Realm Book One - To Tell of Darkness

by K. A. M'Lady

  I lay back against the tub and relearned how to breathe. The rich sent of yarrow and clover clung to the air. There was an array of other scents all mixed together: herbs to stop the bleeding in my wounds, things to fight infection, plants and extracts to heal and soothe my aches. I could feel the healing affects seeping into my pores as I lay in the water; the closest to relaxed I could remember feeling in a long time. I closed my eyes.

  I’m not sure how long I stayed in the water like that, resting. But when I opened my eyes, Kieran was standing beside the tub.

  Half of my brain was thinking he’d showered and changed. But the other half was at a complete loss for words as he stood in the soft light of my bathroom, his gaze raking my body. I should have felt completely embarrassed that I was in a tub without any bubbles or anything to cover me. But I just didn’t have the energy for even that.

  “Gimlit said I should heal you,” he said by way of explanation. His eyes did a slow, casual roll over my body and my flesh broke out in a chill. When his gaze returned to mine and the richness of his accent rolled through me like thunder through a glen, I knew I was in trouble.

  I felt like a bird caught in the sight of the predator. Any sudden move, and I’d be done for. “Do you always do what an Ogre tells you?” I asked, pulling the tiger’s tail. The thought thrilled through me and my knee jerked, causing the water to splash against the tub.

  Next I knew Kieran was inside the tub with me, his arms braced above me on each side of my head, his breath hot against my cheek as he inhaled my scent. His clothes rubbed against my flesh as he took me by the waist and pulled me between his legs.

  My heart began to pound in my chest, and I’d finally found a reason to forget about the pain in my back. His eyes had gone completely black as he leaned into me, and I knew he was very happy to be there. “Your thoughts betray you, lass,” he said as he brushed his lips against mine.

  It was one small kiss, but it was all that it took as I sighed against his lips. My entreaty ignited the flame, and Kieran pressed his mouth to mine in a searing kiss that stole the remaining breath from my lungs.

  He pressed me back against the tub and stroked his tongue against my lips, opening me to his kiss. It became a dance, lips and teeth, as he devoured me against him. I couldn’t remember being kissed so completely. So thoroughly.

  He nipped along my lip and jaw before pressing on to my neck, and my whole body constricted with need. I was burning with lust, with the desire to press myself against him, my wounds completely forgotten. I moved my hands up the wet plane of his chest to the buttons of his shirt and tore it open. I needed to feel his flesh beneath my fingers, his body calling to me like an elixir of madness and need.

  His chest was smooth to my touch, each ridge of muscle outlined to perfection, a thin line of dark hair flowing like a secret from his navel down to the line of his waist. I ran my fingers through the curls and along his waistband and he grabbed my wrist, pulling my arms above my head.

  “Be careful you do not tempt me too far, lass,” he growled against my neck. “I am duty bound to your Ogre. No heart may truly beat in this shell, but I assure you that the need and the hunger are there. For I am still just a man.”

  I could see the restraint in his eyes, and the hunger that burned within him. I wanted to feel that hunger. Wanted to roll in Kieran’s desire, wrap the flame of his need for me around me and warm myself at his fire.

  “Show me,” I whispered as I pressed myself against him and into my kiss.

  One should really be careful what they ask for, I thought as desire coursed through my body, spiraling out of control. Kieran had me out of the tub and on the thick, warm carpet before I could catch my breath. He’d dispersed with his remaining clothes and was searing a path of hot, wet kisses down my neck towards my breasts when it registered we weren’t in the tub anymore. My only thoughts focused on him touching me.

  The thought of his mouth on me made my nipples peak into hard, tight buds as he laved his tongue around one, then the other, a moan of desire rushing through my clenched lips. Cupping each breast in turn, he paid homage to them as I writhed with need beneath him, the pain in my back long since forgotten.

  He kissed a path down my belly, his hands caressing my thighs as he spread my legs and settled himself between them. When his fingers caressed me, opening me to his touch, it was all I could do to keep from screaming in pleasure.

  His mouth was just inches above me, the heat of his breath on me causing me to yearn for things I’d long since forgotten since my breakup with Cage.

  My stomach clenched in the anticipation of the moment. “Kieran,” I whispered, “if you don’t touch me soon, I’m going to hurt you.”

  He glanced up at me and smiled. “I promise you, lass, this journey will be worth your waiting.”

  The bathroom door opened and Dragon came through it, dressed in black cut-off shorts. They were so washed out they looked gray, and so worn and fringed they almost resembled rags more than shorts. He looked down at me, naked on the floor, and his eyes were as golden-yellow as his honeyed hair. The heat they held made things that were already tight in my body constrict even further.

  Kieran chose that moment to run his tongue up the center of my folds and I gasped, my body a rush of spasms as small shocks flowed through me. He pushed my legs apart as far as they would go, opening me completely to his touch.

  Dragon knelt beside me, a dark smile of hunger lighting his eyes, and ran his hand down the center of my body. Apparently we were going to share me, I thought as my stomach clenched from his touch. His hand was so warm; it seared a path of such heat and need and pure sinful desire that my body wept.

  “That’s it, lass. Sweet oblivion awaits,” Kieran said as he plunged his tongue deep inside me. He fucked me with his tongue as Dragon ran his warm hand down my body to find my engorged nub. When his finger met my wetness, he ran his finger over me and my orgasm exploded, Kieran lapping up every warm drop.

  I was writhing with sexual bliss, shockwaves wracking my body; Dragon bent over me and stole my scream with his kiss, his tongue exploring, his lips firm on mine. Kieran continued to suck the wetness that dripped from my body as I moved beneath him.

  As Dragon’s tongue explored my mouth, Kieran’s explored my core. Kieran rode me hard, nipping and licking my nether lips like he would drink every last drop of me, his tongue exploring.

  My body was on fire as Dragon ran his tongue along my mouth and down my chin, nuzzling me, and I swore I could hear him purr. He nipped along my neck and down the swell of my breast. When he took my nipple into the heat of his mouth, Kieran plunged a finger deep inside me, and I came again.

  Kieran stroked and licked while Dragon suckled me deep into the heat of his mouth. I could only moan with the pleasure as they consumed me. My body was imploding in a million waves of passion and when I thought I couldn’t take any more, another finger swept inside me. Only this one was Dragon’s, caressing me as Kieran caressed me, each one stroking me, bringing me to the edge of pleasure, again and again.

  I opened my eyes as my body exploded in a fusion of a million flames. I rode their fingers as my body wept with delight, and still it wasn’t enough. Someone’s finger swept downward towards my ass, and my breath caught.

  I’d never done it with two men at the same time before, but tonight, as I watched Kieran and Dragon, my body was burning with the possibility. As I watched them move together with a well-timed artistry of lust and need, I wanted nothing more in the world than to take both of them into my body. To have them fill me. Consume me.

  Kieran watched me closely, his eyes deep dark pools of drowning blackness, his lips lush and full and glistening from the wetness of my body. I knew when he received the answer to the unasked question. His comment of sharing on the drive to my house whispered in my mind, and all I could think of was yes.

  I needed them to take me, to take the pain from me, to replace it with something else, even if it was for just this moment. Jus
t for tonight.

  There will be no going back, lass. Kieran’s voice whispered through my mind. I do not give up so easily what I take as mine.

  My breath was growing ragged as the desire was rushing through me. They were bringing me to the precipice, and all I wanted was before me. “She is close,” Dragon said, his deep, lush voice sweeping through me like the earth and the wind.

  I wasn’t exactly sure if I was agreeing to more than the sex, but at the moment, it was all that I could think about. The rest I’d have to sort out later.

  “Take me,” I whispered, barely getting the words past my parched lips. I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision or not; all I knew was need. A need so deep that my world seemed empty without it. A yearning so immense that nothing before or after would ever be complete.

  My plea may be what sealed our fates.

  With flowers from her hair strewn all over

  Its winding crumpled folds, the sheets celebrate

  The joy of making love to a woman in every position.

  From The Sheets--Anonymous

  Translated from the Sanskrit by R. Parthasarathy

  Chapter Twelve

  I was on my back with Dragon below me, my legs on either side of his, and Kieran poised above us. My body hummed with desire as Kieran slowly pressed his way inside me, and I clenched around him.

  He threw his head back, closing his eyes, and his breath escaped in a long slow sigh. “You are so tight, lass. So sweet and tight.” He pulled out slowly, stroking me one slow inch at a time, then entering me again.

  Dragon’s hands swept around my breasts as he caressed my nipples into tight, hard buds. I closed my eyes and let the desire wash through me as Kieran quickened his pace.

  I could feel my orgasm building inside me. My body beginning to tighten with the overwhelming fire Kieran was building deep inside my womb. When I was just to the edge, he pulled out, and I gasped at the loss.

  Very slowly he filled me up, and my body clenched around him. He groaned as he lowered himself towards me, running his tongue across my bottom lip, tugging on it with his teeth. He kissed me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth, hard and deep, the way his body plunged into me. Stroking me. Pumping into me with strong, deep thrusts over and over again.

  I could feel the orgasm building once again. Kieran kissed my chin, my throat, licking a line to the pulse beating erratically in my throat. Beneath me, Dragon held me tightly in his arms. The lower half of his body swayed in time with the dance Kieran created. They moved together and I was boneless between them, lost in their arms.

  I felt Kieran nip along the pulse in my throat, and my body quaked and clenched tighter around the hard shaft of his cock. Dragon moved, positioned himself beneath me, and as Kieran’s fangs broke my skin, Dragon swept his way into my backdoor in one hard, deep thrust. I exploded into a million pieces of light.

  The entire bathroom lit up like a beacon. It was as if the sun exploded and I was at its center. They rode me in unison, both of them pumping into my body, filling me so completely one orgasm led into the next and the next. My body was slick as I came again, fires exploding inside me as they pumped harder and harder until we came as one, the three of us screaming our release in unison.

  I’m not sure if it was my light or the roar of our voices, but the bathroom door was blown completely off its hinges. Several someones came running, and I can recall hearing Dragon yelling, “Get out!”

  Kieran’s mouth on my neck felt so incredibly good I almost wanted to die. Almost. Which made me open my eyes. I looked at him, and his eyes were so opaque that I could see my reflection in them. I could feel my strength waning with each pull of my blood into his veins. With every draught he took from me.

  “Kieran.” I could barely get the word out. Spots were flashing before my eyes. My body was already weak. The euphoria of the sex had replaced the pain of the fight, and my body was spent. And Kieran was draining me even more.

  “Tis a debt repaid,” he whispered against my ear when he finally pulled away; sealing the wound closed with the gentle caress of his tongue.

  I could barely hear him. They had both left my body, and I was empty and cold.

  “She needs the exchange,” Dragon said as he watched Kieran with careful eyes. He knew it was costing his master much to repay this debt to the Ogre. Something was being set into motion that none of us could reverse. Dragon, too, could feel it.

  “It must be done, my friend. Whatever is the Way, we will walk it together,” Dragon said as he offered Kieran his hand.

  Kieran looked at Dragon where he still lay on the floor. I was strewn across him like an offering, his hand outstretched in love and friendship, faith and trust. Dragon had been with him almost from the beginning. He was his friend, his lover and his human servant. He would always be at his side. Kieran knew he could always count on him. “Aye,” he said, and he took the proffered hand.

  “We must get her in warm water.” Dragon said as he lifted me in his arms. Together, they put me in the shower with them. Kieran sat at the edge of the shower seat with me in his arms, the warm water sluicing down my back. He wrapped his arms around me and called my name through the haze that had become my mind.

  “Rihker…Rihker. ‘Tis time to wake, lass. Wake and drink.” My head rested on his shoulder. I tried to open my heavy-lidded eyes, but it was so hard. I was so tired. It was too much to keep them open.

  “Drink, Rihker,” Kieran said. He ran a nail across the right side of his neck and blood pooled in the deep gash. He pressed my lips to it. “Drink, Rihker, and be healed.”

  I could taste the warm saltiness on my lips, and something compelled me to lick them, to drink the dark liquid being offered to me. I pressed my open mouth to it, and the warmth filled me like a cup spilling over. I swallowed deeply, taking in as much of the offering as could, until I could take no more. Feel no more. Think no more.

  I was bone-weary and soul-tired. My body felt like it was floating on a sea filled with reason, but I did not comprehend. Around me I could hear distant voices and saw shadows moving, lingering through my vision like specters through the mist at midnight on a moon-forgotten night.

  Darkness was pulling me under its blanket. And for tonight, I let the night and everyone in it take care of themselves.

  Half-light filled the valley with a mist

  Of aromatic silver as when moonlight

  Seeps through the clouds. And yet it was not night.

  From An Experience by Hugo Von Hofmannsthal

  Translated from the German by Mary Kinzie

  Chapter Thirteen

  I was in a cocoon of warm dark cotton that purred.

  What? Cotton doesn’t purr.

  I opened my eyes and realized that a very warm and very naked man was wrapped around my body. His chin was nestled in the curve of my neck, and his arms were wrapped snugly around my waist. And he was definitely purring. Not a snore to be heard.

  I smiled a small smile, happy to not be dead--or sore, for that matter. I wondered briefly how that could be possible as I looked at the sleeping Wereleopard.

  “Dragon.” I whispered his name, and his beautiful brown eyes opened. We had the sheet pulled over our heads to block out the light like we were hiding from the day. He smiled at me, and my body tightened with memories from the night before.

  “Good morning,” he said, running his hand down my belly as he pulled me closer to him.

  “Where’s Kieran?” I couldn’t remember much of anything after the massive orgasm and Kieran’s teeth sinking into me.

  “Gimlit took him to your crypt below.”

  I guess it’s a good thing Gimlit had it together enough to take care of things, because I sure as shit had no idea what the hell was going on. Personally, it was a feeling I really didn’t care for.

  Apparently my annoyance showed on my face, because Dragon said, “You are angry?”

  “Yes. No. Sort of,” I huffed as I tried to pull out of his arms. Dragon squeezed
tighter, refusing to release me. “Let go, Dragon.” I was scowling at him, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he rolled on top of me and pressed me into the bed.

  “You do not like not having control.” He made it a statement as he began nuzzling my neck. The feel of him pressed against me brought back memories of the night before and sped up my heartbeat.

  “No, I don’t,” I said, trying to hold on to my annoyance as need was growing inside me. What the hell was wrong with me? I went weeks, months even without sex. Now I have it one time with the both of them, and it was like I couldn’t turn off my libido.

  I could feel Dragon, long and hard, against me. He used his legs and settled himself between my legs, the thickness of his shaft rubbing against my entrance. He knew I was ready for him.

  “Do you want me inside you?” He growled the words against my neck, and I could feel it to the depth of my toes.

  “Yes. No,” I said. “Won’t Kieran be mad?” What the fuck was I saying?

  “I will take you, and Kieran will grow strong from your desire. From your need.”

  My confusion must have shown on my face because he said, “He will share in the passion. Through me, he feels. Through me, he feeds.”

  “So when he said you share, he wasn’t kidding.” Good to know I’m some sort of fuck-buddy conduit. Just what the hell kind of Vamp is Kieran anyway? This tumult of thoughts ground through my brain as my body’s needs began to take over.

  Dragon only smiled and rubbed himself against me. I opened myself to him, and he pressed the thick fullness of himself deep inside me in one hard thrust.

  My back arched off the bed, my hands grasping for something to hold onto as he slid his way deep inside me. He continued to thrust in and out of me in long, deep strokes, each one deeper and harder than the last. I almost couldn’t believe I had taken him as I did last night; he was so thick inside me.