5
T his was absolute torture.
Being with her had been amazing, but not being fully with her was painful. It took all of his strength to not make love to her. The taste of her orgasm on his tongue was so sweet. His cock was hard just thinking about how she came on his mouth, her body grinding against him. All he wanted to do was bury himself deep inside her tight little pussy, but he couldn’t.
Stupid stipulations.
He watched her all night, sleeping peacefully. Easing himself from the bed, so he didn’t disturb her sleep, he watched her as his heart swelled. She was here.
She was home.
With him. And she still desired him. She stood up to him and wasn’t afraid.
Only, he couldn’t let his heart get overly complacent by letting his guard down. Every time he did that in the past, he’d lost her. And he only had to put up with this for a year. After the year was up, when he won and his realm and Cali were no longer threatened, then all bets were off. She’d be safe and his forever.
He crept from the room, the scent of her still permeating his skin. His cock ached, unquenched need still burning through his blood.
This is getting ridiculous.
Cillian snuck away to his bathroom and the moment he walked in through the doors, the tub filled with hot water, just the way he liked it.
He undressed and sank beneath the warm water. Closing his eyes, he pictured her naked, legs splayed wide on the bed. Her bare pink pussy wet and waiting for him.
He palmed his cock, gripping it, and began to stroke down the hard length of it. The warm water was wet and felt like he was inside her. He quickened the pace of his strokes, grunting as he came in the water.
“Oh,” Cali said, softly.
He turned and saw her standing at the door. A sheet wrapped around her naked body.
“Ah, pet.” He stood up from the bath, wrapping a towel around his waist, not quickly, as he was allowing Cali to drink in the full sight of him naked. “I thought you were asleep?”
“I was, but then…you were gone and I felt scared,” she stammered, her gaze locked on his cock, which pleased him.
He tried to hide the smile of satisfaction.
“Would you like a bath?” he asked, the tub instantly filling with clean water, scented with oils that he knew she would like.
A blush tinged her cheeks. “I would love one but…”
“Ah, pet, there is no reason to be shy. Not with me. Not after I’ve tasted you.”
Cali let the sheet drop and he drank in the sight of her. It made his blood burn with lust. Cali quickly climbed into the tub and slowly sank beneath the bubbles, closing her eyes. Cillian crept to the side of the tub and swirled his fingers in the water, watching her.
So, this is your amusement, eh?” she teased.
“Not completely, but this is very pleasing,” he agreed.
“I do have a question.” She hesitated, biting her lower lip.
“Why I didn’t claim you?” Which was a nicer and less crass way of asking why he didn’t fuck her, especially when he very much wanted to.
She nodded. “No one has…well…you know.”
He grinned lazily. “You never asked me. A wraith I may be, but I don’t need to force myself on women. That gives me no pleasure.”
“But reaping souls does?” She teased again, splashing him slightly.
“It’s all about power,” he replied.
“The root of all evil.”
“That’s money, pet, and a mortal consequence.”
“Souls are currency, are they not?”
He frowned, because she was right and he wasn’t enjoying this line of questioning. He stood and, with a snap of his fingers, dressed himself again. “I’ll leave you to your bath.”
As much as he wanted to stick around and drink in the sight of her languishing naked, he didn’t want to divulge too much information, because if she knew, her simple mortal mind could be easily read and easily broken. Gotzone the seraphim had pretty much confirmed that when they healed Cali.
As he made his way down to his throne room, Honk came scurrying up the hall in a panic, their beetle black eyes wide and their tuft of hair standing on end.
“Sire, your mother awaits you.”
Cillian groaned. “My mother?”
“The banshee. Yes.” Honk wrung their hands together nervously.
Cillian grunted and balled his fists, but before he opened the throne room door, he turned to a cowering Honk. “Honk, make sure the mistress Cali has all she needs.”
Honk bowed. “Yes, sire.”
Cillian took a deep breath and opened the throne room doors. His mother sat in his chair on the dais, her pointed chin resting on her hand. Her eyes white, without pupils, prevented him from knowing how she was feeling, and her usually flowing silver hair was tied back in a plait.
Aoife’s line descended from his mother’s sister, so there were some similarities there, but thankfully Aoife and he both took after their human father, bastard that he was. Aoife was nothing like her diabolical witch mother or her great, great, great-aunt, his mother. It’s why he tolerated Aoife.
“Mother, what a surprise,” he said sarcastically.
“Oh, come now, I know your imp Honk told you of my presence. We don’t have to exchange pleasantries.”
“Fine. What’re you doing here then, Mother? You haven’t visited me in years.”
She shrugged. “I heard things.”
“What kind of things?” Cillian asked, crossing his arms.
“The human,” his mother hissed, sitting up straight.
He shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His mother’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t play games with me! She’s here, in this realm. Reincarnated once more. There is powerful magic to be had with that kind of bond.”
“Is there?”
“Don’t be coy and flippant with me.” His mother rose off the dais and floated down to him. “You’ve been playing with time, all for a human.”
“You forget, I’m part human too. You had a penchant for your great, great, great-niece’s mate. Remember? So, I suppose, like mother, like son.”
His mother sneered, baring her fangs. “Be careful with the power it yields. You may lose her yet.”
“Is that a threat?” Cillian snarled.
His mother smiled, cold and calculating. “No. Just a warning. You don’t ken what you are playing with, Cillian.” With that final warning, she vanished, turning into vapors and drifting away.
He cursed under his breath. She knew Cali was here and how she was connected to him. His mother’s words were absolutely a threat and he couldn’t help but wonder if it was Gootch or Elodi who had betrayed him?
Either way, it mattered not. He’d seek his revenge and in the end they’d all pay, but for now, he had to protect Cali. He couldn’t lose her again.
Cali was sad, just a for a moment, when Cillian left, and then she was annoyed, because he was so stubborn. Any time she questioned him, just a little too much, he would take off. The conversation would be over. He was so closed-minded.
Of course, the last time a conversation had abruptly ended had been one of the most pleasurable moments of her life. Just thinking about his tongue licking her made her body tingle with anticipation, because she didn’t know how soul-shattering amazing it could be to have that done to her. And then she’d watched him stroking himself, and it had made her throb with need. He said that he wouldn’t claim her unless she asked, and seeing him this morning in the bath and his naked body, it made her want to beg him for it.
Stop thinking about it.
As much as she wished she could lie in this bathwater, that didn’t seem to cool, she was going to turn into a wrinkly prune, and she had decided when she woke, she was going to explore more of this realm. Even on her own.
The little creatures or goblins or whatever scurrying around here seemed to cow to to her just as much as they did Cillian. She actually felt safe in this realm. Although, she wouldn’t go far and she wouldn’t go beyond the stone maze, but she wanted to keep busy. She wasn’t going to spend a year locked away in Cillian’s bedchamber, waiting for her freedom.
She wasn’t one for sitting still for long.
Cali got out of the bath, dried herself off and tied back her long hair. Then she pulled on her clothes and walked to the door to do some exploring. The moment the door opened, one of the little goblins jumped from the shadows, causing her to startle.
“My apologies, mistress,” it said. “I am here to serve you.”
“You’re Honk, right?” Cali remembered them from before.
“Yes, mistress. What do you require?”
“I would like to go for a walk. Would you like to show me how to get to your…to the gardens?” Although, she really wouldn’t call a bunch of dead brown bushes a garden, but at least it was outside.
“Yes, mistress.” Honk nodded vehemently. “Follow. Please.”
Honk scurried along the corridor of the bleak stone castle that Cillian called home. It was hard to keep up with them. It wasn’t long before she was practically jogging to keep the pace Honk liked to operate at.
“Here, mistress. The gardens.” Honk bowed with a flourish as she stepped under an archway to the place where she and Cillian walked around before. The horrible topiaries of anguished mythical monsters, but she guessed in reality they weren’t really mythical beings at all.
They were very much real.
Honk kept a pace behind her. She could hear them scuttling along. They were actually kind of cute.
“Honk, did you create one of these topiaries?” She was curious and she also wanted to talk to someone.
“I did,” Honk replied, scurrying up beside her. “This one in fact, mistress.”
It wasn’t one she had seen before. It was a unicorn and didn’t look like it was in too much agony. It was one of the less grotesque ones.
“Oh, the unicorn. You did that?”
Honk beamed at it with pride. “My mother was a unicorn, my father is the same as the master’s, but blood did not mix well and Honk would’ve died had it not been for the master.”
Cali blinked a couple of times. “You were a unicorn human hybrid?”
Honk nodded. “But I could not live. Father was evil human, trying to control magic. I died and killed my unicorn mother.”
There was a hint of sadness in Honk’s little voice, their scaly tail flicking back and forth. There was no way she would guess that Honk was part unicorn, but she never really got a look at them before, and now she could see the subtle elongation of their face, the tiny nub of a horn.
“So, you died and Cillian saved you?” Cali asked.
Honk nodded. “Yes. Saved me, but other half siblings were not so lucky. Some died, lost into the Styx, and then others, he turned because they displeased him. Honk he saved from mother’s dying womb.”
There was complete admiration in Honk’s voice for Cillian, but there was also sadness as they gazed up at the topiary of the unicorn. A longing that she knew now, well. There was always a part of her that longed for a loving and caring mother. Growing up with her ultrareligious zealot parents, she never really felt loved or like she belonged. Now, she knew there was someone out there who thought she was dead, that was mourning her.
Maybe a mother who would love her.
“You can always find out.”
Cali recognized that voice and it sent a ripple of dread down her spine. Honk squealed as if in pain and ran away, completely bolted and left her alone in the presence of the being she had originally sold her soul to. The one Simon had conjured up.
Gootch.
He was brown and moist, like a rotting sponge or slug thing as he slithered across the pavement toward her, leaving a trail of slime.
Her skin crawled, and she backed up against the unicorn topiary, because there was nowhere else to run or turn. She felt trapped, an energy was holding her captive there.
“What’re you doing here?” she questioned, trying to put on some false bravado. Of course, the last time that happened, that elf princess almost tore her scalp off and threatened to kill her.
“Just checking in on an asset,” Gootch replied, and she immediately got the insinuation that he was checking in on her, but she wasn’t his anymore. Her soul belonged to Cillian and she was ever so grateful for that.
“I don’t believe I belong to you any longer,” Cali replied.
Gootch grinned. “For now.”
She didn’t like the way he said that. It sent a chill down her spine, and then she felt a scratch from the topiary, the sting as it sliced through her skin, and she glanced down to see a bead of blood.
Gootch’s eyes lit up was as if it were Christmas and he grabbed her arm, painfully. “Virgin blood? So, he is living up to his end of the bargain.”
“Bargain?”
Gootch chuckled, but wouldn’t let go of her. “You don’t realize that he has things at stake do you, or that I wouldn’t have stipulations? He paid the price for you.”
It was a cold slap to the face, but really no surprise, because she signed a deal with Cillian too. “I don’t care. In a year I’m free.”
Gootch let go of his grip on her. “Who says that?”
“Cillian. It was the terms of our contract. He doesn’t demand eternity from me.”
“Oh, he doesn’t, does he?” Gootch chuckled, more like a gurgling sound. “Well, he might not want you, but I can relieve you of your magical blood. Your virginity.”
Cali winced and closed her eyes and could feel Gootch’s fetid breath on her neck.
“Gootch!”
The roar echoed across the courtyard. She opened her eyes to Cillian standing there. His black fingernails had elongated to talons, his eyes burned like red flames, and horns had erupted from his scaly gray skin. It was terrifying, but also a relief. Behind Cillian stood Honk, wringing their hands as they peeked out from behind Cillian’s calf.
Gootch let go of his grip on Cali and moved away. It was then Honk dashed across the courtyard and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward Cillian, and she had no problems being pulled by this little goblin unicorn thing.
“I meant no harm, Cillian. I was just checking in on things. I heard that Cali had found out about her mother and I was going to offer some assistance.”
Cillian snorted. “You mean by tempting her to leave and break the deal?”
Gootch shrugged. “Perhaps.”
“You never said anything about my mother,” Cali snapped back. “You were going to force yourself on me!”
Cillian growled. “She is not yours. She is mine.”
“Only for a short time,” Gootch growled, his shit-like skin glowing a darker shade of brown-black along with his eyes. “When this is mine, I will take her."
“She is mine,” Cillian roared.
“Then you better relieve her of that virgin blood. Others will want it and you can’t protect her always.” There was a burst of flames and Gootch disappeared.
Cali’s heart returned to a normal beat. “Deal?”
Cillian didn’t respond, but his nails shrunk back into their nail beds, though his horns were still very prominent. “What were you doing out here alone?”
“I wasn’t alone. I had Honk and if it wasn’t for them, well…I don’t want to think about it.” Cali smiled down at Honk. “Besides, you should be nicer to your half brother.”
Cillian’s eye color returned to normal and he looked at her quizzically, and then down to a cowering Honk. “You told her?”
“Yes, sire. She asked which topiary was mine and I showed her my mother,” Honk replied nervously and pointed at the unicorn.
“Huh, I guess I did forget you were part unicorn at one point.” Cillian sighed and then walked over to the topiary, staring at it curiously. “Cali, did you bleed on this?”
“I scratched myself.” She held up her arm.
“It’s growing a flower,” Cillian remarked, amazed.
“A flower!” Honk exclaimed with glee. “Sire!”
Cillian rolled his eyes. “Honk, don’t get over excited.”
Cali found the whole exchange kind of cute. “You need to thank Honk for saving me.”
Cillian frowned. “I suppose a thanks is in order, Honk. You did well.”
Honk’s smile wobbled. “Thank you, sire.”
“Now, be gone. Scuttle off somewhere else,” Cillian growled.
Honk squeaked and took off.
Cillian continued fingering the flower blooming on the bush.
“You need to be nicer to your siblings.”
“I am nice!” Cillian stated. “My shit of a father wasn’t so nice. He’d bang anything that was magic.”
“Gross. Honk said something about trying to control magic.”
“Yes. When my sister Aoife was born, he was going to kill her when she came of age to take her magic, but I took care of him to protect her.”
“He’s dead?” Cali asked.
Cillian nodded. “Very much so. Like I said, I’m the one who killed him.”
For one brief moment she forgot what he was and who he was. He was not a fairy-tale prince. He was cold and very secretive, and yet she was completely drawn to him. She didn’t know why, but she was, and then there was the way he pleasured her. Although he was mercurial, he did take care of her in his own way.
“Gootch said that others will be drawn to my blood. Is that true?”
Cillian nodded. “Virgin blood is potent. It’s why your husband was able to make such a deal with Gootch in the first place.”
“Well, then why don’t you just take my virginity and be done with it?” It was an honest question, but one that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter wildly, because who better than Cillian to take her virginity? She wanted him to. He had been so gentle with her last night. Brought her so much pleasure.
She’d be with him for a year and she wanted to give that to him, because the truth of the matter was, there was no one she could really trust and why not hand it over to the wraith who was going to protect her. If there was magic in her untouched blood, she didn’t want it.
Cillian walked toward her slowly. “I do not take. I have told you this. You need to ask me.”
Her pulse was racing wildly and she licked her dry lips, certain with her decision. She didn’t want other beings like Gootch coming around. She didn’t want her blood, her innocence, to be used as a commodity any longer.
She was done with it.
“Ask.”
“Yes,” Cillian replied. “You need to ask. Are you asking me, Cali?”
She nodded. “I am asking you, Cillian. I want you to claim me. I want you to be the first.”