The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) Read online

  I roll my hips to adjust where I need her mouth the most, but she doesn’t comply and I growl in frustration which just causes her to laugh.

  “Be patient,” Selene commands.

  She slides her long fingers back inside me and begins her slow torment on me, pushing inside, licking me slowly, but purposefully. I run my fingers through her long hair and I whisper to her not to stop.

  Her other hand explores my breasts, my nipples, my stomach, sending small surges of power through me until I can’t even begin to tell where the pleasure is coming from. My entire body is one big nerve and every single spot she touches on me feels utterly amazing.

  I feel my climax building up and I start to moan louder and breath heavier as it begins to break through the surface. Then, everything just stops. Selene pulls away from me, just before my eruption and I look at her in frustration, nearly growling again. Quickly, she claims my lips before I can announce my protests. She then repeats the entire process three more times, until I am nearly half insane with need.

  “Please baby,” I sob.

  This time, Selene climbs on top of me, spreading herself open so that her clit is now rubbing against my extremely swollen one. I moan at the feel of her warmth and wetness and grip her back tightly as she begins to grind her body against mine with passionate roughness. Her slickness mixes with mine and my clit goes crazy under the pressure.

  Selene pushes harder and moves faster until the pressure on my clit is too much and I explode, bucking under her. Still, she doesn’t stop; she rides me until her own climax comes, powerful and sensual on top of me. We lay there unmoving for a few minutes before Selene finds the strength to roll off of me.

  She’s lying on her stomach and I begin to kiss every inch of her back. I make my way to her ear and bite gently before saying, “Now, let’s test this stamina of mine.”

  ◊◊◊

  When I finally awaken, my body is pleasantly sore and I can still feel traces of Selene’s magic on my skin. Seeing her lie there looking like a goddess makes me want to repeat every second of our pleasure right now. I lean down and press my lips softly against hers and to my surprise, she reciprocates, and pulls me down to her. Clearly, she had the same thing in mind. I smile and let my hand travel down her body. We begin to kiss with more urgency when there’s a knock outside of the door.

  “May I enter?” Diana’s voice calls from outside.

  I have half a notion to say no, but I finish my kiss, cover our bodies, and say, “Yes. You can enter Diana.”

  She steps inside and then takes in our appearance and then smiles. “I would love to let you continue with your lovemaking; however, from the looks of it, you would never get out of bed. Under different circumstances that would not be a bad thing, but considering what you accomplished last night, I figured that you’d want to get started as soon as possible so that you can start learning how to use your new strengths. Lawrence and I have both agreed that you seem like that type that is not easily broken. We shall push you to become great.” Diana takes more steps toward us, her sheer dress revealing her nipples underneath and I try to look away without Diana noticing, but of course she does. She even gives me a look to let me know that she saw me watching. Super. Just super.

  Diana turns her focus to Selene. “There are lessons for all of us to learn here. Some we may enjoy more thoroughly than others. Being pushed to our limits is an enlightening feeling.”

  Diana turns towards me. “Lawrence is waiting for you at the falls.” She then leaves the room.

  Selene and I stay silent for a couple of seconds, both interpreting what Diana just told us in our own way.

  “She read your mind, didn’t she?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

  “She tried to, but I realized what she was doing and then she stopped. They are prideful beings, so much so that it may be dangerous. They need to feel like they possess you in some other kind of way and it frustrates her that you aren’t going for it. Diana’s trying to get to me and I was almost letting it work.”

  “But what is the point?” I ask growing irritated and confused.

  Selene sighs. “These Immortals like to obtain valuable things. Strong magic users and some others can tell who I am by just feeling my aura. I would be of use to them too if they still lived on our plane, as it is, their magic is stronger than mine so I am of no use to them.”

  “So, if they want to possess me, do you think this whole thing may have been some sort of mistake?”

  She hesitates. “No. Right now, I think it’s just a game. Pretty soon, they will grow tired of playing and leave you alone. They are testing your will to see if your resolve is a true as you claim it to be.”

  Well, I sure hope so; after all, I am only human.

  Since I don’t really remember the run back from the falls, I swim there again. Being in the water just truly seems to refresh me. By the time I reach Lawrence, my mind is firmly set on my goal.

  “Thank you for bringing me the Devourer. Selene told me that you hunted it for me even before I got to your realm. I can’t believe that you were able to find it so quickly,” I tell Lawrence.

  Selene had told me that Diana informed Lawrence of my memories of that night in case he would need the information to break me. He thought that if I was able to be un-made, then having the Devourer be my first kill would be a fitting gift. I concurred.

  “It was not a problem. I enjoyed the hunt almost as much as I enjoyed watching you destroy it. It has been an eon since I’ve traveled to a hell dimension, albeit a minor one. I had to use the blood of one of my cohorts that is familiar with some of the demon worlds. We went and traced the demonic signature from your home to the place he came from. After that, it was extremely simple. I did have to kill a couple demons myself, but it was well worth it. You have made things much more interesting for me Rayne Whitmore.”

  “Well, thanks. I’m glad I could help,” I reply sarcastically.

  He ignores my eye roll that went along with it. “You have a lot of fire inside you, young one. Now, I will teach you how to truly fight.” With that, Lawrence kicks me so hard that I fly off the cliff and back into the water with a painful smack. A second later, he is pulling me further down. I barely manage to take a breath before I’m completely under water and doing my damndest to break free of the submission hold that he has me in. When it’s clear that I won’t be successful this time around, he allows me to swim up for air. I gasp for breath, gulping the air as if it’s a sixteen ounce drink and wipe the water from my eyes.

  “Lesson number one: when you fight, you do what it takes to stay alive. You need to be prepared to do battle in all kinds of scenarios, on many types of terrain, with many different handicaps. Do not panic. Allow yourself to overcome the obstacles so that it is always you who is still breathing. Think about your un-making. Why do you think that the first punishment I put you through was torture?” Lawrence floats close to me, pressing me for a response.

  I already know the answer and as I finally catch my breath, he pulls me under again, holding me until the very last second that I can hold my breath. I want to kill him, but I force my rage down and try to remain calm as I suck in air. Getting upset will only make it worse. I won’t be able to focus and I may not be able to hold my breath as long.

  “Because it’s the hardest thing to overcome. It’s not only a severely painful experience, but it is a mentally devastating feeling too,” I try to say quickly so that he won’t pull me under again just yet. I think about my own experience and how I felt at the time. Even when you aren’t feeling more pain than you can bear, you have to continue to tell yourself that death would not be a more welcome experience.

  “Precisely. If you’ve known the greatest suffering, then, even if you fear it, you can be more prepared for it.” With that, he reaches for me again, countering my block calmly, and pulls me down into the deep water, dragging me further below the depths.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Eight months have gone by sin
ce I’d been marked and entered the realm of the Immortals. Back on the mortal plane, it’s been nearly two years since my family was murdered and I was stripped of the chance to grow up like a normal person. These days, I look at myself and barely even recognize the Rayne that I once was, the carefree, happy, young adult.

  I’ve kept my hair short, but the red that I colored it to honor my sister has grown out greatly and my face shows the knowledge of a deeper pessimism of the world that I will soon return to. That young woman who was unsure and afraid of this power is now a distant memory.

  As I stand before myself in the mirror now, I see a woman that will never hide from shadows, but someone who has become part of the shadows. The loss I feel for my family is still there, eating at the back of my heart and soul, but somehow I’ve managed to continue to move on, or at least I’ve learned to hide it from not only myself, but the ones around me.

  Even Selene has changed. She’s been working hard in secret, memorizing and mastering high level spells, weaving signs, and learning how to fight with her magic. From what I’ve heard from Kaede, Selene has become a force of her own. I’m proud and grateful that she has taken this step in order to be able to stand along with me in my quest to find justice. It’s even better that she seems to have found herself as well.

  Since I’ve been un-made, which is the awakening of the powers hidden inside humans, powers that were gifted to us by the Immortals thousands of years ago, I’ve had to be re-taught the truth of the world and the supernatural races that live in it. I’ve had to accept witches, vampires, werewolves, demons, Immortals, and even the elusive fae. I’ve had to learn how to recognize these creatures, how to defend myself against them, how to track them, their habits, and much more.

  I’ve gone on hunts with the Immortals to protect the land from outsiders who have ventured through the gates of this realm, attempting to destroy what the Immortals have built, trying to claim their secrets, and rule their region. And I’ve killed without hesitation, without remorse.

  Simple fact, I will kill again, and for better or for worse, it gets easier every time. I look down at my now rough hands and I try to remember how soft they were just eight months ago and I can’t. I clinch both hands into a fist as I leave my reflection and push those memories to the past. I go to find Lawrence.

  The Immortals do not exclusively live in the realm alone, which is why they have an army in the first place. Their home is more like a vast kingdom with about three towns that is valued for many of its resources. The resources must be protected not only for the sake of the Immortals themselves, but for the protection of many worlds. They hold secrets that many have thought lost for millennia. Each secret has been well worth killing for because the lives saved could never be measured.

  Lawrence has been training me to be a killer and Diana has been grooming me to be an encyclopedia so that on the battlefield, I can make split second decisions, or even one day a Machaera or Sword, which is a Protector for the Immortals. Becoming a Machaera means to be granted immortality, to be given great responsibility, especially protecting those resources which are powerful artifacts and even keys of pure energy that can unleash some of the world’s most deadly beings.

  As of now, there are five Machaera alive. The oldest one has been around since 3 B.C. His name is Constantine and I am told that he once saved an entire village from a demon called Typhon that breathes fire. It is rumored to be trapped by magical bonds in Mount Etna this very day. Its eruptions are supposedly caused by the demon’s rage. The other four are spread out in other realms, fighting the good fight and such. Three males and two females. The Immortals said that I could be the sixth, that I had that potential if I kept growing.

  Yet, right now, all I’m focused on is finding the man who ordered my family to death and every single day I come closer to that goal. Every day I grow stronger and smarter. My training is almost coming to a close and soon I’ll be back in my world where I can hunt him down. Diana has told me that learning about something in theory and actually doing it in the real world are two completely different tasks.

  Even though I may be able to hold my own against some of the weaker or younger Immortals doesn’t mean that I will be able to fight off a pack of wolves, especially when the moon is full. I need a cool and clear head at all times and I can’t let the need for revenge or hatred take me over. It would be the death of me.

  Creatures like the Luna Dasa, the moon’s servants, as some of the older wolves call themselves, can be over five times stronger under the moon or if they are in moon rage and the beast inside them has gone mad. Especially if it is an alpha, the leader of the pack, who can pull even more strength from his pack from their pack-link if they are near, I may not stand a chance.

  I won’t even get on what a pure blood vamp could be capable of if they are in bloodlust. Plus, the longer lived a vampire, the more deadly and less human they can be. In other words, I may be able to put up a fight, but I can’t cheat the facts.

  As I head to my meeting place to speak with Lawrence, I spot Selene in a nearby garden, pulling some herbs in a long, flowy lace dress. Compared to me in my dark tunic, she looks like an angel. She notices me, smiles, and waves me over as she pulls her long dark veil of hair from her face. I step closer into the garden and can smell the various plants, flowers, and herbs. Selene has always tried to get me to remember the names, but I’ve never really been able to keep up on them. My knowledge extends to purple cone shaped plant, smelly, prickly leaf flower, and green thingy.

  She has accomplished something that is made possible with her high priestess heritage where if she does a spell enough times successfully, it will imprint into her chakra and she will be able to weave a sign for the spell or simply say an incantation. From what I’ve heard from Diana, a high level spell done wrong is pretty draining and dangerous stuff because it will both consume your life force quickly and kill you when used too much, or you could succumb to dark forces in your weakened state.

  However, since Selene is technically a high priestess, her chakra level is much higher than most and can exceed normal limits. Still, the more complex and powerful the spell, the more energy she expels. Because of this, Kaede has been forcing Selene to push her limits even more in her training and also teaching her how to make potions that may sustain her chakra longer as well as replenish it faster. I’m sure she’s picking the herbs for them now. I call it the energy drink for witches.

  Selene stands up and wipes off the excess dirt from her clothes. Today she looks a little ragged and tired. I notice the hint of bags under her beautiful green eyes and the off-coloring of her skin and I frown as I take her into my arms.

  “Don’t,” Selene warns before I say anything. “I know what I look like and I’m going to take a break in a little while. I plan on sleeping and cuddling with you all day once I pick the herbs to help me make a potion to help my body heal.”

  “What kind of healing?” I ask protectively.

  “It’s to help me heal from the emotional pain of this lack of sex. I mean damn, it’s been almost two weeks.” Selene jokes, trying to keep me from worrying.

  I play along. “Well, if that’s the case, we can do this right now.” I start to strip out of my shirt, but she grabs the bottom of my fabric tightly.

  “Mine. Not for show,” Selene growls.

  “Wow, with that tone, one would mistake you for a Wolf,” I tell her teasingly.

  “They aren’t the only possessive race I can promise you that. But seriously baby, don’t worry about me right now. I just need to relax and heal. I’m working on high level spells that are pretty draining, but I will be refreshed tomorrow. Go do your task with Lawrence, and then tell him I said you are taking the rest of the day off to be with me, no arguments. And if he thinks he can test me, I will find him; better yet, I’d send Diana after him.”

  I laugh, then shudder at the thought, remembering when Lawrence had lost me in the hills on one of our training sessions. It took Diana three days t
o find me and when we finally met back up with Lawrence, she punished him something vicious. With all that anger, it was a wonder that Diana wasn’t training me.

  I travel through the trees, the wind blowing teasingly at my back, bringing the scent of the lake with it. After about a five minute trek through the growth, I squeeze through a few more trees until I come upon the workspace that Lawrence requested that I meet him at. He’s standing, shirtless as usual looking as if he’s in his late thirty’s instead of the millennia that he really is. He once told me that they long ago stopped keeping track of their age. His glowing skin a flawless, permanent bronze that models would kill for and the shoulder-length blonde hair that he has been allowing to grow makes him look like a god from a Greek myth.

  I don’t have to be a straight woman to appreciate beauty like this when I see it. I’m also sure it frustrates him that he can’t charm his way into my pants. The other day, he’d said that the passion of our lovemaking would be so strong that the earth itself would tremble. I trembled in laughter.

  Lawrence is not like one of those guys at the bar who keeps on thinking that he can turn any lesbian straight with his spectacular bedroom moves. He is an Immortal, and that means to him that everyone is bisexual, that sex was a bond you share with people you respect, a celebration that only takes two beautiful people and opportunity. Sex for them also meant sharing their power and life force. It recharged them. It made sense to me that they would do it so frequently.

  He definitely doesn’t have a human point of view on sex, especially the bisexuality. Gay people and straight people alike just couldn’t always accept that people could like both sexes. It was just that he couldn’t understand how someone didn’t like both sexes.

  They are also strong advocates for threesomes. Diana had tried that angle with Selene and me. I wasn’t as quick to refuse that offer as I had been when I first arrived. Selene and I both said no, but I have to admit, I did have some images running through my mind. I also think Diana knew I had considered it. Hell, she was absolutely beautiful, alluring, and powerful. So was Selene. It would have been mind blowing. To be able to taste their power together would have been ecstasy.