by Elissa Daye
“Enough!” Newyn pushed the men away and blocked off their path to her body. “Perhaps you need a reminder?” Newyn gestured to Lelah, who came behind Lysandra to undo the knotted velvet ties around her back. Her breasts swung free from their imprisonment and the crowd went wild with more bidding. Her skirt was split down the sides before it was peeled from her body. She felt the cool night air cover her like a frozen blanket, but still she stood her ground, even while haziness was running circles in her mind.
Lysandra scanned the crowd around her, feeling a plea of escape build up inside her cloudy mind. She saw a man in the back that curdled her blood; his oily black hair swept over a face shadowed with a violent lust that was frightening. It was clear that he desired her and he had plans to follow through with the darkest passions hidden within his eyes. Lysandra felt a twinge of despair. This man was amidst a group that sat secretively in the back of the room. Lysandra could not put her finger on it, but there was definitely something different about these men. While they appeared to be bidding together, this dark-haired man was definitely the leader. Lysandra swallowed the air in her throat and prayed that there must have been some mistake, but as Newyn ended the bidding the scarred man came up to the front to claim her.
“Wait.” A man stood up from a group further away. “I’ll pay double what he offered.”
Lysandra saw the deadly glares exchanged from one man to the other. There was something much deeper going on between these two men, and for some reason Lysandra found herself smack dab in the middle of it. The hair raised on the back of her neck as she waited to hear what Newyn would say, though she need not have worried. Newyn was more than happy to take more money for her.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, unless you can beat it?” Newyn awaited the reply of the first bidder.
“You can have her for now, Aiden Quinn, but I‘ll have her someday, on that you can rely.” He spat on the ground and returned to his chair.
Aiden Quinn? Lysandra looked over at him, but it was hard to see his face in the shadowy light. She wondered what was going to happen now, but before she could make any sense of the moment she found herself being jostled away from the crowd and down through a small hallway leading to the secluded rooms
Lelah pushed her through the doorway and smiled. “Well, it looks like my plan worked out well. You’ll be happy to know that your time with us has come to an end. I’m sure your mystery man will be along here shortly. Make yourself presentable. And do try to relax, dear. Have some more wine.” Lelah gestured to the table near the bed, then left her there quietly.
Chapter 11
Lysandra looked in the mirror and was shocked to find her body naked before it, for the last few moments were lost to her. She had heard the ripping of fabric and felt it pulling away earlier, but for some reason it never registered to her that she had been left standing in front of men that were so eagerly ready to lay into her innocent flesh. She looked all over the room for something to cover herself with and was not surprised to find that there was no such thing. The only thing that came close was the sheet on the bed.
Eying the door restlessly, Lysandra walked carefully over to the bed and crawled beneath the crisp layers. He could come in here at any time. What would she do? Did she have any choice but to give into his claims over her body? Lysandra saw the bottle of wine on the stand near the bed and poured a glass for herself. She raised it to her lips and drank the searing liquid as fast as it would go down. She knew that whatever happened next, she needed extra courage to survive it. She poured another glass and was almost halfway done with it when the door opened.
He walked in, this Aiden Quinn, almost as if he had prowled the outside of the door for a moment before he decided to enter. Lysandra peered at him cautiously from the bed. His hair was clipped short, but had outgrown its style as small, black curls spread across his head like a grapevine winding rebelliously across a trellis. His face was covered in slight stubble that cast a small shadow around his strong lips. Underneath his white tunic and tight breeches she could see that his physique was well muscled. She could tell he was a man of action, one that worked hard to show such a chiseled body. But all of these perfections were not what truly captivated her. It was the deep hazel of his eyes when he approached that made her pause. The eyes were supposed to be the window of the soul, and his were reflecting a mysterious desire that was somehow directed toward her.
Lysandra’s breath caught in her throat as he stood in front of the bed. A carnal desire surged through him and it was so intense she could feel it even though he came no closer to her. She took a deep breath and reached out her hand to touch his. When she did, a flash of something vividly awakening ran through her mind at the same time. This man, Aiden Quinn, was not like the other men she had run into before. There was something special about him, something hidden, yet so close to the surface that she could almost feel it.
She felt his hand reach out and touch her face so gently that she had to open her eyes to prove that it had happened. When she looked into his eyes another image popped into her head. It was the memory of what her mother had said about finding her one true soul mate. Her mother had told her that it would feel as if the world stopped spinning the first time she looked in his eyes. Her mother was right. The world seemed to slow around her, the passage of time non-existent, just the silence that settled between them as they looked deeply into each other’s eyes. He was special.
She closed her eyes and listened to the rhythm of her heart pounding in her chest. What was wrong with her? While her mother had told her she would know her mate, she never implied that her body would start to hum in a delicious melody even before the ballad was played. Simply touching this man had made her blood boil. Lysandra glanced over at the wine bottle and realized at once that Lelah must have put some kind of exotic drug into it. She really could not be sure if her instincts were accurate right now or if the drugs were enhancing some internal drive that she had never activated before.
“What is your name?”
Lysandra looked at him through heavy eyelids and heard the husky whisper leave her lips. “Lysandra.”
“Lysandra? Lovely.” Aiden gathered her closer to him, chuckling when she desperately attempted to cover her body. “I’ve already seen every inch of you, Lysandra. No need to be shy.”
Lysandra let the covers drop around her at his challenge. She felt his hands knead into her back to get her even closer to where he stood, leaving her sitting on her knees on the bed in front of him. Aiden brought his head down to hers. Lysandra turned away from the contact, but his arm held her close. When she felt the heat of his lips touch hers she closed her eyes as her breath caught in her chest. She had never been kissed before, or had she? The fire of his lips gelded pathways to the desire that was gently rising within her. A soft murmur escaped her lips and he growled against her then extracted himself.
Lysandra looked away as she struggled to control the racing beat of her heart. Could he feel the heat rising within her? It made her ache in places she did not even know existed. She lifted her head to look at the mouth that had seared her own and raised her eyes to his once more.
“Relax, Lysandra. I’m not going to eat you. I promise.” He raised a hand to caress her face and she was surprised that it was not covered in the same rough calluses as the other men. He lowered her slowly onto the bed and she felt a hint of panic screaming its way to the surface. When he trailed innocent kisses down her neck she reminded herself to relax.
Every place he touched, every inch he moved was sending tingling waves of an unknown force within her. It seemed a lifetime between the curve of her neck and the valley of her breasts. When Aiden captured the small, tight bud of her nipple in his mouth she arched achingly against him. She felt the tip of her breast form into a heightened peak as he started to draw it deeper into his mouth. Lysandra felt a wave of something unreal start to rise within her. When he stopped his ministrations on her breast, the wave collapsed harmlessly around her. She was left feel
ing disappointed, as if something much more exciting was just under the rippling waters, but not yet reached. She almost murmured her displeasure with this when he coaxed her other nipple firmly between his lips. She felt him tweak a finger across the first nipple before he started to move his mouth around her, almost as if he were trying to drink her in one drop at a time.
Lysandra arched her back into him and felt him groan against her breast. She did not know what unseen force made her feel like writhing beneath him, but suddenly her body was not hers to control. The desire flooded through her like a flash of steam rising from hot metal cooling in the hot summer rain. She had no idea what was happening to her, but she did not fear it. She did not fear Aiden above her as he continued his exploration of her body.
Lips and hands moved further down and it was all she could do not to cry out in ecstasy as the energy that had pooled deep inside her came crashing to the shores. Aiden groaned aloud as he felt her legs writhing uncontrollably underneath him. She was wild with desire and he was ready to fill her up and send her flying over the cliffs.
Lysandra watched as Aiden reached up to remove the white tunic that clung to his body. When it was removed it revealed the muscle-rippled chest that its shape had hinted at. She saw a small patch of black hair between his erect nipples and ached to run her fingers through it. His body was rock hard from the strongly sculptured shoulders down the patch of fur that led to breeches that had grown even tighter against him. He reached down and peeled the breeches off and, when she saw his manhood spring to life, she sucked in a deep breath. She forced herself to look away from him before he caught her staring so wickedly.
Lysandra felt him move his hands between her legs, and his gentle tug as he persuaded them apart. When she looked up at him it was as if what he was doing and saying to her was in slow motion, too slow for her to clearly understand. Her mind was so foggy that there was no way she could react. “This might hurt, Lysandra.”
It finally registered in her head what was occurring the moment he breached her maiden head. She cried out in pain, a sound that instantly wounded Aiden’s ears, and he stopped in his tracks to let her body adjust to the size of his shaft. Lysandra breathed in slow, deep breaths, trying to wake herself up from this moment, but when he started to rain more kisses down her throat to the small area where the curve of her shoulders met the base of her neck, she felt the urge to pull him deeper within her. She felt her insides squeeze him tight and, when he sucked in a breath, she knew he was equally affected by the moment.
Aiden moved slowly within her again and, this time, when her voice left her mouth, it was clear that the pain of moments before was long forgotten. She felt the wave of desire rising higher within her. She rode the waves, crashing into the shore with such force that her head was spinning her faster and farther away from the reality before her.
Aiden slowed his movements again, this time letting the fever pitch create smaller fires within every piece of her body. The gentle touch, the trail of lips on sweat slicked skin, and a foreign word uttered in her ear sent her over a new cliff. When she reached her biggest climax Aiden rode over the top with her. When they had both finished he collapsed on top of her, hot, sweaty, and heavy as the life faded quickly from his face. Lysandra panicked for a moment, thinking that the exertions of the night had quite done him in, but when she heard the small snores leave his mouth she realized that he had just fallen asleep. She rolled him off of her and yanked the sheets over them.
Lysandra lay there in the dark, listening for his breathing as she saw every rise and fall of his chest. She curled up away from him and closed her eyes. Lelah was right. She was starting a whole new life, and if every day ended like today she should consider herself to be quite lucky. She could mourn her lot in life or she could do what she always had—make the best of it. She fell asleep with a faint throbbing between her legs as a constant reminder of the passion she had just tasted with the man who had purchased her like a slave, yet used her so deliciously.
Chapter 12
When Lysandra woke in the morning she appeared to be alone. There was still a slight imprint where Aiden’s body had marked the bed, but the sheets were icy to the touch. He had been up for quite some time. When her eyes moved across the room she found him sitting next to the fire as he fed small chunks of wood to the flame. He was already dressed in the white tunic, dark breeches, and calf-length brown leather boots.
“Good morning, Lysandra.”
She noticed that he spoke without turning, as if he had heard the very slightest movements of her hands twisting in the sheets. She looked over at him timidly and heaved the sheets closer to her body. Her head was pounding like horse hooves on concrete and vivid flashes of last night’s events pooled to the forefront of her mind. She had been well and truly possessed by this man and she knew her body may never again be her own.
“You don’t talk much, do you?” When he turned his face was lit up with questions he dared not ask her.
“I was trying to figure out what I am supposed to call you.” Did she call him lord or master? It was not like she had been trained in the social niceties of how personal property was supposed to behave. The thought that their daughter would one day be sold into slavery had never occurred to her parents before, and why should it? It was not a practice that happened every day.
“You must have heard Terryn call me Aiden Quinn last night. I am the Lord of Blackwolf Keep. You may call me Aiden.”
Lysandra had never heard of Blackwolf Keep or of Aiden Quinn before last night. It was as if her home at Elkliss was lifetimes away. “Aiden? Are you sure that is allowed? Is that the way property should address its owner?” It was an innocent question, but it seemed to infuriate Aiden to the point that he swore under his breath.
He ran his fingers through his hair in deep thought as he contemplated how to answer her. Aiden turned back to the fire, deep in thought once again. How should he answer her? He had never been in this particular circumstance before. His primal nature had never called him so close to the forefront. He had followed Terryn here, assuming the instincts that drove him were to corner Terryn on the way out of the building, but now he was not so sure. When he had seen Lysandra the animal inside had taken over and compelled him forward, unable to resist. He had to have her, but even he knew at the time that just having her for a moment would never have been enough. Now that she belonged to him he had no idea what to do with her. “For now, call me Aiden.”
Lysandra lowered her eyes from his gaze. “But I am to be your property?”
“Yes. You belong to me.” Aiden came closer to where she sat on the bed, garments hanging over his arm, irritation grating in his voice.
His tone grazed her ears like metal on stone and she winced at its delivery. She dared not look up at him. He had been immensely considerate in her deflowering, but she could see that there was much more underneath this man that she had not seen, something primal and scary. He was upset and it worried her in the deepest of her insecurities. Had she done something wrong? “I’m sorry.” The whisper came out timidly from her mouth and she looked up at him with tears skimming the surface of her eyelids.
“Get dressed.” He handed her the clothes in his arms and watched her as she put on each piece.
Lysandra felt his eyes warming every inch of her body in recollection of the passion that had trailed from the top of her head to the very tip of her feet. She fumbled with buttons, twisted ties, and almost lost her courage before him.
Aiden looked at her perceptively. This was not the same woman that had given herself so freely to him last night. There was something different about her in the light of day. She was lacking the spark that had drawn her to him so easily last night. “Do you need help with that?”
Lysandra’s head snapped to attention and she saw the threat of a challenge within his eyes. She gathered her wits about her and looked him straight in the eye with a shred of defiance working its way to the surface. “I’m quite capable, thank you
.”
Aiden was relieved to see part of the spark back in her eyes. If she was going to survive among his people she would need every bit of confidence that she could muster. “Get on with it then.”
Lysandra’s nose crinkled at his command and she let out a huff of air. She muttered under her breath about pushy men who had no idea how long it took to get into the layers of clothes that the world required in order for her to be deemed acceptable. She finally tied a sash of cloth around her waist and stood up before him.
“Turn around.” Aiden could see Lysandra’s teeth biting the bottom of her lip to keep from blurting out the retort that was brimming beneath. He chuckled aloud and coughed discreetly in his hand.
“I’m sorry. Were you just laughing at me?” Lysandra was deeply annoyed with this man who ordered her around like some common serf. She was about to tell him where he could stick that laugh when she remembered that this man now controlled her future.
Aiden wagged a finger at her. “Ah-ah-ah. Think before you speak, my dear. We leave for Blackwolf Keep at once.”
Lysandra followed Aiden out of the room; her eyes shot well hidden daggers at his back. How could this man be the same man who had wooed her under the cover of night? It was clear that Aiden was an enigma and she soon found herself curious about the man who had become the highest bidder for the rights to possess her. Why? He did not look like he needed any help finding a companion. He was quite handsome, which was even clearer by the rays of the first morning light. He was simply breathtaking. She should find herself very fortunate for the path carved out before her, but it was hard to do so when she did not know what plans this man had for her.
They traveled together for days. Each night when it was time for bed she slept within his safe embrace and wondered what would happen next. And each night he fell asleep next to her without making any advances while she slept curled up next to him. Never knowing what he was going to ask of her ate at her nerves and she was starting to get jumpy at the very sound of his voice. When they were just miles away from his keep she relaxed against him on his horse.