The Beckoning of Beautiful Things (The Beckoning Series) (27 page)

As the energy built in her system, she launched outside of her body, twirling in a formless reality.
I’m only light. I’m only energy. I’m a stranger. I don’t exist. I’m everything. I’m nothing.
These people she called family – they had betrayed her. Her joke of a job, her life as she had known it…it was meaningless. She didn’t know who she was, and she didn’t really know who she was becoming.
All I know is that my life was hijacked by this dangerous man lying beneath me.
A prayer of gratitude cast out from her jewel bedecked heart.
Thank you, thank you, thank you – thank you for restoring me to the light. Thank you for restoring my power.
The thought floated into the air like swiftly moving colorful fog and disappeared.
“Oh, I’m going to come, Daniel. I’m going to come.” Her head whipped side to side, frenzied, out of control. Lightning cracked in the air.

Sober yipped as if from far away.

Bangs and thunderous claps split the air. The bedroom windows overlooking the Sound rattled, as if an earthquake was shaking the house.

Sober howled and whimpered from his far off corner.

As the orgasm rocked through Marissa, the glass doors to the deck blew open, buffeted by huge winds. One of the doors exploded, spraying the room with thousands of miniscule dagger-like raindrops of glass.

Sober barked and whined. His claws clacked and clattered as he scrabbled across the hard wood floor.

Marissa’s hair whirled from the tornado-like winds. Daniel moaned in ecstasy, eyes closed, his fingers digging into her hips. Waves formed in the aquarium like a tsunami had hit. Sober, frightened out of his canine mind, barked ferociously at something on the deck. She whipped her head around to see the Coati-lumina landing on the deck railing, its 20 foot wingspan folding into its brilliant, feathered form.
Daniel, look,
she urged.

He sat up, eyes as wide as hers seemed. “Marissa,” he began and then fell silent.

The Coati-lumina! It’s come for me!

Does he even know I’m still here?
Daniel’s shrinking cock still inside of her, the room shattered with the result of their orgasms, a wave of annoyance, like a bucket of cold water, doused her pleasured mood. He seemed completely focused on the creature on the deck, his eager face flushed with excitement.

“The
Coati-lumina! What’s it doing here? Has it come to be with me?”

“Uh, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure it’s come to be with me.”

He gently pushed her to the side and rolled off the bed, his face becoming unreadable as he stared at the Coati-lumina and then at her. “This is a powerful creature, dulzura. It only allows those who have mastered their powers to even come close.”

“I’m pretty sure it wants to be with me.”

Sober’s legs trembled as he skulked toward the winged creature. His sparkling lights hovered close to his skin, and his wings flattened against his coat. He stuck his nose toward the bird and sniffed, then backed away and barked.

The bird-beast tilted its head as if contemplating him as a food source.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Marissa exclaimed. “Leave my dog alone.” She stormed across the large room toward the deck.

“Marissa, wait!” Daniel called, leaping from the bed. “You can’t just barge up to that much power!”

“Like hell, I can’t. No one is going to mess with my dog.” She charged out onto the deck and stood akimbo, color dripping from her naked arms and legs, a drop of peacock blue at her feet, shimmering in the light, still streaming from her body. She held her arm up in front of her and flicked her gaze back and forth between the bird’s eye and her arm. “Same blue.” She studied the rainbow-hued tail and turned her attention to her rainbow-hued leg. “Same colors.” She twisted to look at Daniel. “I guess that answers that,” she said, satisfied. “We’re the same colors. Check it out.”

Daniel stood in the middle of the room, transfixed. “I see that. That doesn’t prove anything.”

“Why don’t you come out here?”

“I’ve always had to approach the
Coati-lumina cautiously, with respect. You just stormed right out.”

“I’m telling you, she came to be with me. I lay claim to Chiara,” she stated in jest, waving her fist in the air.

The bird let out a hair-raising, ear-splitting cry and flapped its wings, clutching the railing, stirring winds.

Marissa clapped her hands over her ears and steadied herself against the doorframe to keep from flying into the room.

“Marissa, no!” Daniel shouted, putting his arm up in front of his face to keep whirling debris from his eyes. “It’s not that simple!” The glass shards from the broken door buffeted across the room, propelled by the massive winds.

The
85 pound Doberman skittered across the floor like a toy. He bashed into Daniel, causing man and dog to crash to the floor.

Marissa leaned into the wind, her hair blowing about her face, her gold chains and jewels chafing against her skin. “Easy, Chiara, I don’t take this lightly,” she yelled.
“Not at all. If we’re bonded, that’s a sacred trust - one that I hold with the highest regard.”
Does Daniel hold our bond in the highest regard?

Its wings still buffeting the air, the mystical bird pivoted its head and regarded Marissa with a bright blue eye.

Marissa held her arm aloft and inched toward the panic-stricken bird-beast. “Shhh, Chiara. If you’re allowing me to claim you, you don’t have to worry. I’ll never mistreat you. Claiming is not like ownership. It’s an alliance, nothing more, nothing less.”

The bird calmed. Chiara folded her wings like a sigh and reached a talon toward Marissa’s arm. The other leg followed and the great creature balanced easily on her arm.

“That’s it. That’s a good girl.”

Chiara and Marissa studied one another, assessing each other without emotion. The bird’s blue eyes pulsed with light. “This is cool, Daniel.”

“I can see that.” He pushed himself up to standing and gingerly brushed the glass from his skin. “How about you, dog, you okay?” He scrubbed Sober’s head with his palm before striding over to find a pair of pants.

Sober shook out his coat and wagged his tail.

“Your mom’s a bad-ass, now. You’d better keep an eye on her.” He picked his way over to where Marissa stood on the deck. “How’d you manage to get out here without shredding your feet on glass?”

“How’d you manage to get out here so boldly? I thought you had to approach with caution.”

“Once a claiming has been made, the creature is bound by the regard its master – or, in this case it’s mistress – it’s bound by the regard its mistress has toward another. I assume we’re still good with one another, right?”

“Why wouldn’t we be? We just had fantastic sex, in case you forgot already.” She kept her attention on Chiara.

“How could I forget? The results are all around me. Broken doors, the room’s a mess, my soul bound lover has claimed the Coati-lumina.”

“Ah, but you’ve already forgotten the fantastic feelings and sense of connectedness,” she said, her attention still focused on the winged creature resting on her arm.

“No,” he said sullenly. “I haven’t. It was incredible.”

Marissa turned toward Daniel. “You seem petulant. What’s the matter?”

“Do you know how much I longed to claim this bird?”

“Not really, no, especially since I haven’t known you that long.”

He ran his hand through his hair, clearly exasperated. “I tried everything. I studied. I trained. I listened to Tom and the others. They tried to claim her, too. And then you waltz out onto the deck, state ‘I lay claim to Chiara,’ and the deed is done. It’s not fair.”

Marissa’s mouth curved into a slight smile. “Who said life is fair? I knew when she landed on the deck she was mine for the claiming.”

“How could you know that? You barely know what a Coati-lumina is.” He threw an arm out toward the bird.

“Don’t sound so happy for me, Daniel.”

“I am happy for you. I’m just pissed for myself.”

“That’s pretty evident.”

The pair stood uneasily and awkwardly on the deck, the great bird-beast resting lightly on Marissa’s arm.

“My arm’s getting tired.”

“Extend your energy,” Daniel said dejectedly.

“How do I do that?”

“Probably by simply thinking about it, with no training whatsoever.” He wandered over and leaned his arms against the railing, gazing out at the night sky and sea.

“I can’t believe you. You’re acting like a ten year old.”

“Like a ten year old? I’d say I’m at least 14 right now.”

Marissa warmed at the amused concession in his voice. “Not a day over
12.”

“Thirteen,” he countered.

“Okay, I’ll give you 13.”

He turned, folded his arms and regarded her. “You’re so goddamned beautiful. You have no idea how gorgeous you look right now. And you’re a powerhouse. You’re truly my equal.” He paused, thinking. “You may have claimed the
Coati-lumina but my training is pretty vast.”

“Of course, my lord.” She inclined her head slightly in mock deference and then shook it side to side. “You’re feeling unmanned right now, aren’t you?” Marissa said, her voice laced with disbelief. “You, this
Numen of the night, this guy who can call forth the darkness and who can make me feel like nothing I’ve ever felt before…you’re feeling a little insecure right now, aren’t you?”

He looked away from her. “Doubtful.” He spat out the word like it was a curse.

“Daniel, I wouldn’t even be standing here if it wasn’t for meeting you. I’d come over and wrap my arms around you, but I don’t know what to do with Chiara.”

“You have to hold her like that for at least
30 minutes.”

“Are you making that up?”

“No, it’s true.” He crossed one leg over the other while gripping his arms in front of his chest.

“Were you going to tell me or just let me figure it out for myself?”

“You claim, you hold, and then the deed is done. Believe me, I know the process. I’ve envisioned doing it over and over and over again.”

“So, we’re still pissed, are we?”

“One of us is, but he’ll get over it. I’d always assumed the Coati-lumina was meant for me.” He shook his head. “Go ahead and laugh, but I had no idea what it would be like to be with an equal. All the women before you were like dolls. I can see now why none of them lasted. Even Josephina seemed doll-like. Like I said, I would have protected her throughout my entire life, but you…” He gave her one of his piercing, pointed looks.

“Yes,” she said sweetly. “Go on…”

He bent his arms and rested his hands on the cedar railing. “I can’t help it. I fucking adore you, Marissa. I’m completely, without reservation, totally in love with you, even if you did steal my bird.”

Her eyebrows sprang up her forehead. “How could I steal something if it wasn’t yours to steal?”

He glanced away from her.

“I love you, too,” she said, “Even if you are being a bit of an ass right now.” The gem resting between her breasts flared with a brilliant green light. The tendrils of connection once again reached toward Daniel’s. “It’s like we create a completely new entity between us,” she mused, staring at the interlaced light strands.

“We do. Individually we have only so much power and influence. But a shared heart can create a mega-transformer of light and power. It’s not like one and one equals two. It’s more like one and one equals 10,000.” He smiled at her.

“Are you done pouting?” she asked.

“I never pout.”

“Well, are you done doing whatever it was you were doing?”

“Reacting poorly? Yes. I’m done. And now I’d like to show you my last surprise, however, I’m afraid it’s going to be anti-climactic after this.” He waved his hand dismissively at the great bird. “Let’s you, me, the dog, and your Chiara go for a walk, shall we?”

The four of them made their way down a winding staircase which extended along the side of Daniel’s third floor deck. “For midnight escapes?” Marissa asked, still holding the bird aloft. This “extending the energy and not seeing the great bird as an object” business was difficult. Right now, the mythical beast felt like a million pounds. “Has my 30 minutes of bonding time passed?”

“Getting tired, my love?” Daniel asked with a smirk.

“Yes.” Marissa stopped at the bottom of the steps and tried to catch her breath. “Feeling superior again, my liege?”

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, turning to face her. “Yes, your
30 minutes is up. But you don’t want to release her until, or unless, you’re in alignment with one another’s energy. If you release her now, straining against her weight, she’ll feel even heavier when she lands again.” He blew out his breath, as if reluctant to share something with her.

Her arm trembled with fatigue. “Do you have any suggestions?’ she prompted. She knew he had an answer.

“I might. You might need to kiss me first.”

Marissa let out an exasperated sigh. “I see we’re back to the play-yard again. No, Daniel, I’m not going to swap a kiss for a trade secret. I’m tired, I’m naked, my arm feels like it’s going to fall off…just tell me what you’re hiding inside.”

“I apologize. I’m still behaving poorly. Here…try this.” He crouched down before her and placed his palms on her feet. “Feel your connection with the earth, dulzura. Use the Jasper.”

“Okay. Okay. Got it.” She drank in the warmth of his palms.

“Now draw that sensation up your legs.” He swept his hands along her legs, curling around her kneecaps, grazing the tender skin behind her legs and pushing up to her hips.

“Mmm, that feels nice,” she said, closing her eyes. The electricity flared in her limbs, increasing her sense of strength.

“That’s right, cariño, your power has little to do with muscle. Source it from within.” His palms swept along her abdomen, circled to her back, surrounded her breasts, and moved up to her neck. “My goddess,” he said reverentially. “My beautiful goddess.”

Marissa relaxed, letting the sizzling vibrations pour through her body. The bird once more rested feather light on her arm. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He pushed her hair behind her ears.
Better?

Much.

Now let’s proceed.

Should I keep holding her?

It’s your choice. Once you’re in alignment, you can release her or keep carrying her.

How do I get her back to me if I let her go?

Daniel grabbed her free hand and strode beside her.
You don’t even have to wonder. Once a claiming has been made, you two are one.

Like you and me?

His head spun to face her.
Yes, like you and me.

“How do I do this? Let her go? I’ve only watched Tom do it.”

“Just sweep your arm into the air, mi tesoro. Speak with your mind, and she’ll get it right away. Since we’re even talking about this, she’s already waiting. She’s ready. Look.”

Marissa regarded the bird whose head pointed toward the sky. “Thank you, Chiara. Take flight.” She lifted her arm and the enormous
Coati-lumina spread her wings and lifted into the sky, blowing Daniel’s and Marissa’s hair about their heads and making them stagger backwards. Chiara soared and circled overhead like a colorfully illuminated kite.

Sober barked at the retreating bird-beast. His body resumed sparkling and his tiny wings fluttered again, lifting him in the air an inch or two. The dog yelped and dropped back onto the
earth.

“You’re going to have to master your new wings, mutt.”

He wagged his tail.

“Yes, you’re a brave dog, Sober. You told Chiara a thing or two just now, didn’t you?” She patted his head. He accepted the praise and then trotted away, his glow-light canine-body retreating into the dark.

“What will your neighbors say?”

“They’re pretty far away, in case you haven’t noticed, and remember about perception. What people don’t believe, people don’t see. You can do the most bizarre things in front of ordinary people and get away with it.”

She studied his shadowed face for a moment and then looked ahead of her. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise, remember?”

She trod along the cool, soft loam. As her eyes adjusted to the dark beyond her light-filled body, she could make out trees, bushes, stones, and garden art. She made a note to explore this further in the daylight.

Daniel stopped suddenly. “Are you ready?”

“I don’t know what I’m ready for, but sure.”

His face colored with boyish excitement. He came behind her and covered her eyes with his hands. “Okay, start walking, I’ll guide you.”

She took a few tentative steps, propelled by Daniel. It seemed somehow natural to move through the night without using sight.
Let me try something. Release your hands. I promise to keep my eyes closed.
When his hands had left her eyes, she let her awareness expand, using other senses to pick her way down the trail. Sensing a tree or other solid object in her path, she paused, extended her hands, and connected with rough bark. She lifted her foot before it jammed into a large stone in the pathway.

Fantastic, dulzura, you’re amazing. Just a few more yards.

She moved slowly and cautiously along the dirt, luxuriating in this newfound skill. “Why is it that I’m naked and not cold? This is still Seattle, right?”

Shhh, dulzura, stay quiet. You’re using your energy to stay warm. Just a few more feet.

She took several more steps.

Don’t open your eyes yet
, but stop.

She stopped and waited for further instructions.

“Okay, cariño, open please.”

Her eyelids popped open to see a garden stretched before her. Rows and rows of plants could barely be discerned reaching up toward the moonlight.

“Okay, wait now. Keep looking.” Daniel swept his hands slowly in front of him, arms extended. As he did this, a curtain of darkness parted, revealing a luminous scene.

Marissa gasped. “Oh, Daniel! It’s beautiful.”

The varied plants rested in the still of the night, their roots nestled in the rich soil, illuminated by the half-moon lit sky. They glowed in iridescent blues, purples, lavenders, and greens, as if they were breathing colored light. They grew in raised beds arranged in a similar sunburst pattern as the patterned wood floor in Daniel’s bedroom.

“Who tends these?” Marissa asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

“I do.”

She glanced over to see something like pride on her lover’s face. “Is it just a hobby?”

“It’s not just anything. It’s a passion of mine to be able to grow things and affect life. I told you that when we met. I cultivate and nurture life out here. It balances out all the darkness that I master. Come. Let me show you my gardens.” He reached for her hand and kissed it before leading her along one of the pathways. “The plants only make this color display at night, when they’re in restoration mode.”

“What’s restoration mode?”

“This is. The nighttime is when we all source. Predators hunt, everything else rests. It’s a time of gathering energy.”

As they proceeded along the path, the plants reached their tiny coils and leaves of green towards Marissa. She laughed. “I had a vision like this – of walking in a garden and the plants tried to source me.”

“You’re exactly right. Like me, the plants can feed from your electricity. They’ll probably grow ten inches by the morning.”

They approached the center of the sunburst where one of Daniel’s bronze goddesses stood. This one had hair that twirled around her head as if she stood in a breeze. She wasn’t laughing like all the others though. Instead her expression was Mona Lisa-like, as if she held secrets behind her slight smile.

Marissa stopped walking and studied the piece, illuminated by the light of the plants. The bronze had those kinds of eyes that seemed to follow you wherever you stood. It gave her a creepy feeling inside. “The goddess of the garden?”

Daniel stiffened slightly. “Of a sort.”

“Who is she? Is she fashioned after someone you know?”

“Maybe. Here, I want to show you something else.”

“Not so fast. Who is she?”

Daniel chewed the inside of his cheek. “She’s just one of my goddesses. I like to surround myself with beautiful goddesses in case you haven’t noticed. You’re the most beautiful of them all.”

Marissa’s solar plexus flared with light. “Deflection. Let’s try again. Who is she?”

“She’s not a ‘who.’ She’s a bronze statue, that’s what.”

The light pulsed again. “More deflection. You’re hiding something.”

“Alright.” Daniel threw up his hands in exasperation. “I should have known this was coming.”

Marissa’s eyebrows knit together. “Known what was coming?”

“You know how you told me you have this bad habit of just blurting things out?”

“Yes, it’s a quality I hate about myself.”

“Well, get used to it. It’s going to get even more pronounced.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the
Light Rebels historically restore light, right?”

“So you said, yes.”

“That’s not just a fanciful phrase. It can be taken literally. Light Rebels can see the truth. That’s part of their restorative ability.” He put his hands on his hips and looked at her, his blue eyes pulsing with soft light once more. “You’re a truth teller, Marissa. You can tell, as sure as you can breathe, when a lie is being spoken. And since we’re soul bound…” His voice trailed off.

“I’m listening,” she said, putting her hands on her hips.

“I just hadn’t thought of this when I bound my soul to yours.”

“Thought of?” She grew tired of fishing for facts.

“I hadn’t thought that by soul binding with you, and you restoring your powers would mean…” His words dropped off. He inclined his head toward the dark sky. “I wasn’t lying to you. This
is
a bronze goddess.” He tipped his head in her direction once more, his eyes narrowed. “Just because you can sense something doesn’t mean I have to tell you what it is.”

She glared at him. “Just because you feel you have a right to withhold information, doesn’t mean I have to share any of this with you.” She gestured up and down her body. “You’re being a jerk again – my soul bound jerk.”

His hands exploded away from his body, and his voice burst into the air. “She’s fashioned after Josephina, alright? I never thought I’d get to love again so I made a statue in her honor, okay?”

Stunned by his outburst, Marissa muted her voice. “Okay. Alright. That makes sense.” Something about what he said and the way he said it bothered her
, but she couldn’t quite get what it was. “New topic. When we were making love, it seemed like you were trying to pull the skin from my body. What was that?” She wanted to smack her head.
Who decided this was a safe topic?

“I told you I was trying something. Didn’t you like the way it felt?”

“Sort of. It was both ecstatic and terrifying. Care to tell me what it was?”

“It was part of my
Night Numen skills.” He began a slow stalk in her direction.

She shivered. “I see.” She turned to track his movement as he circled her. “Which part?”

“Basic training.”

“Basic? It seemed more advanced than basic.” Her feet began to vibrate with electricity.

“Perhaps.” He leaned towards her and drew a finger along her cheek. “I’m pretty good at what I do.”

And what is it that you do?

I consume darkness.

A huge shudder catapulted up her backbone and shot through her skull, making her hair tingle.
You what?

I consume darkness. That’s how I gather power. I consume it, I master it, I set it free.

The seduction dance came to a screeching halt. “Stop stalking me. So you consume darkness. What were you doing with me?”

“Trying out a new skill.” His eyes flicked away from her.

Deflection.
“Daniel, what were you doing with me?”

“I told you, I was trying something out. I wanted to see what it felt like to make love to a goddess and try one of my skills.”

“By sucking off my skin?”

“No. I didn’t want to suck off your skin. Don’t be ridiculous.”

Her solar plexus flared.
You wanted something.

I wanted to increase our pleasure.

By doing what, exactly?

Daniel threw up his arms again. “A Night Numen uses the darkness, okay? I call forth the darkness as I need to.”

“This isn’t making any sense. Are you telling me that I’m dark inside?” Marissa grabbed handfuls of her hair and pulled it. “What’s going on here? Did we drink some sort of truth serum at dinner tonight? Is this the result of our sex connection? The soul binding? What’s going on? It seems like we’re getting to some truths that should have been gotten to before we soul bound, don’t you think? I would have liked to know that I was binding to someone who sources darkness and who tries to consume me during sex.”