at it. Are you ready to start your lessons back up?"

"Yes." If anything could heal her, it was Ceres' magic.