“You think yourself funny, but it makes sense. If I am not here tomorrow evening, I’ve decided to wait for the next day so that you are kept busy with visitors,” he said with a smile, meeting her own sarcastic expression with one of his own.
“Then I will see you tomorrow, or the following day.” A light of curiosity passed across her eyes and she looked at Enthrall before he walked out of her front door. “Have you seen Shane and Deaumanique? Have they left their love nest yet?” she asked.
“No, they have not. But I planned to visit them tomorrow to be sure that they are not in need of anything,” Enthrall said.
“Then please do. I can wait until the next day. Give them my love when you see them, and let them know I plan to see them in a few days,” Aubreigne said.
“I will,” Enthrall answered. “And I’ll visit you again soon, either tomorrow or the next day.” He turned his attentions to Brannaugh. “You will pay me a visit at your convenience? We have much to discuss.”
Brannaugh bowed stiffly from the waist up as was a customary sign of respect when dealing with those in authority in the court of the Fae. While Enthrall was obviously not involved with the Fae or their courts or royalty, he was in authority here and Brannaugh did respect him — more than he’d expected to, even. “I will.”
“I’ll expect to see you then,” Enthrall said to Brannaugh before turning to Aubreigne. “Get some rest, Aubreigne. A simple thing like rest can do wonders for a wounded heart.”
“I shall try,” Aubreigne promised as she closed the door behind Enthrall as he left her home.
She turned to Brannaugh. “There is no reason for you to have to sit with me. You have your own life as well.”
“Will you turn me out into the day’s end without even a warm meal in my belly?” Brannaugh asked, using just a bit of the charm of the dark fey to tease her into letting him stay.
“I feel that,” Aubreigne said.
“Feel what?” Brannaugh asked, feigning innocence.
“That little extra nudge to give into your wishes,” Aubreigne said, smiling.
Brannaugh gave her a sad smile. “I’d rather not leave you alone just yet,” he admitted.
“It wasn’t your fault. You had no reason to appoint yourself my protector. I’m not your woman, and not your mate. You weren’t and aren’t responsible for me.”
“But I was, and I am. I knew he was here, had been here, and I did nothing to intercept him, thinking that he was changed. I knew you were his focus.”
“I knew I was his focus as well,” she said, looking him in the eye.
Brannaugh just stared back at her, not giving an inch.
Aubreigne knew there was no reasoning with a prideful male who felt responsible for something he believed himself able to have prevented, so she didn’t even try. “Let’s share a meal, then, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some rest before Evangeline comes back in the morning.”
“I’d like that,” Brannaugh said.
Brannaugh helped Aubreigne prepare their meal, and they chatted and even laughed a bit while doing so. They sat at the table talking quietly and eating, completely unaware that another was slinking about outside, eavesdropping, listening, watching, and growing more and more deranged with each passing moment.
~~~
Ata’halne moved silently around Aubreigne's house, looking for the best place to watch her and her visitor. He sneered when he realized this was not even the naked male he’d glimpsed the day before. This was a new male. And what made it even worse was the fact that it was the dark fey. They’d made a fool of him when he’d encountered the fey previously, as evidenced by the fact that they shared an intimate meal now. “Just how many males do you keep, harlot?!” Ata sneered into the waning light.
Ata jumped back when a large, black and grey figure, with a bright red collar, jumped up against the glass in the window he peered through. His heart rate pounded as he realized it was the wolf Aubreigne had befriended.
The wolf snarled and showed his fangs, saliva dripping from them as he snapped them at Ata on the other side of the glass.
“Rune?! Come back in here. There’s nothing outside but some poor defenseless creatures. You have food in here, no reason to eat the wildlife,” Aubreigne called out.
Ata’s attention was drawn away from the wolf and to her voice. “You could have had me,” he whispered. “But now you’ll pay for your stupid decisions. You will learn that no one disrespects me. I do not need the Windigo to command respect. You will see what you’ve given up by choosing other males in my place. But it will be too late to repair the rift you’ve caused with your disregard for the man I am.”
Rune had turned away from the window at Aubreigne’s call, but charged back to it when he heard Ata’s voice again.
“Let me go check and make sure there’s no reason for his growls,” Brannaugh said, getting to his feet.
Ata spat on the ground where he stood when he heard Brannaugh saying he was going to see what the wolf growled at, but he wasted no time in rushing away so that he’d not be detected. He was insane, but he was not stupid. He knew he couldn’t fight the dark fey and win that battle. But he’d show him too just how powerful he could be when forced to it.
Brannaugh went to the window and looked out. Seeing nothing wrong, he returned to the kitchen where Aubreigne still sat having her meal.
“I saw nothing, but Rune is certainly on alert,” Brannaugh said. “Should I let him go outside?”
“No, I’m sure it’s just the raccoons. I feed them so they show up as the sun goes down. I don’t want him to chase them away,” Aubreigne explained.
“You’re sure?” Brannaugh said.
“I am.”
“Very well,” Brannaugh said, taking his seat to finish his food. He knew that no matter what she said, when he left in just a short while, he’d be keeping watch over her home all night. No one would be disturbing her.
~~~
Later that night after Brannaugh had insisted on helping her clean up after dinner, he finally left her on her own. Aubreigne wandered over to the gold and cream silk covered settee that now served as her sofa. She sat down on it, appreciating the luxurious softness of the cushions that adorned it. She slipped her shoes off and leaned back against it, pulling her feet up onto the sofa and tucking them beneath the coverlet that Lore had brought with the settee.
Rune approached and whined at her. Aubreigne reached out and smoothed her hand over Rune’s head and down his snout. Amilanu had affected so many parts of her life without really being a part of it himself. She even had Rune because he’d sent the wolf to her.
“We’ll be fine, won’t we, Rune?” Aubreigne asked, still stroking the wolf’s head.
Rune whined again and licked her hand.
Aubreigne couldn’t help but think of Amilanu and all they’d shared when he’d been here with her. It had only been a short time really, but it was all they’d needed to realize exactly what they were to one another. She loved Amilanu, and she had no doubt that he loved her as well. She thought of the sound of his voice distorted by The Dark One when he’d tried to force himself on her. And she thought of the pain in Amilanu’s eyes when he’d looked helplessly at her before he was able to force The Dark One away from her.
“Enthrall was right. There is truly no way to free him. There is no one that would be willing to give his life to exist alongside The Dark One, locked away in Hell forever,” Aubreigne said.
Rune pressed himself against the settee, licking her chin and whining again.
Aubreigne looked around the living room, then let her gaze linger on the window Rune had been growling at earlier when Brannaugh had been there. She got up and went to the window, repeating her protections to keep out everything that hadn’t been invited by her. Then she went around her home and enforced the same protections at each window and door before finally returning to the settee, and settling in for the night. She pulled the coverlet up to her chin, and curled herself int
o a ball before letting the tears fall freely.
Rune sat at her side, with his huge head leaning on her shoulder until she finally fell asleep. Then wandered the house until he was sure there was no one near before returning to her and falling asleep beside her, curled up on the brand new settee that Lore had stolen from only he knew which castle and which royal family.
Chapter 21
The Dark One lifted the ornate glass jug and guzzled the amber colored liquid inside, allowing it to spill over the sides of his mouth, down his throat and eventually down his chest to trickle down the path of stomach muscle forming a deep ‘V’ just above his groin. Three very willing, very gaudily dressed, and heavily painted females greedily lapped it from his skin.
“More,” one of them purred, her hooded eyes flashing with need as she dared to look directly into his blood red eyes.
“After you service me, perhaps I’ll decide to give you more. Do it now,” The Dark One growled.
The female wasted no time. She took his hard, throbbing cock in hand and swallowed it to the back of her throat, bobbing her head as her lips and tongue teased the sensitive flesh.
“More!” he snapped, shoving his hand into her hair and jerking her head back. “If you cannot give me what I need, I’ll dispatch your worthless soul and find it elsewhere,” he snarled.
The female knew instinctively who he was. She’d thought she’d been providing the pleasure he wanted, but apparently he needed more. She took him deeply again, this time, using her teeth.
The Dark One rumbled in appreciation.
She applied even more pressure with her teeth as she dragged them down the length of his cock, squeezing his heavy scrotum in her hand.
The Dark One, using the hand still holding her hair, shoved her face against his groin until her nose was buried against him as he thrust forward as hard as he could, trying to choke her.
The female gagged and struggled to breathe, but all he did was growl his appreciation.
He looked down at the other two females waiting to service him. “You!” he barked at them. “Service her while she tends me. And be sure to make it hurt. Pain is such a sweet reminder of the pleasure I allow.”
Without hesitation both females fell on the first, using their hands and mouths to explore every inch of her body, biting so hard one even drew blood.
A servant entered the room with a platter of foods and wines. The Dark One looked up at the male and smirked as he thought of Amilanu hiding silently deep inside him. Punishing Amilanu with memories he didn’t want had become a favorite pastime of late. “Come here,” he ordered the man.
The man walked over to them, his eyes hungrily taking in women kneeling before The Dark One in all manner of sensual activity.
“Strip your body bare and stand before me,” The Dark One ordered.
The man looked at the women, then back at The Dark One.
“Now!” The Dark One barked out.
The man hurriedly took his clothes off, tossing them a few feet away from himself.
The Dark One shoved the female sucking him away from his body, and pinned the man with a stare. “Replace her,” he said pleasantly, as though he was commenting on the weather.
The man didn’t hesitate. He wasn’t new to this kind of thing, their patrons often requested both males and females for their pleasure. He went to The Dark One and knelt before him, taking The Dark One’s cock into his mouth, using one hand to stroke him while he sucked, and another to feel for the tight opening between The Dark One’s buttocks.
The Dark One moaned in satisfaction as the man sucked him relentlessly while massaging the tight ring of muscles hidden between the cheeks of his well formed bottom. The Dark One felt his release begin, and savored it, sending visual images of the male before him to Amilanu who refused to acknowledge what was being done to his body. As he ground his teeth and thrust his hips, the man’s finger slipped deep inside him, causing him to tighten his muscles around it.
“I can give you more pleasure if you will take me inside,” the man offered, dropping his hand to his own cock and stroking it suggestively.
“I will be the one taking here tonight,” The Dark One insisted.
The man spun to face away from The Dark One, offering willingly to the male who demanded complete submission. The Dark One took him by the hips, then looked toward the females still stroking and licking one another. Will you not come forward and enjoy this night? Celebrate our liberation. Watch as we explore depravity at every turn. Become accustomed to it — for it is all you’ll ever know, he thought at Amilanu.
Amilanu gave no indication of having heard The Dark One. Instead he retreated even deeper into the subconscious of the male who shared his body. He didn’t want to feel the disgust that would come from acknowledging anyone other than Aubreigne touching his body. He didn’t want to feel another’s flesh beneath his hands. He didn’t want the scent or the taste of another marking him in any way. And he knew The Dark One exaggerated his activities tonight as punishment for Amilanu refusing to allow him to have Aubreigne. The Dark One didn’t want her for himself, he simply wanted to destroy her. And in order to keep her safe, Amilanu would endure this every moment of every day for eternity if he had to. Amilanu closed his eyes and opened his heart, feeling for Aubreigne.
Suddenly his eyes popped open, his consciousness becoming alert. He felt her. She was there, like a tiny flame of light far off, miles away in the distance that one followed to bring them home from a long trek. He felt her sadness, knew she was longing for him, but he also felt her strength and knew that she’d persevere, she’d survive and be well while he kept The Dark One far from her.
He realized The Dark One had paused in his pastimes to pay attention to Amilanu’s musings, and quickly dismissed them, thinking instead of the disgust he felt at having to endure his body touched in such a way.
The Dark One laughed evilly at making Amilanu physically sick with his activities, leaving Amilanu to consider why he was able to feel Aubreigne at all when they’d not mated.
~~~
Enthrall decided to pay a visit to Shane and Deaumanique. He knew that Lore and Evangeline would be breakfasting with Aubreigne this morning, which left him the day for a leisurely visit with his son and new daughter-in-law, hopefully. It had become custom in Whispers to leave a married couple to themselves for the first two weeks after their marriage, or at least until they surfaced themselves beforehand.
It had been just over a week since they’d married, but he missed his son if truth be told. Enthrall knew Shane was an adult, but he’d not been away from him for this long since the day he’d adopted him. He’d checked on the home from a distance, but had not disturbed the newly married couple. And now he was anxious to see how they were getting on… if they needed anything. With this in mind, he loaded a basket with some of Shane’s favorite things, a dark molasses bread, fresh creamed butter, a jar of fig preserves, and started out for Shane and Deaumanique’s home.
Enthrall smiled to himself as he leisurely strolled through Whispers on his way to Shane’s home, greeting everyone he met with a smile. He was happy. He loved his life, he loved his people, and there was, in his opinion, no better place to live and raise one’s family. His thoughts turned to Aubreigne and The Dark One, and he pursed his lips as he willingly forced his thoughts from the one thing that had plagued his subconscious for years. The male had had little effect on Whispers — other than making a nuisance of himself in stealing supplies and gifting them to Aubreigne. But they’d all been returned without issue.
Hopefully, now that all had been explained, and Amilanu had had to force The Dark One away from Aubreigne, they’d stay away. Enthrall held out little hope that Amilanu could ever be saved. It was a sad realization, but one he’d come to a very long time ago. Amilanu had made his choice, and little could be done to reverse it. Unfortunately, this was a situation that Aubreigne would have to come to terms with in her own time. For her it would be much harder… Amilanu was
her mate, but it could be overcome and she could feasibly be happy.
He didn’t like that thoughts of The Dark One and the painful times facing Aubreigne had darkened his mood, so he stubbornly decided to ignore the problems. Brannaugh would be visiting him in the next several days, and he’d work with Brannaugh to keep Aubreigne occupied so that she didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on her heartbreak. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Enthrall smiled at his decision, and raised his face to the treetops surrounding Shane’s house, expecting to see a variety of birds fluttering about as he entered the clearing. But there were none.
Shane and Deaumanique had chosen this spot for the variety of birds that made their homes in these trees. Deaumanique particularly loved the hummingbirds that flocked to the nectar she put out for them every few days. Entering the clearing the house lay in, Enthrall’s alert senses took in all around him. It was quiet here, unusually so today. He noticed the special hummingbird feeders Shane had made Deaumanique as a wedding gift were empty and had not been refilled with the nectar she usually made for them. Thinking it unusual since she’d been refilling them routinely even since the wedding, he paid closer attention. He noticed right away that dried fruit and seeds they usually set out for the birds near an elaborate stone birdbath had been spilled over the ground rather than placed carefully in its spot at the edge of the bath.
Enthrall stopped in his tracks, listening for anything, anyone. But there was nothing. He couldn’t even detect Shane’s or Deaumanique’s heartbeat. Enthrall stepped up onto the small porch of the little house and set his basket down on a swing that had been installed there. “Shane?” he called out, “Deaumanique?” He stood there for a moment looking around the yard and the walls of bamboo that acted as a natural fence around the small home and the yard around it. He turned back to the house and stepped up to the door, knocking firmly on the door though he knew there was no one inside. Enthrall waited a moment before knocking again and calling out for Shane again. When no one answered his knock, he tried the doorknob. The door opened with no resistance at all, so he walked inside, calling out for Shane and Deaumanique. “Anybody home?” he yelled.
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