by Ashley Black
I screamed.
He was upright, and pushing me aside.
The color had surged back into his face. It looked puffy, perhaps from the bites that I could see had rudely marred up the perfection of his flawless skin.
I flinched at the sight of them.
“What are you?” I started to ask. The words died in my throat while he stripped naked.
His lip turned up a little in a sneer of contempt. He turned from me and walked to a tree, fists balled at his sides.
Thorn was shaking violently and his voice rumbled into the air in a chant, one phrase in a language I know not, over and over again.
I have no idea what the hell any of it meant.
It sounded like the darkest music and froze the night air.
Breathless, I took in the pleasing tight bright globes of his ass, that rather messed up scarred back, the huge span of his shoulders as he stood naked, head bowed.
Then he roared.
His huge body fell backwards.
Oh god I noticed the most ridiculous things.
His dick was sticking straight up the air.
My body heated at the sight of the damned thing.
“Bob?” I looked to the stricken old man for explanation.
His watery blue eyes did not look at me, he muttered in a low urgent voice. “Go away Elena. Hide yourself. Stay very far away from my son. If you love him, please.”
I look worriedly back at Thorn still lying there silent, and as if hypnotized by the sight of that prick of his, I realized I was staggering toward him while Bob protested angrily behind me.
Standing over the top of him, I stared down.
There were no words. I was dumbstruck at his intimidating physicality laid bare before me.
Something happened to my knees, and I was falling over.
My body slammed on top of his.
His huge arms rose and took hold of me, fierce, rough, they crushed my skin to his.
Stupid.
I am so angry at myself.
At my body for rioting in this way. Having this stupid, disgusting and thoroughly inappropriate reaction to this man who may well be responsible for my Brett’s death.
Because … even though that exchange with his crazed and wayward minions suggested that he might have not been the sinister architect behind the fire that took everything away from me.
I didn’t trust this insane man.
I wanted to trust him.
I really did.
Because I loved him.
I struggled in his determined grip, wriggling, trying to rise up. “Thorn,” I said on a sigh of exasperation.
His eyes opened into slits of venom.
Holy shit. The heat of his rage hit me full in the face. Slammed messily into my heart.
Then I realized he was laughing.
His chest pressing against mine was rumbling, and shaking with it.
“Can’t vanquish me so easily witch!”
Three
“Let her go Thornton.”
Bob’s voice was pleading above us.
My insane rock stars’ eyes squeezed shut, but he bobbed his head in a nod and relinquished me.
I unpeeled my body from the blaze of his flesh.
“I put the anti-V kit back in your bike,” Bob reported quietly. “Ambulance is on its way –
“No!” Thorn roared as he bent over and angrily stuffed his gorgeous body inside jeans and a black shirt. “Thank you dad, but that’s a no. I need to get Elena back to mine, collect a few things, and then we’ll head off to Mexico. We need to lay low so I can figure all this out.”
I laughed
I couldn’t help it.
Thorn bit his lip, but ignored me.
The man is delusional if he thinks I am going anywhere with his crazy rather jaw dropping exquisite ass. Hell to no.
Liar.
Just another fucking liar in my life.
My brother had lied about trying harder and killed himself.
I was sick of liars.
Liars devastated me.
Shredded my soul.
“Thornton Darko,” Bob reproached, his gravelly voice becoming louder in his dismay. “You just got bit by a highly venomous snake. You could have died son. I think you should get that seen to.”
“The anti-venom is working fine. In fact, I feel,” Thorn flashed a bitter smile, “very excitable.”
Thornton Darko and ‘very excitable’ could be a scary combination.
“Come on Elena,” Thorn gripped my wrist roughly and began to drag me toward his bike.
I yanked back in protest, digging my heels into the grass.
He huffed impatiently, but halted to glare at me.
“What are you doing?”
“I am taking you away with me to Mexico until we figure out how big this problem with my people is. I refuse to believe,” his voice cracked. “They have all turned against me.”
“I am not going anywhere with you,” I whispered, horrified. “Thorn, you fucking killed Brett! You snapped his neck, and then burned down his studio. You killed him. You are one crazy fucker if you think I’m going anywhere with you.”
“Elena, you are in danger, but not from me. I didn’t kill Brett. But I promise you, I will find out who did it, and they will pay.”
Thorns shoulders fell in a slump of defeat as his gaze wandered up the hill to the chaotic fighting between the police and the figures who had accosted us and tried to kill me. “Some may have paid for that stupid pointless stunt already,” he said regretfully.
His gaze flashed back to me and slapped me in the face. “You coming, or am I taking?”
“Taking?” I started to say.
He slammed into me, lifting me over his shoulder. He moved so fast I could have almost believed he flew.
Who knows?
Perhaps he did.
Because … practicing powerful Warlock.
Practicing powerful Warlock who had killed my Brett and lied.
I was placed in front of him on the bike.
His huge hands gripped mine around the handles and I yelped in pain.
He grunted and loosened his grip a little.
His package rubbed against my butt and pressed into the small of my back.
The bike roared to life between my legs.
He thickened against my back as we sped off into certain hell.
Honestly, the length of him was pretty damned offensive.
Excitable indeed Thornton, I smirked to myself.
Perhaps he was turned on by near death experiences?
Then I flushed, feeling ashamed, as the image of him a frightened little boy who had just lost his family and the small village folk to the communal suicide ‘poison drink’ tumbled into my scattered frantic mind. No, I couldn’t imagine nearly getting offed, got him off.
Shit.
I was such an asshole.
***
When we arrived at his castle, he lifted me from the bike, and slowly released me in a rather sultry slide down his body, so I was forced to take its intoxicating assault as I rubbed down him until my feet somehow managed to hold me upright as I touched the ground.
Because I was shaking from head to fucking toe.
Thorn was a riot to my senses. My sanity was smashed. It hurt to drag my gaze up to look at the man.
I found him a little flushed. His dark green eyes glittered strangely, and I squinted, disturbed. His face seemed better, healed a little.
“What is the anti V kit?” I asked.
“I don’t have time to explain this shit Elena,” he said gruffly and pulled me behind him and I stiffened hearing voices and frantic footfalls.
Agitation hit me in waves.
“It means anti Vanquish.” He muttered bitterly as he tensed his big body. “A personal joke, you will understand.”
No Thorn, I most definitely do NOT understand!
The dude who had sounded a bit like Marilyn Manson at that beach party, Jacob, a sing
er Thorn was mentoring, approached with folk who looked a little like roadies.
He had black hair that fell in a straight shower of silk to his shoulders. He was wearing a Cellrager T-shirt, and was jiggling some keys. “The batmobile is all packed, fuelled up and ready to go to Mexico your highness,” he smirked.
Thorn breathed out a sigh of relief.
“I’ve spoken to those people you asked me to as well, they’ll figure out who is trying to kill your new piece of ass.”
“Hey!” I objected.
“Elena,” Thorn growled as I slid out from behind him and glared at this young pretty boy rocker who deemed it appropriate to reduce my entire existence to ‘new piece of ass.’
“Holy shit!” the man, or man child rather, slammed a hand over his eyes. “I saw boob. That was nice boob.”
I pulled Thorn’s coat tighter around me. Whoops.
“Thank you Jacob,” Thorn said tersely. “I will be off the grid for a bit, so this part is important. Can you tell these people that I don’t want the perpetrators harmed. They are incredibly protective of me as you know. Their intentions are good, but their execution of them demonstrates to me they are not of sound mind. We need to have a bit of compassion for their mental state.”
“Fuck that!” I exploded. “Kill them all. If I can believe your flipping Messiah, King, whatever the fuck you call him, these fuck-tards killed my Brett. My fiancé. My everything and they just tried to kill me. Rest assured whether these fuckers are mentally fucked in the head or not, I want them very, most grievously, harmed.”
“I like her,” Jacob flashed Thorn a smile that showed perfect white teeth. “Please don’t kill this one.”
Thorn released a hiss of disgust between pursed lips. He pulled me by the elbow as he dragged me down a rise into what looked like an underground tunnel, that ran just alongside of his castle.
My jaw dropped at the wall of gimp masked freaks that blocked our path to a garage of expensive cars.
I felt like I was in Bruce Wayne’s garage.
Holy fucking shit.
How many cars did this man need?
Apparently, all of them.
Our asses were not getting in any cars with the folk before us blocking our escape.
“Are you leaving us King Thornton?” one of them practically snarled.
Oh.My.Fucking. God.
It was Ryan. The big burly dude who had pulled the gun on Thorn in the first place, and tried to get him to shoot me dead. Police obviously sucked.
“You!” Thorn exploded. The sound of his anger in the tunnel was actually truly shocking and frightening. “I am severely displeased with you.”
I could have smacked Thornton Darko hard in his beautiful snake bitten face at that moment. I think almost killing Brett and trying to kill me deserved a little more than ‘severe displeasure.’
What an ass wipe.
“She’s made you ugly,” the one called Ryan went on. “Have you seen your face yet Thorn? I heard her incantation. Didn’t you? She made that snake attack your face.”
“Yeah shit head!” I snapped. “You could really hear if I spoke an incantation or not over the gunfire and fighting with the police, you weren’t anywhere near us.”
“I was; I barely leave my King’s side unless it is to deal with pieces of shit witch bitches like you” Ryan said. “I am one of Thorn’s body guards.”
He sounded proud.
“Was,” Thorn said quietly.
“What?”
“Was,” Thorn repeated through clenched teeth. “One of my bodyguards. You are no longer. You are relieved from having anything to do with me in the future. In fact,” Thorn smiled widely. “You are relieved of life. What you did was unspeakable. I suffocate on the desire of killing you.”
“Kill me, there are more to take my place who will ensure you are protected from your stupid prick Thorn. It’s going to get you killed. You can’t trust it. It has no reason.”
“My prick!” Thorn snarled. “Has every reason. Now tell me about the more, who are -
“She’s wearing the Raven necklace!” A lady’s voice wailed in horror behind the gimp mask.
That really set it off.
Holy shit.
The wall of folk pressed closer.
Damn that Ryan. I couldn’t see him. He was gone.
Thorn’s blood lust was denied.
The frustration and outrage on the man’s face.
“Every one please, calm,” he boomed.
Gratefully, they fell back. “I love this woman,” he told them in a fierce voice. “I, we all have nothing to fear from her.”
Some started crying, unconvinced.
“She is an Enchantress; she will kill you. You know this. Why are you doing this? You are our King and Protector. Don’t you care? Is this some kind of punishment for what your family did? You want to see them in the afterlife is that it? She will fuck you up Thornton.”
“Please,” he groaned. “I appreciate everyone’s concern. But, you need to trust me. I love all of you. You are like family to me. Trust in me. I have never let you down.”
“We almost lost you to Andrea!”
Thorn’s face reddened.
“She tried to vanquish you!”
My mouth dropped open. Of course, I thought he had been joking, but Thornton Darko had been telling me the damn truth after all. He really had killed his wife.
A shiver worked its way through me.
Oh.
My.
Fucking.
God.
Thorn gripped my hand and squeezed it. His eyes were wet with anguish. His lips moved over a single word he didn’t speak. ‘Don’t.’
“The Raven!” a roar of protest went up again. “Why have you gifted her with so much power over you?”
That was interesting. I didn’t really see it that way. But then again, he had bound himself to me. I wasn’t entirely certain of all the consequences, and implications of that, except the white witch Clarissa had taken me through the negative ones, being that I might not ever rid myself of him. If I wanted him. I was as good as fucked, because I could not imagine not wanting this rather insane man in my life. Ever. Even now. When my head and heart were full of so much doubt because despite all his bull shit and deception, a pinprick of hope had been offered that perhaps he did not kill Brett. I basically heard this Ryan shithead admit that he had done it.
Even still, doubt plagued me.
“Move aside!” Thorn roared at them all. “Now!”
Then he pulled me with him and simply aimed his insane physicality right at them.
One by one as we passed, they promptly fell to one knee, heads bowed, their shoulders shaking, a deafening hideous din of mourning smashed the tense air of the tunnel that led to luxurious cars.
I tried not to look impressed with the bat mobile as Jacob had put it, but I was. It was magnificent. The beast truly oozed the sexiness of who was, in my opinion, the real superhero, the Dark Knight. It was a sleek black Aston Martin, Speedster with enhancements added.
“You want to drive that to Mexico?” I gaped.
The corners of Thorns mouth twitched slightly. “Yes. You have nothing to fear Elena, as long as you are with me.”
“And if I’m against you?”
The twitch at his mouth turned into a smile.
“My body would like that very much.”
Four
Thorn was silent as he drove.
I was not.
I prattled on in some kind of pointless monologue, because the man, Mr. Cellrager, the Dark Messiah, would not speak to me.
I asked so many questions.
He did not answer or respond to most of them, except my last, because the man was a perverted indomitable flirt.
‘Did you ask your people to kill Brett?’
‘Did you kill your wife? It sounded like you did. There was more to it than the alcoholism and that incident you told me about where she knocked you out and ran off and presuma
bly drowned?’
‘Why did you lie about being a practicing warlock?’
‘If you aren’t afraid of me like you say you aren’t; why do you carry around an “anti-vanquishing kit” that is the most hilarious flipping thing I’ve ever heard of? Big bad ass death metal rock star, presumably warlock you!’
‘You told me before that you being some powerful Warlock was just some fairy tale gifted to you by your followers, but that’s not true is it?
‘You are a big deal in Warlock world aren’t you? You’re a big dick player there?’
“Yes,” he snarled. “Is it any wonder? You flatter me Enchantress. Your attention is rather arousing, it keeps my boner steep and assures my big dick player status in this Warlock World you speak of.”
I blushed.
He noticed and smiled faintly.
I gripped my hands in my lap.
I wasn’t saying anything to that.
I couldn’t.
Brett was dead.
A tiny flicker of hope held out that he might have gotten out of there alive.
I was delusional.
Tears slid down my hot cheeks as I silently wept.
My phone flashed.
Aaron.
“Who is that?” he barked.
“My friend Aaron,” I shot back hotly.
“The fat body guard and gay literary agent?”
I ignored him and peeked down at the message.
OMFG Elena. Please be alive babe. I love you. Give me a sign. Flick me a text. Anything. I am so fucking scared for you hon xx Freaking the fuck out here. I found out some stuff about Thorn. It’s pretty scary shit.
PLEASE CALL ME.
“I’m calling him,” I told Thorn.
His brow darkened, and he nodded his head ever so slightly, but otherwise did not object.
My friend picked up on the first ring of course.
“Elena!”
He sounded like he had been crying.
“It’s so good to hear your voice buddy,” I breathed over the line.
“Where are you? Where is that crazy asshole taking you?”
“We’re headed to Mexico,” I said carefully.
Thorn did not show so much of a flicker of emotion when I said this.
“Are you all right?”
