Chapter 4
Baenwik executed a perfect bow, “Indeed, lovely Fiona. Ander and I will fight for your hand. In the traditions of our people.”
She crossed her arms over her breasts in a defensive posture. “Are you insane?”
“To what do you refer?” He was genuinely perplexed.
“I am not a prize to be won. How do I get out of this madhouse?” She muttered the last half to herself, but both guys answered her with the same words.
“You have to choose.”
“Choose what? To leave? I am choosing that right now, but it isn’t happening.” She sat down hard on the pallet and fought the urge to bawl like a child. Usually her mind could lead her through this kind of thing, but it was not giving her any outs. She was going to have to give a ton of thought to the right question for her talent. She could find herself, but when it came to finding a way out, her mind was remaining stubbornly blank.
“Ander will be refreshed and then he and I will battle before you. The winner will have the right to press his suit for your affections.” Baenwik looked puzzled, “This is the way things have always been done.”
“And that is why evolution is my favourite thing.” It was muttered into her chest. He was a lunatic and he was dragging two people into his delusion. A thought occurred to her, “How is Ander going to be refreshed if he is pinned to the wall?”
“He can recover at his post.”
“No he can’t, he is injured and needs to have his arms mobile and not strained from confinement for a fair fight. You do want it to be a fair contest, don’t you?”
He remained silent and almost pouting.
“Don’t you, Baenwik?” This was from Ander himself. He obviously was interested in the thought of being unshackled.
“Fine. Fine. But Winging will watch you the whole time. And you will have to attend him, Fiona. He will not try to escape with you shackled to the rock.”
“I am not shackled to anything.”
Baenwik smiled. It was not a nice smile. “You will be. You want him healed, then you tend his wounds.”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that while I am over here and he is over there?” She flapped her hand at the wall where he was shackled.
“You will remain where you are and I will come to get you when I have him settled. He won’t be going far without you.”
Another nasty laugh punctuated his statement and he strutted over to the wall where the only bit of normalcy in this nightmare was shackled. She didn’t see him use a key, but the click and slither of chains releasing was unmistakable.
“Move.”
Fiona also didn’t see where the dagger had come from, but there it was. The place he must have hidden it in made her mind boggle. Ander was marched around the pit at knifepoint. As they left the cavern the, light went out.
Feeling vulnerable, she sat firmly on the pallet. Going over the edge was not the right way to survive. Baenwik had to be insane. It was the only thing that made sense to her at this moment. Ander seemed nice enough, but what the hell happened to him before she got here?
Again, she tried to find her way out. Nothing came to her mind. Only darkness. She hated darkness.
Hours may have passed, or only five minutes, but eventually the nutcase and the nightlight reappeared.
“Please come this way, my dear Fiona.”
“It may have escaped your notice, as you were the one who placed me here, but I am on a rock surrounded by nothing.” She really didn’t want to get to close to the naked weirdo, but at least she had a safe haven.
“A moment, my dear.” The freak extended his hand and a bridge of rock flowed from in front of her to the other side of the chasm.
Okay. That was odd. She was either inhaling some kind of vapour in the cave or something akin to magic was occurring. Either that or he was one hell of a special effects artist.
“Come over, please.” He gestured with his hand for her to use the stone bridge.
“Are you insane? I have a fear of heights.” She crossed her arms over her breasts and stayed seated. He didn’t look happy. She had not seen the emotion on his face yet. Perhaps this scowl was cheer for him.
“You will cross the walkway, or I will come get you.”
“That won’t win you any courtship points.” Her insecurities were rising to the surface. Perhaps she had pushed him too far?
“I cannot begin the courtship until you have chosen between Ander and myself. Get over here,
now
.”
She conceded and rose to her feet. “Can you widen the walkway?” It was less than a foot wide and it was a long way down into the chasm.
“Gladly, my lady.” His brows drew together and the path doubled in size. Sweat beaded his brow and he looked slightly pale when he finished, but at last it was a solid two feet wide and she was able to set foot on it.
Scuttling would have been a good description of the method she used to cross the bridge, but it would lack a certain dignity. “Okay. I am over. Now what?”
“Thank you. Now, if you would accompany me, please?”
It was phrased as a question, but Fiona didn’t think she would like what would happen if she refused. He held out his hand for her to take and she took it in a courtly fashion, resting her hand on his wrist. In this manner, he led her through caverns, tunnels and, finally, a smaller alcove that had a bubbling pool of warm water.
Ander was next to the water. Chained to the wall and waiting. Still naked. Impressive. The cool air of the caverns was not having any effect. But if it was, oh boy.
“Fiona, please strip and extend your wrist.”
“What?”
Chapter 5
“I am not going to strip.”
“You are, or I will cut the clothing from your body.” The dagger was back in his hand and he waved it lightly in her direction. “I will enjoy it, but I doubt that you will. Especially since you will have nothing more to wear when you have finished tending to Ander.”
A gulp was all that was heard in the small cave, aside from the burbling of water. “Not with you watching, I won’t.”
Baenwik watched her, carefully mulling over her statement. “Fine. I will remove myself for three minutes, which should give you enough time to get into the water. That should be enough to cover your modesty.”
It was all he was going to give her so she agreed. “Done. But I still need light and it tends to leave when you do.”
“I will leave you some light.” He made a few arcane gestures and a ball of light spun in the air, over the churning water.
“Great. Get out.”
“You don’t mind Ander watching?” He was suspicious, his eyes narrowed.
“He has seen it all already, and besides, he’s unconscious.”
He looked her over from head to toe and nodded reluctantly. “I will be back in three minutes.”
With a sharp look at Ander, she took her equipment and hid it between her jeans and shirt. Her underwear she left on top. That would distract the pervert for a moment. Shoes and socks she left by the pile. With the horrible feeling he would catch her between the edge and the water, she jumped in and had just surfaced when Baenwik made his reappearance.
“Extend your wrist, please.”
He was walking around the pool and trying to watch both her and Ander at the same time. He needn’t have worried. She wasn’t coming out of the churning water with him there. Giving in, she extended her arm and, in seconds, a cool ribbon of silvery chain looped around her and locked.
He hitched her to the ring that currently held Ander.
She had enough play in the chain to reach anywhere in the pool. Just not out of it.
“You know what will happen to her if you escape.”
The bleary brunette nodded and slumped forward.
Totally unsympathetic, Baenwik shoved him into the water and let Fiona struggle to bring him to the surface. It was quite a struggle, he was solid muscle.
“He is in your care. I will leave you a light. You have one hour to see what you can do about him.” With a flexing of his own naked buttocks, he swept out of the cave.
She struggled with Ander for a moment until her feet were able to find a rocky shelf to deposit him. He was easier to move in the water than he would have been on land, but it still took a few minutes before he was settled in a way that guaranteed him not sliding back into the water. “Ander. Ander, wake up.” She was slapping his face lightly and his eyes eventually opened to meet her gaze.
“Fiona. You are so lovely.”
His voice was faint and she began to check his head for injuries. She found the gash that had caused the blood to matt his hair and she sighed in relief. Aside from his drowsiness, which probably indicated a concussion, there was no sign of additional swelling. His eyes were clear and focussed, and his speech was clear. She leaned forward to place her lips next to his ear in case Baenwik was listening. “Why does Baenwik think we are lovers?” His whisper sang across her nerves.
“Because that is what I told him.”
“Why?”
“So he wouldn’t kill you. If he loses the physical challenge, he will probably try to kill you anyway.”
Not good. “What is the challenge going to entail? Can I help?” She didn’t doubt for a moment that Baenwik would kill her if he lost. He had that air of arrogance to him, nothing or no one could keep him from his goal.
“Only by helping me recover my strength, so no.”
Okay, that was slightly offensive. “Why can’t I? What would you need me to do?” His hands tugged on her hair until she met him eye to eye.
“Me.”
“What?” The hoarse whisper was more than a worry about being overheard, it was a reaction to the body she was leaning against and the look in those eyes. They were dim with fatigue, but still looked at her like he had seen every part of her naked a thousand times, and he wanted to do it a thousand more.
“Do me.”
A quirk of a smile distracted her from the hypnotism of his gaze. “I fail to see how that will help anything, or is this some kind of last wish thing?”
“You know that some people have a particular magic, right?”
She knew that better than most, “Yes.”
“My particular magic translates sex into energy. The Silverwood Society sent me out to protect you and I ended up getting bashed on the head and drained of my power.”
“Uh, how did he do that?” Images flashed in her mind, none of them good.
“The dagger he is waving around. It created a temporary link between us. It is a slow leak of energy, but he is using far more than I had to start with. He is draining me dry and he will be right behind.”
“But, if what you say is even remotely true, and it is a helluva pick up line by the way,” his smile amused her. “Won’t he just gain more power if you get stronger?”
“Not if I get enough power to heal completely.”
“So, this is a fuck-me-if-you-want-to-live situation?” Her mouth twitched, but her hands went to his shoulders, massaging gently. His time on the wall had left knots in his muscles.
“More or less. I prefer to think of it as making love though.” He lay back and let the soothing heat of her hands mix with the pounding of the water, appearing almost asleep, and harmless.
Yeah, right. He was as harmless as a sleeping tiger. “Where do I start?” Seducing a man who was almost unconscious was new to her. He wasn’t going to press the seduction, but he wasn’t going to help her either.
“A kiss is always a good place to start.”
The rocky ledge he was on was wide enough to take her knees on either side. She slid into place and leaned down for a kiss. His mouth was cool, firm and tasted like honey. She started and pulled away. “How is it possible that you taste like honey?”
“Genetic gift. I have a cousin who claims to taste like chocolate, but you won’t be meeting him.”
The tiny flare of possession washed over her, but she didn’t care. She wanted another kiss. The second kiss was longer than the first and she felt a tingling in her nether regions almost immediately. His hands caressed her spine, stroking from shoulder to hip, over and over as she devoured his mouth.
She came up for air, gasping, and started to stroke his body as she knelt astride his hips. If it had to be done, she was going to get it over with quickly. She ran her fingers through his hair, careful to avoid the impact area, and was amazed at the length. It had looked so much shorter matted up. Taking a deep breath, she moved her body to line up her body with his below the water.
“You don’t need to hurry, Fiona.” His hands gripped her hips and kept her from sliding up and down on him.
“The faster you charge up, the faster we can look forward to getting out of here.”
“True, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself. You are out of practice.”
His fingers parted her petals and slid into her, working her body’s moisture. She was panting and squirming against his torso. His other hand curved around her buttocks and one dexterous finger made slow circles on her other entrance.
She was panting, but in control until Ander dipped his head and took one of her nipples in his mouth. When his teeth came to grip her tightly, she shuddered and hissed as her body clenched around his fingers.
She put both of her hands on Ander’s shoulders and glared at him. He was glowing with amusement. Or perhaps it was a sign of his power. Either way, there was a moonlight quality to the glow that enveloped him.
“You don’t need to rush to give me what I need. I can absorb your release and use it for my own.”
He was stroking her back and sides from shoulder to hip again. She found it as arousing as she had the first time. Keeping eye contact, she lowered her hips until he was firmly lodged at her entrance. He didn’t say or move anything. She would have guessed he was afraid she would change her mind.
Slowly, in deference to his size, she rocked herself onto him. Each milestone beyond the head of his cock was measured by his expression. She was not fully seated, but she had as much of him as she could take, and that was when she started to move.
Her body stuttered at first, trying to find a beat she could keep. She worked, twisted, rocked, shifted and squirmed on him until she found the rhythm that was hers. His eyes widened and he kept their gazes connected as her body’s beat shifted faster. Rising and falling on him drove her further and further into his embrace until her breasts were rubbing against his chest with every move and his buttocks were bracketed by her thighs.
She wasn’t so much riding him as wrapped around him. This time was for him. She moved arched, clenched and twisted against him to bring him pleasure. And he was watching her face while she did it. The moonlight was now streaming from him. His glow was outshining the ball that Baenwik had left behind.
Sweat was pouring from Fiona, from both the heat and exertion. She came again while riding him, stopping for a minute to freeze mid thrust, then she was all business. He had to have his turn or this would never be over.
“What is it, Fiona? What do you want?”
“I want you to fuck me until you cum.” His eyes widened in shock, but with more strength than she though he possessed, he lifted to her edge of the pool and shifted her legs to drape over his shoulders. Standing on the floor of the pool, he had the leverage to drive into her until she squeaked out again as she came. Her arousal had increased to the point where he was buried to the hilt and he took full advantage of it, slamming into her with a riot of thrusts until he shuddered and called her name as the fairy light blazed out of his every pore.