4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

P ale dawn light is starting to eek through the flimsy curtains. It’s December, so that makes it, what, around eight in the morning?

I never thought I’d miss my phone for its ability to tell me the time. Though, just what else I’d be doing with it right now boggles the mind. I’m not calling for backup. No one is getting hurt on my behalf. Besides, they have to have figured out what’s happened to me by now.

As for taking selfies and updating my Instagram, um, no thanks. I’m naked and in bed with a fey. The way Mabon is curled half on me, does not make him look like the evil captor that he is.

I can’t believe he spent the night sleeping next to me, well half on top of me. He even loosened my chains. Does he have no sense of self-preservation? Or am I utterly beneath his contempt as a threat?

I sigh. I have no way of knowing. Maybe if I keep my eyes and ears peeled, I’ll be able to figure it out.

Mabon murmurs something in his sleep and wriggles into a new position on top of me. He smells amazing. I still can’t figure out what it is, and it is driving me crazy.

His long silky hair is tickling my nose. At some point during the night, I realised that his curling dark horns were gone. I guess they are not real. Some sort of crown or status symbol. But I never saw him take them off. I thought I was observant, but clearly not.

He makes a soft noise that almost sounds like a whimper. I put my arm around him and he settles. My other hand strokes his gorgeous hair.

My mind replays the noises he made as he orgasmed. My body remembers how good it felt to jerk off while he was watching me.

Suddenly, sanity hits me with the force of a ton of bricks. What the fuck am I doing? Am I really thinking happy thoughts and snuggling my captor? A man? The man who abducted me with the intent of using me as a sex slave. A flipping fey prince. My enemy.

This isn’t me. I hate the fey. I’m a leader of the Resistance. I want to fight the invaders and drive them back home. I don’t want to do dirty things with them and then snuggle all night.

Mabon must have done something to me. An enchantment. Magic. Brain washing. That has to be it. Nothing else makes sense. I’m not gay, and I don’t do fey!

Oh my god. No! I can’t cope with this. Was my plan to be docile and gather information part of the spell? Were those thoughts really mine?

What about the soul shifting awe I felt at watching him orgasm? Was that profound feeling false? Oh fucking hell. Why is the thought of that making my chest hurt? I can’t want to be enraptured by a fey. That’s simply not possible. It’s not me. It’s not who I am. So is that further evidence that it is all a spell? When was the last time I had a thought that was truly mine?

I don’t know. I have no idea. I need to get out of here. My heart is hammering against my ribs. My muscles are trembling. Adrenaline is flooding my veins. I feel dizzy.

Mabon stirs. He lifts his head up and gives me a sleepy look. The hair around his face is all frizzy and messy. It’s adorable. Cute enough to distract me from my growing panic.

He yawns and slides off of me. Then he walks away, buck naked. Presumably to the bathroom. God, his ass is incredible.

I bite my bottom lip. No, his ass is not incredible. His morning hair is not adorable. I’m just delulu. That’s all.

Frantically, I pull on my chains. They feel quite weak. Unlike these cuffs. Breaking the chains is going to be a hell of a lot easier than trying to wriggle out of the metal bands around my wrists and ankles.

I freeze and hold my breath and listen as intently as I can. Faint splashing sounds are coming from next door. I think Mabon is having a bath. He’ll probably be busy for a while. It’s now or never.

I wrap my right hand around the chain holding it to the bed frame, and I yank with all my might. My bicep bulges and a chain link pings and snaps.

That was surprisingly easy. It seems these silver chains are more decorative than functional. Unless I’m even stronger than I realise. Which is possible. I have never tried to break a chain before. I never needed to.

I make quick work of the other three chains, and just like that, I’m free. Well, from the bed. There is a whole flipping palace to get through yet. Feeling this exhilarated is premature.

My heart is pounding as I hurry towards the door. I’m naked as the day I was born, but there is no time to look for clothes. Nudity really is the very least of my problems.

I fling the door open and find myself face to face with a fey. We both startle. He is shorter than Mabon. But his dark and curling horns are similar to my abductor’s. This fey’s hair is jet black and falling free to his waist. His silk robes are all onyx and ruby.

But it is his eyes that have my full attention. Darker than obsidian. And full of fear at the sight of me. A deep and all-consuming terror, the likes of which I have never seen.

And it is directed at me. A fact that is cutting deep and wounding. I’ve had women hurry away from me when I’ve been walking late at night. But nobody has ever looked at me with this abject horror. It’s awful. I hate everything about it. It snuffs out my panic and leaves me cold.

Suddenly, burning pain erupts along my scalp as fingers twist in my hair. Mabon yanks me back and down onto my ass. Fuck, he is strong!

I hear a click as he attaches a chain to my collar, but I’m far too dazed to do a thing about it. My ass hit the floor with such force, it has knocked the wind out of me.

Mabon pats the top of my head. “This is Blake. Don’t mind him, he is harmless. He has a very lovely cock and makes the cutest noise when he cums.”

Oh lord. I’m far too British for this. I’ve never been so mortified in all my life. All I can do is stare at the carpet while my cheeks burn with the heat of a thousand suns.

Mabon steps in front of me, as if he is shielding me from view. Or protecting his guest from me. I’m grateful for whichever it is. Mabon’s white robe swishes the carpet in front of my toes. I fix my attention on it and try to think of nothing else, but it doesn’t work. My mind is whirling.

Mabon’s guest says something so softly that I don’t catch it. Why is he so scared of me? Granted, he probably wasn’t expecting to come nose to nose with a large naked human. But the look in his eyes was something far more than that. It irks me.

I don’t want to scare people. And more importantly, fey can’t be all-evil and all-powerful if they are capable of such fear.

It’s forcing me to reevaluate everything I thought I knew about our invaders. I should be ecstatic. Discovering they are not invincible is wonderful news. But I’m left feeling unsettled. Disturbed. It’s easy to hate when you assume your enemy is nothing like you. Finding out we share common traits, like fear, is forcing them into a whole new category in my mind. I’m not sure I like it. For all sorts of reasons.

Mabon pats my head again. “Be good while I’m gone.”

I blink up at him. He has been talking with his visitor while I was ruminating. And now he is leaving me here? My stomach twists.

“How long will you be?” I whine.

He smiles down at me. “A few hours. If you are good, I’ll bring you back a treat.”

“I need a pee!” I exclaim.

It’s true, I do. I don’t think I’ve gone since I was captured and that was yesterday. So why does it sound like a whiny excuse?

“Mabon! You must look after your pets!” admonishes the dark-haired fey.

My heart does something strange. I scared the crap out of him and he is still insisting that I be treated well. My whole belief that the fey are evil is getting harder and harder to maintain.

Mabon looks stricken. “I forgot.”

His visitor sighs. “You are already late.”

“I’ll get the servants to tend to him,” says Mabon.

“Is that wise?” The dark-haired fey sounds deeply dubious. He really doesn’t like me.

Mabon grins, and it lights up his whole face. “Oh yes! Blake is harmless!”

He pats me on the head again and saunters off with his friend. Leaving me all alone on the bedroom floor.

Harmless? Is that what I am?

I truly don’t know.