by Sky Winters
“Thank you, Hannah,” Aileen told her once she was fully dressed. She looked into Hannah’s eyes knowingly and almost shed tears, but then Lord MacAuley was at the door. She quickly pulled away.
“What is this then?” he asked, noting how close the two women were.
“What do you mean?” Aileen replied.
“Are the two of you up to something?” he asked.
“Yes, getting dressed. Hannah was checking the lacings on my corset. You are lucky that you don’t have to wear so many garments, my future husband,” she smiled at him.
“I suppose I am. Hannah, please have Aileen’s room cleaned when we return,” he said dismissively, holding out his arm toward his future bride.
Aileen panicked for a moment. This is it and she didn’t even have a chance to procure the dagger she had meant to slip out with her. She might need it to make her escape. Trying to get it now would only raise suspicion. Well, she would just have to manage the best she could. Putting on her best smile, she accepted his arm and they strolled leisurely through the castle and out through the front yard. The people working there all stopped and tipped their hats or greeted them with smiles that she had no doubt were just as fake as her own.
As they made their way out toward the meadow, Aileen’s hand fell by her side and she noted that pockets had been sewn into the large skirt of her dress. Not only that, but there was something in it. Her hands curled about the object and she had to stop herself from breathing a huge sigh of relief as she felt the metal blade of the dagger there. Hannah was a friend. It was she who had put the dagger on the shelf and she who had moved it into the pocket of the dress in hopes she would find it if it was needed.
“This is an absolutely stunning day, I have to say, my love. I am glad that you picked this day for a walk with me,” Lord MacAuley commented.
“I agree. I think it is a most glorious day!” Aileen replied, keeping her hand on the dagger. She was quietly taking inventory of their surroundings, trying to figure out the best route of escape when the bear she had seen from her window repeatedly suddenly stepped out of the woods and made its way toward them.
“Stand very still, Aileen,” Lord MacAuley instructed her.
Aileen did as he asked, keeping her hand on the pocket of her dress and trying to fish out the dagger without being observed. The bear was unexpected and she now wasn’t sure which was the biggest threat, him or MacAuley, nor if the small weapon would be enough to do any damage to such a large animal. The bear made no effort to charge. It merely stood there and looked at the two of them, then it slowly began to inch forward. As it grew closer, Lord MacAuley suddenly grabbed her and stuck her in front of him between himself and the bear. When the bear began to charge, Lord MacAuley turned and ran, shoving her toward the rampaging beast. Aileen screamed and ran toward the woods with the bear in close pursuit.
Tripping over a branch, she fell, hitting her knee on a rock that ripped right through the dress and undergarments. She looked around and found that she was deep into the woods and the bear was no longer behind her. Carefully, she got up and made her way further into the woods, before Lord MacAuley managed to retrieve the people he employed to hide the fact that he was a coward and returned to look for her or for her remains. She quickly peeled off the heavy dress, retrieving the dagger from the pocket, and set out further into the woods in the plain men’s clothing Hannah had dressed her in underneath. Once she felt she had gone far enough to put some distance between herself and MacAuley, she stopped to rest on a flat rock.
Tears fell down her face as she sat dabbing at the blood on her knee. She was free, but still in terrible danger. She had no idea which direction to go, how far behind Lord MacAuley would be or if she would encounter more wild animals out here. Perhaps he would look for her for a while thinking the bear had gotten her and at least leave her village alone. She had to get back there. She had to warn them.
“Why are you crying?” came a voice from above her.
She looked up to see his red hair shining like copper as the sun beamed down upon it through the opening in the trees that surrounded them. He wasn’t real. He couldn’t be, not out here in the middle of nowhere.
“I fell, my knee is bleeding,” she responded, knowing he was just a hallucination.
“Let me see,” he told her, kneeling in front of her and placing his handkerchief over the wounded area as she looked into her eyes. He felt so real. He smelled real. She reached out her hand and put it on his face.
“Thomas?” she said, barely able to speak his name.
“Yes. I’m here, Aileen,” he told her.
Aileen’s heart felt like it would burst as she suddenly threw her arms around him and held him close, afraid that if she let go he might disappear. He finally pulled her arms away and looked at her, pulling her close and kissing her. She felt the butterflies take flight as his lips met hers and they became consumed in one another. She wanted him to take here, right then and there, married or not. Aileen needed him in a way she needed no other man except this one, but he pulled away.
“Aileen, we have to go,” he told her.
“I know. There are bears in the woods. One chased me in here,” she told him.
“I’m not worried about the bears, Aileen. Let’s go,” he told her, grabbing her by the hand and weaving his way through the trees as if he knew them like the back of his own hand. After a while, they came to an open area where there were men and women rapidly packing up things as if to move.
“Where are we, Thomas? Who are these people and where are they going?” she asked. She had so many more questions for him, but those were the immediate ones.
“We are going back to our village. When Lord MacAuley doesn’t find your body, he will come there to look for you. Even if he doesn’t find you, he will destroy the people there thinking they are hiding you,” he said.
“But if you take me back there, he will find me and kidnap me back to that awful place. I can’t go back there, Thomas. I can’t go back!” she wailed.
“No one is ever going to take you away from me again, Aileen. I spent far too long without you to ever do it again,” he told her.
“Okay, Thomas,” she replied, knowing that she could trust him. They hurriedly helped those around them finish packing up and then began the trip toward her village. It was well past nightfall when they arrived and were greeted with open arms. Looking around, Aileen realized that she recognized many of the men and some of the women from the camp. She had been so confused by everything when she had arrived there, that it hadn’t dawned on her. Then her eyes fell on one young lady wearing men’s clothing and their eyes met.
“Hello, Aileen,” Hannah smiled.
“Hannah! I don’t understand,” Aileen told her.
“You will, in time,” Hannah told her, giving her a hug before making her way to a nearby hut where Aileen assumed her husband or other kin resided.
“Come on, Aileen,” Thomas told her. “We need to get you out of sight. You’ll need to stay with me tonight.”
“I have been staying in your hut anyway, but what about my parents?” Aileen asked.
“They have been sent away. Their hut and mine are the first places he will look for you when he comes,” Thomas told her. “We will be staying just outside the village in a cave I’ve prepared for our arrival.”
“Prepared for our arrival? How did you know about all this?” Aileen asked, then it dawned on her. Hannah had been her friend all along. She just had not been able to let on that she was helping. Still, some things were awfully strange.
“First things first, Aileen. We need to go see Parson MacGregor,” Thomas told her.
“The Parson? But why?” Aileen asked, but Thomas was already taking her hands, looking into her eyes.
“Aileen McCarthy, will you marry me?” he asked.
“Yes! Yes, Thomas!” she squealed, jumping into his arms again.
“I know it isn’t how you imagined us getting married, but I won’t su
lly you without being your husband and I’m afraid I’ve been without you far too long to merely sleep by your side tonight or any other night anymore,” he told her.
“It’s perfect. I don’t care about all that. Being your wife is all I ever need,” she replied.
That night, in front of everyone in the village, Aileen McCarthy and Thomas Mulgrady were joined in matrimony. Thomas wasted no time in scooping Aileen up into his arms and kissing her passionately in front of all that attended. A loud round of cheers followed them out of the village as they made their way to a large cavern in the side of a cliff not far from the village, but secluded from view for all but the most seasoned eye.
Thomas lit a small lamp to give just enough light for them to see in the darkness of the cave and then pulled Aileen toward him near the makeshift bed he had made for them on the cave floor. He was so much bigger and stronger than she remembered as she ran her hands over his bulging arms and across his chest. His lips found hers again, kissing her, drinking her in. It felt like the earth moved beneath her feet having him in her arms, touching her like this once again.
“I love you so much, Thomas,” she murmured into his mouth.
“I love you too, Aileen,” he replied, pulling away as he began to undress her, devouring her heated skin inch by inch as he peeled away her clothes. Aileen felt a longing like she had never felt before as his warmth spread through her body and into her center, making her legs weak and her womanhood fill with moisture and desire. He took his time with her, touching her in places they had never gotten to explore together before he had disappeared for so long.
She watched as he stopped long enough to get undressed, his manhood bulging stiffly from his person as he pushed against her and began kissing her again. His hand slipped between her legs, parting the pink lips that lay there and slipping through them as she moaned loudly and leaned against him, unable to control the trembling in her legs. Aileen felt like she was in heaven as he lay her down across the bed he had made for them and kissed his way along her skin, starting with her lips and slowly moving downward along her neck. Her hips rose to meet him as he drifted across her breasts and stomach, trailing downward across her stomach and pausing just above the area where her legs met.
She drew in a sharp breath as his mouth covered parts of her she had not known could be so joyous and tangled her fingers in his beautiful red hair as he lapped at her rapidly increasing wetness and sucked on the tiny bobbin that protruded just above. She moaned loudly, listening to it echo through the cave as she let herself enjoy what he was doing to her.
“Oh, Thomas. That feels wonderful. What are you doing to me?” she panted as he pulled at her pink nub with his teeth and then sucked it into his mouth over and over until she didn’t think she could take it anymore. It seemed he would go on forever as her passion continued to grow and then something most incredible happened. The pressure that had built and built up within her body, driving her insane with wantonness seemed to reach a crescendo and then just explode into a thousand pieces, leaving her weak with pleasure.
“That was so beautiful to watch and feel,” Thomas told her, returning to what he had been doing even more aggressively until she had shattered violently several more times against him, her body contorting with the force of her orgasms.
Then, Thomas was moving upward, kissing his way toward her lips the same way he had kissed his way downward. She could taste her own passion on his lips as he kissed her urgently, his erection pushing into her hip before he pulled slightly away, repositioning himself to enter her. She looked up at him, their eyes locking as he pressed into her, the large bulbous head of his cock parting the entrance to her virgin sanctum. Bit by bit, he pushed further into her.
“Are you okay,” he asked as she shifted and let out a groan against his chest.
“Yes. Don’t stop,” she breathed. It hurt but she knew from talk from the other girls that it was normal to feel some pain at first as her new husband took his maidenhead for his own, never to be given to another. The pressure of having him inside her felt exquisite and then he was slipping from her, rocking his body slowly back and forth as he made love to her so slowly she felt like crying from happiness.
“You feel so good. I’ve waited for this for so long, to give ourselves only to each other. There’s been no one but you. There never will be,” he told her.
“There never will be for me either,” she told him, kissing him as he continued to plunge into her more and more aggressively until he couldn’t hold back anymore and filled her with his seed.
They lay there in the darkness, just enjoying the way their bodies felt against one another, but were disrupted by shouts and loud growls from the village. Thomas was up and on his feet in seconds, running from the cave toward the sound. It took Aileen a moment to realize that he had left completely naked and she began getting dressed as fast as possible as she watched his naked figure disappear across the clearing.
And then, just before he entered the bank of trees that divided the clearing from the village, she saw it. His body contorted, growing and changing. He was no longer Thomas, but had somehow changed into something completely different, something she recognized instantly. The large reddish brown bear that had repeatedly watched her from the woods at night and that had accosted herself and Lord MacAuley as they were out walking. Had that just happened?
Aileen crept closer, trying to watch through the trees at the carnage that was unfolding. Her heart raced as she worried about whether Thomas and her family were okay. It seemed to go on forever and she grew more and more afraid that she might lose Thomas again, this time forever. The sounds of screams and growls filled the night air, but she was having a hard time seeing anything as she crept closer.
“Well, look who we have here? If it isn’t my soon to be blushing bride,” she heard Lord MacAuley say from behind her in the clearing. She turned to face him.
“Why aren’t I surprised that you are out here rather than in there in the fight, you coward!” she said defiantly.
“You’ll want to watch that wicked little tongue of yours, my pet. If you plan on speaking to your future Lord and Liege like that in our home, it might just have to be cut out. Pity that would be though. I would surely hate to miss your screams of pleasure when I take your precious virginity as my prize,” he sneered.
“I’m afraid you’re a bit too late for that, you spineless little worm. You see, I told you my betrothed would be back for me. We were married this very day and I’ve already given him what was rightfully his to take. Such a pity,” she told him. She could tell he was surprised.
“You filthy whore! How dare you lie with another man when you are my intended. I can’t very well have a harlot as a bride. It’s none the less though. I shall have you in any way I desire and just relegate you to the brothel when I’m no longer in need of your services,” he told her.
“My Thomas will tear you apart, limb from limb if you so much as try to take me from this place again,” she told him, though she knew Thomas was otherwise engaged and might not be able to save her again.
“You are a foolish one. Where is he? I see him no more now than I did when you told me he existed before. You’re full of nothing but lies. I’ll have my doctor check you for purity and then we will decide your fate from there,” he told her, climbing down off his horse as she turned to run. He was almost upon her when a deafening growl filled the night air around them and the reddish-brown pair landed squarely upon him, literally ripping him apart and then snatching him up to return to the village.
Running through the trees behind him, she could see Lord MacAuley’s body lying on the ground, along with many others of his people. She watched as his men began to run away from the village, seeing that their Lord was dead, they knew they would only be staying to be slaughtered for no reason and rapidly retreated from the pack of bears that prowled the village and took them out, one by one. When it was all said and done, Thomas returned to the woods toward her, changing again
before her very eyes.
“I’m sorry you had to see any of that. I know you may feel differently about me now, knowing what I am, seeing what I have done. This is why I had to leave you. I didn’t want to, Aileen and when I learned that Lord MacAuley had you, I couldn’t let anything happen to you. Hannah has been working there for a while and I knew she could find a way to get assigned to attend you. She reported back to me daily and helped me get you out to where I could save you,” he said.
“You frightened me nearly to death,” Aileen exclaimed.
“I know. I’m sorry for that too,” he said.
“I think I can forgive you,” she told him, kissing him softly on the lips. “Can we go back to bed now?”
“Shortly. We have to help with the mess in the village. Let me get my clothes and I will be there in a minute,” he told her.
The two worked side by side through the night helping sort out the mess left in the village. By the time all was said and done, they were both exhausted and badly in need of rest. Walking back to the cave hand in hand, they retrieved their things and brought them back to Thomas’s hut, where they began their lives together anew. Over the years, Thomas would sometimes have to leave for long journeys with his clan, who Aileen now knew were all were bears. Even Hannah was a bear. It had been pretty unbelievable at first, but she had gotten used to the idea now and accepted it.
The one thing that remained constant, is that Hannah was always happy to see Thomas return. Their love spanned a lifetime of almost seventy years, four children and 20 grandchildren. When the time came for Hannah to pass, Thomas wept by her side knowing it would be years before he could join her on the other side due to the extended life from his were bear metabolism. He had her buried just outside the cave where they had first made love and he hibernated there during the winters. During the warm months, he could often be found lying beside her grave, talking to her in a soft voice and he could hear her speaking back to him. Always she would say, “Why are you crying?” as the tears streaked his face.
