Chapter 205

Lucien's hands on Elain were as hot as the blood pumping through her veins. Every step she took sent waves of scorching desire through her and, with his breath hot at the back of her neck, she could hardly stand forcing herself to keep going. They walked through the thick trees of the forest, stepping lightly on the sodden and leafy earth, and they could still hear the drums even here. The scent of decaying leaves was thick and, as the drum beat pounded through Elain's blood, she found it more and more intoxicating. Gold and crimson leaves flittered down around them as they moved and, when Elain came to a large tree blocking their path, she stopped and turned to face Lucien. His hands came up to her face instantly, and then he was kissing her. Elain leaned into him, responding passionately. She had just lifted her own hands, wanting to touch him when Lucien stepped back. Before she could do anything further, or even ask him what was wrong, he had taken her wrist and moved around the large tree.

"Come on…" he said, grinning at her over his shoulder, "It's not far…"

Allowing him to lead her through the trees, Elain ran her eyes over Lucien's fine form. Her mate was exceptionally attractive, she knew, and she decided that she really ought to spend more time just looking at him and appreciating that fact. "Mmm…" not realising that she'd made an actual audible sound, Elain was surprised when Lucien gave a low laugh.

"See something you like, Petal?"

"Well, I do." She replied, her eyes moving over him again, coming to rest on his tight pants. "Very much so."

She followed him for several minutes, and gradually the sounds of the other couples venturing into the trees disappeared. Elain knew that she and Lucien had gone deeper than any of the others, and this pleased her because while she rather liked the idea of Lucien having her against a tree, she wasn't as keen on the idea of just anyone happening upon them at any moment.

When Lucien came to a stop, Elain found her hands on him in an instant. He'd backed up several steps when she pressed forward, but then he'd held his ground, his own large hands lifting her grip her firmly by her waist. Elain allowed him to pull her to himself, and she couldn't help but pay particular attention to how delicious it felt to have her body pressed up against his toned frame. He felt warm and solid, and Elain could feel her blood pumping enthusiastically throughout her entire body as her heart raced to match the drums. Lucien's heart matched hers and when he lifted one of his hands to her cheek, tilting her face up to him a moment before he bent to kiss her, Elain felt heat pool between her thighs once more.

Parting her lips for Lucien, Elain let out a gentle groan, her hands tightening on handfuls of his shirt as she attempted to pull him closer. When his tongue swept her mouth, Elain groaned again. She could hear Lucien's heartbeat loudly in her head, feel her own pulsing to match, and heat swirled around her entire body, driving need to every cell in her body, and she found herself pulling at him again.

Lucien moved forward, shifting Elain back until she felt herself pressed firmly against the smooth trunk of a tree. Grinning into the kiss, she brought one of her own hands up, skimming Lucien's shoulder and up the back of his neck and into his hair. Her fingers slid into his silky tresses as he began to lick teasingly at her.

"Lucien…" she murmured as he broke the kiss and began dragging his lips across her jaw and down her throat.

"Mmm?"

Elain gasped both of her hands now clutching at Lucien's' shoulders when his hot mouth attached to her throat, and both of their hearts beat in her head, in sync to the drums which should would have sworn had gotten louder. The sound was everywhere, in her mind, she could feel it in her body with every breath she took. "Can you hear it?" she asked, nails scratching at him.

"Yes…" his tongue licked at her skin, and Elain groaned.

Opening her eyes, Elain tilted her head back to rest against the smooth bark of the tree. She watched as multicoloured leaves fell about them, coming to rest on the yellow and golden and crimson forest floor. The smell of the sodden earth filled her lungs, and desire coursed through her. Before she could even say anything, however, Lucien's hands slid down her body. She felt him press another kiss to her throat when those hands went even lower, gathering the skirts of her orange dress before he began dragging it up her thighs.

"Mmm…" Elain pulled Lucien's jacket from his shoulders and released it to fall to the leavy earth beneath them.

"Is this what you want, my love?"

"You know it is." Elain's words were breathy as she couldn't manage any further strength behind them, "You can feel it as much as I can…" she meant the drums, and the power pushing her to grip Lucien as tightly as she could. "I know you can feel it through me…"

"Yes." He replied, pressing himself to her again, and pinning her to the tree. "I can feel it." His lips brushed her cheek, "Can you feel me?"

"Yes." One of her hands slid up under Lucien's shirt as his own hands went to the laces at the from of her dress and he began pulling them open. His skin felt hot to the touch and Elain couldn't resist dragging her nails carefully over it. He shuddered beneath her touch and she smiled up at him, lifting one of her legs to hook around his waist as she slid her other hand down to begin loosening his pants. "I can feel that you want me…" she panted when he pushed himself against her once more. Elain moved her hand carefully over him, enjoying the fact that he was already so very hard. "You want me like I want you…" In the dark so far from the fire and with the trees shielding them from the night sky, Elain was able to see the faint glow still coming from within her. Ashk had seemingly distributed some of the Mabon magic she had taken into herself, and it evidently remained within Elain, and she knew it would until after she and Lucien had finished out here. "I want you…"

"As you wish, Petal." Lucien's words were breathed against Elain's ear as both of his hands gripped her hips tightly, lifting her into a better position an instant before she felt him push into her.

"Aaah…" Tilting her head back against the tree again, Elain's eyes closed and she bit her lip. She couldn't help her hips shifting in position, trying to move, but Lucien's firm grip held her in place as he withdrew and then thrust again. "Aa-mmm…" Her hands clutched at him, gripping him as tightly as he held her, and she groaned again when his hot mouth worked its way down her throat, his tongue licking at her between hard thrusts between her thighs. "Lucien…" gasping his name, Elain wrapped her arms around her mate's neck, and he evidently knew what she wanted. Lucien lifted her from the ground then, allowing her to hook both of her legs around his waist.

"Uh…" He groaned then, his lips at her ear once more, and the sound went straight between Elain's legs. Trying to move on him, she found herself pinned firmly to the tree, and she could do nothing but gasp as Lucien settled into a quick rhythm, each thrust matching the beat from the drums echoing all around them, punctuated every now and again with a gasp from Elain or one of Lucien's own low growing sounds.

The magic within Elain swelled and she felt it burning beneath her skin. She could feel it moving through her blood, and she could feel it leeching out of her and through Lucien. Eventually it left him and she felt it return to the forest and the sky. The drums continued to echo around them, and Lucien hadn't so much as missed a beat in his rhythm. Elain clutched tightly at him, murmuring her encouragement, and listening to his heartbeat in her head, knowing that he was doing the same with hers. This was good, she had decided, even as those soft bells tinkled as leaves continued to float down around them. She wanted to do this out here more often.