“What was that? I'm afraid I could not hear you.”
Despite being terrified of what Mathis would do to her, Alex was even more frightened of what would happen to Jay and Andy if her father was to find out. Powerless, she unclenched her fist in defeat. The sword disappeared instantly, allowing Mathis to move in closer.
“Good wolf.”
Placing a hand around Alexandra's neck, Mathis tightened his grip, lifting her up off the ground. Grasping his hand, Alex attempted to pry herself free as the air supply to her lungs became more restricted. Indifferent to her plight, Mathis stroked her neck as he leaned in to smell her hair.
“That's right, Alexandra, I know exactly what you are. Master told me everything, so I've been watching you for some time now.”
By now Alex had figured out the raven had been Mathis, she had not realized it was him since his totem had always been a secret. What she did not know was who this master he spoke of was. Surely Dalton had no idea she was a wolf, otherwise, Quinton would have known too, someone else had to be involved. Alex needed for Mathis to keep talking and reveal his secrets to her. Attempting to push him away, she did what she had intended, Mathis pulled away from her face, so he could continue his rant.
“I also know how close you got to the barkeep, you little dirty whore. Got real steamy last week, on your birthday. I’m talking about the part where he was grinding his big dick up against you. Do you remember that princess? I bet you do. I bet he made you so fucking moist when he did it. Gave me a hard-on just watching the two of you. I give the man props for holding back though. If it were me, I would have penetrated you when you asked.”
Mathis tightened his grip around Alex’s neck. She could feel the increased pressure crushing her windpipe. Struggling to breathe, she kicked at him trying to get herself free. Chuckling, Mathis slammed her hard against the wall. A throbbing pain spread through Alexandra's head. Her vision blurred, her head began to swim, and she struggled to keep her eyes open as images of Mathis multiplied before her.
“Now, now, don't struggle. I won't hurt you, not yet. No, I want to keep you all for myself. Master told me I could keep you as my wife once I take over Vega for him.”
“What… are you talking about?” Alex struggled to speak “You have no steaks in Vega, and Dalton would never let you have me. He wants me for himself.”
“You're right, he does. You’re also correct that my family was not one of those fortunate enough to secure power during the war. Instead, I was left to serve that pompous windbag, Dalton as some minor code enforcer. Therefore, Master sought me out from the veil, he knew I was meant to rule instead of that idiot. He told me if I keep you here, Vega could be mine for the taking, and you could be my prize.
“So, once your nitwit brother and Dalton capture Vega for themselves, it will make it so much easier for me to steal it from under their noses. You think Dalton will share his power with Quinton? No, he's far too greedy. Once Dalton deals with that stooge, all I must do is summon Master to dispose of him, and all the power will belong to me.”
“Who is this Master?”
“Why, the God of Space himself, the Worm. And he is willing to share his power with me so long as I help him.”
“You're willing to backstab your friend to gain power from a deity who manipulates and deceives those around him? How shallow can you be?”
“Friend? Friend?” Mathis shrieked uncontrollably “I don't have friends you naïve, little girl. All I have is my bitterness of being nothing but second best, a count of some shamble of a village. There was plenty of land for everyone, but families like yours got greedy. They wanted to rule over everything, leaving the rest of us to enforce their stupid laws within their province. Everyone knows politicians hold all the power, the rest of us may just as well be another one of the peasants we are supposed to manage. So, you see my little lamb, it's not personal, it's just politics.”
Too weak to struggle, Alex concentrated her energy on keeping herself conscious as Mathis' hand continued to crush her throat. Leaning in closer, he bit down on her neck. Alexandra yelped in pain as his teeth pierced her flesh and a warm trickle of blood traced a path on her skin. Aroused by her suffering, Mathis licked the blood from her wound, thrusting his hips hard against her.
“You taste like heaven, you know that? If you agree to service me once in a while, I will allow your barkeep to live. And who knows, maybe I'll allow him to bend you over at least once after I'm done with you.”
Cupping her breast in his hand, Mathis gave it a hard squeeze. Not having any strength left to fight back, Alex closed her eyes as tears ran down her face. Her suffering delighted Mathis, who was getting more aroused by the second. Bringing his face closer, Mathis gave Alex a rough kiss. Forcing his tongue down her throat he made her gag from the force. Pulling away from Alex, there was lust in Mathis’ eyes as he kept molesting her breast, and thrusting his erection harder against her.
“Please...” she said weakly “... stop.”
“I can't stop now.” Mathis released his grip on her neck and Alex dropped to the floor. Standing over her, he undid the zipper on his pants, pulling his penis out, gripping it in his hand. “You got me so hot and bothered that I just have to deflower you now. Don't worry though, it only hurts the first time around.”
“Keep your filthy paws off her!” roared Jay, as he finally managed to get off the floor.
Grabbing hold of Mathis, Jay punched him with a force strong enough to send him tumbling over a table and onto the floor. Rolling over to her side, Alex clutched her throat, coughing as she tried to fill her lungs with air. Across from them, Mathis wiped the blood flowing from his nose and glared at Jay as he stumbled back up to his feet.
“How valiant, the black knight comes to save his princess.”
Gladios
Placing himself between Alex and Mathis, Jay held an intense, red broadsword in his right hand. His left hand was still clutching his side, as he used the strength he had left to hold himself up through the pain. On the floor, Alex tried to force herself to stand and help only to collapse back down. A bloodied Mathis stood across from them. Wiping the blood from his nose again and dusting off his cloak he turned to confront Jay.
“I see, it seems I have grossly underestimated you, barkeep. Here I thought you were another insignificant gray, but you turn out to be a dirty, half-blood bastard instead. I suppose now I have no choice but to kill you. It's a shame really because I actually was going to let you fuck her, at least once.”
Grimacing in their direction, Mathis steadied himself on the table and raised up his left hand, forming a fist.
Archanium
A recurve bow happened to be Mathis' favorite weapon of choice. It was not very effective in close quarters against skilled opponents, but it could be deadly in the right situation. Pulling back on the air, a red arrow glowed menacingly on the bow. First clenched around the hilt of his sword, Jay took a step forward, silently challenging his foe.
“Oh, come on. You must know I can easily dodge that and strike you down before you ever get a chance to fire a second shot.”
A steady arrow was still aimed straight at Jay's chest while an undaunted Mathis stood by the table, sneering at the two of them
“Oh yes, how thoroughly stupid of me, of course, you can easily dodge my attack. However, do you think she can?” Mathis swung his arrow down and pointed it straight at Alex. “Look at her. Poor thing can barely breathe let alone move out of the way in time. Granted, you could still strike me down while I shoot the girl, but I must warn you, I never miss my mark. So, choose hero. You can kill me, or you can save the woman of your dreams, but you can't do both. Now, do choose wisely.”
Frowning, Jay looked down at Alex while still clutching his sword. Despair filled his eyes, he knew Mathis was right. At his feet, Alex glanced up at him in horror with the realization of what he was going to do. She still could not speak, but she shook her head to try to discourage hi
m. This time, however, it was Jay's turn not to listen. He was not about to let anything happen to Alex, not when he was almost ready to let her know how he felt. Opening his hand, Jay allowed the sword to disappear.
“Have at it. My life for hers, just don't hurt her any more than you already have.”
“What a good man you are.” Mathis pointed the arrow back at Jay's heart “Now, for your reward, you get to die quick, which is more than a vermin like you deserves.”
As the arrow pointed at its mark, an unfamiliar feeling came over Alex. A hot, fiery rage had sparked inside her, and now its fury had reached a boiling point, ready to erupt. Jay would die, and worse yet, he would die because of her. There was no way she would let it happen. The sudden anger at the thought of losing Jay had given Alex the resolve to prop herself up. Raising a hand towards Mathis, Alex gathered what strength she had left, letting out a scream which surprised even her.
Infernious!
All the passion brewing inside Alex had left her hand in the form of an intense, blue flame heading straight for Mathis. A single arrow flew towards Jay, who skillfully dodged it at the last minute. The red projectile struck a wall and disappeared in a puff of smoke as blue flames engulfed Mathis in their clutches. He lay screaming and writhing on the floor as his body was being reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash.
Having exhausted all her energy, Alex crumpled to the ground. Drained and in pain, she lay on the floor trying to come to terms with what she had done. She killed another man, using a spell no one heard of and a power she did not know she had. Alex tried to never use her magic to hurt anything, let alone kill someone, but over the last couple of weeks, that’s all she seemed to be doing. Conflicting emotions of guilt and relief surged inside her. As much as she hated herself for killing Mathis, she was glad he was finally dead.
Sitting on the floor across from her, Jay looked dumbfounded at what had happened. Not moving, he looked around the tavern blinking his eyes. The room was a disaster. Tables and chairs were scattered about, broken glass shards glinted on the floor, and in the corner, lay a smoldering pile of cinders. Shaking his head, Jay came to his senses and crawled over to Alex, helping her up off the floor. Holding her tenderly in his arm, Jay stroked her hair and studied the bruises and bite marks on her neck.
Carefully, Jay placed his hand on Alexandra's neck. Warm energy emitted from his fingertips, wrapping Alex in its comfort. The pain dissipated as his hands moved expertly around her neck, and Alex could finally breathe normally. Having treated her neck, Jay held on to her, making her bow her head as her heart beat harder in her chest.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?”
“Yes, I'm fine, but what about you?”
“I'll live.” Jay looked at her with a stern expression “Why didn't you run like I told you to?”
“You were hurt, I couldn't leave you.”
“Idiot,” he said. Jay’s tone was angry, but his eyes were soft with worry. “I was willing to die to protect you, you should have just run.”
“Didn't I tell you, you'd see the sky come down before I would allow anything bad to happen to you?”
“I'm not worth your life Alex.” Jay shouted, “I'm not worth much of anything.”
“You're worth it to me.” Alex yelled back, angry he still didn't understand how she felt. “And you're worth it to Andy. Can't you see, you have people who love you unconditionally? People who need you alive.” Tears fell down her face as she sobbed from the sudden release of bottled up emotions. “So, don't you dare tell me my life is worth more than yours, my life is meaningless without you in it.”
Stunned, Jay stood there staring at Alex without blinking his eyes. She has told him she loved him before, but he still felt as if he was hearing those words for the first time. Alex rubbed his shoulders, giving them a light squeeze as she continued to penetrate him with her stare. Ruffling the back of his head, Jay inspected the room one more time before returning his attention to Alex. Realizing she had won, he gave out a lighthearted chuckle.
“That power of yours. I can't believe you have been holding out on me all this time. What exactly are you, princess?”
“I don’t know, something that doesn’t belong here.” Alex spoke timidly. “Though I must say, I’ve been holding out on myself. I could never perform complex spell work, and I’ve never seen the spell I used. I just, I don’t know.”
“You got angry, didn't you?”
“More so than usual. This was a fit of rage I have never experienced before. It took over my entire body, I could see the flames rising inside me before I even released them.”
“Unbelievable. To think, you got so passionate about me.”
“What can I say, I guess I had it in me all along, you just gave me a reason to find it.”
“I suppose I was right about one thing all along. You are—argh...” Jay doubled over in pain clutching on to his side. “Damn it.”
“Jay!” Alex shrieked as she grabbed on to him “You're hurt bad, aren't you?”
“No...” Jay spoke through clenched teeth “... I'm fine... it's nothing... don't worry about it.”
Typical, thought Alex. Jay was so concerned with not showing his weakness to her that he was willing to suffer if it meant not causing her to worry. Propping Jay up, Alex helped him walk over to the bar, sitting him down on the only stool still standing. Leaning on the bar with a wince, Jay continued to clutch his side in agony. Moving his arm away, Alex began to unbutton his shirt only to get stopped by Jay taking hold of her wrists.
“What are you doing?” he spoke with a panicked look on his face.
“You're injured. At least let me look to see how bad it is.”
Pulling her wrists from Jay’s grasp, Alex continued to unbutton his shirt. The site of his toned body and his hairy chest made her flush bright pink. The only men she had seen shirtless before now were her brothers and her father. Trying to hide how flustered she was, Alex tilted her head down, examining Jay’s body. As she had suspected, his injuries were severe. Massive bruises discolored his abdomen and chest, and if she was to take a guess, he probably had some internal bleeding as well.
There was no way of getting around it, Alex would have to heal Jay. Not only did he have to open the tavern tomorrow, injuries this serious could prove deadly if not treated properly. Still enthralled by Jay’s body, Alex reached out a nervous hand and placed her fingers on his left lower abdomen. Her pleasant, tender touch caused Jay to recoil with a deep moan as he could no longer control the urges he had for her.
“I'm sorry,” Alex glanced up at him in astonishment, “am I hurting you?”
“No.” Jay groaned as he bit down on his lip “It's just... your fingers... they feel so nice against my skin.” Jay looked at Alex with a passionate gaze. “It's been a long time... since a woman has touched me like this.”
The temperature in the room felt sweltering as Alexandra's cheeks grew hot and her hands shook ever so slightly. Still biting his lip, Jay leaned back, closing his eyes. Trembling, Alex reached out and touched his lower abdomen again, feeling the rippled muscles of his body. Jay leaned his face away from her as he let out a soft moan, getting aroused by her touch. Slowly, she moved across his sculpted muscles as she healed him, trembling from the excitement of touching his bare body.
As Alex’s hands trailed up to Jay’s broad chest, her fingers got caught in his soft chest hairs. Chewing the corner of her bottom lip, she untangled herself, laying both her palms on his chest instead. Jay's heart was beating rapidly under her hands. His breathing got shallower, and Alex quivered as her hands moved around on his skin. Picturing his bare body on top of hers, she wanted to feel his skin against hers while they caressed each other in a passionate embrace.
Resting her hands on Jay’s shoulder, Alex paused to look over his body one more time. The sight of it was unbearably enticing, and she did her best to suppress the urges growing inside her. Moving her hand up his cheek, she
traced her fingers to the gash in the forehead. Just as she went to move a stray strand of blond hair out of his face, Jay opened his eyes and looked at her with a yearning Alex had always hoped to see. Trying her best to ignore the hunger in his eyes, she moved a finger casually across his busted lower lip, brushing away the injury. As she went to pull her hand away, Jay caught her wrist in his hand.
“No,” he whispered breathlessly as he kissed the back of Alex’s hand, “not yet.”
Rubbing his face against her hand, Jay reached over with his free arm and wrapped it around Alexandra's waist. Bringing her closer to him, he sent a delightful shiver down her spine. Feverishly, Alex gazed into his intense eyes, her body feeling like it would burn up at any moment. Moving her slender fingers up, she tenderly stroked them through his hair.
Taking the hand he was holding, Jay placed it around his neck. He gazed into her eyes and surrendered to the urges he managed to suppress for so long. Cupping Alexandra’s face, he brought it in closer, giving her a delicate, yet passionate kiss.
With her body on fire and her heart somersaulting in her chest, Alex melted into his embrace. Unlike the kiss Mathis had given her earlier, this one was affectionate and genuine. Readily she returned Jay’s kiss as she clung to him tighter, helpless to resist his advancements. Pulling away from her lips, Jay kissed her neck with the same intensity, making her shudder and gasp. Releasing Alex from this sudden bombardment of affection, Jay looked at her with the fire of one thousand suns burning in his eyes.
“Damn it... Alex.” he said breathlessly “I just can't... I can't deny this any longer... I love you.”
“I love you too—but, you already knew that.”
“Say you'll be mine then.”
Jay looked at Alex with a pleading look in his eyes. Smiling, she hugged him tightly, resting her head against his shoulder. With his simple request, Jay made her feel alive once more and happiness replaced the horror from moments earlier. Elated, Alex thought she could float away at any moment, so long as he was with her.
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