Wicked Release-ARE-Epub

by R. G. Alexander

  Chapter Two

  She had the sneaking suspicion these people were preparing her to be sacrificed. How else could she explain the plush bed with the cloud-like linens, so soft on her skin? The feast they had brought that was meant for her alone, though she knew it would feed an entire family? She was queen for a day, a title rife with potential dangers.

  Leaning back in the steaming, scented water, spelled to massage her aching muscles, she huffed in frustration. How else could she explain all these wonders?

  Over the years, when the scenery of her prison began to change, she’d deduced the spell was a living one—taking experiences from the world outside and allowing some of it to filter in to her. From what she’d witnessed, things had changed. Violent inventions had advanced. She’d seen wagons of war that set off explosions and flying machines that rained fire from the sky. She recalled being chased by a human mob whose weapons had changed from stones to handheld devices that shot bolts of lightning into her skin—a painful and disheartening experience.

  None of those horrors had prepared her for this bath. Or this room, which was a wonder beyond her imagination. A human wonder, not a spell. Their ability at invention certainly paralleled any inborn Magian skill.

  Despite all she’d experienced, all the deaths at angry human hands, it was never the people without magic she despised for her plight. She always remembered the true villains had been Magians. A few families in particular. They had kept all this from her—taken her freedom and her family and left her abandoned in another world created just for her. A place out of time, where she was utterly alone and surrounded by darkness. Where her healing abilities were useless, and her existence was never-ending.

  The pacing footsteps on the other side of the door alerted her to his presence. Conway. Con, he’d insisted she call him. He hadn’t been out of shouting distance since she was brought here. She had to admit she was no longer alone, but she had to wonder. Was he her new guard? Was she a prisoner here now, able to live and communicate with others, but unable to leave?

  She had to know what was going on. She was freed from the curse, but still weak and lacking information. She cupped her hands and scooped the heated water into her palms. A child’s spell, but it should do the trick.

  The water clouded, obscuring her hands with a simple phrase. Images began to form in the reflection. It was the group downstairs. And the angel named Lorie. She leaned closer, bending over her hands to hear what they were saying.

  His mother was the first to speak. “What were you thinking, jumping into a spell that complicated? And why didn’t you leave when you had the chance?”

  Lorie ran a hand through his wet, newly washed curls and shrugged. “I’m honestly not entirely sure how it happened, but how could I leave? She was still trapped. Still suffering and alone. I knew you would find a way to get us out once Harrison knew where I was.”

  The young woman with dark hair and grey eyes banged her hand on the table. “How? How did you know, Lorie? You didn’t even know I’d run away. You didn’t know Callie was actually a Magian. How could you know any of us would be able to find a loophole in that complicated web of a three hundred year plus old spell?”

  Three hundred years?

  Her angel smiled innocently. “Because that’s what I do, Harrison. I know things. I admit I was a little distracted when you took your unexpected holiday. I hadn’t seen that coming. When you’re in there you lose track of the outside world. But I’ve known about Callie for years now, and I knew Jenner would tell her when the time was right. I also knew that my sister, the most powerful witch of her generation, would join forces with the rest of this talented family and find the answers I couldn’t. Find a way to grant Sarah Blackwood her freedom.”

  His smile dimmed as though recalling something sad and Sarah frowned. No one as beautiful as he was should ever be sad.

  “I told you I was looking for our ancestor, remember? He was the you of his generation, Harrison. The most powerful. From my research, he was looking into a way to break some kind of complicated spell—this spell, but disappeared without a trace before he could. Once I arrived, I literally stumbled on his location. That is, after my first death.”

  Sarah was confused. No one had tried to break the spell. She’d never sensed anyone other than her true tormentor during those first, horrifying years. And even he eventually stopped coming. There had been no one else until Lorie. Who was he talking about? What had he found?

  The young Harrison must have read her mind. “What did you find? And what the hell do you mean by first death?”

  Lorie’s sharp laugh was filled with anger and pain. “You don’t want to know. And besides discovering that the third part of my triad had been tortured for centuries in a book I’d walked past in the library for as long as I can remember? When I woke in my designated spot for round two of the killing games, I found a body. Our ancestor’s body to be exact. He’d been murdered and pushed into the spell along with her, by one of the people who put her in there in the first place, I imagine. It had to have happened before he was placed inside; otherwise the power of the curse would have revived him. The same way it kept reviving me.”

  The matching expressions of disgust and sorrow were, in an odd way, comforting to Sarah. They stood in stark contrast with the remembered sneers of delight she’d seen before she was locked away.

  The water spilled out of her shaking hands, breaking the spell. This was too much. All of it. No one had come in to drown her. No mob was banging on the door demanding entry to kill the witch. She had touched people. Spoken to people. People who seemed genuinely disturbed at the idea of others suffering. Perhaps it was true and she was finally free.

  Something else Lorie had said struck her. Triad. Did he actually believe that she, Sarah Blackwood, was part of his triad? It was inconceivable. Was that why he’d stayed? He’d suffered, she’d seen it. Truly suffered. For her? Because of what he imagined she was?

  She could recall with crystal clarity how painful her first death had been. How disorienting and emotionally disturbing it was to be slain, over and over again, for being a witch. He’d risked that damage for her? This angel had died in her name?

  “No.” She banged her fists in the water. That wasn’t why she’d been trying to escape. That wasn’t in her plans. She’d held on for hundreds of years based on the slim thread of hope that she would find a way out, discover the fate of her loved ones and destroy whatever remained of the ones responsible for what she’d become.

  Three hundred years and more had passed. There was no future for her. No future she recognized. The notion was almost laughable. Impossible. She was too damaged. Too broken. Her soul too chipped away, despite her healing ability’s return.

  The door flew open, banging against the counter. She was lifted out of the water before she realized she’d been screaming and banging her hands against the tiled wall. They ached, but she didn’t care. That was real. Pain was real. This group, these strangers meant nothing to her. They were as insubstantial as her illusions.

  “Hush, babe. You’re breaking my heart. Please stop,” he murmured as he rocked her in his embrace. He was so strong; her weight seemed to be nothing to him. She rested her bruised hands on his shoulders, feeling like a feather in his arms. She wasn’t used to feeling this weak. “You’re safe here. You’re safe with us. What scared you?”

  Sarah allowed her fingers to open, and then curl into his flesh through the fabric of his buttoned shirt. He was truly handsome—the small scar along his strong jaw, the laugh lines around his eyes. But she couldn’t let his features distract her.

  “I’m no simpleton,” she growled, digging her nails into his flesh and wondering at the sensual thrill she derived from the savage act. It was almost as satisfying as the clenching of his jaw. “I do not require lies to ease me. I require answers and my freedom, nothing more.”

  That was not the whole truth, she knew. Her body was reminding her with a vehemence that should have al
armed her that, while her mind might desire answers and focus, the rest of her was not so easily satisfied. It had been fed and pampered, spoiled and soothed like royalty, and still, it demanded more.

  Was it contact with anyone, or with him in particular? The only two men she’d touched since she was freed had both caused this same firestorm inside her. She had never been loose with her affections but, following her lack of a match after her eighteenth Triune festival, she hadn’t been entirely chaste either. It was not the Magian way.

  This was different. More than abstinence-induced passion. More than Magian nature.

  No desire, no wicked daydream she’d had while staring at the men returning, sweat-soaked and bare-chested from the field had ever been this intense. Her need had never been so profound that it could not be dismissed. So formidable that its wants won out over her will.

  Green eyes darkened as they studied her expression. He knew. “Nothing more? Are you sure, Miss Blackwood? Because I’m not.”

  He turned toward the closed bedroom door, not to open it but to press her body against it. The arm beneath her legs lowered until she was dangling in the air, feet off the ground. Her wet, naked body trapped between his and the cool grain of the wood. She tightened her grip on his shoulders and wrapped her legs instinctively around his waist, seeking purchase.

  He growled. “I was warned it would feel like this. That when we found you I wouldn’t be able to resist the pull. I’d have to touch you. Taste you.” He leaned in to place an open-mouthed kiss on her neck and she shivered. “I didn’t believe them. Not entirely. Not until now.”

  She didn’t want this. Shouldn’t want this. Especially not if he was implying what he seemed to be. “I don’t belong to you, sir. Or your friend. I am free.” She rocked her hips against him until he groaned. “Though I am not unwilling. And being free, I can choose to feel this. I can choose to let you touch me, if you’d like.”

  She could choose, for however long she had, to follow her desires instead of her fears. After so long, it was liberating.

  He kissed her like a man starved, and Sarah responded in kind. So long. Lifetimes of waiting. Of wanting. No one to touch her. No one to need her. And now he was kissing her, this stranger that she would have sworn she’d known forever.

  She wondered how it would feel to kiss her angel like this. How it would feel to kiss them both, one after the other.

  Con’s hand slid from her waist over her stomach, caressing every inch of skin in his path. He took his time to learn her, studying her reactions. His mouth distracted her too much for her to lift her head and demand he move faster.

  “Shouldn’t be doing this,” he mumbled roughly against her lips. “Not yet. Not until you’re ready. Until Lorie’s ready.”

  Sarah wasn’t sure what imp came to life inside her, but she dropped one hand between them to cover his, forcing it down between her thighs until she could feel his thick fingers pressed against her sex. “I am ready now. Can you not tell?”

  She was. His fingers slipped through her arousal and he hissed through his teeth, still so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Fuck. I’ll just give you this. I’ll stop. I swear I’ll stop before I go too far.”

  The broad-shouldered Con was tense. His muscles were trembling with restrained need, rippling with magic as he thrust one finger inside her heat. A lightning storm. A hurricane. Never had a single touch sent Sarah this close to the edge.

  She couldn’t stop. She could not let him stop. In this moment, only this mattered. Only this feeling. Only him. “Please. I need more.”

  Sarah gripped his wrist as tightly as he could, using the pressure to show him she could take more. That he could increase his rhythm. His body jerked against hers, and then he gave in to her desires, adding another finger to the one inside her. Deliciously stretching her until she cried out against his neck.

  She saw his light, the silvery white shimmer of his essence, even when her eyes were closed. He was inside her. Already inside her. But she was greedy. Her hand lowered to unbuckle his belt, her hips rocking against him so powerfully she was jarring the door behind her.

  Con resisted, pulling away enough to study her face. “You can’t—we can’t. I was supposed to let you rest. Jesus, what are you doing to me? This is insane.”

  She licked her lips when the thick weight of his shaft filled her hand. “You can. I promise you. I need this more than I need to rest.”

  Her fingers curled around him and he snarled, giving in again. “Damn me for being a weak bastard. Are you another Siren, like Jacob? Why can’t I resist you?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer, pulling her hand away and bending his knees until the head of his cock was poised at her entrance. Her legs tightened, ensuring his capture.

  Con’s expression was one of pure seduction. “I’m not going anywhere now, Sarah. Who am I to deny my match? My mate?”

  Before she could say a word he was inside her. Deep. Full. Nothing slow or easy, no fumbling or hesitation. This was what she craved. She wanted to feel. She bit her lip until she tasted blood, breathing through the pressure as her body stretched to accommodate him.

  He braced himself and began to sling his hips firmly against her body, slipping one hand under her thigh to lift it higher. To give her more.

  “Oh.” Deeper. So deep. So fully she couldn’t tell where his thrusts stopped and her cries began. She tore at his hair, struggling for breath as the speed of his thrusts increased, then changed tempo, torturing her by keeping her completion just out of reach.

  “You like that, don’t you?” He leaned his forehead against hers while they both watched his long cock, shimmering with her arousal as it disappeared inside her. “No holding back. Hard and raw and real. Is that what you want, baby?”

  “Yes. Hard and raw. Real.”

  “Hell, yeah,” he muttered, his pace and the power of his thrusts increasing. “I’m not sure Lorie’s going to know what to do with you. You’re a wild thing in my arms. I can’t wait to turn you over and take your ass.” He pumped harder against her, his neck and cheeks flushing at the thought. “Can you picture it, Sarah? Watching us with those pretty brown eyes of yours? Feeling both of us inside you? Taking you like this? Claiming every inch of your luscious body and soul. Hell.”

  She could. It was easy to envision Lorie, his angelic curls damp with sweat as she rode him. His blue eyes filled with passion for her. Con would be behind her, saying things she never imagined a man would say out loud, his hands guiding her back against him. Tempting her to sin.

  She was on fire, her arms and legs shaking so much it was hard to hang as she found her release. He pumped inside her, faster and harder until he was shouting her name, joining her in an ecstasy she never thought she’d live to experience. Life. She was alive. Her soul was free and soaring to the heavens.

  And when it returned she feared she would never be the same.

  Con kissed her cheeks, her damp eyelashes. Her lips. Gently, as if she were fragile and precious. As if they hadn’t just devoured each other like animals in the wild.

  His hold relaxed, allowing her space to slide down his body. To move away from temptation as her equilibrium, and her senses, returned. She rushed into the bathroom, determined to ignore the energy still swirling around her quivering limbs. She reached for the towel left hanging for her and wiped herself off briskly before heading to the clothes draped out across the bed.

  “What are you doing?” His voice was laced with lethargic satisfaction. His sensuous tone distracted her, made her long to crawl onto the bed and entice him to join her for another round of lovemaking. Slower this time, but no less exciting.

  “Your Jenner was kind enough to bring me clothing. I wouldn’t want to travel in my old clothing—I would be too conspicuous in your world.”

  She watched him frown from the corner of her eye. “Planning on going somewhere?”

  Sarah studied the shirt before shrugging and pulling it over her head, thankful that
her breasts were covered and that the shirt was loose enough that she didn’t need to restrain them. “I am. I’ve no idea how I got out, or what the consequences of breaking the spell will be. You understand, I’m certain, why there is no time to waste.”

  He watched her for long silent moments while she struggled with the “jeans” they’d gotten for her. Her cheeks flushed. “A gentleman would turn around,” she huffed.

  Con caught her just before she tipped over on the bed. His touch was tender, belying the dark clouds apparent in his expression. “A gentleman wouldn’t leave a lady when she so obviously needs his help.”

  He playfully slapped her hands away, grabbing the waistband of the pants on either side of her curved hips. He tugged hard, pulling her up onto her toes. But the jeans were on. She sucked in her bottom lip and sought out the buttons. “Thank you.”

  “Are we really doing this, Miss Sarah Fell-Out-Of-A-Book Blackwood? Are you really getting dressed and pretending we didn’t both just have the best sex of our lives? If you actually think we’ll allow you to leave the safety of this house alone, you’re fooling yourself. Do you have any idea what its like out there after more than three centuries? Different. Very fucking different. And dangerous.”

  She brushed back her long, waving hair with hands that still held a slight tremor. “I can handle the danger. And yes, we are doing this. Do not mistake me, I’m grateful. You know I am. That was—”

  He threw his hands in the air in disbelief. “You’re grateful? Bullshit. Don’t you dare tell me they didn’t have Triunes in your day. Things haven’t changed that much. You know what that meant. What you felt when you touched Lorie. We are your triad, Sarah. Despite the odds, Lorie found you. Why would you walk away from that? How could you even consider it?”

  Her chin wobbled and she turned her back on him, staring at the bed without seeing it. “You have no idea what I’ve been through. What I’ve lived with for more years than you’ve been alive. You have no concept of what it means for me to be free. If you did, then as the match you claim to be, you would respect that and let me do what I must.”