Dark Possession - Aja James Page 0,18

one corner.

For some unfathomable reason, Ramses found the sight excessively adorable.

He was quite certain that the adjective adorable hadn’t crossed his mind in the whole of his long existence before Eveline Marceau. He was slightly perturbed by this realization.

Her long, feathery lashes lay dark against her porcelain complexion, darker than her auburn hair, which was spread in waves of bronze all around her.

She looked like a small, childlike fairy, huddled over the massive table. Full of innocence, yet passion too—could her pillowy red lips get any poutier?

Ramses bent and slipped his arms around and under the wee fae creature, easily gathering her up against his chest.

Her arms dangled loose instead of winding automatically around his neck as a child’s might, as if she wasn’t used to being picked up and carried. But she turned and buried her face into the center of his chest immediately and drew several deep breaths before relaxing into the cradle of his arms.

Well, he certainly didn’t recall the last time he did the picking up and carrying himself. If ever he did.

The gesture connoted a certain level of care.

The one person he’d ever cared for never countenanced to be carried. And he’d never had a child to hold…

With long strides, he took her to his private chambers in the back of the throne room and laid her on his gigantic bed.

She immediately rolled onto one of his pillows and hugged it to her with a sigh, like a child with a full-body teddy bear. Breathing the scent of him woven into the sheets on a deep inhale, she smiled contentedly in her sleep.

She liked the way he smelled, he noticed. Her body said so with the way she relaxed and softened, a faint blush dressing her cheeks.

But more than mere comfort, his scent aroused her.

And seeing her arousal aroused him as well. It had been an eternity since he’d felt this way; Ramses could hardly believe it was happening.

Looking down at his jutting cock, tenting the front of his trousers, demanding relief, there was no denying the truth. But whereas physical arousal was no stranger to him by any means, his emotions, his mind, had seldom been engaged.

Not since her.

Jade Cicada had been the only female to stir his feelings in many millennia. But they’d never explored what could have been. And too, in the back of his mind, he’d always known that she wasn’t for him.

Surely, this slip of a little sprite shouldn’t affect him so?

And yet, undeniably, she did.

The question was: What was he going to do about it?

“Because there were so few of them, scattered far and wide across the many realms of earth, Pure, Dark and humans alike, those who were Gifted with the Elements banded together whenever they could. Because of their incalculable powers to command Air, Earth, Water and Fire, they were feared by all other Kinds, hunted almost to extinction. Until one day, a cunning young queen made a pact that would forever change the course of Destiny… ”

—From the hidden sections of the Ecliptic Scrolls

Chapter Four

Eveline wrinkled her nose in slumber.

Something smelled tantalizingly delicious. Like smooth, dark chocolate stirring over low heat on the stove. Maybe with a little cinnamon sprinkled in.

Mmm. She was so hungry.

Even in sleep, she knew she’d skipped her meals again. Probably passed out in the library surrounded by books.

Note to subconscious self: remember to eat for the whole day upon waking.

Meanwhile, her nostrils flared as she picked up more of the complex alchemy of scents surrounding her, cocooning her.

Cinnamon wasn’t the only spice contributing to the delectable aroma. There was something earthy and salty too, blended into the bittersweet decadence. Something smoky and wild.

She dreamed of black, fertile soil after fresh rain. Jagged mountain ranges beneath thundering skies. And thick, red-hot lava rising through the tallest peaks, broiling and churning within the seemingly impenetrable rock.

A fire that was hot enough to melt stone.

Eveline squirmed restlessly as she dreamed, as if real flames danced within her veins.

Satin covered steel bands tightened around her, holding her still. Something hard and heavy inserted between her thighs, thick as a tree trunk and just as unyielding.

Another similar object hooked around the back of both her legs, keeping her lower body immobile, while the steel bands around her back held her upper body still. She was well and truly trapped.

Strangely, she didn’t mind the restraints around her. In fact, she sighed with contentment within her cozy, satin-covered, stone-hard prison. She was actually comfortable with her cheek pressed