Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

MIRELLA

A t first, the stable was eerily silent. Hay poked my legs and backside, but I didn’t dare move. Perched high on the stack of bales, I pressed my back to the wall and held my breath, waiting for something to happen.

A man’s whimper drifted up from the floor below. Booted feet clicked slowly. A sharp whistling sound split the air, followed by a smack .

“Fuck,” Rane gasped, the exclamation laced with pain. He whimpered again, and that sound was…not pained.

My heart sped up. A tingling awareness spread over my skin. My eyes adjusted, and I picked out shapes in the stable’s darkened interior. Wooden stalls clustered in the back of the long building. My position atop the bales allowed me to see into the first two, both empty except for a few saddles thrown over wooden racks.

Smack. Rane’s gasp pulled my attention from the stalls. Heart in my throat, I crawled forward, careful not to set the bales swaying.

As I peeked over the edge of the stack, I forgot how to breathe.

Rane knelt completely nude on the stable’s stone floor. An intricate pattern of shadow ropes crisscrossed his body like a web. Thick bands marched down his chest, following the deep cuts of his muscles. Taut rope bound his arms behind his back, his forearms pressed together and each hand cupping the opposite elbow. More rope wrapped around his thighs and shins, forcing him to rest his buttocks on his heels. With the way his legs were bound, it was impossible for him to stand. Ropes running from his arms to his thighs also meant he couldn’t close his legs. They were spread so wide they had to hurt. But if the pain bothered him, he didn’t show it. His erect cock strained from his groin, a thick bead of moisture swelling from the slit at the tip. He was totally bare between his legs, his shaft and heavy sack totally smooth.

Andrin stepped from the shadows, and I lay flat against the bales, my heart knocking against my ribs. Hay poked at my stomach and chest, but I ignored it as I watched Andrin slowly circle Rane. Andrin was fully clothed, but he bore little resemblance to the elegant king who sat on the dais during feasts. Now, he looked more beast than man. His red hair fell in a tangle to his waist. He’d rolled up his sleeves, and the sigils around his wrists and neck were as black as his eyes. Possession and something dark and unsettling filled his gaze as he stared down at Rane.

I didn’t know where to look. So I looked everywhere, a breathless sort of heat flooding me as I drank in the shocking scene.

“You love me,” Andrin murmured, the strange, unsettling overlap in his voice making me dig my fingers into the bale beneath me. His eyes glittered, no trace of white amid the black as he continued circling Rane.

Rane’s chest expanded, the ropes digging into his skin. “Yes, sire,” he said on an exhale.

Andrin stopped in front of Rane, who shivered. Sweat sheened his bare shoulders, which rose and fell rapidly as he stared straight ahead. His black hair streamed down his back, the ends brushing his rounded buttocks. He darted a wary look at Andrin before refocusing on some distant spot in front of him. His straining cock was a sharp contrast to the apprehension on his face.

“How much?” Andrin asked, lifting a hand. Shadows flowed from his hand, slowly forming into a long, thin crop like the one on the table in the Great Hall.

Rane’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. He drew a deep breath. “I?—”

Andrin slashed the crop down, striking Rane’s chest. Rane cried out, his spine curling and his head dropping forward. His fingers twitched around his elbows, and his buttocks clenched. He recovered quickly, his cheeks flushed as he straightened his spine. A red stripe crossed his chest, the wound blazing a fiery path over one puckered nipple. As I stared at the mark, I saw another I’d missed before. It was already healing, its puffy edges a lighter pink.

“I’m afraid I don’t believe you, elf,” Andrin said, his tone taunting as he moved behind Rane. “How can you love one who would abandon you if given the chance?”

“That’s a lie,” Rane gasped, turning his head like he meant to follow Andrin.

The crop whistled, striking him across the lower back. Rane bowed his spine, but he appeared to swallow his cry as he clenched his jaw. His erection swelled between his legs, the thick, rounded head of his cock shiny with moisture.

“Who lies?” Andrin demanded. “You or your king? Both, I think.” He slashed the crop down, striking the sole of Rane’s foot.

Fear gripped me as Rane’s scream echoed through the stable. Andrin spoke of himself as someone else—as if he wasn’t in control of his actions…or even his mind.

Because he wasn’t. Something had taken hold of him. I’d glimpsed it before, when he and Rane returned from the Edelfen. But this was so much worse.

“No,” Rane panted. “Just you.”

Snarling, Andrin waved his hand. The shadow ropes marching down Rane’s back bled upward, defying gravity. My throat went dry as they shot to the ceiling, yanking Rane off the ground and pitching him sharply forward. The ropes around his thighs did the same, attaching to the thick beams that supported the stable’s roof. Still bound, Rane dangled with his chest parallel to the ground and his erection swinging between his thighs. His hair spilled over one shoulder as he rotated slowly in the air.

Andrin smirked, but his eyes were cold as he stepped between Rane’s bound, spread legs and pressed the tip of the crop against Rane’s testicles.

“Do you want to say that again?”

I put my hand over my mouth. Andrin couldn’t strike there. He couldn’t. Part of me wanted to bury my head in my arms so I didn’t have to watch. But another part was beset by a dark, perverse need to devour every second.

“You’re a liar,” Rane growled. “But you’re worse than that. You’re nothing.”

The crop flew, connecting with Rane’s sack and the vulnerable skin behind it. He convulsed in the ropes, his wail rising to the beams. A string of clear fluid descended from the tip of his cock.

“Slut,” Andrin hissed, tapping the crop against Rane’s engorged shaft. “You’re nothing but a bedwarmer.”

Rane gasped, his eyelids fluttering as he swayed in the ropes. “Yes. I gladly accept that title. I love you, Andrin. Come back to me. Come back to our bed.”

Andrin’s nostrils flared. “You don’t belong here. They’ll never accept you.”

“I don’t care,” Rane said. “I love you.”

“Then you’re a fool!” Andrin screamed. He stepped back and swung the crop, landing a blow between Rane’s parted buttocks. This time, he didn’t stop. Face twisted in fury, he delivered one punishing blow after another.

The sounds of Rane’s torment fell into a rhythm. The crop whistled, and Rane cried out, jerking and swaying in the ropes. Andrin’s breath came in grunting bursts. His boots shuffled on the hay-strewn ground. Over and over the sounds echoed, until every swish of the crop seemed to sting my skin.

Bound and spread, Rane could only swing helplessly as Andrin rained brutal punishment on the most delicate parts of his body. His cock and balls. The insides of his thighs. The tight, puckered entrance to his body. He cried out with every lash, his muscles twitching. Angry red stripes crisscrossed his ass. Through it all, his erection swung with him, the tip almost obscenely red.

“Come back to me!” he shouted hoarsely. “I need you, Andrin.”

Andrin paused, his chest heaving and the crop raised high. Something flickered in his eyes. “You…” he rasped.

“You,” Rane said, lifting his head and straining to see over his shoulder. “I need you. Can’t you see it?”

I held my breath, every part of me attuned to the men. When Andrin’s eyes flickered again, I stifled a gasp.

Andrin lowered his arm. “I…see you.”

“Then come back to me,” Rane said. “Come for me.”

The crop disintegrated, shadows melting into nothing as Andrin grasped Rane’s cock. “For you,” he whispered, stroking down Rane’s swollen shaft.

Rane’s mouth opened on a wordless cry. His eyes slid shut, and he swayed in the ropes, the thick muscles in his thighs flexing.

A shadow rose from Andrin’s shoulder. Black as smoke, it flowed away from him, moving like a snake as it undulated around Rane and streamed into his mouth.

I thought I’d stopped being shocked. But disbelief washed through me as Rane gave a low, sensual moan. When he slit his eyes open, they glittered like jewels. He strained as he attempted to meet Andrin’s stare.

“Fuck me,” he rasped. “Fuck me, my king.”

Andrin’s knuckles went white around Rane’s cock. His expression turned hungry as he tangled his free hand in Rane’s hair and pulled his head back sharply.

“You want to be fucked?” he growled in Rane’s ear.

Rane’s breathless assent caressed the air. “Yes, sire.”

Another shadow peeled away from Andrin and flowed toward Rane. He opened his mouth, his eyes gleaming through the small black cloud before it passed through his lips.

“Fuck me, sire. Make me yours.”

Andrin moaned. He glanced at the ceiling, and the shadows holding Rane jerked him higher, putting his body at Andrin’s eye level.

“Need you wet for me,” Andrin rasped, then palmed Rane’s buttocks and buried his face in Rane’s cleft.

Heat licked through me, forbidden currents flowing to the juncture of my thighs. There was no ambiguity about what Andrin was doing. None at all. Thumbs spreading Rane’s buttocks wide, Andrin devoured him, licking and sucking at Rane’s opening like he couldn’t get enough. Wet sounds accompanied his wicked kiss, flashes of his pink tongue holding my gaze like a lodestone.

One by one, shadows lifted from Andrin and flowed to Rane. He swallowed them, hoarse cries spilling from him as he swayed in the ropes.

“Yes, sire,” he panted, wriggling as much as the ropes would allow. “Yes. Fuck, yes.”

Andrin drew back and then spit on Rane’s twitching hole. Black bled from his eyes as he followed it with a finger, pumping his saliva into Rane’s body.

“You want this,” he breathed, his rapt gaze on his finger plunging into Rane’s spit-soaked hole. It wasn’t clear if he told Rane or asked him.

“I want it,” Rane gasped, the ends of his swaying hair dangling to the floor. “Please. I can’t wait.”

The ropes dropped him a few inches. He grunted, then groaned as Andrin spit into his hand and rubbed the moisture between Rane’s cheeks. Twisting the heel of his hand upward, Andrin thrust his middle finger into Rane, setting him swinging harder.

“Tell me,” Andrin demanded, working his hand against Rane’s crease. A light smacking sound accompanied the thrust of his finger.

Rane drew a shuddering breath. “I?—”

“Not with your mouth,” Andrin growled, his voice so low it rumbled through my bones.

Rane’s toes curled as he released a low, broken whimper. He grunted, his face screwed up in apparent concentration. His buttocks twitched rhythmically, the round muscle quivering.

“That’s it,” Andrin rasped, his voice thick with satisfaction. He pulled his finger from Rane’s passage, sucked it into his mouth, and drove it back inside. With his free hand, he delivered a hard slap to Rane’s ass. “Talk to me. Such a tight pussy.” As Rane’s buttocks continued twitching, Andrin gave another dark growl. “There you go. Sweet little hole has a lot to say.”

Rane gave another wild, breathless cry. Andrin pumped his finger harder. He continued the spanking, raising fiery marks on Rane’s trembling backside.

Fire snaked through my veins. I clung to the edge of the bale, my ears burning as hot as my face.

Both men groaned. More shadows rolled from Andrin to Rane. Slick sounds filled the air as Andrin continued pumping his finger into Rane’s ass.

“Now, sire,” Rane begged. “Please.”

The ropes dropped him lower, and he hung suspended in front of Andrin’s groin. Panting heavily, Andrin ripped his trousers open and freed his straining erection. He licked his palm and gave himself a couple of cursory pumps before lining up with Rane’s entrance and pushing inside.

Rane grimaced, his hands clenched around his elbows. As Andrin grasped his hips and sank deeper, Rane gave a cry that was part pleasure and part pain.

“More,” he moaned, hanging his head so his hair swept toward the ground. Another string of fluid dangled from the slit in his cock.

Andrin let a stream of saliva fall from his lips. The moisture landed heavily on his cock where he entered Rane, and both men groaned loudly as Andrin pushed all the way inside. Seizing the ropes around Rane’s waist, he began to thrust.

Rane’s moan echoed off the stable’s walls. His cock dripped as his body followed the movement of Andrin’s hips.

The shadows flowing off Andrin came faster, until they were flying away from him and streaking into Rane’s mouth. The stable brightened, and I realized the shadows on the windows were gone.

Andrin fucked Rane harder, slowing only to dribble more saliva on Rane’s cleft before resuming his brutal thrusts. The fleshy slap of his hips against Rane’s ass punctuated the men’s moans and growls. The sex grew feral and more frenzied. Saliva glistened around Andrin’s cock and Rane’s taut opening. More saliva trailed down his dusky sack, which bounced as he absorbed Andrin’s thrusts.

Andrin gripped Rane’s shoulders and plowed him, his red hair flying and his hips snapping. Rane strained against the ropes, digging his fingers into the skin around his elbows as if he tried to anchor himself to something. Sweat and sex thickened the air. Magic built, but it was nothing I recognized. No, this was darker and older.

Dangerous , my senses whispered.

“Fuck!” Rane bellowed, going rigid in the ropes. Semen spurted from his cock, thick streams of it lashing the ground.

Andrin’s growl rumbled up the hay bales. He threw his head back, his eyes bleary with lust.

And they were as blue as the sky visible through the windows. “Rane,” he croaked. “I’m coming.” He yanked Rane into him as he slammed home a final time, his big body trembling.

Rane cried out, another milky rope shooting from his cock. They shuddered, panting and sweating, their ragged breaths loud in the sudden stillness.

After a moment, Andrin pulled free of Rane’s body. In an impressive display of strength, he hauled Rane into his arms as the ropes binding Rane twisted into shadow. The inky strands flowed up Andrin’s arms and seeped into his shirt. Gently, he set Rane on his feet and turned him so they stood chest to chest. Shadows coiled around Andrin’s throat before sinking into his skin.

Rane sagged against him with his forehead pressed to Andrin’s shoulder. The marks on his body had faded, and now the pink stripes were barely visible.

But Andrin didn’t appear to realize they were healing. He traced their path with his fingertips, finding the welts and soothing them over and over.

After a moment, Rane lifted his head. He stepped from Andrin’s arms, his demeanor shifting rapidly to the haughty prickliness I was accustomed to. “I’m fine,” he said.

Andrin reached for him. “You’re certain?”

“Yes.” Rane slapped Andrin’s hand away. “Why the fuck were you in the Edelfen?”

Andrin’s mouth tightened. “I wasn’t.”

“Then why?—?”

“We’ll discuss it later,” Andrin said. Abruptly, he turned and looked directly at me.

I gasped, my body going hot and then cold.

Andrin’s blue gaze was steady. “I believe Lord Rane told you to run.”

Oh gods. He’d known I hid on top of the hay bales. He’d known from the beginning. Shifting my attention to Rane, I encountered the same uncompromising stare.

They had both known.

Andrin kept his eyes on me as he stepped forward. “You should be careful where you seek refuge, Mirella.” He crooked a finger at me. “Come down.”

For one second, a resolute no hovered on my lips. But I couldn’t stay on the bales forever. And considering I’d just watched him dangle Rane from the ceiling with shadow, he was more than capable of dragging me from the bales himself.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed upright. Climbing down was harder than going up. The stack swayed and threatened to tip. The men’s attention prickled over my back. By the time I reached the bottom, sweat beaded my upper lip, and the muscles in my arms and legs screamed in protest.

When I turned, Rane had replaced his trousers. For some reason, seeing him barefoot in nothing but the hip-hugging leather was just as intimate as seeing him nude. I quickly averted my gaze from the spot where his ejaculate still soaked the ground.

Andrin’s nostrils flared. He caught my chin, his blue eyes dipping to my bodice. Embarrassment squirmed through me as I realized my nipples poked hard against the fabric. But the heated, twisting sensation flowed lower, quickening my breath. The urge to squeeze my thighs together was almost too overpowering to ignore.

Rane moved closer to Andrin’s side. Two sets of bright eyes—one blue, one purple—stared me down. My heart fluttered. At the same time, confusion fogged my mind. I’d just watched Andrin and Rane share intense passion. Their coupling was violent, but they’d both clearly wanted it. So why did they look as if they wanted something from me?

“You really are a feral little thing,” Andrin said softly. “Whatever shall we do with you, Mirella?”

“You could let me go,” I said hoarsely.

A low, mournful sound shook the stable.

Andrin and Rane spun toward the doors, instantly alert. A knife with a dark blade appeared in Andrin’s hand. He’d moved so quickly, I hadn’t seen him draw it.

The sound came again, rolling in thick waves that raised goosebumps on my skin. Dust sifted from the ceiling, and the ground vibrated under my feet.

“What the fuck is that?” Rane demanded in a tight voice. “Some new trick from the Edelfen?”

“No,” I said. When the men turned back to me, my heart pumped faster, and a new kind of dread tightened my throat. Because I recognized the sound. I’d heard it every month since I was a child. “It’s the siege horn of Purecliff.”

Andrin’s eyes lit with understanding—and steely resolve. “Walto Lornlark calls. It’s only fair to answer him.” He turned to Rane. “Gather Vivia and the others. I want her to stay here. Kassander and the rest will accompany us.”

Rane was through the doors in a flash. A second later, he swept past the windows in crow form. Andrin followed his flight from window to window. When Rane was gone, he looked at me.

“You may get your wish, my lady.” He turned and strode toward the doors. “Come. We have a long journey ahead of us.”