To Scale the Emerald Mountain (The Willowbane Saga #1)

40. CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY

ELLYA

I think Alec has left when I don’t see him, and disappointment weighs heavy.

Now that I’ve let him in, I can’t imagine not being near him. Experiencing torturous short minutes of life where Alec didn’t exist and the return of my full memories was enough to immediately break me out of my cycle of self-sabotage fueled by guilt.

A shadow moves behind the gauzy mauve partition to my sitting room, and I grin before moving towards its owner. I find Alec laying on his back in the pillow nook, arms up with his hands tucked behind his head. The position accentuates the broadness of his shoulders and his trim waist. My eyes drift to the dark hair on his stomach that disappears below his waistband. My mouth waters at the sight, and I imagine my fingers running through it.

“Quit giving me those heated looks, my clove, or you may find yourself in a position you have made clear you are not ready for,” he says softly.

I swallow before grabbing a cushion from a chair and throw it at Alec’s head. He catches it and laughs. “At least it was not a brick.”

He pats the plush pillows next to him, inviting me to join. I sit, pulling my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them. We gaze at each other for a long time, simply taking in and appreciating being together, being close .

“What’s next?” I whisper.

Muffled sounds of the city beyond us lull through an open window while Alec starts tracing slow circles on my lower back.

“You learn how deeply your newfound powers run and how to wield them.”

I nod. “Where do we start scouting for the next gem?”

“You already have one, Ellya. Even if the others are found, their full potentials will not be reached.” His fingers stop their calming patterns.

“Maybe not their full potential, but still more power than most should have.”

Alec sits up and pulls me between his knees. I lay my head back against his chest and look up at him to smile blissfully.

“I love that sight.” He plants a kiss on my lips before sighing. “But, yes, you are right. I had assumed you would want to find the rest after getting a taste of amplified power. We will start in Brhadir; Crane Hills specifically. Then we will move on to the Mother Continent. We should probably stop in to visit your father while in Brhadir. He wanted to see you, but you were not at all receptive to the idea.”

I begrudgingly nod in supplication. The idea of my father seeing me in such an unstable state after all the years of inconsistency between us was more than I could bear. The notion still makes my throat constrict.

“What’s in Crane Hills, besides my father?”

Alec squeezes me tight. I’ve noticed in the last couple hours that he can’t seem to resist holding me, touching me in any way he can. I’m surprised at his restraint when things got heated in the kitchen.

“There is a man there I think we should speak with. I remember him vividly from my childhood. Mother kept her parents’ workshop in one of the more prestigious artist blocks. There was a candle maker who had all manner of odd creatures in his shop. Creatures I had never seen or heard of before. I used to ask him where they came from. He would tell me ‘All answers worth knowing make themselves known.’ I had no idea what that meant.”

Alec shifts and tugs my arm, instructing me to face him, his eyes roving hungrily over my face. “He was an eccentric man, and I never put much thought into his odd non-answers. Not until you started having your very particular visions. I started making the connections between those creatures, your family’s kyniors, and the beast guarding the emerald, all created by Dhystros.”

I knit my brows with a mischievous smile as a thought comes to me. “You said a candle maker? In Crane Hills?”

Alec nods, studying me curiously. I grin wider, and he narrows his eyes. “What do you know?”

“Can I show you?”

Alec’s lips meet mine with a smile. “I would be honored,” he whispers, kissing me again.

I concentrate on the vision, even though I know it’s not required for him to find what he needs. The vision I had of the merchant loading candles onto a cart—that I thought completely unimportant—flickers through my mind.

Alec pulls away from my mouth, beaming. “You are fucking stunning.” His reaction tells me the man I Saw is the same he’s talking about. He lands a rough, claiming kiss with his compliment.

“Do you think that man has ties to Dhystros?”

“Perhaps.” Excitement shines bright in Alec’s dark eyes.

Studying the deep scars on his chest—long healed scars I noticed shortly after I returned to The Capital—something clicks into places. The three long gashes match the talons of the creature left by Dhystros in the cave.

“That night in the library, you had the emerald already. That’s why you were suddenly so nervous when I began looking through the story about it,” I accuse.

A flash of guilt works across his face. “Yes. I retrieved it immediately after you had your vision.” Alec then recounts to me the story of him collecting the emerald.

“So, that’s how you got these?” I trace my fingers through his torn flesh as he finishes his tale.

Alec nods grimly. “The lonyx, said to be the personal companion of Dhystros. It is dead now. I stabbed it between the eyes with a very important tool, but the beast managed to wound me first. I simply pried the gem from the cave wall after. I did not want to tell you the story of how I got my scars until you already had your staff. For years I had planned to give it to you as a mating gift.”

“I suppose it would have diminished some of the drama if I already knew you had the emerald.”

“Exactly.” Alec struggles to hide a prideful smile. “The healing process took torturous months. That is one of the longest stretches we have gone without seeing one another. I had never been unable to heal myself before. The best Healers of The Capital were at a loss. It held fever and bled black from the wounds. It stunk terribly—like fermented death.”

Alec’s body shudders, holding me tight while he grimaces.

“I became certain that I would not survive the wound. I started having obsessive fever dreams while I was unable to sleep during the long nights, when the sickness hit hardest. I would thrash and sweat and fixate on the idea of gifting the gem to you in a grand gesture. It became all I could focus on until I thought that the madness of the Vahnsing’s had finally come for me. I barely remember the night I stumbled to my study and came up with the design for that.”

Alec indicates his head towards where my staff is propped in the other room.

“I had it commissioned with my smith shortly after that night. It took years to get right. The smith was not happy when I sent it back to him two moons’ ago to add some embellishments.”

Alec leans into me and breathes me in. I smile and trace my fingers over the deep gashes in his shoulder again.

“You never tried to wield the power of it?” I ask curiously.

“No. I had never considered any option other than giving it to you.”

Studying at him inquisitively, my face shifts into a scowl before I punch his shoulder. “You held onto it without telling me for nearly eight years?”

Alec’s face crumples, authentically apologetic. “Fuck. I know, Elly. I am sorry. You were only sixteen when you had that vision of Dhystros and the emerald, confirming everything.”

“I’m not sixteen anymore!” I say, exasperated.

Alec reaches for my hand, and I slap it away. Panic flashes across his face.

“I wanted to tell you many times—I was going to tell you everything as soon as you came back to The Capital with me to stay, but everything went to shit right before that happened. I assure you, I am well aware of the mistakes I have made. I should have done so many things differently.”

Alec’s regret is palpable. He doesn’t attempt to hide his obvious fear, afraid that I am about to start rejecting him again. I can’t help but recall all the many times he’s worn his guilt for everything that has happened since I escaped Locane. Though Alec’s decisions had cataclysmic repercussions, I know in my heart that he had good intentions.

Sighing ruefully, I sink back into his arms, letting him know I’m not holding onto my anger, instantly easing his tension. “You said something about an important tool. What is it?”

Alec nods, holding me tighter, happy to be moving on. “Yes. In your vision of the emerald, Dhystros used a dagger made from the willowbane tree, and his thoughts mentioned a tool. My grandfather had a bastard brother who went mad in his quest for the gems. Only, before he died, he managed to track down two magical objects. The dagger and the crude tool, like a double pointed stake. It is what I used to dislodge the emerald.”

“If the gems were created when the gods shed their blood using the dagger, I’m guessing the stake was made to pry them for their resting places?” I surmise. Alec nods at me with pride. “And you are in possession of the stake?” He nods again. My pulse flutters quickly at the knowledge of my mate already being in possession of an item so important in this quest.

“But Locane had the dagger.” The blade he used to cut me open for his wards flashes through my mind, matching the dagger Dhystros used to forge the emerald.

Alec purses his lips. “Locane grabbed the dagger before he fled the palace when Father died, but he left the stake. After you returned, I sent Caison and his wife back to the house to search for the dagger to no avail.”

My excitement dies anticlimactically, wondering if Rahleigh or Ceivise managed to snag it from the house. Or if Locane has others working for him .

A deep exhale pushes out while I lay down on my back, my purple hair fanning around my head. Alec lays down next to me on his side, propping himself on his arm. He begins toying with my hair, watching as it slides through his fingers like delicate silk.

“We should go to Brhadir. Now.” I make to get up, but Alec grabs me by the waist and pulls me back down to sink into the pillows.

“We shall go in no less than a week.” He pushes a lock of hair behind my ear.

“Why would we wait that long?”

Alec leans over me smiling. “You have an appointment you agreed to go to. Also, I have wanted to take you through the streets of our city on Samhain to celebrate your birthday for many years, but the stars had never aligned to do so. They finally have.”

He rolls over on top of me, nudging my knees apart with one of his to rest fully between them. My breath catches in my ribs.

“The day you were born was one of the most joyous days of my life. Allow me to celebrate it with you in a manner worthy of the occasion.”

A thick lock of black hair falls over Alec’s brow, and I reach my hand up to flick it, a silly smile spread across my face. He captures my hand and pins it by my head, lacing his fingers through mine. Now bracing himself on one arm, his weight falls heavier. His length thickens against me, and I arch my back, trying to feel more of him.

Alec growls his approval, grinding his hips into mine. “My control is steadily slipping, my clove.”

A breathy moan passes my lips at the wave of pleasure coursing through my body. Alec rolls his hips forward again and puts his nose to mine. My hands reach behind him, grabbing his lower back, trying to pull him closer.

“I told you I will not fuck you until you are ready to take all of me,” Alec grabs my bottom lip between his teeth and pulls, eliciting another moan from me. “But perhaps just a taste.”

Alec’s tongue darts into my mouth as a hand moves down to pull the flaps at the bottom of my robe open, exposing me to him. I wait for him to look, to touch, but he only runs his large hand back up the length of my body in a slow, scraping pass.

“I have been imagining you bare under this while thinking about you wielding unheard of power.” Alec reaches the silk sash of the robe and hooks a finger in it, pulling it hard to make the fabric dig and my back bend. “You will be a goddess in your own right.”

He pulls harder. The fabric begins to strain, soft cracks that ripple through the air, through my body. Alec’s lips skim against mine, soft and sure. I lean into him for more, a request he denies, pulling his head back with a smirk.

He releases me; I breathe heavily when my back hits the pillows behind me again.

I’m already a hot mess of need with him barely doing anything at all, warmth spreading across my chest. My knees attempt to clench together, instinctively searching for friction, squeezing his hips between my thighs tighter.

Alec’s hand travels to the knot of the sash, the one thing keeping me from being completely uncovered. He pauses. “May I?”

I nod frantically, expecting him to move quickly with my permission.

He doesn’t.

Alec pulls away from me enough that I lose the warmth of his erection against my core, and I whimper with the emptiness .

His long fingers slowly pull one end of the sash, the fabric hissing quietly—such a simple sound becoming painfully sensual. Rolling my hips into his, I try to find that friction again, but he laughs and pulls his waist further from mine.

Alec’s tongue enters my mouth with slow and languid strokes. I desperately try to increase the pace, but with every frantic dart, he backs away.

It doesn’t deter me.

Alec clicks his tongue in mock disapproval. “Do you want me to stop?” he asks amused, pausing all movement.

“If you stop, I’ll fucking smoke you.”

Alec laughs and nips at my lips. “I will just come back to you, and we can start this process again, from the very beginning.”

I glower at him and grab his face, pulling it back to mine. He resumes undressing me—torturously slow—hot anticipation coiling deep. The bow of the sash finally gives, and Alec spreads his palm across my belly, my robe denying me the skin-to-skin contact I crave. I writhe and pant, but he doesn’t move between the folds of fabric to give me what I want.

“Please,” I beg breathlessly.

Alec laughs again, igniting my boiling blood further with the luscious sound.

“I knew you would be a greedy girl,” he murmurs against my neck before finally, finally , throwing the robe open and exposing my front fully. I gasp at the cool air suddenly skating over my naked flesh, and my nipples tighten into hard peaks. Alec keeps his head buried, breathing deep as he peppers soft kisses across my neck.

“I bet you are drenched for me,” he whispers darkly.

The hot desire between my thighs pools further at his words. I’m unable to find any of my own through my frantic breaths .

Alec lifts slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. He pulls me up with him, an arm wrapped around my shoulders, until I’m sitting up enough to remove the robe completely. He gently slides it down my arms, skimming the heels of his palms over my bare skin. I’m ready to combust by the time he collects the fabric and tosses it over his shoulder unceremoniously.

He stays erect while he pushes me back down, the tips of his fingers pushing against my sternum. When I’m flat on my back, Alec’s eyes stay pinned on my face, drawing out this glorious anticipation just a little longer. Finally, his piercing stare shifts down to rove over my body, soaking in every inch of my blushed skin as he pulls in an audible breath through his nose, expanding his wide chest.

Alec brings one of my hands to his mouth. His eyes shutter closed as he pulls the tips of two fingers between his lips, sucking softly, as if trying to absorb my unique prints into himself.

My chest heaves. Soft, involuntary noises crawl up my throat. Tingling heat builds between my legs while I clench around disappointing nothing , needing him to touch me.

Alec releases my hand and leans down slowly, his hot, wet mouth connecting with the skin between my breasts. His tongue slowly comes out, and my shaking fingers grapple with his hair. With a smile against my skin, Alec licks a slow pass through the valley of my breasts, up my neck, flicking his tongue when he reaches my chin with a groan. “I have been dying to taste the salt of your skin.”

My eyes drift closed, everything becoming too much.

Alec roughly grabs my cheeks between his thumb and fingers while I gasp wildly.

“Eyes on me,” he commands. They open to find his dark, needy, and dominating. “Eyes on me, or I stop.”

He starts slowly sliding down the length of my body, the rough hair of his beard scraping against me, adding to the allure of his touch. He stops briefly at my breasts, tenderly biting my left nipple while squeezing the right.

I groan and twist, trying to find more.

Alec moves on quickly, eagerly licking and biting down the tight panes of my stomach with new fervor, dropping the torture of his slow movements. His mouth turns hungry, ready to devour.

He roughly bites my hip, the bruising pressure making me cry out and clench my thighs around him.

“Do not heal this,” Alec growls against the bite possessively. “Every time it burns, I want you to remember how I made you feel after.”

I’m shaking, my breathing loud and chaotic, struggling to keep my eyes open and on him, like he commanded.

When I say nothing, Alec bites me again, harder. I scream out in a mixture of pain and pleasure; my clit draws in tight, aching to be touched.

“Tell me you will not heal it, Ellya.”

“I won’t. I won’t,” I’m barely able to say.

“When I claim you as mine, you will wear it for all to see. This is for my eyes only.” He plants a gentle kiss on the throbbing mark.

I preen at Alec’s possessive words and put my hand on his shoulder, pushing him down to where I need him most.

Alec’s tongue barely brushes over my center in slow passes before he covers all of me with his mouth. He sucks in hard, groaning in satisfaction at the wetness that coats his tongue. He pulls away from my clit on a pop that sends a twitch through my legs. His mouth lands on me again as he licks up and down my tight slit before plunging his tongue in.

“Oh, fuck,” I choke out, trembling hard.

My voice is foreign to me with the hot, whiny whisper; but I like the way it sounds.

It only fuels my need as I start to rock my hips against his face, desperately searching for more. Every place he touches on my body is better than the last.

My fingers find Alec’s hair, pulling hard. He moans against me, the vibration reaching to my core. His grip on my thighs tightens, dimpling my skin as I tug his hair harder—sensing that he likes it.

His tongue licking me is beyond how I’ve ever touched myself, far better than any of my fantasies of what he might be like.

The build of my pleasure begins to ratchet higher and higher throughout my shivering body.

Alec’s mouth closes over my clit again. He sucks softly while alternating between scraping his teeth and flicking his tongue. I’m nothing but tension, coiled so tight my muscles begin to ache. I’m moaning his name incoherently as I shamelessly grind against his face.

The whole time he devours me, he never breaks his brown eyes from mine, sparkling with something animalistic as he builds my pleasure higher. Every time my lids begin to flutter closed, he taps the sore bite on my hip, reminding me to watch him. Alec’s eyes shine bright right before he spans his large hand over my belly and pins me down hard, keeping me from riding his face.

I cry out when a long finger glides into me in one quick plunge.

“Fuck yes,” Alec curses at my tightness.

His finger hooks when he’s knuckle deep and curls in a come hither movement against a spot that makes silvery stars pop in my vision .

He pulls his mouth free and glides up by body, not stopping his relentless coaxing inside my cunt.

“Alec,” I moan and push myself into his hand, still fucking me steady.

“Do you like this?” His hot breath waves across my face before he plunges his tongue into my mouth, allowing me to taste myself. The sensuality of him feeding me my pleasure makes me shiver, pulling his body closer to mine.

“Yes.” The simple word is choked through my moans.

To my displeasure, Alec pulls his finger out, leaving a streak of my wetness along the inside of my thigh. I’m about to shoot him venomous words at the loss of his fullness. Before I can, he is right back to where I need him, now inserting two fingers, stretching me to the max.

I cry out and writhe deeper into his touch.

“You are so fucking tight, Elly,” Alec says into my skin, kissing my neck. “You could not handle my cock right now,” he tells me arrogantly, making me clench harder around his thick fingers as he pushes into me deep.

“I was made to take you,” I remind him in a lusty whisper.

He growls. “Yes. This cunt is mine.” His dominating mouth claims mine.

Alec’s movements inside of me are less hurried now, plunging in and out of me with slow and deliberate strokes. His tongue against mine matches the pace of his languid fingers inside of me with expertise. The obvious skill gets me even hotter than before; a feat I would have thought impossible until now.

With each thrust in, a low, breathy moan escapes from my throat, and that delicious heat within me pulls tighter and tighter. I wrap one arm around his shoulders and trace the tips of my fingers through his scratchy beard as I kiss him back—watching him watch me.

My walls begin to squeeze around him. “Are you going to come on my hand?” Alec asks, his breaths becoming heavier as I draw closer and closer to shattering around him.

“Yes,” I barely manage to choke out as my ability to properly breathe leaves my body completely. I pull him closer, needing to feel him against me as he brings me to new heights.

“Let me taste my name on your breath.”

The heat drenching his deep voice makes that tightness build to a peak.

“Alec,” I obey.

“Come for me, Elly,” he demands, thrusting his fingers into me deep.

My body easily follows his command. I am physically unable to do anything but grip his shoulders, my nails digging in his skin, as I shudder and pulse uncontrollably.

My mouth is wide, my jaw locked and tight like the rest of my body. Alec’s name escapes my lips on a guttural groan as I crash and my walls clench around him, sucking him further into me.

“Yes,” Alec groans into my open mouth, fucking me harder with his fingers while I come around him.

When my body relaxes, I close my eyes and attempt to catch my breath.

Alec slides his hand from between my thighs, and I open my eyes in time to see him insert them into his mouth and suck hard, cleaning them off with euphoric satisfaction. I sigh and arch towards him at the sight.

He watches me and kisses me repeatedly as I catch my breath—ecstasy written across his face. When my breathing begins to steady, I start to laugh uncontrollably.

Alec’s brow wrinkles. “Why are you laughing?”

“I can’t believe I’ve been denying myself this. Everything today. I can’t believe I stopped myself from having this.”

He smiles with relief. “Well, you have it now.”

Alec lays down next to me, and I turn to face him. He pulls me close, his cock still very hard against me. I reach a hand between us and grip him through his pants, marveling at his thick girth.

Alec hisses. “I would not do that unless you want to see it through.” He quirks a brow at me. I smile lazily and let go, running my fingers through the dark hair on his abdomen. “Do not worry about me, my clove. My time will come.”

Snuggling into his chest, he throws a thin cotton blanket over me, covering me from the chest down. I rub my nose over the raw scar barely formed over his heart and plant a soft kiss on the mangled skin. Alec squeezes me closer to him, and I admit, “I’m not sorry.”

My guilt for stabbing him in the last few hours has quickly abated as we instantly fell back into our dynamic. Knowing that me killing him was his intention all along has all but made my guilt disappear completely.

“Neither am I,” Alec whispers against my head. I nuzzle deeper into his comforting warmth and enjoy the soft thump of his heart by my ear, a lovely song lulling me to sleep. Alec chuckles.

“Hmm?” I sigh sleepily.

“I can feel you smiling.”