Rules Of Darkness

by Tia Fanning

  He gently feathered the sensitive skin around my ear and neck with his finger. “Why do you like this book?”

  God, he was driving me to distraction. Goosebumps formed on my skin. “Um, I guess because Tiffany and I have a lot in common,” I whispered.

  “Like what?”

  Like we both made it through college without losing our virginity.

  Well, kind of. At least Tiffany ends up losing hers in a passionate scene that left me hot and bothered on many occasions. Yet, I was still untouched… but then again, maybe not for long.

  “Katia?”

  “Oh, sorry. Um, I don’t know,” I lied.

  It was too hard to think of another answer when I was getting lost in the sensations of his touch. His caress trailed the ‘V’ of my robe to the swell of my breast. My breath faltered and my skin tingled in anticipation.

  “Hmmm. I do not know if I believe you.” A devilish smirk graced his features. “What of the hero?”

  Stoyan’s finger slipped in-between the robe’s layered fabric, sliding down to where it was held together by the belt. He gently tugged on the knot and released it.

  God, the knot was undone, but my robe still folded over my body like a damn cloth chastity device.

  “Katia, are you going to tell me about the hero?”

  “Um, Antonio’s awesome… brave, sexy…” he’s very much like you…

  Fuck! I just wanted him to rip the robe right off.

  Stoyan chuckled.

  Damn, he must have heard my thoughts.

  He gestured to the book in my lap. “Read your favorite scene to me.”

  What?

  “How about the page you have folded? It seems you read that page often,” he said.

  Oh, God, no. Not that scene!

  When I didn’t move, Stoyan picked up the book and placed it in my hands. “Read for me, Katia,” he whispered in my ear.

  Trembling, I opened it to the marked page.

  “Lowering his head again, Antonio continued to ravish Tiffany’s eager body with his lips and tongue—down from her collarbone, to the valley between her breasts, then slowing his descent and building her agony for release. His hand cupped her left breast as his head moved to the right. Tormenting her with each tiny lick, he took his time closing his lips and suckling her straining peaks.”

  Just as the book described, Stoyan’s lips were on my neck while his fingers simultaneously opened my robe, spreading the material across the cushions. His large hand grasped my breast, kneading and massaging the tender area. My body trembled and the ache within intensified.

  His kisses traveled from my neck to my chest, moving torturously slow the further down he went. I found myself moaning, arching my back, wanting more, wanting to give more to his skillful hands.

  I gasped when his mouth closed over a firm nipple as his thumb brushed over the other.

  “Keep reading,” Stoyan gently demanded.

  Shit! Where was I? I scanned the paragraphs trying to find my place. Unsuccessful, I just picked a random spot to read from.

  “Antonio’s tongue swirled in her belly button as his fingers fueled the fire burning within her.”

  Stoyan slowly made his way down my body, his lips and hands wandered past my stomach, over the curls on my mound, and down the length of my thighs until he was off the couch and on his knees before me.

  “Open for me, Katia,” he whispered.

  Oh. My. God! Did Stoyan know what happened next in the story?

  As if caught up in some erotic dream, I found myself spreading my trembling legs

  “Katia, I did not say to stop reading,” he admonished gently as his large hands cupped my ass and guided me to the edge of the seat. Spots formed in front of my eyes as he rubbed my aching sex.

  I took a deep breath. “Tiffany’s moist folds…”

  Stoyan plunged a finger into my dripping hole. As he stroked my inner desire, coaxing more cream from my center, his other hand returned to my breast, rolling and tugging on the sensitive nipple.

  Oh, God, I was going to come. Hard.

  “Katia,” he warned.

  “I-I can’t read anymore. Please,” I begged.

  “Read. Now.”

  It took all my concentration to continue.

  “Tiffany’s moist folds spread for him and he found her tiny nub, magnifying the sensual ecstasy.”

  With a slight dipping of his head, his tongue began lavishing my clit, lapping and nipping the swollen bud until my whole body shook.

  I was going to die!

  “Her body reacted and drenched his fingers.”

  I screamed, my body exploding in a supernova climax.

  As my body shook in orgasmic aftershocks, I tried to focus on the blurring words crossing the pages.

  Stoyan swatted the book from my hands. “I can take it from here, my love.”

  He lifted me into his embrace and carried me down the hall to the bedroom. Kicking open the door, he gently placed me on the bed, and covered my body with his

  Capturing my lips, his hard cock found my entrance. In one smooth glide, he sank in, breaking the delicate tissue that represented my virginity. I inhaled sharply as my channel stretched to accommodate the intrusion.

  “I love you, Katia.”

  I nodded, not able to find my voice. I love you, too.

  He moved in and out of me ever so slowly, smothering my neck and chest with his kisses. His mouth seized a nipple and suckled, sending currents of electricity throughout my body. Soon, the painfully sweet throbbing in my pussy became a pleasant sensation that had me lifting my legs higher, my body wanting more of him inside me.

  His rhythm turned faster, his strokes, harder, deeper. I breathlessly begged for more as my pussy clenched around his rod.

  “God, Stoyan! Yes! I love you!”

  Stoyan threw back his head and joined me in an erotic release, spilling his seed deep within me.

  Chapter Ten

  Watching sixteen-year-old Katia fight against the man who stopped her from entering great-grandma’s home brought tears to my eyes.

  “Let me go! I want to see her!” young Katia pleaded, her arms flailing in grief and fury.

  “You cannot, Katia,” Hammu replied, his arms wrapped securely around her stomach, holding her back.

  Roxelana and Stoyan’s mother, Ileana, stood blocking the door, both sobbing.

  “I cannot let her die alone!” Katia shrieked, clawing at the hands that held her prisoner. She then kicked backwards into Hammu’s shins.

  I was amazed that the old elder was able to hold on to my younger self. He was taking quite a beating.

  “Safira is with her, and so is Stylianos. She is not alone,” he contended.

  “I do not care! I will never forgive you for this! Never! I hate you. I hate you all!”

  The door opened and the ladies turned toward Stylianos.

  I was too upset back then to care, but knowing what I did now from the other visions, I was sure they had something to do with what I was about to find out on this quest.

  Stylianos looked at the ground, tears glistening on his cheeks.

  Everyone knew then. My great-grandma was gone.

  Katia let out an ear-piercing, heart-wrenching cry. Pulling out of Hammu’s hold, she ran toward the door at full speed, and plowed into Stylianos’ chest.

  The large man didn’t budge; he just wrapped his arms around her and held on to her tight.

  “No! No!” Katia screamed. “Let me go to her!”

  “I am sorry, daughter. I cannot let you. You must not touch her. I know that is your intention.”

  “Why should I not? Her spirit is gone! She cannot remove my soul!”

  “If you touch her, your soul will flee into the spirit world as if it were you who was dead. We might not find your soul. Then you would be lost to all of us.”

  Katia broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Stylianos held her close, stroking her hair as she cried into his chest.

  As I wa
tched the father attempt to comfort my child self, I heard the son’s footsteps come up behind my adult self.

  “I am sorry I was not there for you when you needed me,” Stoyan whispered.

  “It’s not your fault. I know you would’ve been there if you could,” I replied, my voice cracking. I swiped the moisture off my cheeks. “It’s just one of those things. I realize that now.”

  Stoyan pulled me into his arms.

  Unlike the vision with my mother giving birth to me, this scene was a memory that had been with me for many years. And though sometimes I still cried when I thought of this day, for the most part, I had come to terms with it.

  “I’m okay, really,” I said, guiding his arms tighter around me. “How long have you been here?”

  He placed a kiss on the top of my head. “Long enough to watch my young betrothed kick the knees of an elder.”

  A small smile came to my lips. “I know, poor Hammu. When I see him again, I’ll have to apologize.”

  Stoyan let out a heavy breath. “I am sorry, Katia. Hammu left our world six years ago.”

  New tears formed as I remembered the last words I said to the elder. How could I have been so cruel to a man who was like an uncle to me? I loved him very much, and now he would never know. I could not bear to have any more regrets in my life.

  “You were young, Katia.

  “I know.”

  “Hammu knew you did not mean what you said. He knew you loved him, and he loved you as well.”

  “I hope so.”

  Stoyan nudged me back and looked into my eyes. “I know so. He was my mentor. We never fell out of touch. We discussed you often.”

  I nodded, believing him, and felt a little better. “Is there anyone left in the village?”

  “The village is not as you remember it, Katia.”

  “What is it like?”

  “A retreat,” he replied.

  What? “I’m sorry? I don’t think I heard you right.”

  Stoyan shook his head and pointed behind me. Knowing I would have to wait for that explanation, I turned around.

  “Why…” young Katia wailed, “Why did she not tell me? How—how could she leave me and not say goodbye.”

  “She did, daughter. She left you a letter. But I know, even as she departed this world, her mind and heart was with you. She loves you so much. She did not tell you she was leaving because she wanted to you to be safe.”

  Sixteen year-old Katia pulled back. “Where is it?”

  At Stylianos’ nod, Ileana approached and handed it over.

  I watched my younger self open the letter and read it, knowing what was going to happen once Katia finished it.

  All these years later, I still had that letter. I would read it from time to time, as it reminded me of how I came to lead the life I do now.

  Because it was after reading that letter the first time that I had decided to run away.

  Besides telling me that she loved me, would miss me, and how proud she was of me, my great-grandma also explained why she didn’t tell me she was dying. She also wrote that I needed to remember the importance of my gift to the world and to always follow the rules.

  And it was because of the rules that I couldn’t be with my great-grandma when she died.

  Katia finished the letter and ran off into the woods.

  “Should we go find her?” Ileana asked

  “No, let her go and grieve. She will not try to leave until tonight. We have much to do before then.”

  I looked at Stoyan. “Did you know they were going to let me leave?”

  His face grew dark. “Not until years later.”

  Well, I guess I wasn’t the only one who was lied to. This must have been the reason for the rift between him and his parents.

  Suddenly, the world around us turned hazy. When the vision came back into focus, it was nightfall, and we were now standing in my great-grandma’s home.

  Young Katia stumbled through the door, her eyes red and swollen.

  “I had just returned from the funeral,” I whispered to Stoyan.

  Young Katia grabbed a piece of paper and pen.

  I knew exactly what she was going to write.

  I looked at the ground, ashamed to meet Stoyan’s eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “You were right. I should have waited for you. I know that now. But please understand, at the time, I was so heartbroken and angry at the world, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “I know, my love. When I found you two days ago, I was angry and said things to you I should not have. I apologize.”

  Young Katia folded the letter and placed a kiss on the seam. Then she got up and started gathering her belongings.

  I turned to Stoyan and shook my head. “You know, I’m lucky to be alive. I traveled through the forest on the night of a full moon and made it safely to town without encountering a shifter.”

  “Do you remember asking me what my father did to help you? And what he did for your mother?”

  I nodded, not liking the weird emptiness his voice carried.

  Just as Katia was about to leave, Stylianos strolled in, muttering something under his breath.

  Wait. It didn’t happen like this.

  Young Katia stopped in her tracks, staring off into space.

  Ileana appeared behind her husband. “Your brother and his wife are here.”

  Stylianos took Katia’s hand and led her out into the night.

  * * * *

  I opened my eyes and stared into the dark room.

  “What was I? Hypnotized? Did your father hypnotize me?”

  Stoyan pulled me closer to him. “You can say that. My father has the ability to alter memories.”

  “Is that what he did for my mother?”

  “Yes.”

  “But there is a price to be paid for that gift?”

  “The person who takes the memory must also bear it as if it is their own, in its true form.”

  So his father had the memory of my mother being raped as if he was there and it had happened to him.

  “Why do all these gifts have such a terrible price attached to them?”

  “It is the way the universe balances out. It stops those who have gifts from abusing them, from playing God.”

  “So, what really happened the night I left?”

  “My uncle and aunt took you to town. In the morning, you were made to believe you were picked up from the side of the road and that my aunt and uncle were just random strangers.”

  “You told me that I’ve never been alone.”

  “Through the years you traveled from place to place, you were always with family or friends, people who knew about your gifts, and knew how to protect you if you needed it. My father supported you, and still does. He has your artwork hanging in his house.”

  So I had been living a lie…

  “Then why did it take you so long to find me?”

  I felt Stoyan tense up. “For years, I was led to believe that no one knew your location. I tried everything I could to find you. My magic produced nothing. Refusing to give up, I hired agency after agency to track you down. Every moment I could, I searched for you physically. But it was as if you fell off the face of the earth…no one could locate you. I never understood that, since you left as a minor, with no knowledge of the outside world, no passport, nothing.”

  “Why didn’t you think me dead?”

  Stoyan put his hand over my heart. “Because I could still feel you.”

  I smiled and placed my hand over his.

  Stoyan continued, his voice taking on a rough edge. “About five years ago, one of the trackers grew a conscience and told me that my father had been paying him not to find you. When I confronted my father, he finally told me the truth of your disappearance. He explained what your great-grandmother had predicted and her request for his help. He confessed to blocking my magic so I could not find you. He admitted to paying off every investigator I had ever hired so they would not search for you.” />
  This all sounded like some espionage movie. “What did you do?”

  “I demanded he tell me your location. He refused.”

  “And you two have not spoken since.”

  “He continued to thwart my search.”

  “So how did you end up finding me?”

  “A simple accident. The last painting you shipped was lost in the mail. It was only found recently, just last week. Instead of delivering it to my father’s home, it was delivered to the company headquarters. Since taking over the company, anything addressed to my father is directly is forwarded on to his residence by our mail department. Somehow, your painting was not. It ended up in my office, on my desk.”

  “Are you going to make amends with your father?”

  My question was met with silence.

  I pressed on, “Darling, these last two days have shown me how short life is and—”

  “Exactly, and because of my father, I have lost twelve years with you. He should have never let you leave,” Stoyan spat.

  “But—”

  “No, Katia. You will not move me on this. I do my duty to him, that is enough.”

  Fucking male pride.

  “I heard that.”

  I rolled over and gave him my back. “Good. I’m glad.”

  Wasn’t it enough that we were together now? Couldn’t we just forgive and forget? Couldn’t we just move on from the past and look to the future?

  Damn it! I didn’t want to harbor any more grudges, or have any more regrets. I wanted everything to work out! I wanted a perfect happy ending to this tale of grief and loss that is my life.

  Am I asking for too much?

  I guess so.

  Stoyan put his hand on my shoulder. “Katia, look at me.”

  I shrugged him off. “I’m tired.”

  He rolled me over anyway. “I am sorry. I do not want to fight with you. You are right. The most important thing is that we are together. We should think of the future and let go of the past. If talking to my father again will make you happy, then that is what I will do.”

  Wow. That was easy.

  Stoyan frowned. “I heard that.”

  I kissed him on the nose. “Thank you. I really just want to start over. By the way, how do you hear my thoughts so easily now?”