The pressure on her wrists is released, the uninvited hand gone. Confused, she pushes herself vertical, using the side table for much needed support. On the floor at her feet: Fawn. Blood is oozing from her temple, her blonde hair covered in the viscous crimson fluid. Standing over her: Pet, holding a brass fireplace poker.
Another thud: Pet drops the poker to the floor, her hands shaking. Before she follows the murder weapon down, Coralie wriggles free from the belt and catches her, holding her tight.
“It’s all right.” She peppers Pet’s head with kisses. “You’re brilliant. You’re perfect. You’re so brave, and I love you so much.”
Pet sobs into Coralie’s bosom as Liora runs from the room, returning minutes later flanked by the rest of the High Council, Diana at the forefront of the group.
“Well, what have we here?” Diana surveys the scene.
“Don’t hurt her.” Coralie holds Pet protectively. “She was defending me.”
“From what?” Diana upturns both palms.
Coralie knows how unlikely the words sound before they leave her lips, but she says them anyway. “Fawn was going to force herself on me.”
“Utter nonsense.” Liora folds her arms. “I was loaning Fawn to her. I was going to watch. You know what she’s like. Then Pet barged in, in a jealous rage, and attacked my darling Fawn.”
“You lying bitch,” Coralie growls.
“Who do you believe?” Liora asks Diana directly. “You believe that Coralie was about to be forced? Or that she wanted a quickie threesome and her untethered companion got out of control? Just look at what happened at the dinner table. Pet attacked Fawn for no reason.”
Diana only has to mull things over for a few seconds. “I’m sorry.” She sets her own companion on Pet. “I’ve warned you before, Coralie: you have to keep your companion under control at all times.”
Pet is summarily wrenched away by Diana’s muscular, boyish companion as two other Mistresses restrain Coralie, parting the lovers by force.
“No!” Coralie protests, reaching desperately for Pet, grasping nothing but air. “Please don’t do this to her! Don’t punish her for loving me!”
Her use of the L word triggers a round of cruel snickers through the group.
“She acted without order and killed another companion.” Diana prepares to strip Pet of her collar. “For that, the punishment is expulsion.”
Coralie flits her eyes to Pet and gauges her reaction to the news, searching her pained expression for even the slightest hint that such a discharge from the coven might be welcome.
She finds none.
Consumed by fright, Pet shrieks and fights Diana off, desperate to retain her bond to Coralie, and Coralie floods with relief. Satisfied—and gladdened—that Pet’s heart truly lies with her, she wastes no further second and calls Diana off.
“You can’t strip her,” she growls venomously. “To do so would be a gross violation of our coven law.”
“How do you suppose that?” Diana snorts.
“Because I’m pregnant.” Coralie silences the room with her declaration. “It’s a companion’s duty to protect her unborn child—at all costs and by any means necessary. Pet did nothing wrong. Whether I requested Fawn’s attentions or not is of no consequence in that. She saw a threat to me, and she acted upon it.”
Skeptical about this news, Diana summons Coralie near and presses a palm to her stomach, feeling the energy of newly conceived life emanating from within.
“Congratulations,” she tenders begrudgingly. “It seems that Pet’s earned her place.”
“Of course she has.” Coralie swats Diana away, having never doubted the fecundity of her mate. “Now unhand my loyal companion. I need her with me.”
Without even so much as a token apology, no matter how disingenuous, Pet is granted a reprieve and is summarily released. Still petrified, she dashes into Coralie’s open arms, seeking refuge in the comforting warmth of her nurturing breast.
“Darling, you’re safe now.” Coralie hugs her tight. “I won’t let anyone take you away from me.”
Once calm has been well enough restored—the other Mistresses retiring to the drawing room amidst Liora’s avid protests—Pet glides a hand over the small feminine swell of Coralie’s abdomen, envisioning the tiny miracle contained therein. Lacking permission to speak, she peers up at Coralie, her head cocked questioningly.
“It’s real, my love.” Coralie nods, holding her hand in place. “In a few short months, we’ll welcome our first baby into the world. How does that make you feel? You’ve sired your first child and given me something very precious.”
Pet doesn’t need words to express how that makes her feel. She sinks deeper into Coralie’s embrace and sighs contentedly, her prominent erection pressed between them.
EPILOGUE
Twenty years later …
Unable to sleep, negligee-clad, heavily pregnant Coralie sits at the head of the High Council dining table in the dead of night, the room bathed in pearly moonlight spilling in through the naked windows. At forty-eight, she’s no less breathtakingly beautiful than she was in her youth, but age has brought the addition of a few creases beside her eyes, some laugh lines, and her jet black hair is now aided by a bottle.
Cutting through the serene silence, the padding of hurried feet heralds Pet’s arrival. She appears in the open doorway fresh out of bed, wearing only one of Coralie’s satin blouses, lopsided and hastily buttoned, barely protecting her modesty.
Palpably distraught from having woken alone, she breathes a sigh of relief to find Coralie safe and well.
“It’s all right, my darling,” Coralie calls out to her, assuaging her distress. “Come to me.” She lays a hand on her round belly. “Your baby woke me, that’s all. I came here to think.”
Ten years her junior, thirty-eight-year-old Pet has yet to develop any gray in her hair, but she’s undoubtedly matured. With her bangs grown out and her hair tied back in a braid, her pretty face no longer has anywhere to hide. Not that she ever wants to. Not anymore.
Concerned for the wellbeing of mother and unborn child, and eagerly awaiting the birth of her latest progeny, she pats her own flat stomach and points to Coralie, wondering if she’s about to go into labor.
“Soon.” Coralie beckons her closer. “Sit with me. It won’t be long now.”
Pet smothers a yawn, rubs her sleepy eyes, and kneels on the red velvet cushion at Coralie’s feet, nuzzling and caressing her tummy.
“You’re so attentive.” Coralie guides her hand to feel the movement of their kicking baby. “Is it any wonder that I’m still so absolutely head over heels for you?”
Purring, Pet drops a loving kiss on Coralie’s firm stomach, then presses her ear to the bump, listening to the sounds within, thoroughly enchanted by the miracle she helped to create.
“You’ve given me everything I could ever have hoped for. Do you know that? You should be very proud of yourself.” Coralie runs her fingers through Pet’s hair before settling on the nape of her neck, softly massaging her. “I’m the head of the High Council, and it’s all because of you. You’ve sired more children than any other companion in our coven’s history and helped me to secure the future of our kind for many years to come.” She pauses. “So now how do you feel about retirement?”
Pet lifts her head, her brow furrowed, confused.
“My childbearing days are coming to an end,” Coralie explains. “My reproductive obligation to the coven will soon be over.” She loops a finger through the brass ring on Pet’s collar and draws her forward. “So what do you think, my love?” She maneuvers Pet between her thighs. “Do you want to be free of your obligation also?” She brings her hands to Pet’s neck, clasping her thick leather collar, toying with the buckle. “Do you want to be rid of this? And of … that.” She peeks down at Pet’s augmentation. “Talk to me, Pet. What do you want?”
Taken aback, not at all knowing what to say, Pet remains silent.
“Nothing between
us ever has to change,” Coralie assures her. “Coven law doesn’t preclude it.” She bends to kiss Pet’s furrowed brow. “You’ll always be my darling little Pet.”
Pet pries Coralie’s hands from her collar. “And I’ll always be your companion.” She shuffles forward, her stiffening priapus seeking entry to Coralie’s body. “Always.”
About the Author
Keira Michelle Telford is a multi-award-winning author with a love for the gruesome, the macabre, and the downright filthy. She writes dystopian science fiction, erotic lesbian romance, and other lesbian fiction.
Website: www.keiramichelle.com
Facebook Page for KM Telford
Goodreads Author Page
Amazon Author Page
Series by this author:
The SILVER Series
www.ellacross.com
The Prisonworld Trilogy
www.carmenwild.com
Standalone titles:
Cadence of My Heart – an erotic lesbian romance
The Housemistress – an erotic lesbian romance
The Ruin of Us – an erotic historical lesbian romance
Quicunque Vult – historical lesbian romance
Falling Hard (A Novelette) – lesbian fiction
Evonnia & the Maiden (A Short Story) – lesbian fiction
Hoar & Rime (A Short Story) – lesbian fiction
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EPILOGUE
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
EPILOGUE
Come, My Pet Page 13