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SUMMARY: I was forced into an engagement with some withered old fool I'd never meant and didn't want. So, I thought myself quite the defiant little Miss when I teased a masked lord at the Ball. But once he'd lured me out to my aunt's Guest House, I found he was very different from the plaything sir that had seemed so charming a short time ago. He was bent on ruining me. My choice was simple. To let him have me and he'd keep it a secret. Or fight him and he'd publicly ruin me. Ensuring my new fiancé knew precisely what manner of woman I was. Really no choice at all... 01 A Huntress I turned in the candlelight. Knowing the purple and gold of my mask caught the glimmer of orange flames. Reflecting the sparkle as it highlighted over my golden-brown features. My lips so dark that they were considered unfashionable. My mother often pressed my maid to temper them down with light matte colors to pale them. So, you don’t look such the siren. My mother would say. But tonight, I’d dismissed all such trivialities. I rouged my cheeks and large beckoning lips. And darkened my lashes with kohl behind the half-mask. Willing to defy my mother and father and anyone else that crossed my path tonight. I stalked onto the dance floor in a gold ball gown. My brown eyes intent on finding some bit of prey. Some man to take out my frustrations on. Some man to help me foil everyone else’s plans for me. *** As I thought it, a gentleman in a specially tailored coat stepped before me. Half his overcoat was white, half was black. Perfectly mimicking the coloring of his mask. Shadowing eyes so dark brown they were nearly black. His square jaw was revealed just below the mask. “Are you looking for someone?” He queried in a smooth tone. “Not in the least. Quite the opposite actually.” “Oh?” A dark brown brow lifted questioningly at me. “I’m looking for a perfect no one.” “Well,” He bowed gracefully and offered his hands. “It just so happens I am precisely no one. And perfectly adept at being so.” I hesitated. So surprised I was unsure what to say as I stared at his awaiting hand. He wants to dance? “I guess, in this case, then I shall overlook your rudeness in approaching a lady without a proper introduction.” I stepped forward and forewent his hand to drop a gloved palm over his forearm. “But I was looking for a lady a trifle different then the most proper kind.” “An improper kind?” I asked haughtily. Very willing to put him in check if he were making advances. “Not in the least. Just less then boring.” “Well, boring is not something I’ve ever been accused of.” I tossed my long red hair. Sending the curls dancing wildly down my back since I’d refused to let my distraught maid put even a single pin in it. It can be as wild as I intend to be tonight. *** As he guided me further onto the Dancefloor, he turned me into his arms and unfolded his fingers to press his palm parallel to mine at shoulder height next to us. His other hand landed lightly along my lower back as he maneuvered the steps gracefully. I looked up at him and gauged his height and gaze and the musky cologne he wore. Not a man I know. That rather eased some of my troubles. An unabashed rogue, no doubt. But in truth that was perhaps just what I was looking for this eve. The stranger moved me in the dance. “So, since you’ve so rudely commandeered me for this dance despite what my card might’ve said, do you care to introduce yourself?” “Not in the least.” His brown eyes danced. It took me a moment to register that he was refusing to give me his name. I gave him a surprised look. He leaned a bit too close during the dance and whispered near my ear. “Perhaps I just call you Circe.” Circe? Enchantress? Seductress. I recognized the word. I felt my cheeks heat. “Then how about I call you Rogue, in return.” He shrugged. “One can no more hide their nature then they can their intellect.” “And you find yourself quite clever.” I guessed. Giving his tall frame an assessing look and noticing how much wider than mine his shoulders were. I was tall and thin but no match for his thicker stature. “Should I not?” He turned me. Making the gold gown spin out enough that the purple underskirt was briefly visible. 02 Interrupted “Kylie!” My sister Sarah appeared next to my elbow. Shooting the gentleman a glower, before dragging me from his grip. “Lord Durnmouth was first on your dance card tonight.” “Was he?” I asked absentmindedly. “Is this because of the engagement?” Sarah frowned down at me. A bit taller and far more somber, she was clearly the eldest of the two of us. “Is what?” I asked blandly. “That you’re dancing with random men rather than following your dance card and preparing to meet up with your affianced at the end of the night.” Nothing I could imagine wanting to do less. “Perhaps I’ve no desire to be crammed into the mold, you’re all setting for me.” I told her. “You know you don’t have a choice.” Sarah cocked her hip in that disapproving way. I blinked dully at her. Making her suspicions grow. “What are you about?” “What do you mean?” “You’re up to something. You’ve that look about you.” “I know not what you speak of.” I swept away. Skirts in my hands as I determined I wouldn’t answer her. She’ll only try and stop me. *** I stood watching the other dancers from a dark corner. My arms crossed over my chest and frowning as I watched everyone dancing so gleefully. Misery. That was the only word I could think of. I’d had such grand plans but now I was to be married off. Like a prized sheep for a pretty bit of coin. Thinking about it was only making me angrier. I nearly leapt from my skin when I felt a husky voice breathing along the back of my neck. “Meet me in the Guest House?” I knew of it. This was my aunt’s property, and I knew the Guest House was abandoned this time of year. So, does he, apparently. I turned slightly and peered over my shoulder. Only barely able to catch the silhouette of his white mask and the white side of his overcoat visible in the shadows. He was leaned back. Arms crossed over his shoulders and one boot lifted so the sole rested against the wall. His knee jutting out in a leisurely stance. His dim outline was aptly concealed in the shadows. Clearly not wanting to be seen. “Why would I do that?” I whispered over my shoulder. “To defy that pretty sister of yours…I heard you.” He whispered only loud enough I could hear him. Other young women standing near me were too far away to hear him. “Fine.” I agreed impulsively. “Fine.” He echoed. “I’ll wait for you out there. Don’t make me come back in and get you…I’m not above dragging a woman off the dancefloor.” I glanced over my shoulder to give him a quick look, but he was gone. *** As I crept from bush to bush to get to the Guest House, I felt rising bits of excitement. What am I going to do? Let him steal a kiss? Steal a touch? Perhaps something quite improper? It was tempting. It would certainly deter my would-be suitor to find out my reputation was sullied from a brief dalliance in a Guest House. Even if it’s not all the rumor mills will make it to be. I felt momentary satisfaction at realizing the deep shock that’d deflate my parents. They were so set on this course, despite all my objections. Well perhaps they’ll rethink it now. The weather seemed to mimic my dark thoughts. Clouds blocking the stars and a slight, drizzling rain beginning to patter over everything. I reached the Guest House and saw its pretty sparkling white paint glinting invitingly in the moonlight. Window surrounded nearly three sides. Revealing the darkness within. As I rounded the shrubs, I saw the hint of a fir in the far corner and the dancing flame of a candle tossing bits of orange light over the sparse furniture in the House. I saw the dark overcoat shrouding a man’s elbow which overhung the armrest of the chair before the fire. Was I really going to do this? I’ll stop it before it goes too far. I reassured myself. Drawing a steadying breath before sneaking to the door in the back which was always kept unlocked. 03 Strange Sanctuary I’d barely entered the door when he met me. His mouth descending on me so fiercely it was nearly brutal. He swung me around and kicked the door closed. It banged shut with such finality I suddenly realized my mistake. Jerking away from him before even fully registering he’d been kissing me. What am I doing alone in the Guest House during a rainstorm with a man I don’t know? One I’ve aptly already dubbed The Rogue. What the Hell was I thinking? “You smell like roses.” He remarked. Shedding his coat as he drew me further into the house. “Wait.” I said. “It’s too late for all that.” He dismissed. Unraveling it from his shoulders and shook it from his shoulders before catching one cuff, then the other, to tug it off. Before dropping it over the back of the chair across from the fire. When had he led me so far into the House? His mouth fell over mine again. His lips moving like silk over mine. Guiding them open so his tongue could delve fully into mine. His tongue tracing the inner walls and learning the shape and textures of my mouth so intimately I was left breathing raggedly. I shoved at his chest. Only to have him pull me closer. His arms wrapping me to work the laces of my corset at my lower back. “Wait. Wait!” I objected. He paused to give me a sideways look. “Strange words from a woman that would meet a man in a Guest House for a dalliance.” “I didn’t agree to that.” I said shakily. “Didn’t you?” He dropped his nose to mine. “What did you honestly think would happen? Did you expect any other outcome?” “Yes…” I’d thought I could control this interaction. He’d seemed so pliable a short hour ago. Now he seemed very out of control. Wild with passion and barely hearing my words. Far more prepared to act like an animal prepared to breed. Not with me! *** “No.” I said more assertively. Shoving his shoulders back just as he freed my corset and it dropped around my hips. Freeing my breasts within the bodice so I could draw a deep breath which I currently felt I desperately needed. I brushed curling red bangs back from my face and wiped a bit of sweat from my forehead as I desperately tried to rationalize how I was going to extract myself from this absurd situation. He cast me a withering look. Gazing at me from head to toe derisively. “What did you think would happen out here?” “I thought perhaps we’d talk.” “Do I seem a man suited to talking?” “You did inside.” I argued. Gesturing helplessly as I realized the foolhardiness of my actions. He clucked chidingly in his cheek. “I think I made it very clear what I was after inside. From the moment I wouldn’t provide you my name and I indicated to you I was looking for a less then proper woman who’d not prove so dreadfully dull.” He had said all that. And I had caught the innuendo. How do I provide I did not now? “Let’s save some time, shall we?” He edged closer as he hooked the bodice of my gown with a crooked finger and tugged it open enough, he could peer beneath it. Making me gasp in shock. “I was clear in my invitation, you were clear on the provocation, you came to me. Alone out here, regardless of your reputation, prepared to cast your reputation away in tatters. Now you want to refuse me…But I’m not so easily deterred. You see, I’m a very clever man. And my agenda is never as simple as one would think. And I have very particular designs on you.” He took another step toward me. Putting his nose nearly against my forehead and affording him an even more clear view beneath my gown. Yet I felt nearly so hypnotized I couldn’t move. Everything he said made sense. What have I done? Feeling I had only one recourse, I retreated. Taking a long step backward and clutching my bodice against my chest. “Why?” Why does he want me? He slid a long step after me. Refusing to give up any ground between us. “That is my business and quite none of your affair.” My lip curled in outrage. His rudeness was quite appalling. “But just to ensure my point is clear, let me tell you, you’ve come this far and now if you do not finish what you’ve promised…I’ll be forced to tell those back in the ball about your hearty offer to meet me out here. And how appalled I was to find you alone. Partially clad.” He said the words with such slow precision that they made me cringe. His intent painfully obvious. How he’ll make me look if I refuse him. As if I’m the wanton. 04 A Heartless Threat I’d be ruined! My hands fell to my sides in shock, and he took advantage of the moment to step forward and jerk the shoulders of my dress down to my elbows. Baring my shoulders and breasts to his hungry view. He took in the sight of my golden-brown skin and dark nipples, born down by the weight of the plump bits of flesh. His hands snatched my waist so fast I nearly leapt from my skin. Causing those large breasts to swing like pendulums. And one to brush the back of his hand. Making him growl in his throat. “Now this…Is more as it should be.” He pushed the pile of clothes at my waist down further. Catching the waist of all my undergarments by adjusting his fingers minutely. Clearly an expert at stripping women bare. Slipping my clothes down, revealed the outer width of my ripe hips before it slid down the length of my shapely legs. He leaned down by my feet to make sure the clothes were gathered there. So, everything is visible to his eye. I reflexively crossed my arms over my chest. Hooking my neck on the opposite sides in my palm. Hoping that the shadows of the dim room would hide the curling red hair at the juncture of my sex. He straightened. “Mmmhmm. Look at all that flesh…I’m going to touch you everywhere, Circe. I won’t miss an inch.” *** For whatever reason, his words immediately dampened the spot between my plump thighs. Though my mind still worked frantically for an escape. A way out of this situation before he gets his hands on me! “Now, here.” He caught my hands before I could move. I hissed an indrawn breath at the sudden contact of his large paws enveloping mine. He led my fingertips to the laces of his shirt. He put my hands over them and began plucking at the laces before his hands fell away and he gave me an expectant look. He wants me to undress him. Swallowing hard, I hesitated. Looking frantically around the Guest House but finding no reprieve. No escape. As if reading my thoughts, his face hardened. “There’s no way out now, Little Circe. You’re in too deep. And soon it’ll be my turn…” *** Feeling helpless I unlaced his shirt and guided it open to reveal the flat planes of his upper chest. The thick bones of his collar and the deep muscles which grooved behind it. He rolled his shoulders and shrugged out of it. Tossing it a distance away to land over the armrest of the chair. Something he’s clearly done before. Here? I suddenly wondered how many innocent young women he’d ruined in my Guest House. In-fact who the devil was he? “Who are you?” I blurted. “Ssh.” He put a fingertip to my lips and pressed his toes over mine lightly. As if to keep me in place. “Bit late for that now, isn’t it?” “I did ask for it before.” I defended. Tugging slightly at my slippers but finding I could no longer move away. “And I said no then. What makes you think I’d change my mind now?” Absolutely nothing. I was very sure that this man was precisely as unrelenting as he seemed to be. What I’d thought at first to be amusing charm, I now realized carried an underlying severity. A single-pointed mission to seduce women like me. *** He gave me a long probing look as he methodically unbuckled his belt and let it drop. Next, he caught my wrist and rolled my hand into his palm. Molding the inside of his fingers. Then without blinking, without changing expression, he put it against the front of his breeches. Revealing the iron hard rod concealed there. My brown eyes widened to the size of saucers as I shot him a look. He massaged my hand over it, and I felt the flesh beneath the cloth expanding even further. I knew enough of the act from watching the house maids to fear I’d not be able to fit this particular bit of flesh. “I can’t.” I said urgently. Pleading for him to understand. Staring at me through hooded brown eyes he asked mercilessly, “Why?” “It’ll not fit.” “And how would you know that? More the wanton than I’d first suspected?” He asked. “No!” I defended trying to retreat but instantly realizing he still pinned my slippers where they were beneath the toes of his boots. “Oh?” His brows lifted in interest then. “Pray do tell then…” 05 Betrayal of My Body “I-I once…” I made a gesture of my hand sliding down my body and sent him a pointed look. My cheeks on fire as I prayed I’d not have to say more. “You touched yourself?” He purred. I nodded so clumsily that my hair bobbed around my shoulders. “How very intriguing. And what did you find?” White teeth flashed in the darkness. A predatory grin. “I couldn’t…Two would not…” I lifted two fingers pressed together in a flustered effort to explain. “Perhaps that is only because you knew not what you were doing.” The back of his knuckles trailed over my belly toward the place I’d hinted at. His gaze travelling just ahead of his touch to land at the crux of my thighs. He licked his lips wolfishly. As if he wants to lick me just as fiercely. I shivered at the idea. He nudged my plump thighs apart with his fist enough I had to skid one leg aside in surprise. Staring at him in horror and hoping he was just jesting. When I suddenly felt two of his fingers penetrate into me, my hands shot over his shoulders to cling to him as my knees suddenly felt very untrustworthy. Already beginning to sway forward and back in imitation of how his hand moved between my legs. His fingers edging deeper into me. And soaking into my dampness. I made a choking sound as my fingers dug into the top of his shoulders. “Don’t worry, Little Circe.” He murmured. Moving his fingers more aggressively into me. Until my entire pelvis was being jerked toward him and then back. Like some primal offering. “Soon it’ll be far more than that, I’ll have stuffed in you.” He chuckled darkly. *** I thought temporarily about fleeing the Guest House into the rain screaming for help. That would surely have me compromised irreparably. I thought about shouting my head off for my sister. But there’s no guarantee she’ll be the one to come running. “What are you thinking?” He caught my chin in the fingertips of his free hand. Still working the other ones so far into me that I could feel the other knuckles pressing the tiny nub outside my entrance. Making me gasp at the rubbing touch. “N-nothing…” “A way out of this?” He gave a lopsided smile. “There isn’t one. Not without shredding your reputation which will land you in my bed anyway.” “How could you possibly be so arrogant as to think that?” “A ruined woman must make money somehow.” He shrugged. Still not stopping his pace which was making my fingernails bite into the bare tops of his shoulders and my toes curl within my slippers. Even beneath his boots. “Most gentleman won’t welcome a ruined lady into their bed. Preferring widows and mistresses. There’s a good possibility I’d be the only one that’d have you then.” He thrust against his hand. Meeting my bare thighs with his clothed ones. “To have my way with you for endless hours. Bent over every piece of furniture in my town home.” He growled in pleasure at the thought. “You’re an animal!” I accused. “As are you, Circe.” He grinned. “A wet little animal with a pussy ready to lick my cock.” I yelped. Stunned at his shocking words and he took the moment to drop his mouth over mine and swallow the sound as his tongue intruded into my mouth so determinedly that I was certain he was going to enter my core just as ferociously. I’d be torn. *** Even as I was thinking it, rivers of tension poured through me. Yanking at my muscles and pulling them taut like the strings on a violin. Making every inch of my body tighten and then relax in a strange singing tune. My voice was emerging in a sound that I didn’t recognize. A long, drawn-out, moan which seemed to go on forever and seemed far too low to be my voice. Not as I know it. “Good Girl.” He praised. “Now to do that on my cock while I’m sucked balls deep in your little hole.” “Damn you!” I swore at him. “This is not how a man talks to a lady.” “You’re not a lady now. You’re a ruined woman whose tasty little pussy is going milk my cock while I pound you like the little seductress you are. A woman has to realize there’s consequences for behaving as a wanton.” I could hear a triumphant note in his voice. “Especially an engaged one.” That’s why he’s doing this? Some vengeance against Lord Byron. I’m a conquest to send him tainted property. “H-how’d you know?” I asked. Chewing my lip. “I overheard you and your sister.” He said acidly. “Everyone did. I’m sure. And your blatant disregard. It’s clear you wanted a man to ruin you for your affianced. One to stick you so good, he won’t be able to repair the damage done.” “Damage?” I squeaked. He chuckled evilly. “Now take off my pants, Wench.” 06 Hazards of His Pleasure I didn’t want to obey him. I wanted to spit in his face. But he has the power to ruin me now. It occurred to me that if he wandered out the door and shouted as I’d considered doing, he was right. I’d be perilously destroyed for any man but those so unsavory they’d offer a broken lady a bit of coin for a good toss in the sheets. I don’t want to be that. I wouldn’t know the first thing about it. I shifted nervously. He caught my hands and slapped them over the laces on his breeches. I immediately registered that there was that firm bit of flesh prodding the inside of one of my palms again. His hardness. I squeaked. “Yes.” He crooned. Trailing fingertips on both sides from my collarbone down over my shoulders and over my upper arms to the back of my hands. Almost as if he were going to take my hands in his. But he didn’t. “I’ll soon be hearing more of that.” Growing impatient he plucked the laces himself and hooked my thumbs beneath his waistband. I was startled at the stunning heat of his skin. Feeling the sharpness of his hip bones. He snatched my wrists so abruptly that I jumped. Wincing in terror. His gaze roved my face assessingly and then he pushed my wrists down. Forcing my hands to remove his breeches over a length of muscled, furred thighs. Making me lean over to follow them. And sending his member nearly springing over the top of them to brush my lips. “Ahh.” He rumbled. Flexing his buttocks and pressing his staff tighter against my large, rouged lips. What had I been thinking? I should’ve done without the makeup. Without the sordid thoughts of escaping an unwanted engagement. Had I just been a dutiful daughter I wouldn’t be here now with a strange man pressing his rod against my lips. Massaging it along my mouth and brushing aside my nose. “I could take your mouth.” One of his hands left my wrist to scoop the back of my head. Pushing it against him. Startled, I angled my head away which made my chin press him against his pelvis. He groaned in pleasure at the sensation. “I could fuck your face. Well and truly teach you the ways of the wanton.” “I’m no wanton!” “Aren’t you?” He lifted his fingers and rubbed them together to show me the bit of moisture still lingering on them from when he’d had them inside me. And my pleasure had soaked them. I winced. Blushing furiously and refusing to look at him or the large cock he had in my face. One brow was lifted over those nearly black eyes, as he watched me. Turning my head slightly to make my mouth and chin rub along his length. “I could throw you to the floor and take you here. Pound your mouth until I spill into your throat.” *** “No!” I shoved his pants to the floor and retreated several steps. Desperately needing distance between he and I before he did just that. “You’re right.” He smirked. “That’s not at all where I want to be when I attain my pleasure. I want to be in the nest of your body and feel all that bountiful flesh when I possess you.” “Possess me?” My voice rose. “Well and truly.” He gave a lopsided grin. “Destroy you wholly for your precious fiancé.” “He’s not precious!” I spat. So furious I felt the need to attack someone, and the unknown man currently seemed the safest bet. “Isn’t he?” “Some old Sot with plenty of money, that my father favors.” “Is he now?” Rogue grinned. Dark eyes dancing behind his white and black mask. *** It dawned on me now that we both still wore our masks. Though he’d wasted no time in stripping me bare and then forcing me to undress him, he’d not bothered to remove my mask. Unwilling to, or not curious enough to know what my face looked like. It’s not my face that matters. I registered. He caught my arms and yanked me forward until my breasts were pinned against his chest. He kissed me again. His tongue lathing into my mouth, tasting every crevice. He tossed my arms aside and reached behind me to cup my buttocks and yank my pelvis against him. Pinioning his staff between he and I. Which seemed to make him even harder. He lifted my arms by my head and turned me quickly to pull me against him. Matching my length along the front of him. Lifting his foot made mine, lift. His step guiding mine. He took me over to the chair where he’d been sitting when I’d arrived. Turning me before him, so I faced the fire over the low chairback. “What are you doing?” I asked anxiously. Unable to see him behind me but feeling that he’d paused. His hands framing my waist and his gaze lingering on my shoulder blades as he considered the ways he wanted to take me. “Whatever I want to.” He purred into the crook of my throat and shoulder. His hands rising over my belly to take the weight of my breasts. Lifting and massaging them rhythmically, while he pressed against my buttocks. 07 Ruined He put a hand between my shoulder blades and tipped me over the upholstered chair. My pelvis against the wide wooden back. “Open your legs for me.” When I hesitated, he nudged the inside of my knees with his. Giving a frustrated screech I obeyed. Slipping my feet further apart. “More.” He directed. I slid them further. “More.” I grunted in aggravation and slid them apart until I was balanced on my toes. The majority of my weight balanced against the chairback. I had to balance myself by gripping the arm rests. Leaving most of my body tipped awkwardly forward. And making me feel extremely vulnerable with him behind me. His skin bare against mine and knowing my hole was open for his inspection. Even as I thought it, I felt him firmly adjusting my buttocks. Rubbing them side to side before pushing them apart to appreciatively inspect what he was about to partake of. Me. *** “Wait!” I blurted. The sudden awkwardness of it striking me. The unbearable vulnerability of knowing that he was going to do things to me I didn’t yet understand. I’d never been naked before a man in the past and he seemed to be letting it extend on forever. Making me feel as though this horrible moment would never end. “Do you know what I’m going to do to you, Circe?” “No.” I whispered. My throat so dry that the word was nearly inaudible. “I’m going to take this.” He gripped his cock and bounced it against my ass before holding it solidly and rolling it along the inside of one cheek then the other. He rubbed the tip of himself against my asshole a moment. I gasped and tensed. My legs flexing and my buttocks tightening in his grip. “Should I?” He leaned down to hover over my back and whisper against the fine tendrils of hair near my ear. “I bet I could just barely slip the tip in, and your ass would suck me right in. Tugging me in further. I could stuff all your holes full and make sure you’re good and broke in for that poor fiancé of yours.” “Don’t.” I whispered. “Please, Rogue.” I knew it wasn’t his name, but I didn’t know what else to call him. To spite me, he angled himself and pressed the tip just enough that the firm ring of my ass began to stretch open. Smoothing as it adjusted to let him through. “No!” I shrieked. Lurching up. Laughing, he shoved me back down. “I’m only teasing you, Seductress. Get back down. Bend over and stay open. And keep those feet by the chair legs. I swear if you close me out. Then I will indeed feel that little virgin hole you’re so worried about now.” “I’m worried about them both!” I objected. Nearly sobbing it. “Well, one is as good as mine so best forsake it.” There was humor in his mouth. “Perhaps next time you’ll think better of acting impulsively with rogues you don’t know.” *** I’d already done that. Deciding I’d never again be alone with a man. If I can get out of this engagement, I’ll die a spinster. I vowed it to myself. Damn you. “Ready to feel me?” His words were a deep rumble that made my belly tighten and my grip on the armrests tighten enough that my fingernails dug into the upholstery. “No. No!” But it was too late. He caught a fistful of my hair in one hand and pushed one buttock aside to give him better access. Then his teeth sunk into one of my shoulder blades to distract me from the sudden pain and stretching. I felt the hard tip of him push me open first. Easing between the soft lips and slipping in. Inch by inch. As it reached the delicate barrier which had protected me so long, he slowly pressed forward with his hips. Relentlessly piercing me. His biting teeth breaking skin on my shoulder as he tried to distract me from the pain inside by a bit of pain elsewhere. All I felt was pain. “No!” I shouted. “Get out.” “You’re too late.” He jerked my hair sideways to turn my head, so he faced me. His other hand left my ass to scoop a pointed tit. Feeling the untouched nipple spiking against his palm. “Now this, is what a woman’s body is intended for…” He purred. “Taking the root of a man.” He pushed in again. “Stop it!” I shouted. He laughed. “The hell if you think so. If you were mine, I’d do this until you screamed for mercy every night. You’re lucky you’re not.” 08 Possessed to Exhaustion He was covered in sweat, and I knew I was to. From my body tightening. Then relaxing to accept him more deeply. The sounds he was making were primal. Deep and guttural as he pounded me like a stallion rutting an unwilling mare. In and out. Up and down. Embedding until his sack rubbed against my soft lower lips. Stretching my pussy to an impossible size. Parting me inside so the mushroom shape of his tip could probe the entrance even deeper inside me. The tiny fragments of flesh trying to protect my womb from his intrusion. But he strained deeper and deeper. Pleasured sounds billowing out of him. At one point the exhaustion and constant motion of his thighs slapping the back of mine made one of my feet slip inward, blocking him. He slipped out abruptly and growled in aggravation. Scooping my thigh and shoving it aside. Leaning over to whisper warningly. “I’ll fill your ass, I vow it. Stay out of my way and give me your little hole.” *** What choice did I have? He worked my body harder and harder. His wild rhythm making the chair slam against the floor. Bump. Bump. Bump. My toes ached from being balanced on them, but I didn’t dare let my foot slip again. I already ached inside. Not sure how much more my body could take. “Mmm. Yes…” He swore. “You feel so good. I’ll have more. I’m going to fill you to brimming with my cum. Scream for me, Circe.” I shook my head. Tightening my lips until my mouth whitened. But he hit against me harder. The pressure of the chair pushing the bottom of my stomach and making the intensity of him nearly withdrawing then entering me brutally again so intense I once gave a squawk of objection at the sudden pressure. “Rogue, Please.” “That’s right beg me. Beg me for more.” “I’m so sore…” “You’ll get used to it. Just take it, Sweet Circe. I’m about to fill you.” I hated him in that moment. Hated his gender, hated his kind and was waiting to be done with him. To stalk from his company and never see him again. *** His fist tightened on my small breast. Holding the weight of it as it bounced against his hands. He gripped me from both ends. Thrusting into my hole and clutching my breast. Unrelenting. I was exhausted. “Please. Just finish with me. I just want to go home.” “You’ll be home soon enough.” This time there was nearly compassion in his voice as firelight danced over my bare back and the sheen of sweat shining along my skin. “Come.” He reared away from me, pulling his rod out. I blew a relieved breath at the reprieve. Feeling swollen and stiff inside. He caught my arm and pulled me around the front of the chair. What’s this? What’s he doing now? He shoved be back into the chair. The seat catching my knees and making me fold back until I was seated in it. Then he viciously yanked my legs up and pulled my ass down to the edge of the seat while he knelt between my legs. Positioning himself just over my entrance. He lifted my legs and crossed them at the ankles along one of his shoulders. Crossing a forearm over them to keep them in place. My feet propped next to his ear. With his other hand he pulled me down until my ass hung just off the edge of the seat. Lowered, so when he entered me the weight of my own body seated me firmly atop him. Planting him deeply into my core. Without preamble, he entered me roughly. Grunting in satisfaction. I screeched at the sudden intensity. The pain of the soreness rushing back as he filled me again. Stretching my body which was so unaccustomed to such use. 09 Finished with Me There was such unbearable intimacy in him hovered over me. Watching my face as he entered me and pulled out before pounding back in again. His skin nestled so close against mine. Even with this being my first time, I was certain that somehow, he was trying to punish me for some unknown crime. Something I did. Some affront I hadn’t known I committed. This was a man punishing a woman in the most primal of ways. Though my brain worked fervently, I couldn’t determine what I’d done and didn’t want to ask. Sensing it would only make him work harder into me. His brown eyes stared down at me from behind his mask. Roving over my breasts and the plane of my belly. His other hand massaging my legs as though he couldn’t get enough of touching them. Greedily wanting to put his hands all over my skin. And I want to take it all away from him. I thought resentfully. Glaring at him as I tried to conceive ways to make him pay. Though my body was sore, and I knew if I wanted to save my reputation, I’d had no choice but to ruin it, to let him have me. “You’re utterly despicable.” I spat up at him. “You’ve no idea, Sweetheart.” He grinned. His browned skin shining in the dancing firelight. His hips working in long strokes. Trying to penetrate me more deeply than he had yet. I felt my ass cheeks biting between his weight and the wooden seat. I’d have bruises tomorrow. “Do you feel that?” He slowed down. “Every inch of me, filling your hole.” He eased back in until he was pressed tight against my soft lower lips. “Stretching you. Heating you. Slicking you inside.” As much as what he was doing disgusted me. I felt my stomach tightening. Felt the place he was poking so fiercely begin to tense and then whirl with pleasure. My body was awash with pleasure and then I felt a flood of heat pour over me. And my back arched, my neck stretched. My walls tightened around him. Sending pulsing surges of pleasure over us both. And just like he’d told me I would, I screamed. A broken echoing sound that reverberated through the empty Guest House. Evidence of my wild pleasure. *** Amidst my screaming he attained his pleasure simultaneously. Flexing hard into me. Bruising my buttocks with his punishing thighs. Clutching my legs to his chest so hard I’d have fingerprints embedded in my skin tomorrow. He arched his back and his ass tightened as his pleasure began deep within his balls and seeped upward until he poured cum deep into the seat of my flesh. Filling my core with his pleasure at the same moment I soaked his cock with my fluids. Evidence that he’d pleasured me despite my loathing and disgust. And the fact that he’s blackmailing me to have me. I’d never have guessed that I’d let a man inside me based on the threat of mere words. But threatening a woman’s reputation is far more dangerous than mere words. It could put me in the workhouse or make me have to service on the streets. I couldn’t do it. Fear wound through me, and my hands worked into white-knuckled fists. Wanting to hit him for what he’d just done to me. Both forcing me and for shattering my pride by making me love what he did to me. *** “My God.” I panted. Relieved it was over. Shocked by my response and confused by the newness of what I’d just experienced with him. “I’ve been called worse.” He chuckled. Letting my legs go. My hips ached so I immediately swung them aside and dropped them to surround each of his hips. Eying him nervously as I worried, he’d want back inside me again. He rose and offered me his hand. I slapped mine into it. Taking it hatefully as he tugged me onto my feet. My legs wobbled slightly and when I would’ve lost my balance, he caught me against his chest. “Steady now. No acting as a foal on her first day.” I glared at him. The irony in that statement was not lost in me. He grinned mirthfully. Seeming quite proud of his joke. It had been my first day. I’d never been ridden before. 10 The Truth “I hope you’re quite pleased with yourself.” I said disdainfully. Ripping my hand from his grip. “I’m quite pleased with both of us.” He was grinning cockily like the cad he was. The despicable rogue. “Now,” He leaned over to sweep up my underskirt and tossed it at me. “Let’s get you dressed and back to your little ball. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on your meeting tonight would we.” I hated that he’d eavesdropped on Sarah and my conversation. I was even more determined than ever to escape the withered old man my father had affianced me to. What happened to me tonight will never happen to me again. And now I understood how men thought. I remembered what Rogue had said to me. That if I were his he’d never stop doing to me what he had tonight. Punishing me. *** In only a short time we were both dressed. I hated that I needed his help getting back into my corset and adjusting my skirts. But he laughingly helped. Seeming quite amused by my urgency. My desperation to get away from him. He opened the door for me. I poked my head out and looked furtively around before stepping out. He was at my side, his black and white overcoat draped over his forearm. His white shirt on but he’d not even bothered to lace his shirt. Letting it dangle open to reveal the hard lines of his chest. He glanced at all the windows. “Do you suppose someone watched us? Standing behind the bushes?” I shot him a horrified glare. “Could you imagine?” He smirked. “If your poor sister was out there watching me pound you while you were bent over the chair.” He nodded back toward the Guest House. “Or if she saw you folded over the seat while I made you scream in pleasure. Wouldn’t she have been quaking with fear to hear it?” I shuddered at the memory. Awash with humiliation. “So, My Dear.” He caught my hand. “What did we learn tonight?” *** “You’re the most horrible wretch and I will do anything within my power to never have to tolerate your presence again!” He grinned. Eyes dancing behind his mask. “Charming.” “You’ve no idea.” My lip curled. “I’ll find a way one day, to destroy you.” “You think it’ll be so easy?” “I do. I loathe you.” I wrenched my hand from his grip and stalked back to the ballroom. “Perhaps you’ll find it harder than you expect.” He called laughingly after me as I did my damnedest to ignore him. Storming across the ballroom to find my big sister. “Sarah!” I called to her. Torn between wanting to instantly confess to what’d happened and to simply beg her to get me out of the ball. “Kylie!” She caught my hand. “Papa has been waiting for you. It’s nearly midnight! Time to meet Lord Byron.” Just then the clock tolled. “I don’t give two shits about the old man!” I snapped. “I-” “Old?” Sarah tossed me a sharp look. “What are you talking about.” She pulled me along behind her until we reached papa’s side. I eyed them all hatefully. “There you are!” He hugged me quickly. “Lord Byron!” He welcomed a man over to us I didn’t know. I barely spared the man a glance. Staring at the floor and annoyed at my sister’s sideways hug. She’s keeping me from fleeing. I knew it. I could feel it in the tenseness of her arms. “Lovely to meet you, Miss Drake.” He man lowered over my hand. I tossed him several short looks and yanked my hand away impatiently. Barely noticing that he was tall but sloppily dressed. His white shirt barely laced… I sent him another stunned look and my gaze lingered. No… *** His dark eyes danced merrily. “I’m so dearly looking forward to you being my wife.” He said in a deep familiar rumble. Lifting a black and white mask to set over his nose. “No!” I shrieked. Struggling wildly against my sister’s grip. “I told you.” He walked by and leaned to whisper. “I’m a very clever man who had designs on you. I wanted you from the moment I saw you. For mine. To have when I wish. And I saw your fighting spirit and knew you’d try to escape me. So, I engineered a lover for you…” He grinned. “One you could never escape.” “You unbelievable…” “Fiancé…” He supplied with a triumphant look.

SUMMARY I met The King. Didn’t mean I liked him. Sure, he may’ve saved me from a runaway horse, but at what cost? And he was fine enough to look on, but I wasn’t one easily seduced. His quick wit was titillating but the last thing I was about to do was to surrender to some king to become his carefully controlled queen. Not when I had so much living left to do... Though my father was determined to wed me off, I certainly wasn’t willing. 01 Confrontation First Thing Gray was not my favorite mare. She was high strung and irritable. But I’d been in the mood for a challenge this morning. Probably feeling much the same nature as her. That’s why I’d picked her for the stableboy to saddle. I’d gracefully mounted her high back despite my green riding habit with large gold buttons. I was agile enough to take my seat without assistance. After all I’d been riding as long as I could grasp mane. But this morning was fated to not go as I expected. I had guided Gray down my usual trail through the sparse trees in the chilly morning air. Giving her heel once her hooves found the path. I reflexively ducked the branches I knew blocked the path. Letting my fevered mind wander. My father was worrying me. As of late, he’d been pressing harder and harder for me to take a husband. Just this morning, before the sun had even fully risen, we’d had a fight about just such. “You have to marry! I cannot live forever.” “I suggest you do.” I’d said haughtily. “Girl…” He’d warned. “I should wed you to the stable hand to be rid of you.” “Jack does have more deportment than most of the suitors you allow to come call.” “Ridiculous! They’re princes! Royalty! You should be treating them with due respect.” “When I meet one worthy of it, I’ll surely display it.” I hissed back. Jutting my chin determinedly. “You’re the most deplorable girl in human history.” “Seems a bit of an exaggeration.” I snorted. Father eyed me askance. Saying dryly. “Not by much.” I shot him a quelling look. “If you’ve merely come to insult me, leave me be so I can get ready for my morning ride.” “How about I sell every horse in the stable!” He challenged. Furious at my dismissive attitude. “Then who would pull your carriage?” I laced my high boots. “You. Seems an appropriate duty for an old nag.” I gasped and gave him an appalled look. “Now I have your attention.” He said snidely. His nose twitching above his bushy white mustache. “That is most certainly what you’ll be if you continue refusing every suitor which asks for your hand.” “You should take it as a compliment.” I set my booted feet flat and faced him. “That I’d rather be here taking care of you.” I gave his long white beard an affectionate tug. Despite his efforts to be severe a smile twitched about his lips. I knew that the small gesture reminded him of his affection for me. Since I’d been tugging his beard since I was tiny enough to first grab it. “You’re not charming.” “I’m aware.” I walked past him. Fluttering a dismissive hand. “You’re malcontented and wicked-natured.” “As you’ve said.” I called over my shoulder. He began furiously muttering about how it was fact. But I caught the banister and rushed down the stairs. In no mood to have a fight with him. *** I heard a quick step behind me and knew immediately it was Tommy. My little brother skipped to keep up with me. “Is it necessary to sour his mood first thing in the morning.” “It was already sour, or he’d not have been hassling me first thing.” “Fair point.” He acknowledged. “But why not just tell him the real reason you won’t go.” I stopped to turn to him. “Because he’d merely insist harder that I go.” I put a hand on my hip. Challenging Tommy to argue with me. “A fact which you’re well aware.” I resumed my quick pace downstairs, but Tommy was in a rarely persistent mood. “You can’t take care of us forever you know.” He whispered. “Who else could I trust to do it right?” I paused again to twist. Giving him a severe look. “Anyone!” He tossed his hands. “Literally anyone would do it for Da’s coin.” “Not good enough.” I harrumphed. Heading out to the stables. Tommy shook his head. “You really are impossible.” “As he said.” I gestured upstairs and kept walking. “Well, it’s true!” He called after me. 02 My Morning Ride I kicked Gray to get her gallop to speed. She neighed, shaking her head in objection. Though she did comply. It was only a few long trots before she glimpsed something slithering from the underbrush and lost her mind. She reared up. I leaned forward to maintain my seat and released the rein to clutch her mane. Knowing it’d hold me steadier. Gray took off like a streak of lightning. I swung my leg over her rear to move from side saddle to astride to stay my seat. I heard thundering hoofbeats closing in behind me and caught the movement of a man in my peripheral riding a huge black stallion. He rode just ahead of me and then swung the stallion sideways across Gray’s path. She reared and shrieked in a high shrill objection to the massive obstacle. Rounding ninety degrees and taking several long steps before coming to a jarring stop at the edge of a crystalline lake. I gripped her mane and balanced my weight to keep from being tossed over her head at the sudden stop. Catching around her sides with my legs and holding on. I whooshed a relieved breath as I slumped back into the saddle. Watching the beast beneath me warily as she stood on the bank, heaving as she decided what to do. She neighed, shook her head and pawed the ground but then the tension winding through her seemed to ease and I realized our mad flight was over. I twisted in the saddle to confront the man that’d nearly had me careening into the lake. *** I realized instantly how striking he was. Shining dark brown hair was smoothed back in swaying waves from his forehead and down just over the high collar of his tunic. Matching in darkness, the lengthy beard which ran in smooth waves over his chin and to his upper chest. Framing his mouth in the same dark color. He had fine brows which were lifted slightly in surprise. A short straight nose and a straight jaw. Interesting enough features. He wore a burgundy and silver tunic with a silver pendant dangling over it and depicting a shining sun. Several large rings marked the fingers of his slim hands. One resting along the top of his thigh. The other lightly guiding his mount’s rein. Royalty. That knowledge only made my annoyance rise. Though not as well-groomed as the usual. His hair and beard were unfashionably long compared to her usual clean-cut suitors. “Are you here to court me?” I asked harshly as I dismounted from Gray to catch my breath and steady my feet and to get the hell off her, in case she lost her mind again in the next five seconds. “Since I’ve not the faintest idea who ‘me’ is, it’s unlikely. I’m out here for my morning ride.” He looked at me unblinkingly. Amber eyes burning into me. His haughty tone rivalled mine. Even I could acknowledge that. He’s trying to put me in my place. “Then feel free to go. Enjoy the rest of your ride. See if you can find some other maid to attempt to kill.” He looked slowly one direction then the other. “I see no other so careless in these woods. Just you I fear.” Fear…Good word. He should fear me. “What exactly was your motivation of entering the path?” “To slow your wild run.” He said flatly. “Toward the pond?” I quirked a brow as I peered at him over Gray’s back. Checking the stays on Gray’s saddle and rein, absentmindedly. “Figured it was an ideal direction.” “Ideal! I could’ve been killed.” “How do you figure?” He straightened in curiosity. How could he not see the clear ramifications that could’ve resulted? Was he dense? *** “What in the Devil are you doing?” I shouted at him. Panting between words as I huffed air. “Saving your neck.” “And what if she’d thrown me just then?” “If you were going to lose your seat, you’d have done it back there when she first saw the snake.” He was behind me then? Watching me? “How could interfering in the trail have possibly seemed a good idea?” “She was either going to stop or jump in. Either way it’d have slowed her headlong pace.” “And what of me. What if I’d been tossed in the water with her?” He blinked at me. “Then I’d have gone in after.” I grimaced. Rolling my eyes Heavenward. “How dreadfully droll.” “Indeed. It would’ve been. I’m rather glad your steed had more sense than that.” “Most females do.” “But men do not?” He challenged immediately. I hopped back atop Gray. Not bothering with being side saddle again. Who knows what she’ll do on the way back? “It hasn’t been my experience.” “And how much has that been?” There was a long note in his voice as though he were asking me a more intimate question. I’m not answering that. Especially when it was framed as a pseudo-insult. I tipped my head down and narrowed my eyes to give him a properly scathing look. “I suppose you’d had some girlish fantasy of a hero riding alongside you and slipping you from your runaway mount to kiss your lush red mouth and tell you of your remarkable beauty.” I snorted. “Not in the least. I was hoping to gain control of her after she ran a moment.” “Before or after you broke your neck.” “Before I became irritated…” I emphasized. Hoping he’d catch the hint that he was irritating me. Rounding Gray, I headed back toward the Mane Country Citadel. Home. “You’re welcome.” He called behind me. An annoyed note entering his voice. Good. I preferred when would-be suitors were immediately annoyed. It tended to dissuade them from idiotic proposals. *** I was annoyed I was still thinking of the would-be rescuer as my maid ready me for tonight’s ball. A suitors ball. There’s nothing I’d desire to attend less… My maid expertly worked tiny bits into my hair as she wound it across each other. I watched her in the mirror, my mind wandering. She spritzed me with a bit of fragrance from the Dressing Table before me. I didn’t even know which it was. The rose water perhaps? I didn’t particularly care. I was busy trying to banish amber eyes and a pleasantly quick wit from my mind. Hoping he’d not be here tonight. Or am I? I suppressed what I suspected might be the hint of anticipation that I might see him again tonight. 03 A Suitor's Ball I groaned at the sight of the men milling at the bottom of the stairs. “So many of them.” “Come, Your Highness.” Rita was tugging on my arm. “Inspect your prey, at least.” She wasn’t entirely wrong. We both knew that was how I viewed them all. They thought they were here hunting me. But at the end of the day, it would be I that destroyed them. “Please don’t be dreadful.” “But it’s what I’m best at.” “Indeed. Still…Please. I’m next to you. And I’d rather not be associated with your venom.” I groaned dramatically. “If I must.” I lifted my mask and held it against my face. Hoping it’d help me not be recognized. A rather foolhardy thought indeed. Especially since I was wearing a red dress. The color of royalty. Hemmed in gold embroidery at the collar and the bottom of my flowing skirt. Perfectly complimenting my knee-length raven-black hair. Which was currently plaited with tiny pearls which glistened in the dim candlelight. I supposed Rita was right and it enhanced my strangely exotic features. My mother had come across the sea and I was told that I looked much like her, instead of my fairer father. I’d always taken that as a compliment because she was both clever and stunning. But those compliments had faded with her passing. When father began trying to sell me off… And when he started getting sick. I dismissed those morose thoughts and reached the bottom of the steps. Instantly swarmed by mask clad men. *** But as they all hastily introduced themselves and began scribbling on the dance card dangling from my wrist. I tugged my hand away. Aggravated at their pulling and tugging. I turned to spot the punch table. Wanting to get some refreshment to escape the cloy of voices surrounding me. Like it always does. I wanted a moment to myself. They’ll be dreadfully hard to obtain the rest of the night. As I was scanning the room, I spotted one man standing in shadow near the punch table. His white mask stark against his dark features. And the silken dark beard from his chin, making clear who he was. My gaze narrowed on him, and I gave him a dispassionate look as I stalked over to get myself a drink. *** As I headed for it, he leisurely reached over and filled a glass. Swirling it thoughtfully as he watched my approach like a Hawk observing a mouse. I’m not your mouse. He offered me the glass when I drew close. I rebuffed it to fill my own. Jutting my chin in a way that told him I was refusing. “Hunting again, are we?” I asked sideways. “Some of the best hunters stage near the drink and wait for the prey to come to them.” I looked at the punch in my hand then to him. Realizing what he’d just said. “Do they now?” There was a distinctly unwelcoming note in my voice. As I intended. “Indeed.” He had on arm draped across his stomach and tucked under the far elbow. He sipped from the punch glass boredly. His ankles crossed as he leaned against the wall. Looking utterly at home. “Ah, best feign some interest quick, My Dear. As the hornets are headed this way. Hoping to sting you.” Sting? I gave him a questioning look. My brows rising as I realized what he’d meant. Wanting to pierce me. Before I took the time to respond, I furtively looked over my shoulder to see what he did. One of the men saw me lingering at the table talking to the man and began to beeline over. I glimpsed him from the corner of my eye, knowing the rest would follow. Unwilling to be left behind in their little competition. One, none of them will win. *** I swung around the corner of the table. He unfolded from the wall, looking not the least surprised. But intently welcoming, as he opened his arms to me. I didn’t hesitate. Standing far too close to him and peering up at him. Batting my eyes adoringly. His arm quickly slung around to caress my side in a highly intimate gesture. Indicating familiarity, we didn’t have. I giggled up at him as if he’d just said something tremendously amusing. Enhancing the look of us appearing quite intent on each other. His gaze skimmed from one of my green eyes to the other, before sliding down to my rose lips. The hint of a dimple framed one corner of his mouth. As though amused by my antics. There were several disappointed groans and reassuring pats on each other’s shoulders as the men behind me, reluctantly scattered. I felt the slight caressing of his thumb along my rib cage. Sending warm thrills through me. Something I’d never have admitted aloud. “Well-played.” He remarked. “They’ve gone. Though I suggest remaining as you are to keep them at bay awhile.” “I’m certain you do.” I cleared my throat and moved away a bit. He reluctantly let me break his grip on me. *** He took another sip from his glass. “What think you of a dance to seal their suspicions.” “Only a dance?” I asked suspiciously. “Oh, My Dear…You couldn’t handle any more than that.” My brows shot up in surprise at his husky tone. My instinctive response was to argue but I suspected that was what he was hoping to bait me into. To tempt me. “You view yourself as quite special, don’t you?” I said a bit harshly. “Oh, I know I’m different from your lads there.” He nodded over my shoulder. I set my drink down on the edge of the table. “How could you possibly be any different?” “Sweetheart, those there, are boys. What you see before you, is all man.” He lifted his arms out to display himself. Rising off the wall to give a slow turn. I took advantage of his preening to inspect the frame he was displaying. I could admit there were many things different about him from my typical suitor. From his hard-muscled frame to his confidant stance. Most of the kings and princes were delicate. Delicate hands, delicate bites, delicate steps. Frilled clothes. This man had no interest in such extravagance. He’s right. There’s nothing boyish about him. 04 One Dance “One dance.” I lifted a finger to emphasize the point. “And it does not mean I accept your suit.” He gave a sideways head tilt in slight acknowledgement. I spun around to walk away but he caught my elbow. “Where to, so fast?” “To try to evade their cloying hands.” “Then come to mine and let’s have our dance.” I lifted my wrist. “My dance card…” “What would they say?” He challenged. “They could call you out.” I lifted a brow. Knowing that them doing so would be perfectly acceptable for such a slight. “Let them.” “Bold one, aren’t you?” “You’ve no idea…” He caught my elbow and led me to the floor. His grip on my arm sending little swirls of heat coursing through me. *** We danced. We talked. He was dry. Sarcastic. Bold and by far the most interesting man I’d ever met. “Tell me your no royalty.” “I am indeed.” He shrugged. Knowing I’d be disappointed. “Tell me you’ve not come to wed me.” “You do possess a lot of land you stand to inherit.” I gave him a bored look. “Would you prefer it, if I told you I was here to ravish you?” He pointed out. “Yes, actually. That’d be different…Slightly interesting in its uniqueness, at least.” I said stupidly as I looked around. Having lost interest because I now knew he was feigning the same interest every one of my suitors was willing to exhibit to get to my inheritance. He leaned forward to whisper just above my ear, into my hair. “I’m quite willing to ravish you, should I get you alone for but a short time.” I reared back. Stunned at his statement. Outraged, insulted, and…intrigued. I turned my head sideways to give him a suspicious look. “Look hard, Sweetheart. See if I won’t do it.” But there was no flicker on his face. No hint of fear at the prospect. I realized it. The same moment he said it. “I absolutely will.” *** I suddenly had the deep desire to call him out. To lead him to his own fate and see if he’d take action or realize his mistake and retreat. He could be banished, called out, even executed for defiling the King’s daughter. I caught his hand and hid it behind my back as I led him through the milling crowd and across the Ballroom. People turned to stare at us but quickly looked away when I cast them withering glances. Afraid of getting one of my scathing putdowns. Soon I had freed both this man and I from the crowd. Only then did it dawn on me that I didn’t even know his name. “Who are you?” I asked just outside the doorway. “Kellen Illius, King of the Paladines.” I opened my mouth to make a quick remark but paused and my eyes flew back to his face. I’d heard the name. Knew of him. He was renowned throughout the lands as being remarkably striking. Powerful and fearless. And from everything I’ve seen so far, he quite lives up to that. “Are you going to ask my name?” I asked. Hoping he wouldn’t. His lips turned down in a mouth shrug and he shook his head. “I’d rather know what you’d have me call you.” I looked at him in astonishment. Surprised that he was willing to let me guide this game. Tell him where to go, what to call me, and how I wanted him to behave. I rather liked that there was no fight for control. No battle of wills. He’s conceded before we began. I like it. 05 A Little Ravishment I looked around the foyer and saw it was absent of servants as they were readying the banquet that would be held in a few hours before the dancing resumed. Perfect. I guided him up the stairs and quickly verified the hall was clear. Boldly taking him to my chamber. Where he’d be tried for defiling me, if he was found even entering it. I let go of his hand and stepped inside. Turning to face him. Expecting that here was where any of his bluffing would end. “Well?” I quirked a raven brow and gestured for him to come in. My green eyes flashing with mirth as I waited for him to proclaim this was nonsense and I was crazy and quickly leave. Never to be heard from or thought of again… I hoped. For I’d already thought of him far too much as it was. He bowed. “As you wish.” Taking a long step across the threshold and putting his palm to the door to push it closed. I backed up. “If you’re caught here…” “I’m well aware.” He dismissed. Tracing my steps with long sliding ones. “Are you going to keep running from me or prove as daring as you’d have had me believe.” “I…” I looked beyond him to the door. Realizing I had gone too far. I’m in over my head. *** My gaze slid back to him. Seeing his warm amber eyes looking impossibly deep. Then he did the unthinkable. He closed the gap between us and swept a hand along my jaw and underneath my hair to the back of my head. Holding me still as his lips lowered to ravage mine. Coaxing against them until I parted them to catch my breath. Then his tongue delved expertly in my mouth. Tasting me more deeply than anyone ever had. I need to stop. I took a step back, but he hung onto me. Keeping my mouth to his as he ravished it. He caught my hip and took another sliding step forward to straighten me and mold his body to mine. I tried to object but he swallowed the sound, and his grip grew firmer. Pulling me closer. That hand skid around the curve of my hip to scoop my ass from over my dress. Dragging me against him. I broke the kiss to stare up at him. “What are you doing?” “Having my way with you…I did warn you.” “And if I say no?” I was trying to gather my thoughts which now seemed like trying to find pebbles in mud. “Then I’ll kiss you until you submit.” “And if I don’t?” I hitched my chin. He smiled down at me. “Ah, Sweetheart…You will.” *** He was kissing me again. Nearly brutal. My hands found his beard, catching it between my palms and learning the feel of its strange smoothness. He pulled back. “Like it?” “It’s quite soft.” “Indeed. Most women hate it.” “I like it.” He quirked his lips in a half smile and refused to be distracted any further. Returning his focus to being attentive to my mouth. Stealing my breath. I don’t even know when he’d began walking me. I didn’t realize we were moving until my back bumped into the wall. I leapt forward with a small, muffled noise. He growled in approval since that small movement had my breasts smashing against his chest and nearly spilling over the low neckline of my gown. Something he too must’ve noticed, for suddenly his hand was delving beneath it to stroke my breast. His thumb rolling over my budding nipple with vast expertise. He was kissing me in such a way, I found it hard to catch air. I was getting dizzy and all thoughts of stopping him were getting progressively more jumbled. I wanted his touch. Wanted my clothes off. And his clothes off. I wanted to feel his body. He pushed away from me. Taking two steps back. “Woman, if you want me to stop, you better say so now, or toss up that skirt and let me have you.” He was leaned forward like a predator about to strike. Warning clearly written all over him as if the devil possessed him. But I want to dance with the devil… 06 Battle of Wills I hesitated a moment too long. And it was enough for him. “Get that skirt up.” He commanded. Lifting his hand in an impatient gesture. I licked my lips and gave him a long look. Slowly working up my skirt. Seeing that it was going to take a moment as I was gathering courage with each movement, he walked forward and began plucking at the laces on the front of my dress until, with a hiss, it peeled open. Bearing the hollow of my cleavage beyond it. He growled and caught my skirts lifting them to nearly my shoulder, next to me so he could reach with his roving hands to feel the smoothness of my thighs. Caressing first the outside then working toward the inside. Slicking up between them to stroke me with nimble fingers. Lightly brushing over my crease and then dragging one precise finger along the slick slit. Finding me already wet. Ready for him. I stared up at him. Swallowing hard. Wondering what the hell I was doing. The forbidden… The answer came immediately. I made myself a promise that this would change nothing. I won’t go. I won’t accept him beyond this. I want to know what this feels like. *** “Stop.” I said breathlessly. But he didn’t. Massaging me a bit more determinedly. “Stop!” I demanded in a whisper. His gaze narrowed. “I did warn you-” “Take off your clothes.” I cut him off to demand. Both because I wanted to know what he looked like, I’d never seen a naked man, and because I wanted to regain some element of control. He gave a grudging head tilt. Watching my face as he loosened his tunic and pulled it over his head. I noticed this one was burgundy and black, complimenting the dark shade of his hair and beard. His shirt was next. Unlaced and tossed behind him onto the bed. He stepped out of his boots and unlaced his breeches. Lowering them and revealing the thrusting rod which had been straining them. He stepped out of the last of his clothes. “Take a good long look, My Dear.” And I did. Mesmerized by the sight of his hard length. I’d never seen such a thing before and certainly nothing so proud as this one. Long and rigid and wound with powerful veins feeding the beast that’d take me. I took a hesitant step toward the bed. But his slow head shake stopped me. “Na-uh.” I gave him a questioning look. “Is it not typically done on a bed?” I knew perilously little about the act, but from what I’d always understood. The bed was the appropriate location. “Not for me. Not for one as unique as you.” “Meaning?” “It is your first time, and mine with you. I want to feel every inch of you. And know each of your tiniest responses. So, I want you here.” He pointed near his feet. “On the floor.” “Why!” “Because there’s no give, no sink, no rattle…No way to escape me. You’ll be mine as I am yours for this time.” I swallowed at the intensity of his words. *** He gave me no time to think. Walking over to slide my dress over my shoulders and guiding it methodically down my body. Stroking me everywhere that was revealed. Caressing each mound, following each curve as if idolizing my flesh. My legs were shaking. I flexed my hands, realizing that my palms were sweating as I stood naked before him. Having let him strip me bare. He reached and lifted my face with a knuckle under my chin. “Mmm…hmm.” He murmured thoughtfully. “I want you, Girl. Now.” He pointed to the floor. I swallowed convulsively and began lowering. He stopped me to shake out my dress and lay it beneath me. Creating a soft padding under my back. I instinctively covered my breasts with my palms and drew my knees up. Trying to be subtle in my efforts to hide myself from his permeating gaze. I’d never in my life felt so vulnerable, as I did laid out before him now. Like a meal he was preparing to partake of. I looked away from him up to the ceiling. Feeling his gaze still burning over my flesh as if he were touching me. He stretched out over me. His body suddenly everywhere. Touching every part of me. My eyes widened at the overwhelming sensation of being pinned to the floor. At the feel of his hard body and the unrelenting floor beneath me. At everything… *** He reached between us to stroke me more thoroughly with his agile fingers. One flicking the nub peaking my crease and the other doing short quick rubs along my crease. Ensuring I was still moist and receptive. Then he slid a finger into me. It was the most shocking, intrusive feeling I’d ever experienced. Suddenly stretching in places, I was barely aware of. He twirled that finger and my back arched up against him. Pressing my belly and breasts to the flat planes of his hard, welcoming body. And soon I felt his hard length jumping along the inside of my thigh. Eager to have at me. I felt the first rush. A sudden little pop in me where everything seemed to soak and twirl. Making me blink blearily and try to gather hazed thoughts. Wondering why I’d appeared to stop thinking entirely. His mouth found me again. Kissing me wildly. Taking utter control of me. Both with his lips and with his fingers. Working my body and stretching me to receive him. “Are you ready?” He pulled back to ask. I hesitated. Opening my mouth and giving my head one shake. He tilted his head chidingly. “Your tight little body says otherwise.” He slid the tip of his staff down the inside of my thigh. Letting it drag over my sensitized flesh and down to my center. He adjusted his hips to probe at my entrance. Sliding up and then down over it until my opening spread to catch him amid his stroking. Sucking in the head of his cock and pulling him in deeper. He quickly followed its lead. Letting my body pull him in. Groaning in my mouth at the feel of my tight walls closing in on him. I squeaked in objection, but he swallowed the sound. Tasting every honeyed corner of my mouth. “You feel like velvet and taste like the sweetest wine. Not sure I’ll be able to get enough in just one night.” 07 Ravishing He abruptly slid the rest of the way in. Burying himself in me to the hilt. I squawked at the sudden bloom of pain as something fragmented inside me. Something tiny and frail gave way. Letting him possess me fully. I arched up as my body immediately tried to retreat from being impaled. But the hardness of the floor had no give and allowed me no reprieve. Keeping him planted inside. Simply changing the angle in which I was perched on his hard staff. He was ruthless in his rhythm. Seeing me writhe beneath him only seemed to excite him more. Each little moan that escaped him was a tiny triumph for him. He rocked his body into mine. Sliding back and up then dropping down to plunge deeper. Dipping into my hot wetness. Slicking his length with my arousal as he took me. Stroke after stroke he took me. Owning my body in a way no one had. Using me to bring him pleasure. But I was somehow stealing the same from him. I felt myself tensing more with every tightening of his body. I caressed the lean muscles of his back. Following it down to grip his hard ass. Awed by the strength there as he flexed in and out of me. Next, I learned the movement and feel of his arms. From corded forearms to rippling biceps and strong shoulders. Every part of him seemed perfectly carved. Like fine statues I’d seen in museums. And watching his jaw tighten and his head throw back as he occasionally felt me inadvertently clench around him. Unwilling to release like a grip clutching him. He was handsome, rigid, a force to be reckoned with. And I was submitting to him like his little plaything. Bringing him pleasure. I felt weak, vulnerable and feminine. Strong in my weakness. He was pushing harder, driving us both towards immense pleasure. As he withdrew his member, nearly pulling fully out before thrusting back in. My body rolled with each strong piercing. Feeling every inch of him and unable to escape it. I was his. *** “Say you’re mine.” He said as if reading my thoughts. “What?” I said angrily. Defiant at the mere idea. He began pressing harder. Entering me more firmly and pressing something tender inside that made me yelp. I held onto his arms. “Please. Easier.” “Easier? Or stop?” He was giving me a hard look. “No!” I lifted my head. Appalled at the idea of stopping in the middle and missing out on whatever might be coming. Another thrill of pleasure like I’d felt when his finger whirled around inside me. “Then give me what I want.” I gave him a penetrating look and realized he was slowing and withdrawing further. He is going to stop. I opened my mouth and stamped down my frustration at my own weakness. “I’m yours.” “Yes.” He groaned. “You are.” He began swinging his hips in a circular motion. Pressing several different sides in me. I clawed at his shoulders in a desperate attempt to regain my shattering control. “Now, come on me, Princess.” “I…” “Do it.” He growled. Swirling faster and jabbing deeper. Until I drew my knees up along his sides, pinching his ribs between them as I clung to him. Reaching back to cup his ass and enjoying the feel of him rolling into me. The power of his body mounting mine. I wasn’t entirely sure how to do was he said but I simply stopped fighting whatever had been building. Letting it roll over me like a morning tide. Swelling higher with each long sweep into me. Stealing my will and strengthening the pleasure that was already swirling within my body. Making my fingertips tingle and my hairline then rolling down until every bit of my senses seemed focused on what he was doing to my core. In and out. Taking me. Ravishing me. Claiming me. While I could do nothing to resist him. Powerless. Submitting… *** I gave him what he wanted. The blinding whiteness exploding behind my eyes and twisting in me until every muscle cinched tight. Clamping down on him. He shouted in ecstasy as my body jerked at him. Forcing from him what he hadn’t been willing to surrender. Milking him of his fluid and forcing it loose into me. Stealing from him as he’d done to me. He came. His body tight. His pelvis merged to mine as he pressed deep. Surging into me with each pulse of his cock. Claiming me inside. His abdomen flexed, working like a wave as they flexed from the top down to his root. His sack jerking tight and his thighs flexing against the inside of mine. He’s magnificent. Like a stag in the evening light, taking his mate. And I registered some vague sense of worship for this man and for what he’d just given me. And taken from me. I blinked at him in shock. Frozen. And he recognized the panic on my face. Pressing his palms to my shoulders. “No. Don’t go anywhere. Stay.” 08 Pending Results “I…” I shook my head, adamantly. Twisting from beneath him and freeing him from the comfortable heat he’d been enjoying. Seeing him rolling to his side on my dress, propping his head on one palm braced by an elbow, I realized I needed a different dress. He watched my frantic scrambling around my room to find another one that might be similar enough to not be noticed. “What are you doing?” He drawled. “I must…get back down there.” “With your dress in shambles?” He gestured beneath him. “I’m finding a different one.” “With your hair loose and wild?” I reached up to touch it. Feeling several wild tendrils shooting out at all angles. I tried to smooth them down. Whimpering in frustration. “Everyone will know what you’ve done.” He rolled to his back to toy with a bit of loose thread from my dress. “Can you not say things like that.” “Would you prefer me to lie to you.” “Could you say something helpful?” “Just give in. Accept me as the only suitor deserving of you and let me have you.” *** “Never!” I stopped to stomp. Not realizing that it made my pert little breasts hop with the sudden movement. Or that in my urgency I was failing to cover the nest of my sex which he was looking at with renewed interest. “Sweetheart, have you not considered…That you already have…” “Your meaning?” I eyed him suspiciously. He twirled the little thread with a smirk. “I could shout for your servants right now.” “No…You wouldn’t!” “I most certainly would. And you’d be utterly compromised.” “You’d be labelled a rogue!” I tried to argue some sense. He shrugged. “I care not a whit what they label me. My interest is in the woman I came to collect.” I deflated. “You did come to woo me.” “I came to inspect you. To see if you were all that rumors said.” “And what did you find.” “You’re so much worse…Delightful, witty, decisive. Everything I’d have in a queen.” *** “You say nothing of my beauty.” “Do I need to?” He tilted his head in question. “It is of course, an incentive. As is the magical way you feel…And those little sounds you made…But beauty fades. Wit does not for much time after. I enjoy your quick mind.” That was new. Men typically hated my quick responses. Because they’re usually insults. I admitted. “No.” He rolled to his feet. “We’ll see if that’s still your tune tomorrow.” “What happens tomorrow.” “I ask for your hand.” “Ask away. Doesn’t mean I’ll let you have it.” “Need I remind you, you’ve already let me have you. I need only mention that little fact and your father would be both furious and begging me to wed you.” He’s right. On all accounts. I found his intelligence both admirable and adversarial. He’s impossible to control. And I was having a hard time anticipating his responses. Which would make him very hard to manage… If not impossible… *** I never made it downstairs. But I did demand he dress and leave. While I inspected the shambles of what I’d done. Touching myself and finding I was very sore. But when I looked down, I noticed my dress was gone. I hadn’t watched him leave, refused to look at him again. Vowing to dismiss him entirely from my mind. And pay his threats no heed. He’d not dare. But I couldn’t fathom a single reason he’d have stolen my dress. I groaned and rubbed my face. I had bigger problems. How am I going to tell my father I’m going to refuse yet another proposal? And one from one of the most powerful kings in the realm, nonetheless. He’s not going to like that. I slumped back on my bed. Frustrated beyond belief that I’d gotten so carried away. And made such a costly mistake. He won’t tell. He could face consequences. *** I didn’t know that King Kellen of the Paladines had met with my father, first thing in the morning. A red and gold dress in his fist. Stained with a bit of blood. He walked in and quietly closed the door. Soon the king was shouting unintelligibly. King Kellen’s voice rose calmly in response. Assuaging the king’s fury. And soon Kellen had clued the king in on his plans to wed the princess. The king had conceded it was the only ethical thing to do. And that the king would urge her to accept to save her own honor. But knowing none of that, I’d gone out the majority of the day for my ride. Avoiding the trail where King Kellen had found me before. Ensuring I’d be safe. And alone. To think. It was the next evening when I returned. My maid quickly cleaned me up and I went downstairs and was presented for dinner where it was declared that the King of the Paladines had a proposal to offer. Oh, no. I looked to my father, for some reason hoping for an ally. But he was giving me an intense look that indicated he expected me to accept, or he’d be furious. I can’t. *** So, when the time came, and King Kellen stood and lifted his goblet declaring that he was proposing an alliance of the Paladines and Mane Country through our wedding. I glared at him. Gripping the gilded swirls on my chair arm. He’d maneuvered me. Planned it all. Purposely seduced me. Thinking to corner me. But I wasn’t so easily moved. “No.” I announced. Launching to my feet. I ignored my father’s furious sputtering. My gaze fixated on Kellen. The betrayer. “Excuse me?” Kellen lowered the goblet. His chin rising as he challenged me to say it again. I will. I’m not afraid of you. But deep inside I was dearly hoping he’d not announce I was tainted. That he’d already had me and that I was now due to him as the spoils of my own dishonor. “No.” I said louder. Giving him my most haughty, cold stare. “I would marry no King with a beard like a Thrush Bird. Begone from here, King Thrush beard.” I waved him away airily and returned to my seat. Lifting my goblet slowly in feigned boredom. But my hand was shaking. Dead silence had fallen over the Banquet Hall. And King Kellen was staring at me like something that’d just crawled from under a rock. I felt the first deep curl of apprehension. Sensing the danger emanating from him. I’m toying with the wrong man. I knew it. But it’s too late now. I can’t take any of it back. So, I ignored the long look he was pinning me with. Though I could feel it searing straight into my very soul. Without a word more, he pushed past his chair and stalked toward the door. His black cloak swinging from his burgundy and green striped tunic. His step furious as he made his way outside. Slamming the huge flat of wood with a horrendous bang that paralyzed everyone in the room. They all felt his fury. Sensed the danger. Knew I’ve stirred the devil to fury… What have I done? THE END

SUMMARY: I’d made a deal with true evil. I’d bargained my flesh for the kindest old woman’s life. And he’d pounced on the offer to cruelly ravish me. Bruising my flesh and wounding my spirit. But I escaped his clutches. Wearing his red cloak. And my flight through the woods landed me in the care of the most feared creature in these woods…Wrath. Now the question is, what is he going to do with me? And what can I get him to do for me…? 01 His Woods He didn’t like the color red. That was really all I knew about this man. I’d heard the stories and knew Wrath was the name of the wolf that hunted these woods. That keeps the other hunters away. He’s a wolf. And there was something about him that told me he was dangerous. A feminine instinct inside me was screaming. This is a man not an animal. “Ouch.” I cried out. Feeling the spearing pain deep in my core, I clutched my abdomen and fell to my knees. Realizing I was momentarily safe from the terror I’d known such a short time ago, I felt hot tears streaming my face. Wrath stared down at me impassively. I was lowering to my backside on my heels, and I dropped my face into my hands. “Why?” I sobbed. “Why, what?” He queried. I looked up at him from a teary face and saw his gaze was still riveted on the red cloak and the beads around my neck. “Why’d he take me?” “Did he join with you.” “It wasn’t joining. Rather one sided.” Wrath frowned and tilted his head. “The leader of the NightHunters?” “I don’t know.” “That’s who was pursuing you. Didn’t you see the wolves?” “Wolves?” I asked with a start. “No. They were men.” *** “Of a sort.” He grunted. “Was it Seth? The dark, large one?” I imagined the man that had been sliding in and out of me. And the raw pleasure of hurting me written over his face. The dark eyes and hair, the large frame. “Yes...I think so.” “Why were you in that hut?” “Gram.” “Gram?” He crouched before me and put a hand to my hair. I nearly flinched away but saw he wasn’t trying to harm me. He was a lovely creature. Flowing gold hair like a mane. And vibrant, grass green eyes which looked like they might glow in the dark just as they were. Incredibly bright. “Gram. That’s what we call her.” I explained through sobs. “She’s saved many of us.” “From the village?” I nodded. “Vesvera.” “Why were you all the way out here alone?” His voice turned harsh. Almost accusing. He reached up and his rough hands brushed around my neck. I realized his nimble fingers were working beneath my hair to undo the latches. Letting them slip forward and drop into my lap. The heavy beads forcing their weight forward. He wants them off me. I realized numbly. Because he hates red. But the cloak is red. I clutched it around my shoulders. Knowing it was the only thing I was wearing. I’d had no option to grab more clothes when I’d fled Gram’s hut. “Was Seth in Gram’s hut?” He asked urgently as I finished my frantic breaths. “Yes.” “Where is Gram now?” “I traded for her release.” “Traded what?” He asked slowly. Worry casting a haze over his eyes as he began to suspect what had been offered. *** “The only thing he wanted was me.” “In you?” He asked crudely. I flinched at the brutish question but nodded hesitantly. “Why would you make that trade?” “He’d have killed her!” I said defensively. He studied me with renewed interest. “You’re certainly right about that. But in all likelihood, you only bought her time. He’ll be looking for her again now.” Wrath stood and I sensed he was preparing to leave me. He can’t go! They could find me! “He promised he’d let her go!” I defended. It was the only reason I did it. “He promises a lot of things...When it suits him.” Wrath countered coldly. “Why would he want to hurt, Gram?” I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt the sweet, old woman that had helped save so many lives. “To find me.” “You?” I blinked in confusion. “I am Wrath.” He said simply. “And these are my woods.” 02 A Haven “I have to go.” He told me. “I have to make sure she’s safe.” “Gram?” He knows her? “Yes. I know right where she’d go.” “Why?” “Because she’s my mother.” He said blandly. “I’ll be back. Stay quiet until then and stay out of my things.” He pushed the bit of wood and the door turned. Allowing him to exit. I realized that as it closed again, I felt like I was in complete darkness. Why had it seemed brighter when he was here? I cowered in the dark like an injured animal. Shuddering. Visions of Seth’s face ripping through my mind and all he’d done to me. *** And after an hour I was no longer shivering I was angry. White-knuckled furious, angry. Wrath came back and when the door turned, I glimpsed it was dusk. Quickly getting dark. He reared back at the sight of my face. Sloshing some steaming water, he held in a bucket. “And they call me Wrath. From the look of your face right now, it’d be better suited to you.” “I feel like it.” Bitterness burned in every word. “What all did he do to you, Girl?” “He hurt me. He took things I can’t ever get back. Least not until I slit his throat.” “You sound very set on that.” He sighed. Dragging a wood chair to rest before me, where I now sat with my back to a wall. “But best be warned that killing a man is never as easy as you think. It’s bloody, smelly, and they fight with all they’ve got. And you’ll have nightmares about it for years to come.” “Not nearly the nightmares I’ll have now...” *** “That may be true...” He said grudgingly. “If I vow not to hurt you, will you trust me to tend you?” He gave me a long look with those intense green eyes and I understood the gravity of what he was asking me. He's asking me not to freak out when he touches me. But in truth, I had no idea if I would or not. The idea of anyone touching me right now made me feel a little ill. But one thing seemed more urgent than that. And maybe if I’m talking I won’t think about it. “How is Gram?” He chuckled and shook his head. “She’s fine. Hard to outfox that old fox but she wasn’t where I thought she’d be. She had doubled back to get to you.” “To me?” “She had grand plans to save you.” He gave me a quick glance. Before lifting the bit of cloth and rubbing it just beneath the shoulder of the cloak. “How could a little old woman come rescue me?” I thought of the raw power I’d felt in Seth’s grip. He’d have crushed her. “You’d be surprised how strong she can be.” He gave me a proud grin. “And she was trying to find me. And I’d have destroyed Seth.” I wasn’t wholly certain of that. The man had been raw, dark, violence. Though Wrath was huge, built like a lumberjack, and wound with a kind of intensity I’d never seen. I had yet to see any of the extreme reactions I’d earlier witnessed. Thankfully. He rubbed my shoulder, beneath the cloak. Massaging out the tension and helping me relax under his ministrations. Soon the warm water was drizzling down between my breasts, and I remembered how bare I was. My eyes rounded and my gaze fell. Seeing that my nipples were jutting and had kept the lightness of the cloak from covering me. Revealing a broad sliver all down my body of creamy bare skin. My hands shot up to cover my mouth. “Don’t worry about it.” He shifted to the side. “Though you’ve a beautiful body, it is just a body at the end of the day. One that currently needs tending.” I chewed my cheek. My cheeks heating furiously as I looked up. Trying to concentrate on anything but the fact that his rag had lowered to brush along the deep purpling bruises near my collar and along the upper swell of my breasts. Then around the rings where he’d gripped my biceps. Soothing away the tenseness until I eventually gave a contented purr. He paused. I peeled open my eyes to look at him and found him standing eerily still. “What?” “It’s just been a long time, since I heard sounds of pleasure on a woman’s lips.” He blinked as if I’d jerked him from somewhere that’d been too painful to stay. “Why?” “Because when I began turning, I became too aggressive for any woman to tolerate.” “Turning?” “Sweetheart,” He straightened as if surprised by my confusion. “Don’t you know, I’m a wolf?” 03 Wolves “I don’t think I understand.” “When incited or under particular types of moons, I become a furred beast. I wouldn’t think it too hard to understand the concept.” “If it was possible!” He smirked, giving me a long look. “Highly possible. I’ll show you soon enough.” He nodded upward. “Now, stand.” I hesitantly rose. My legs shaking as I realized I was completely revealed to him. My breaths quickened as I feared he’d do the forceful things Seth had to me. That I’d gone straight from the frying pan to the fire. But Wrath, despite his name, was nearly clinical in the way he touched me. Wiping dirt and smears off my body and tenderly scrubbing bruises. Making me feel as if he washed away the filthy things that’d happened to me. “I hate him.” I muttered. Staring up to avoid the intimacy of watching him wash my body. One man healing what the last damaged. Soon he was finished and stood and guided me to duck under a branch and then to a narrow, bulky bed in a dark corner. I jerked from in-front of him and rounded to face him. Heart racing. I clutched the cloak closed around me. “Not in the least.” He remarked. Staring down at me darkly. *** “What?” “I’ve no intention of pushing my way on you. You sleep there and I’ll sleep elsewhere.” “Where?” I demanded. “Perhaps where my mother is hiding.” “Don’t go!” I blurted. “You wish me to stay?” He reared back in surprise at the sudden change of pace. “I don’t want to be alone. What if he finds me?” “That’s unlikely. But I’ll stay if you wish it.” He tipped his head down and his waving gold hair swept over muscled shoulders. His brows were a darker shade. Closer to brown and sharply peaked toward the back. His long nose was immaculately straight. And descended over lips that seemed far too full for a man. Every movement they made was somehow mesmerizing. He shifted slightly and I realized that despite everything I’d so recently been through I wanted closer to him. His chest was bare, golden and toned. He wore a bit of leather cinched around his hips. Though it should’ve looked like a short skirt, it looked utterly masculine over his muscled thighs. Every part of him was beautiful. Like carved from the finest metals. I found myself stroking a hand down his thick arm. Wondering why I felt the need to touch him. Why he’s so magnetic, entirely. *** “If you wish me to stay, I’ll stay.” He murmured. I looked nervously from the bed to him. “Not there.” He shook his head slowly. “Not until you ask me to.” I won’t. I never want any of that again. I told myself. But even as I thought it, I found myself wondering things about him. Like how he’d move. Or how he’d touch. And what he’d want from me? He seemed nothing like Seth. The dark creature that ravished me in an old woman’s hut. An evil being, entirely without conscience. Yet, Wrath was the one known to be so brutal. He stepped to a chest and dug something out. It was a simple white gown with laced sleeves and collar. He deposited it over my head and let it flow down over my body. I reflexively stuck my arms through it. Finding that it was slightly big for me but fit me well. He plucked the back of the cloak’s hood and pulled it off me. Tossing it aside. “You hate red that much?” “Who said that?” “Gram.” “Ah.” He chuckled. “Red makes me lustful. It makes me want to mount you. She thought it would make me desire to protect you.” He eyed me thoughtfully. His gaze roving over my dark waving hair and pale green eyes. “She wasn’t entirely wrong.” That’s why she gave me the beads… *** The next few days passed thus. Eerily quiet. With Wrath coming and going as if I weren’t there. At night I rested in his bed. He gave me a poultice created by Gram to apply to my lower region to help me heal. And in three days I found myself completely better physically. And only anger and bitter inwardly. But the sadness had gone. Wrath caught food and cooked it. Though I never saw him eat any. He merely sat back against the wall, his elbows resting on his knees as he watched me eat. It was a strange truce. I knew if I wanted to go home, he’d let me. But how do I know Seth and his beasts aren’t out there waiting. What if I came across them on the way back to Vesvera. The first time I dared leave was when he insisted that I go to the creek to wash. He vowed not to look and to keep me safe. *** We’d only gone a short distance when I saw a brown wolf charging from the brush at us. I shrieked and dodged off to the side. Shrieking as I tried to recall which direction to run. Wanting to get back to the village or even to the tree shelter. But paralyzed by the knowledge that I didn’t know the direction. The white gown twining around my legs and keeping me from going anywhere very fast. But even as I jerked trying to decide, Wrath exploded. Leaping into the air his back cracking and arching and his hands rotating up by his face as they transformed. His fingers linking and thickening into huge white paws. Black coursed up a long bushy tail, crawling over his back and up over his head to stripe down a white snout. Making him huge and stark. As he landed, he was already on the brown beast. Biting fiercely into its neck so there was a brutal crunch. Wrath wrenched sideways and folded the other wolf’s head down against its side and launched his weight against it. Rolling it over so I heard its spine snap yet again. Then it went creepily still. I stared in astonishment from the bulky white and black wolf to the shaggy brown one on the ground, half the size of the one standing. Wrath was indeed a wolf. He had told me that. What he neglected to mention was that he was the largest creature I’d ever seen. He sat pointedly and stared up at me. His mouth opening as he panted from the sudden exertion. “Wha-” My words stopped as his ears perked, and his head whipped to the right. 04 Persuasion Two more wolves charged. Wrath leapt in front of me and crouched and welcomed them with vicious teeth and snarling. Ripping at them both until they collapsed sideways. One did manage to sink teeth in near the ankle of his front paw. I gasped at the sight. Realizing that I’d been the target of the second two. Wrath watched me a moment before grunting and rounding. Padding off down toward the creek. He’d killed them as easily as snapping a rabbit’s neck. He could do that to the leader of the NightHunters. I followed him on hesitant feet. Making my way to the drizzling water behind him. He topped a slight hill and as I came over it, I saw him crouched naked next to it. Splashing water on his face. I dropped a hand to his shoulder, and he growled low in his throat. His head rotating to look at me touching him. I stilled, fearing he’d bite it. “I need you.” I whispered. His gaze lifted to my face and water still dripped from his cupped hands. A question in his eyes. “I want to go after him.” “Seth.” He supplied. “Will you kill him for me like you did those?” He straightened and sighed. Facing me fully. “Are you sure that’s what you want?” *** “It is.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my toes to plant my lips around his. Having to jerk his head down to me. I had to balance on his feet to reach him. But his reaction was explosive. His lips molded to me. And his body smashed against mine. I found myself clinging to him. Wanting more. I realized that I’d been craving this for the last several days. Wanting closer to him. Felt more like a need then a desire. Touching him felt as necessary as breathing. He hooked the back of my leg with his heel and jerked backward. We fell to the ground in a tumbled pile. Him landing beneath us and me on top of him. His hands were jerking my skirts aside. Dragging them up over my hips and exposing my nudity beneath. His touch was rough and urgent. Feeling the same urgency I was. “Stop!” He roared. His hands hovering at our sides as he refused to touch me. “This is not necessary to persuade me to your bidding.” I lifted my head to look at him. “It’s not?” “No. I’ve no qualms about killing Seth for being one of the NightHunters. Much more for what he did to you.” “You’d do that?” “Without blinking. You’ve no need to offer yourself to me as you did him.” Was that what I thought I was doing? The answer came instantly. No! *** “I want you.” I said. “Are you certain you know what you’re saying?” He lifted his blonde head and I was struck by the squareness of his jaw and the vibrancy of those eyes. “I think so…” “Hmm.” He growled. His mouth meeting mine voraciously. He tugged my dress up around my waist. Rolling me onto my back he leaned onto his knees to strip the dress from over my head. His hands started at my ankles and molded up my legs. Tracing the shapes of my calves and thighs and hips to grab my waist and lift me up against his hard length. Jerking me roughly to him. “Tell me to stop now if you’re going to.” He said raggedly. “I’m not certain I’ll be able to cease later. My beast will be in full heat.” “I don’t want you to stop. Take me, Wrath.” And he did. He molded his palms over me like unwrapping a fine gift. Finding every rounded curve and kissing and licking every hollow of my flesh. Discovering my body. I found myself moaning and writhing. “Each sound you make is music to my ears. And this body…This fine body is a primed instrument. I strum.” He rubbed his fingers along my lower lips. I hummed in pleasure. Straining my throat and digging nails into his chest as I felt myself dampening against his hand. “And you sing so pretty for me.” He said in a husky voice. “I want more.” 05 Sweetest Nectar He slipped a finger into me. Watching my face as my body tensed around him. Clutching at his finger as though it were already his cock deep in my walls. “You’re already wet for me. Are you ready Sweet Thing?” I nodded. Feeling the hint of fear enter my eyes. “None of that.” He lifted his finger from between our bodies to shake it before me. “No fear of me. I’ll not tolerate it.” “You’re right.” I breathed. “I don’t fear you. Just the act.” “It’ll be nothing as you knew.” I’m counting on that. Every stroke of Wrath’s golden, fine fingered hands had my body goose bumping. Rippling with warmth. Flushing with desire. My body reacted to him violently. Already tiny muscles in my thighs were shivering with excitement. The anticipation of more. And I wanted more of this man. Much more. *** “Tell me when, My Girl.” Wrath positioned over me. His powerful body tight with arousal. His hardness hovering near my entrance. He barely touched me. Making me want to arch up and see if I could angle the tip of him into me. Feel him. He leaned back. Taking his body from mine. “Ah. Ah. Not until you say the words. You say when.” “Now!” I cried urgently. Sinking my nails into his back desperately and lifting my legs to hook my heels around his buttocks and drag him down to me. I maneuvered myself from beneath him until I aligned with that hard blunted tip. “Wrath!” I begged. It seemed that was the magical word because he leaned forward and entered me slowly. “Understand, My Girl. This is your doing. There’s no force in this taking. You came to me. And you told me what you desired. You cannot now resent me for giving it to you.” He’s right. He was very clear in his intent. He’d ensured I could not blame him in the way I clearly did Seth. I hate him. *** He painstakingly worked into my body. Swinging his hips side to side, to wiggle further in until he was entirely nestled in the cushion of my body. His sack pressuring against my soft lower lips. Deliciously touching me everywhere. I whimpered as I flexed my ass trying to pull him into me. Wanting more. He dragged out. Bit by bit. The heavy head of him opening my walls as it peeled back out of me. Once nearly out, he pushed back inside. Gliding in. My slickness making way for him. I learned the motions. Rising to meet him. Our bodies rocked together. He quickened the pace. Thrusting harder into me until I felt the tensing that pulsed through me. Making my fingers flex and then convulse, biting into the skin of his arms as I held onto him like he could somehow anchor me when I felt I was terribly close to shooting off into the sky. The more I drove my heels into his cheeks, the harder he pounded into me. Working his lower body had every muscle in his stomach tightening as I gave the root of him deep pleasure. He was moaning. Long, drawn-out sounds that made my own primal ones rise. I was soon screeching into the morning air. The sound echoing through the trees and making birds flutter skyward in the distance. The desperate cries of two creatures mating. He took me and I accepted him. Pulling him into me. My walls fisting around to grip him. Clutching him in and making his breathing become more ragged. Dropping lower. I lifted my hips, using my legs around him as leverage to do shorter, faster strokes. My fingers raking his arms as they dragged down. “More.” He growled. Lurching back on his heels to catch my hips. Lifting them and slamming them toward him to drive him deep into my center. Rocking me as if I were propped on a table to serve him. I felt vulnerable, desirable. The animalistic female inside me wanting to glimpse the beast in him. To let him have me as the animal he is. I leaned up. Dark hair falling down my back in deep brown waves which dropped over his forearm, scooping my lower back. I bounced over him. He guided the motion. Controlling the speed as he propped me up and down along his length. We were both clutching at each other hungrily when I saw a bloom of light behind my eye lids. Rolling from my core up through my chest and erupt in a cry of pleasure. Hanging onto his shoulders. “Yes, My Girl. Give it to me.” He thrust harder. As though I’d just given him a taste of the feast he wished to consume. 06 His Intentions I heard the sounds of our flesh slapping together. Felt the dampness between us from my pleasure. Washing over him. Knew that what we were doing was somehow ecstasy and my shame all at once. But I didn’t care. I was absorbed in the sensations I was feeling. My breasts scraping against his chest as he held me to him. Moving me up and down on his rod. I felt him hardening and he tossed his head like a wounded animal before lifting it in an instinctive roar as he poured into me. Planting me down hard on him so he could reach as far in as possible. Filling me with his seed. He drew a long breath and his head fell to meet my gaze. “Sexy little Vixen, aren’t you, Woman?” “My name is Cerise.” “Cerise…” He turned it over. “It sounds as beautiful and exotic as the woman herself.” I wondered if he’d still be saying such things to me were I not still impaled on him. Our chests flattened together. His arm looping my lower back. Connected as intimately as two people can be. “Was that enough?” I asked. His eyes narrowed. “Enough for what? To do you bidding? I thought we’d discussed that. To sate me? Not nearly.” With a growl, he lifted my hair and sunk his teeth into my shoulder. Piercing my flesh. *** I was still hazy with pleasure and only half registered the intense pain. His bite was far deeper than Seth’s had been. I felt one tooth scraping bone. “Wrath!” I shrieked in objection. Pushing at his chest. “What are you doing.” He lifted his head. Blood seeping over his chin. “Doing what needed done before the pleasure had worn off.” “What needed done.” “It’s a round moon tonight. He’d marked you as his and would be able to track you through that mark.” “Seth?” I said. “Yes.” “What did you do?” “I overrode it with mine.” I frowned at him. Wondering if it was like when a dog pissed on a tree and a bigger one came by and peed on the same tree. Was I the tree? As disgusted as I was at that thought, it seemed I understood the concept. “You said nothing to me.” “You’d not have consented anyway. And we couldn’t have delayed.” “So now you can track me?” I registered with huge eyes. “Yes.” *** The next few days passed in a blur. Wrath was true to his word. He led me out that first night and stationed me in the woods in a pool of silvery moonlight. The red cloak over me and little else. Making me look like easy prey. Then he rubbed his shoulder against a few trees in the area. Scenting them in a way that would indicate to other wolves something interesting had been here. Immediately luring the NightHunters. And they certainly came. The first night was the two that’d been with Seth, or so Wrath told me later. They were the ones always with him. His personal bodyguards. He also told me that Seth was the alpha of the NightHunters pack. And at his death his children would inherit rule of the pack. If Wrath let any of them live. *** I’d asked him one day what the feud was between he and them. “I protect the villagers.” Was all he’d say. Not much more than the lore of Wrath had told. I wanted to know more. I want to know everything about him. The second night was the night he set me out as bait for Seth. And Seth came. But Wrath was waiting, stepping between he and I. Though I was nearly vibrating with the terrible prospect of Seth possessing me again, he never had a chance. Wrath attacked and without proper backup, Seth stood no chance. Wrath bit through his throat. Tossing him to the ground with a shrieking whimper before chomping brutally into the flesh. Biting, crushing, and jerking until he had entirely severed the gray wolf’s head. He bit it between his teeth and in the moonlight I walked with a hand to the monstrous wolf’s back. His coat covered in blood. And we walked the miles to the edge of NightHunter territory where he set the head purposefully on a boulder overlooking the encampment. Seth’s head. He’ll never touch me again. And I lowered to a knee to drop my forehead to that of the huge wolf. He bowed his in return and we shared an intimate moment before we aimed back toward his tree shelter. To hunt more tomorrow.

SUMMARY: Red was the color I always avoided. Because we all knew about the wolves that hunted in the woods. And the biggest one of them all hated the color red. So, I thought I was safe without it, but I wasn't ready for the creature that came calling at Gram's wanting information. I only wanted to take some bread to grandma. I didn't expect to walk into the middle of a territory war or the price I'd have to pay to keep her safe. But the price the alpha of the NightHunter Pack wanted was a high one to pay. Especially to protect a man I didn't know and had never met. But for Grandma...I'd do nearly anything... 01 To See Gram The direction he came from was filled with giant mushrooms and tiny fluttering fey. They intermingled with the black trimmed orange butterflies which twisted through the fragments of light. Trying to dry their dewy wings in the early morning sun seeping through treetops. But down here the morning fog held fast. Hanging low and covering everything like a hazy gray blanket. As the man walked through it, it dampened his pants, making him pull the flaps of his red velvety cloak tighter around him to block against the moisture. He wore the garment with the hood pulled up over his head. The hem just brushing the grass around his feet. It was long enough that it just fit his tall frame. He was moving so early in the morning, because he had great purpose. A set look in his brown eyes and intensity making his whiskered jaw tighten rhythmically. The trees thinned and the grass was shorter, the mushrooms less colorful as they parted the grass with their tan and white tops. Tiny purple flowers crept through the grass on wild vines. They crunched under his heavy boot, as his feet found the path toward the small hut with the thatched roof. A tiny hut which leaned predominantly to one side. Two other men stepped to his flank. “Is this it?” “This is her.” The leader said. “She’ll know where he is. And he doesn’t get away this time.” The leader said it with determined finality. “We’re ready boss.” The bigger of the two rolled his shoulders in preparation for battle. “Stay out here. Out of sight. Let me know if anyone comes but don’t make yourself obvious unless I tell you to be. If it’s him. Let him come…” “Yes boss.” The tall, wiry one nodded. When Seth, the leader looked back at them both the others lowered their heads in deference. Grunting in satisfaction, he headed in. There was a woman’s terrified scream as he threw open the door. But it was quickly stifled as he overcame her. *** Cerise...My name meant red. It was odd to think it. Especially, when I came from a whole town afraid of the color... I felt a little guilty as I headed off toward Gram’s with a basket full of homemade bread, I’d safely tucked away. Folded under linens light enough to refrain from smashing it. I headed out today in my simple brown gown. A worn one of my mother’s that she’d hemmed in for me. The sleeves of my white undershirt billowing around my arms. Keeping me cool enough to not be bothered by the spring heat trapped in the trees of the forest. Enclosing all the humidity in miserable pockets separated by cool expanses. My only extravagance was the necklaces of thick beads which Gram had made me. Often offering me a new one and telling me they’d keep me safe on my walks into the woods. Even though they were red. I was looking forward to the walk with my friend, Betty, today. A refreshing break from my chores. Betty decided to walk partway with me, as she often did. About halfway there she’d turn back. “Why do you bring these out here every week, Cerise?” “The bread?” She nodded. “Because you know Gram hates coming into the village!” I gave her a look. Sensing we were going to have one of our frequent disputes over Gram. Betty doesn’t like her. I suspected it was because Gram had tried to save Betty’s little brother but hadn’t gotten there in time and her magic was rendered useless by the lack of time. “She still has to, Cerise.” “But not as often.” I countered. “Your mother is still making them because of your dad?” “Yes, if it wasn’t for Gram, he’d have died of the palpitations. You know that.” “She creeps me out.” Betty shuddered. “You know how many people she’s saved.” “I do. Still creepy.” “I love Gram.” I defended. The sage old woman had taught me a lot about mixing potions and healing herbs. “Most of the villagers do. That’s why everyone calls her grandma.” It was true. She wasn’t truly any of our family. He was the village healer so despite being a hermit who resided a way, outside of Vesvera village, she was usually well-tended. Everyone’s grandma because what she did with her herbs and potions was so important to us. And grandma had no family, so we all served as her children. She’s saved so many of our loved ones. She’d supposedly had a son once, but no one knew what’d happened to him. It was thought that the wolves that haunted these woods had gotten him. That’d been before the hunter came. *** We reached the midway point and Betty turned around and began to head back to the village. Leaving me alone to tread the darkest parts of the forest. I was careful walking the dirt trek leading to Gram’s house. We all knew of the wolves that filled the length of these woods. However, there were very few surrounding Vesvera because of the hunter. Only a few of the villagers had ever seen the protector of our section of the woods. They called him Wrath. The biggest of the wolves out here had seemed to claim this as his territory. He was the only one I was ever worried about coming across. However, it was said that generally one was safe from him as long as they weren’t wearing crimson. It was well known that for some reason, the color seemed to trigger him, so I was careful never to wear it. Other than my pretty necklaces Gram gave me. Which I always ensured were safely tucked under the hem of my white undershirt. Gram’s tiny hut came into view. I noticed everything was eerily quiet here. Undisturbed. It seemed like even the birds dared not peep. I noticed the butterflies that always haunted the path and tended to linger on Gram’s roof were gone today. Odd. I shook off the weird feeling and headed in the door. 02 Trapped As soon as I entered, my arm was caught, and I was dragged into the room and around to slam my back against the wall. Nearly knocking the air out of me. I found myself staring up at a tall, slender man. One I’d never met. “Why are-are you in Gram’s house?” “Why are you?” He demanded. His authoritative tone spurred me to answer despite myself. “She’s my friend.” I peered around him and saw Gram in the distance. She was sitting in her old rocking chair. Tipping it slowly. “You shouldn’t have come, Dear.” She shook her head. Though she was trying hard to make her movements look calm, it was clear they were not. She’s scared and anxious. Why? “Why are they here, Grandma? What’s going on?” “We need her to tell us something very important.” “So, tell them, Gram.” “I cannot!” Gram snapped angrily, rocking faster. “What is it, Gram?” She said nothing. The leader kept pressure on my shoulder to ensure I couldn’t go anywhere. He twisted around. “Tell me where he is!” He demanded. She tightened her lips. The wrinkles at the corner of her eyes grew strained. “Who?” I asked tentatively of the leader. His head whipped to see me. “Her son!” He pointed behind him angrily. “I-I know where he is…” I said. “Cerise!” Gram objected. Leaning forward and trying to silence me. Her eyes desperate. “Where?” The man roared. His attention focused on me hatefully. Brown eyes cold and flat. “I’ll-I’ll t-t-take you to him…If you let her go.” I nodded toward Gram. He grinned slowly. Eyes going hooded. “Oh, it’ll take a hell of a lot more than that, Sweetheart.” “L-like?” I was scared my hands were shaking. Is he going to want to kill me instead? His eyes drifted over my face and down toward the rise of my upper breasts shadowed beneath the filmy fabric of my white undershirt. He massaged the round of one with his thumb resting below my collar. I caught my breath as his meaning became clear. *** I chewed my lip a moment. Gathering the remnants of my slippery courage enough to blurt. “If I let you, will you release her?” He chuckled coldly. “Who said I need you to let me?” That made me swallow a lump in my throat. “Will you let her go?” I persisted. He dropped his hand. “I suppose. If you’re real good and you tell me what I want to know, I could do that.” “Let her go first.” “Why?” He reared back in half amusement. Eyeing me sideways. “Because I won’t do anything for you otherwise.” I jutted my chin in a way that made my mom reiterate it was why I was so old and unmarried. Still in their cottage instead of with a husband. “Let her go.” I forced strength into my voice as I commanded it. “Fine. What do I call you, Little Firefly?” “My name is Cerise.” “Pretty name.” He commented offhandedly. “Tell me what you’ll do for me, pretty Cerise.” “Whatever you need. If you let her go.” “Fine.” He tilted his head to inspect me. Catching a lock of silky black hair to stroke thoughtfully with his thumb. “But if you don’t show me where to find Wrath after, I’ll break you…” I met his look. Feeling my heart racing in my chest as I wondered how the hell, I was going to pull this off. “Do you understand me, Cerise?” He said my name slowly. Making it sound far more intimate than it should’ve. *** “I do.” “Good.” He walked over to stick his head out the door. “Let the old woman go. Stay where you are.” There are more people out there? It occurred to me that was why all the creatures had been silent. Why I’d felt such a sense of unsettle when I’d arrived. I should’ve gone to get help then. I cursed my fool actions. But I didn’t know. “Go, Old Woman. I’ll find your boy. One way or the other, his reign is coming to an end.” He walked over and pushed open the door. Leaving it gaping. Gram eyed me as she hesitantly walked toward it. She suddenly stopped and reached to close the door. Deciding she won’t leave me. “Go, Gram.” I said. Giving her a long look that I hoped would convey that I couldn’t fight them or try to escape if I had to worry about her. I need her to go now. She returned my gaze. Her fine white brows drawing together on her tanned forehead as she looked strained. “Go.” I mouthed. “Please.” She chewed her cheek and looked morose as she stared at me. Stepping out the door and looking at me until she’d eased from a clear view of me. “Go, Gram.” I called to her. “Hurry.” The man walked over and jerked the door closed with a bang that rang with finality. Like the cage door sealing. “Now, Pretty. Let’s have a look at you before we get down to business.” 03 So, It Begins He stepped back and gave my length a long study from head to toe. Making me feel as if I was already standing before him unclothed. I instinctively crossed my arms over my chest. I gave him the same study. He was tall with a very slender build, but he exuded power. Control. Like someone who would let no detail escape his purview. His complexion seemed naturally dark. As he lifted a hand to massage his jaw, I noticed it was as sinewed as the rest of him. He pushed the hood of his rich red cloak back, exposing red-brown hair which flowed back to his collar in thick straight strands. He was handsome, strong and confident. But something about him made me feel very small and vulnerable. Perhaps the way he is looking at me? Like I’m a delicious snack rather than a person. *** He unlaced his cloak and tossed it back onto Gram’s narrow bed. Revealing that his chest was bare beneath it. He wore only the brown breeches and boots. He kicked those off and headed for me. His hand moved purposefully to his side, and he drew a long silver blade from a sheath at his side. His pace didn’t slow until he stood so close before me that I could feel his breath fanning my face. He caught my fists. At first, I grimaced, thinking he was putting the blade to my neck but instead he gripped it over my fist and moved my hands down to my side. I found myself flattening my palms against the wall behind me to keep from reaching up to stop him as he caught the neck of my shirt and pulled it from against the hollow of my throat and away from my skin. Putting the blade against it and pushing it down. Severing the garment with barely a hissing sound. He paused when it reached the bodice of my brown dress. He pushed slightly harder, and I gasped as I felt the blade tip and caress between my breasts and trace along my skin. Not quite deep enough to cut but certainly enough to scare me. He dragged it down to where my dress became too fitted along my belly, just as my skirts started. I held my breath as he sheathed the dagger and caught both sides of my dress. Jerking hard to rip the fabric apart. I turned my head away. Feeling like it was far too intimate to watch the intensity with which he was examining my heavy, brown tipped breasts. Dangling just below the heavy lines of thick red beads. His tongue snaked out to lick his lips. And I could tell his palms itched to touch me. “Please.” I murmured. Staring at a side wall. “What?” “Don’t-don’t look at me…Like that.” “Oh, Sweetheart, I plan to examine every inch of you, thoroughly.” I chewed my lip and tried to stamp down the ever-growing fear that was blooming inside me like a spring flower. “And I think you’ll find you rather enjoy looking me over as well.” He gave the last little tear and my skirts finished splitting. He eased the dress open and pushed it over my slim shoulders to fall to the ground. He immediately encircled my waist, likely noticing it ranged a little thicker than most, and my hips were far too large, a fact I hid by wearing more flared skirts. “All this soft flesh.” He growled. Sounding pleased as he jerked my hips forward against him. I yelped. He leaned forward with a wicked smile to whisper near my ear. “I can’t wait to sink myself into it.” “What do I do?” I asked. He grinned. Making his face brighten and his eyes seem to dance with some excited intent. He stepped back from me and began unlacing the front of his pants to kick them down and push them off. Tossing them aside. Exposing his pulsing hardness. Already excited from the sight of me. His legs were thinner but well-muscled and wound with wiry hair. He snatched his cloak from the bed and lifted it in a billow of red velvet as he swung it out before letting it settle over the floor. He settled on top of it. Easing his shoulders down before lifting his head enough to curl an inviting finger at me. The movement made his stomach flex with rippling muscle. His hips and pelvis were lean. Making it look it look like the lines tightening over his hips led directly to the nest at his center. A place I found mesmerizing and couldn’t look away from. “Come here.” He lifted his hand in a beckoning. I walked over and knelt at his feet. Crawling over him while he watched. Brows lifted as he enjoyed the view of my hanging breasts as I moved over his legs. Trying to prolong the time it took to get to him. “Hold it.” He commanded. “Right there.” *** I looked down and saw that just below my chin was his hard rod. “Put your mouth on it, Cerise.” “I…” He leaned up. Face hardening. “I could have them go get your precious Grandma now. They could run her down in an instant and drag her back.” He caught the back of my head and helped angle it down. Slowly pushing to guide me down until my lips kissed the head of him. “Good, Girl. Now open your mouth.” I parted my lips to object, but at the same time, he lifted his hips a few inches. Making his cock intrude into my mouth. The feeling was strangely odd but somehow pleasant. The skin was soft like cotton over metal. He instantly moaned deep in his throat as he pushed into my mouth fully. The tip of him brushing the back of my throat and stretching the tissue. He growled as I took him in. 04 Owned For a while I massaged him with my mouth. He guided my head by loosening the pressure than lightly pressing me back down. One time he went too far, and I tried to object but realized that it only pressed him further into me. He gave a pleasured snarl and began jutting into my throat. Uncontrolled. Finally, I could take no more and lurched off him. Rearing back and angrily wiping my mouth. Glaring at him vengefully. “What are you going to do, Pretty? Glare me to death. You’re the one that made the deal…Just remember that.” “Not much of a deal.” “Oh…” He made a fake sound of sympathy. “You were awful quick to offer it when your Gram was on the line, now weren’t you?” I hated that he was right. “Now hop up top.” He caught himself and waved it slightly. I eyed him in horror. “I don’t know how.” “Lift up.” He gestured with his head toward my hips. “And I’ll show you.” I straightened and slid up on my knees until I was hovering over him. He greedily caught my round hips, massaging his fingers into the soft skin. Giving an appreciative half-smile. “All of you has been made to welcome a man. Can’t wait until I’m stuffed inside.” He nodded toward the nest of my sex. I felt my cheeks heat, unbearably. No one had ever talked to me like that. They wouldn’t have dared. *** He lined me up over him. “Now lower.” He said huskily. I swallowed, steadying myself as I looked upward. Praying for strength as I began to relax my thighs and ease myself down and back toward my heels. I felt the sturdy jutting of him, aligning with my crease. I jumped up a little at the contact. His grip became biting as he slowly pushed me back down. Flexing his ass and stroking forward and back as he massaged my entrance. The feeling was shockingly pleasant. At first it felt a bit rough but was soon smoothly gliding. Then he leapt up, pushing beyond my entrance. I hissed through my teeth and lifted some, but he caught me before I could go far. Holding me steady for him as he did tiny thrusts, working further into my body. Pervading the soft hollow in the center of my body. Rising beneath my pelvis. Making the pressure feel as though it was going forward, back and opening both sides until my hips stopped the stretching. He tugged me down further until I was fully nestled atop him. “Ah.” He groaned in pleasure. “You do feel better than a summer day.” “Mmmhmm.” He moaned, satisfied. “Now ride me. Hard.” I gave him a confused look. He worked my hips forcefully forward. I gasped as I felt pressure deep into my second entrance. Making me feel like he was interrupting the mouth of my very womb. Stealing my innocence. He pushed my hips back and then changed the angle of his hands to yank me forward. Making me stroke along his length. He growled. Leaning up to watch where we joined. Seeing him delving further into me then retracting. “Now that’s a pretty sight.” “What?” “Me fucking your pretty little pussy, Sweetheart. Owning your body. It’s at my disposal right now. Bringing me pleasure.” He pressed me forward and back faster. He angled his head back as he felt the rising pleasure. “Making my flesh feel good. Deep, deep inside you. And soon I’ll rise and spill seed into your core. And you’ll take it. Like my dutiful little hole.” His wicked words made me shiver. I cried out. Feeling my body cinching around him. Clutching at him wildly. My body became rigid, and I was panting as I fought the wild waves of something I didn’t understand clawing through me. Making everything inside feel tighter and tighter. The necklaces around my neck and resting along my collar seemed impossibly cool. My skin goose bumped, and I realized I needed to get off him before I exploded. Fearing what would happen if I didn’t, I reared off him. Rolling off to the side and trying to flee toward the door. As my hand caught the handle, his arm circled around the front of my hips and hauled me backward. Jerking me in a half circle to bend me over the foot of Gram’s bed. Folding my chest across the top. “Have it your way.” He growled. Kicking my feet apart with his before he entered me brutally. I cried out and clawed at the blanket. Already feeling the hint of soreness fighting him. Making the inside of my body want to close enough he couldn’t make entry. Instead, it just made it fist around him. Fighting to keep him inside, making him drag through me. The tip of him unable to come out fully as my body gripped him. Enhancing his pleasure as my body held him in me. Then he’d grunt and lurch his pelvis forward, immersing himself fully back into me. Making me clutch the coverlet harder. With each forceful prodding. “You should’ve just let me spill into you.” He was leaned over my back. His chest smashed against my skin so he could speak nearly into my ear. His hands gripping my wrists to keep me pinned to the bed while he rocked forward and back. In and out of me. Making my body rear forward with every rough stroke. “I was so close.” He paused to give a long growl of ecstasy. “And so were you.” My hardened nipples scraped over the blanket, and I was crying out every time he entered me. Feeling them bob and drag over the wool. His taking was anything but kind now. He worked a steady rhythm. Pulsing into me. The bed creaked beneath me. As if complaining of its rough treatment. My hips were pinned where they were by the heavy footboard. Feeling him cramming into me like a root taking hold, only to draw out and then force in again. He released one of my wrists to catch a fistful of my hair. Pulling it back to keep me steady for his penetrations. It made the clicking of my beaded necklaces more pronounced as they jangled together. I yelped and tried to wiggle away but it only made him growl in his throat as if the small motion gave him more of what he wanted from me. The sounds of his pleasure were nearly animalistic pants now. My thighs shook as that familiar tension was climbing through me. Making my legs tighten, spread open as they were. His bruising pounding against my tender lower lips was somehow making his piercing seem even more intense. I could feel his body pinning every inch of me. Making me completely vulnerable to him. 05 Oh, Yes “I can do this all night.” His lips brushed the shell of my ear. “So, you might as well cum on my cock because I’m not stopping until you do. I’ll rut you all night until you admit you’re as much the animal as me. You’re liking the way I feel rooted inside you. You like being pinned down beneath me and being dominated by an alpha…Don’t you Cerise?” “No. No. No.” I shook my head. Making my hair tug in his grip. “Oh, yes, you do.” He growled angrily. Giving my hair a rough pull. My mouth opened and a tiny gasp escaped my throat. But he wasn’t slowing, Keeping the brutal thrusting rocking into me. Making me slide along the coverlet. Clutching it to try and hold onto some sense of reality. But the heat of his chest warming my back. The feel of muscled legs pressed to mine and the aching intimacy of him joined into me was too much. “No.” I cried as I felt a tidal wave of heat surging through me. “I’ll stop.” He warned raggedly. “If you don’t say it, Cerise.” He slowed slightly. Making his threat seem more sincere. No. I couldn’t imagine him stopping when I was so close to touching some other realm of sensation I’d never experienced. Feeling the sense of being utterly full of another human was overwhelming. All consuming. And I want more… *** “Yes, please…” I begged. Relieved when he speeded up again. “I want it!” I moaned in defeat. Admitting to him what I hadn’t even wanted to admit to myself. He was bucking into me. Mounting me like a stallion on a mare. His weight holding me still for him as he surged in and out of me like a wild animal. Seeking his pleasure hungrily. “Ah, ah.” He was grunting wildly. “Take it Cerise. Take me.” Then he went iron hard. Swollen beyond what I thought I could bare. Then I felt the hot moisture pouring into me. He gave long breaths of relief as he found his release. “That a girl. Take it…” Then I felt the sharp sting. The biting pain of teeth piercing my flesh as he sunk them into my shoulder. Drawing thick red drops of blood which slid down the curve of my back and poured over the back of my arm. “Ouch!” I shrieked in objection. Forcing myself deeper into the bed in order to try and escape the pain. My face was contorted in agony as he held on. His grip on my skin unrelenting. “Let go! Please!” Finally, he did. I dropped back down flat, crying against the coverlet. Shocked by where this sudden vicious attack had come from. 06 Can’t Be Held I shuddered beneath him. Feeling his sweat-coated weight dropping over me. Too weak to hold himself up for a moment. Too weak to hold onto me. I skid sideways, twisting to rotate his weight onto the bed. And ripping off his relaxed staff, to swing sideways and grab his red cloak. Tossing it over my shoulders as I leapt out the open shutters. Landing on my shoulder on the ground and rolling to my feet like my brother had shown me to leap from the stable loft. Then I ran. Fast as I could. Praying Gram was somewhere safe by now. I leapt logs and went further into the woods. Wearing only the cloak for cover. *** I didn’t stop running until I was deep in the trees. Deeply lost having no idea how near or far the trail was. A trail I need to find to get home. Then I heard the first wild snarls of the wolves. Howling cries and thudding paws. Twigs snapping beneath them. The sounds seemed to be coming from behind me. But from every direction at once. How many of them are there? I was beginning to feel the first trickles of renewed panic. The wolves. I knew those sounds. Everyone in the village had been warned to run from them. But they were animals born of these trees. I’ve no chance of escaping them in it. Suddenly I heard an echoing snarly from further in the trees ahead of me. Louder and more ferocious it seemed to echo off every boulder and branch. Rumbling over the landscape. I paused and looked both directions, crouched in a run. I have to go somewhere. I decided to run North as I had been and hope I’d find my way back to the village before that monster of a wolf found me. It felt like I’d been running for an eternity. My feet ached from things I’d stepped on and I had to clutch the folds of the cloak to keep it from hooking on everything behind me. It’s too big. But I ran as though the devil possessed me. Which he had. Just a short time ago, he’d been buried in, to the hilt. I mourned the loss of everything I’d been before that horrible moment. But there was a tiny part of me that was angry. And it grew fiercer as I thought about the moment he’d bit and held onto the skin of my back. Hurting me in the only way he hadn’t already. I didn’t deserve any of it. But I’ll pay him back one day for what he made me do. I’ll find out who he is, and he’ll pay… Just then I slammed into a solid wall. I looked up and met the fierce green gaze of the most vicious looking man I’d ever seen. “Red.” His lip curled as he eyed my cloak. Then his gaze slid down, and his face softened as his eyes settled on the dark blotches already forming on my arms and legs. “Come.” I followed behind him on leaden feet. Hoping I wasn’t leaping from the pan to the fire. And he looks far more dangerous than whatever that was back there. I grimaced at the thought. He tugged me around to the back of a huge tree and pushed the side of his hand on one section. Making a chunk of bark the size of a door twist to reveal the gaping opening. He ducked and stepped through. Reaching back out to snatch my forearm and pull me in behind him. “Quick.” He urged. I stepped through and he pushed the door. Rotating it closed. I looked up at him as everything beyond the tree became achingly silent. He stood listening. Staring at the wood behind me as if they might come pouring through the door any moment. “Who are you?” I asked puzzled. His eyes flitted to look at me. His gaze fixating on the dark red beads around my neck. “My name is Wrath.”

SUMMARY: It was only a painting. But it had stolen me at first glimpse. Then he came and he wanted back what was his. He was willing to make a trade. One night of all his skill in pleasuring for the returning of his portrait. How could a girl say no to a face like that? Even when she was certain there’d be no happy ending to this tale... 01 The Acquisition I had never really been one for paintings but something about this one spoke to me. It could've been the man's smokey gray eyes or the way he looked at you through hooded eyes with a lowered head. Like he knows something I don't... I'd ended up at the auction only because my boyfriend, Tim, had dragged me here. He enjoyed the sophistication of the events, dressing me up like a pretty doll, and wearing his own expertly tailored suits and perfectly tied cravats. Cravat. I almost giggled to myself. It seemed such a strange word for modern days. The auction was being held in some man's mansion. Tim knew him. I didn't. But it was quite lovely. White walls with a vaulted ceiling. Accompanied by a low hanging chandelier with diamond shaped bulbs illuminated the room in a warm glow. The tinkling of glasses echoed in the large room. Waiters walked around offering everyone more wine and expensive hors d'oeuvres. Music which seemed far too old for the time played from a speaker a distance away. The tables were covered in lavender laced cloths, and everyone was beginning to sit down with their little numbered signs to begin the bidding. Men were adjusting their suits as though they were preparing for some sort of battle rather than readying to raise their sign a few inches. I nearly laughed. This wasn't my type of setting. But Tim liked to take me places like this to 'show me off' he called it. *** I listened to the jumble of murmured voices and masculine laughter. Women tossing little furs over their shoulders as they giggled in response. As if they had any idea what the men were discussing. I don't. I was willing to admit it. These were the items that a museum had acquired a few years ago. But during recent renovations they had found higher valued items so were willing to let these go. There were some shiny things that I barely paid attention to as I expected a roll of meat and cream cheese, assessing whether there might be some manner of fish eggs in there. But eventually they lifted the painting, and I felt my whole body stand to attention and my gaze was drawn to see what they were presenting. I was shocked at the stark colors of it. With a flat brown background, it made those gray eyes seem somehow brilliant. His black hair had a velvety sheen like a bird's underwing. I felt like I could walk up and reach through the painting to touch him. He had a square jaw and a somewhat pointed chin. With high cheekbones and darkly lashed eyes, his face looked angular in a way that seemed to express the intensity of the man. He was leaned forward in such a way that I almost felt like he was preparing to speak to me personally. “Tim…” I touched his forearm. Staring at the painting unable to look away. “You want it, Sweetheart?” He asked. I nodded dully. “Then of course it’s yours.” He lifted his number and the auctioneer pointed at him and called out an exorbitant number, but I barely heard the interchange as other men competed with Tim. If I’d managed to peel my gaze away, I might’ve noticed that nearly every woman in the room was staring at the painting the same as I was. Blatant lust on their faces. *** I’d hardly noticed that Tim had won the painting. Other men apologizing to their forlorn wives. “You’ll have your painting, Marissa.” Tim beamed at me. He was always trying to please me. It was rather touching how hard he tried. He had plenty of money and was fine enough to get many women, but he enjoyed having me on his arm. Like a trinket he’d found in a small town and polished to be shown off. I knew it was a matter of time before he’d lose interest in something shiny and new, but I’d enjoy the peek into the extravagancies for now. And his willingness to get me things I desired was certainly appealing enough. But these facts weren’t on my mind as the painting was brought out and handed over to Tim who took it and leaned it against my chair. I found myself grinning unstoppably as it was lowered next to me. And as my gaze returned to the auction, I found myself absentmindedly stroking the top of the frame like a woman would a lover’s hand. 02 Home with Me Once back home I found it irresistible to hang the painting immediately. Taking it to my room and adjusting it along my wall. I had to take down paintings of an old ranch house and a sunrise, but they now seemed so inconsequential compared to the depth of this man’s face. And I wanted him lined up with my bed so, after adjusting it side to side a few times until it was perfect, I could return to my bed to look at it. I was still staring at it as I reached behind my back to awkwardly catch the zipper of my slitted black dress. Tugging it down made the shoulder straps dip forward. One of them sliding over my shoulder to dangle along my bicep. In a way I felt the heat of the painting’s silvery gaze as if he watched me undressing. Bidding me to do more. For him. I licked my lips. Looking back at him as I slid my shoes from my feet and tossed them along the wall. Then opened the part in the side of my dress to begin rolling down my stocking. Taking it off before hanging it over the back of the wooden chair. I did the same thing with the other. Stepping from the dress I folded it over the seat of the chair. I straightened in only my thin lacy braw and stringy underwear. I walked closer to the painting to peer at the insignia in the corner. One hand braced on the wall so I could look more closely at it. I couldn’t read the artist’s signature. But just above it he’d kindly printed ‘A Face of Gray.’ Gray? I looked at the man again. He looked so life like, I’d almost felt like his penetrating gaze had moved to watch me rising from the corner of the painting to look at him levelly. I gasped somewhat startled but as my gaze roved the intricate detailing, I realized I was just being foolish. Overly fanciful. My mind returned to the mystery of the man. Why ‘A Face of Gray’? Because of his gray eyes? Or his gray clothes? Or had that been his name. I could picture him having a name like Baron Graystoke and being haughtily dubbed ‘Gray’. I fancied it. Imagining him as some grand lord who’d have left ladies swooning. I loved the idea of that time period. *** I finally turned my back to the painting to walk across the room, promising myself I could study him more once I was laid down. I passed the large black and gold shoe chest at the foot of my bed. As I walked, I found myself looking into the mirror above my bed and seeing my cloud of silky brown hair down in waves around my face. My large brown eyes seeming somehow hollow compared to the depth of Gray’s gaze. I slid under the blankets in my bra and underwear. Liking the feel of the cottony sheets under my back and up across my chest. I propped the pillows up so I could stare at the painting a long while. Wondering who he’d been and what he’d done and why the artist had decided he should be the subject of his fancy. Without meaning to, I was lulled into sleep. Sliding down the pillows and further beneath the coverlet. *** I never heard the sound of a haunting sigh feeling the room. Nor did I see the way the painting seemed to smear. Dragging down from the frame until the face of the man became a hollow shell. Looking more like rotting flesh barely hanging on the skull then like the man I had been so besotted with. As the colored oils reached the bottom of the gold frame they bowed out as if slipping over an invisible border to reach the floor. Outlining the form of a man before hardening into shape. I woke with a jolt. Immediately recognizing a presence in the room. I gasped and sat up. Clutching my blanket to my chest. “No need for that.” He rumbled. A black silhouette moving along the wall. He seemed tall and broad-shouldered. He stood just from the moonlight seeping into my room. Carefully evading the light. Purposely avoiding it. That made me even more leery. He doesn’t want me to see his face. I wondered if he’d followed me home from the auction to attack me. How’d he get in? I remembered locking my apartment door. And everyone had to have a specific four-digit code to get through the front door. He could’ve seen someone type it though. Could’ve followed me and seen me do it. I realized. Gut sinking. “Who are you?” “Does it matter who I am?” “It does when you’re in my room in the middle of the night.” “I’m here for the painting.” He said tonelessly. “I’ll take it and go.” “You can’t have it!” I screeched in panic. Leaning forward threateningly without even meaning to. Threateningly? What am I going to do? Throw a pillow at him? I chastised myself. “You could take something else. But not the painting.” I nodded toward several other valuable things strung across my bedroom. Things Tim gave me. “I don’t want those things.” I felt his gray gaze sliding over me. Memorizing the form, he could see outlined by the thin summer blanket. “What if I could offer you something better than the painting.” He moved along the wall in the utter darkness. “Like what?” I put my hands to the blanket so I could shift. Twisting to keep him in view. Growing slightly excited as he drew near the slash of moonlight from my window. I might get a glimpse of him. I could give a description to the cops if I got a good enough look at him. “Like the real flesh and blood man. Rather than his image.” He purposely slid his face into the silvery light. Revealing the stony gray eyes and the sleek black hair smoothed back from his forehead and curling at his collar to ease over his shoulders. My mouth gaped as I stared in awe. Leaning forward to peer at him. “H-how?” 03 What I’d Agreed To “Don’t worry about how.” He directed harshly. I saw the moonlight glint of something which shimmered as he whirled it in his hand before slamming it to the floor and holding it near his hip. A cane? I registered that it had a strange narrow diamond grip. “What are you going to do?” “Hmm…” He rumbled. “I’m offering you something I’m very good at in exchange for what belongs to me to be returned to me.” “What do you mean returned?” “You take my painting to this address.” He’d somehow drawn close enough to me that he now stood at the side of my bed. Offering me a faded address scribbled on a bit of parchment between his fingers. I reached up and hesitantly took it feeling the finality of it. Understanding I was making some sort of exchange I didn’t completely understand the significance of yet. But from the moment I took that parchment I’d agreed to take what he offered and deliver his painting to whomever was at that address. What have I done? *** As the scrap slid from his fingers into my hand. He seemed to grin in a way that made his lips part too far back along his cheeks. Baring more teeth than he should have. His eyes became hooded with knowing and he purposefully licked his lips. “Good, Girl.” “What are you?” I whispered. He quirked the corner of his mouth and twitched his fingers in a motion away from me. Making my blanket jerk off me so fast I yelped as it piled at the foot of my bed. Revealing me lying in only my scanty undergarments. I crossed my legs to better conceal myself from his view. Draping my arms across my chest and hooking the opposite elbows. “Immortal.” He answered simply. “Is all you need know.” He stared down at me from next to my bed, like I was some naïve little animal, eying him. He drew a long breath and the moonlight dumped into the room. Brightening my taupe carpet and making the cream-colored walls seem inexplicably white. Making my skin luminesce. “Who are you?” “Ah, Little Sweet. Now that is the question you should’ve been asking all along…I am Dorian Gray. And I’m here to fuck you.” *** “I don’t…” I was shaking my head. “I don’t know-I think…I wasn’t…” “You do want me to.” He responded as though I was wasting his time with all my blustering. And damn him, he’s right. I could already feel my juices flowing in my soft pussy. And my body was begging to feel him. There was such knowledge in those gray eyes that I knew he could satisfy me. Take me to new heights of pleasure. And I was eager to let him stuff inside me. To feel him all over me. “Now, first.” He made some small hand gesture that was too fast for me to catch. I heard the creaking of my bed posts and looked at the one nearest me. Seeing the winding bits of wood representing vines untangling from around the large post. It rose like a serpent and stretched over to me. Weaving and bobbing as it seemed to float before snatching one of my wrists. Spinning around it before I could react. I squawked and clawed at it with my other hand. Yanking my arm in a desperate attempt to free it but the wood was unrelenting. In moments, I felt the jerk of another catching my other wrist and yanking it back at the same time one snatched my ankle and began pulling me down the bed. They both retracted and tightened until I was stretched taut over my sheet. The final one catching my other ankle until I was well and fully pinned down. I was gasping. My small breasts straining against my bra as I panted for air. My brown eyes huge as they stared back up at Dorian’s satisfied gray ones. “Now,” He said decisively, spinning his cane so the flat end was pointed at me. He hit a button and a small, curved blade snapped free from the side and folded straight out. He’s going to kill me. I began twisting and dragging my heels across the bedding in truth. I opened my mouth to scream, but he shot a hand out sideways and my black nylon stockings flew across the room from the chair, into his empty hand. His fingers locked around them and he shoved one in my mouth behind my teeth. Pinning my tongue down and making it so I could make no sound. I flailed and tossed resisting being silenced while he stabbed me. But he simply stood there with the pointed tip of his cane facing me. And my stocking draped over the fingers of his other hand like a casual wine glass. He lifted it to his face and took in the scent of my skin. “Your aroma is…tantalizing…” He purred. “I can’t wait to fill you. Stretch you until you writhe in pleasure and scream with the agony of overwhelming sensations. For tonight, Sweet Thing…You’re well and truly mine… 04 Touched by Dorian Gray He took that curved blade like a hooked finger and swept it under the center of my bra. “Off with this.” A quick jerk shredded the garment and sent it tossing open along my arms. Exposing my small breasts and the large, pointed nipples. Already erect as if awaiting a mouth on them. “Now,” He tilted his head to look at the tiny panties barely covering the small dusting of hair covering my sex. “I can’t get inside you with that in the way, now, can I?” He caught one strap over my hip with that blade and shredded it. Making them whip open to expose me. He moved down the side of my bed to catch a fistful of the loose satin and yank, making it snap free of my other thigh, so I was entirely visible to him. Spread open and gagged. His to be had. I shivered. Somehow terrified and exhilarated. Knowing how vulnerable I was and that I could do nothing to stop him when he chose to crawl over me. And put his hard cock inside my softness. He was right. I was his toy now. And he would undoubtedly pleasure himself inside me. I was panting behind the gag. Watching him with eyes both afraid and excited. What’s he going to do to me? *** “Don’t look at me that way, Sweet Thing.” He cooed. “I’m only beginning the fun. He spun his cane in a smooth motion that made the diamond shaped bit of crystal point at me. He reached over and lightly tapped it against the wood frame of the bed. Again, I wondered if he was trying to break it, so he’d have something sharp to stab me with. But even I saw the lack of rationale in that. He could’ve just stabbed me with the knife if that was his intent. Suddenly I understood when he lifted the cane and I saw the bit of crystal vibrating wildly. He put it against my sternum just under my chin and drug it down until it rested between my breasts. Somehow the heat of my skin and the energy of my flesh filled it. Making the crystal shake harder until the soft flesh of my breasts bobbed side to side against it as if I rode a train. “Do you feel it?” He asked. “The pleasure of a cold touch? An inhuman touch on your body?” He dragged the cane thoughtfully across my body. Tracing the mound of one breast until the vibrating crystal shuddered against the high, thrusting brown nipple. “Look how tasty you look…” There was praise in his voice. I could bite that nipple while I have your legs wrapped around me sinking into you. Holding you still for me while I work in and out of you until your nails bite into my back. I wanted to try to ask from behind the gag, how I could do that when he had me completely restrained to the bed. Instead, I held my silence and chose to take it as a hopeful sign he didn’t intend to keep me that way. *** He retracted that cane and I suddenly felt very cold and bereft. My skin tingling as I yearned for more of his touch. He tinked it against my bedframe again and I worried it would break but it didn’t. Somehow designed for torturing women in this way, it was heated and vibrating as he slid it over the curved plane of my belly and down to my lower lips. Turning it so it moved inside the lips. Making me moan and writhe as much as my restrained legs would let me. He took the time to frame each of my legs with the heated stone. Slowly dragging it across me until my skin felt alive with need. He tinked it on the frame again and then pressed the tip to my lower lips pressing one aside then the other as he stood at the foot of the bed. Turning his head admiringly as he gazed at my shape. I was moaning and begging behind my gag, but those small desperate sounds only seemed to make him more inclined to take his time. I turned my ankles in an effort to close my thighs around the stone. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to force it deeper or shove it away, but I needed something. Urgently. “There’s nothing more beautiful…” He murmured. “Then the need on a woman’s face as she is craving being fulfilled. Her pained anguish as she yearns for the feel of a man inside her…Nothing is more erotic…” “Please…” I managed to beg around my gag. “Please take my time?” He lifted a black brow over a gray eye. “Don’t worry Sweet Thing. I always do precisely as I wish. I’ll torture you as long as it makes me hard. And then I’ll shove my cock inside you when I’m ready to feel your heat biting down around me. And touch every inch of your flesh as though I own it. You’re mine tonight, Sweet Thing. For whatever I wish.” “But…” I tried to murmur around the gag. Why me? “There’s no buts now, Sweet Thing. When you brought my portrait into your house you invited me inside you…” 05 Pierced Then he tapped that crystal again and this time he angled the slightly rounded diamond tip, so it separated my lower lips and touched my core. Then without preamble, he thrust the stone and bit of wood inside me. I arched and tried to withdraw from the sudden intrusion but found that neither was as sharp or uncomfortable as I feared. They were somehow smooth. And the stone was heated like someone’s hand had been around it and the wood containing it was icy cold, creating a contrast that sent my nerve endings quaking. The vibrating feel of the stone shuddering inside me had me pressing against the cane as if begging for more. I was flexing my ass so I could slide slightly up and down on it. Though he held it in place the vibrating was creating a wicked friction that was still stirring me to mindlessness. “Now you can speak.” And he yanked the stocking from my mouth. “My God…” I breathed. Whimpering as the vibrations made me shudder again and again. Finally, my whole body clenched, rolling forward into as much of a ball as the restraints would allow. It felt like some wildly pleasurable seizure as every muscle in me bunched and shivered then released. Sending wet surges pouring through my core and slicking the staff he was gliding slightly in and out of me. “You love that, don’t you?” He asked. Lowering his head. His gray eyes burning me with his intelligence. He knows the body of a woman. The sounds of her pleasure. And how to offer it in such tiny increments that when she cums it’s like a small death. I realized it suddenly and now understood the mystique and fear surrounding myths of Dorian Gray. And I wondered if I would survive whatever he was going to do to me. *** “Now.” He said decisively. Retracting the cane and withdrawing all that pleasure he’d just offered me with it, he dropped it with a thunk next to the bed. “You’ll do that around my cock, Sweet Thing. I’ll feel every inch of your pleasure rip through you.” He shucked his clothes so quickly I didn’t know what he’d tossed off first and the moonlight seemed to glow along skin that might’ve been too pale on any other man but just led to his immortal appeal. His eyes seeming that much darker as he came up from the foot of the bed. Locking eyes with me as he purposefully crawled up the bed. I could see that he had a large member, and it was already swollen and veined. A slow grin turned his features, and he followed my gaze. “Oh, yes. I’m ready to be inside you. And it’ll fit. Just might take a minute.” Or more. I cast him a fearful gaze. But his grin was unflinching as he dropped his weight over me. I felt horribly vulnerable knowing that once he was inside me there’d be no getting him out. Not how I was restrained. With wooden posts binding me down. *** His hands roamed freely over me. As if he owned me. Just as he’d said they would. He was touching me everywhere. I’d never felt so possessed by a man. I could already feel the rigid tip of him probing my entrance. He swayed his hips side to side to peel me open for him. Giving a satisfied moan when he felt how soaked I was. Ready for him. Moaning in pleasure he entered me. Sliding in and straining my walls. Even in this he was methodical. Gliding inch by inch and opening me further then I’d ever been stretched. I was starting to get nervous and realized I’d tightened around him like a fist until he could move no further. His breathing became ragged. “Gripping me like that might make me spill into you far faster then I’d intended. Are you going to let me in, Sweet Thing or will I have to force my way?” I drew a shaking breath. “That’s it.” He encouraged. “Breathe…Relax. Let me burrow all the way in…” And he did. I moaned and my back arched as I was pierced more deeply than I’d ever been. Feeling him stretching every wall and pushing at the tiny fabric of skin deep beneath my pelvis. Even as he stopped there it felt like he was still swelling inside me. Widening and lengthening so I had to wiggle my hips to adapt to him. “Good…” He coaxed. “Now how would you have me, Sweet Thing? Soft and loving and pillaging and taking?” *** I knew what I wanted but didn’t know how to tell him. And was somehow afraid of the consequences if I said it aloud. His gaze roved my face, and a knowing look came over him. He’d had countless women over the centuries he’d lived, and he’d learned to read the face of a woman who wanted loved and a woman who wanted possessed. It was always there. Written all over her if one looked deep enough to see her darkest desires. And Dorian always did. “You want taken.” Sweat from the nervousness began to bead on my brow but I nodded hesitantly. Still, I was somehow not prepared when he put his hands to each of my biceps to pin them down and turned his face into my neck to bite me. His teeth sinking in just enough to be painful and keep me still but not enough to distract from the weight of his cock jamming into me until every part of my body strained. My breasts smashed into his chest as my body arched to accommodate him but had nowhere to go, between the restraints and his pinning teeth. “Mmm.” He growled at my vulnerability. Beginning to charge in and out of me. Banging hard against my soft lower lips as he rammed into me over and over again. Stretching me until I cried out. At first it was from the pain when he pierced deep but that abated and soon it was the deep pleasure of his roughness. His furious taking as though I were his slave, and he were declaring his ownership of my flesh. Page Break 06 Pillaged He palmed my breasts and nibbled down my neck until he could bite my shoulder just below my collar. Holding me in place while he tweaked my nipples and twisted them slightly. Making me lurch up slightly as he met my thrust. Pounding into me even more deeply. I squeaked in pain at the shock of what I’d done forced him deeper. He growled animalistically. Both of us were already covered in sweat. I came again. Whining as the pleasure became overwhelming and I clenched around him. But he didn’t slow down. Continuing to drive into me relentlessly which only pushed me to newer heights. “Please, Dorian!” I begged. “No. You’re mine.” *** Just as I thought he’d cum and the relentless slamming into me would stop he whispered a word. “Release.” The posts of my bed snapped free from around me. The wood vines creaking as they retracted and wound around the wooden corners. Hardening as they stilled and became all that they’d been before. Harmless. He caught my hip and yanked it with him as he slid over the side of the bed. Guiding my feet under me and forcing me to stand. He kicked my feet and had me walking forward. We rounded to the end of the bed, and I stared down at my black and gold shoe chest. “Kneel on it.” “What?” I looked over my shoulder. “You heard me.” He shoved me down on it. My knees automatically folding to bear my weight. He caught my narrow waist and scooted me forward until the front of my thighs were over the footboard, keeping me from going forward with his weight behind me. My only choice to try and get some space was to scoot back and he was already there. But this time I felt his huge, rigid cock rubbing my puckered little hole. “Not my ass.” I whispered fearfully. I’d never been taken that way. “You’re afraid?” He asked. “Yes.” I whispered. “Good.” *** He angled himself and began pushing inside. The pressure was intense. Slowly I began opening and let him in. “No!” I cried out. Gripping the footboard as my back straightened. “Ah, ah.” He chided. Clucking in his cheek as he pressed my back down until my nipples grazed the blanket. “Let me have it.” “I…” “I asked you what you wanted, Marissa.” He’d stopped moving as if posing the question again. But I was shocked into stillness by his use of my name. “How do you know my name?” “I know everything about you now, Marissa. From the moment I entered you, I absorbed all things about you.” *** It seemed painfully intimate. That just by being inside me he could know all things about me from my name to the fact that I’d always been curious and afraid of how a man would feel in my ass. He knew. I was certain of it now. “That’s right, Marissa. You want me here.” And he finished pressing into me. Filling my ass until I felt that my hips had to part to make way for him. “Dorian!” “Stretch for me, Marissa. Let me have your pretty little ass. I can feel you sucking me in. Your body trying to drag me deeper even while you scream.” I knew he was right. Even the intense pain of raw nerves being touched, and flesh being stretched in new ways wasn’t enough to stem the exhilaration of the pleasure tearing through my body with each inch he was deeper inside me. The feel of him completely impaling me made me feel as though he owned me. “Dorian!” I whimpered just as he was fully in me. His pelvis pressing my cheeks apart. “There you are…” He purred. “Oh, you feel good. Your tiny hole sucking me like the best mistress…I’m going to cum in you now, Marissa and when I do, you’ll become fully mine…Forever…” Before I could pick apart what he meant, my body spasmed in pleasure. My back craning back toward him. And feeling his abdomen tightening as he buried deep inside me. Spilling hot fluid inside me. “Yes, Marissa!” He gripped my hips so tightly his knuckles turned white. His head threw back and he moaned my name again. Like some sacred prayer. “Marissa…” I felt a piece of my energy escape. Seeping out of me and charging him. He moaned at the feel of it, and I felt him shiver. I looked back at him and saw his hair lengthen slightly and become shinier. Even the tiny wrinkles at the corner of his eyes smoothed until he seemed even younger. And I felt myself beginning to wrinkle along my hands and at the edges of my face. He was stealing my youth but somehow, I didn’t care. My mind dulled and I realized all I wanted was to belong to him and to do what made him happy. “Now, Sweet Thing.” He leaned forward to kiss my shoulder. “Take my painting to that address…” He backed away. I watched over my shoulder as he gradually faded into the dimming blackness until he seemed to vanish into my wall. His face dissolving over the skeletal image of him until it aligned once more with his face. Becoming that mesmerizing portrait again. When I stood up, I looked in the mirror and was vaguely surprised at what I saw. I saw an old woman. With withered skin and flesh hanging from her arms and stomach. Eyes that seemed bleary and too tired to care what I looked like any longer. I sighed mournfully and rounded the bed to pick up the address. Feeling like I’d not sleep until I got the portrait to that address. I must do what he wants. I must please him. I have to see him again…It was all I could think. As though nothing else in the world mattered any longer. THE END Part of my Filthy Fairytales Short Erotic One Shot Series BOOK 1 - STOLEN MERMAID BOOK 2 - WITHIN THE FRAME BOOK 3 - A SINGLE TASTE BOOK 4 - THE CERISE CLOAK BOOK 5 - RED & WRATH (The Sequel to The Cerise Cloak) BOOK 6 - MY KING

SUMMARY: When a single bath in the woods catches the eye of something a bit more than mortal, I could’ve never foreseen the consequences of the path he’d lead me down. But my Jason meant the world to me, and I’d not be led astray. Not by even the most tempting morsel. But could I resist so easily, the most tempting creature to walk between realms? That’d prove a less simple feat. But one wrong choice could land me in the fey realm for all of eternity. How far can one woman’s self-control bend before it breaks? Especially when presented with the most delicious things. How much harm could one, tasty, little bite do? 01 Caught Bathing I knew how my maids would’ve warned me against bathing in the creek. Knew they’d be upset I’d wandered so far into the woods by myself. But I enjoyed the slight sense of adventure. My father had even taught me to hunt, which had only fed my desire to always be out here. There’s something mystical about the peace of the woods. I caught another handful of the sun-kissed water and let it drizzle coolly over my skin. Washing away the heat and sweat of the morning spent entertaining other ladies in the gardens of Millen Manor. I felt the cool touch of the water dancing around my ribs and occasionally sloshing up to brush the underside of my breasts which hovered just above the surface when I stood in the water. My small, hard nipples tightened against the breeze that wafted through the trees, teasing them. I heard a branch crack and I ducked into the water. Peering at the border of the trees, I glimpsed the shadowy cloak of someone standing just beyond the dense branches at the border of the far side of the creek. I saw brown eyes looking back at me from between a few lower branches. I made long eye contact with the stranger. A man who was watching me bathe. *** “What are you doing here?” I queried in the boldest voice I could muster. Wondering if he’d soon be dragging me out onto the bank to force his way into me. Holding me down while he rode me. I’d seen it happen to the maids often enough. Though they didn’t object, the act itself seemed unduly violent. “What are you doing in my woods?” He moved further along the trees. “This is Millen Land, Sir.” “Not hardly.” There was a low chuckle. And I could feel his eyes roving over me as if he touched me. Though I could only see the shadow of the top of his head. “I’ve owned this land since long before any of your kind existed here.” “Who are you?” “Who are you to intrude in my woods, in my water?” “It is none of your affair who I am. As I said, my family owns this land.” “You’re a Millen gel then?” His voice was husky. Feeling almost like velvet across my skin. In a way it made me yearn to throw back my head and feel that voice rumble along my vulnerable flesh. “I am a bathing woman, and you have no place here.” “I could haul you out of that water.” I grimaced, his threat hitting far too close to where my own fears had lain just a short moment ago. “And I’d scream loud enough to rouse the house out to your pretty woods.” I threatened venomously. He laughed. “Full of fire, aren’t you, Sweet Thing?” “You’ve no idea.” “I plan to, though.” “Oh, and how might you manage that?” “I’m a hard man to resist.” He said simply. Then I heard leaves and branches cracking. Sensing he was leaving. *** I slipped from the water and caught my nightdress from the branch dangling over the water. Where it let the hem just brush the swaying surface. I tossed the billowing garment over my head. Cinching the laces that tightened the waist as I rose from the water. I looked down and saw where a bare foot had stood on the grass watching me. His foot. I couldn’t resist following the trail a little ways. Seeing his tracks marking the path he’d taken. I put one of my bare feet into the mud where his had been and saw a flash of a dark castle. Festively lit by endless candles. Cheerful laughter filling the room and the most delicious scent of roasted duck billowing around me like a foggy cloud. His words echoed in my head. I’m a hard man to resist. I brought my feet to a screeching halt. I envisioned my Jason’s face. My precious fiancé. The man who loved me no matter what. I’ll not betray him by wandering into the woods after another man. But turning around was the hardest thing I’d ever done. Every fiber of my being was screeching for me to follow the man’s footsteps. Discover where he’s gone…Who he is. But I didn’t. I began walking back toward the creek. Toward where I knew there was a small crossing bridge that lifted over it. But just as I reached the fragmented land bridge, I heard the pounding of thudding hooves. I glanced sideways in time to catch sight of a giant stag lurching from the trees. 02 Castle of the Fey His great antlers jutted out like wild tree branches. Twisting like ancient twigs. It was by far the biggest deer I’d ever seen. Something that can’t exist. He was bigger than a horse. And stampeding toward me. His cloven hooves tearing through the moss and foliage along the forest floor. Throwing up clods of dirt around his shoulder as he rushed. I knew I should run but I was frozen where I was. Unable to move. My feet had suddenly sprouted roots that wouldn’t let me go. “No!” I shouted, tossing my arms over my face to protect myself. The stag didn’t even slow. Just lowered his head to scoop me onto his antlers. I shrieked and balanced amidst them. My hands pricking on the sharper points. Tiny bits jabbing into the back of my legs as he carried me at this roaring pace. My voice became one long resonating scream. *** I didn’t know how long he’d run because I’d been too busy clinging to him and trying not to fall before him to be trampled underfoot. But hanging on was like clutching the top of a rushing carriage. Little to hold on to. The trees became strange as we went further. The leaves turning a gilded shade. Shimmering gold as each shined like a precious stone. We brushed under them but didn’t dislodge them. As if these trees weren’t alive. They’re something else. Permanent centurions guarding this place. As we drew near, their lower branches lifted like arms rising to let us pass. They rattled and clattered like made of armor. As they peeled open, I was stunned to see what was revealed. A towering white castle. Made all of shining marble. *** It was the most gorgeous structure I’d ever seen. With tall parapets and gold rooftops. White balconies framed by gold rails. It looks like something from a dream. An unreal place. Soon the stag reached the drawbridge and it lowered before us for him to cross. Then the massive gates to the bailey swung wide and even the double doors of the castle flew open. Their black ringed handles thudding along the wood as we ran by. We slowed as we entered a grand banquet hall. The click of wooden cups on tables ceased. And gowns of every shade of spring swept over the room. Beautiful women with heavy curls piled atop their heads hung on the arms of silver-eyed men. The way they moved was ethereal. Slow and somewhat disinterested as they turned to watch the stag entering the center of their Banquet Hall. As if it is the most natural sight for them to behold. Every piece of furniture I saw was embroidered in gold. And upholstered in rich red velvet or dried furs. Everything is beautiful. Every woman, man, bit of furniture, chandelier or tapestry is stunning. I was paralyzed by the sight. And somehow as the stag lowered me the great antlers became arms that set me on my feet. I turned to look and found myself face to face with the man that’d watched me bathe. “Now, Sweet Thing, ask me who I am?” I licked my lips and tried to gather my composure. Realizing that the room had silenced the moment he spoke. “Who are you.” “I’m king here. King of these woods. King of this land. King of all things Unseen. And you, Sweet Thing are in my court now.” “What does that mean?” I asked nervously. “It means that a single taste,” He lifted his finger pointedly. “Of anything within my hall and you become mine forever.” “And if I taste nothing?” “If you can resist the temptations of my Castle, for one night, then you may return home.” “How many people have left your Castle?” “None so far.” He took a step back to gesture at the number surrounding us, proudly. “But I must warn you, you will end up in my bed.” I was already shaking my head. Thinking of my fiancé. My Jason. But the Fey King leaned forward and pressed his lips to my ear. “Oh, you will. And I’ll be buried to the hilt in you.” I shook my head with my mouth gaping but was afraid to deny it for fear that he’d only become more adamant. I could feel I was on tenuous ground already. He’s all powerful here. I didn’t have to see the way those in the court watched him to know. I could feel his power everywhere here. It was all consuming. Like a flavor on one’s lips which touched from every direction you turned. Like his fingers could stretch from any corner. This was the sort of place where hands would reach from walls to caress you while you slept. 03 Temptations The Fey King turned my shoulders and faced me toward the endless table. And I instantly wished he hadn’t. There was any tasty little morsel that a woman could desire laid out before us. On a platter next to me where the ripest red strawberries I’d ever seen, still heavy with fat droplets of dew as though they’d only been plucked moments ago. Next to them were pieces of dark chocolate chunked into squares. Beyond that was sugared pastries. Drizzled with icing and stuffed to brimming with blackberries and apples. Glazed vegetables glistened in the center, as if covered in a layer of wax. Beyond that was the roasted duck. So aromatic that its rich buttery flavor was already caressing along my tongue. And surrounding it were tiny baked quail. There was a boar which had been slowly cooked over flames hours ago perched at the other end of the table. A ruby apple looking crisp from its mouth. Bits of yellow fruit strung over its back. Wine and steaming tea filled pitchers along the table. It looked like enough food to feed all of Millen house for a year. I’d never seen so much to eat in one place in one night. “What is all this?” “It is the sweetest food you’ll ever taste. The most satisfying meats you can imagine. The ripest fruits to ever cross your lips. If you don’t take a bite, you’ll regret it for the entirety of your life…If you do…” His voice dropped meaningfully. “Then you stay with me, forever.” “I have someone back in the city.” I said slowly. Trying to rip my gaze from the food and blinking hard to resist staring at it. My hand was lifting without conscious thoughts to reach for a pastry. I had to push it aside with my other to stop myself. What’s happening. “Is this fey magic?” “Call it fey magic. Call it human temptation. Whatever you wish to define it as, it’s the same thing.” His low, rumbling voice, sent goosebumps coursing over my flesh. Making me shiver as his merest touch brushed along my skin. I wanted to lean back against him. Drop my head to his shoulder and feel every inch of his length pressed along mine. To learn his body as well as I know my own. I’d never felt something so overwhelming. I was nearly dizzied with the sensation. *** “I won’t touch any of it.” I said. My voice weak even to my own ears. Already I was less sure than I’d have told myself an hour ago, I would be. “Why wouldn’t you want to?” He teased. Turning me to face him. I found myself staring up at magnetic brown eyes. Eyes that when I looked into, I noticed tiny green and gold flecks. Irises which seemed to swirl in a hypnotic way. Perfectly symmetrical features. A square jaw and a straight nose, dark brows beneath a few loose curls of dark brown hair. Everything about him seemed to exude life. But these people are trapped here for an eternity. I told myself. Looking back at them and wondering how many of them might’ve been the same as me. A simple girl bathing in the woods lured here by the Fey King and his dark magic. *** At some point the King had begun swaying me side to side and now had me fully dancing in his arms. Far closer than was appropriate. My body molded to his as we moved as one. I noticed that everyone else was dancing in slow intimate movements around the banquet table. The same as we did. As if they are bid to mimic his every movement. He twirled me and I realized that my billowing white nightdress had now turned a shining red velvet. Etched in green vinery across the low bodice and winding around my waist to send curling vines over one hip. I gasped at the sight of the fine garment. “You’re a beautiful creature.” He brought me against him again. His hand linked tightly with mine. As if I might try to escape. He held our hands aloft above our heads as he tilted me to walk sideways with me to the steps of beating music that had suddenly begun somewhere in the hall and now echoed off every wall until it became a rising crescendo. Humming along my flesh and vibrating my most intimate places. I gasped and my head fell back as I felt quaking between my thighs as if an earthquake shook me with its ferocity. “So beautiful.” He leaned forward to palm my throat and caress a slow hand down it’s column to span the top of my chest below my collar and sliding further until his long fingers brushed the rise of my breasts. And lower. Suddenly he caressed a fingertip and a thumb over the distended nipples. Rubbing them in quick short movements that matched the vibrating low in my body. Everything in me tightened and I blew a long breath. My next tone caught, and I stumbled a step in the dance as I tried to clutch my thighs closed. My back arched and a vicious climax tore through me like a whirlwind. Ripping from my core to wind through me. Like wild currents that didn’t stop until they crackled from my nipples to reach his fingertips. I was almost shrieking in pleasure. My hand clutching his overcoat to hold myself up. He gave a deep chuckle as he turned me again. Somehow making my feet lift in step to the dance despite that I was suddenly so weak I was clay in his hands. 04 Not the Last When my body stopped shuddering and my back was able to bend from the rough curve it had clenched into, I found myself staring at him helplessly. “What was that?” I queried. “That, Sweet Thing, was only the first of many I’ll give you.” He looked over my head as he spun me again. “So, many…” And as he turned me again, I stared at him in horror because despite my certainty that I could keep from plucking up even the merest bit of food in honor of my sweet Jason, I was now very sure that I had no hope of keeping the Fey King from possessing me until the morning. He grinned and his gaze brightened on my face. “Ah, there it is…Now you know.” “Know what?” “The surrender is there, in your eyes.” I noticed there was some heavy accent to his words. As if the human language was foreign to him. But it wasn’t any accent that I knew. He’s utterly exotic. Inhuman. *** He dipped me backward in the dance and there was an explosion of bedding as I fell into his giant bed. Nearly spanning an entire room. Though I was sure he’d catch me anywhere I landed on it. “I can’t.” I objected wanly. “Jason…” “Jason isn’t here.” His face was between my breasts. Lathing his way down my sternum and kissing wetly along my ribs as if he were tasting me. Like I’m the precious morsel. He licked the underside of my breast and trailed it up to latch his mouth over my nipple. Tossing the blankets back around his shoulders. I couldn’t even remember him taking off my dress. But I recalled the sound of ripping fabric. Was that him tearing my clothes or me, his? I was almost too terrified of the answer to remember. But I was so dizzied by his touch that it was nearly as if I was intoxicated. What was happening to me seemed to go in and out in fragments. The haze of pleasure was nearly overwhelming. My hands had wound through his dark hair. Feeling the silky thickness and tangling in it as I clutched him to me, desperately. As if I was afraid, he might stop. Please, please stop. I thought. Because it was becoming increasingly obvious, I couldn’t gain the willpower to stop him. His hands were everywhere. Touching me in slow swirling caresses that left me panting. The more sounds I made, the more fevered his touch became. “I’m going to possess every corner of your flesh.” He kissed up my neck. “Fill your holes until every part of you is yearning for me.” The truly terrifying part was that I was certain he was right. *** “Jason...” I murmured. “Your ‘Jason’ isn’t here, Sweet Thing.” He showered kisses from one side of my neck to the other and down my body. His lips felt like satin. His hands followed the curves of my hips to reach beneath me and scoop my buttocks. Guiding my thighs open as he drew me to him. I’d never felt so many sensations at once. Heat, his hands which seemed to be everywhere, smooth lips touching my most intimate places. His knowledge of my body exceeded my own. He knew every place to kiss or caress that set me on fire. He leaned his pelvis forward and I felt the heavy weight of his member dragging along my crease. I gasped and gripped along the bedding. Searching for something to hold onto. To anchor me to reality. *** His fingers slid from beneath my ass cheeks to touch along my entrance, rubbing in circular motions. “Please!” I begged. “Please, what, Sweet Thing?” “Stop! Please stop.” I gasped. “The wetness of your body tells me you want otherwise.” He continued his ministrations. Working his nimble fingers as he looked at me steadily. “Is that really what you want?” I wanted to nod. But despite all my commands, my body wasn’t cooperating. “Could you imagine...” He caught one thigh and guided my leg with a sweeping caress to fold over his hip. Flattening his palm on the outside as he dragged it more roughly back up the length to reach my hip, side, ribs and breast. Palming it as he pressed me down. He did the same with his other hand on my other leg as he slowly, methodically leaned over me to whisper near my forehead. “If I stopped now. If I left you like this, walked away before you were filled, left you yearning and wanting.” He kissed my bangs lightly. “I could you know, if that’s what you really want.” He moved lower so he could look in my face, waiting. I was mesmerized by his green flecked, brown eyes and perfect features. His skin was smooth. Shimmering nearly gold in the flickering light of the nearby fire. Which danced over his flesh. His lips were swollen and hungry. His gaze nearly starved as it roved over me. I could physically feel how ravenous he was. His deep desire to take me. To feel my wetness wrap around him and my body suckle his as I took him in. I was panting in short breaths. Just trying to breathe. I was drowning in sensations. In his need. And I could do nothing other than fulfill it. I lifted my hips to him as an offering. “Take me?” He grinned, slow and evil. And he jerked forward and glided into me in one smooth thrust. *** I yelped. Reaching to grab his shoulders with biting nails as I felt my body abruptly open for him. Swallowing him in. Tiny fragments of me giving way to make a path for him until he wholly filled me. Entering me before I could object. Before I could think. Of Jason. My poor Jason. “There will be others.” He whispered against my cheek as he rhythmically moved into me. “Other men who will,” he groaned in pleasure. “Want you, feel you. And offer themselves to you. Jason will not be your first.” He leaned up to grin at me. Because that is now clearly him. “Nor will he be your last.” But that seemed almost ominous. Like a threat that he will be my last as well. 05 A Crescendo I shook my head. Trying to sweep away the daze of feelings I was experiencing. Think of something else. The sin of this moment. For a moment I wondered how many women he’d had. How many have been taken in this castle? In this bed? He was moving over me. His smooth body, slicking with a sheen of sweat as he slipped in and out. Stretching me to accommodate his length. Then moving back out. At first, I was very still. Unsure what to do because I was so shocked by the sheer intimacy of having a man’s body in mine. His thighs moved within the nest of mine. His ankles draping over mine. One hand caressed leisurely circles around my breast. The other held my cheek as his lips descended. Tasting mine from different directions as he stuffed me full. “Please...” I begged. Not even certain what I was asking for. “Not yet, Sweet Thing. Not nearly yet.” *** I understood why soon after that. Muscles in my body began to draw tight as a bowstring. My knees curled up slightly. My toes winding tight. My back bent at an angle I’d never contorted before, dropping my weight to the back of my head. My hips shoved themselves more firmly against him to meet his writhing thrusts. Even when he ground his hips into circles against me. Dragging himself through me at different angles. I made some short, primal, female noises as he took me. Soon writhing beneath him as everything in me tensed. Then I exploded. My body feeling like it shattered into a million fragments. Lights burned behind my clenched eyes and the air became purer. My nostrils filled with his alluring male scent. My nails raking into his back and down his arms only made him give a low, pleased chuckle. He wants it all. All of me. I suddenly understood that with him I could do no wrong. As long as I’m beneath him. At mercy to his sway. “Let me go.” I croaked. He laughed unsympathetically. “Why would you ever want to leave. When I could take you each night. Cover you in this sweat. Bring you to these heights and watch your towers crumble night after night until you are vulnerable to only me. Mine entirely.” “And who would you belong to?” I countered viciously. Trying to gather something to put between us, at least mentally. “You.” He pushed into me hard to make his point. “Don’t you feel that I do right now. You have me. My most vulnerable places at the mercy of your body. The things you could do to harm me.” His voice dropped dangerously. “To please me...” Why did he make me shiver when he said it like that? *** Before I could even clear my muddled mind, he sat up and caught my legs tighter around his waist. Working into me more deeply and becoming more feral as he took his pleasure from my body. I wanted to resent him. Wanted to feel filthy for what he was doing to me. But looking at his chorded, beautiful body, all I could think was that I wanted more of him. I want to possess him. I want him for mine. But instantly a tiny voice asked me how many other women had lain beneath him in this bed wondering these same things. I won’t be one of those hapless women! I promised myself. But despite all my valiant thoughts, I came again. Quaking around him. Vibrating him inside me as my walls caved to suckle him warmly. Taking the wild spurting of his pleasure deeper within me. Touching my very womb with the evidence of his animalistic ecstasy. “See, Sweet Thing?” His head fell and his dark eyes were on me again. He was very still, buried inside me. “I told you it would be like this. And don’t we belong to each other now?” *** Before he could say anything more in that persuasive, appealing voice, I lifted off him and skid between his elbow and hip to slide from under him. Rolling to my feet and taking the sheet with me. Twisting it around me hastily. “No! I do not belong to you!” I looked out the window and saw the first glimmers of an orange dawn creeping through the gold trees. Making the light explode of their gilded leaves. “See! It is morning already!” I cried. Pointing triumphantly. “And I ate none of your blasted food!” The fiend had not won. My body may have surrendered shamelessly to him, but my spirit has not. He sighed and rolled onto his back. A pillow tucked behind him as he sat up against the headboard. Carefully inspecting his fingernails. “Be careful you don’t annoy me in your triumph, Sweet Thing.” His voice held a harsh, commanding note now that warned me of something bad. My stomach sunk. Why not? What more will he do to me? 06 Freedom I had earned my freedom, hadn’t I? He can’t take it from me. I ate none of his food. I recalled the conditions he’d put on me here. I was staring at him, waiting for him to make some move. But he made none. I picked up my dress but found it tattered as though a bear had clawed through it. Apparently, it had been my dress tearing. That answered that question. “There are more in the armoire.” He gestured with a thumb to a vast wooden construction standing near his side of the bed. Still seeming preoccupied with his own hands. Hands that’d been all over me. I stepped over his white dark shirt and realized it too was in pieces. I tore his clothes as well. I’d been in great haste to feel his skin. The images of me touching his chest before he’d shoved me back on the bed, came in flashes. How I’d caressed over him reverently. Wanting to feel every part of his body. *** Closing my eyes against the images I fled to the armoire. Tossing open the doors to grab the first dress I saw. One of silver satin with shimmering lace over it. I snatched it out and climbed into it. Not even bothering to do the fastens on the back, I clutched it to my chest. “Which way is out?” Giving me a lopsided grin, he didn’t move. After what seemed an eternity, he slid from the bed onto his bare feet. My gaze was instantly drawn to his cock. The bare piece of him that had sunk into my flesh. It was large and imposing. Making me take a step back as I wondered if he’d take me again. Certain I could no more resist him now then I already had. As my gaze slid up, he smirked. And he was instantly dressed. His clothes from the floor gone. But what he wore now, was in pristine condition. Fey magic. *** He walked toward me, and I turned to bolt but my feet locked in place. His arms draped over me, placing a white cloak over my shoulders then circling before me so he could drop his face into the crook of my neck. A touching gesture for one so wicked. Jason had held me like that, but it had never felt so intimate. So blatantly sexual. But Jason wasn’t as tall or dominating either. I swallowed hard. Realizing I didn’t want to move. I wanted to enjoy the way this felt. I felt warm, safer than I ever had, sheltered in his arms. As if he’d look after me all of my days. Probably how they all felt when he trapped them at court. I told myself. Forcing the bitterness back. And driving me forward from his arms. I could feel him behind me. Staring at my back but saying nothing. “This way.” He finally whispered. I barely heard the words before he caught my arm and turning me to lead me before him out the doorway of the chamber. Down the stairs. He tugged open the dual front doors and let the morning sun pour in and disperse over the marbled floor. Brightening the room. I didn’t look back at the banquet table. Afraid I might be tempted when I was so close to freedom. *** He walked me out the doors and to the trees. Then everything became blurred flashes as he pulled my hand. Guiding me through the woods expertly. But too fast for me to remember how I’d gotten there. Soon the trees grew thick and dark, and we stepped through them to reveal the creek where I’d been bathing. “Just know...” He stood next to me, staring at the water rather than looking at me. “you’re the first one I’ve ever let go. And to do that when you have something so precious to me, speaks to how remarkable a woman you are.” I frowned at him focused on his first words. “Let go? You couldn’t keep me. I ate nothing.” “I didn’t say eat, Sweet Thing.” He turned his head to level that brown gaze on me, coldly. “I said taste anything.” I gasped and put a hand to my lips. Realizing what he meant. I’d tasted him. I vaguely remembered nipping him. His kisses, my lips showering wet kisses along his chest. I blinked at him in horror. “Now you see...” He blinked slowly. “I am indeed, releasing the pretty little bird I’d caught in my web.” I wanted to ask why but was too afraid of the answer. “Just remember that what you have, is still mine. No matter what your precious fiancé says.” There was bitterness with a tinge of annoyance marking his voice. I was quick to defend my love. “His name is Jason Charters, Lord Charters.” I said proudly. “He’s a good man. The best I’ve ever known.” “Good. I wouldn’t want you with anything else. Nor for else to raise my offspring.” He turned and was stepping through the trees. His dark figure already being swallowed by their depths. “What?” “My son. You may marry the man but my son you name after me. A bit of remembrance to comfort you all the nights you’ll lie awake thinking of my touch...” He didn’t look back. I took a step after him to keep him in view a moment longer. “I don’t even know your name!” I squawked. Praying he was wrong. About all of it! What he’s saying is insanity. “Bodin.” He called back. His voice fading into the woods as he vanished. Leaving me there alone. As if my life hasn’t changed forever...

SUMMARY: She was my obsession. A beautiful creature I couldn't stop thinking about. And when another mermaid told me how I could be with her, I couldn't resist. Captivated by her hypnotic appeal I had no choice but to see if the myth was true. To see if I truly could have a taste of the forbidden... 01 My Obsession It was the fourth day in a row that I’d come out here to watch her. After having come across her by accident on my dawn walk three sunrises ago. She had come here near a grassy edge of the shore to use the long leaves from the trees above as a rag to shine the scales covering her legs and those molding up her sides and shimmering over her bountiful breasts. Her body is enough for any man to obsess over. He told himself. Staring riveted. Especially as she used the leaves to rub her breasts in a circular motion. The scales climbed around the sides and stretched over the huge breast nearly like a hand covering it. But the creases beneath and aside were visible. And they made me hungry. I wanted to lick all over her. I knew it was wrong because she wasn’t human. She’s some kind of an animal. But the indented curve of her waist was nearly too small to imagine. Easily grasped by large hands like mine. Then her hips were deliciously swelled as though designed to take in a man. But those scales covered everywhere I wanted to be. Between her legs and deep inside her. I’d stared hungrily at her. Desperately trying to figure out how a man could mate with such a mesmerizing creature but could fathom no way it’s possible. Which only made me harder for her. There has to be a way. She turned her back and peered over her shoulder at me as she had the last two days. Letting the water slip down her bare back. Droplets winding over smooth elegant flesh. She has the skin of a princess. Not some manner of fish. I’d never seen a woman so fine of form. With such large breasts and a tiny waist and lush hips but I assumed that since she resided underwater, her body could be shaped different. Still, I wanted her. And she wants me…I think. She was blinking at me through hooded eyes as she used the leaves to wash the curves of her smooth hips, lightly dusted with gold scales. Then she turned and leaned against the bank. Leaving only her tail swishing slowly in the water. Revealing the fin which broke into two pieces seeming entirely contrived of fine winding strands. Like bits of sea moss stitched together. She closed her eyes and sighed. Rubbing the leaves low along her belly and writhing as though she were pleasuring herself. Now. I could catch her now. I shifted where I was crouched. Badly wanting to taste her skin to feel her heat. I wondered, not for the first time, who’d really come here to see who. *** The first morning I’d stumbled across her bathing she hadn’t seemed to notice me, and I’d paused to watch this hypnotic creature in a trancelike state, where I’d seemed unable to move. Staring at her, fascinated. The second morning I’d rushed out here early to await her. Hoping I might see her again. As she’d swam in, her gaze had flitted over the bank until landing on me crouched near a rock. She’d maintained eye contact with me as she swam far enough in that the water became shallow enough, she could turn and lean up out of it. Making that pearlescent skin glitter damply in the morning sunlight. Begging to be touched. The third day had been nearly the same as the second, but she’d been staring at me as she was now. Washing herself while she looked at me. Lips parted as though she were aroused at the fact that I watched her so intently. Crouched again behind the boulder. This morning she was even bolder. Laying on the grass and writhing. Grabbing at handfuls of it as though a man were mounted atop her taking her. She grabbed fistfuls of grass surrounding her like she needed to clutch at something in her throes of passion. Her pale cheeks flushed with arousal and her tail was jerking more roughly as though she were being ridden. She tossed her long waving red hair along the grass. First one way then the other. Then she admitted a primal, female moan that had me aching. It was enough to make me groan with yearning. Having to shift myself in my breeches. Damn her. She was teasing me. I knew it. She knows it. 02 Hunting My Desire Still, I was obsessed with her. I could think of nothing else. While having some milk and eggs, I found myself staring into the bottle of creamy milk thinking of how it matched the perfect shade of her skin. Skin I wanted to lick from top to bottom. I want all of her. But how? How does one mate with a mermaid? The question plagued me. Keeping me from eating or drinking. I tried a glass of sherry after a scant dinner that evening but the dark red shade of the liquid made me think of the shade of her hair, soaked from the sea. What would it look like dry? All piled around her? It made me tighten low again just wondering such things. I wanted to feel the woman. I was certain my reaction was not uncommon. I knew the lore of sirens that could lead men to their deaths. I remembered the moan she’d emitted while she writhed seductively in the grass and I could see how it would drive a man to pursue her into the water until he drowned. That sound echoed hauntingly in my ears. God, I want her. I wanted to sink into her heat and plant deep. Then watch her lips part as they had and hear her moan that sound that made me hard just thinking about it. Then I wanted to pour cum into her soft body. My dreams were haunted of images of me riding her. Her clawing at me, whimpering and panting with need. Then writhing beneath me as she had on that grass. Damn her. I thought as soon as I woke. Having to touch myself to sate the wild need running through me. *** It was the fifth morning now and the sun had barely risen when I threw on my clothes and rest into the expansive gold and red corridor of the palace. “Good Morning, Your Highness.” My Knights nodded in greeting. “Going out again, My Prince?” The Butler asked me near the door. “Indeed.” To watch my little siren and see how far she goes this morning. But something was bound to change this morning. I could feel time was running out. Sensed the little tease would only enjoy torturing me so long. If I want her, I need to figure this out soon. Before there comes a day, she doesn’t return. It made me hasten my walk out to the grassy bank. Crouching behind the familiar boulder and watching for her coming in. She started by stopping on a flat boulder a distance from the shore. She slithered out, bouncing along the surface made her bountiful breasts jiggle beneath the scales. “Mmm.” I growled in my throat. Once fully atop the rock she rolled onto her back and lightly began stroking her chest and belly as if soothing herself as she soaked in the morning sun. Streamers of long red hair were scattered over the rock and draping into the water. She’s perfection. *** “You wish to mate with her, don’t you?” A rasping voice near me drew my attention. I glanced sideways and spotted a gray-haired woman peering just above the water. Her eyes were large and nearly red. Though her features were slim and fair there was something ominous about her that unsettled me. Perhaps the red eyes. I stared at the woman creature who only blinked those red eyes at me. Her nose and mouth concealed beneath the sloshing water. She floated eerily along the surface as though one with it. She turned up her face, so her mouth was above the water and her rasping voice rose again. “Do you want her, Little Prince?” “I do.” I said quickly. Easing further back from the water. Wanting some distance between myself and this darker mermaid. If that’s what she is. *** “Take her onto the shore…” She rasped. Her eyes large and smiling with some hint of triumph. “What?” “If the sun sets and she is not in the water, her fins will turn to legs. Then you can have her.” “Human legs?” “As human as yours…” She nodded. “Her flesh will appear as human. For you to take, if you wish it.” I looked over at the red-haired seductress sprawled on the rock and imagined myself climbing over her. Making me ache below the belt. “I do. I do wish it.” “Then take her.” The strange woman gestured to the beauty drying on the rock. “Make her yours…But” She lifted a finger. “A word of caution. You can’t listen to her. If you hear her voice, you’ll obey her.” That worried me. Wasn’t I just thinking how the voices of sirens had driven men to drown? And how I might follow her voice anywhere? I eyed the strange woman a long while. “Why would you let me have her?” 03 A Captivating Captive “We don’t like Ari.” This female said simply. “She steals the attention of our men. She’s a wanton. She lures them away from us. A taste of captivity would do Ari well.” Ari? So that was her name. It suited her. I shot this strange woman-creature a quick look. My black brows shooting up as I knew my blue eyes were awash with curiosity. Wanting to know more. It was true that the woman I desired touched herself as if she knew the pleasures of being with a man. Still, she exuded some bit of innocence that made her twice as tantalizing. I wondered briefly if I could believe this creature divulging so much. “Well,” She cocked her head. Blinking just those red eyes against the bobbing ocean surface. “what will you do?” I ripped my gaze from her and stared at the one I so badly wanted. “I’ll take her.” The woman nodded in approval and without a word more she turned, and I heard a large splash. Glancing over I saw the hint of a gray fin before it completely submerged. “Remember…If you hear her, she’ll own you.” With that, the eerie woman was gone as fast as she’d come. Her haunting, rasping voice echoing along the rocks. I shuddered. Glad she was gone. And I focused on my prize, my fingers digging into the boulder at the prospect of possessing the creature. *** I waited excruciatingly as she swam in. Inch by inch. Her gaze roving to spot me behind the boulder. My usual spot. Then she climbed half from the water and scrubbed herself with leaves as she often did. Her gaze locked on mine and her head lowered as she gave me a sultry stare. Rubbing her body in that massaging way that made me want to replace her hands with mine. Then she splayed on the bank as she had yesterday. Preparing to give me that teasing show again. But while she writhed and tossed her head, swaying her hips up and down as if meeting the thrusts of a man, I suddenly snatched her biceps which were stretched near her head. She squawked and I put her wrists in one of my hands and swept around to cover her mouth. Sitting on her chest and holding her down made her pant for air. “Quiet.” I put a finger to my lips. “And I’ll uncover your mouth.” She nodded under my hand. I slipped my grip away but immediately used a bit of cuff from one of my shirts to tie over her mouth. Her blue eyes went huge in shock. I used another strip of my shirt to bind her wrists and then without letting my grip stray from her for even the merest moment, I skid sideways off her and swept her into my arms. She yelped under the binding over her mouth and flailed in my grip. Tossing her large fin like a wild fish. But I was relentless as I headed toward a cave high on the sandy bank. My personal sanctuary. No one knew of its existence, so it was my favorite place to hide from my father and palace responsibilities. “You’re mine now, Sweet Mermaid.” I whispered against her temple. Little Ari. *** She reached to rip the cloth off her mouth again. I stopped and knelt in the sand to roll her onto her belly. Untying her wrists over her head and knotting them behind her back. This seemed to really startle her. Her grunts and rapid words beneath the cloth became more desperate. Short screams followed. She’s truly scared now. I could tell. The further I went from the water, the more panicked she became. Once in the dark cave, I expertly made my way to a furthest corridor where I knew there was a smoke hole in the stone ceiling, so I could start a fire tonight. I plan to stay with her all day. And try to keep my hands off her until she turns. But already feeling her cool, slick skin was having an effect on me. As she tossed against me, she sent her bobbing breasts smashing against my chest more than once. Making me wish I could put her down and have her now. Even her struggles were making me crazy. What is it about this creature? I hadn’t felt the same dangerous hypnosis when I’d seen the red-eyed one, as I did when I looked at this one. Though this one was far more alluring. *** I tied her hands to a heavy boulder so no matter her struggle she couldn’t free herself from its weight. She was glaring at me heatedly. The binding covering her mouth. Several hours had gone by and she seemed determined to escape. Struggling every time she worked up the energy again. Grunting behind her gag. And glaring at me as though I’d betrayed her. I was sure she was probably hungry but didn’t know what to feed her and I didn’t dare ask her. Afraid of what she’d say if I let her speak. Probably tell me to drown myself in the sea. I winced at the idea. “Do you eat fish?” I asked. Logic making me guess that’d be her main staple. She hesitated. Sitting up and sliding her hair along the stone wall behind her as she gazed at me in the dimness of the cave. After a time, she gave a hesitant nod. “Stay here. I’ll bring you something to eat.” She wouldn’t. I’d already determined she was fierce enough, she’d not wait docilely for her captors return. 04 Her Grip I used a quick-catch net and soon had three different kinds of fish to take back to her. I rushed back to the cave and stood outside it a moment. Waiting. Is she escaping? Has she changed? But it was very quiet a long time. Until I heard the abrupt slap of her tale against the stone again. Still a mermaid. I ducked at the entrance and made my way far enough into the cave that I could just make out her outline against one wall. “I brought you a meal and stuff for a fire. I’ll get one going.” I untied her hands when she nodded, agreeing she’d not speak. She ate quickly. Eyeing me warily. When she’d finished, I immediately put the gag back and tied her back to the heavy boulder. She tossed her head and objected wildly. Her tail slapping the stone loudly in agitation. Clearly annoyed with me. After a time, I leaned against the wall watching her. Waiting to see if she changed. At some point the warmth of the small fire must’ve gotten to me because I found I’d dozed off. I heard scraping along the stone which woke me, and I saw Ari managing to free herself from the bindings. She leapt onto two feet and sprinted toward the cave entrance, pausing at the turns as she was unsure which way to go. She’s got feet now. It must’ve happened while I rested. It didn’t take me long to catch up to her. *** I wrapped my arms around that tiny waist and lifted her off her feet. She squawked and I quickly fought to put the binding back between her teeth while she kicked wildly and hammered small fists against my forearm. But she was so tiny it seemed like the struggles of a fruit fly. “Come back here, Pretty. I’m nowhere near done with you yet.” I hauled her, somewhat annoyed, back into the cave. Frustrated that I’d nearly missed my opportunity. That won’t happen again. I tore what was left of my shirt to make several bindings. Pinning the knots of the first one under a huge boulder then dragging her down to tie her ankle and pin those knots under another boulder and finally the same for her other ankle. Until she was nearly completely immobilized on the sandy floor. She still twisted and dragged her knees along the sandy floor as she attempted to fight the restraints. I stood between her ankles to admire her body. She looks like a goddess. Her hair had fully dried and was wild, red waves splayed all over the cove floor. Nearly mimicking the deeper shades of the dancing flames. The orange glow tossed over her pearly white skin. Making it nearly glitter. There was a pile of gold scales where she’d been pinned before. She’d shed them. Now the only gold was a small nest of glinting hair atop the crux of her thighs. And her nipples still glittered gold. The tiny numbs shimmering under a sheen of it. Making resisting tasting it seem nearly impossible. And her legs…Those legs… *** They were as perfect as the rest of her. The thighs were plump and soft. Looking juicy to the touch. Narrowing flawlessly to the elegant sway of her knees and calves to slim ankles and delicate feet. Kneeling between her ankles, I scooped the outside of them and lightly trailed my fingers up the outside of them. Testing their form and the firmness of her glinting skin. I had to slide between her knees to reach her hips, following the curve to her tiny waist before trailing the lines of her pelvis back down to her center. As much as I wanted to touch her there, I sensed it’d be too soon. I splayed my fingers on the inside of her thighs and spread them apart. Looking up to her face, I saw her huge blue eyes round in shock. Her gold tipped breasts were heaving as she breathed heavily. Afraid or excited? I wanted it to be the latter. *** I moved back to her feet. Standing I saw the way her gaze roved over my bare torso. The entirety of my shirt was what kept her tied down and gagged so my sun-browned skin was available to her gaze. She stared openly at the muscles of my chest moving as I touched her. And the skin bunching over my rippled abdomen. She likes the way I look. I realized she’d stopped struggling. Wanting to offer her more I slowly unlaced my breeches and skid it down my thighs. Carefully guiding my cock from my pants. Her eyes became a bit wary. Scared of the unknown. I registered there was no way that she was the wild seductress the other mermaid had claimed. She might be a seductress of the first kind, but she knew nothing of the ways between a man and woman. And feared the size of a heavy cock. She’s innocent. I felt a moment of guilt but knew I was too aroused now to stop. And she was curious enough her gaze was still roving hungrily over my body. I finished shucking my pants and tossed them aside to stand before her. Letting her look her fill. She jerked her head at me as if asking me to come closer. Brow furrowing, I obediently walked over. When I straddled her hips, I looked down at her and saw her flexing the fingers of one hand. Watching her in suspicion, I undid a few of the knots in that bit of cloth, freeing her hand several feet. She shocked me when she lurched to a sitting position and caught my cock in her fist. 05 Her Curiosity I gasped, afraid she might yank but to my surprise she merely fingered its length. Eying it in awe. I wanted to take the cloth off her mouth. Hear what she’d have to say. If I could understand it. And I wanted to watch her lips part in excitement or see when she licked them in anticipation. I felt I was somehow robbing us both by stealing her voice. She closed her fist fully and I hummed in pleasure. Lowering to my knees over her belly to give her more access. She began tightening and loosening her grip. Giving me a questioning grip. I reached to put my hand over hers. Guiding her hand up and down and showing her when to tighten it, to melt me. She caught on quickly. Stroking me more thoroughly. I gasped in pleasure at the smooth slickness of her grip. Letting her have her way with my body. I leaned back onto my palms and let her eyes take me in. She watched the way my belly tightened every time she stroked away from me then relaxed as she slid her hand back down. She watched greedily. I was instantly wondering if she’d be so starved to take my body into hers. *** I noticed that beneath me she was writhing her hips up to meet each stroke. Instinctively knowing the movements. And I badly wanted to feel her. I lightly tugged myself from her grip and climbed back down between her ankles. Stroking her long curved legs. I’d always been weakened by the legs of attractive women. And hers are perfection. I stroked her heel and began rubbing my hands up the inside of her legs. Inching forward on my knees until I was between her thighs. I caught my cock and began rubbing the tip in circles along her thigh. She blinked rapidly at me. Lurching up to watch. She gave me a quizzical look, so I moved to her center and lightly began rubbing her push lower lips with my tip. Her brows shot up and I knew that behind that gag her lips would be parted in delicious surprise. Once I felt she’d moistened enough I caught one of her hips and leaned over her, dropping in a push up over her body and I held her hip still as I lightly began to enter her with just the tip of my rod. Feeling her warm flesh peel open to make way for me. Then suck me tight once I was in. As if wanting to pull me in deeper. And I want more. But I waited. Letting her dampen and her gaze become hooded with pleasure. Only then did I grunt and push further. Entering her enough that her walls had to stretch, and her knees rose slightly as though she’d try to block me out. Her fingers flexed and her neck strained. So, I paused. Deciding I couldn’t do this with her all tied up I reached up and unknotted her wrists. Still planted partway into her but unmoving. I’ve never taken a woman bound and had no desire to now. If she’s curious she should get to touch me as she wishes. Learn my body as I learn hers. She leaned up onto her elbows to give me a shocked look. She tentatively reached for the mouth cover. I shook my head no. “Leave that on. Please.” She frowned, brows drawing together but slowly lowered her hands. Is she going to run? 06 A Brutal Taking She made no move to go so I slid out of her and leaned back to untie one ankle, then the other. I waited a moment to see if she’d jump and run away. When she didn’t, I felt like it was an agreement to what I intended to do to her. So, I felt less restraint as I entered her this time. I paused midway in and then thrust hard. Nipping at her shoulder. She gasped but I felt no barrier. Perhaps not as innocent as I thought. But it only fueled my desire for her. My willingness to take her a bit more roughly. As I planted deep in her warmth, her legs drew up to hug my hips and I yearned for more. I cupped her large breasts, knowing they spilled over my fingers as I fondled their softness. Then I thrust into her hard again. Taking her body fully. Her head fell back, and her throat worked. I rode her violently, pounding into her woman’s cushion as I’d craved to do all those mornings, she’d caressed herself and writhed in pleasure in the grass. I heard her moan again in my mind and felt myself grow fiercely hard. I was thrusting hard into her. Holding her hips in place to receive me fully. Watching her breasts ripple upward then sway back down with each hard pulse. Her body was a rhythm, and I was savoring every movement. She lifted her hips as if wanting more so I gave it to her harder. Seeing her skin blush red and a sheen of sweat covering her body as she moaned behind the gag. *** She suddenly popped her head up. Watching between us where I arced up to enter her then withdrew. She watched greedily and it made me want more. I caught her breasts and used them as leverage to pull harder up her body. Sinking in so deep I felt her furthest barrier. Making her whimper. In pain or wanting more? I paused to look at her. But she took advantage of the moment, to hook me with one leg and roll me aside. To run? But before I’d even completed the thought she slid up to her knees and caught my staff beneath her. Lining it up with her hole and then slamming down brutally on me. “Ahhh.” I moaned in intense pleasure. Feeling my balls tighten. But she was far from finished. She lurched up sliding to just the tip and then doing slow circles on it before dropping back on me as viciously as she had a moment ago. I lurched up feeling even my toes curling. She continued riding me wildly. Tossing her hair over her shoulder like a wild mare as she ground against me. Slipping up then slamming down. Her claws embedded in my chest as she greedily took my body. When I was close to climax I grunted, gritting my teeth. Her nails dug in harder, and she twirled her hip in long circles. Dragging her body up and down. Up and down until I spurted hot cum into her. Catching her hips and yanking her down hard on me. While I stabbed into her. Her breasts swinging like great pendulums with every motion. Her hips rippling as they tightened and then relaxed. Taking me in deep as her inner walls sucked me better than any mouth I’d ever come across. Sinking me in deeper. As if her very pussy were hungry for my cock. Her back arched and she moaned wildly beneath the gag. Her gold tipped breasts jutting upward on the bountiful skin. As I came my body grew weak and I slumped in exhaustion. She was staring at me intensely and I could no longer resist knowing what she’d say. I caught the gag and yanked it down her neck. She blinked huge blue eyes at me and said one demanding word… “More.” THE END Part of my Filthy Fairytales Short Erotic One Shot Series BOOK 1 - STOLEN MERMAID BOOK 2 - WITHIN THE FRAME BOOK 3 - A SINGLE TASTE BOOK 4 - THE CERISE CLOAK BOOK 5 - RED & WRATH (The Sequel to The Cerise Cloak) BOOK 6 - MY KING

SUMMARY: We both ended up at that ball. I was there hunting for a woman. I liked a particular type to meet my needs. She was hunting for something of her own, and she’d sighted me as prey. But at the end of the night, we’d discover who had, indeed, picked the wrong one… 01 Spotting a Creature I walked into the Ballroom and heard the sounds of tinkling crystal and murmuring voices come to a hard stop. All eyes turned to me curiously. Like they always do. Women watched me hungrily. Men studied me with contemptuous gazes. Hating when one such as I arrived at this manner of gala. Where young ladies of breeding were already far scarcer than the men hunting them. But that's not the kind of woman I'm hunting tonight, anyway. I was looking for a creature a bit warmer. I stepped from the darkness of the open mahogany entryway framed by two massive doors propped open. I took in the luminescence of hundreds of candles. Burning from the chandelier above to cast rainbows of light through the dangling shards of crystal adorning it. The scent of human sweat was dulled by the strong aroma of bird roasting in the kitchens with glazed vegetables and sweet scent of rare fruit along the tables. But something else had drawn my senses as I scanned the room. A woman. She was small. Barely coming up to my shoulder. But possessing a regal air that exuded confidence and drew the eye. She wore a gold ball gown but instead of normal hoops and bustles, hers was scandalously slinky. More like something a mistress to one of these wealthy lords, would wear. But no one dared say such a thing to this woman. Curling brown hair was framed atop her head and wound with sparkling gold beads that mimicked the glitter of her dress. I couldn't resist instantly envisioning the woman absent the dress, hair down with those beads aglitter through her locks. Sparkling in dim candlelight as she moved atop me. Covered in a fine sheen of woman's sweat. This woman would be no shrinking violet trying to cover herself. She'd wear her nudity as proudly as she does that dress. I was very sure of that. And it made me ache to have her. *** She turned her head and huge brown eyes caught sight of me. Framed by the longest lashes I'd ever seen. Wine glass in hand, she gracefully caught her skirt and swept away from her friends. Aiming my direction. Yes. Come right here, Sweet Thing. Candlelight from that chandelier made her dress explode in light and her lush skin seem to glow. Impossibly smooth. "Drew!" A man stepped in my view and caught my hand in a liberal shake. Giving my shoulder a friendly swat. I found myself peering around Charles. Gaze locked on the ravishing creature approaching. “You look quite mesmerized.” Jacob frowned. “Quite.” I agreed. I am mesmerized. She was fascinating. *** When she reached us, Jacob moved aside. His eyes widening and brows lifting as though his gaze couldn’t take in enough of her. I know that feeling. Jacob’s eyes drifted down her profile. Lingering on the full up thrusting breasts nearly spilling from the fitted gown. The tiny waist looking as though she needed grabbed around the waist and drawn closer. And full lush hips rounding to shapely legs framed by that slinky gown. The luminescence of the light in the room shimmering through her dress to perfectly outline her beneath those skirts. I could see every inch of her, and my palms itched to touch her. “Who is she?” Jacob breathed. “I don’t know. But I intend to…” “From that look, you’re intending to know her quite intimately. Are you sure about that here? It is quite the public setting?” Jacob frowned at me, but I was in no mood for his lecturing. *** I reached to catch his shoulder and pushed him from my eyeline. Just as she arrived. “Good evening.” I bowed over her outstretched hand. Precisely as she expected me to. Proffering it to me as though she were a queen expecting her signet to be honored. I obligingly grasped that delicate hand. Holding it longer than appropriate as my green eyes lifted to give her a long look. Clear invitation. Her brown eyes went hooded. Long lashes dropping over her eyes to conceal whatever it was she was thinking. I’d dearly love to know. “Care to join me for a tour of the parlor?” I purred. “Indeed.” Her doe eyes flicked around the Ballroom. Giving Jacob staring at the interchange, a dismissive glance. Before landing on me again. “I’d dearly love to see more of this lovely house.” “I’d dearly like to show you?” “Suppose the owner would mind?” She asked coyly. “Not in the least. I’m quite close with him and I assure you, he’d not object.” Offering her my forearm I waited for her to step next to me and slip her small hand between my side and forearm to rest her fingertips lightly atop it. Waiting for me to guide her. So easily led…I thought. Pleased. 02 Vulnerabilities I took her from the crowded Ballroom. Sweeping open the door of the isolated Parlor. Closing the door behind us. Retrieving one of the candles I wandered the room to light the rest until the room danced with the orange glow. “Are you cold?” I rounded on her. Admiring the way, she looked in the dim light. Making her eyes seem even larger. More vulnerable and beckoning. I wanted her. I want to possess her. And I doubted I was the only one. I was very certain that every man that looked on this little creature likely wished for the same thing. How could we not? *** “Have you brought me here to get me alone?” She looked from one candle to the next before to me. “Would it be so awful if I did?” “Not in the least.” She rounded a low table to draw near me. Dangling her arms around my neck. She does desire me. I recognized the signs. Her already puckered nipples beneath that dress that meant she was likely already wet. For me. “What are you after tonight, Sweet Thing?” I asked her. “What would you like me to be?” She crooned in a soft alluring voice. Dizzying my senses. I caught her waist and drug her against me, so our bodies were molded together. “I’d give you anything you asked for.” “Anything?” She lifted a fine brown brow. “Are you so certain of that?” “Absolutely.” “Rather bold of you.” “Bold of me?” I straightened. Looking down my nose at the tiny thing. “You’re the gorgeous scrap of a thing who dares be alone unchaperoned in a dark Parlor with a man you barely know.” *** “Perhaps.” She smiled softly before dragging her arms down my chest and stepping back to walk behind the settee. Dragging a finger along the seam on the top. How is her every movement so seductive? I was duly entranced. “Have you heard of women who victimize men.” “No. But I’d dearly like to…” I smiled. My lips quirking in what I’d been told was a rather roguish half-smile. She could certainly victimize me. “There are such things, you know. Lore about women that can steal the beating hearts of men.” “Well, you’re certainly working on mine.” “Oh, you’ve no idea…” She said in that softly purring voice that made me want to throw her down and have her moaning in my ear. “What do I call you?” I asked her. “Call me Beautiful.” “You are. And I certainly will.” I vowed. “And what do I call you?” “Anything you want.” I grinned. Willing to play her game of mysterious characters. It certainly adds to the fun. “I’ll call you…” She continued walking. Trailing a finger down her chin thoughtfully. “My Lord.” “So formal?” “Would it be, if I were on my knees?” She rounded. Fluttering those dark lashes. *** Good God, the images she conjured with those words! “You best take care, Woman. You’re dancing perilously close to being ravished.” I growled. “Where?” That brow arched again. “Here?” She caressed the back of the settee more firmly. “Or there.” She pointed to the window seat. “Or there?” She gestured to the expansive divan. “With so many options, how could a man possibly decide?” I wondered if she was taunting me. Planning to say the most erotic things than vanish from my dim parlor without ever letting me have a taste of her. I won’t be so easily dismissed. I rounded that settee and caught her shoulders. Turning her to face me and then dropping my head to take her mouth. Smoothing along her hip to pull her pelvis to me and cupping the back of her head to hold her in place while my tongue delved into my mouth to taste her. I’ll not be the only one getting aroused here. I promised myself. Tasting her until she was fair melting in my arms. Her muscles relaxing and her weight dropping against my arms and chest. Putty in my hands. *** At length she tugged from my reach and danced around the furniture teasingly. Leaning forward as she smiled at me. “You didn’t let me finish my tale.” I blinked and shook my head in an effort to banish the fuzz of arousal washing through me. And to concentrate on her words rather than the fierce pulsing beneath my breeches. Yearning to be inside her. “Do tell?” I slowly began circling the settee in pursuit of her. Willing to play her flirtatious little games. As long as it ends with me filling her. “They’re women that are designed to lure men. Their bodies perfectly shaped to peak his desires. Their skin soft to the touch like rose, petals. Shimmering like the purest trap. Their lips, so full,” She reached up to finger her own lush bottom lip. “A man can fair envision them wrapped around his staff.” Her gaze slipped down my body to where I strained my clothing. I let her look, unashamed. It’s clearly a view she expects. “And what makes her seem so tempting?” “You mean the science of it?” “Indeed?” I was trying hard to keep up with her wit, as it felt that all the blood was flooding to my nether regions. “Well, it’s all the excess blood she has flooding through her.” “From the hearts she’s stolen?” She nodded solemnly. “And the thousand heartbeats.” “How intriguing…” “Are you afraid?” She walked close. Beginning to circle me as she trailed a fingertip along my chest, around my shoulder, and from one shoulder blade to the other. Her mere touch sending shockwaves through me. 03 Submission & Possession “Not in the least. For I lost the heart to give long ago.” “You loved someone once?” She paused near my elbow to cock her head up at me. I lifted one finger pointedly. “One woman.” “And what happened to her?” “Sometimes as time passes, one gets sick. Sometimes that sickness overpowers the will to live.” “She died.” Beautiful supplied. “She did.” “And I suppose you predictably vowed never to give another?” “Don’t have it to give.” I shrugged. “Such a deep man.” She whispered. Rounding to stand before me. “I like my men that way.” Deep. The implication was not lost on me. *** “We’ll see about that.” She said huskily. Stepping back from me. Meeting my gaze levelly. She slipped one shoulder of her dress down to her elbow. Letting the fabric slowly trail over that ample breast before hooking momentarily on the nubbed brown nipple. Before slipping over it to droop in a small arc beneath it. Making me why don’t put my lips around that nipple and suck her flesh into my mouth. Expecting the rest of her would taste every bit as sweet as her honeyed mouth. “More.” I whispered. Admiring the way her supple skin glowed gold in the dim light. Nearly luminescing on its own. She smiled as if she liked me giving her the order. Rolling her other shoulder until the narrow sleeve fell to accompany the other. Exposing the inviting plane of her stomach. I noticed vaguely that I couldn’t see her navel. Or she doesn’t have one. I dismissed the thought. Realizing it was likely so small it couldn’t mar the perfection of her inviting flesh. Then her hips caught the fabric at the breadth of them. She turned so her back was to me and lifted her arms to tug the pins from her hair until the riot of rich brown curls spilled over her shoulders and down her narrow back. She hooked her thumbs into the sides of the folded dress and began to wiggle the filmy fabric down over the plump flesh. Until it drooped under the swell of her plump buttocks and skid down her thighs to pool around her ankles. Exposing every inch of that delectable body to my feasting eyes. I want it all. *** She walked to the back of the settee and folded over it. Putting her hands to the cushions below. Letting those full breasts dangle from her body. I found myself moaning in pleasure at the sight of her. And I’d been right. She’s no shrinking violet. “Behind me.” She whispered. I obediently rounded her to get there. Slowly taking in the view of her ample flesh and her tempting crevice, already slick with her fluids. “You could slip right in and fill me with that cock…” She whispered so brazenly that it took me a moment to process what she’d said. She slid her ankles apart until all of her was open to my view. Even the tiny, puckered hole just above her woman’s entrance looked incredibly lovely. Perfectly formed to my eyes. I was highly tempted to sink into her there. She seemed so amenable and willing, I doubted she’d object. “Get out of those dreadful clothes.” She whispered. Wiggling that beckoning ass at me. I quickly tugged my cravat free and tossed off my shirt before stepping from my pants. Barely hesitating before brutally slamming into her. Driven by a need to feel her walls biting around me. She gasped in surprise, her back stiffening in slight pain but she quickly generated that sound I’d so been hoping for. “Take me, My Lord.” I was more than willing to do as she asked. Driving into her. Pummeling her backside so those cheeks turned rosy. Lurching up and then rolling back toward my thighs. Making sensual ripples of her flesh. I caught her hips and worked into her. Thrusting hard and angling my pelvis upward so I could penetrate her more deeply. I want more of those sounds. *** She gave a pleasured little whimper. “You’re so deep. I can feel every inch of you. Take my body like you own it, My Lord.” And I ravished her. Taking her more forcefully than I had any woman. She moaned in pleasure. Her large breasts swinging forward than back against her belly. I caught one. Wanting to feel their soft weight I leaned across her back to cup one. Catching the nipples between my fingers and pinching it there while I let the flesh swing against my palm while I drove into her. She felt like Heaven. I’d never been inside a woman that wanted the violence as badly as she did. It was highly erotic. I was blinded with lust. 04 The Price of Penance I was close to filling her with my cum, when she suddenly lunged forward. Yanking herself off my staff. “Not so fast.” She’s right. I’d been so lost in my passion and my need to take her that I’d utterly forgotten giving her the same pleasure she offered me. Selfish bastard. I chastised myself. Like a boy of the first blush. I knew better. “I’m sorry, Beautiful. Let me make amends for my selfishness.” “It’s not uncommon for a man to forget himself when blinded with lust.” She said reasonably. I frowned. Confused by her statement. “Come here.” She gestured to the divan. “Lay down.” I lifted my brows in faint surprise. I’d rarely had a woman so willing to meet a man’s desires. She seems to know most of mine. But thankfully, not all. *** She climbed atop my hard root and dropped down over it. Making the heat of her body immediately swallow me again. I couldn’t help my reflexive reaction. Lurching up my pelvis to meet her strokes. Driving into her until I felt the far barrier inside her. She swayed forward and back as she lifted and dropped. Riding my cock in every pleasurable direction at once. Feeling the narrow space behind her pelvis with my hardness. I wanted more. I couldn’t help my greedy thoughts. I’d never been so ravenous for a woman’s body. I suddenly wondered if I’d ever get enough of hers. I was already beginning to doubt it. “Do you like the way I feel?” She asked me. “Unimaginably.” I panted between pleasured moans. Feeling my body tensing as I was getting closer to climaxing again. Damn her. I needed to slow this down, but it felt nearly impossible this moment. She dug her nails into my chest just below my collar and raked them down over my chest and belly leaving long bloody streaks. Already seeping with red. “Ah!” I grunted in objection but didn’t stop her. “Are you trying to cut out my heart?” “I may.” She teased with a smirk. “It’d be a wasted effort. I told you…” “Well, even if you think you’ve no heart to give, there’s always a heartbeat to steal.” “Not always.” I looked up at her through hooded green eyes. She smiled as though she knew something I didn’t know. Running one hand aggressively through my hair until making a fist of it atop my head and jerking my face forward to stuff it between her heavy breasts. I pressed my lips to the crevices surrounding me. Nipping at the soft flesh and leaving small dark spots where I sucked it into my mouth. She gave a long jerking moan, and I felt her body tighten around me. Vibrating so hard I wondered if she might go into a seizure. Clenching me and releasing rhythmically for so long I finally could take no more. Spilling into her. She gave a triumphant laugh and dropped her head forward. Dark curling hair falling to frame her face as she looked down at me. One arm curled along the back of my neck to support my hair as she gave me a long look. *** Her other hand snaked down my back and I felt her nails curve and pierce in just below my shoulder blade. Working determinedly to dig through my flesh. Her fingers moving at inhuman speed as they cut through flesh and veins and when she reached the back of my ribs where they attached to my spine her fist curved around it and snapped it aside. I yelled in pain as she began the same process on the one below it. Trying to get to my heart. I had warned her…Done playing her little game I dropped my head forward against the full upper rise of her breast and sunk in my sharp pointed teeth. Immediately hitting a plump vein and beginning to suckle large amounts of blood from her. Slurping at her flesh to draw it out more quickly. She screeched in pain. Her head falling back as she suddenly tried to jerk away. But both my arms were slung up her back and over her shoulders. Holding her down on my lap and keeping her in place while I feasted on her. “What are you doing?” She screamed. “Having dinner.” I murmured between sucking out large drinks of her blood. “And you?” “I want your heart.” “It’d do you no good. It stopped beating centuries ago.” I laughed. “Sweet Thing, you thought you were the one coming hunting for me. But instead, I’ve found quite the prize…I’ve heard of your kind but never seen one.” She stared at me in horror. Her skin already becoming pale from the amount of blood I’d stolen from her. She should be close to dead by now. *** But I remembered what she’d said. She’s filled with extra blood from all the men’s hearts she’d consumed. Sure, that wasn’t how she’d said it. But I’d not missed her meaning. Despite what she’d thought. And I was dearly hoping it was true. That she’s a Succubus. A creature who flourishes through sex with men. Stealing their hearts in the process. Because if she is, she’ll be able to regenerate. The idea was immensely appealing to me. “I will heal.” She murmured limply. As if this knowledge would intimidate me. Her body jerking every time I bit into her anew. “I dearly hope so.” I lifted my head and smiled, exposing bloodied fangs in my joy. “The things I’ll be able to do to you, can go on for an eternity.” “You can’t keep me!” She objected. Breathing shallowly. “Oh, Beautiful…I most certainly can. You picked the wrong man tonight…You’re mine now. To fuck.” I strung out the word in threat. “And feed on for the rest of time.” THE END Part of my Horror & Lore Short Erotic One Shot Series BOOK 1 - THE MASQUERADE BOOK 2 - THE WRONG ONE BOOK 3 - SHE BELONGS TO ME

SUMMARY: Hawk had been tormenting me as long as I could remember. I was a young mage, and my power was still growing. But they thrust me under his watch in the service to our Warlord. And damn him for enjoying every moment he can torment me. Every time I think my power strong enough to challenge him, he finds new ways to torture me. He's told me that I'm his little prey and he'll be kinder when I succumb to him, but I've vowed to never let the overbearing, insufferable cad put a hand on my bare skin. It's a battle of wills and wits. He may be cleverer but I'm certainly more stubborn! But one thing I've learned about Hawk, never underestimate his conniving...I should've known better than to challenge him. After all, he's made a name for himself by his skill in Managing Mages. 01 How I Got Here Like most of the Mages in King Detry’s Guild, I’d come to be here because Warlord, his Commanding Mage, had spotted me and seen me for what I was. For the magic I was capable of. King Detry, as was his practice, had slaughtered my family and brought me back to the castle to serve under Warlord and, more importantly, his Second in Command who trained us. Hawk. Damn, dreadful, cocky, despicable Hawk. I hated everything about the man. But it just so happened he was the best mage in the country, other than Warlord who had some strange, accentuated power no one could explain. I’d heard whisperings he was less than human though. He could be a demon. Hawk certainly acted like a demonic minion. I made it a point to always go out of my way to avoid the striking man. The other mage’s fawned over him. But I just want him to go the hell away. But Hawk was Hawk. And he did whatever the bloody hell he wanted. Which obviously meant torturing me at every opportunity. And the more I disregarded him the more awful he got. He was a ruthless trainer, and I was having a hard time mastering the techniques though my magic was incredibly strong, I had problems focusing. Even I know that. But it seemed instead of helping me, Hawk enjoyed distracting me even further and making me increasingly terrible. Which boded ill for me. If mages couldn’t perfect their craft, they were sent to the dungeons to refocus and if that didn’t work then they were slaughtered as useless. I was petrified of both options. I’d heard tales of the torment that awaited mages in those dungeons. So, I studied harder. But stayed awful at all the physical training. Which drew Warlord’s eye. I’d seen the Master Mage come out several times and watch me with a disparaging look. Clearly not impressed by my lack of skill. “Fix her!” He’d yell at Hawk. “I’m trying.” Hawk would call up the balcony overlooking the training yard. “Do more!” Then Warlord, in his usual quiet fashion, would turn and walk away. Terrifying and quiet and barely touching the ground. 02 Hawk Hawk was the second in Command at the Mage's Guild Academy. He was only a couple years older than me, but it was a fact which he regularly reminded me. "I'm older, stronger, and more powerful...As I should be." Ugh. "You're insufferable, annoying and ridiculous!" I countered. Watching him walk past me to drop onto the settee in the mage's Main Room of King Detry's Castle. This room was special. A sanctuary. Where we all tend to flock to be around kindred. I, however, often avoided this room because of him. He's always around. Especially when I'm trying diligently to evade him. "When are you not in this room?" I asked pointedly. Wanting to know when it was safe for me to come down and read my spell books. "When you're not." He said flatly. Pinning me with his penetrating green gaze. "Are you ever going to get bored with this little game of cat and mouse?" I tossed straight blonde hair over my shoulder. "Not in the least." He ran a hand through his curling black hair to push it back from his head. "Are you ever going to give in and come to my bed like a dutiful little Indo-Mage?" Indo. I hate that word. It was true I was a beginner in the magic arts compared to him, but I hated the term Indo which meant I was less than or newly born. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Black leather pants creaking with his movement. As his intensity focused on me. "Just think of the things I could teach you." His gaze skimmed over my oversized brown gown before he slumped back. "Were you not in that ugly thing." "Well," I huffed. "Too bad I am." I smirked and put my hand on my hip. But seeing the hooded look on his face I instantly knew my mistake. "No, Hawk!" I put out a staying hand, but he snapped his fingers. Sending my dress disintegrating in a puff of dust. "Damn you!" I ripped a cloth off the nearest table and used it to cover myself. Trying to hold it closed near my backside while his eyes shamelessly roved me. "You're the absolute devil." He stood. Boots thudding with each step across the wooden floor as I watched him in dread. He towered a head and a half over me. I glowered up at him. "Then come..." He caught the bit of wisping fabric between his fingers near my thigh. "And let the devil's heat charm you." He lightly tugged and the fabric slipped between my arms. Billowing to the floor in a swaying motion. Leaving me exposed. I squawked and covered myself while reaching to catch the bit of cloth. "Illoway." He waved his hand in a motion which made me straighten and freeze where I stood. "No." I shook my head wide eyed. Realizing I was standing naked in the Mage's Main Room. My only saving hope was that it was nearly midnight and likely no one else was awake. But that also means no one can hear me call for help. Looking up at him I worried how far he'd take this little game of his. *** He hooked a finger under my chin and lifted it. Making my blue eyes meet his vicious green ones. "Let me go, Hawk." "Now, why would I ever do that?" He smiled cruelly. Green eyes flaring yellow with the power that surged through him at touching another mage. He could steal my magic. He was powerful enough to do it. And that'd leave me weak and vulnerable. Would he really take our rivalry that far? He let go of my chin and brushed my arms aside. My body was solid, mechanical. I was unable to command it. I stood there stock still while he lifted his hand to scoop a heavy breast. Testing its weight thoughtfully as he massaged the pink crest. "It is interesting..." He murmured. "That you think you're competition for me. Rather than a plaything." "I'm not your plaything." I hissed up at him. Jaw tightening. "Aren't you?" He tugged my nipple pointedly. "Just think how much I could do to you." He gestured around. "Right here in the Main Room. Or there," He pointed to the small table I'd stolen the cloth from. "On that table." I swallowed hard. "Don't forget, Little Mary Mage. I'm Commander of the Mage's here." 03 You Don't Command Me "You don't command me, Hawk." I hissed. "Don't I?" His lips turned. Eyes still yellowed with dark intent. He let his hand trail down from my breast. Molding the flat plane of my belly and over my hip. I knew a moment of fear. Realizing I'd baited him too far. What would he really do to me? I looked past him toward the doorway. Wondering if summoning someone to help me really was the wisest course. He leaned to whisper near my ear, brushing blonde strands. "Tough decision, isn't it?" "You're despicable." "You don't even know the half of it, Mary Mage." "My name is Mary." "Not to me." His gaze roved my face intently. As his hand molded around the inside of my thighs. His fingers slipping between as he ran his hand up toward my tender lower lips. Turning his hand to just brush his fingertips. "Hawk!" I jumped. I tried to force my body to run away, but it wouldn't move. "Challenge me again, Mary Mage." He slid a finger into me. I drew a shaking breath. Gasping in shock as I glared at him. "Go ahead." He grinned. "Call for help. Try to explain away what's happening." "They would say you dishonored me." I accused. "Yes. And they'd demand I wed you. Something I'd gladly do to have you pinned underneath me every night." I hissed venomously. "There's that fire I love." He growled seductively. I jerked several times, fighting to move but found I could not. "Stop it!" He chuckled and withdrew his hand from my heat. Meeting my gaze as he lifted his finger, sucking it between his lips. "You taste as wild as you are. A half feral little thing." I was shaking with rage. "I can't wait to have you." He purred. Turning and walking away. *** "Hawk! Hawk!" I called. He left me standing there. Glued to the floor and unable to move. He turned back from the doorway. "Enjoy your freedom while you may, Mary Mage." "You'll never have me, Hawk!" "Oh, it's unwise to underestimate me, Girl." My stomach dropped sickeningly because I knew he was right. He was dangerous. I've never found him above anything. He's utterly conscienceless. And why he'd set his sights on me, I had no idea. Though I'd tried everything to dissuade his intentions. He cast a last lingering glance over my body. From my feet up to my hair before uttering an admiring growl and walking from the room. Only when he'd left did my body relax. Going back under my control. Well, that was the most terrifying thing he's done yet. But the last few months he'd been escalating his game. Scaring me with the new lengths he'd go to intimidate me. "I'm not scared of you, Hawk." I called out of the Main Room. "Perhaps you should be." He called from the second level. Voice laden with humor as his steps echoed hollowly through the castle. Perhaps I should. But I refused to be afraid of anyone! 04 Breakfast and Bullies I hated going to breakfast. I didn't want to go. But I was hungry. As my stomach loudly reminded me. I was praying just once, Hawk had better things to do then linger down there waiting for me. I threw on my Indo-Mage Gown. A dress that came to my knees. I'd graduate to a full-length robe once I was recognized as a Full Mage. Like Hawk. I put on my heavy gray Seer's Veil. One many of the females wore to hide their features. So, they can be recognized for their magic rather than how pretty of face they are. I in particular favored wearing the dense veil pinned to the back of my head and folded over the front. My long straight blonde ponytail poured from beneath it down my back in smooth lines. I hurried down the steps. Intent on grabbing a quick bit of bread and cheese and escaping the Mess Hall. I crept in seeing a cluster of the more senior mages near the egg table I veered to the bread counter. Scooping off a heavy loaf and a blot of waxy butter I turned to scamper from the room as quickly as I'd come. Instead, I slammed into the hard lines of a solid chest. Before I even looked up, I knew it was him. I recognized his earthen rain-soaked sent. My eyes skimmed up his hard length to his blue eyes. Knowing he couldn't see my features behind the veil. "Mary Mage..." He crooned. "Where have we been dallying this morning?" He cocked his head in mocking chiding. I retreated to put distance between us, but he followed me. Predatorily matching my steps until I felt a table pressed to the back of my thighs. I was careful to remain silent in the hopes he wasn't completely certain it was me beneath the veil. There are other blondes. I told myself reassuringly. He leaned to whisper near my ear. "This robe isn't nearly as tempting as what you were wearing last night." "I wasn't-" Wearing anything! I caught myself. Realizing he'd baited me into using my voice despite myself. I looked around and saw everyone was watching. While I was looking at them, he was assessing me. Before I could react, he leaned over and caught the back of my thighs, tossing my rear up on the table. I gasped and tried to slide off as he stepped between my knees. Suddenly finding myself thrusting my most intimate areas against his. Hissing in aggravation I slid back up on the table. "That a girl." He patted the outside of my thigh. "Though I didn't mind you sliding on me, it's not proper for new mages to behave as a wanton." He paused to give me a thoughtful look. "Unless they already belong to a Senior Mage." The suggestive look on his face made his meaning clear. "I won't ever belong to you!" I hissed under my breath. "You already do." He whacked my outer thigh meaningfully. "Do you see anyone willing to save you?" He gestured around and I knew he was right. No one moved on my behalf. Ready to obey any of his commands. "They'd let me take you right here on the table, if I wished it." He snatched a fistful of hair at the back of my head and held me fast to whisper along the shell of my ear. "I could be buried in your moist heat right now. And no one would do a damn thing to stop me." I jerked my head trying to struggle free. His eyes flicked to wear my robes had begun to part over my breasts. Revealing a bit of the hollow between. "Keep struggling and that's like to come open." I hissed something scathing and shoved him back. Launching off the table to stalk past him. "Oh, Mary Mage.” He sing songed. “What about your breakfast?" He nodded back toward the table where my loaf had tumbled across, and the platter of butter was still balanced on the edge. "You're a cad!" I stalked back to the table and leaned over a chair back to reach the butter. Not seeing him flick two fingers upward which made a haunting breeze spin through the Mess Hall and catch the bottom of my knee-high robe. Tossing it up to expose my silk undergarments. Making several of the males groan in appreciation. I screeched and through my skirt down my behind. Holding it over me as I turned to give him an accusing look. "What?" He shrugged. "Drafty in here, isn't it?" 05 Restless Nights I lay sweating in my bed. Dreaming of Hawk's callused, long fingered hands caressing over every inch of my flesh. Testing the weight of my breasts as he had in the Receiving Room a few nights’ past. Then sliding between my thighs and curving a finger up to enter my soft heat. I moaned in pleasure. Back arcing in my sleep. A sheen of sweat coating my body and making my thin chemise cling to my flesh. I writhed in discomfort, trying to escape my arousal. Even now I felt like I could feel him touching me. I sat bolt upright. Blonde hair flying over my shoulder as I panted in terror. My eyes skimmed the room. Landing on his fluorescent blue ones staring back at me, from the wall opposite my bed. "What are you doing here?" I curled the blanket up and around me. "Watching you, My Pet." "I'm not your pet!" "Ah, but you are." He inspected his fingernails thoughtfully. "How was your dream?" "You put the dreams in my head." I accused. Knowing it was true. "I just let you replay some memories...Vividly." "Of you touching me!" "And you enjoying it." He pushed off the wall. "Let's not play games between you and I, Mary Mage." He walked to stand next to my bed. Staring at me thoughtfully. "You like my touch. You want my hands on you. I can smell your arousal every time you’re near me. How about you let me have you and we can both purge of this little game." He hooked a finger in the coverlet I'd wrapped around me. Lightly tugging it down away from me. I jerked away from him and pulled it tighter to me. "Just relax, Mary Mage." He reached up to twirl a lock of blonde hair. Twining it around one finger to smooth with his thumb. "I'm taking this." He pulled his dagger from the waistband of his leather breeches and slid it through my hair. Stealing the lock. "What are you going to do with it?" "Put it in a potion." He said flatly. My eyes widened in horror. Knowing how powerful pieces of the physical body could be in potions. "For what?" "To make you my lustful little pet." He emphasized the last. "Hawk no! You can't!" But I was very afraid he was skilled enough with spellwork to do it. He descended over me. I leaned back to escape him, and he followed me down. Putting his fists on my bed on each side of me. His face nearly to mine and his breath sliding across my lips. I licked them nervously. Making him growl as he watched the motion. "Then let me in you. Now. On your terms." "No." I said breathlessly. Sliding a hand behind me to balance my weight. So, I could lean away from him. But he was following me down. His knees sliding onto the bed with me. Skimming mine apart as he lowered over me. I watched him magnetically. Nearly unable to stop him, as his blue eyes held me riveted. I was paralyzed in that gaze like a rabbit in the eyes of a feral cat. "Don't you touch me, Hawk!" "I'm going to." He said dangerously. "Everywhere." His eyes slid down my length with blatant desire. "Then I'm going to plant seed so deep in you, you'll wonder if you'll ever get me back out." I shook my head in abhorrence. He kissed me. His mouth taking mine in a violent dance. Then he dropped his weight. Knocking me backward and pinning me on my soft mattress as he molded his length over me. One hand folding over my forehead to hold me in place while his tongue delved into my mouth. Tasting my flavor and drawing me deeper. I screeched and writhed but he swallowed the sound. Catching one of my wrists he folded it above my head and pinned it to the mattress. Lifting his body, he caught the coverlet and yanked it from between us. I was only covered by my thin chemise. "Away." He snapped his fingers and the undergarment dissipated into dust as my dress had a few days ago. "Hawk." I wiggled beneath him. Objecting. "All your struggling is only arousing me." He said rumbled against my lips. "You could take me now. Feel me. Your way. If you don't. I'm going to have you my way." I shook my head adamantly. "Either way, Mary Mage. I'm going to feel you. Sink into you. Possess you." 06 Dirty Magic Hawk's words from last night had haunted me all day. I wanted to banish him from my mind completely. I hated that he consumed my thoughts. Wouldn't he find that amusing. It'd been a long day of training. Our Commander, the Warlord was a ruthless task master. Rarely impressed and often cruel in his comments, he left much of the actual mentoring to Hawk. Who's disinclined to teach me anything but sheet play. I grunted to myself. Unlacing my mages robes as my gaze focused on the steaming metal tub before the fire. I couldn't wait to sink in and ease my aching muscles. Hawk was always harder on me than anyone. And every time he was close enough, he whispered near my ear. "I'll be inside you soon, Mary Mage..." I'd growl at him and misfire with my staff, misplace potions and lose my spell book. All of which was causing Warlord to lose patience with me. "Deal with her!" Warlord had finally said. Hawk had grinned as he marched over to me while I hurriedly mixed a potion which would cause an explosion when tossed at an enemy. Before I could brace myself, he rolled his fist into my hair and yanked. Jerking my head back. He lathed a warm tongue along my neck up my ear. "Keep messing up, Mary Mage and he'll give you to me." "He would not!" I swallowed. Eyeing him in my peripheral. "Why would he reward you for my wayward behaviors?" "He won't. He'll punish you. And I have just the solution...You whining underneath me." "He would not." "He will." Hawk chuckled. Dragging the tip of his nose along the back of my ear. "Very soon." "You're just trying to scare me." His low laugh rumbled along the skin of my throat. "Not in the least. I'm warning you of my intent." "Let me go, Hawk." "Get it right!" He roared. Releasing me as though he'd been chastising me, rather than threatening me in a purring voice. The hooded gaze he sent me was blatantly feral. *** I'd spent the rest of the day working twice as hard to evade him and to do everything perfect. I grunted as I kicked my robe aside and began working the laces on my chemise as I headed for my bath, loosening the bottom but leaving it on so it could be cleaned with me. Sighing I sunk in. Closing my eyes, I savored the heat. But I felt the ripple of magic seeping into my room. I looked at the door but couldn't see anything coming through or beneath it. I gripped the edge of the bath looking around my room. "Who's here?" I asked anxiously. As if I didn't know who'd be using magic to shamelessly enter my chamber while the rest of the house was long asleep. I was always awake later than everyone else. Usually studying. Often times revisiting the day to assess how I could do better the following day. I was breathing quickly. Making my creamy breasts bob along the surface of the water as I tried to catch my breath. I heard something rasping along the floor near the foot of my bath. I leaned over the edge but saw nothing. I heard it on the other side and looked there. Nothing. I lifted my hand. Sending the water surging from my bath in a wave around the bin that swayed over everything until rolling over something which was moving. There was a long length of a serpentine creature with the jaws of a dragon hovering over my bath. I squawked and slid further down in the water to avoid the creature. Its eyes were silver and blue from the water in the firelight, perfectly camouflaged in my chamber, it was only visible under the fluid. I slid to my knees to try and dive out of the tub to make it to my door. But something heavy landed on my shoulder. It was the creature's tail. Holding me down into the water. I flailed but its tail circled around my shoulder to bind me down. Then curved along my back to sweep my other elbow. Using its momentum to surge around the head of the tub. Forcing me to roll onto my back into the water. Holding my arms behind my back. "Who are you?" But it huffed and my voice was stolen midway up my throat. I was panting in fear. My heels sliding in the tub as I tried to keep my head above the surface of the water. It's going to drown me. The water had rolled off it, but I could hear it moving. I nudged my chin to send another wave of water pouring over it. Making its head resting on the foot of the tub visible. Long whiskers moving as it gazed at me thoughtfully. It slid over the edge of the tub, its head swaying along the surface as it hovered over my body along the top of the water. I was staring wide eyed. My blue eyes huge. And dusky pink nipples floating in the water. The dragon-serpents long tongue flicked out to lick my nipple before its mouth covered my breast. Even as it did, I felt human lips closing over it. And human hands pushing my thighs apart. The long tail slid out from beneath my arms, freeing me as legs materialized between mine until there was a man kneeling between my thighs. Hungrily suckling at my breast. My hands landed on his shoulders, and I fought to work a shriek out past the constriction of my throat but all I mustered was a slight whistle as his weight lowered over my body. When his head lifted to eye me with those vicious green eyes, my fears were confirmed. Hawk. 07 Entering "Get off of me." I panted. "Get out." "Oh, Mary Mage." He grinned. "I'm about to get in." I realized what he meant the moment I felt his fingers wrapping the outside of my thighs to hook the insides, dragging my legs further open as his hips dug in. I felt something hard and heavy probing at my center. I shook my head adamantly. "It's cute you think you get a say." He half sneered. "You can't even talk..." He brushed his lips along mine. I arced my back and surged up. Realizing my mistake when it forced him into me. He groaned and caught my hips guiding me onto him even as I lifted them. "That was a mistake, Mary Mage." He croaked breathlessly. I yelped at the sudden, piercing pain. Feeling like all my insides were being pulled apart as he was planted inside me. "I'd have taken you the first time, a bit easier than that." His hips were rolling though. And his hands had cupped mine, fingers gripping my buttocks as he held me still to enter me. Sliding in and out. I scratched his shoulders and shook my head trying to scream for him to stop. But no sound would come out. "Fight me." He growled. "It's making me harder." And he thrust harder. Using my writhing to meet his motions. Pushing him deeper into my body. I balled a fist and hit him atop his shoulder. He chuckled and kept pumping into me. Stroking in and out while he moaned in pleasure. Taking satisfaction from entering my body. His gaze slid to where my breasts bounced in the water every time he pulsed into me. "I'm going to stuff you full, Mary." His gaze roved my face. Triumph making his cold eyes glint. "I want to hear you." He lifted a hand to flex it open which released my throat. But before I could scream for help, he waved his hand and a wavering bubble encircled us. I recognized it as a sound barrier. "Scream for me, Mary." He was pounding harder. Using my back against the metal tub as leverage to hold me in place. I was using my heels trying to kick him but the more I struggled the more he moaned in pleasure. Liking the way it felt. "Stop it. Stop it!" "I'm close. You feel so good. I'm going to put it in you, Mary." "No. Don't!" "Ssh." He whispered. "Just take it." Then he slammed a few times hard, and I felt heat fill me core while he rumbled, nearly purring in pleasure. "Fuck you feel good. Get up on the bed. I'm going to have you again." "Not a chance." *** The moment his grip had weakened from his moment of ecstasy I ripped off him to launch from the tub. Landing on my feet and wincing at the sudden pain in my middle. He chuckled and I heard the water sloshing behind me. "Where do you think you're going?" My chemise clung to me. Stuck against my body and just reaching the upper curve of my ass as I fled to the door. Uncaring, I was prepared to flee into the hall screaming at the top of my lungs about what he'd done to me. But I'd underestimated him. As my hand landed on the handle his palm slammed against the door next to my face. Holding it fast. Instantly I felt his hot body smashing me against the door. And his length already hard again as it pressed against the slit of my ass. "No. Don't." I pleaded. "Mmm. Begging?" He leaned over my shoulder to look down at me. Nearly a head taller. I looked at the arm holding the door closed and realized it was three times as big as one of mine and wound with thick chords. I'll never be able to beat him in strength. "What are you going to do now, Little Mary Mage?" I could hear the notes of victory in his voice. "Other than spend the evening being my little plaything." "I won't." I snapped. Hitting the door with the side of my fist because I knew I'd lost. How could I get away from him? He's bigger, faster, and more powerful. "You're mine, Mary Mage." He tugged my hips back from the doorway and angled me. He entered me again and I drew a quick breath at the piercing pain in my sore body. He groaned at the feeling. Stroking more slowly this time. But somehow managing to press deeper as he slid in. My breasts smashed against the wood door. It was rough and cold against my skin. I whimpered. "Stop, Mary. If you'd relax, you'd find it's not as bad as that. Do you know all the mages are more powerful when they've a mate? Your magic will be stronger now...So will mine." I grunted in disdain. "I'm telling Warlord what you've done." "Good." He whispered into my hair before pressing a kiss there. As if mocking what he was doing to me. His hips curled and spun a leisurely circle, testing different angles. One near my back caused a strange spasm that made me claw the door. "Hmm. There it is." He growled. Nipping the top of my ear as he pointedly brushed along the inside of my spine. Caressing a spot that made my body tighten. He worked into me methodically. "You feel so good." He murmured. "Ah, I'm getting close again." No. 08 He's Better "You're just going to have to learn, Mary Mage, that obeying me is far easier than not." "I'll never obey you." I grunted against the door. "Won't you?" He pounded harder. Scraping my breasts against the rough wood. "You will..." I shook my head against the door. "You will. Once you realize there's no escaping me. I can get in here." He thrust hard and flexed into me. His body shuddering as he came. "Anytime I want." "The Hell you will." I shouted. Praying that he wouldn't. I'd find a spell. A way to keep him out. "I hope you don't think this is the last time it'll happen, Mary Mage. Because it's going to happen a lot." Over my dead body! *** The next morning was archery practice. I hate archery. I'm no good at it. "Everybody line up!" Hawk roared. Pacing the grass in-front of the mansion. We dutifully lined up under his careful watch. His hands were linked behind his back. Feet shoulder width apart as though he were ready to confront anyone who'd dare challenge him. He probably is. I'd seen people challenge him before and it never ended well. "Grab three each." He directed. Watching with that shrewd green gaze as the first guy plucked three arrows and nothing else. Followed by the next. When I stepped to the table, I pointedly ignored his presence. But he leaned forward as I did so he could speak near my head. "It appears you can obey after all." "Fuck you, Hawk." I muttered. "Not looking up." "You already did..." He turned and strode away while I gasped in outrage. "You son-of-a-whore!" I cursed him. He rounded. "What'd you say?" I sucked my cheeks in but knew better then to repeat it. "That's what I thought." Pompous ass. I snatched my last arrow and stalked into a line in-front of the targets. The first guy was about as bad as me. His arrows went willy nilly. Veering to the far right. The third one almost pierced another guy's target. The girl before me was amazing. She knew what she was doing. Finally, it was my turn and I shifted nervously. Hating that the others were behind me watching. And, undoubtedly, Hawk too. He's always watching me. I hated that. More nervous when he watched. And knowing he'd mock me for the slightest mishap. "Today, Mary Mage." He barked. Damn him. I clutched the slim bit of wood in my fist and slowly opened my hand. Narrowing my gaze on the arrow I focused my energy into sending it projecting toward the target. I envisioned it pegging the center as Hawk had trained us to do. But when I launched it, it veered above the target and into the dense green trees beyond. A few of the other Indo-Mage's began snickering. "She can never do it." One of the guys whispered behind his hand. I shot him a scathing look over my shoulder. With the next one I focused twice as hard. Taking my time to concentrate before setting it free. It hit the edge of the target and went careening into another target. I deflated as I picked up the last one. Someone was snickering again. I whipped my head to look over my shoulder and tell them to shut up. Instead, I met Hawk's intense gaze from where he stood only a few inches behind me. Solidly between me and them. "Ignore them." "I'd like to ignore you!" "I'm your instructor, so I wouldn't recommend that." He dismissed. Stepping next to me. He drew an arrow from a narrow quiver hooked to his thigh he set it in his palm and expertly blew on it. It flew over the green lawn and hit center on the target. "No harder than that." He dusted his hands. "Luck." I grumbled as he turned to walk away. "Ohh..." He stopped. Shit. Why can't I just keep my mouth shut? "Is that so?" He turned on his heel and levelled those green eyes on me. Bluff your way through. "You won't make another shot like that and you know it." I hissed under my breath. "And if I do?" He leaned in. Bumping my shoulder with his. "What do I get?" "Nothing." "Something. You've just challenged me. Now make it worth my while to put an indo-mage in her place." But I looked up and for the first time saw the glint of respect in the other mage's eyes. None of them would dare challenge him. He was cold, ruthless and had no qualms about delivering public humiliation. "I wouldn't challenge him." "She's got might. I'll give her that." "Go ahead, look at them." His gaze narrowed on me without him glancing over. "You have the merest bit of grudging respect now. But if you back down it'll be gone. You'll be no better than they are." He's right. "So, tell me why I should bother taking a challenge from an Indo?" "What do you want?" I hissed. His gaze slid down to my breasts and waist, assessing me. "You come to my room tonight. Offer me what I had to take last night." "You're a sadistic demon." "Maybe." He gave a lopsided grin. "What's it to be, Little Mary Mage?" "You can't do it." I whispered. "And if I'm right. You'll never bother me again." "Are you so sure about that?" He scowled. "Never." I asserted. "Fine." He shrugged. He jerked an arrow from the quiver, slapped it in his palm and blew too quick. I was gratified to watch it clearly veering to another side. I felt watched and noticed his gaze was on me. And at the last second, he flicked a finger the merest bit and the arrow landed kissing the last. Both rattled with the force of it. I gave him a stunned look. He grinned at me unabashed before leaning close enough to whisper. "See you in my bed..." 09 Summoned There wasn't a chance I'd obey him. He can rot. But I was lying in my chamber. Nervous. See you in my bed. That's what he'd said to me. And what Hawk wanted, he often got. He can't have me. "Mary Mage..." As if summoned by my thoughts, I heard his voice breathing into my room. "It's time you come to me." "Not a chance." I flipped onto my side and yanked the coverlet over my head. "Go away." "You made a vow." "No one said I was a woman of my word!" I defended impudently. "You will be." *** "I'm not coming to you, Hawk. Go away!" "Remember, Mary Mage...I could take you right where you are. Ravish you as you lie." "No." I squeezed my thighs closed fearfully. Thinking of how he'd entered my chamber as a water dragon and taken me against my bedroom door as I'd tried to escape him. "There's no escaping me..." His voice rumbled along the back of my neck as though he were suddenly under the blanket behind me. I started when I felt a hand sliding my chemise up my thighs. Panicked I swatted it down, but it immediately pulled up again to my ribs. Though I could see nothing, I felt the heat of a hand on my side. Rolling across the front of my flat belly and sliding lower to just graze the top of the next of my womanhood. *** "No!" I sat bolt upright. Panting into the darkness. "Come to me..." "Never!" I shook my head adamantly. There was a long silence and I thought perhaps he'd given up on taunting me for the night. I blew a relieved breath and collapsed backward. Blonde hair streaming over the bedding around me. "You will come to my bed tonight, Mary Mage. And you will please me." "I'll die first." I whispered toward my ceiling. I could hear his dark chuckle. "We'll see about that." *** In Hawk's room he strolled from a corner of his chamber and moved a few potion bottles on a worktable near the fire. Adjusting them until finding the one he sought. A potion he was designing and now intended to test. Even as he'd projected his spirit from his chamber to taunt Mary, he'd been tending the potion. Adding the bits of ingredients. Now he wandered to the mantle and pulled down his favorite book. Opening it a third of the way in revealed a tiny lock of blonde hair. Her hair. He dropped it in the fizzling potion. Making it hiss in steam as it reacted. Finding his prey. He lifted it. The bright pink color reflecting in his green eyes. Eyes which slowly flecked with yellow until they'd fully turned. Suffused with his power. "Ker-dan." He whispered slowly. Then waited. *** I was nearly asleep when I heard Hawk's voice whispering in my chamber again. One word. A word I don't know. What does Kerdan mean? But before I could fully formulate the thought, I found my legs rising of their own volition. My hands pushing the coverlet aside as I strode from my bed wearing nothing but my thin chemise. A bit of clothing which I knew hid nothing. My nipples were visible through it and the dusting of blonde hair at the crux of my thighs. I'd never leave my chamber wearing only this. Yet I was. Am I dreaming? "No. You're not." His voice answered my thoughts. "Stay out of my mind!" I hated when he did that. And it wasn't something I understood. I couldn't do that. *** Why are my legs moving? I couldn't get them to stop. And my feet were veering me through the corridors. "That's right, Mary...Come to me." His haunting voice breezed through the corridors. Echoing along the walls. "No." I said. But for some reason I couldn't get my body to stop moving in the direction it was. By now it was clear that I was under some manner of spell which was driving me straight to him. "Stop, Hawk. Make it stop." "I'll stop when we're done." I could hear the smiling triumph in his voice. The annoying gloating note that always made me crazy. Strangely, I saw a brief vision of him laying naked in his bed. His head propped up on his down pillows. A palm tucked under the back of his head. His gold eyes watching the door. Waiting for me. 10 Made His "No..." I whispered. Catching the corner of the wall to try and stop my progress. Though my legs kept determinedly moving. Kerdan. I heard his voice saying the word again and immediately my mind was filled with visions of him leaned over me. Buried in my body and moaning in pleasure as he rode my flesh. Images of him kissing down my breasts and over my belly to lathe at my innermost core. I shook my head. Banishing the images of things I couldn't possibly imagine. Things I haven't experienced before. How could I be seeing them? Despite every bit of my will my fingers released the wall. Feeling my breasts aching and my nipples pebbling, my hands drifted up to cover my breasts. Pressing on them to relieve the strange ache which was rolling over my body in waves. "What am I doing?" "Coming to me. To sate my hunger." "Stop it! Get out of my head." I growled. Shaking my head so furiously that I saw the blonde waves of my hair tossing in my peripheral. There was finally a door at the end of the hall. I realized I was in the master's quarters. Torches danced along the walls. Brightening the corridor under my step. Warlord's room would be here. Women were forbidden from this side of the house. "Not if they're coming to please a man." "I'm not." "You are." He argued decisively. *** Don't turn that handle. I willed myself as I reached the door. My hand landing on the knob against every bit of my desperate attempts to stop it. "Turn it, Mary. Come in." I was obeying. And hating every moment of it. The door creaked open and revealed a room that was impossibly black. No candle burned. The only light came from his gold eyes floating just above the bed. My eyes adjusted to the dark and I saw his silhouette positioned on his bed precisely as I'd envisioned. He lifted a hand and crooked a finger at me invitingly. My feet were moving into the chamber long before I was ready. He waved that hand to the left and the door closed behind me. Making me jump anxiously. He sat up. "Come here, Mary." I swallowed, walking hesitantly around the foot of his bed. My hand dragging over the post and clinging to it a moment before my own body broke my grip. "Please no." "Stop, Mary Mage." He dismissed. "You know you're curious. Come touch me." I walked to him, and he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and guided me between his knees. His hands lightly rested on my hips over the thin chemise. My hands rested on his shoulders. Massaging the sinewed muscles of his shoulders. Trailing over his biceps and molding over his bare chest and lower... Feeling his ridged abdomen and following the line of his smooth hips down to the dusting of hair surrounding the bit of flesh in his lap. I gripped it. Gasping in shock that I'd done so. He caught my wrist. His voice coming out raggedly. "Not yet." He stared up at my blue eyes a moment before nodding to the blonde patch beneath my chemise, tucked atween my thighs. "Touch you." Unaware what I was doing, I lifted my fingers to lick them. Sliding my hand down my body and finding the soft skin between my legs. I slid my feet further apart to rub myself. His keen gaze watched the motion of my hand, riveted. "Your breasts too." He pointed. I didn't want to but still found my other hand was reaching to mold my breasts. Rubbing it and then lightly pinching at my own nipples. I moaned at the expertise of my own hands. Shocking myself at what they were doing. "What's happening to me?" I whimpered. "I am." He said coldly. His gaze shining in the dark as he watched my hands pleasing my body. *** I glanced down. "What is happening to you?" I could see the flesh at his groin jutting upward. "It's what's going to happen to you, Mary." He growled as he caught me around the waist and swept me onto his lap. Rolling onto his back and positioning me atop his thighs. "Please, don't do this to me, Hawk." I pleaded. Staring down at him. "What?" He lifted his hands innocently. "I'm doing nothing." "How is this happening?" He smirked. White teeth flashing in the dark and I knew that this was his doing. He's doing something to my body. "Get on me." He caught his cock and held it still. "How?" He released his grip on himself to catch my hips. Guiding them upward and positioning me over the tip of his flesh. "I'm not doing this." I forced myself up, lifting onto my knees to retreat. "Kerdan." He whispered. I lurched forward. Making an objecting sound as I aligned myself over him and then dropped my weight. Shocking myself at the sudden stretching of my body. He moaned and lurched up as if unprepared for the sudden sensation. 11 Obedience I was shocked at the sudden feeling of him filling me. Stretching my inner walls and rooting deeply into me. I stared at him stunned my blue eyes huge. His green ones seemed equally as shocked. His fingers gripping my hips tightly now as if to still me. “Are you okay?” “Would it matter?” I asked snidely. “Would I ask if it didn’t?” He tilted his head, sliding it over his down pillow to give me a penetrating look with those piercing green eyes. He’s despicable. “Fine. Have it your way.” He withdrew his hands. Hovering them out near my hips in a big gesture of ceasing restraining me. “Do as you wish.” He tucked his palms behind his head. “Have it your way, Mary Mage.” “My way would be not at all.” “Then perhaps you shouldn’t lose after you make a wager.” “As if that was my intent!” My palms landed on his smooth chest, and I dug in my nails in aggravation. He growled in his throat and flexed his chest muscles beneath my grip. “Did you like that?” I asked. Eying him warily. “Very much.” He swatted the back of one of my buttocks. “Do it again.” *** In his chamber in the tower, Warlord, The Commander of the Mage’s Guild in this wing of the castle glanced at the slave girl in his bed. Bound to one bed post but fast asleep from her exertions. Well-warranted asleep. But Warlord rarely slept. Instead, he sat in his chair near the window overlooking the Training Garden, he quietly stoppered and unstoppered a vial thoughtfully. He’d felt the swell of magic that indicated Hawk was summoning the petite mage from the women’s ward further North in this wing of the castle. “Good.” Warlord whispered. His blue eyes dark and intense in the shadows of the room. “What are you so pleased with?” The girl in the bed asked perceptively. The rope binding her creaked as she rolled to her back. There was a tinge of bitterness in her voice, but he was aware she read him well. “My Second in Command obeys me well.” “The woman?” Warlord’s head whipped to her. Wondering how she knew but disregarding the question he gave a slight nod. “What will he do to her?” “It’s what they’ll both do to each other that makes me satisfied.” “What?” She asked hesitantly. “Feed on each other’s magic until they’re both extremely powerful.” “Why?” “Because Mage Mating is an ancient method for tapping into each other’s power.” “Like you said you drain mine?” He gave a lopsided grin which revealed white teeth in the darkness. “Precisely.” He rose from the chair and set the vial on the narrow table and began striding across the room back toward the bed. The woman sunk into the bedding and looked at him crossing the room, fearfully. *** “Forget it, Hawk. If I must do this, you’ll not enjoy it.” “As you wish.” He grinned broadly and adjusted his head more deeply in his pillow. “Do make me suffer. I’ll try to endure it.” I recalled how he’d stroked into me when he’d taken me that first time in my chamber. Mostly that was a blur, and I could hardly remember how it’d felt. But I recalled what he’d done to me against my door. Leaning me forward to arch my back. I arched it now. Jutting my pale breasts forward. Then he’d stroked in and out of me, gaining speed. And the faster it’d gone the more he’d seemed to enjoy it. It’s not your way now, you bastard. I purposefully rose up onto my knees at an agonizingly slow pace. Then sunk back down on him. But as I did, he gave a guttural moan of pleasure. His green eyes burning through me and his lips parting as his breathing grew ragged. His eyes watched my face and I registered I’d made a similar primal sound when I’d landed on him. Stop responding to him! I hated myself for finding pleasure in his flesh embedded in me. Damn him! “Hawk! You’re a bloody bastard.” He chuckled in a low tone. “Am I? Why don’t you show me just how much of a bastard I am.” I’d slowly lifted again, and his hands caught my waist and drug me down and forward. Making him fill me abruptly. Straining against something deep behind my pelvis. I made another instinctive sound that rippled up my throat before I could stop it. “You like that don’t you, Mary? The way I feel stuffed inside you.” He growled and as he watched me. His lips curling to bare his teeth as he moved me faster. “Stretching every part of you. Then withdrawing then filling you again.” He simulated the movements to match his words and I gasped at the change of sensation. My head falling forward as he moved me down and back along his length. Making him tilt toward the front of me as he went in. Before sliding out again. “You can’t get enough, can you?” He grinned. “Like a cup that can never be filled. That’s fine, My Mary.” As he said it his hands shot up to cup my breasts and he flexed his buttocks to jut up into me. Moving more forcefully. “I have no problem consuming you. Taking you. Possessing your flesh until all you can think about is when I’ll be inside you again.” 12 Tiny Triumphs No. I thought. For once he won’t be in control. I caught his hands and tossed them off me. Giving him a dark look. His brows shot up. Clearly surprised and faintly displeased at my rejection. His lips parted and I could see him preparing to say that cursed word again. The one that made him my master and my loins yearn for him. Kerdan. I slammed a finger to his lips. Unwilling to let he and my body control this unwanted joining. If it’s happening it shall be my way. I slowed way down, set on frustrating him. Rolling my hips in rhythmic circled as I rose onto my knees above him. Until I was perched only on the crown of his erect member. Using the same motion, I swayed back down on him. Taking him back in. His eyelids fluttered and he moaned again once he was all the way back inside me once more. Claiming me. So, if he’s not all the way in, he doesn’t feel as though his possession is complete? I liked that idea. I began to stroke only the tip of him. Moving up and down and rotating it just beyond my entrance. And despite myself, it felt good. I tossed my head back. My blonde hair waving wildly down my back. And without conscious thoughts, my hands lifted from his chest to drag nails up my thighs as I felt wave after surging wave of pleasure pulsing through my body. From there my hands pressed along the inside of my hips. One wandering beneath me to put a finger on each side of his base. Following my body up and down. He grunted. His back curling forward and his stomach flexing at the new touch. His gaze had been locked on my face but when my other hand wandered up the flat plane of my belly and up to scoop my own breast. Massaging it against my chest made the pleasure almost unbearable and made Hawk’s eyes caress down my neck to where I touched myself. Both at my breast and lower. His attention seeming magnetized by watching the motion of me rising nearly off him then slicking back down a few inches. “More.” His jaw was tight, and he looked like he was in nearly physical pain. “Ah, ah.” I looked down at him. Blinking slowly and peering from beneath heavily hooded eyes. “You said I could have it my way.” “Perhaps I did.” He grated out. “But you also lost a bet. And then refused to be honorable enough to make good on it.” We glowered at each other in a dangerous face off. While I continued massaging him into my body and touching myself like a wanton. “Perhaps I would’ve in my own good time.” He scoffed. “Likely, never. Let us not pretend I’m a fool, Mary.” I wish he was. He’d be a lot easier to avoid. But instead, he seemed clever enough to always anticipate my every move. Like the very devil himself. Despite myself, I whooshed two deep breaths through my teeth and my body thrust forward, nearly falling on him. And I was overtaken by wild spasms. As if my flesh had taken over all my desires and thoughts and now fell on him. Squeezing him inside my warm walls as if trying to pull him deeper. The inside of my body worked around him like a fist. Making me tip up then slump in a wild rhythm until I was so exhausted, I could no longer move. I felt a hot surge of smooth slickness soak his staff. His hand hesitantly slid over my shoulder and along my back to rest between my shoulder blades. Holding me to him. I sighed and felt my whole body relax down on him. Though he was still as hard as dungeon bar within my core. And his body was nearly quaking with excitement. I felt myself blinking slower and slower and wasn’t sure when his hand had started working in circles along my back. Soothing me. I registered I was blinking slower and slower. I’m perilously close to falling asleep on him. Around him. I sat upright and gave him a shocked look. Squawking I launched off him, dragging the coverlet with me and swinging it around as I ran to the door. “Mary Mage!” His voice cracked like a whip. “I’m not nearly done with you.” I yanked the door open. “You go out that door before giving me the same as I’ve given you, you’ll pay.” I ran out the door and down the hall. I heard heavy footfalls and saw him standing in his doorway, his fingers hooked around both edges of the doorframe as if to hold him back from launching into the corridor. His cock still slick from my pleasure. “I swear by all that’s holy Mary, if you do not finish me, I’ll take you on your knees like a dog tomorrow!” He shouted it so loud that every male in the chambers lining the corridor had to hear his vow. And his words sent cold chills snaking down my spine. There was such vehemence in them I’d no doubt he meant them, or what he shouted after. “In the gardens outside if it’s the first time I get my hands on you, and anyone that sees it can be damned! You remember you’ve done this to yourself!” His chamber door slammed so hard, I’d have sworn this whole wing of the castle shook. 13 Afraid I was indeed afraid of what Hawk would do to me as penance for my escape. But not enough to stop my mad flight back through the castle. My hands tracing the corners that I’d clung to when I’d gone to his chamber. Using them to find my way back. His fury had felt like enough to bring the bricks of this castle down around my ears. But even that wasn’t as terrifying as the realization that I’d been so relaxed in his presence that I’d nearly fallen asleep on his chest. And he’d welcomed me there like a familiar lover. Not like a less powerful mage he was controlling with his blasted magic. I’m not his toy. I was soon pacing my chamber. His threat ringing in my ears so vividly that I couldn’t sleep. ‘I swear by all that’s holy Mary, if you do not finish me, I’ll take you on your knees like a dog tomorrow!’ He wouldn’t. Warlord wouldn’t like the distraction from training. Warlord was known to be a rigid task master. Even more so than Hawk. But Hawk had implied that he didn’t fear ramifications from Warlord. Does he fear nothing? Warlord was terrifyingly powerful. So much so that everyone knew he generated it like frost. Clinging to everything he past and floating behind him like a black fog. My filmy white robe swept behind me as I turned again. Clutching it against me. Fearing what he’d do to me today. But one thing was certain. He’s going to make me pay on the training field tomorrow. One way or another. *** I was certainly not wrong. “Mary Mage! You’re by far the worst Indo-Mage I’ve yet to come across!” His expression was wrathful. His slashing black brows drawn low over his fierce green eyes. I’d been the target of his fury all morning. Everyone had gone from first being amused at my expense, to now shooting me pitying looks. It was at least the fifth time He’s shouted across the grassy Training Garden to call me out before everyone. “It is simply to invite a bird.” It truly was a basic enough task, but I was exhausted from lack of sleep last night and distracted from thoughts of him staring at me so heatedly while I’d caressed my own body and writhed atop his smooth brown flesh. Now he stalked across the field, his flowing dark green shirt nearly the same shade of his angry gaze. Was pushed halfway up his corded forearms. Black breeches were tucked into polished black boots crushing over the spring grass. His sun-browned skin was tightly muscled and shining with health in the morning light. Same as it had been when slick with sweat last night. Grimacing I banished the thought. He looks fit to choke me. But as he reached me, he was already yelling as he often did at me. “This is not a hard task! All the other Indos have managed it this morning. You open your hand and call a bird.” He lifted his finger pointedly. “One bird. That’s all! Why are you finding it so hard?” I’m insanely distracted! Which is your fault! He reached me and I took a hesitant step backward, but his hand snapped out to snatch the edge of my gray mage’s robe and haul me back before him. “Where do you think you’re going! I’m trying to teach you.” “Get your hand off me.” I hissed up at him. “Then listen!” “I don’t have to listen to a think you say.” My lip curled in contempt. As I glowered boldly up at him. What the hell am I thinking? He’s going to strike me down right here. “Knees.” He pointed to the ground. And without any direction from me, my legs folded and dropped me to my knees on the ground. I yelped. Suddenly very much reminded of my place. His magic was overwhelming. He could command me with a single word. Overtaking my body to obey his commands. I looked around furtively. Afraid of what he’d do. I was now on my knees on the grass, and he’d said he didn’t care who watched him take me. I peered around him to see everyone standing a distance behind him. They were slinking backward to put themselves as far away from him as possible. He crouched down before me. Dragging a hand down the thick tree trunk next to me, in a way I found incredibly intimidating. “Don’t worry, Mary. Not yet…” That was all he said. No promise for a reprieve. No vow that he hadn’t meant it. He meant it. And he’s going to do it. “But I will get you, Mary Mage…” 14 Impatient Power He was crouched to my level. Nearly nose to nose with me. “Now, summon a bird.” He reached out a hand. I didn’t want to take it. But his eyes narrowed threateningly. He’s going to make me. Better my terms than his. I slapped my hand in his and felt his large fingers fold around it. Seeming somehow final and ominous. Lightning currents poured through me from where he touched me. Glancing at his face I saw a bit of white light shudder across his green irises, turning them briefly white as we both stood. Him pulling me up. What was that? My immediate reaction was to cut the connection, but his grip was unrelenting. And when I tugged backward, he reflexively pulled me in. I was still straightening and was yanked off balance. He used the momentum to turn me, so I faced away from him. He stepped in so he was flush against my back and caught my wrist and lifted it. *** He’s too close. I could feel his breath along my cheek. His temple pressed against the back of my head and his hand flattened over my stomach while his other gripped my forearm. “Open your hand.” I obeyed. Reflexively snapping it open. Willing to do anything to make him go away this moment. And stop shouting at me in-front of the other mages. “Summon the bird. Call to it. Here.” His hand lifted from my waist to tap my head. I closed my eyes and did my best but all I could think of was his scent, his nearness. The goosebumps chasing over my flesh. The feel of his hard body against my back. The length of his legs framing mine. I was nearly in his lap. “Hawk…” I said pleadingly. “It’s too late to beg me for anything.” He said acidly into my ear. Bouncing my forearm. “Bird.” But it was impossible to focus. I peeled open my eyes and saw them lining the branches in the early morning light which filtered through the leaves of the tree canopy is sparkling gold haloes. Their tiny silhouettes hopping along the branches as they watched us unrelentingly. Giving a short shout of aggravation he stepped aside. Ripping his shirt from the waist of his breeches and tossed it to the grass aside him. Turning he danced backward into the trees until he stood within those gold fingers of morning sun. He pursed his lips and made a slight humming and in moments the birds descended from the branches in a giant flock moving as one. They landed on his hands, forearms, biceps and shoulders. Until they were so dense, they were landing atop each other and knocking others off onto the ground to cluster around his feet. Tiny brown ones, dark ones, blue ones, and red ones. It didn’t matter. They can’t get close enough to him. My fear was that one day I’d be as pitiable a creature, if I couldn’t resist his magic. Him. I, same as the other female mages, stared at him standing in rays of light, his muscled brown body luminescing with health, hard chest and tight abdomen disappearing beneath the laces of his breeches. A body I’m coming to know. Far too well. For the first time I could remember, I considered fleeing the mages guild. Aware that the consequence of such could mean having Warlord hunt me down and kill me. *** “Now,” Hawk shook like a dog tossing water to send the birds fluttering away then approached me purposefully. Collecting his shirt and eyeing me sideways. “Was that so hard?” I swallowed. Why does he have so much power? Why can’t he be weak and foolish and struggling like the rest of us? “Hawk!” A voice slashed over the Training Garden like a whip. One we all knew. Warlord. The whole group of us turned like a herd of startled deer. Not daring to move our feet for fear of drawing his annoyance. Annoyance which quickly surfaces with the Mage Commander. I winced as I forced my restless feet to go eerily still. “I wish that man would give me half the attention he gives you.” I heard a female voice murmuring. It took a moment for me to realize she was speaking to me. I turned and faced one of the other women that usually glared at me. A black-haired beauty with an enraged expression. “He’s been shouting at me all morning!” I defended, keeping my head ducked and my voice low enough only she could hear it. “You could change all that irritation, you know?” She curled her lip faintly. “I’d do it meself if he’d let me close enough.” “What are you talking about?” I snapped. “Satisfy the man. Stop taunting him. Obey him. It’ll make it easier on all of us. In-case you haven’t noticed…You’re not the only one he’s short on patience with since this little courting of yours began.” “Courting.” I gasped. Making Warlord’s head snap in my direction. I froze with my head down as did Tanya, the other woman. *** Once Hawk stood beneath Warlord’s balcony he looked up at the Commander. “What is wrong with the Indo?” Warlord bellowed. “She struggles with concentration.” “Fix her.” Warlord snapped dismissively. Giving Hawk a dark look before rounding on his heel and heading back inside. Fix me? How the Hell is he supposed to fix me? I can’t even do that. Something about the way the mage Commander had coldly ordered it chilled me. It means something bad for me... “Fine.” Hawk’s gaze landed on me, and I shivered. 15 Fearing My Fate Oh, no. My head shot up. His purposeful look immediately putting me on edge. He strode across the Training Garden and caught my arm. Before calling over his shoulder. “Markus!” Markus, nicknamed Magus by Hawk, was the most promising of the senior mages. An auburn-haired, green-eyed mage in training. One we all knew Hawk shared all his spells with. Hawk favored him enough to nickname him a mage’s title. I wonder if he gifted him what a mage could do with a woman’s lock of hair? I grimaced. Remembering that word he’d said so many times. Kerdan. Markus immediately stepped forward and started lining the other mages up with the arrow stands. Oh, no… My worst subject. I was frowning over my shoulder as Hawk drug me away on stilted legs. “Don’t worry about it.” He said harshly over to me. “You won’t be rejoining them until after I’m done with you.” I turned horrified eyes on him. “No, Hawk!” “Yes, Mary Mage.” He said. Face harsh. *** I locked my feet and determinedly began resisting him. Enough that my heels were leaving drag marks in the grass. And I was tugging at his grip on my wrist. “Let me go.” “Hush.” He snapped the fingers of his free hands closed and I instantly felt my mouth close so tightly I couldn’t pry my lips apart. Oh, no. I thought again. My stomach dropping. I should’ve run from the Guild when I’d thought about it. Staying was a mistake. Now I was already back in his clutches. His threat from last night echoing in my ears again. ‘I swear by all that’s holy Mary, if you do not finish me, I’ll take you on your knees like a dog tomorrow!’ “Hawk, I’ll do anything.” I yanked more desperately at his wrist. “Yes, you will.” He glanced over his shoulder, and I saw his eyes were nearly white again. “But not in exchange for your release. Because you’ll finish what you started.” *** “No. I won’t.” He pulled me around the divider wall to the actual castle garden. Behind the towering gazebo. A spot isolated enough he can take me in the dirt. My body had now begun to tremble. As I tried to decide how to resist him. Afraid beyond anything that I’d find I couldn’t. As I have several times. Once behind the gazebo he caught my shoulders and flipped me around. Shoving me back against the high white wall. Out of view of the castle. But not Warlord’s window. I glanced up and realized that I could see in his chamber up there. See the top of vials on his table. He can still see us. I chewed my cheek fearfully. What if he banned us both from the Guild? Or killed us? “Do you know why I didn’t come after you last night?” “Why?” I asked breathlessly. Glancing up at him furtively before looking away. Staring at the ground next to me. How can I get away? “Because I’d have hurt you.” He put his elbows on the wall on either side of my head and caged me with his body. Nearly smashing me. With him so close I had no choice but to look up at him. My fingernails digging into the wall behind me as I wished I could dissolve into it. Don’t succumb to him. He was deliciously tanned with those vivid eyes and that dark hair which always shined in the sun like the coat of a black stallion. Looking impossibly beckoning. I was sure that if I ran my fingers through it, it would be as smooth as it looked. Waving back all the way to his collar with the stray lock or two dangling over his forehead. He always looks wild. Like he’d consume a woman whole. “Why?” I asked reluctantly. “Because I was so angry, I’d have lost control if I’d gotten my hands on you.” “W-W-Why why…” “Why was I so angry?” His brows shot up in astonishment. “Because I let you take your pleasure. I let you savor your satisfaction and in return you gave me frustration and left me wanting you.” His jaw was ticking with the level of his annoyance, and he was somewhat flushed. I grimaced. “Please just let me go, Hawk. I won’t do it again. I’ll lock myself in my chambers. I’ll stay out of your sight.” “I don’t want you out of my sight.” His eyes narrowed to angry slits. “I want you bare and sweating and wrapped around my stem. Moaning in pleasure and blushing up to your hairline from what I’m doing to you.” His head dropped as he gave me a meaningful look. “And I’m going to get it.”

Part of the Asara Pack Series: 1-THE PACK'S GIRL 2-AN UNWILLING MATE 3-MY LITTLE SUCCUBUS 4-NOWHERE TO RUN 5-TURNING TABLES ON THE PRINCESS (REWRITE ONGOING) 5-THE PACK GIRL'S RETRIBUTION (ONGOING ON PATREON AND MY WEBSITE) 7-THE LEGEND OF FURY (COMING SOON) SUMMARY: She’d escaped me once. She’d not do it again. I did everything she asked of me. She was a princess on a throne. I was her Captain of the Guard. Her secret assassin killing anyone who'd threaten her. She seduced me and then bid me do whatever she commanded. But before that, I had declared my intent to claim her as my mate. And she had fled. Like the coward she is. Now she claims to rule this kingdom. However, her people are starving and her fiancé is to blame. But will she hear a word of it? Of course not! Well, I've found a way to make her listen. It's high time she learn a she-wolf’s place in this realm. She needs a real king, and it won't be that sniveling lord with designs on her. It's going to be me. She’ll learn I'm no longer hers to command. She is mine. 01 Marta’s Urging LARA “Run, Girl! Run!” Marta’s voice was echoing in my ears. Her urgency. She had shown me the break in the border wall. Where I can get through. And I needed out. I never wanted to be part of this pack. But Edrick, the Asara Pack Alpha, had made me at the get. Despite that I was residing amongst humans. Nearly invisible as what I was. He’d known me as a wolf. He had his two vicious sons drag me into Asara territory and I was forced to join their pack and become fated to be prey of one of the unbred males because I was considered one of the few ‘breedables.’ Females of mating age. And in this ferocious pack, breedable she-wolves were easy prey for the males that became fiercely lustful under the Mating Moon. Willing to throwdown the nearest she-wolf and rut her into submission to sate their insane drive. Like the malevolent wolves they are. I had never quite fit in with wolves. And I didn’t like their laws for their females. Submit or be mounted until you do. I was quite another creature. *** I wanted out. I had been trying to find a way. And drinking Marta’s teas and listening to her ramble about the atrocities the male wolves would commit on a female under the Mating Moon, sometimes to the point of killing them, I’d decided I’d certainly not become one of them. And the alpha’s two sons had been eyeing me for a while now. Following me and sniffing me out more frequently. I’d barely managed to escape indoors under the last two Mating Moons. Just missing their swiping paws trying to snag my clothes. But the next one is coming soon. Too soon. Then Lyra Lani matured into a breedable, and Draven had thankfully lost all interest in me. Following her and marking around her hut to indicate she’d soon be the next Alpha’s mate. Draven wants her. Badly. Now there was a male marking around my hut. Draven’s younger brother, Alaric. The virile young blonde was built for battle. With tousled hair dusted with darker sun-kissed shades and fierce blue eyes to accompany shoulders as wide as a wall and a chest thick enough, I certainly couldn’t reach around him. He was Draven’s guard and equally as feral as many of the other males that’d been inaugurated into the strange pack of collected riff raff. Edrick had done a good job after the wolf plagues. Even I could admit that. Finding females and hunting them until able to drag them back to join their pack. The Asara wolves. Only the mated couples with valuable skills were permitted to join the camp. And the males had to be the most brutal and strong of what was out there roaming, to be permitted within the Asara Territory walls. Protected from the NightHunter Pack’s murderous raids. I was painfully aware there were packs out there worse then the Asara. Problem was, I had no desire to be part of any pack. Edrick had found the most vicious males to ensure the wall would be protected, and that should anything happen to him, there’d be plenty able to accept the role of Alpha. Edrick had been confident and wild enough to defend his territory and his sons, when challenged by those he let in. And any would-be challengers were soon banished from the walls to roam again in a world running rampant with plague and in immediate danger of being murdered by either King Detry’s wolf-hunting mages. We all know how black-hearted those were. Barely human. By the time the King’s Guild Commander was done training them, the mages were black-eyed and as ruthless as their mysterious Commander. The one who exudes the black smoke. We all knew of him. And know what he hunts…Us. *** Or the NightHunter raiding parties. Or starve. That’d certainly not been my favorite part of being out on my own. Hunting was sparse unless one was willing to risk making a lot of noise or crossing open ground. And the potential of being killed if they incidentally entered other claimed territories. Today, was only a few days shy of the Mating Moon. And as I exited my hut this morning, I caught the hint of male marking around my hut and knew that smell. Alaric. He was claiming territory. Then, a mere few hours ago, Alaric had knocked on the door to my hut. When I’d opened it and saw the determined look on his face, I’d met him head on. Refusing to let him know he intimidated me. I was far too fierce for that. I cower to no male. Man or wolf. But Alaric was tall, and fierce, and right now his face was so hard it could’ve been carved from granite, looking down on me. As if he doesn’t even know how to smile. Or he had some idea I was planning an escape. His blue eyes set on me like bits of ice. “I’m giving you fair warning, Lara. In a few nights, I’m taking you for mate.” The Hell you are! “Mating me or taking me as a mate?” I asked wanting to ensure I understood. Stamping down my indignation enough to keep my emotion hidden. I didn’t want to tip him off as to the exact lengths I was willing to go to refuse him. Though there’s no chance I was going to comply with either possibility. “Take you as mine. Mate you and keep you.” “Mark me, you mean?” “Indeed, I do. And as you know when that fat pink moon rises, we’re barely able to control ourselves. I’ve enough respect for you Girl, to give you fair warning that I’ve designs on you.” “And if I say no?” I crossed my arms over my chest and took an impudent stance. Alaric eyed me. Putting his palms against the doorframe purposefully and leaning down to tower over me to invite. “Try.” I intend to do more than try. “I won’t be yours, Alaric.” “We’ll see about that.” He dropped one hand from the doorframe and caught my bottom jaw. Holding it in place as he examined me. “I want you. And I’m going to have you. One way or another. I merely thought to give you time to come to terms with it.” He added as an afterthought. “Before I’m inside you.” “We’re not complete animals.” I hissed through gritted teeth. “But we are a pack and we do take mates like the creatures we are…At least those of us willing to admit what we are…” He often implied I was a fool to prefer human company over pack company. I’d never been raised with a distinct pack and had learned to blend with humans enough, I found it abhorrent to belong to a pack again. Or to Alaric. I had better ideas. I scoffed. Giving him a haughty smirk. “Good luck with that.” “I won’t need luck. I’ll have you…” 02 An Opportunity “Which is the only thing I want.” He finished. It was his vow that he’d have me that set me with determination. He will not. My face hardened. Making me seem far sterner than I usually was. I’m leaving this damn place before he has the chance. I knew enough about Alaric to feel intimidated and to know he didn’t bluff. He meant what he said. Then tonight, just as dark was beginning to fall, the camp exploded in chaos. Draven and Alaric returned from a hunt with Edrick on a makeshift gurney. Bleeding everywhere. Fury, Edrick’s Beta, jogged from his hut and swore at the sight of the Alpha. “I told him I needed to go with you boys. Damn him!” Fury followed them into Rebekah’s hut. It was one of the only times I ever knew of, that The Healer let males beyond her threshold. Despite all of Rebekah, efforts, Edrick was soon dead. Our Alpha was dead. Killed by the Alpha of the NightHunters and his son. Edrick had managed to slaughter the Alpha but only to scar the adult son. The camp was awhirl. People were sobbing. Wolves were howling. And both of his sons were grieving near the fire. Still covered in the blood of their father. *** I looked at them. Feeling slight guilt at being in the background and wondering if I should do something to help them. When I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Marta there. Her salt and pepper hair a bit wild around her face. “It’s time.” She whispered. I looked at everyone around me who seemed crumbled by the loss. I blinked back at Marta. “Now is the time.” She urged, nodding toward the fire where the boys were clearly distracted by their pain. “Draven is Alpha now and both he and Alaric will need to acquire mates very soon. Whose pretty little hole do you think Alaric will be after?” I eyed her in horror. Already knowing that answer. Mine. *** I had a moment’s hesitation. Wondering. Do I stay? “The Mating Moon is upon us in a few night’s time. Everyone knows how ruthless our males become during it.” I couldn’t argue. I was aware our males were the most virile of the wolves roaming after the plague. Each of them capable of being an alpha in their own wright. With the aggression, lust and animal natures to match. Even after Alpha Edrick had found me in the woods, I had known I wouldn’t stay. They took me kicking and screaming into Asara Territory. I could hunt. So, I could eat. I didn’t need them. And I’d be no man’s victim. So as soon as they got me in those walls, I was planning a way out. “Have you missed the way Alaric watches you?” Marta persisted. I looked at Alaric’s profile. Tall, broad and blonde, I couldn’t deny he’d caught my eye more than once over the last year. He was solemn and striking and watched me like he might pounce any moment. Now he’s warned me he’s going to. Though he’d bent to my will at every turn so far. Doing the many things, I’d asked him to. “Bring me a squirrel to skin”, “Bring me cones from the needle trees to scent my hut with cloves.”, “I need a dress.” I knew his kindnesses were not based in generosity. He’s been planning on mounting me under a Mating Moon. It was nearly painful under the Moon’s sway to not have a female to pound into. The agony of suffering all night with an insatiable lust was pure anguish. Fortunately, it wasn’t as extreme for us females. Though our feminine scent did become stronger. We were more easily aroused but it was our bodies that were primed for sexual bonding. Not our minds. *** So, despite my remorse for the death of their alpha, Edrick, I came to a decision. To do as Marta told me. Edrick was a good man. And he’d taken care of me, despite my resistance. Kinder than I expected. Kinder than he had to be. Always looking for the good of the pack. I found my only friend, the only other female I could tolerate. “Vanna Rae?” She turned stunned eyes to me. Watching the bloom of havoc in the camp. “Yes?” “Come here.” I caught her arm and tugged her into the shadows next to a hut. Knowing we were near enough the fire that it’s crackling might mask some of our words, but far enough away the light couldn’t touch us here. “I’m leaving.” “What?” She gripped my upper arms harshly. “I’m going. Tonight.” “You can’t!” She looked back toward the fire worriedly. “They’ll kill you for sure!” “It has to be now. If I make it out, promise me you’ll follow. Don’t let them get ahold of you. They’re absolutely vicious.” She bit her bottom lip and nodded hesitantly. But I was worried. I could see the hollow of fear in her eyes. She’s afraid of everything. But I couldn’t say I could blame her. I wasn’t sure I’d be any different if I had no memory of what’d happened to me before I arrived here. Fortunately, I did. “There’s a break in the wall behind a tree in the south wall.” Vanna Rae was whipping her head from me back to the fire as if afraid she might be caught talking to me on the night I made my escape. Also, a reasonable fear. But I could tell from the way she was moving and acting that she wasn’t listening. She’s not hearing a thing I’m saying. “Don’t go.” She whispered fearfully. Looking furtively around. We both knew why. The Hayden brothers. They’re always watching her. “If you leave, they’ll hunt you down.” “They can try.” I whispered back. “But I’m very good at fitting in with humans. I’ll be hard to track.” “What about Hunter?” She caught my arm and nodded toward one of the Hayden brothers. I couldn’t tell which, though she somehow could. I assumed she was talking about Hunter Hayden, the best tracker amongst the pack. I was worried about him. Vanna Rae was scared for me. “If they don’t drag me back. You have to try to get away. Don’t let them kill you. Or force you.” “Uh-huh.” She could get away too. Before the Hayden Brothers get her. But I was guessing. I didn’t even know for sure if I could get away yet. I know Hunter can track at a dead run. I know Draven can run down anything with two or four legs. I know Vanquish or Jaecar won’t be kind if they get ahold of me. And I know Alaric will be filled with vengeance that I tried to flee him. The cards were stacked against me. 03 Escaping So, when chaos ensued as they came through the huge swinging door, bearing the body of our dead alpha, I’d taken advantage of the shouts and clattering and panicked shouts… I got out. Through the trees and through that crack behind the tree, and out to freedom. Evening light cast pink and orange hues along the horizon. Signaling that dark would soon be here. And this close to the Mating Moon, my smell would be more potent. Easier to follow. But I was counting on the fact that everyone would be too busy mourning the alpha and honoring Draven’s ascension, to pursue me. And the wolf I was the most worried about hunting me down would be in the thick of the mourning. Alaric. This is the only chance I’ll have. I reminded myself. As I wove to the back of the hunts. So, I took it. *** “Run, girl. Run!” Marta urged from behind me. Her words echoing in my ear as I did my mad flight through the trees. Swinging around the trunks and lunging sideways to mark trees in directions I wasn’t going. Trying to throw them off. Once I was beyond that wall I didn’t stop. Running headlong through the trees until I was so winded, I was half asleep standing up. After two days of trying to keep that pace, I caught a whiff of a he-wolf on my trail. Close enough I could smell him. Which meant he was watching me. And the Mating Moon was days away. Not a chance you’ll have me. I knew who it was. Knew that smell. So, I made a run for it. Hopping through against the side of trees to keep from touching the ground. Trying to make it hard to track me. Still, after a few more days, I was crouched in a tree watching below when I glimpsed his blonde head in the shadows. A dagger on his hip as he peered around a tree to whiff. Alaric. I couldn’t think of enough profane words to cover the aggravation I was feeling at his appearance. Let me go! He wandered below me. Moving to another tree to crouch and assess a track I’d left. Dammit! I was so careful. Not careful enough, apparently. I couldn’t seem to shake the determined male. How had he left the grieving rituals so early? His brother sent him after me. The answer came to me quickly enough. What little I knew of Draven told me that he would be furious that I’d taken advantage of his father’s death to make a run for it. He’ll want me back. And he’ll want me punished. Forget that. I’m never going back. I had no intention of being the weak one amidst wolves after I’d been the strong one amongst humans for so long. I could admit that I liked knowing I was more powerful than them. Could control them physically if I needed to. Not a male wolf. They’re far stronger than me. Especially one as powerfully built as Alaric. Physically honed from combat with NightHunters and even our own wolves, when he’d been charged with enforcing Edrick’s laws. I’d once witnessed him tossing a wolf even larger than himself like he was a bundling of kindling. He could rip me apart trying to take me under the Mating Moon. Not a chance. I’d known Draven was too stubborn to let me go so easily. And Alaric…Damn his stubbornness. I had seen how formidable he could be. Like an unrelenting wall. *** Knowing when darkness fell tonight, I’d be an easy mark for him. I quietly watched him following the marks I’d purposely left before circling back. So, I could see who followed me. Even as I’d hoped, no one would be. I averted my attention to scanning the distance. I can’t shake him and he’s closing in. I have to go somewhere close. I spotted a kingdom in the distance and ascertained it wasn’t King Detry’s Castle. I knew I’d gone in the opposite direction but knew I had to be damn certain I hadn’t somehow ended up backtracking further than I intended. No. This is someone else. I didn’t recognize the white banner with gold stars. But I’d never been this far in the Wixwood. It was rundown. Gray stone tinged brown from much congealed mud which had layered over the years. Some of the pieces of roofing from the parapets dangled along the ridges. It’s certainly in shambles. But even from this distance, I could see that there were guards patrolling the wall. It’s manned. A good sign. It meant it wasn’t utterly decimated by the wolf plagues. I dropped to the leafed ground and began to stroll toward the castle on paws quieter than a cat’s. I made my way silently toward the fringe of trees winding around the meadow which breached for the drawbridge and then the castle bailey. A long distance to cross in the open. I stood behind a tree. Peering around it as I gauged the distance. Listening carefully to see how far behind me Alaric might be. “I can smell you, She-Wolf.” I heard him call a short distance behind me, as though summoned by my thoughts. I glanced over at the rising moon. Already tossing its soft pink hues over the horizon in the distance. Soon to be fully up. The Mating Moon. I cursed inwardly. Heart beginning to race. I had no choice. I crouched onto all fours and let black and white fur sift through my pores and my eyes yellow before I surged into movement. Crossing the distance through the thin layer of trees on all fours. Leaping from the pile of my clothes which was left in the pile of twigs I’d been standing in. My plan was far from precise. Needlessly messy but I saw no other option. I ran. Pads landing and claws parting with each smooth press to leaves and wet moss. I launched myself with powerful back legs, tossing me higher in the air. Bounding more than running. My long tail was trimmed white beneath and adjusting with each of my movements to give me perfect balance as I turned nearly sideways to veer around trunks and broad roots. Knowing one misstep would land me on my side. And vulnerable under Alaric. *** I could already hear his heavy pants behind me. Huffing rhythmically with each of his steps. I knew when I’d taken the form of my wolf it would drive my female scent up to the treetops and leave it trailing behind me to summon all other changeling males. Alaric certainly wouldn’t miss it. It would also drive his hormones to force him into a change, so he could successfully mount me if he could catch me. Animal to animal. And Marta had made clear to me, how much harder it was for the males to change back human under that moon. They lose nearly all control of their bodies. The beast takes over. I was counting on that now as I reached the last of the trees and rolled to two feet. Knowing I was bare, absent all clothes and hair flying as I ran, panicked across the meadow. Screaming for help. 04 Strange Salvation I looked over my pale shoulder and through the strands of my straight blonde hair, watching the silvery wolf emerge from the trees so close behind me. Loping through the grass. I forced my legs to go faster. Carrying me at a nearly inhuman pace that should’ve lent a clue as to what I really was. If anyone knew anything. I was counting on the fact that they were simple humans who did not. Most wolves abhorred the company of humans. Knowing they were more powerful, faster and more animalistic, they tended to keep their distance. Which also keeps them from hunting us as zealously as the mages do. The wolf behind me was cutting the distance. Heading for me. He leapt and his teeth barely missed strands of my knee length hair as he tried to catch it without taking out my legs entirely. Trying not to hurt me at least. I could appreciate that. He could’ve torn my leg out from under me and injured me. But he wants me for a mate. And doesn’t want me broken. At least not until he’s done with me. I thought bitterly. Marta’s voice echoing in my ears. “He’ll break you girl. Like a beaten, pup.” *** I was moving so fast now, my toes barely touched the ground. My ankle bones adjusting and my feet narrowing into wolf paws. The only chance I have. “Help!” I shrieked. “Help!” Praying that the sight of a naked woman in the fading light would surely draw as much attention as my terrorized voice. Without slowing I ducked to sweep up a large rock and twisted halfway to hurl it back at him. My keen animal senses rewarded me. That stone hit him solidly in the snout. Driving his face downward as he yelped, and his head rolled in toward his chest. Skidding a few feet and piling dirt before him as he fought to catch his balance. Shaking off his disorientation, he righted himself with a growl and was back after me. But that head start meant the world… *** With a gap between us now, I was greeted by a hailstorm of well-placed arrows landing just behind me. Bringing Alaric to a dead stop. Shoulders hunkering, he shifted his front feet malcontentedly as he eyed me in a way that had threatening promise. He eased sideways along the wall of arrows. Guards above us were shouting at the wolf to back off. And another arrow whistled into the air. Alaric had to lunge up and veer sideways to evade it. It was aimed for him. He lifted his head almost straight upward and gave me a sideways look. A wolf’s promise for vengeance. He’s enraged. More furious than I’ve ever seen him. I hadn’t slowed my pace as I reached the drawbridge creaking down for me. I ran over it. My feet thudding over the planks before I reached the dual doors which were tossed open by none, other than the man wearing a crown, himself. Without pause, I launched myself into his arms. Naked and sobbing. And only half of it contrived. *** His arms cradled me, and he pulled me further into the bailey. I immediately adjusted my feet before anyone could spot that they were slightly furred with joints which would appear twisted for a human’s. “That’s the biggest damn wolf I’ve ever laid my eyes on, Your Highness!” One of the heavily armored knights shouted in horrified awe. I know how he feels. Alaric was impressive even in wolf form. Even I couldn’t deny that. As much as I’d like to. He was silvery fur with large black markings. And dark line running down his snout, which made him distinctive. His shoulders were wide and shifted threateningly. Snarling and baring teeth in a way that told me he expected me to turn around and go back to him. Or there’ll be hell to pay. But I’m beyond your reach now, Alaric. I gave a sly smile, hidden from those watching the wolf. Still wailing, I cast a long blue-eyed stare over my shoulder. Glinting with triumph as I gazed back at Alaric, until the guards in the bailey slammed the doors closed. Blocking him from view. He knew I’d won. Nothing he can do about it now. *** I was proud of myself. Filled with elation as I looked at the people in the baileys. Delicate humans which I could reside with. And control to some extent. I looked at the sky above and the high walls and counted myself blessed. I’ve well and truly escaped. I wanted to scream it. Shout it to the Heavens. I’m beyond the Asara Pack’s reach now. And Alaric’s. Wouldn’t old Marta be proud of me now? I was highly pleased with myself. Turning back into the old king’s neck I sniffled and feigned great upset. I’d thought the moment over until I’d heard the thud against the huge doors. Fierce enough to rattle them. His snarling beyond the door, had everyone in the bailey backing up. “Looks like he might come through them!” A man in the bailey shouted. Oh, no. My stomach sunk as I watched the door rattle again and boards at the top splintering. Surely not. “Reinforce it!” The wizened Captain of the Guard appeared before directing. “Get the King indoors!” An old man I’d later discover was King George of Enderon Kingdom, guided me through the doors. Gently walking with me tucked under his arm and within his robe. We were chased inside and the great doors slammed. Knights in heavy armor clattered down the stairs and lined up at those doors to ensure that the powerful wolf would not make it inside. *** ALARIC Alaric hit those doors over and over again. Not because he truly wanted through them. But he wanted to vent his rage. So, he’d rush them and skid sideways, ducking his shoulder and head to bang against them. Terrifying those beyond. The sound of their shrieks and men’s astounded mutterings were a happy reward for the loss he’d suffered today. I will get her. I’m not nearly done with her yet. When he’d first noticed she was gone, he’d went straight to his older brother, the new Alpha and asked for direction. Draven had read his intent as clearly as he always did, and knew that in reality, he had no choice. Even forbidding Alaric to go wouldn’t have stopped him. It’d only have cast me from the pack. So, Draven had relented. Knowing that in their great grief over the loss of their father, hunting down Lara would bring Alaric a twisted sense of peace. So, he let me go. And for the last day and a half, Alaric had known she was close. Just out of reach. He’d silently tracked her. But Lara was a clever girl and she’d known he’d come. Then she’d fled here. Wanting to believe she could live amidst humans again and deny what she is once more. But something roared in Alaric. Demanding that, that was an unacceptable option. She is a she-wolf. She belongs with me. 05 Blending In LARA I’d cowered behind the king. Wondering if that door would hold. Willing to let that pack of knights stand between me and the vicious brother of the Alpha hunting me. I’d let anything stand between him and I. As long as it kept him from getting me. “You poor thing…” The king rubbed my hair down around my tearstained cheeks. Brushing away the dampness with old fingertips. He had a kindly face. Gentle eyes but a hard jaw beyond that white beard, that told me that his hand could be as brutal as it could be kind. I was going to work for nice. I looked at him and wondered how far I could take this. How far will I go to avoid the wolves? Any distance. I decided. Steadying myself to what might come. I clung helplessly to the old king’s arms like a lost child. Forcing my face as vulnerable as I could make it. “Please, please help me. I’ll do anything…” “Of course, Dear. Of course we will. My, my you are a pretty one, aren’t you…Beneath all those tears. You’re luck you made it. He nearly got you.” You’ve no idea how pretty I’m going to be… “Yes.” I admitted. “He nearly did.” *** For days I worked to seduce that old king. Spending every moment haunting his steps and appearing in whatever room he was in until I made him mine. Persuading him to spend more and more time with me. To indulge my wishes a bit further each day. I felt his eyes lingering on me and knew he liked the way I looked. With soft blonde features and keen blue eyes, I’d been told more than once I was lovely. But where I normally tried to hide those traits, here, amongst the humans I let myself free. I wore the lovely satins and silks the king gifted me. And participated in his dances and parties. Eventually catching the eye of Bartholemew. One of the lords of a neighboring Kingdom. I was kind to him to, willing to build my bridges where I might. After one ball, the king walked over and offered me his arm. Collecting me from a dance with Bartholemew. “He wants you, you know.” He remarked evenly. “’Tis quite the shame, I only have eyes for one man.” I batted my sweeping lashes. He gave a half-hearted smile. “Do you think one as lovely as you could learn to love one, such as me?” A King? Definitely. I’d love every coin. “But I already do, Your Highness.” I crooned. He chuckled softly. “A smooth girl you are, indeed. You know I can give you no children.” “I need none, My Lord.” “After you pass, My Girl. My lands would go to Bartholemew’s children. He is my cousin.” “I care not a wit.” I shook my head. “Only that I am with you.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. Patting my hand on his arm. *** Soon, after he wed me. Giving my own sentries to protect me. I strolled the wall now and again. Watching the treeline beyond the meadow. And I was sure, that I could see yellow eyes watching me from within the shadows of the trees. Alaric. I could feel his presence there still. Waiting for a day I forget. One day in which I emerge.... But I had no intention of forgetting. The day of the wedding came and went. I wore white, which I felt was fitting. Since I’d managed to remain untouched. And I had plans of staying that way. I had high hopes that I could control my withered old king with a concoction of herbs I’d had my maids testing on the knights for their amusement. It works. The eve of the wedding came, and to my surprise, the King sent off those that’d vouch that the wedding had been consummated. “I want no such trivialties ‘atween you and I, My Dear. When the time comes you wish for the act. I shall be here waiting.” I was pleasantly surprised. Finding myself liking the man more and more by the day, despite my general dislike of males. I took full advantage of his kindness and prolonged that day and when it seemed he was growing impatient, I relented and spiced his drink with my herbs then attempted to seduce him. To his dismay, and my great relief, we found he could not rise to the occasion. Then came the time when I walked those perimeter walls and no longer felt Alaric’s gaze on me. Does he know I am wed? That I was claimed by another? For some reason that thought didn’t bring me joy. Despite the King’s kindness, I found myself lonely over the long months. Missing the company of creatures who understood what I was. I’d never thought I would miss the wolves. But I, at least, miss the camaraderie of the she-wolves. And Marta’s old wisdom. I walked the walls again and felt no eyes, no presence. I thought for sure, he’d finally gone. Surrendered me to the humans, afterall. I should’ve known better. 06 Found It was a normal morning. I rose and my maid tended me in my morning rituals. Brushing my hair until it was a soft yellow halo framing my face. She then plaited it. Weaving in some shining white pearls. Next, she dusted my lips with a bit of rouge to freshen my face. She pulled a sky blue dress of fine silk over my head and helped gather my hair from beneath it. Tightening the laces until I felt I couldn’t breathe. Then helping me into the matching slippers. The fire was still needed to warm my room because though the sun was up, it was a moggy, damp morning. And the castle seemed to encourage the dampness to cling. Building the chill. I grabbed a gold silk wrap with tassels on the edges and pulled it around my shoulders. Emerging from my room with a purposeful walk. I’m starved. I had every intention of heading straight to the Dining Hall to retrieve some breakfast when I was stopped in my tracks. A knight was passing me in the corridor. He wore full armor, but his helmet was tucked under his arm as he reached me, emerging from doing rounds in the other direction. It was a face I knew. One I hadn’t yet been able to forget. His spiked dark blonde hair and keen blue eyes made him highly distinctive. So does his large frame. “Alaric...” I said in horror. His blue eyes were intent on me as he passed me. Not blinking and not wavering from his intended direction. “Princess.” He nodded in a cold greeting. “I’m the queen!” I corrected haughtily. “Not to me, you’re not.” He was already past me and taking the stairs. “You’ll always be the spoiled princess running from what she is.” “I could have you beheaded for that disrespect.” I yelled down the stairs after him. “Try Princess.” He turned at my baiting, and rested his foot one step higher toward me. Making me ease backward. Wondering if he was going to come at me. “And I’ll expose what you are.” “You can’t.” I hissed. Looking around worriedly now. Hoping no one would hear him. “I can. And I will. All I have to do is show them what I am. And they’ll be so afraid I’m telling the truth about you, they’ll have you beheaded. Are you willing to see if I’m wrong?” His blue eyes brightened. I know that look. It was a threat. A warning. “Have a good day, Princess. I’ll see you when I return.” He’s coming for me. That’s what he means. I couldn’t fathom how he had gotten so far into the castle masquerading as a guard. Where is the Captain of the Guard? I summoned the man with a shout, but by the time he arrived Alaric had vanished down the stairs and into the bailey. I didn’t dare chase him. “There’s an imposter in the castle masquerading as a knight!” I declared. Blonde hair and blue eyes! Have him tossed.” Old Damien’s brown eyes were huge. “I can’t fathom how someone could’ve got in. The Guards are at the wall.” He gestured beyond the bailey. “No one has entered, Your Highness.” “Find him!” I commanded. “Right away.” Damien turned and began shouting for his knights to assemble. Giving them the orders I'd given him. Instantly feeling relief, with my certainty that they’d catch him, I retreated to my chamber. *** There was a soft knock a short time later. I opened it and found Damien himself at my door. Looking puzzled. What’s wrong? It dawned on me instantly. They didn’t find him. A swirl of dread began climbing through me. “What?” I asked hesitantly. “There’s no imposter now, Your Highness.” He shook his head. “All the knights are present and accounted for. No missing armor.” “Are you sure they’re all yours?” Damien nodded. “All men I’ve trained myself. I know their faces, their names. No imposters.” I frowned. Shaking my head as I closed the door. My jaw tightening in frustration. He got away. Alaric had come into my sanctuary, taunted me and then left without a trace. Damn him! I stayed locked away in my chambers until after dark when I went to my husband’s chambers. Feeling confident that Alaric would be long gone by now. I paced there, jerking my skirts. “What is it, My Queen?” The King asked with a lifted brow. Looking vaguely annoyed by my abrupt behavior. "We must increase my personal guard." “Why?” He asked slowly. “A man was outside my personal chambers.” “What?” The king looked appalled. “Who?” “I don’t know.” I lied. Biting my tongue on the words, hating lying to the man that had been so kind to me. “But he wasn’t one of our knights.” “It is done, My Queen.” With those simple words, the King had given them to me. As he does, anything I ask for. “Are you reassured, Queen?” I nodded. “Thank you.” I murmured gratefully. The more knights between Alaric and I the better. Though I feared there might never be enough to stop him. It was undeniable that he was a force to be reckoned with. An immoveable wall when he set his mind to something. *** “Come to bed, My Dear.” He patted the bedding next to him. He was already lying there. His grayed head sunk into the pillows. He was often there, anymore. His health taking a turn for the worst in the last few months. I summoned my maid, who helped me from my dress but left my hair plaited as per my request. Keeping my hair bound was a reminder for me that I must always keep myself under control. To keep what I am hidden from prying eyes. In a cotton nightdress I crawled beneath the blanket on reluctant feet. Settling into the warmth. There was a sickly odor to him that told me his body was decaying from within. That thought saddened me. Despite that he could have a hand quick to punish, he’d never aimed it at me. His hand began caressing over me and I worked hard not to shrink away. To give him what little he asked in return for the comfort and safety he’d given me.

SUMMARY KURIK She didn't know what I was. But I knew what she was. I wanted revenge when I first met her but she changed that. After knowing her I wanted more. I couldn't get enough. She became my obsession. And One Hundred and Seventy Six Years locked away have neither tempered my desire for vengeance or for her. SARASAE I'm a Canastra, one part of a triad. Now it is just my sister and I and the thing locked in my basement. We're all that's left of the family I knew. And the one I'd hoped to have... There's a new threat now and despite all my power and my allies, it's not enough. I need the blood of one of the original creatures to create a spell powerful enough to protect everyone. But first, I have to find him... The sire of their hated breed. 01 Beginnings Are Always Simple London, England 1834 One Hundred Seventy Six Years Ago Brightly lit and lovely, the ballroom was undeniably cheerful. But Kurikus’ Warrick was anything but. His face was written in the wrath that’d been stewing over the last year. As I searched for her. And now, here she is… Twinkling crystal chandeliers tossed light over the girl’s porcelain features. Sarasae Farthiway. A ruby on the dancefloor. He moved the border of the ballroom, striding the marbled floor and weaving behind shimmering gold pillars. Gaze intense on the lovely creature. My little prey. A creature I intend to possess. She drew the eye. With lovely, high cheekbones arrowed to a crimson mouth contrasting with the lush emerald of her gown. Rich burgundy hair flowed around her shoulders, more freely than custom allowed, only bound with a few gilded white flowers wrapping her crown. The gown clung to a full, rounded figure that made a man want to get ahold of her. She turned her head and that dark hair swung over a shoulder and clung to the deep ‘u’ of her gown’s neckline. Revealing the shadowed crevice between her breasts. That hair shined in the chandelier light. Like rich wine. Sparkling shades shined across her body. From that hair to the green dress to the strange gold-bronze of her skin. She glitters like precious stone. She made him hungry. Starved. *** Sarasae... Undeniably beautiful. He thought. This woman that murdered my friend. After following her for months, Kurikus knew enough to be amazed her sister had persuaded her to wear the dress at all. She favors men’s clothing. He’d learned that much about her from prowling the treeline of their property. Watching. As Sarasae glided the elaborate marbled floor, his eyes followed her every move. Tracing her outline like a bit of artwork. A man spoke to her making her turn his way. She greeted him and her lips parted in a smile made her face change and lent her eyes an unearthen shine. Cheeks reddening with delight, she laughed fully. Staring up at the man now carefully moving in step with her. Who is he? Kurikus wondered. Does she know him? Another of her prey? Despite his rage at her crimes, he felt the undeniable hint of possessiveness. Envying the way she looked at the man, even though he of all people, should know better. The stranger’s hands folded around hers to dance. Making Kurikus growl low in his throat. Outside clouds stirred across the sky in response to the hunger tightening his belly. Dancing candle flames flicked out. Rousing gasps before they bloomed to life again. He reminded himself to calm, lest he give himself away too early. *** A generous display of her characteristically rare smiles made her mesmerizing tonight. His blue eyes darkened to gray as he watched her. Torn between vengeance and lust. Do I want to seduce her or strangle her? Quite the dilemma. Giggling accompanied by a nudge on his arm drew his attention to the little brunette next to him. Unwanted company. He’d wholly forgotten she was there. “Kurik, are you ignoring me tonight? You’re being quite…inattentive.” She whined. I was. Until you interrupted me. His indulging smile assuaged her wounded pride. “Alecia I’m far too simple a man to resist your charms.” His eyes fell on the prominent display of cleavage peering above her gown. Far less tempting than the others’. Alecia pouted. Ducking her head in what he assumed was intended to be seductive. Trying too hard to gain my attention, to be intriguing. Lifting a skeptical brow, she murmured. “I fear nothing about you is simple, My Lord.” Chuckling vaguely, his attention already wandered back to his quarry. He absentmindedly twirled the wine in the glass so loosely gripped between his long fingers. “Kurik!” Alecia complained. Stomping a foot and whirling to stand next to the wall, in an obvious attempt to get him to pursue her. Which I have no intention of doing. As Sarasae’s partner turned her free, she made her way to the chairs along the other wall. Crossing the room, he intercepted her. Black boots and breeches stepped into her lowered gaze, Sarasae’s eyes lifted, and she made a startled sound. Kurik’s breath hitched at the affect those vivid green eyes had beneath the light. Lips curving into a beguiling grin he extended his hand. “May I?” *** Flushing, she looked taken aback as she glanced around the room. “My card is full, and we’ve not been properly introduced.” Her tone was scathing. At my rudeness, no doubt. But he didn’t care. He was rather enjoying her discomfort. Brows lifting minutely, he commented. “Haven’t we? I’d not mistake a face like yours. Miss…Farthiway, I believe?” Though a minute ago he’d have sworn it wasn’t possible, she now looked even more surprised. Oh yes, Little Prey, I know your name. “Ah, but I never mistake a face. And I’ve not seen yours.” She countered roughly. Features changing, her eyes narrowed on him. Blatantly considering declaring his deception to all the ballgoers. She thinks to expose me. Out here on the dancefloor. Now wouldn’t that be...Interesting? Another quick look around the room revealed several conversations had stopped as people stared at them. Still holding his hand out with an innocently questioning look, his gaze was unwavering. Challenging her to call me out. Do it, Little Prey. See how fast I can spin the tables. She cautiously debated it. It’ll be far more consequence to you then I. He found himself hoping she would. Lucky for him, her eyes moved to a shrouded corner where a slim dark-haired girl gave her a pleading look. Her sister. Marlay shook her head desperately hoping to sway the redhead before him from whatever rudeness she was fit to engage in. I’ll willingly engage in some verbal parrying. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d had a good argument. Especially not with a beautiful woman. Typically, they were too afraid to be considered doughty to reveal their true intelligence. Though he’d found many to be more riveting in conversation then most men who often tried to sound smart but lacked the intellect to support it. Sarasae averted her eyes before giving him her attention again. He lifted a dark brow questioningly. Well, are you going to create the scandal of the year or not? Growling for his ears alone she took the hand he proffered. Ooh, do growl at me Little Viper. Drawing her into a waltz he smiled triumphantly. Closing his arms around the woman he’d been waiting to get his hands on for so many long months. And she was warm and soft and infinitely sensual in his grip. He already wanted more. Imagining what she’d sound like moaning beneath him and clinging to him. He desired the woman, no doubt about that. Question is, do I hate her more? 02 Seduced She lit the Ballroom on fire. Her vibrancy making candlelight on golden pillars shimmer more elegantly. Making the tink of crystal seem finer to his ears. The chaotic murmur of conversations across the room dulled, relieving his senses of the constant strain of hearing everything in a room. She was his focus now. Leaning close to his shoulder she murmured. “You think yourself so clever.” Her breath was warm along the side of his chilled neck. Her lips near enough he could almost feel them against his ear when he leaned to hear her. He caught the scent of her skin. Lightly flavored with rose oil. Making her seem all the more tempting… “Because I am.” He remarked flatly. Not letting her see how she was affecting him as he looked over her head impassively. Look where you are. Caged in my arms and you don’t even know where you’ve put yourself…How much danger you’re in. Grinning unabashedly, he gave a grudging nod. “And if I’d spurned you then and there?” She queried in pure challenge. He glanced down at her and crooked his lips in a wicked half smile. Hooding his blue eyes. “I’d have looked properly put out so everyone would say you were the horrible woman who broke my heart.” They’d have said you were no lady to make such a scene. And be it this ball or the next, I’d have gotten you to dance with me. Scoffing she ran her tongue over her teeth chastisingly before clicking in her cheek. “I think you would have.” Oh, I most certainly would’ve. Giving her a lopsided grin. “Never doubt it.” Tone decisive he persisted. “Wait and see what lengths I’ll go to get you let me call on you in the morning.” Scoffing again she muttered. “Unlikely.” Chin lifting, she turned her face away airily. A show of proving how little threatened she was. Challenging him. Challenge me to bait you, Little Prey. Soon it’ll be you in my trap. Writhing to get away. He’d smirked. She was wrong. Very, very wrong. *** After his exhaustive persistence, she’d consented by the end of the evening. He’d called on her the next day. And the next. Despite her old hag of a chaperone, Mrs. Hardigan, the depth of his gaze made his dark intentions clear. You’ll be mine. Carefully bundled, and packaged, and served to me as reward for my vengeance. Mental guards carefully in place, she’d permitted his courting but offered no reciprocation. A cold Little Viper, indeed. He’d thought. But he had always been a man that believed the harder the work the sweeter the reward. She is worth the work. Almost mean, her retorts had been endless, but the amazement on her face when he’d return the next day made it worth enduring. Shocked gaping as he strolled in, greeting her butler as though he hadn’t noticed her astonished stare. Shock clearly written on her expression. He’d turned to her. “Do you truly think nasty words will drive me off? I’m not so feeble as that.” “Clearly not so astute as that.” She’d stalked off toward the Parlor. Though still not unwilling to indulge my presence. He took a sip of the proferred tea. And made a contemptuous face. “What now?” Sarasae gave him a black look. “It is quite bitter, is it not.” “I rather like it.” Sarasae lifted the cup to her lips while eyeing him meaningfully. “You would.” He said dismissively before focusing on poor Mrs. Hardigan. “Would you be so kind as to fetch me a bit of sugar?” Mrs. Hardigan gave him a pensive look then glanced at Sarasae who shook her head. When she looked back at him, she found him frowning playfully. His bottom lip stuck out like that of a pleading child. Mrs. Hardigan made a scoffing sound, that may’ve been a laugh and muttered she would go. Sarasae’s head spun to watch her rising and exiting as though she considered catching the woman’s skirts. She should’ve. It took him no time to rise smoothly on booted feet. She leapt to her own to eye him warily and he stepped around the tea table to catch a hand on her lower back and one in the hair at the back of her head. His mouth descending on her to kiss her ferociously. She shoved at him lightly and made some tiny objecting sounds, but he swallowed those and kept right at it until she was panting and flushed, and he could already lightly scent her woman’s arousal. He caught the faint sounds of footfalls emerging from the kitchen, only then did he release her on shaking legs and let her tumble backward onto the settee where she’d been. He sat smoothly. Lifting his cup as though he had never moved. *** Mrs. Hardigan entered the room and looked from one to the other of them. Sarasae was flushed and breathing raggedly. Her green eyes huge. But she found him, sitting there unphased as he blew lightly on his steaming tea. Deciding nothing was amiss, Mrs. Hardigan took her seat next to Sarasae. “Everything alright, Dear? You look feverish.” He peered up from his tea and lifted his brows boredly. “You do, indeed.” Sarasae’s upper lip ticked, and her lids lowered as she peered at him. Trying to offer a threatening look. But it looks more seductive than that. He rather enjoyed that look on her face. *** From then on, every rare occasion he persuaded, Mrs. Hardigan to dare leave to fetch tea or sugar, he stole Sarasae’s sweet mouth. Nipping at the side of her neck and his hands roving over her clothes until she was nearly melting in his arms. And he hadn’t missed that more often than not, she seemed to forget to bring the sugar with the tea. He doubted that was an accident. Despite all her objections and contrived outrage, she likes my touch as much as I like touching her. Which was the case today. He quickly sent Mrs. Hardigan off. Certain she must be the most oblivious chaperone in history. “Sweeter than honey.” He’d ran a thumb over her lips after kissing her until she was breathless. Dragging her body against his until he could feel every inch of her pressed to him. His blue eyes zeroing in on the tiny bumps rising on her skin. And the slight shiver that made her hand tremble. “You’ll find I taste like vinegar if you keep it up.” “It’s already well and truly up and I’m not certain it’ll go down until I have you.” She gasped and her eyes rounded in shock. “Mmm.” He dropped his head to kiss that startled little mouth again before taking his seat and pretending he’d never touched her. This time he waited several days to come see her again. Building the suspense. Making her wonder. Making her yearn. 03 The Wretch And yearn she had. When he was afforded the chance, he stole her lips again. She met his ferociously. And so it begins. He thought, pleased by her reaction. Not as cold as she’d have me think, afterall. She warmed to him, gradually beginning to see him differently. After weeks, her expression relaxed, and eyes became pools of vulnerability as she watched him hungrily. Kurik had eventually persuaded Mrs. Hardigan, whom he’d already charmed, to give them a moment in the garden. “Only one!” She’d hissed, bird-like nose twitching with disapproval, before she turned sharply and stalked up the path. Clearly knowing what I’m about at this point. She paused and rounded to cross her arms in dark disapproval. He waved her away with a charming smile. Shoo old Hag. Eyes narrowing, she huffed away. “How do you do that?” Sarasae’s green eyes were huge. Magic. “What?” He blinked. “Charm everyone you meet?” My creature appeal. He knew. It wasn’t ego. It was the nature of what he was. “Hmm.” He tapped his lip. “Good looks and a sweet tongue.” Giving her a devilish look he leaned closer, closing the gap between them across the bench. “Very sweet…Come. Have a taste.” I’ll charm you yet, Little Prey. Abruptly she put her fingers over his lips to stop him. “You’re not going to get what you want.” Won’t I? He lifted a blonde brow. You don’t even know what I want. Puckering his lips, he gave the inside of her glove a quick kiss. “Give me time.” It was a promise. Opening her mouth to argue, he swept in and took her in a kiss that turned her cheeks red. Making her cling to him with need. Finally breaking away, she breathed raggedly. “Why do you keep coming back?” She blurted, blinking hard as she tried to gather her composure. “Because you ask so nicely.” He purred. We both know you’ve never asked me. Despite how much you’ve wanted to. Despite herself she laughed, covering her mouth with the back of a petite hand. Averting her eyes as though she wished she could’ve stopped the sound. Why? It was a beautiful sound. Typically, she asked him to leave two or three times before demanding he do so. However, in fairness, we both know that’s not what you really want. Now she reached for his face, nearly touching his cheek before retracting her hand like it’d betrayed her. Moving so quickly she jumped, he caught that hand. Sliding to a knee on the ground in-front of her, he said. “Marry me, Sarasae.” Shocking even himself with the sudden words. *** Blinking rapidly, Sarasae choked. “Wh-what?” “It’s a very simple proposition to which women commonly have a decisive answer.” Amusement made his lips twitch. Usually. Normal women. “I don’t understand why you’re asking me this? You hardly know me.” Her voice broke. I’m not wholly certain I know why I’m asking. But shockingly over the last sennight he’d felt his rage, his need for vengeance, waning. Every look at her face had him more sure that she was no villainous wraith who’d done what she had for evil intent. There’s something more to this. “I know enough.” He murmured feeling his gaze fall to the bench next to her hip. Much more than you’d guess. He was tempted to admit he’d been following her. Wondering how much she could forgive, if she knew why he’d hunted her. “I find that doubtful.” She eyed him skeptically. Gaze snapping back to her face he said severely. “Never doubt me.” That sentence he so often used. Eyes softening, she opened her mouth to answer, but no words emerged. His voice beseeched her. “Come. Think on it Sarasae.” Inhaling deeply, he urged. “Sarasae…” She gave him an unsure glance from beneath lowered lids. Lovely red hair waving around her face and making her seem all the more tempting. I will have her. “Please Sarasae…” He pleaded. Giving her a roguish half-grin. That note in his voice that told her, he’d be doing whatever was necessary to get his way. As I always do… *** Present Day: Ravenwood Hills, South Dakota 2010 SARASAE That coaxing voice whispering my name was vanished by that same voice shouting it. In a much harsher tone. Apparently he’d been calling me for a while. “Sarasae!” The voice shouting my name cut like a whip. Waking me from dreams of the past. That’d been nearly two-hundred years ago. I’ve no business thinking about it now. I told myself as harshly as I would’ve Marlay, my baby sister. Whom I was regularly nasty to. Why was my subconscious torturing me, with things from back then? I was already beginning to suspect I knew the answer. The vicious rattling of chains was nearly enough to wake the dead. “Sarasae!” He’s trying to demand I not ignore him. I knew that tone. Pulling a robe over my scant silk pajamas, I willed the shouting to hush before it woke my sister. Marlay sleeps light enough as it is. He knows that! Crossing the room on socked feet, I took the stairs two at a time, then padded across the base level of the mansion. Grimacing as my name was shouted even louder this time. Damn him! Rushing into the small kitchen, I threw open the panel in the floor and ran down the narrow steps to the cave below. “That’s right. Come down here. To me.” He called which instinctively made my step slow. “What is it?” I shrieked, enraged he was yelling in the dead of night. Or at all. “You know what.” He thought. Projecting it into my mind. Eyes slitted on me. “You cannot starve me for an eternity.” His cold words were nearly a hiss. Watch me. I eyed the tall slim shadow against the wall, hitching my chin determinedly. Eyes that’d once danced with merriment at the sight of me, were now dark with rage. Good. They should be. He looked like he was ready to eat me alive. Probably wants to. It is what his kind does. I thought. That old bitterness still sinking its teeth into me. “Watch me.” My eyes narrowed on him. Chains clattered again. Scraping the wall and rattling across the floor as he took a couple steps toward me. I found my lips parting to draw a long breath. Trying to calm myself enough I didn’t flee his descending on me. Fighting my instinctive urge to retreat when stalked by a predator. And Kurikus was certainly that. Pure predator. From head to toe. And I hated him. Just enough to keep him chained in my basement for the rest of eternity. Like a chained pet. 04 At Last "Careful, Pet.” I taunted. Using the nickname he’d once given me. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself on those chains.” I gestured around the cavern carved from pure stone with magic. The place I now called basement. He growled in low threat. Not appreciating my goading. “How did you sleep?” His low voice was tinged with amused vengeance. Twisting the conversation on me. I glared at him. He was projecting the images into my mind! That’s why I was re-envisioning things I hadn’t thought of in so long, and from his perspective. “Stay out of my head!” I took an ominous step forward. Tempted to get my hands on him and punish him for all the pain he’d caused me. He laughed roughly. Shaking his head slowly. “You know I won’t.” *** I do know that. But it didn’t change that I expected him to. He’s no business there anymore. “If that’s all you have to say, I’m going back to bed.” I grumbled. Taking pleasure in the frustration I knew it’d cause to dismiss him so readily. A quick way of getting under his skin. Which was always a triumph since he was typically so unflappable. I rather liked aggravating him. Trying to get him to rise to the same level of bitterness I felt. That same sense of betrayal I’d felt ever since I’d discovered what he was. I shook away that memory. Refusing to think about that miserable night. One of the worst of my life. Turning to leave, his scathing voice stopped me. “Sara! My hatred for you burns hotter than any fire!” I gave him a cold half smile. Pleased that was one emotion we still shared. “You have no right to call me nicknames anymore. My name is Sarasae. It always was and always will be.” There was a long pause as his jaw ticked and his full lips locked. Wanting to shout at me but knowing the futility of that when he was chained to the wall and I’d happily laugh at his anger. “When I get out of here-” “You’ll never get out!” I foolishly closed in on him. Forgetting what he was. *** He stepped fiercely forward to meet me, reminding me of the potential danger I was putting myself in by letting him get close to me. He’d drawn close enough now that light seeping from the kitchen panel above, slashed halfway over his mesmerizing face. Chains clamored as they grated across the stone wall. Seeming to rake over my nerves as I reminded myself to take not another step forward. He was already so close I could feel his breath along my hair. See him towering over me. Standing over a foot taller and generating enough power to feel stifling. The light glinted off his gold blonde hair. Illuminating his light blue eyes and his handsome squared features. “Come closer.” He beckoned me. Trying to bend my will. Lips twitching as they tightened. Going from amused to serious as he switched gears. Trying to bring me closer. My legs tensed and I had to fight hard to keep them from moving forward. Resisting the nearly automatic response to bend to his luring. I won’t! Catching myself, I stopped in my tracks. Just out of his reach. “Come…Just a few inches closer.” His smile revealed white teeth in the darkness. “Not a chance.” “Do come closer.” He invited in a low velvety voice. The room suddenly seemed impossibly quiet. Making him the only focus in the darkness. The yellow light from the kitchen casting over his face revealing it as half humor and dark rage. Gnawing my lip a moment, I spoke again venomously. “Trust that my hatred for your kind flares just as brightly.” My kind. But not me. That’s probably true. He growled threateningly. Spinning on my heel, I returned to the stairs. *** Despite himself, he enjoyed the sway of her hips in the faded light. Remembering what the rounded curves of her body had felt like as his hands had lovingly traced them. Molding her hot flesh while she writhed with need. Hearing the quick clang of him lunging towards me and reaching the end of his tether, I forcefully gave a cold laugh. The stone wall groaned in objection as the links embedded in it pulled taut. I paused on the steps back up into the kitchen. Laughing over my shoulder. “Is that all you’ve got?” “Careful who you laugh at, Little Red. I’ve got a whole lot more to show you when I get my hands on you next.” “If. If you do. Remember, when you do or don’t come off those chains is up to me.” Smirking over my shoulder I slinked up the few stairs. His husky voice rose again so quietly I had to stop climbing the stairs to hear his words. “Remember Sweetheart, I have time. Lots of it. I’ll still roam this Earth long after your bones have crumbled to dust.” “I doubt that!” I said snidely. “Those chains say otherwise.” “Do they?” “I doubt that even you are savvy enough to come up with a way out of them, without my magic.” “Never doubt!” His haunting words floated up to me as a snarl. Rage coursed through me at the familiar words. Making my cheeks flush and my eyes narrow on him as I felt the fury pumping through my blood until all I saw was red. That one phrase he’d always used to reassure me now only infuriated me. “That’s right, heat for me!” He whispered in a hissing rumble. Growling in my throat I forced myself up into the kitchen. His mocking laughter chasing me. *** “Silence.” I waved my hand. As my foot left the top step and landed on the kitchen floor, the air in the cave below thickened until it could no longer be inhaled. Becoming nearly liquid in texture. “See you talk-or shout now.” I called back down to him. Enjoying the fact that he’d be down there suffering know. Good thing breathing isn’t required of immortals. I heard him stilling instinctively as he strived for air. I imagine him. His throat straining. Feeling the sense of suffocation, the fear, despite knowing it could not be his undoing. Climbing into the blessed light of the kitchen I glanced at the bulb. It shined cheerful yellow oblivious to my frustrations. Passing the calendar next to the fridge I grabbed a marker and crossed out yesterday. June 22, 2020. It was already approaching a new day. The night hours were waning. I need to grab a couple more hours of sleep. Then I planned to wake Marlay and we’d finally get to go after the weapon. At last. 05 Shadows If all went as planned today, I’d have what I’d tracked down for nearly two decades, in hand. The blood of the Ancient. With that I could cleanse the world of soul-eaters. Primarily the one in my dungeon. A smile curved my lips at the prospect. Finally, they’d all get what they deserve. Bed! I told myself that I did need rest. I was halfway up the steps before I realized that was his command in my mind. Not my own thought. Damn him! Carefully closing my mind against him, I returned to my room and laid down. Nothing but blessed silence reached my ears. Sighing, I rubbed my forehead. Sleep well sweetheart. Kurikus thought bitterly. *** NICHOLAS Nicholas Blake ran the sidewalk barefoot. Shirt shredded. The back now only a gaping hole. He panted heavily. The run from Monument Hill had been almost too much for even his athletic body to stand. He was exhausted and growing more certain every moment that he was going to make it all the way up there. But he’d always been one to push harder when things looked hopeless. So, he ducked his head and drove on. Hunkering solid shoulders and aiming for that Hill. Three men in black rounded the corner behind him, shouting for him to stop. Then speaking a garbled language, he didn’t understand. There black robes whipped around their legs as they ran. Snapping against the quiet night air. Glancing over his shoulder, Nicholas watched the line of them in horror. He spun his head and focused on Fell Hill up ahead. Looking like something from his nightmares. Atop it, loomed the old mansion, dwarfing the town in its shadow. Old shuttered windows were boarded closed. Doors nailed. Looking very much like it should be condemned. He wondered how he’d get in, even if he did make it up there. Far as he knew there was no way in. And what if no one was even there? Or there but couldn’t help. Without realizing it, his fearful thoughts had slowed his pace as he struggled to think through a grief-stricken, befuddled mind. *** The men dressed in black with faces painted ghostly white in the black night were closing in on him. He realized he’d let them too close in his carelessness. A dagger sunk serrated teeth into his back. He yelled and lunged his chest forward to escape further stabbing. Pain burst behind his eyes. Grunting in pain, he refused to stop, even as pain seared through the cut so close to his spine. A sudden, brutal thought slashed through his mind. He wasn’t going to make it. He was going to die here…In the road. In his panic, he instinctively leapt onto the edge of a fence, bare feet twisting to mold around the plank balanced on posts. Toes lengthening and curling with surprising agility. Smoothly running across it, he hopped to one higher. Managing to launch himself onto the roof of a nearby building before making the lunge to the next. Not even noticing what his body was doing in its instinctive pursuit of survival. He could feel energy pulsing through him. His heart rate throbbing in the side of his throat as he ran harder. He was aiming for a low roof. Intent on leaping up toward it. Even though as he drew closer, he was more certain it was too high. An impossible jump. But he was already in the air. Kicking wildly. Back burning from the pain. Feeling like it was tearing apart, his body super-heated and vision blurred. But he found himself scrambling up that roof and lunging to catch another. His fingers managing to hook the trim before he tossed himself up. Crashing over it and lunging for the next one. Crossing distances, he’d never have guessed he was capable of leaping, before. Running below, the robed men kept pace with him. Black cloaks flushed against them as they ran with inhuman speed. Arms and legs pumping as they kept him in view. Their heads twisted in a nearly birdlike fashion as they tried to keep him in view as he rushed over the rooftops more flying then running. Movement next to them caught their gazes. A shadow over the ground of splaying wings. They looked up and saw the boy jumping over them. Landing on another rooftop and still going. He cleared an alley then veered right and jumped the road in one swoop. He was too terrified and filled with adrenaline to wonder how. To think about anything just now. Eyes trailing upward they saw his shape expanding, darkening the night sky above them, then vanishing as he dropped onto a roof several houses down. The heavy thumping of his footfalls indicating he hadn’t stopped running yet. He wouldn’t. Not until he collapsed. Every day he’d spent in sports was called upon now to force him further. As did the images of his slaughtered family. Their bloodied bodies lifeless strung throughout the house… *** MARLAY Sarasae’s baby sister, Marlay was the one roused when screaming outside the house reached her ears. Tossing her blankets back she rolled onto her feet and ran to the boarded window. Peering through the gap in the wood she saw a boy running across the lawn. A Desperate, athletic, boy. Screaming for help. One she didn’t recognize. “Please! If you’re in there, let me in! Help me! Draven Brown sent me. Please! Someone!” His voice broke on the last words. Marlay bit her lip furiously, tasting the coppery tartness of blood. Unable to take her eyes off him. Conflicted because she knew the violence of her sister’s wrath. And her sister would be furious if she helped this boy. “Help!” He was terrified. And only as old as she looked. Time stopped. As she watched, three men clad in black, faces painted with silver slashes crossing their eyes, topped the hill behind him. Tilted forward with their arms tight to their sides as they ran in a line behind him. Tolari warriors. 06 The Tolari NICHOLAS Nicholas glanced up at a second story window as boards blasted out from the window. Shards of wood flying at him in a wild rainfall. Shielding his face, he persisted his sprint to the mansion. “Help meee!” A girl’s voice cut the air. “To the front door!” There was a spray of whirling boards cast over the lawn and he realized she must’ve somehow tossed them off to throw open the window. Those boards flew with such momentum that they were still spinning over the lawn. His gaze shot to the long dark hair jutting from a bedroom window, high on the second floor. She was jutting a finger out and down to point at a door directly below her window. Her voice had rang with commanding force. Demanding obedience. It looked dark and boarded over. But what choice did he have? Giving a quick wide-eyed nod, he jumped a rolling board which seemed to come from that direction. He couldn’t think of anything but getting through that door. Relieved beyond words that someone was there… The witches… He hoped the man had been right to send him here. *** Marlay whipped from her window to race to her bedroom door. As she left, she lifted a hand behind her. Her palm out towards her window. Sending a blast of magic toward it. Nicholas was forced to dodge another barrage of flying wood as those boards, which had just fallen, launched into the air to slap back over the window. A surge of methodical thunking. Shaking his head, Nick reached the door. Desperately trying the knob, he couldn’t push it open. Why wouldn’t it open? Looking back, he saw the eerie men closing in. Swallowing hard he shoved his shoulder against the door. It wouldn’t give. He willed it to break. “Come on.” He grunted. Shouldering it again. Even knowing the door would gape once he was through, the tantalizing thought of shelter seemed far safer than outside in the dark. With the killers. “Please. Please. Please.” He nicked his hand on the head of a rusted nail. For the first time his eyes traced the frame. Nails about an inch apart marked a border all the way around the frame. And one shove on it and he could tell it was solid oak. He took a horrified step backward. Registering that with its weight and all those spikes, there was zero chance of him getting through it. He should’ve picked a different way in. Rounding, he had no choice but to run toward the black-clad murderers as he leapt off the porch to head for the nearest window. Praying he’d have better luck there. There had to be a way through somehow. If not, he was as good as dead… *** MARLAY Marlay tore down the corridor. The presence of the Tolari change everything. Not only would Sarasae not be angry…She’d have to help! “Sarasae! Awake.” Marlay commanded sending a surge of energy that’d guarantee its success. Her soft voice echoing down the corridors with the power of a military commander. Making the walls vibrate enough that dust quaked off the shelves. As Marlay rushed down the steps she was reassured by the string of feminine profanity rising through the house. Sarasae. Marlay crossed the foyer. Chains rattled below her. Kurikus didn’t like when he wasn’t part of the chaos. And he was making that malcontent known in his struggles to escape his binds. Faded yells from the basement shouted for her to get the door open. “Get the door, Marlay! The door!” She knew Kurikus wanted to help. He always did… *** “Are you outside the door?” Marlay’s nearly mystical voice wove into the boy’s mind. Ringing with beautiful clarity. “No!” She heard the loud reply just outside a window to the Parlor. He was pounding on it with a palm. “Good.” She murmured aloud. Her head lowering as she gazed at the door. Standing in the dark of the foyer. The only light seeping in from the streamers of moonlight which made it in through the slats covering the windows to shine across the white marble squares under her feet. Her black hair shined like midnight and her eyes went equally as dark as she splayed her fingers stiffly open. Rusted nails pulled from their slots and clinked onto the porch outdoors. Wood bowed before exploding. Projecting out onto the lawn in a tornado of flying splinters and nails. Three Tolari stood between the doorway and the boy. Their gazes slowly lifting to her. One twisted as a splinter of wood pierced just above his hip. Marlay looked worriedly at them realizing just behind them, stood well over a dozen. Far too many for her to take on. “Tolariii!” Marlay shrieked. A toss of her head threw two from the path, but the third spun on her, sending a surge of magic powerful enough to knock her back. The black-robed man rushed toward the doorway at an erratic speed. Zig-zagging as he raced forward. Marlay lifted her hand and blocked the doorway in a billowing bloom that rumbled every time he pressed against it. He clawed and kicked at it like a wild animal but was unable to budge it. “No. She commanded in that cold, echoing voice. She whooshed air, as she fought to maintain the barrier. Wondering where the hell her sister was. *** “Little Canastra.” His voice hissed. Crackling eerily as he studied her. “You’re not powerful enough to fight us.” Hearing profanity clambering down the stairs into the foyer behind her, Marlay smiled. “I don’t need to be.” The Tolari gave her a quizzical glance. “Perhaps I’m not. But, sad for you, I’m part of a triad with a very powerful, very dangerous...very angry Canastra.” They were hesitating and some in the line were backing up. “I see you’ve heard of my sister. The Red Wraith…” “Baby sister, I’m going to-” Sarasae’s words ended as she saw the Tolari outside the doorway. She cautiously stepped through the blasted open door. Fury radiating from her. 07 A Dream Before Waking SARASAE The dream had been inescapable. As was the heat of the muscled man staring down at me so intimately. His hair shining gold in the meager light of the moon peering in through the window between the curtains. The heat of his flesh was new yet utterly welcome. The skin of my new husband. It was the eve of our wedding and finally I surrendered what he’d so yearned for. He’d led me up here. To the largest chamber of the house, he’d bought for us. His cool confidence reassuring my nervousness. Though I’d been excited for this day and anticipated this evening. I suddenly felt very unprepared. “I don’t know what to do…” I whispered to him. He chuckled and tugged me against him. Rounding to meet the momentum of my body, so I was pressed to his length. Peering up at him with startled eyes. His palm cupping my cheek as he lowered his lips to mine. The other hand still gripping mine pressed to my backside as he squeezed my linked fingers reassuringly. Growling low in his throat as he changed the angle to kiss me more deeply. His smooth tongue delving into my mouth and toying with it in that intricate dance, he’d taught me all those times he’d persuaded my chaperone away. Yet this was entirely different. The idea that I would be his forever and he mine was overwhelming. And reassuring. When he drew back, breathing raggedly to stare down at me assessingly, I found myself staring up at him nearly worshippingly. He was the most handsome man I’d ever set eyes on. Pure contradiction from his hair to his feet. Fierce yet gentle. Abrasive at times, yet kind to those I’d not expected. Immensely impatient yet more patient with me than anyone had ever been. He was everything I’d yearned for. And nothing like what I’d expected. Where I was reserved and afraid of the unknown, he was pure confidence. Nearly dripping with it. And this moment was no different. He brought his mouth to mine in a series of delicate pecks. Drawing my lip between his so I could learn the softness of that fine touch. Finding myself clenching deep inside, in an automatic response. I yearned for this man. With the dark lashes over the vibrant sky blue eyes. Eyes which drew me in and turned me to putty in his hands. And the straight nose over full lips which both surprised me with their softness and beckoned me when they turned in a wicked grin. Which is often. His square jaw and hard chin were as unrelenting as he was. Stubborn and unforgiving. I thought. He stole whatever my next thought was with his teasing mouth. He’d somehow simultaneously freed the laces of my pearled corset. Letting it fall and freeing my white gown to billow around me. He crouched before me. Staring up at me as he drew his hands down the front of my thighs and down to encircle my calves before lifting one of my feet to removed the white slipper, I’d worn for the ceremony. The fact that he held my gaze while he did all these methodical movements made it achingly intimate. I had the urge to look away but sensed he’d call me on my cowardice. So, I clutched his shoulders as he removed the second slipper before setting both aside. He slowly scooped the hem of the dress and slowly rose. Folding it over his forearm as he did until it was pooled over them. He lifted it over my head and slung it over the bed post to keep from tossing it on the floor. He caught me by my lower back and whirled me around so fast, I caught my breath. Thinking his animal aggression would be reflected in the way he took me the first time. I feared that. Clutching his arm, I held him as he stopped. Smiling down at me. “You’re doubting me again.” He tilted his head with a slight grin. “What have I told you about that?” Never doubt. He always said that. So many times, I knew the words he’d say before he uttered them. He guided me down to sit atop the trunk filled with my wardrobe. I’d forgotten it was there and startled as my rump landed on it. He chuckled. “Relax, wife.” He knelt again and caught my stocking just above my knee. Peeling it down as if revealing the finest treasure as he eased it down. Rolling it as he went. Caressing along the back of my calf as he admired the shape of my slim legs. “What are you thinking?” I couldn’t help asking. “I’m enjoying the view.” His teeth flashed in the dim light. “You can hardly see me.” We were far enough from the windows now that I was certain he could only see my outline. That’s all I can see of him. “Oh…You’d be surprised…” *** Somewhere far off I thought I could hear someone shouting for help. But whatever thoughts or questions I might’ve mustered about that were lost when Kurik caught me under my arms and lifted me to my feet. “Stay right there…” He took a few steps back. His head tipping, as his gaze roved over every inch of bared flesh. It seemed his inspection took an eternity. I shifted. My hands twitching as I fought the urge to cover myself. Knowing he’d taunt me, if I did. Never let me live down that brief moment of awkwardness. I wasn’t going to ruin the moment by giving him a reason to tease me when I was already so nervous. “Are you quite finished?” I said, trying to make my voice impatient but instead it cracked weakly. “Not nearly.” He blinked at me as he stepped from his boots. Tossing his shirt aside and shucking his pants. “But it’s only building my appetite.” He growled. Heading for me so quickly that I stiffened. He swept me up as if I weighed nothing before rounding the bed with me and setting me upon it. When he’d so clearly seemed willing to take his time, a mere moment ago, he now seemed starved. The energy of his arousal was nearly animalistic. 08 Broken Reminisces I clung to him as I fell backward. Nearly flying through the air. He rolled with me in his arms as we hit the plushness of the bed, pulling me atop him. He positioned me over his lap and caressed the tops of my thighs as he looked up at me. I sat up on my heels, straddling his hips and giving him a helpless look. He smiled fondly. “It’s okay, Sara. Go easy.” He tucked my ankles beneath my hips and pressed me lower down his muscled abdomen. I felt our bodies catch as something hot and hard slid into my slit. My lips parted and I swallowed the startled sound working up through my throat. “Easy.” He urged. The smile gone from his face. Genuine concern written over his features. I chewed my cheek as he gingerly caught my hips. Pulling me forward and back until my crease had dampened against his hardness. Starting to ache for something I didn’t fully understand yet. I found myself dropping my head back and clawing at his chest as pleasure was already building. Making me tense inside. I couldn’t control the flexing of my fingers. And hadn’t realized what I’d done until I saw the red bites my nails left. “I-I’m sorry.” I gave him a startled look. He gave me a reassuring grin. “Don’t worry about that.” He dismissed. “Are you ready?” I nodded. “Good.” He reached up to flick one budded nipple with a fingertip. Making the flesh of my small breast tingle. “Because I’m desperate to feel you.” His voice was low and husky. Infinitely seductive. He swayed me forward again and then lifted me. Catching just the tip of himself within me at the angle and when he lifted me I felt the hardness of him beneath me. I gave him a wide-eyed look. He paused right there. Clutching the crook of my hips. “You’re move.” I took a long breath. Trying to slow my heart rate and steady myself. I dared a glance down his body and could just glimpse the line of flesh from his pelvis rising up to my hole. I wished I’d gotten a better look at it. My curiosity was piqued. It felt like a hard rod coated in the finest silk. I reached down to clutch it, verifying it was indeed, slightly embedded between my soft lower lips. He jerked at the feel of my hand gripping him. His belly and chest tightened until they were iron hard. “What’s wrong?” I queried. “Not a damn thing. Do continue.” I began lowering myself over him. Jumping a half an inch when I felt my lower lips parting to make way for him. Then, abruptly he was in my channel. Parting it as he made his way in. Stretching the delicate skin until I had to hold his forearms to stop myself from either fully retreating or from something else. I had no idea what. “Keep going.” He pleaded. His throat tight. “More.” I shot him a surprised look. I’d never before heard him beg for anything. He’s certainly begging now. “More…” I nodded. Still gripping him as I dropped a bit lower. I had to move my hand to go any further and replaced it by drawing a deep breath and letting my slick body fully drop until we were entirely connected. I was flat over him. And he was jutting inside me. Touching everywhere and parting me between my hips. Firmly nestled into my center. He groaned in pleasure. Catching my hips and lifting me. At first, I thought he didn’t like it because he was pulling me off. But he stopped just as I felt the thicker part of his knob catching at my entrance. Then he moved his hands. Dropping them to the sheets and fisting them next to his hips. His heels driving downward as he restrained himself from something. I lowered again. Becoming more comfortable as I dropped. “Mmm…” His purr of pleasure was all the encouragement I needed. I now knew how this worked. I lifted and then lowered a bit more quickly. Picking up a rhythm that made his hips lift to press him further into me. I squealed a little, thinking I was hurt but realized it was something entirely different. After a short moment, lights brightened behind my eyes and everything tingled and then tensed until my entire body felt it was a rising wave. Climbing until some primal sound rippled up my throat. Then I gripped him inside me. Holding him there as I came around him. Heating around him and slicking his length. “That’s my woman.” He purred in pride. “Was that it?” I asked in shock. Blinking as I caught my breath. “Oh, there’s more…” *** “Sarasae! Awake!” Marlay’s voice broke into the moment. Severing the tie that had bound me in that moment. Locked me in the reverie that had made my body sweat in my sleep. That had me writhing against the bedding clutched between my legs to try and abate the ache that was driving me to madness. I sat up panting somewhere between miserable and thankful to be wrenched from the dream. Another one Kurik was sending me. He often did. Taunting me with that memory. Sometimes casting me knew ones that had him caressing all over my body whilst I slept. Damn him! It was only one of the consequences of keeping a creature such as him in the basement. I can only keep his magic bound for so long. I had zero control over him while I slept. My magic would fade and free him to toy with my mind. And Marlay’s if he wished. But thankfully, he’d never done that. Least, as far as I know. But he’s good at keeping secrets. Afterall…I’d had no idea what he was when I married him… 09 No Patience It took me a moment to orient myself and I grabbed a towel I kept by the bedstand to wipe the sweat from my face and the dampness from my thighs. Hiding the evidence of what he’d done to me in my slumber. I put a robe over my silk pajamas and stalked from the room and down the stairs. Hearing the commotion now only further soured my mood. But a fight was good. I needed to destroy something. I stepped out of the doorway and nearly onto a bed of nails. Barely sparing them a glance as I registered, they were form Marlay freeing the front door. My gaze cast sideways dispassionately to see what she was saving. Just then I saw a male about her age, clearing the railing to land on the porch a few feet away from her. Sidling closer. A boy. I was unimpressed. And I let the derision turning my lips and hooding my eyes, tell him so. Marlay winced at the withering look I gave him. “She knows there’s nails there?” Nicholas asked sideways as he climbed onto the porch to stand next to Marlay as I passed them. Walking to stand at the rim of the steps. “She doesn’t miss much.” She said sideways. Giving him a quick look. She likes him. That made my face twitch in dislike. Especially after the dreams I’d been having. Forced dreams. I felt sullied and violated that he could so easily plant them in my mind. And it made me want to destroy my enemies all the more. Anything to keep from thinking about it. *** I stood just beneath the shelter of the porch, eyeing the Tolari ranks who stared back. Blink black eyes from behind the white slashes of pain. They were motionless. Their hands resting under their long, billowing sleeves. For daggers. “What’s happening?” The boy was asking Marlay from behind me. “They’re waiting to see what she’ll do. Probably hoping she won’t.” “Won’t what?” Does he ever shut up? I wondered in disdain. Very tempted to cast a hush puppy spell on him. Though that’d stop his breathing. Would that really be so bad? “Do anything.” Marlay answered. Indulging in his little quiz. “Hush.” I said. Not looking away from my quarries. “Why do they seem so scared to move?” He asked her. “Everyone knows the rage of the Red Wraith.” “I don’t. What the hell is that?” “What did I say?” I hissed over my shoulder. The boy’s brows shot up his forehead and his mouth clamped shut. Likely from the sight of my eyes glinting like rubies. *** Marlay gave the boy a sympathetic look. Always compassionate, Marlay. I stalked down the steps in a furious swirl of black silk beneath thin white robe. Curls poured down my back in a shade far closer to blood than the more common, copper. Ignoring the prick of nails and the sharp jab of rocks underfoot. Reaching the lawn, I stared down the Tolari as derisively as I felt. “Wrong house, boys.” I snarled, lip curling. The two Tolari lurched into their inhuman run. Attacking me. But not nearly fast enough to get anywhere near me. Marlay smirked at their efforts. I heard the boards of the porch creaking beneath the boy shifting nervously. “She’s going to get killed.” He said anxiously. Marlay snorted. She knows better. *** I waved my hand dismissively over my shoulder. Creating a hazy barrier around Marlay. She shouted to the boy to stand next to her. I caught her reaching for his hand, from the corner of my eye. Offering her hand to him. Pure foolishness. I thought bitterly. Nodding my head forward put down another clear shield before me. Isolating the Tolari from getting any closer for a moment. Though I can never hold a shield long. That’s more Marlay’s forte. I glanced over my shoulder at the ragged teenager. The one Marlay was having a hard time looking away from him. He looks to be about the same age as I appear. Though I’m much older. My kind could live centuries before aging. As can our enemies. Kurik’s face flashed in my mind. As always, his presence was painfully distracting. One day he’ll be gone and no longer plague my thoughts. I refused to acknowledge, even inwardly, the pain that coursed through me at that thought. *** One Tolari spun violently toward me. A blessed distraction just now. I threw out my other hand. Giving him my full attention and sending him reeling to the far edge of the magic wall. Huffing in aggravation and blinking in disorientation. I tossed my hand upward and slashed it down. Making my shield lift just enough to go over them before slamming down behind them. Making them jump forward and yelp in objection. Less bold than they’d thought themselves… The boy behind me grumbled. “That was dizzying.” Soon after that, I heard him wretching. Hopefully over the railing and not where I have to walk. “It does feel a bit like being spun in circles.” Marlay agreed empathetically. The Tolari was struggling against the same malady. The wounded one turned sideways and spit bile on the ground. The other two were struggling to steady themselves. As soon as the boy straightened, he was indeed puking over the railing, I stalked up the steps to snag him by his torn collar. Nearly lifting him from his feet as I eyed Marlay. “What is this?” “A boy.” I gave her a bored look to emphasize my impatience. I knew well I had a moment before the Tolari composed themselves. And I was a firm believer in an honorable fight. “I’d like a real answer, please.” I said acidly. “I don’t have one.” She beamed. Shrugging. Reaching to run her fingers through the dark, curling hair at his collar. Nicholas gave her a surprised glance but didn’t shrink from her touch. Shrugging, Marlay murmured “I think he goes to our school. His name is something like Rick Rake.” The raven-haired girl avoided her sister’s glower. He frowned. Clearly annoyed she didn’t know. “Nicholas Blake. No Rs in that.” He muttered with a scowl, too stunned to yank away from my grip. Still clutching him where he was. He tried to take a tiny step back, but found my grip unrelenting. “Yeah…” Marlay grimaced. Standing on her toes to pat the top of his head. “You’re not going anywhere until she let’s you.” “Any idea how long that might be?” He asked her nervously. Rather than asking me. Wise choice. 10 Lucky “Why are Tolari after him?” I demanded. Losing my tolerance for the foolish talk. Before Marlay could answer, I twisted to turn my glinting ruby gaze on him, nearly shaking him. “Why are Tolari after you?” “That’s not going to help, Sae. He’s clearly in shock.” Shock? From what? I gave him a quick study and realized she was right. He was very pale and gaunt. Far too much so for his strong frame. Something happened to him tonight. That’s why he came to us. It dawned on me. I lifted my head to look beyond the Tolari gathered on my lawn in the dead of night. But who sent him? “Who?” He blinked. He doesn’t even know what they are. “Hey.” He peered at me. Familiarity dawning. “I know you. You’re in the same Study Class as me.” His eyes dropped to wander from my pale features and red hair to wander below my neck. I pushed him aside to peer at Marlay. Growling warningly. “I’ll take him.” She rushed forward to turn him and ease him further back, toward the door. “Tolari.” She pointed beyond me. I’m fully aware. She’s not going to distract me that easily. “Why is he here?” I enunciated through gritted teeth. My red hair dropping red sparks of magic in the night air. Sizzling out as they hit the porch. “Don’t know yet. Was worrying about them first.” She gestured again. Still trying to distract me. She thinks I might kill him. Which was fair. Because I was considering it. He’s going to know for sure what we are after he sees me combat the Tolari. “You know as much as me.” Marlay gave a slow shrug. “Go inside before you get killed.” Giving an impatient noise, I shoved Nicholas Rake. Or whatever his name is. *** Marlay glanced back and saw me glaring at her. “What?” “You know what!” “It was the Tolari’s fault.” She defended. Pushing Nicholas’ back to make him step leadenly through the doorway and into the mansion. A sudden, very sharp pain, bloomed in my hip. Drawing me to attention. It was painfully near my backside. I saw the triumphant look on the Tolari’s face. The one furthest away. The one I threw into the shield. He stood against my wavering barrier. “You won’t be able to keep them from getting in here forever.” He hissed in his evil voice. “That’s not what it’s for.” I returned to stand across from him. “It’s to block the sounds of your screaming over the town.” With it up, no sound from in here would filter down. “You hit me while I wasn’t looking?” I charged. Pointing at him. “Who does that?” It was entirely without honor. He smirked. Tolari. I rolled my eyes. They’re all jerks. My green eyes narrowed. “Oh, you’re a piece of-” *** Nicholas backed further into the structure, bumping into Marlay who’d ended up behind him. He blanched. “You’re hurt!” Wide horrified eyes lifted from his back to his face. She had huge brown eyes in a round, youthful face. Her long dark hair, framing her figure, down to her hips. She was wearing pajama shorts and a tank top. He realized. Admiring the length of her legs. “Where are you hurt?” She demanded. Pushing at his back to inspect it. “Oh! You’re slashed open!” She pulled apart the shredded bits of his shirt to inspect the wounds. Drawing a quick breath at the sight of the gashes. He was unaware, she drew in a wisp of his energy as she did. Catching the sensations he was experiencing. She took in dizzying pain which was still far away. Not her own. She recognized. She caught the numbed sensations and dulled thoughts that confirmed he was definitely in shock. He turned to face her and changed the subject despite her efforts to lean around to see his back again. “Should we help her?” “You’re trying to hide your wounds from me.” She objected. Calling him out. “What good would you do? You’re terrified! And hurt.” “But she’s so small!” He expostulated. Gesturing out there. “What can we do?” “She is tiny. But that doesn’t mean she’s weak.” Marlay pushed him aside to see out. “Oh!” She nodded decisively. “Best thing we can do is stay out of her way when she gets that look on her face.” “You know it’s odd.” Marlay resumed tugging at him. Trying to get him turned around again. “That’s always the first thing people notice…” “What?” “How small she is.” She murmured thoughtfully. “It makes them constantly underestimate her.” “They don’t look like they’re underestimating her. They look like they intend to kill her.” She gave a shrug. “There’s only three of them.” *** Nicholas stared at the stack of Tolari outside the wavering walls of my bubble. Marlay looked over his shoulder to follow his gaze. They’d begun picking up rocks and other things to throw at the barrier. Trying to establish its strength. I knew. “Don’t worry about that.” I heard Marlay telling the boy. “It’ll hold. Long as she’s on her feet.” I felt her nodding toward my back. The motion against the shield only made the magic walls belch and wave. The Tolari inside the silent portal glared virulently at me. Here it comes. Finally. Enough of all this chatting. Holding a hand to my aching backside, I tossed her head. Casting a riot of red hair over my shoulder. Sending it flowing down my back in swinging waves. My green eyes glittered with anticipation, glowing in the dark. The red subsiding as I relaxed. Focusing on this little duel. The pose I took, and the raw aggression on my face should’ve indicated I didn’t feel the least bit threatened. I drew back my hand. A crackling red glow forming between my fingers. I’m going to kill them. “She’s not scared of them?” Nicholas asked Marlay, from behind me. “You’re funny.” Marlay giggled. “Tolari?” Marlay scoffed. “No way. I am. She’s not.” “You should see what she keeps in the basement.” She murmured.

SUMMARY: I was a lost cause. Neither human nor wolf but a bit of both. I was the first. The original. I began my race with a simple wish. Not realizing the curse it would become. I was a simple creature until I stumbled across the sorceress. A soulless enchantress. Willing to give me what I wanted in order to see my further suffering. I vowed I'd never have a mate. All I knew was endless pain, isolation and emptiness until the day I was gifted a woman who wanted nothing to do with me. The fiercest, most gorgeous, redheaded hellion. She's something straight from my nightmares. The very first thing that's made me feel anything in over a century. Which means I can never have her. Nothing more than one night of wild pleasure. Beyond that, I have to let her go. If she'll let me... *** 01 An Exiled Pup I was a pup. Healthy and robust. One that a pack should’ve been proud of. I wasn’t quite as large as my mother yet. We crawled into our den. Separate from the rest of the pack, since she had young to protect. We both knew that sometimes the larger males would kill pups to put the female back in heat. And my mother was a beautiful brown wolf. Pretty yellow eyes in a soft brown face with a black nub at the end of her snout. She often sniffed me and nudged me playfully. Hopping around to play with me and my brothers. We whined together and followed her in a line as she taught us to hunt. Feeding on the rabbits in the woods and everything else she taught us to feed on. I was too young to understand that the other males already viewed me as too large. I was a threat to them. Mainly to our Alpha. So I was dragged out of the den while mother and the other pups slept. It was a rainy night. The thunder banged in the sky and lightening brightened over their snarling faces. I ducked my head and pinned my ears back. Wondering why they were baring teeth at me. What did I do? Where was mother? I looked back toward the den. Trying to slink that way in the slippery mud. Having enough sense not to turn my back on these adults. They were vicious and if I gave them my back, they’d surely attack it. So, I moved sideways. Keeping them in view and stepping slowly enough to not indicate I was a threat. But it was too late for that. That was already how they saw me. When I was just outside the entrance. Close enough to call for her. Or to dive inside. They caught me at my scruff. Another snatched the fur of my shoulder and one caught my back leg. They were all pulling viciously in different directions. Growling so fiercely that I feared they might tear me apart. I was yipping in pain. Screaming for my mother. She emerged in the pouring rain. Watching in horror as two more large males jumped into the fray. Pulling me in different directions. One of them snapped his jaws over my smaller snout. Raking a long tooth down from my eye and along the outside of my short snout. I cried out in pain. Flailing as they began to tear through skin. Stretching me beyond what my young body could endure. Mother attacked. The other pups trying to support her with howls and growls, but too little to do anything other than watch. She bit at the males. Getting the one holding my back leg to let go. Which gave me my back legs. I began frantically hopping and jerking my body. Pulling at their jaws. With incredible power for any wolf, much less one so young. I wrenched free of two of them. They were biting mother. One was trying to climb atop her even as she carried his weight to charge the one holding me by the nose. She barreled into him and sent the one stretched over her back tumbling atop that one. She caught me by the scruff. Dragging me sideways. I tried to move my legs to keep up. Knowing I was far too heavy for her to carry any longer, I did the best I could to move as fast as she wanted. I was dazed and I could see the red haze of blood filling my eyes. I didn’t understand why my own pack had attacked me. Hours ago, we’d all been sitting in the son within a circle of boulders. Enjoying the feel of cool dirt we’d dug out beneath the tall grass. Everything had been peaceful and quiet. Us pups had been playing and tugging at mother’s ear. None of the males had bothered us then. But it was clear that they now had every intention of killing me. I whined to my mother. Crooning softly. Asking her the question. What did I do? She shook her head. Still pulling at me, with her teeth holding me up as I loped limply sideways with her. My head hanging forlornly. I understood that I’d somehow failed my pack and now they’d turned against me. But I didn’t know why. They often turned on the weak or the disloyal. But I was neither of those. I didn’t know the other reasons. I was too young to understand. Mother rushed me to the border of the forest. Pushing me beyond the trees into an exposed meadow. Knowing that the other wolves wouldn’t want to go out there anymore than I did. She let go of me and gave two short yips and a head bob that told me she wanted me to go across the meadow toward the human village. I hunkered, crouching to the ground and gave her a soulful wine. My huge green eyes confused as I stared back at her. She bobbed her head again. There was snarling behind us. I could see a bit of blood on her back and knew they’d wounded her enough to easily track her. She was sending me away because it was the only way she could protect me. But to the humans? She’d taught me humans were dangerous. She’d taught me how to avoid their traps and to stay from their paths. Now she believes they’ll be safer than my own pack? I was so confused. I whined softly. She gave a disapproving huff that I’d not obeyed her before twirling around and rushing a short distance away. Knowing she needed to carry her bleeding scent further away. I wondered if the wolves were already attacking my little sisters. What’s happened to them? I wanted to go back to check on them. I was big for any wolf my age, so I’d always looked after my small sisters. But mother was telling me to go. I always did what mom said. Because disobeying her meant I was likely to die. 02 Seductive Touch I turned, still ducked low as I began sliding through the tall grass on my belly. Hesitant to go toward the human village she’d always shown me to avoid. I whined slightly. Fearing what would happen if I got to close. Thunder banged and I jerked. My ears moving forward and back as I listened for other threats. I heard mom yip in pain. My head shot up and I jerked in that direction. Wanting to go back to her, even though I was clearly too young to help her. Terrified, I crept on my belly toward the village. I lurked around it for the next few days. I came across a random wolf the third day and rushed over to greet him. He was infuriated, thinking me a challenger. Not realizing I was so young. He bit my throat several times. I screeched and tried to escape but he bit deeply into my shoulder. Badly wounding me. He chased me and I was barely able to stay ahead of him with a heavy limp on that front leg. I managed to hide under the step of one of the huts. The other wolf was snarling outside. Growling so loudly that he drew the attention of the resident. It was a young woman. Thinking that the wolf was threatening her house she came out with a stick and began violently swinging it at him until he whirled around to her. She managed to strike him soundly across the lower jaw. Stopping any attack he might’ve made. He gave a rebellious snarl but skittered away. Hunkering as he loped away into the dark. Pausing only to look back at me threateningly. Realizing that the wolf was paying her very little mind, she stepped off the stairs and peered beneath. Jerking when she saw me. I wondered if she too was going to attack me. I was exhausted. I’ve had enough. “What are you doing under there? You barely fit.” I blinked large yellow eyes at her. Catching enough of her words to know what she said. I’d often wandered through the tall grass to be close enough to hear the Skins. Mother had often joined me. Making soft noises next to me that taught me what many of the words meant. So, I could better understand when danger was near. My chest ached as I thought of her. Missing her warm company. With her front door open I caught a whiff of meat cooking. My stomach gurgled traitorously, and I made a whining sound as the ache there began to increase. She started to reach for me, but I gave a low snarl. She eyed me. “You’re not yet grown, are you young one?” I tipped my head toward her. Hearing the soft note in her voice, I eased from under the steps. I stepped warily back from her. Watching her as I gazed longingly within her home. A shelter from the cold. “Are you hungry?” She wasn’t chasing me away as she had the other wolf. As mother always warned me Skins would. I tipped my head side to side, trying to tell her I was. “Do you want to come in and eat with me?” I blinked hopefully at her. She put a hand on her knee and rose slowly. Taking great care to not move so quickly she spooked me. “If you come with me, Young One, I’ll help you get something in that hungry belly of yours.” That sounded so nice. My stomach gurgled again. Cramping when it did and making me crouch to the ground until the pain abated enough, I could move. “Oh, poor thing.” She crooned. She lifted her skirt and walked slowly up the steps. Casting me several looks to see if I’d follow. I wanted to. I looked at her, then beyond her into that house. Where I knew that delicious meat was. I whined. “Come in.” She urged. “Come with me.” She lowered to hold out her hand. It was pretty. Delicate and well-shaped. Soft and without callouses. I brushed my nose on it, sniffing cautiously. She smelled sweet. Feminine. It made me miss my mother. My shoulders slumped and I decided I had nothing to lose. I lifted a paw carefully and watched her as I took a step. Then another. Before rushing past her into the shelter. “Whoa…” She laughed. “Slow down.” She went to the fire where I was dancing side to side, lifting a paw in hopeful desperation as I considered trying to swat the cooking meat out of it. “Don’t do that!” She warned. Raising her voice enough to draw my attention. I turned my head to watch as she put a bit of cloth over each of her hands. Reaching over the fire to draw out the metal rod holding the meat. She took it to the table. I was pacing side to side behind her hip. Taking in the delicious scent as I sniffed the air. When she set the platter down and lifted a knife, I leaned up on my back legs to rest my paws on the table. She laughed again. A soft, tinkling sound. “Just a minute!” She cut off a bit of meat and blew on it a long while before setting it on the table before me. She barely had time to get her hand out of the way before I was scarfing it down. “Starved thing, aren’t you?” I was wiggling closer to her. Sliding my large paws over the side of the table to get closer as she cut free another piece of meat. “Just look at those paws!” She remarked. “You are going to be a big one!” I peered up at her. Taking in her pretty face. She was blonde and gorgeous. I knew even by human standards she would be pretty. She had hair like cornsilk and eyes like the summer sky and she smelled like flowers in the fields where I’d played with mother wolf. I gave a long whine. She fed me another piece of meat. Then another. Eventually she lifted her hand, slowly reaching for me. I sniffed it cautiously, eventually nudging it. Then licking it to tell her it was okay to touch me. She put a hand atop my head and it was the first kind touch I’d known since mother. I was so relieved I nearly collapsed from the exhaustion and tension I’d been enduring. I’d been so sure I was going to die alone, lingering around the village that to be warm, have food and a nice touch was the most wonderful feeling I could recall. She stroked my head a minute before feeding me more meat. She ate some and then fed me until my belly was distended and I was moving slowly. My eyelids heavy as I fought to stay awake. “Come, Young One.” She walked near the fire. “Rest your head.” I followed her. She sat on the edge of a large fur laid out there. It was soft, it smelled of something delicious, and it was warmed from the fire. I obeyed her. Resting on my belly on it. Finding myself blinking slower and slower. “I’ll feed you the few days I can.” She murmured. As she reached out to stroke my shoulders. “But I won’t be able to tend you for long. You’ll have to go.” But I was already falling asleep. Knowing that I could be in danger but too tired and comfortable to care. The dream I had was the first I would recall as an adult. And the most vivid I’d ever had. She was stroking my shoulders as she had until I’d fallen asleep. But as she did I rolled over. When I did the fur on my back rolled aside, as if nothing more than a blanket. Her hand was on my skin. And I had the flat chest of a human male. She was caressing me. Rubbing her hand over my tanned skin almost reverently. Touching me in a way that excited me. Her blonde hair lowering over my stomach as she dropped her lips against my skin. Bringing me great pleasure. 03 Wanting When I woke, the fantasy was only partially gone. It was now something I’d yearn for. Something I’d think about endlessly. Something I had to have. She spoke softly to me again. Luring me to the room where she’d cut the food. And where she kept a bucket of water. She pulled a rag out of it and knelt down next to me. Murmuring words I didn’t understand as she rubbed along my ribs. She put the cold rag to the wound on my shoulder and I snapped at her. She reared back and I was instantly contrite. Whining as I ducked my head. I didn’t mean to. She’d startled me. And it hurt. When she tentatively touched it again. I snarled but kept my head down. Gritting my teeth to keep from snapping at her again. I sniffed and realized the smell of my blood was waning as the water in the bucket darkened. She’s getting it off. And as she rubbed the wound slightly, some of the pain of the skin pulling and bits of fur stuck in it, began to abate. I huffed in relief. “Better?” She queried. Twisting out the red rag for the tenth time. I lifted yellow eyes to look at her. Feeling the fur above my brow move. “Good.” She ruffled my shoulder. My hair stood on end as she rubbed it the wrong way. I gave her a narrowed-eye look but she was undeterred as she twisted to pick up a long strip of yellow fabric. I took a quick step back from the bright color. Unsure what I was looking at. And what she’s going to do with it. But she lowered it before me so I could sniff it. It smelled like her. Nice. Sweet. Flowers. “I’m going to wrap this around you.” She said quietly. “To keep it from getting infected.” I understood parts of what she said. But was totally unprepared when she tucked the foreign thing under me. I lifted a paw and dropped my head to peer at her hand. “It’s okay.” She patted my neck. Making me jump. She was still until I relaxed. Then she brought the fabric back up over my shoulder then around to the other side of my ribs and back around the wound again before tying it over my back. I gave a sound of objection. Whipping my head to try to see what she was doing. Then to sniff the knot she’d made. I blinked up at her. What have you done to me? When she went out to do whatever she had to, for the day. She ushered me out and closed the door. I scratched it for a while. Afraid she’d never let me back in. That warmth and food was gone. And now I had this horrible fabric around me that would allow other beasts to spot me from any distance. Making me easy for the bigger wolves to hunt. A trickle of worry rolled through me. But she came back. Greeting me with a pat on the head and taking in a basket of wildflowers. Pulling them out she retrieved some berries from the bottom. Offering me one. I sniffed it disdainfully and blinked yellow eyes at her nearly chidingly. She laughed. “Fine.” She tossed it in her mouth. Food. She’s hungry. It occurred to me what I could do to stay. To make sure she wouldn’t want me to go. When she went back out, guiding me out with her, I was less afraid she’d never come back. Or leave me out here. So, I left. Careful not to cross paths with the stray that had wanted to take my head off. I began to swing a wide circle. Having renewed confidence now that I had someone. Someone I want to provide for. Then she’ll let me stay. I soon found a young boar, barely more than a piglet. But it was a start. I hunkered, ignoring the flaring pain in my shoulder as I positioned for an ambush. I cast a look over my shoulder to watch my back. Knowing that the fabric tied in a bow around me, was going to make it damn hard to remain inconspicuous. But there’s nothing else out here. The piglet snorted as it took a few steps closer. I snatched it triumphantly between my teeth. Shaking it until something crunched and it stopped moving. Yes. But what I didn’t anticipate was that where there were boar piglets, there was bound to be an angry boar mother. And she was coming. Straight at me. I heard her snort and lunged out of her charge. Instantly feeling a burn in my shoulder but not relinquishing my meal. I dodged another charge and then rounded a boulder before hiding behind a trunk. Well outrunning her. Once I saw her disturbing the brush a distance away, I quietly left the area. Returning to the hut to wait for the woman. To show her my bloody, delicious, prize. It seemed like it was taking forever. I was nudging the meat back and forth, tempted to go ahead and eat it. It smelled so good. But I heard a branch crack and caught the familiar scent of the yellow forest flowers. She’s back. She came into view, and I was so ecstatic to see her I was leaping side to side. She laughed at me. “I see you.” I snatched up the piglet. Dropping it before getting a good enough grip to lift it for her inspection. “What did you find?” She gave it a good once-over. “Well, done.” She patted my head. Walking past me to reach for the door. Opening it she waited for me to enter behind her. I pranced in with my kill walking over and rising up onto my back legs to set it on the table for her to cut up. “No, no.” She shook her head. “That’s not how it’s done in here?” I gave her a worried glance as she lifted the piglet by a leg. Seeing the blood in its split chest. She went over by the fire and plucked at it. Pulling it apart a bit and putting the rod through it. Whining, I laid on the fur. Staring at it hungrily. I licked my chomps every time she walked over to give it a turn. I looked at her from beneath my brow. My yellow eyes soulful. I want to eat it now. But every minute it cooked, it smelled even better. I rose when she got the cloths to put over her hands. I was dancing behind her as she walked to the table. “Just a minute.” She said. Pushing me aside as she got there. She wiped it with a cool rag. Making it hiss as it instantly cooled. She stuck a dagger in it and began cutting pieces off. She divided them between us and when I eagerly licked up my pieces, I closed my eyes to savor the flavor. They were Heavenly. The best meat I’ve ever had. I decided I liked the meat cooked. Her way. I was young. And she was teaching me how to eat. So, I was eager to learn. *** I took in everything. I was smarter than anyone in my pack had realized. Eventually, she was taking me with her. Walking me to the river and back. I tried to stay by her side as she indicated she wanted me to. But sometimes I got eager and wandered off. When I heard her step on a twig or kick a rock, I remembered I left her and rushed back. Despite what she’d said, she let me stay. I brought home food. She cooked it. And she let me stay. Nearly a year had passed, and I was restless. Thinking of that dream. Envisioning her touch on me. Feeling how it aroused me. I wanted more. I was outside with her one day when I caught the scent of a female wolf. Every male instinct in me went wild and I pursued that scent. Finding her licking her paws from eating something she’d just killed. I couldn’t wait. I climbed over her. Hooking her shoulders with my paws and shifting my hips to try to find relief for my aching parts. But in moments, she’d somehow managed to turn within her own skin. Sinking vicious teeth into my paws. Catching my neck and tossing me aside. She bit around my face and neck. Sinking in teeth while I whined and tried to roll away. She bit me repeatedly. Even biting near my tail as I fled her brutal jaws. I rushed back to the woman. Bloodied and head lowered in shame. “What happened?” She dropped her basket to rush to me. Lifting my head to look at my wounds. “You took off so fast, I thought you’d found some supper!” It was that moment while I looked in her pretty blue eyes. That I decided I hated my kind. I want to be what she is. I want her. 04 Obsession I learned her kind called her Emily. I wanted her. I yearned for her. One night as she slept, I crawled onto her bed. I crawled over her and lowered my face over her. Taking in her scent. “What do you want, Wolf?” She asked huskily. I gave a low huff. She rose and went to a book she kept in a corner near the window. She flicked through a few pages. Finding one in particular, she murmured things I didn’t understand, and her hand began to glow like fire. Hints of a sunrise blooming around those. Until the room was lit. The night vibrant from her skin. I’d know idea what was happening, so I backed against a far wall. Wondering if she too, would hurt me for the things I yearned for. She walked to me, glowing like that. She lifted that hand. I instinctively knew it would burn me. But this is Emily. I couldn’t help myself. Pushing my nose against her hand was like burning alive. Everything hurt. My fur shuddered and some fell away. Still smoking. My paws felt like they melted to the floor. I collapsed, curling into a ball as I whined. She knelt near me and waited for the pain to pass. I climbed back up to sit before her. “Speak to me now, Wolf.” “I want you.” I made wolf sounds, but words moved from my mind to hers. “You are a wolf.” She said. “I don’t want to be.” “What do you want to be, Wolf?” “I want to be like you. I want to be with you.” I said impulsively. Uttering the desires of youth so carelessly. My body still shuddering from the pain of touching her. “If I give you what you want. There will be a cost.” “I want it.” “You will only be as I am part of the time.” “I don’t care.” I wanted it. I wanted to be like her. I want to be hers. She eyed me a moment and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “If I make you into the same manner of being I am, you will become further and further from the creature you originally were. You’ll be bound to me.” I nodded solemnly. I didn’t care. I don’t want to be part of the monsters that had always banished me from their realms. She sighed. Closing her eyes. Inhaling softly. I saw bits of fragmented moonlight. Seeping in from around the shutters and the door. Creeping beneath the thatched roof of the hut until they reached her in tendrils that danced around her like tiny fey flapping beautiful wings. Tossing little sparks of moonlight over the floor in a vibrant shower. They rained over me. Each one burning like a searing rod. Making my skin sizzle. I rolled into a tighter ball. Cradling my snout between my paws to try to shelter it and my eyes from the damaging pain rending through me. But it was too late. Each tiny spark landed on me and worked through my fur. Burning through my skin and answering the bits of muscle where they lodged forever. Little shards of magic resting there like broken glass. Able to rip my muscles apart and alter bits of bone so I could take the longer, leaner form of a human male. By the time she was done, that’s who I was. *** She crouched before me. Her head tilted as she watched me suffering through the anguish. When it stopped, I shivered weakly. Waiting for the unending waves of pain to abate enough I dared move. When finally I rolled onto my stomach and unsteadily rose. I felt myself climbing far higher than I’d ever been able to, before. “There you are, My Fury.” She stood up to peer at me. Seeing that I towered over her. She tenderly stroked my chin which was now covered in rough whiskers surrounding my jaw and chin. She fingered the long scar running from one eyebrow, over my cheek and down to the corner of my mouth. “There you are…” “Em-Em…” I had to swallow because my throat felt hoarse. Trying to create words which were foreign to my throat. “Emily…” I breathed huskily. She smiled softly. “You are mine now…Forever.” She made love to me that night. Teaching me what it was. I was now a young man, and she relished in my bare body. Touching me in places that made my skin heat to the touch. “You’re so warm.” She breathed worshippingly. “Hard.” She danced her fingers from my collar. Down the wide planes of my chest, finding their way over the large rounded muscles on my stomach to reach my straining muscle jutting from the crux of my thighs. She scooped it and then wrapped her soft hand around it. I groaned in pleasure. Having never experienced anything so sweet as her touch. Like the softest fur stroking over my body. Everywhere she touched me, was like that. She reached down and lifted the hem of her nightdress. Pulling it up inch by inch. Revealing a curved bit of leg that I couldn’t resist the urge to touch. She had no fur and her skin was smooth. I caught it between my hands and slowly stroked it up between my palms. Bumping my fingers along something soft at the top, along the inside. Curious I slid the edge of my fingers along it. Hearing her voice getting breathy as she gave a soft moan. I liked that sound. It made the length at my thighs become so hard that it was nearly painful. Almost more than I could bear. I was dying to feel all that skin against me, all over me. I wanted her scent on me. So I could enjoy it later. And the smell she was generating right now, was musky, feminine and deeply alluring. I lowered before her to smell where it came from. Catching that smell and following it until my nose brushed along the crease between two soft lips that nearly mirrored those above. Soft, and full and yearning to be tasted. 05 The Sweetest Taste Unable to resist, I upturned my face and slid my tongue along there. Coming away with the thick, honeyed flavor that had me moaning for more. I became more vicious, driven by something primal. With a vicious growl I shouldered between her legs, forcing them further open as I reached up to catch her plump rounded buttocks. Holding her against me like an offering. I tipped up my head and just brushed my teeth against the lips, hungrily. Snarling in my impatience made her give a soft pleading whimper of pleasure. Wanting more. I wanted more too. I licked her ferally. Taking in her flavor and set on licking her dry. But for every syrupy sweetness I retrieved from her. There was more. Her hands fell to my shoulders, hanging onto me strength and her body became weaker. Then she let go of a shuddering scream that shook the walls of the hut. But I wasn’t nearly done. Her nails biting into my shoulders as she drove herself against my face only made me greedy for more. I lifted her in my hands and turned her to the floor. Catching her back with my hand to keep her from landing roughly. I folded her knees up to her chest and held them there, so I could drive my face more fully into her. Taking from her that delicious taste that was making me wild. I fed on her until she was squealing and wiggling, desperate for a break. But I wouldn’t let her go. However, I was now pulsing through that hard length pinched between my hips and the floor as I fed on her. Unable to take that pain any longer I moved over her. Letting her lower her legs. Her face was sweating, and her eyes were soft. There were teeth imprints on her lips which were now deeply red from the rush of blood pulsing underneath her skin. I could almost hear the swish of it with my senses so attuned to her. I could hear the fluttering of her heartbeat. “I can’t take anymore.” She pleaded. “You can.” I could feel it with my animal senses. She was tiring, but her body was still strong and yearning for more. She just doesn’t know it yet. I swooped my hips down and hooked myself along that crease until I felt the warm opening of her entrance. I pushed my powerful buttocks forward and surged into her. Immediately drowning in the heat of her body. Feeling the reflexive tightening of her softest tissues. Suckling me. I moaned, jerking back out of her, as I was startled by the foreign sensation. But even as I withdrew from her, I felt the tightening in my sack, objecting to me leaving her body unfulfilled. The cool air against my slickened staff, made me want back inside her immediately. I pushed back in more slowly this time. Taking my time to ease into her. Feeling the pull of her body, trying to urge me in further. Folding open to form around me. Every bit of her molded around me. Clinging to every curve and swell of my cock until I was fully embedded in her and we were connected along our thighs and hips. I carefully lowered myself over her until I could feel her plump breasts smashing against my chest. Though I didn’t drop my entire weight, seeing that she was clearly so much smaller than me, I feared I would hurt her. “Whoa…” She breathed. “You are a fine stud, aren’t ye?” I didn’t know what that meant but I was breathing raggedly as I stroked in and out of her. Building a friction that had me going mad. I swelled further while inside her until I wondered if my flesh was going to rip apart. I was trying to see everything at once. My eyes roving over all I could see. Her pretty features relaxed in pleasure. Her forehead and chest dampened with sweat until her skin nearly stuck to mine. Her lips were parted and her breath was coming out in soft pants. Which excited me. Everytime I pushed into her, her body slid and lifted slightly, making her breasts glide upward in a smooth motion which I found incredibly seductive. Her pink nipples becoming even more rosy like the blooming petals of a flower. I gripped her hip with one hand. Holding her body still as I filled her, reducing the resistance of her sliding away. So I could feel just a hairsbreadth more of her. Her hands lurched up to pinch the skin of my biceps. Biting into the muscle as she tightened under me. Gripping around me so tightly I thought she might be trying to pull something out of me. I felt a cold shiver run over me, tightening my spine and chilling the bottom of my sack before I felt a fast surge running through the bottom side of my cock and spilling from the tip in a swish of relief that was incomparable to anything else I’d ever known. But the moment I was done I wanted more. I began to move again. “No. No!” She wiggled beneath me. I watched her in confusion, wondering how she could possibly not want it as much as me. It was incredible. Connecting with her had been like plugging into a different world. I’d seen things I’d never imagined and felt things I’d never known. And I want more… I doubted that I would ever be able to get enough of what she’d just shared with me. But she was rolling away. Turning to look at the wall and easing her body back against mine. I pulled her back into me, sensing that she didn’t want more. I resisted the urge to grip around her and slide back in from behind to get more of what I’d just had. But I hoped that if I didn’t press her, she’d give me more. I wanted more of her.