by Lisa Andel
The darkness washed away, the brightness nearly blinding, the face of the man glowing golden like a beacon. I was the music as I sped into the man's arms, and melted against him. My lips found his, and my hunger for him poured out of me, taking with it the song. As I ate at his mouth and my hunger was sated, the light dimmed, becoming the normal midday sun. With the last of the glow fading from my mind, I found myself in Vendor Dark's lap, ravishing his mouth.
Slowly, I untangled myself from the strange man. Then I gave him a wry smile, knowing full well he had bespelled me. “Cute trick.” I sat back down in my chair, and let out a deep breath, cursing myself for not wearing the tanzanite.
Rainth knelt beside me, eyeing Dark with displeasure. “Just playing around? Or do you have some answers for us?” he snarled at the mage.
Dark ignored the were, and concentrated on me. “Do you know this woman?” He placed his hand on my forehead, and the image of a woman flashed into my mind.
"That's Pru. Meridith's mother,” I said, startled.
"From what I'm reading, this woman sought to harm you as an infant. The blood-mage that worked the spell on you had only partial success. You must be something of a novelty among your people."
I snorted. Novelty, right.
"Your magic has been mostly trapped deep inside you, along with several other skills which I'm sure you've noticed you lack,” Dark continued.
"Hey, would this have anything to do with the way I taste?” I asked.
Dark blinked at me, then smiled. “Not at all. You taste that way because of what you are. You are rare among your own race. Had you been allowed to mature naturally, you would be incredibly powerful by now. Even without the spell, you would—taste like shit—because of that power. It discourages others from weakening you, from draining your resources."
"Can you do anything about the spell?” Krand moved to Dark's side as he asked the question.
Dark sat back, his expression closed as he pondered. “To do so would incur the wrath of the blood-mage that cast it."
What did you offer someone for a service like this?
"You,” he breathed out on a whisper.
I looked up to find him staring at me. “What?” I wasn't sure I'd heard him right.
"I'll do it for a night with you.” He leaned forward and traced a hand down the side of my face.
I swallowed and thought about the bizarre plants and odd knickknacks. Rainth rose from his knees, his hand tightening on my shoulder.
"Excuse us a moment?” I stood, and grabbed Rainth's hand, dragging him out into the garden beyond the patio.
Turning to him, I let him wind his arms around me. “What do you think?” I thought the guy was a little creepy, but the kiss we'd shared had been incredible.
"There's something off about this guy.” Rainth's face reflected his concern.
"Kiss me.” I wanted to compare.
Rainth complied. He started slowly, pressing his lips to mine, then increasing the pressure as he slid his tongue along my lips, seeking entrance. He picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist, holding me under my butt with one hand while the other trapped my head. He thrust his tongue into my mouth, while at the same time he pushed my crotch against his erection. He ground his cock against my sex as he stroked my tongue.
When he let me up for air, my head was reeling. He kept holding me, rocking his hips gently.
"Mmmm.” Rainth was every bit as good as Dark. Actually better; he'd blown me away without the aid of magic.
"Do you want to fuck Dark?” I heard an odd tension in his voice that I hadn't heard before.
"Not really.” I smiled when I saw the wicked grin on his face, figuring I must have imagined the tension. “But I'm not averse to it, if he's willing to rid me of this spell."
"I still think there's something odd about him, and that doesn't sit right with me.” He rubbed my back, while he tightened his hold with his other hand.
"I know what you mean. You trust Krand though, don't you?” The muscles in his arms bunched beneath my hands before he answered.
"Yes. If he says you'll be safe, I'll take his word for it."
"Then let's get this over with."
He set me on the ground. “After you."
* * * *
Dark grinned at me when we returned to the patio.
"Krand.” I turned to where he was standing behind Dark, munching on a chicken leg. “If I agree to Dark's condition, do you swear no harm will come to me?"
Krand didn't even hesitate. “Dark would never hurt you."
There was something in the were's eyes that emphasized the point, though I knew there was something more about Dark that I wasn't sure I cared to find out about.
I switched my gaze to the man in question. After studying his eyes, the memory of his kiss tugging at me, I made my decision. “I agree to your terms. I'll spend the night with you in exchange for your removing the spell."
Dark swung his gaze to Rainth, and waited until the were had nodded his acceptance.
"Very well, then. I'll see you gentlemen out.” Dark rose swiftly to his feet.
Rainth grabbed my hand, and squeezed it. “I'll be back in the morning to pick you up. Call if you need me before then.” He handed me a piece of paper with a number on it, like I knew what I was supposed to do with it.
"Not too early now,” Dark said to Rainth as he walked the men to the front door.
I stayed where I was, anticipation building as I thought about the coming events. Sex was fine, and I wasn't worried about that. Excited maybe, but not worried. I was definitely anxious about having the spell lifted. What if he lifted it, and I was still a big zero?
Well, it wasn't like I'd be losing something I already had.
When he returned to the patio, he danced his fingers down my arm to my hand, then laced them through mine. With a slight tug, he started me moving behind him and into his house. I tried not to look at any of the weirdness that was scattered amongst the cheerier items, but I failed. My eyes landed on the grotesque figure of a man, writhing on the ground, a look of agony on his face. It was made of some thick, greasy black substance.
My step faltered, my eyes stuck on the statue. “Dark,” I squeaked.
Taking pity on me, he tucked my face against his chest and wrapped his arms around my back. “I was desperately in love with a Palladian sorceress,” he began, in a soft voice. “I made her my wife after only knowing her a few short weeks.” His voice cracked, and he drew a deep breath into his lungs, letting it out slowly. “I was blinded by her beauty, by the lust that raged through me whenever I saw her, thought of her.” He cupped my chin and turned my face towards the screaming statue.
"After a couple of months I began to see her as she really was. A woman who had been twisted by her powers. The depths of her cruelty, her madness, nearly dragged me under."
He shifted behind me, facing me into the room and the other disturbing artifacts that rested among the mundane. “Fortunately, I saw what she was, and what she was doing to me before all was lost.” His voice dropped in volume until I could barely hear him. “One night, nearly a century ago now, I confronted her, battled with her, and defeated her. Killed her.” He was quiet for a moment before he continued.
"These—works—are here to remind me to look at a person's soul and not just their flesh. As disturbing as they are, they let me know how close I came to being destroyed. All for the sake of bedding, possessing, a beautiful woman."
Great. I hoped he wasn't saying that he only bedded ugly women now, and that I qualified. Once the idea took hold, my spirits began sinking. I trudged along behind him as he led me through his house and to his bedroom. My movements were mechanical, my emotions detached once we got there. Unable to look him in the eyes, I stared at nothing while I methodically removed my clothes.
That's how I saw his cock first.
My eyes were aimed in the general vicinity of his groin when he advanced on me. I couldn't help but notice the thick, c
urved staff standing flushed and proud in front of him. I wondered, vaguely, what he was thinking about that made him hard. It couldn't be me.
He cupped my face and raised my mouth to his. His lips were hot and possessive over mine. I felt him brush my mind, just a breath, a light caress. Jerking back, he suddenly broke contact with me.
"That's the most foolish thing I've ever heard.” He dragged me over to his bed by my arm, picked me up and tossed me on top of it. Coming down over me, he locked his lips to mine, opening his mind to me.
He'd meant what he'd said. He thought I was beautiful, and desirable. I could feel his lust, the ache in his cock and balls, the driving need to bury himself inside of me. My body burst into life, my nipples tightening, a twinge gripping my vagina.
"That's better."
He continued to eat greedily at my mouth, and I was caught up in the heat of it, nipping and sucking back at him as cream flowed through my passage.
His lust surged into me, flaming my desire into an inferno. I gasped as I lost my mind and became one with him. One burning pillar of arousal, one throbbing ache of need. He penetrated my core. I felt him enter; at the same time, I felt the tight slickness of my sheath surrounding our cock. We moved together, thrusting and withdrawing in a jumble of sensations.
I felt our vagina ripple around our cock, the pleasure so remarkable we had to grit our teeth to keep from coming. He didn't want to come yet, and just like that, I wanted to hold off too. I felt the tension in our balls as they drew tighter to our body, and the spasm as our vagina reacted.
My point of perspective shifted between my body, his body, and the two combined.
My entire existence spiraled down to the place where we were joined. Our hard shaft, nearly bursting with the need to release, our pussy riddled with sparks of ecstasy as our cock glided over the nerve endings within.
He whispered in my ear, and I tipped my head so that I could see into his eyes, our eyes. Then we were groaning, crying out, as I blew apart. The climax ripping out of our balls, up our back, and out through our shaft like a lightning strike. While at the same time our vagina spasmed. Then clenched and released around our still spewing cock, milking every drop of cum from our balls. The warmth of it invading us, filling us, driving us higher. The sensations, the pleasure so extreme, that it threatened my reality.
I was still trying to cope with the experience, when he started moving inside of me again. I almost begged him to let me go. Once had been a novel experience, but I didn't want to spend the night living through it over and over again. I wasn't sure I could. He brushed his lips across my forehead. “It's all right. I'll keep us separate from now on."
And he kept his word.
* * * *
"What the hell do you think you're doing?” Rainth growled at Krand.
"Making a sandwich?” The man raised an eyebrow at his superior.
"Since when do you eat bread?” Rainth snarled at him.
"Hey, chill out, Rainth.” Derek placed a hand on the larger man's shoulder.
Rainth rounded on him, his eyes wild with anger. “You.” He crowded the other man. “Just what the fuck did you think you were doing with Allie?"
Derek's lips curved in a wicked smile that made Rainth want to rip his head off. “I did exactly what I said I was going to do. I'm your bondmate now, so you better get used to the idea before it comes to the official mating."
Rainth hovered over him, seeing red, breathing like a bellows. The burn of an impending shift heated his skin. “I will tear your head off if you ever touch her again."
Derek laughed. “Even you can't ignore what must be done during the mating. But just to put things into perspective for you, bear in mind that I'm not the one slipping his cock inside her tight little snatch while we speak."
Rainth's fist flashed out and connected with the man's jaw, cracking his head back. Derek blinked at him, then went down like a rock. Rainth glared around the room at the other men. They all became suddenly occupied with other things.
Grabbing a beer from the fridge, Rainth stormed out of the room, took the stairs two at a time, and slammed the door to his room behind him. Slumping down onto the bed, he scrubbed a hand over his face.
Fuck. Sometime, in the last day or so, he'd completed the fourth step. He was mated to the elf, in all but the official ceremony. And she didn't even know.
But for now, all he had to do was keep her in his bed.
* * * *
Several hours had passed and Dark still hadn't done anything about the spell. He did have an amazing libido, but he seemed to be getting the better part of the deal. He'd finally pulled out of me and collapsed on the bed by my side when I broached the subject.
"You are going to rid me of this spell, aren't you?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Of course.” He levered himself onto his side to face me. “I just don't know how quickly the caster will respond. I wanted to get my fill of you in case he showed up immediately."
"Have you had your fill?” I rolled over so I could see his face.
His eyelids lowered to half mast, a lazy smile curling his lips. “No, but I suspect, where you're concerned, I never will."
I just raised my eyebrow again, and waited.
He took a deep breath, then released it slowly. “Let's take a shower first."
Chapter Four
I was clean and dressed, and back outside in his garden. We were standing in the very center in a circular area paved with bricks. I watched as Dark removed an ornate knife from a battered sheath at his waist, placed the blade against his palm, and drew across it.
Murmuring words I didn't know, he walked the perimeter of the circle scattering drops of blood along the way. When he returned to the point he'd started, there was a flash of blue-white light. Energy built and shimmered from the ground up, until it had arced over our heads, enclosing us in a wavering bubble.
All my hair rose from my scalp, wafting gently in the magic breeze.
Dark returned to face me, pulling me into his embrace. He bent his head to mine and captured my lips. I could hear his incantation in my mind as his tongue stroked erotically around the depths of my mouth.
Then I felt his power. A strong, silver force of magic entered through my mouth and sank into the rest of my body. He deepened the kiss, pushing his magic deeper into the very center of my being.
There was a sharp tug—not exactly painful, but strange being so deep inside of me.
The yank came a second time, much harder, and with it a wrenching pain. I screamed, and Dark tightened his hold around my back. Forcing me still, forcing me to withstand the pain that kept building until it was all I knew.
It coalesced in a sharp hot tearing that blackened my vision, and would have brought me to my knees if Dark hadn't been holding me up.
Then I was filled with a joy and energy so pure it drove away all memory of the pain. Deep inside of me I felt Dark's magic brush my own, then slowly retreat the way it had entered.
When the last of his power flowed out of my mouth, he broke the kiss, his eyes as black as night and swirling once again with stars.
"Do not let the power twist you as it did my Frailene,” Dark breathed.
"I'll do everything I can to make sure that doesn't..."
The air around us boomed, the bubble crushing inward, then springing back away from us. Black lightning shot in jagged paths across the shimmering wall of Dark's magic. Then it was eating away at it, burning it off in bits at first, then great sections.
"He is here.” Dark turned to face deeper into his garden, moving me behind his back with one hand.
The protective bubble shattered and fell in flaming shards around us. Dark raised his hand and fired a silver jolt of electricity in the direction he faced. An answering shot as black as the night, and just as difficult to see, nearly struck him.
Dark spoke to me without turning around. “Come, wrap your arms around my waist, so that I may draw upon your power."
I d
id as he requested, relaxing into his back when the familiar touch of his magic infused me. I felt my own magic respond, join with his then flow along the link. When Dark let loose his next shot, the brilliance of it nearly blinded me.
Something bellowed in the darkness of the garden. A sound more animal than man, turning from pain to rage before it fell quiet. Suddenly black bolts rained down on us in a barrage, and only Dark's quick hands kept them from finding their mark.
He fired again into the darkness, sweeping our power in a widening arc until something flared in the distance, flashed bright, and burned.
This time the scream that reached our ears did not turn into a war cry, and no more bolts of power shot our way.
I felt Dark reaching out with his magic, our magic, until it found the downed blood-mage. He ran our power over the other man's body until he was certain that the man was truly gone. Then he slipped my magic back inside of me with a sigh. Turning in my arms, he held me close.
"You are safe,” he whispered into my hair as he brushed his lips across the top of my head.
"Thank you.” I held tightly to him for a moment longer.
When he took me by the hand, leading me back into the house and towards his bedroom, I went along, hoping I could give him a night he would never forget.
* * * *
Dark and I had just sat down on the patio when his doorbell rang. I gulped my coffee, desperate for the caffeine, hoping to get as much of it as I could into my system before Rainth dragged me off from here.
My heart flipped in my chest when Rainth prowled onto the patio, looking dark and dangerous, his muscles flexing. “Hi.” I felt suddenly shy, a blush creeping up my neck as he studied me with narrowed eyes.
"Everything O.K.?” He squatted beside my chair, his face close enough to kiss.
"Yeah,” I breathed, my eyes losing focus as I stared at his lips.
"Good,” he whispered, then closed the distance between us, pressing his mouth to mine.
Dark cleared his throat, and Rainth reluctantly released me. He turned and glared at the man. “What?"
