The Lily Harper 8 Book Boxed Set

by HP Mallory

  “Ye are polluted, ye have been contaminated, nae … poisoned,” he continued as he glanced up at the crown that rested atop my head. “Alaire has won.”

  “Alaire?” I repeated the foreign name and shook my head again, this time to let him know I wasn’t following him. “Who is Alaire? And how has he won? And what does he have to do with me?”

  Tallis Black sighed long and hard, dropping his gaze to the uneven ground before returning his attention to me again. There was pain in his eyes, mysterious pain that I didn’t understand. “Ah dinnae care tae explain somepin’ tae ye that will only sound like ah story, or ah fable that ye may nae even believe. The damage is done. Ah would rather rest here oan mah own than have tae be reminded o’ the truth.”

  “You do realize that if you refuse to answer my questions, I can have you whipped, or even worse?” I replied heatedly. I didn’t like the way he deliberately ignored my position as his queen and sovereign. The more I considered it, though, the more I began to believe that Tallis Black was the type of man who didn’t respect anything, other than himself. Perhaps that was the main reason I wanted to break him so badly.

  He laughed an acidic and unhappy sound as he shook his head. “Ah have already been beaten an’ whipped, lass,” he said. In the dull light, I managed to make out the fresh blood that marred his face and upper body. “Whit is more, Ah cannae be killed.”

  “You are no more than a man,” I argued, shaking my head as I narrowed my eyes. I was finding it difficult to pull them away from his perfectly sculpted pectorals and shoulders. “And all men can be killed.”

  “There, ye are wrong,” he rebutted and a defiant smirk appeared on his lips. “Ah amnae boot ah man. Ah am as immortal as the night is long.”

  “Oh? Is that so?” I asked. Arching a brow at him, I felt my body flushing with the need to know him intimately. Not that I believed him about the immortal business, but his confidence knew no bounds, and that excited me.

  “Aye,” he answered with a brief nod. “’Tis sae.”

  “And what if I don’t believe you?”

  He shrugged as if he expected this line of reasoning. “Ye see the bluid oan meh,” he started as he glanced down at his chest. “Tell meh if ye spoot any fresh wounds.”

  I looked at his chest and used my fingers to guide me, palpating his pectorals before moving down to his washboard abs and, eventually, his lower stomach. Even though the blood seemed fresh, there were no open wounds to speak of.

  “Why do you not bear the wounds that shed your blood?” I asked, my eyes wide.

  He shrugged and the smirk on his lips deepened. “Ah am immortal as Ah have said, lass,” he replied with a deep breath. “As sooch, Ah can heal mahself.”

  I nodded, and the need to conquer him nearly overwhelmed me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly Tallis Black possessed, but it electrified me nonetheless. He was certainly handsome, but so was Saxon, thus, I couldn’t attribute it entirely to his looks. Perhaps it was his rebellious streak, which seemed to span a mile wide. Or perhaps it was the melancholy expression and the pain I glimpsed in the depths of his eyes.

  We were both quiet as we studied one another, our eyes meeting in such a way that neither of us could break the connection. I was more than sure my eyes radiated nothing except sexual desire, yet his spoke of other emotions … deep loss and regret.

  “There is so much pain in your eyes,” I nearly whispered, restraining the urge to bring my lips to his. I knew kissing him too quickly would work against me. He wasn’t ready for such intimacy yet; it would just spook him. I needed to move slowly if I wanted this seduction to succeed, and to truly break his spirit, such as I did.

  He immediately dropped his gaze and refused to look back at me. “Mah pain is mah own,” he said, his tone of voice suddenly icy and withdrawn again.

  “Why do you despise me?” I asked. I leaned into him, inhaling the scent of his pure masculinity. I could also smell a fresh layer of sweat on him, but the natural odor didn’t offend me. If anything, it only stoked my lusty fire.

  “Ah dinnae despise ye,” he replied, bringing his attention back to my face. He studied me for a moment, and then shook his head. “Ah despise what’s become o’ ye.” Taking a deep breath, he slowly released it. “Once oopon ah time, Ah loved ye.”

  I laughed at that remark. I wasn’t sure why I found it funny, but I did. Perhaps because I couldn’t imagine this warrior loving anyone, save himself. “And you don’t love me now?”

  “Ye arenae yerself, so, nae, Ah dinnae love ye now.”

  “But you still want me?” I inquired, even though he’d given me no reason to believe such was the case. I just wanted to prove to myself that he found me sexually attractive. So far, he was the only man I’d encountered who didn’t seem to.

  “Nae, Ah dinnae want ye,” he almost spat the words at me and his eyebrows furrowed in the middle of his forehead, giving him the expression of someone frustrated, or cross.

  I threw my head back and laughed, pushing my hands together on either side of his head so he could feel my strength. The laugh died on my lips seconds later as I returned my gaze to his. Standing up, I lifted my left foot over him until I was straddling him. I sat down again, but not before looping my hands around his neck. Pulling myself against his body so that I could whisper in his ear, I said, “I bet I can make you eat those words.”

  He didn’t respond at first, but clenched his teeth as soon as I started rubbing against him, gyrating my hips against his. My breasts bounced with my efforts, and I couldn’t conceal the victorious smile on my lips once I caught him looking at them. He immediately shifted his gaze to something in the distance behind me, but the victory was already mine.

  “I can feel your manhood stirring beneath me,” I whispered as I continued to dance on him, teasing him with my body.

  “Lily,” he suddenly exclaimed, his eyes desperately searching mine. “If there’s any o’ ye left, fight this!” At hearing the foreign name, I bristled.

  “Fight what?” I asked as I gyrated on him, thrilling over his manhood as it grew harder beneath me. I could tell he was fighting his impulses. “And why does everyone insist on referring to me by that name?”

  “Because it’s yer name!” he hollered at me. “This isnae ye! Ye have become somepin’ ye would loathe! An’ ’tis all due tae that bludy crown!” he railed as his eyes settled on the crown on my head. “Ye moost fight, Lily,” he said again, this time softer.

  “I believe you are the one that needs to stop fighting, warrior,” I whispered into his ear with a little laugh.

  “Ah amnae fightin’,” he retorted, shaking his head.

  I silenced him with my index finger on his lips before “tsking” him a few times. “You are fighting. You’re fighting your body, and your true nature.” I leaned back and slowly pulled the strap of my dress off my right shoulder, followed by my left. The satin glided down my naked arms before falling off my breasts. “You want me and you hate that.”

  He was finally unable to ignore my breasts and I could feel his erection straining against his kilt beneath me. In response, the floodgates from my own body seemed to burst open. I began growing ever wetter as the need to draw him inside me filled my entire being.

  “Dinnae do this, Lily,” he whispered while clenching his eyes shut tightly. “Fight whatever power Alaire has over ye,” he said as he opened his eyes and stared at mine. “Ye are strong, lass, Ah know ye can dae this.” The tone of his voice was bordering on panic. “This is all artifice, Lily, noone oove it ’tis real!”

  I stopped listening to him because I was too thrilled by his erection beneath me. I reached down between my legs and rubbed his hard length through his kilt. He immediately tossed his head back and closed his eyes. “Even immortals can’t deny the needs of the flesh,” I whispered, suddenly valiant and victorious.

  He opened his eyes and stared at me so hard, it felt like he was looking right through me. “Alaire did this tae ye,” he sai
d as he shook his head. He clasped my upper thigh with his mitt of a hand. It was the only motion he could make voluntarily since he was still chained to the wall. “Ye cannae allow him tae possess ye sooch that he wants tae.”

  “I don’t know any Alaire, or whatever person you keep referencing,” I argued, tired of his conversation. “And what’s more, I don’t care. All I do care about is this,” I finished. I squeezed his erection and his breath caught.

  “Lily,” he begged.

  I shook my head. “You need to stop fighting your demons,” I announced while slipping my hand from over his kilt to grasp his engorged penis. I slid my hand beneath the fabric, and as soon as I touched it, he closed his eyes and moaned. I rubbed his straining erection gently up and down, reveling in my own carnal skills.

  “Lily!” he yelled as he suddenly opened his eyes and stared right at me. “Dinnae dae this!”

  “I’m not Lily!” I replied, a wave of anger suddenly overcoming me.

  He was quiet for a few seconds as he stared at me from deep blue eyes. Then he nodded with a heartfelt sigh. “Ye are right, ye arenae Lily.”

  I didn’t respond. Instead, I released his erection and tugged at my skirt, sliding it up to my hips. I found it interesting when he didn’t bother looking at the mound of hungry flesh between my thighs. Instead, he kept his attention exclusively on my eyes. Meanwhile, I reached down and gripped his erection, holding it tightly as I positioned myself above him. I teased my opening with the head of his penis, moving it up to my clit before flicking it against the sensitive nub.

  “Ye are mah queen,” Tallis Black suddenly announced as his eyes narrowed on mine.

  I eyed him with surprise and a slight smile. “Yes, I am.”

  “There is boot one problem,” he interjected as his breathing began to pick up once I pushed him slightly inside me.

  “Problem? And what would that be?” I demanded while rocking my hips back and forth and side to side against him, enjoying the control I held over him.

  “Ye willnae outlive meh,” he announced flatly. “Though ye might be mah queen, ye arenae immortal.”

  “So what?” I asked with a shrug. I pushed the tip of his penis inside me as he gritted his teeth and plastered his attention on my face. “There’s nothing I can do about that.”

  He shook his head before gasping while I pushed myself down on top of him, going so far as to thrust half of him inside me. His penis was so immense, I had a hard time accommodating all of it.

  “Nae so,” he admitted in a mere whisper. “Ah can give ye the gift oove immortality.”

  I paused in my ministrations to face him squarely, narrowing my eyes at him while my body begged my brain to give it a rest so I could take him inside of me—all of him. “And why would you want to do that? Just a few seconds ago, you practically detested me.”

  He cocked his head to the side and began rolling his hips underneath me, suddenly eager to join my rhythm, or so it seemed. “Ye were correct all along,” he admitted with a newfound passion burning in his eyes. “Ah wanted ye. An’ now that Ah have ye, Ah want oos tae remain good friends,” he finished.

  I smiled at him, reveling at my own conquest. “And what if I wish for us to be more than good friends?”

  “Ah should be so loocky,” he responded before thrusting his hips up high and burying himself fully inside me. I threw my head back and gasped, not prepared for the sensation of having him totally ensconced within me. Taking him all the way all at once was almost painful. I gripped both of his shoulders as he started bucking beneath me, pulling himself out, only to thrust back inside again. I thrilled at hearing my wetness and the slapping of our skin as he mated with me. Not ready to release control, I held his hips down and began grinding on him, loving the stimulation of my clit when I rubbed it against his stomach.

  “So if I … decided to accept your gift of immortality, what would that … entail?” I asked between deep breaths. Seconds later, a moan escaped me as I eagerly rubbed myself against him.

  “Ye moost take mah bluid,” he answered, his words coming out winded and heavy.

  “What does that mean?”

  “The blade betwixt yer bosom,” he replied. My surprise must have been obvious because I hadn’t realized he knew I had it. “Remove it.” I obeyed his request and anxiously waited for his next instruction. “Coot meh an’ then drink frae meh.”

  “And drinking your blood will make me immortal?” I asked, eyeing him closely all the while in order to decide whether or not he was being truthful.

  “Nae in one sittin’,” he replied while rocking his hips beneath me, as he tried to control the rhythm of our bodies. “Boot if ye take enough over time, aye, ye will.”

  I nodded and reached down to run the blade across his right pectoral, cutting him. The crimson hue of his blood appeared immediately, and I wasted no time before leaning down and sucking it from him. The salty taste filled my mouth, and I instantly felt a jolt like lightning shock my entire body. I closed my eyes and images I didn’t recognize, or understand, suddenly flashed behind my eyelids.

  I could see myself, only I wasn’t me. With red hair and green eyes, I was practicing swordplay in what looked like a forest. Tallis Black was right behind me, instructing me, coaching me on how to wield a strange sword that I didn’t recognize.

  The image faded and another one took its place. I saw a craggy hillside covered in green grass. The ocean occupied the foreground and the sky was full of dark grey storm clouds. The clouds shadowed the ancient stone façade of a castle that sat upon an island.

  This image lasted barely a second or two before it was ripped from me just as quickly as the other one had been. In its place appeared another dream, or vision, that made no sense. This time, Tallis Black was holding me and we were naked, lying in a meadow, surrounded by wildflowers. He tickled my stomach and I laughed in response, pushing him away playfully. Moments later, the laughter died and he was suddenly on top of me, kissing me in such a way that I knew how much love he harbored for me. My breasts were crushed up against his chest, and seconds later, he began thrusting inside me.

  I opened my eyes at the exact moment when he penetrated me from below. I glanced around and found that I was back in the darkness, returned to the dungeon where the smell of cold, dank, emptiness reigned supreme. I felt lost, shell-shocked and confused. Tallis Black was lying beneath me, lodged inside of me and using my body to satisfy his own.

  “Drink!” he ground out as he heaved against me once more. I leaned down, lapping at his fresh blood. Seconds later, he dropped his hips, looking spent and exhausted. His penis slipped out of me as he fought to catch his breath. I rolled over until I was sitting beside him.

  I couldn’t ignore the visions that still haunted me. Even though they didn’t make any sense, they felt very real. As if I’d previously experienced them, and lived them. They were way too familiar to me.

  “I don’t understand,” I started as I shook my head and suddenly felt like crying.

  “Well, well, well,” I heard a man’s voice and glanced up at the cell door. A tall, elegant man was facing us both. Even though he wore a smile, his eyes were furious as they observed us.

  Tallis Black immediately covered his spent erection and scooted back against the wall until he was sitting upright. I pulled the straps of my dress up both of my arms and stood up to address the visitor with a frown.

  “Who are you?” I demanded.

  “I, dear lady, am the Master of the Underground City. I believe I was also your date for this evening,” he answered as he glared at Tallis Black. His voice held a Scandinavian accent, which made sense when I noticed his blond hair and fair skin. He turned to Saxon, who appeared behind him and opened his palm. Saxon dropped the key to the cell door in it. I noticed Saxon refused to look at me.

  The man opened the door and showed himself inside, his attention still riveted on me. He studied me from head to toe and his eyes burned with a passion I hadn’t seen before. “Quite rem
arkable,” he said as he gazed at me. “She is herself; and yet, she is not.”

  “She is naethin’ like ’erself,” Tallis Black countered from behind me. “Ye have polluted ’er, ye bludy bastard!” he seethed while straining to no avail against his chains.

  “Yes, so I have,” the elegant man agreed with a brief nod. “My dear,” he said while offering his hand. I wasn’t sure why, but I accepted it and allowed him to walk me to the cell door. All the while, however, I couldn’t forget the odd visions that still plagued me. They kept returning to my mind anew.

  “Please return to your bedchamber, my queen, and refresh yourself. You will find a new gown awaiting you,” the dapper gentleman announced. Then his attention settled on Saxon. “Escort our lovely lady, yourself, Saxon, and do not allow her to leave your watch again.” His voice was icy and stern.

  Saxon nodded quickly and offered me his arm, which I didn’t accept. Instead, I turned around and faced Tallis Black, still feeling inextricably drawn to him. His eyes were already on me. The Master of the Underground City closed the distance between Tallis Black and himself, to stand scarcely an inch or so from the chained man.

  “Ah, the bladesmith! It seems I can never quite rid myself of you,” he started. Tallis Black said nothing in reply, but continued glaring at the refined gentleman standing before him. The Master of the Underground City clasped his hands together and smiled. “I have a very generous offer to make you,” he started.

  “Ah want naethin’ tae do with ye,” Tallis Black responded before spitting on the master’s shoes.

  “I doubt that very much,” the gentleman quipped. Glancing down at his sullied shoe, he didn’t bother wiping the spittle off. “As you must realize, Lily is forever lost to you,” he started. Tallis Black immediately dropped his attention to the ground. Despite giving the impression of sad melancholy, his hands were clenched into fists.

  “Therefore,” the master continued, “I, as the understanding and generous leader that I am, would be willing to negotiate with you.”

  “Ah said it before an’ Ah will say it again,” Tallis Black fired back, looking up at the stately gentleman with midnight blue eyes blazing. “Ah want naethin’ tae dae with ye, nor yer treachery!”