The Prodigy Slave, Book One: Journey to Winter Garden: (Revised Edition 2020)

by Londyn Skye

  Piers was not the only jealous person who had witnessed the lust-filled exchange between the couple. All evening, Elijah had rarely taken his eyes off Lily. He, therefore, saw the look in her eyes when she gazed at James and the sensual desire on her face as she bit her bottom lip.

  Elijah simply could not purge himself of everything about Lily Adams. The time he spent alone with her at Branaugh Theater had cemented his feelings. For every day that James had sat in jail, Elijah had sat enjoying evening dinner dates with Lily. Laughter and long intimate conversations carried on between the pair while sitting next to one another in the middle of all the empty theater seats, or sometimes while sitting on the stage with their feet lazily dangling off the edge. Elijah was happy for the time he had alone to connect and learn more about the incredible woman that Lily was. It deepened his attraction for her far past her physical beauty and talent. Lily’s humor, intelligence, charisma, strength, and her willingness to openly share her life story had completely enchanted Elijah. Even five months later, he was still utterly obsessed with her. After their short but intense time together, Elijah genuinely thought there was a spark that ignited the beginning of something special between him and Lily. He was convinced that the deep feelings that had roared to life were mutual. It, therefore, angered him how quickly all of that had evaporated when James returned, as if their cherished week in close quarters meant nothing to Lily.

  Since then, Elijah had graciously offered to step in and take the place of a percussionist in the show, who was suddenly unable to travel. As a new member of the cast, Elijah tried to take advantage of the fact that he was now around Lily every day. He was constantly asking her to lunch, offering his help with changes to the show, or doing anything else he could that would allow him a little more intimate time alone with her. But he could feel the emotional distance that she had placed between them. Suddenly, the ease with which they once spoke to one another was gone. Elijah even noticed that she rarely laughed or smiled anymore when she was alone with him. In fact, all of the things that had drawn him toward Lily were completely absent in his presence, and it infuriated Elijah to know that James was the root cause of her sudden coldness.

  James understood the necessity of Elijah’s new role with the cast, but he still hated him being a daily part of Lily’s life. However, James trusted that Lily would always do right by him and never once felt it was necessary to voice his opinion on the matter. Unbeknownst to James, though, it had become a challenge for Elijah to take Lily away from him. But, time and time again, Lily proved how worthy she was of James’s trust by always politely declining Elijah’s constant onslaught of advances. Lily kept quiet about his disrespectful behaviors, feeling the need to keep the peace for the sake of the show. Most importantly, she wanted to prevent James from the sort of explosive rage that would likely have landed Elijah in the hospital and him back in jail.

  With no knowledge of Elijah’s disrespectful behaviors, James had quietly breezed right by him at the bar, like he did not even exist. In his haste to satisfy his woman, James had not even noticed the look of pure hatred on Elijah’s face as he glared at him. Elijah’s look of disdain was the result of the mere prospect of what James was on his way to do with a woman that he had developed serious feelings for, a woman that he still felt had no earthly business submitting herself to a man who technically owned her. The notion of it all disgusted him on an immeasurable level. In this ironic mirrored twist of fate, Elijah was now the one feeling jealous and sick to his stomach after digesting the sight of James and Lily enjoying themselves together, in the same way that James felt watching Lily with him. And, yet again, much like James, the alcohol in Elijah’s veins made it far easier for his vile thoughts to seep through his rational filter. It left him with no inhibitions about putting a quick end to any impure acts the pair had planned at that moment. Hazily turning and stumbling in his inebriated state, Elijah began to quietly pursue James, who was eagerly pursuing Lily. Elijah was hell-bent on doing anything he had to do to shake Lily from her foolish fairytale. He wanted to force her to realize the massive mistake she was making by submitting herself to a slave-owning white man, rather than opening her eyes to the potential they had together.

  Unaware that she was being pursued by both men, Lily was walking briskly, well ahead of James, down a dimly lit hallway. She was sashaying with an intentional provocative sway in her hips, initiating a chase of sorts, which James was more than happy to partake in. James, however, got halfway down the corridor and lost sight of her in the darkness. He paused and no longer heard the sound of her shoes clicking against the stone floor. A few minutes passed, and Lily did not hear a thing either. She peered from behind the stone column she had playfully hidden behind to find the hallway empty. She began to walk back, wondering what had happened to James, when a hand reached from an empty office room, pulled her inside, slammed the door shut, and locked it. Her lips were instantly devoured as strong hands held her pinned against the wall of the moonlit room.

  Just as Elijah had watched Lily, Piers had watched Elijah curiously from time to time throughout the evening as well. He was uncomfortable with how rude Elijah seemed to be toward everyone. Piers noticed that he was the only one not joining happily in the festivities and that he showed no excitement whatsoever after Lily’s epic news. Elijah’s disturbing behavior led Piers to keep watch over him, especially after noticing the way his eyes obsessively followed James and Lily throughout the night with an evil intensity in his glare. Piers could easily sense Elijah’s displeasure for the couple. Ironically, they were a couple that Piers was obsessed with as well; so much so that he was motivated to etch them together in a loving embrace. And so, as Piers had enviously watched James and Lily escape on a passionate rendezvous, Elijah quickly caught his attention again. Piers saw him creep curiously down the hallway behind James. Something in the pit of Piers’s stomach told him that there would undoubtedly be trouble erupting from the darkness of that corridor without a quick intervention.

  “Another drink, my friend?” Piers asked, holding tight to Elijah’s arm. Piers had slipped with cat-like precision through the dancing crowd to catch Elijah midway down the corridor.

  “What the hell! Get your fuckin’ hands off ‘a me!” Elijah protested, his drunken state causing his words to slur. He tried to escape Piers’s grip, but the alcohol had made him too weak to snatch his arm away.

  “Perhaps you’ve had a little too much to drink this evening. Come. Sit with me,” Piers insisted calmly, pulling Elijah along. “A cup of coffee might suit you better.” Within seconds, Piers had put a quick end to Elijah’s pursuit. He wanted to ensure that the beautiful young lady, whose show had invaded his dreams, would have her fantasies thoroughly fulfilled by her lover—a man he truly envied—without any interruption from the likes of a drunken imbecile. Piers turned back momentarily to look down the hallway with an envious curiosity sweeping through him. He then devilishly smiled at the visions of his fantasies as he hauled Elijah away.

  Piers’s brazen interception left Lily happily in the arms of the man who had playfully abducted her. “Makin’ me chase what I want, huh?” James asked, barely able to find the willpower to pull his mouth away from Lily’s for the two seconds it took to ask her that question. “You want me here?” he asked, his tone heavy with lust. He then covered Lily’s mouth again with his.

  “I don’t want you…” Lily replied, suddenly tearing herself away from James and walking in a tantalizing stroll to the other side of the room. With the full moonlight casting through a nearby window, James had no problem seeing the sensual look on Lily’s face when she turned around. She began slowly unlacing the strings of her dress. She then let it slide down her body afterward, revealing her silky form-fitting lingerie and the length of her long, toned legs. “I need you,” she corrected, calling him with her eyes to come to her.

  Watching the aggressor emerge in Lily made the bulge in James’s crotch threaten to tear a hole in his trousers. He began licking
the taste of her off his lips as he made his way over to her, never once removing his eyes from hers. In record speed, he threw his suit jacket aside. He had broken into an immediate sweat from the swell of heat coursing through his veins, ignited from Lily’s seductive show and her impassioned verbal confession. As much as James loved the look of the sheer two-piece ensemble hugging the curves of his woman’s body, he was beyond ready to tear it off of her by the time she was within his reach. He was dying to have access to what was hidden underneath, wanting nothing more than to satisfy her appetite. With the way James ached to plunge deep inside of Lily, it took every bit of his willpower to leave her lingerie in one piece. Instead, he turned her around and impatiently slid her top up and off of her body and dropped it to the floor. With his hands now free, he traced the curves of Lily’s thighs, back up her hips, around her waist, and up to her supple breasts, all the while suctioning soft wet kisses along the nape of her neck, drawing soothing purrs from her with every touch of his lips. Lily gasped at the tingling sensations of his fingers tickling and tugging gently at her nipples, then tilted her head back, and caught his mouth in another fiery kiss. As their tongues still danced together, Lily guided James’s hand down her stomach into her panties, through her light thread of hair, then forced his fingers into the moisture of her searing insides. James growled at the feeling of her heat igniting his fingers. Lily’s body relaxed and pleasure forced a moan through her vocal cords as he began repeatedly dipping his fingers into her wetness.

  Lily wrapped her hands around James’s neck, and her mouth parted as the blissful sensations began rolling through her. “Taste me,” she suddenly moaned.

  Upon her demands, James withdrew his fingers. Lily then turned to watch him carefully. The heated liquid between her thighs began to pool again after her arousal was heightened by the sight of James relishing the taste of her. The enjoyment of her flavor showed in the look on James’s face as he indulged, slowly sucking the moisture of Lily’s creamy insides from each of his fingers. Suddenly, though, Lily grabbed his wrist and guided his fingers from his mouth into hers while looking seductively into his eyes. Her erotic delicacy triggered a guttural groan that roared through James’s vocal cords like the sounds of a primordial savage. The sight and feel of her tongue sent a rush of blood to his groin that had his member mercilessly throbbing.

  Hungry to taste more of her, James ushered Lily over to a sofa in the corner, laid her back, tore her panties off, spread her legs wide, and immediately began suckling on the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, heading quickly northward to get to the prize he was yearning for. Like a starving beast, he greedily wrapped his mouth around Lily’s pleasure pearl, causing her to sing out his name in a breathy tone. Forcefully, James then began suckling her, wanting desperately to taste the sweet flavor of her nectar. The power of his lips instantly caused Lily’s legs to quiver and her cries of elation to soar. She nearly tore James’s hair out as a euphoric rush triggered intense spasms that flooded James’s mouth with the nectar that he was so eager to taste. His name, once again, sensually escaped Lily’s lips, causing his hardened shaft to pulsate and drip with envy.

  Lily had been spoiled by James enough to know that this first wave of pleasure was only her appetizer. She knew that he would soon serve her body the main course, something that she was desperately craving as she breathlessly unbuttoned his shirt, pushed him down onto the couch, and descended on his reddened lips. Her forceful ways evoked another growl from James. Submissively, he laid still and let her have her way with him. His heartrate increased and his breathing quickened as he watched her hastily unbuttoning his pants like a madwoman trying feverishly to unleash what she needed to finish satisfying her ravenous cravings. Lily’s unabashed savage hunger for James, stroked his ego in a way that her words never could. Her actions left him already on the verge of climax as she mounted him and slid him deep inside of her in one smooth motion. “Yeeesss,” she cried out, as his hardness electrified every nerve in her body.

  The moment they were one, James and Lily were immediately oblivious to everything, despite an entire room full of people a short distance away. Much like drifting in their tiny fishing boat as children, they were now in a world where only the two of them existed, in a world where they were hugged by happiness, love, and the pleasures of their bodies. It was a phenomenon that never failed to occur whenever they were joined in this way. While they were suspended in their desolate fantasy world together, James pulled Lily in, held her close, and ran his hands up her back and down her waist, loving the look and feel of her soft honey-brown skin contrasting against his. As he caressed her, his eyes coasted over the landscape of her curves. He paused and marveled at the sight of himself buried deep inside the thickness of Lily’s folds. Simply the essence of her had pleasantly overloaded every single one of James’s senses, leaving him on the cusp of bursting inside of her with one more thrust of her hips.

  Lily pushed James’s hands down onto her buttocks, forcing him to grab her cheeks tight. Her domineering actions made James’s need to erupt even more intense. To release the building pressure, he exhaled sharply, fighting hard with his body to settle down. Such a thing was impossible, though, as he watched Lily place one hand behind his neck and the other on his thigh to settle in for a pleasureful ride. Once steadied, she began maneuvering her hips, rocking back and forth in a slow motion, at first. Seconds later, she began picking up the pace, riding him swiftly, bucking up and down, mimicking a rider at full gallop on her horse. The intensity of the pleasure left neither of them able to hold back the erotic sighs that accompanied the blissful sensations that Lily’s alluring ride had cascading through their bodies.

  Sensing James was near, Lily began to ride him harder, coming down with forceful strokes, choking his hardened rod in a death grip, building the volcanic pressures within him quickly. Usually, it was Lily’s release that ignited James’s eruption, but the immense pleasure of her body became far too much for him to take. In an instant, he unleashed with cataclysmic force inside of her, belting out virile groans of gratification in deep tones that penetrated Lily’s ears with ferocity, pushing her over the edge, bringing her to yet another explosive ending along with him.

  They lay limp afterward, still connected in a mound on the couch, tired after another unforgettable climb together. Both were breathing like two horses that had just run in a derby, their chests heaving in unison as they silently allowed the high to linger for a while longer.

  “That … was … heavenly,” Lily breathlessly purred.

  “You ain’t lyin’,” James replied, sounding just as out of breath. “I swear I just saw the stars up-close.”

  Lily giggled at his comment. “Sorry I couldn’t wait ’til we got back to the hotel. I couldn’t help myself.”

  “Trust me, I am not complainin’!”

  Lily laughed again.

  James smiled at her reaction. Quietly, he then gazed at her while gently running the back of his hand down the side of her face, taking a moment to absorb the exquisiteness of her features. His sudden need to gaze at her was owed to gratitude. After everything they had been through, he was grateful that his best friend—a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman—was truly his, in every way imaginable. He drew Lily in and kissed her tenderly as his way of silently thanking her for that fact.

  James pulled back from their kiss and gazed at his woman again as he thought quietly to himself for a moment. “We don’t eva’ have to come back here, ya’ know?” he suddenly said, while slowly caressing Lily’s arms.

  “Why wouldn’t I want to? It’s a beautiful museum, and I haven’t had the chance to see the rest of it yet.”

  “No, I’m not just talkin’ about this museum. I mean all ‘a this … These entire United States. We could leave and neva’ come back to this place.”

  Lily looked at James with questioning eyes, wondering if he was being serious.

  “I mean it,” he replied after reading her mind. “This has become a coun
try that I don’t want no parts of anymore, and I certainly don’t want you bein’ a part of all the ugliness here.” He sat up taller. “Lily, I really think this is our chance. We’re goin’ to the United Kingdom soon, and who says we eva’ have to come back here?”

  “James, what are you sayin’?”

  “I’m sayin’ we can start a new life ova’ in Europe, in the Old World as they call it. We can escape this place. As soon as you read that letta’ from the Queen, I knew this was the answa’ I’ve been prayin’ for. This is our chance to start ova’ in a place where you’d be a world away from my fatha’s reach. And, most importantly … in a place where slavery doesn’t exist anymore. I’m certain William and Landon would be more than willin’ to help us settle in and make a life there,” James explained, still caressing Lily’s arms, waiting for a smile or some sort of excitement about the prospect of his idea. But instead, she was expressionless and silent while the possibility of it rolled through her head. Without a word, she then suddenly got up to retrieve her dress.

  “Lily, are you alright?” James questioned, confused by her odd reaction. He expected a joyous response, especially after knowing how obsessed she had become with British culture.

  “But what about your family, James?” she finally asked while trying to get her dress into place. “You’d just leave ’em all behind?”

  James stood, buckled his pants, and then went over to help Lily with her dress. “Family?” he scoffed. “My fatha’ gave me life, yes. But outside ‘a the blood we share, I feel not one ounce of a connection to that man. My motha’s dead and my brotha’s have hated me since the day I’s born … and trust me, the feelin’s mutual.” He turned Lily around to face him. “They ain’t no family to me, Lily.” He placed his hands gently on her face. “You are … you and the beautiful children I pray you’ll give me someday. You’ll all be my family.”

  “B-but your home is here,” Lily replied, sounding as if she had not heard a word he said.