Submitting to the Shadow: Kindred Tales 27

by Evangeline Anderson

  “Did you know that he was going to attack her, Warrior?” the Elder Priestess asked sternly.

  “No.” Roark shook his head. “Not until her friend told me she had a ‘stalker’ as the humans call it. But that is no excuse. I am still the reason Samantha went down to Earth—she was running to get away from me. And in doing so, she ran right into danger—and a male who almost took her life.”

  “It appears to me that you are certainly at fault for the things you did to Samantha while the two of you were on the Mother Ship,” the Elder Priestess said thoughtfully. “But I do not think you can rightfully add the attack she suffered after she left the ship to your List of Wrongs.”

  “Yes, I can. And I do.” Roark looked up at her, his pale eyes fierce. “The human male who had her kidnapped and attacked her would never have been able to touch her if not for my own callus treatment of the female the Goddess sent me to love and care for. Instead of watching over her, I abused her and lied to her. I sent her to her doom.” He put his bleeding fist to his chest. “Though it is like ripping the beating heart from my body, I do not deserve to have Samantha in my life anymore. My honor demands that I free her.”

  Wow, he doesn’t sound like a man who wants a divorce, whispered a little voice in the back of Sammi’s head. In fact, he sounds like this Severing thing is going to hurt him as much as it hurts you, but he’s doing it because he thinks he has to.

  “Well, every male must bear the burden of his wrongs,” the Elder Priestess said serenely. “So I ask you, Warrior—are you ready and willing to be Severed from this female?”

  Roark swallowed again and a look of pure agony came over his face. He looked like a man faced with a terrible choice—one he would rather die than make. Finally, he opened his mouth and said, “Yes,” in a low, hoarse whisper.

  “Very well.” The Elder Priestess nodded and turned to Sammi. “And you, daughter, are you willing and ready to be Severed from this male?”

  “Y—” Meg began but Sammi turned around and slapped a hand over her best friend’s mouth, stopping the word. Meg’s eyes widened but she shut up and just looked at Sammi.

  Sammi turned back around to watch Roark, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. Somehow, she thought wildly, she had to fix this. It had become clear by everything he had said that Roark didn’t really want to leave her—didn’t really want them to be apart. He was doing this out of shame and a sense of honor that had been twisted by guilt—twisted until it stabbed him as surely as the ceremonial blade he’d used to shed his own blood had sliced his flesh.

  But I can’t say any of that, Sammi thought desperately. I can’t even write it or type it! Electronics and technology were forbidden in the Sacred Glade and there was no pen or paper nearby to try and explain herself. Why hadn’t she thought to bring some? Sammi didn’t know—she only knew that she was desperate.

  Oh please! she thought, feeling like she might cry. Oh please, if I could just tell him how I feel—that I love him—that I want us to be together! If only I could still speak!

  Suddenly a warm, powerful presence filled the Sacred Grove and a sweet- scented wind swept through the bows of the trees, stirring their leaves with a musical rustling.

  “Speak, daughter,” a feminine voice which seemed to come from all around them declared. “I heal your body that you might, in turn, heal your love with this Warrior.”

  A warmth began in Sammi’s throat—a feeling almost like someone had laid a gentle hand over the hurt place where her larynx had been crushed. It spread throughout her entire body, soothing away aches and pains, even erasing the tension headache which had been building in her temples. It ended with a tingling at the ends of her fingers and toes and Sammi knew she had been healed.

  She reached for Roark and grabbed his arm.

  “Roark,” she said, her voice coming out as clear as a bell, “Roark, I don’t want to be Severed from you!”

  He stared at her, an expression of almost-hope coming into his pale eyes. He looked like a man who has just found out he won the lottery but is afraid to double check the numbers in case he’s wrong.

  “You really don’t wish to be Severed?” he asked in a low, hoarse voice. “Even after everything I’ve done to you?”

  “First of all, I submitted to the spanking and the…other things, because I wanted to. Not because I was afraid of losing my job.” Sammi felt it was important to get that out right away. “And it’s true that you shouldn’t have used your own, uh, seed on me without telling me, but I forgive you for that—you were Claiming me the only way you thought you could,” she went on.

  “But afterwards…” Roark gave her a wretched look. “The way I treated you when you told me you were carrying our children—”

  “You were a jerk,” Sammi said honestly. “And you broke my heart—I’ll admit that. But,” she continued, holding up a finger to stop him from talking. “I forgive you for that. As long as you promise to never treat me like that again.”

  “Never,” Roark swore hoarsely. “May the Goddess strike me down if I am ever anything but respectful and loving to you again, my darling!”

  “I’d watch making oaths like that,” Sammi said seriously. She touched her fingers to her throat. “Because apparently she’s real.”

  “I know she is.” Roark nodded. “She led me to you after you were kidnapped.”

  “That’s another thing,” Sammi said. “I don’t blame you for my kidnapping. I was the stupid one who got in a car with a guy I barely knew, just because he’d taken one of my classes.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe what a fool I was. I was just so upset I didn’t think.”

  “You were upset because of me,” Roark said harshly. “You were kidnapped and attacked because of me.”

  “Yes, but then you came and rescued me from the bastard who attacked me,” Sammi pointed out. She shivered. “I won’t deny it was an awful experience and I’ll probably need some therapy to get over it completely. But right now, what I mostly need is for the two of us to be together. If…” She looked up at him, suddenly shy. “If you really want to be, that is.”

  “If I want to be?” Roark repeated, his eyes widening. “Samantha, have you not heard anything I’ve said? Of course I want to be with you—I just don’t deserve you!”

  “None of us is deserving of grace, and yet grace is what the Goddess offers us,” the Elder Priestess said quietly. “I think, Warrior, that this female was sent for you to love and protect. And I think she will offer you forgiveness along with her heart if you will only offer her yours in return.”

  Sammi looked up at him, waiting to see what he would say. But instead of speaking, Roark dropped suddenly to his knees before her.

  “Samantha,” he said, reaching for her hand with his un-bloodied one. Sammi gave her hand willingly and looked into his eyes.

  “Yes, Roark?” she whispered breathlessly.

  “Samantha,” he said again. “I love you with my whole heart and I pledge to spend the rest of my days loving and protecting you and our children. Will you Join with me now, in the presence of these witnesses and of the Goddess herself—the Mother of All Life—and pledge to spend the rest of your days with me?”

  Sammi felt like her heart might burst with joy.

  “Yes, Roark,” she whispered, her newly healed voice tight with tears. She sank to the soft grass, on her knees, still holding his hand. “Oh, yes I will! With all my heart I’ll Join with you.”

  “Thank you. I swear you’ll never regret it.” Roark pulled her to him and Sammi buried her face in his broad chest and breathed in his deep, spicy scent—the scent of safety and love and home.

  “Oh my children!” There were tears in the Elder Priestess’s green-within-green eyes and she had to blot them on her long sleeves before she could continue. “I am so happy! This Severing has now turned into a Joining Ceremony.” She looked at Sammi. “Do you wish to call anymore witnesses to partake in your joy?”

  Sammi looked up at Meg, w
ho had an uncertain expression on her face.

  “I have my best friend right here with me,” she said, smiling at Meg. “As long as she can see that I’m happy, I’m fine with that.”

  Reluctantly, Meg began to smile.

  “All right, Sammi,” she said, nodding. “I just want what’s best for you.”

  “Roark is what’s best for me,” Sammi assured her.

  “I vow to do everything in my power to keep your friend safe and happy and to love her for all my days,” Roark added.

  Meg’s smile widened.

  “Well then what are we waiting for? Let’s get this Joining Ceremony going!”

  Laughing and crying at the same time, Sammi got to her feet and Roark did as well. They turned to face the Elder Priestess, who was still blotting her own tears and the ceremony continued—not as a severing of their lives, but as a joining of their love and their souls forever.

  Sixty-Four

  “I don’t care if we can form a full soul-bond or not—I love you no matter what,” Sammi told Roark as he paced anxiously in front of the bed. “Besides, do you really think the Goddess would have come down to the Sacred Grove and healed my voice so I could tell you what a big mistake we were making if she didn’t intend to let us form a full-fledged bond like all the other Kindred have with their wives?”

  It was their wedding night—well, their Joining night which amounted to the same thing—but Roark, who was usually so sexually dominant, was uncharacteristically nervous about sealing the deal.

  Sammi was wearing a brand-new black lace teddy that tied right between her breasts and had tiny black lace panties to match to entice him. The outfit left almost nothing to the imagination—it clearly showed the pink points of her nipples and the panties showed the cleft of her pussy—but still her new husband hadn’t come to bed.

  Roark himself was wearing nothing but a pair of long black sleep trousers, made of some heavy, satiny material. They hung around his narrow hips and showed off his broad bare chest and back beautifully. Sammi tried not to drool as she looked at him.

  “Everything is going to be okay,” she told him. “You don’t have to worry, Roark.”

  “You’re right.” He nodded and looked up at her. “Of course, you’re right, my darling. I need to let go and trust.”

  “I know it’s hard after what you went through in the past,” Sammi said softly. “I had some pretty tough breakups too. But we belong together, Roark—the Goddess herself told us so. If that’s not a stamp of approval, I don’t know what is!”

  He gave her a reluctant smile.

  “A divine stamp of approval.”

  “Exactly,” Sammi purred. She got on her hands and knees and looked over her shoulder, spreading her legs wide to show the tiny black crotch of the lace panties. “Do you want to mount me now, Sir?” she asked breathlessly, feeling her heart start to drum against her ribs. “Do you want to see if I can take your shaft all the way inside my soft… little… pussy?”

  She was hoping the dirty talk might turn Roark on. And from the way his pale eyes went suddenly half-lidded and the lustful growl in his voice, she had been successful.

  “Of course I want to mount you,” he growled, coming over to the bed at last. “But not yet. First I want to worship you like the goddess you are, my perfect little Elite.”

  “What do you m—oh!” Sammi gasped, for he had grabbed her around the waist and flipped her over as though she weighed no more than a doll. Once Roark had her on her back, he began to kiss her passionately, starting at her newly healed throat and moving down to the place between her breasts.

  “Mmm, I love this spot,” he murmured, looking up at her. “I think it might be the softest spot on your whole sweet body, darling.” He nuzzled her there, his scratchy cheeks sending shivers of need through Sammi’s entire body.

  “You…you think so?” she whispered breathlessly.

  “Mmm-hmm.” He gave her a half-lidded look. “But of course, there are other spots I love as well.”

  “Such as?” Sammi asked daringly.

  In answer, he untied the little bow of the teddy and spread it open, revealing her bare breasts completely.

  Sammi moaned softly when he took one of her stiff pink peaks between his lips and began to bathe her nipple with his tongue.

  “Ohhh!” Sparks of pleasure shot through her and Sammi arched her back, offering herself completely, wanting to give him better access to her bare breasts.

  Roark responded by releasing the right nipple and turning his attention to the left. Sammi ran her hands through his thick, black hair moaning as she arched up to meet him.

  Just as she was wondering if she could come just from letting him suck her nipples, Roark let her nipple slip from between his lips and began to kiss lower.

  “Oh, Roark…” Sammi moaned as he nibbled and licked a trail down her trembling belly to the top of the tiny black lace panties.

  “Now these are extremely naughty little panties, my darling,” he murmured, looking up at her. “I believe I can see your soft little pussy lips right through them.”

  As he spoke, he traced one long finger down the cleft between her outer lips, making Sammi’s hips buck up with need and pleasure as his finger slid over the sensitive bump of her clit.

  “Do you like them, Sir?” she whispered breathlessly. “I wore them just for you. I…I was hoping you might want to take them off me.”

  “Maybe I will—in a minute,” Roark growled. “But first I want to kiss you with them on. Spread your legs for me, Samantha, and let me kiss your panties.”

  Sammi bit her lip and did as he commanded. Submitting to his desires made her feel hot and cold all over and her pussy felt incredibly wet and ready for him to take her. But Sammi knew better than to rush the big Shadow Twin when he was in the mood to pleasure her. He would take her when he was ready and not before and in the meantime, nobody did slow, sexual torture quite like Roark.

  “Mmm,” he murmured, leaning down to press his lips to the thin lace panel which was all that separated her bare flesh from his mouth. “Why, darling, I believe you’re getting wet.”

  “I…I cant help it,” Sammi whispered as he continued to cover her panties in slow, open-mouthed kisses, nuzzling against her tender little clit again and again until she thought she might scream or start begging for more.

  “I don’t want you to help it,” Roark told her. “But I think I ought to be sure. Maybe we ought to take those panties off and spread you open to see if I’m right—do you think?”

  “If…if you want to, Sir,” Sammi moaned softly, lifting her hips submissively to allow him to pull her panties down.

  “Good girl,” Roark growled as he stripped away the little panties and bared her pussy.

  Sammi had shaved again—completely this time—and she thought she had never felt so bare and vulnerable as when Roark split her thighs wide with his broad shoulders and pressed his face close to her pussy.

  “Gods, so lovely,” he murmured, his deep voice hoarse with desire. “Now spread yourself wide for me, my darling,” he commanded. “Open yourself up so I can see how wet you’re getting for me.”

  Blushing, Sammi did as he asked. With trembling fingers, she spread her outer pussy lips, showing her new husband her slippery inner folds.

  Roark gave a growl of approval and lust and looked up at her, his pale eyes blazing.

  “Why, Samantha,” he murmured, holding her gaze with his own. “I was right—your soft little pussy is positively dripping with honey. Why is that, do you think?”

  “Be…because you were kissing me,” Sammi whispered. “Kissing…kissing my panties, Sir.”

  “Mmm, so you’re saying this is my fault?” Roark raised an enquiring eyebrow at her.

  Slowly, Sammi nodded.

  “Yes, Sir,” she whispered. “I…I can’t help my pussy getting wet when you kiss me and make me feel so…so needy.”

  “We’ll talk about what you need in just a minute,” Roark promise
d her. “But for now, since I caused this problem, I guess I ought to be the one to clean it up.” He gave Sammi a lustful look. “Tell me, Samantha, would you like me to give your soft little pussy a bath with my tongue?”

  Sammi’s breath caught in her throat and pure lust surged through her so hard she couldn’t even answer. She could only nod her head and lift her hips, offering herself, begging for the pleasure he was offering her.

  “Then I will,” Roark told her. “Now keep your sweet little cunt spread nice and wide for me so I can clean up all your honey, darling.”

  Without waiting for a reply, he dipped his head low and began giving her the “bath” he had promised. Starting at the entrance to her pussy he took a long, slow, leisurely lick, dragging his tongue all the way up her spread folds and over her aching clit until he reached the top of her slit.

  “Gods…” His eyes blazed again as he swallowed and looked up at her. “You taste so fucking good, Samantha. Can’t help myself—I need more.”

  The last word was nothing but a growl and suddenly he wrapped his arms around her thighs to split her even wider. Sammi gasped as he dived down again, lapping more fiercely this time, feasting on her open pussy as he licked and sucked, cleaning her juices away with his tongue and then going back for more.

  “Oh…oh, Roark!” she gasped. Her back arched and her hips bucked up as she rode his tongue shamelessly. So good—it felt so good. She could never get enough of the pleasure he offered just as it seemed that Roark could never get enough of tasting her pussy.

  Over and over he lapped her hungrily, first circling her aching clit with his tongue and then sucking it into his mouth to lash it fiercely until she cried out with pleasure and rose up to meet him again while she tugged at his hair.

  At last Sammi started tilting over the edge. She was close…so close. She could feel her orgasm hovering on the horizon and she knew that when it hit, it would rock her entire soul to the roots.