“Tell me again exactly what he said before he carried her away.”
Ian knew there was no point in reminding her that during their walk he had already told her at least a dozen times exactly what Hunter had said.
“He told me she was a Light and that he believed that we had woken the Shadow Witch’s daughter. That we couldn’t let the Guardians find her and he needed to take her somewhere so that he could find out who she really was. That’s all. Then he ran out the door with her.”
Hope punched Ian in the arm as they continued walking. “Idiot!”
“It’s a good thing I like your pussy. You’re a bitch.”
“If you think I’m such a bitch then why don’t you go find someone else to fuck?”
He’d hit a nerve. She was probably still reeling over the rumors that he’d had sex with Faith. Ian had spent days telling her his side of the story and how he’d never touch Faith again even if she was the last woman at the Keep. It did not help his cause, however, that her damn twin kept telling her otherwise.
Hope had her moments, but between her and her twin, she really was the good one. Faith was evil to the core and took every opportunity to cause mayhem, no matter who it hurt, including her own sister.
Ian stopped walking and turned to face Hope. “You mean it? You’re finally going to release me and let me find some other woman to make miserable?” He smiled the smile he saved only for her, the one he knew could melt her icy exterior.
She stopped and stared at him with disgust. “Go ahead. You’ve made me miserable long enough. I could use a break.”
As she turned to continue stomping down the corridor, Ian grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him, wrapping his arm around her body.
“Let go, you ass!”
“No, I don’t think I will.”
In one swift motion, Ian had Hope’s back up against the stone wall, careful not to slam her too hard so that he didn’t hurt her. He liked it rough, but he had no need to knock her unconscious. One arm still wrapped around her body, he reached his free hand up and took hold of a fistful of her hair, pulling her head back so that he could see the full length of her long neck. A low moan escaped her mouth as he bit down on the base of her neck. He could feel her heartbeat in his mouth and he continued to bite down until his teeth pierced her flesh. Ian pulled back long enough to watch tiny droplets of blood build up along the fresh marks. He loved the way she tasted. Her blood was pure and sweet and when she let him feast on her, it was all he could do to hold back his release long enough to sink his dick into her.
He pulled his arm from around her waist and reached down to find the hem of her short black dress right at her midthigh. He slid his hand under the skirt, searching for panties, and smiled when he found none. She had been toying with him the whole night. The only time Hope left her panties behind was when she knew there would be an opportunity to be with Ian. He looked down into her violet eyes and as she gave him a wicked smile Ian felt her spread her legs for him.
Her invitation loud and clear, Ian bent down and licked the blood that was now dripping from her neck. Desire shot through his body like lightning and he knew if he didn’t focus, he’d shoot his load before he had a chance to please her. He covered the wound on her neck with his mouth and as her blood flowed across his tongue and down his throat, he took his fingers and spread the folds of skin that hid Hope’s clit. Her pussy dripped with desire and as he ran the tip of his finger across her clit, he felt her body shudder with need. She called out his name and dug her nails into the meaty flesh of his back as he rubbed circles along her clit, bringing her closer to her release. He could feel that she was almost there, ripe and nearly ready. He let go of her hair as he reached down to untie the leather thong that held his trousers closed and released his fully erect dick, the head wet with his seed that had impatiently begun to seep out.
Still lapping at the blood that oozed from her neck, Ian reached his hands around and tightly grabbed Hope’s ass, one cheek in each hand, fingers digging deep into her flesh. He spread her legs further apart and then lifted her from the ground, firmly pressing her harder against the wall.
“I need you, Ian.” Hope spoke in between panting breaths. “I need you to fuck me—hard.”
Ian pulled away from her neck and stared straight into Hope’s violet eyes. They burned with need and he was happy to give her what she wanted. Without making her wait any longer he brought her pussy straight down the impressive length of his cock. Her pussy was tight around his dick and she screamed out in a mix of pleasure and pain, never losing eye contact. He rammed his dick deeper, igniting a squeal and causing a single tear to fall down her cheek.
Hope arched her back, pressing herself as hard as she could onto Ian, and he fucked her like she’d asked. With every pounding he gave her, she panted and squealed and screamed his name when she reached her climax. As her pussy pulsed around his cock, he continued to fuck her as she came until his own release was reached and his seed shot out and filled her body. Never breaking their eye contact, Ian pumped his dick until his seed ran dry and Hope’s body relaxed from the intensity of her orgasm. Before pulling free, he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers and whispered, “I love you.”
* * * *
The man infuriated her, but Hope was madly in love with him. Their relationship had started out as a torrid affair gone awry nearly a century ago. Hope had been the betrothed of the son of one of the Elders and to say that she was unhappy would have been kind. He was a brute who frequented the human whorehouses and often snuck into Hope’s room late at night to fit his fist to her face. The one kindness that her sister Faith had done for her had been ending the relationship. Late one night when he came to call on Hope, Faith took her place and before he could lay his hand to her, Faith used her gift and transferred a curse onto him that Hope had extracted from an old beggar woman. The Elder’s son died a slow, painful, and bloody death, and Hope and Faith were sentenced to Windsong. It was only by the grace of Queen Cinder, their stepsister, that their lives had not ended. It was on the twins’ first day at Windsong that Hope met Ian.
He was a known womanizer and had gained a reputation as the biggest whore at Windsong. He immediately swooped in on Hope and Faith as his new prey and conquered Faith within days of their arrival. Hope was not as easy. She had not fully recovered from her relationship and refused to be with a man who had bedded her sister. Ian spent ten years courting her and when she finally gave in to his advances, she regretted it immediately. He fulfilled a dark side of Hope that she preferred to keep hidden, but when Ian came around, the temptation was too great. Their relationship started as pure lust and passion but when Hope fell in love, Ian let her go. It was Faith who sealed their fate. Hurt that Ian had chosen her sister over her and equally saddened that he had then broken Hope’s fragile heart, she cursed him. Ian now belonged to Hope. His heart would never love another and his will would never allow him to stray. Faith was the exception.
It was a bittersweet love that both Hope and Ian resented and cherished.
As they walked in silence toward Hunter’s room, Hope glanced over to see if Ian was watching her. He was and she smiled up at him as he reached out and took her hand in his. If only he could be this Ian all the time, Hope would never be for want.
When they reached Hunter’s door, Ian squeezed her hand and reminded her to “be kind.”
Inside the room Hope and Ian found their friend and the woman deep in conversation. Her eyes were red and rimmed with tears, her cheeks were flushed, and she simply looked exhausted. The dark-purple circles that were forming under her eyes gave Hope pause. The woman had been sleeping for what—two centuries? How could she possibly look as though she had not slept a wink in days? Hunter did not appear to be fairing too well either. His arms were crossed over his chest, his brow was in a permanent frown, and deep lines creased along his forehead. It was the look he often got when he was unable to find a solution to a problem he felt should be easily
solved.
Without looking up at her, Hunter opened one of his arms in her direction and waved her close to him. Releasing Ian’s hand, Hope left him to brood in the shadows and proceeded to plunge herself deeper into the middle of Hunter’s newest project. The Guardians would no doubt be out for Hope’s head if the woman was truly who he believed her to be. That or they might call in The Cleanse. The thought sent a shudder of fear throughout her body, but she could not allow her mind to go down that path just yet. The immediate solution was to do their best to integrate Talia into the life of a charge by hiding her in plain sight. The longer they spent trying to conceal her existence, the easier it would be to slip up and draw the attention of the Guardians.
As Hope stepped into the open arm of her closest friend, she gained a better view of the woman he had committed to saving. There was no arguing her beauty and Hope could see why he had been drawn to her in the first place.
“This is Hope. She’s the Extractor I told you about.” As Hunter introduced her he looked down at her and forced a smile. “Hope, this is Talia.”
Talia sat on Hunter’s bed with perfect posture, hands folded across her lap. Her long, golden hair flowed in waves over her shoulders and her crystal-blue eyes bored deep into Hope’s soul.
The two women merely exchanged nods of acknowledgement before Hope walked over and sat beside her.
Pulling in a deep breath, Hope reached her hand out and ran her fingers through the mane of hair that was sure to draw attention.
“There is a new group of charges being admitted in two days’ time. If we plan it right we can attach you to the group and no one will be the wiser. The first thing we need to do though is ugly you down. You are far too perfect to be living here and if you walk down the corridors like this, the Guardians will swoop down on you quicker than we will be able to react. We’ll need to cut your hair and find some less extravagant clothing for you to wear.” Hope eyed Talia and shook her head. “I’d lend you some of my dresses, but your tits are bigger than mine. Actually, I think your tits are bigger than most of the women who live here. Perhaps we should bind them, take them down a size or two so that every man in the Keep doesn’t get a hard-on for you.”
“Her tits aside, how do you plan on making her look like everyone else around here?” Ian stepped out from the shadow Hope had left him in and stood beside Hunter, eyes firmly planted on Talia’s well-endowed chest.
A twinge of jealousy shot through Hope’s heart, but she did her best to ignore him. Ian did not believe in discretion and often spoke what was on his mind, even if it hurt those around him. It was a quality that Hope could have lived without since she was usually the one who was hurt by his utter lack of a verbal filter.
“I think we have to bring in Faith.”
In unison Hunter and Ian began loud protests. She was not trustworthy and if at any given time she felt the need, Faith would sell them out without regard for consequence. Alerting her to what would potentially be the biggest kept secret at the Keep was the worst idea they felt Hope could have.
Hand raised to halt their onslaught, Hope began her defense.
“I know that she cannot be trusted. However, you both know that if we don’t bring her in and share at least some of the details, she will become suspicious. Eventually she’ll figure it out and then we truly would be fucked.”
Both men stood in silence, knowing that no matter how much they hated the idea, she was right. With their objections heard and diffused, Hope turned her attention back to Talia.
“Before we go on, how are you feeling? You look…tired.”
“I guess I am.” She sighed. “It’s a lot to take in. Nothing is as it was and my history has been rewritten. There’s no way to explain how I feel about waking up and discovering that I am the villain of my tale.”
Hope’s heart went out to the woman. No matter how many more years lay ahead of her, she knew she would never be able to fully sympathize.
She pulled in a deep breath and looked up to see Hunter’s hopeful eyes staring down at her. The man, who was more like a brother than a friend, was counting on her to achieve the impossible, and he needed her to do it fast. As much as she wanted to do this for him, he would need to be patient. She needed time for the transformation and to figure out a way to bring Faith into the mix without divulging the whole truth.
“We can’t do anything tonight,” she began. “Daylight will break soon enough and people will talk if the three of us are not out in the commons. I need time to find Faith and figure out what I’m going to tell her, plus Talia needs sleep. We’ll leave her here for the time being, but I suggest, Hunter, that you go bunk with Ian for the rest of the night. I don’t need to be an Empath to feel that the sexual tension in this room is thick.”
From the corner of her eye, Hope saw the subtle exchange between Hunter and Talia and witnessed the woman’s cheeks blush with embarrassment. His gift must have done a number on her if she couldn’t even look at him without blushing.
“Okay, boys, let’s go.”
Hope stood, gave a wink to Talia, hoping she could reassure her even a little that everything would be fine, and then grabbed Ian by the arm and led him to the door.
“Hurry up and say your good-byes, Hunter. She needs to get some rest.”
The weight of the new path she was about to embark on was heavy and Hope could feel the stress already digging its barbed claws into her. She feared the Guardians finding out, feared having The Cleanse called on her, feared that Hunter wouldn’t be able to keep his dick in his pants, and feared Faith seeing right through her lies. It was too much.
As she opened the latch to the bedroom door she leaned over and whispered in Ian’s ear, “Spend the night with me. I’m in no mood for sleep and I know you’re still hungry.”
His wicked smile told her that by morning, there was a strong probability that she would be too sore to walk after what he had in store for her.
Chapter Six
Silence should have been something that Talia was accustomed to but the silence of the Keep felt heavier than that of the Veil. She sat on the edge of Hunter’s bed, alone now that they had all left, unsure of what she was supposed to do. She was tired, exhausted really, but her mind could not stop. She kept replaying the tale that Hunter had spun for her, the tale of her life where she had been the villain, not the victim. There were still holes in the story, though, and he had hoped that she could fill them in, but Talia’s memory was not fully intact and she feared that it might never be again.
According to legend, Talia was consumed by her need for power and had tricked her mother’s mate into bedding her. Her alleged hope had been to have his child, giving her full power over any final decision made by the Elders. When the Shadow Witch caught her and tried to save her mate, it was said that Talia went crazy and killed him then attacked her mother. In self-defense, the Shadow Witch rendered her unconscious and then begged the Council of Elders to spare her life. They created the chambers and sentenced her to an eternity in solitude as a personal favor to their beloved Shadow Witch.
Hearing the tale had caused Talia’s heart to be heavy. She could not remember the full details, but she knew that she had not betrayed her mother in such a fashion. She was positive that whoever the man had been, he had been someone that she loved, not a pawn in a game of power. When she tried to recall the last moments before she awoke in the Veil, all she could see was blackness, followed by a sharp pain that traveled through her head. She had made the attempt multiple times in the Veil and each time, she was unsuccessful. In addition to her feeling of betrayal, Talia’s guilt tormented her. If it was true, that she had been the reason behind the creation of the Keep, then it was her fault that all of the charges who resided here did so in misery.
There was nothing familiar about the Keep. Not a single piece of it reminded her of the palace she once thrived in. When she looked around Hunter’s room she felt as if the walls were closing in on her. There was nothing friendly, no light or
warmth, no bit of the joyful magic that she had so loved as a child. All she could see were gray stones sandwiched one on top of the other held together with a gray mortar. The walls were bare, the linens were scratchy wool, and the drapes were gray sheets of heavy fabric that weighed down the room. Talia could feel her spirit fading in this gloomy prison that had once been a palace.
Over in the corner sat the small table that was home to a pitcher of water and a single glass. Beside it, Talia noticed a small clear bowl and walked over to see what it was. She was hoping it held some type of food. Perhaps dried beef strips or fruit of some kind, but inside she found dirt. It seemed a curious thing to find a bowl of dirt so seemingly out of place. She picked it up and rolled it around in her hand, holding it closer to her face to see if there had been something hidden within the dirt. When she didn’t see anything she put her finger in it and stirred it around, thinking that she might feel something that was too small to be seen. Nothing. With a sigh she placed the bowl onto the table and walked back over to the bed.
Tired and hungry, Talia decided that sleep would be the best thing for her. She slid the slippers off of her feet, pulled back the wool blanket, and climbed in between the cold linens. As she snuggled in she pulled the blanket up around her neck and let her head sink into the pillow that felt more like a soft brick than a cloud. Talia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her nostrils were filled with the scent of musk and spice and her mind was invaded with visions of Hunter. To look at him was to see the epitome of a woman’s desire, but Talia could see in his eyes that he kept himself shielded. His magic was obviously a difficult gift for him to bear and perhaps his shield helped him keep his emotions separate from those around him.
Blackstone, Tasha - Waking Beauty [Windsong Keep] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 5
