by Cooke, CJ
“I don’t have anything.”
The Fae soldier took out a knife of his own and slipped it under the fabric of my vest. “You could have stopped this,” he said as he sliced through the material at one shoulder and then the other.
I just gritted my teeth and said nothing. This was not the worst thing to ever happen to me, but flashes of my past went through my mind, and all of my bravado slipped away. The knife sliced down the front of my vest effectively opening it up. Nothing was holding the fabric on me now, and the Fae grabbed the loose material at my shoulder and pulled it away, leaving me in just my bra.
I heard a hiss behind me as the fabric was pulled away. “I have heard how shifters treat their females now, but this is …” his words faded out. I don’t know what hurt more, them staring at my scars and judging me, or them assuming my guys would have done this to me.
“I would never …” Kyle started shouting, and then he groaned as I heard a blow land on him.
It was more than I could take. My magic slammed into me, and with a roar, I twisted to my left. It took the pressure off my left shoulder, but my right popped straight out of its socket. My wings tore from my back and with a strong beat, I’d torn free from the two Fae who’d tried to restrain me. A roundhouse kick as I turned knocked the Fae soldier out of my way. My right arm hung useless at my side, but I pulled a sword with my left hand. Hovering a few feet from the ground, I spun on Virion with a glare.
“Release my mates, or die where you stand,” I screamed.
“Valkyrie,” he whispered in awe. It took him a second, but he shouted across to the other soldiers, “Release the shifters.”
Virion just stared at me. My wings slowly beat, and I hovered in front of him. My badass look might have been slightly ruined by the fact I was just wearing my leather trousers and a black lacey bra. I was pretty sure he could see my nipples through it. His gaze never dropped to my breasts, though, and he just stared at my face in awe.
When Kyle, Liam and Sykes got to their feet and moved to my sides, I slowly lowered myself to the ground. This situation was getting out of control, and whilst I was pretty sure I could take out a good portion of these Fae, we were still vastly outnumbered. Not to mention the fact my dislocated shoulder hurt like a bitch.
“I, I think we might have had a small misunderstanding,” Virion said as he recovered from his shock of seeing me. He glanced around at his soldiers, who whilst they had drawn their weapons again, looking very unsure about what they were supposed to do. “Put away your weapons,” he instructed them. Bows were lowered, and swords were sheathed.
I took a moment to look around us. We seemed to be in a pretty small village. It wasn’t exactly modern, but then it wasn’t just stone huts in the middle of nowhere. There were proper houses and a paved road running through them. It seemed deserted; there were no signs of life anywhere. It was nice enough. Clean, pretty, but there was something that just seemed, sad, about it.
“Please, join me in my home. We need to talk,” Virion said, taking a step away from us and indicating one of the houses behind us with a sweep of his arm.
This was just getting weird now. So basically normal, for my life at least.
“Understatement,” Sykes mumbled.
Virion turned and walked towards one of the houses bordering the square we’d arrived in. I pulled in my wings and made sure I stood tall and proud. I would not be cowed by these Fae, just because they could see the evidence of my past striped across my back. Kyle wrapped an arm around me, and we followed Virion to the house he’d just entered. The Fae soldier who’d reluctantly cut my shirt off followed us inside.
We walked into a small sitting room. It was simple but cosy with an open fireplace and several seats scattered around the room. It looked like a room used to having several visitors. Virion had disappeared when we entered but returned a few seconds later. He held out a shirt to me, and I caught his gaze drop to my breasts before quickly returning to my face. He didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. One corner of his lips lifted when he realised he’d been caught. When Kyle growled softly beside me, it turned into a full-blown grin. This guy clearly had a death wish. I took the shirt in one hand, but I couldn’t put it on in the state that I was in.
Liam came up behind me. I felt him stand solidly with his chest to my back, and his arms came around my waist. He held me against him in an iron grip, and I knew exactly what was coming. Kyle stepped in front of me and gently took my right hand. He gave me a silent questioning look, and I just gritted my teeth and nodded. I’d thought he would give me some sign he was about to do it, but he suddenly grasped my elbow with his other hand and wrenched my arm out and up. There was an audible pop as my shoulder slid back into the socket. But there was no way anyone could have heard it over my scream though. As fast as the pain came, it quickly surged into relief, and I sagged back against Liam.
“Thanks,” I croaked.
My mates each ran a hand across my arms and Liam nuzzled into my neck. Kyle took the shirt I had in a death grip in my left hand and helped me slip it over my head before he gently guided my arms into the sleeves, my right shoulder burning in distress.
“We need to get this in a sling,” Kyle murmured.
“I will have someone bring some medical supplies,” Virion offered. “But first, I apologise for my earlier actions. If I’d known who you were, I wouldn’t have raised my bow.” He bowed his head to me, and it caught me by surprise. I wasn’t entirely sure how I was supposed to act.
“Erm, okay,” I answered lamely.
“Please, sit,” Virion said, indicating the seats around us and sitting himself down in one of the chairs next to the fire. “It has been many centuries since anyone has seen a Valkyrie. What led you to leave Valhalla? I had thought it was forbidden.”
I looked across at Kyle. “This guy clearly knows more than us. He could be a useful source of information,” I whispered into his mind.
“I agree,” Kyle said. “We will need to tell him your story though, are you comfortable doing that?” he asked me.
I just nodded and looked across at Virion who’d sat forward in his seat and watched us intently. “I had not realised shifters had regained the ability for speaking mind to mind,” he observed.
“This is a long story,” I warned him.
“I do love a good story.” He smiled leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs.
I sat back in my own seat, only slightly wincing from the dull ache in my shoulder, and started from the point where I was tossed into the supernatural realm and just went from there. Virion sat quietly and listened. It took some time to get all the way through to where we were now. I was exhausted by the time I was finished. How had so much happened, in such a short amount of time?
“You’ve been busy,” Virion said when I finally reached the end of the story. Around halfway through his brow had furrowed in concern and it remained that way now. He looked up at the Fae soldier who’d remained standing at the door. “Tasar, can you see that some food is brought for our guests,” he asked. Tasar looked reluctantly at Virion before he nodded and left the house.
“The Fae have been locked in Galvinae since the war. The portal was opened a few weeks ago when we felt demon magic in the area. It was not a decision that was made lightly. Our numbers have never recovered from the war. I will not allow my people to fight again. The Fae cannot help you in this, it would mean our extinction,” he said sternly.
“We have not asked you for your help,” Kyle replied. There was some definite Alpha male posturing going down here.
I just said, “Your people?” he was obviously in charge.
“Yes, perhaps I should properly introduce myself. I am Prince Virion, next in line to the Fae throne,” he said with a grin. I’m also pretty sure he just waggled his eyebrows at me. This guy was definitely crazy. He was walking a very line that could result in my guys ripping his head off.
“Why did you call this place Galvinae?” I asked him.
> “Why do you ask?” he threw back at me.
I just shrugged and then immediately regretted it, as burning pain flashed through my right shoulder. “Just making conversation.”
“A reminder of where we came from, of how we ended up here. To not make the same mistakes.” He got a faraway look on his face as he finished and there was definite pain there.
“Which mistakes?” I asked gently.
He looked me in the eye, and I saw so many emotions flicker through his eyes. I felt a connection with him—one broken soul to another. We stared at each other for a moment before he quietly said. “You understand loss, I can see it in your eyes. I can’t give that to my people again.”
“I understand,” I answered. And I did. The Fae had lost nearly everything in the Galvinae War. They clearly hadn’t recovered. They’d given all they had, and they were abandoned in their time of need. “I was not alive in the last war. I like to think I would have stood with you if I was. Words cannot replace what you have lost. They cannot adequately express the full extent of what you sacrificed for a realm that didn’t even have the decency to stand beside you. But … thank you. Thank you for your sacrifices.”
Virion nodded and remained quiet for a time as he thought. We couldn’t ask these people for anything more. There would be no army coming from the Fae. “I will show you the way back to your people, but I cannot help you any further than that.” He looked so conflicted as he said it.
“I understand.”
Tasar came back with two women who carried large trays with bowls of steaming stew and drinks for us all. We sat in silence while we ate. I could have eaten at least six more bowls of the stuff. I was starving hungry. The food we’d been surviving on the last few days hadn’t been enough to replenish the huge amount of calories my growing magic consumed.
Once we were finished, one of the women approached me with what looked like a strap. Kyle reached across and took it from her, she didn’t seem too impressed with him for doing it.
“I will fit my mate with the sling,” he simply said.
“It would be an honour to tend to the Valkyrie,” the woman replied, dropping her eyes to the ground.
“Don’t do that,” I said to her, and she looked up at me in confusion. “I’m not better than you just because of what I am. You don’t have to do that around me.”
She smiled at me, and I could see why everyone wrote stories about the beauty of the Fae. She was stunning. Her hair was black, but when it caught the light, it reflected a deep purple colour. It was drawn up in an arrangement that showed off the subtle points at the top of her ears. Her eyes were a light shade of violet that suited her. The unusual colour didn’t look strange on her. She was tall and slim, not built at all like a warrior. And whilst she was dressed in a simple one-shouldered dress, she looked magnificent. She carried herself with such grace. She was the very picture of feminine grace; in other words, everything I would never be.
I looked across at each of my mates, but none of them was even paying her any attention. Kyle gently took my hand and slipped my arm in the sling, before fastening it around me. As soon as the weight was taken off my shoulder, it instantly felt a world better, and I groaned in relief.
Virion cleared his throat, and when I looked at him, I could have sworn it was heat I saw in his eyes. I cocked my head to the side in confusion, probably resembling some kind of Labrador. Something was intriguing about him. I could feel his magic resonating from him now I’d spent some time with him, and it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
“We have an empty house you can use to rest. I’m sure you’re tired from your journey. Why don’t you rest there today and we can set out for the portal in the next few days?” he suggested.
“I’d like to leave tomorrow,” I told him. We were on a clock, and we couldn’t afford to waste time hanging out here. No matter how much I wanted to stay and explore for a bit.
“We can discuss it in the morning,” he smiled and then walked out of the front door, leaving it open for us to follow him.
We looked around at each other and then Sykes just shrugged and went to follow Virion. I didn’t miss that the soldier, Tasar, had stayed in the room watching us. He didn’t seem to trust us. I couldn’t blame him. How long had they been shut up in this world, separated from everyone else?
Virion showed us to a house on the outskirts of their village. We didn’t see one other person while we walked there. It was the same as the one he’d claimed was his own. All of the houses appeared to be exactly the same. There was something very odd about this place.
“Where is everyone?” I asked him as he showed us inside.
“Around,” he simply said. “I’ll leave you to rest. I don’t want you to feel like you’re prisoners, but I would ask you to remain in the house. My people aren’t used to outsiders and, as you can see, are quite timid,” he said, indicating to the empty village behind him. Were they hiding from us?
Virion wished us a good night and then left. We must have all just stood in the living room, silently for a few minutes before I couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“This is weird right?” I asked.
All of the guys quickly agreed and then we had a look around. It was a nice little house. The front door opened into the living room, which had a cosy vibe going to it. There was a fireplace which wasn’t currently lit, but the opportunity to sleep in a real bed was making me eager to find the bedroom. Off the living room was a small kitchen and two bedrooms, each with adjoining bathrooms. The Fae lived similarly to shifters because the bed was possibly the biggest I’d ever seen, and that was saying something.
“I’m going to jump in the shower,” I told the guys walking into the bathroom.
Turning on the water, I quickly stripped off my clothes and sighed in relief as I stepped under the hot water. I hadn’t realised how filthy I felt and just how much I’d missed the simple act of being able to take a shower. I braced my hands on the cold tile, and my head fell forwards with my forehead resting on the tile. The hot water beat down on the back of my neck and shoulders, and I could feel the tension slowly drain out of them.
I heard the shower door open and close a moment later, and I smiled. This was what I needed. I knew it was Liam behind me. I could feel him in the back of my mind. He came up behind me, and his hands braced on the tiled wall next to me as he softly kissed the back of my neck and shoulders. I could feel how hard he was already as he leant against me. Humming in happiness, I tipped my head to one side so he could get better access to my neck. Liam always does this thing where he nibbles along my neck, and it drives me wild. I could feel him smiling as he kept kissing me and grazing his teeth along my skin. It didn’t take long for me to begin to shuffle about in frustration. I needed more. I needed Liam’s hands on me.
Just as I was thinking it, Liam stepped back, and cold air touched my back. Turning around, I looked at him in confusion, only to see him standing there, smiling, holding a big towel out for me to step into.
“Don’t worry. I’m not finished with you yet,” he smiled as I stepped out of the shower.
Liam gently patted my skin dry with the towel, and then led me out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Kyle and Sykes were waiting for us; both of them were wet from the shower and completely naked as well. They must have quickly used the other bathroom while I was busy in the shower.
Liam led me over to the bed, and they followed behind us. We hadn’t all been together since our first time, and it felt like so long ago that we’d sealed our bonds. I needed this more than I’d realised.
Liam gently pushed me back onto the bed, and I shuffled further up into the middle of the mattress. The three of them stood at the end of the bed, looking hungrily down at me. I shifted impatiently. I could feel the heat building between us.
Liam was the first to move. He slowly crept up the bed towards me. From the look in his eye, I almost got the feeling of being like prey. I saw the amber of his panther, flash through his
eyes and all it did was excite me more. I might need to examine this at a later time.
Liam dropped his first kiss onto my right calf as he crawled up my body. I felt his teeth graze against my left thigh next, as he moved higher. He kissed my lower stomach, still moving up, the next kiss was on the underside of my left breast, then the right breast. I was panting in need by the time he laid his lips against mine. The bed dipped on both sides of me, as Sykes and Kyle joined us on the bed. Liam grinned at me wickedly as he began to work his way back down my body kissing and biting as he went. My eyes rolled back, and my back arched off the bed as I gave in to the sensation of having them all surrounding me.
Kyle slipped his finger under my chin and turned my head to face him. “We all want you, Aria, together. We haven’t done anything like that yet. Do you want us to stop? Sykes and I can step out if you want to be alone with Liam?” he asked.
“No, I want you to stay,” I sighed. “I want you all to stay.” I’d never been more certain of anything.
Kyle smiled, and his head dipped down to kiss me. Liam stopped between my thighs and started to kiss the tops of my thighs. His mouth was everywhere apart from where I desperately needed it. Sykes’ lips closed around my left nipple, and I gasped against Kyle’s lips as he gently pinched my nipple between his teeth. Kyle grinned against my lips before kissing me soundly again.
Liam’s lips moved to my now wet pussy, and I could feel his breath against me. I shifted impatiently and whimpered, then groaned in delight as he gently pushed one finger inside of me. When his tongue ran across my clit, I couldn’t help the loud moan that slipped out of me.
Liam hooked one of my legs over his shoulder before he moved against me and began to feast. He pushed another finger inside me and began to pump them in and out of me as his tongue lashed against my clit. I could feel myself speeding towards my first orgasm. Liam removed his fingers from my pussy, and I felt one of his fingers push against my ass. He kept dragging his fingers down from my weeping pussy to my ass, spreading my wetness as he went. My breath hitched, and when I looked down at him, and he looked up to meet my gaze while rolling my clit around his tongue, it was all it took to push me over the edge.