“I think it felt very right.”
“No.” She snapped. “I… I couldn’t do that to you.”
“Please, do whatever you want to me.” He nodded. “I look forward to it. Greatly.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re not thinking clearly right now. But once we get to the capital…”
“The capital!?!” He gasped. “You can’t honestly be suggesting that we wait until the capital to finish this!?!” He looked horrified. “That’s madness! We’ll be dead long before then!”
“I’ll get us to the capital, I don’t care how many Baselanders or pirates I have to kill in the process.” She assured him. “Don’t worry about it.”
“That’s not what I mean!” He started out of the water. “I mean if we do not head the will of The Pyra, we will anger the Mountain.”
“Well, ‘The Mountain’ should have thought about that when it took away your freewill.”
“I do not understand.” He frowned again. “I freely accept my destiny.”
“It’s… it’s not the same. Look, it’s tough to explain, okay?” She bent over to pick up her uniform. “What I’m saying is that I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like this. It was…” She trailed off, realizing that his gaze was entirely focused on her rear as she was leaning over, essentially presenting it to him.
Another wave of intense pleasure shot through her, relishing the fact that she had the power to make him stop in his tracks like that. His eyes drank in her exposed flesh and Taylor almost climaxed again right there.
She swore and straightened, covering herself with her arms. “No, no.” She shook her head frantically. “Let’s not get distracted.” She swallowed, trying desperately not to think about how good it would feel to just stay like that and allow him to do whatever he wanted to her from behind. “We… we have to be strong here.” She firmed her jaw. “Yes, it would feel so, so good…” She trailed off again, imagining having him inside her and hearing his gravelly voice whisper softly in her ear as he took her. Hard. “So… so very good.” She cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. “But we’re not going to do that.”
Dom looked like he was about to cry. “Why?”
“Because it wouldn’t be right.” She bent to pick up her boots, then thought better of it because it would once more expose her body to him and she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have the control to stop herself again. Instead, she straightened and simply kicked the boots down the small path a few yards until she was out of view and could retrieve them without temptation.
It was the only way she could leave without risking assaulting the man again.
Chapter Twelve
Taylor stalked back to camp feeling frustrated and angry with herself.
She’d taken advantage of Dom.
She’d used him. Granted, she hadn’t really intended to use him, but she had nonetheless.
Stupid Magic Wand Thing.
She hated it. She couldn’t wait to be rid of the cursed thing.
A new thought occurred to her though: without the wand… what would connect her to Dom? Their entire relationship was built under its thrall. Dom’s silly legend about “The Mountain” was supposedly controlling everything between them.
Without it… he’d be gone.
She made a face. Dammit! She knew she should have had sex with him while she had the chance! She hadn’t even allowed him to finish down there, just taken what she wanted from him and left him unfulfilled.
She stopped in her tracks.
That wasn’t fair.
At the very least she should have returned the favor and helped him to…
She paused. Wait. That didn’t make any sense. Her entire reason for leaving him was because it wouldn’t be right to take advantage of him while he wasn’t in full control of his faculties. Even if she made him feel good, that still wouldn’t make the act itself right.
Plus, she was pretty sure if she went back down there, it would be just as much about her own pleasure as his, no matter what he wanted her to do to him.
She wanted that man bad. She ached for him, even more so since he’d touched her.
She swallowed, trying to come to terms with the fact that she was in deep, deep trouble here. She had unintentionally used a magical object to sexually assault a giant. And now she was realizing that she could possibly have feelings for him, despite the fact that he might not really exist. “He” might just be a creation of the Wand, fulfilling her desires by making his personality and heart her ideal.
But… but she definitely had feelings for him.
Damn. Why did these things always happen to her?
She stormed into camp, surprised to find it still unpacked, as if there was no hurry to leave. Uriah sat on a nearby boulder, playing an obnoxiously catchy and upbeat Grizzwoodian shanty on a small concertina, about women, fighting and ill-gotten gain. The odd little accordion thing produced an off-kilter and irritatingly shrill tone which immediately worsened Taylor’s mood.
“Uriah!” She snapped, losing her patience with him almost instantly. “What do you think you’re doing!?!” She gestured to their surroundings. “Why are we still here!?! What are you doing!?!”
He glanced over at her, his face awash in casual disinterest. “Divining our path through these all too uncertain times and unfamiliar mountain trails.”
“Really?” She pointed at him, trying to keep herself from strangling the bastard. “Because it kinda looks like you’re just sitting on your ass, doing nothing instead of doing your job!”
He calmly put his instrument away, saving them all from the noise. “I’m the captain.” He explained. “I’m doing my job right now.”
“It sure as hell doesn’t look like it. It looks to me like you’re singing for some reason.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Do your job.”
“This is a pirate operation.” He reminded her. “I’m actually subject to my quartermaster’s decisions on most matters. Pirates… well, we don’t particularly like authority figures and have structured our polity’s chain-of-command to bear that out.” He hopped down from his rock. “And while I am exceedingly beloved by my loyal and talented crew— to the point that it’s almost an affront to the Almighty, quite frankly,” he pointed to the men in question, who continued to glare at him in open contempt, “I have very little real power in our enterprise. I command the battles, do the talking, and inspire the crew with my magnetic charisma and boundless enthusiasm for our chosen craft. The quartermaster oversees all other aspects of the business, the crew, the cargo, the ship, how we mete out justice, and can take my position or replace me with another captain should the need or desire arise.”
“Fine.” She snapped, looking around the clearing. “Where is the quartermaster and why isn’t he doing his job, then?”
He gestured to Ransom, who was sitting in the middle of the path a short distance away. “Ask ‘him’ yourself.”
Taylor blinked at the woman in confusion, trying to decide how to best phrase her question. “You’re letting the blind person navigate?”
“Of course.” He turned to look at her. “Why?”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you did it?”
“It’s not my job to do it.” His tone implied utter bafflement over her delusional suggestion, like perhaps she was just mistaken about the crew’s duties. He pointed at his partner. “It’s Ransom’s job to do it. It’s always Ransom’s job to decide our best course of action, because to be perfectly candid with you, no one wants me to do it.” He shook his head, laughing pleasantly. “Oh, there are stories, let me tell you.”
Taylor let out a long sigh, trying to come to terms with the fact that she had hired the insane to help her save her entire world. “Do you have an estimate on when we might get underway again?” She asked.
He held up a finger to indicate that she should hold that thought, then turned to address his partner. “Have you determined our course yet, Dove?” He called. “Our clie
nt and her retinue are growing anxious and have begun to question our cunctative approach to wayfinding.”
“Dying’s always quicker.” The woman reminded them, sounding distracted.
Ransom seemed to prefer using short, declarative statements using as few words as she could. It was as if every word hurt her to say, so she avoided using them whenever possible, particularly when speaking to anyone other than her partner. In fact, she almost never spoke to anyone but him. It was like the rest of them weren’t even worthy.
Uriah nodded in longsuffering agreement. “That’s what I told them, Dove, but they seem to believe that their exigencies place them on some sort of timetable.” He gestured to Taylor with a regal hand, as if exasperated with her complications. “I tried to explain to them the difficulties inherent in navigating when one is amaurotic, such as yourself, but they have ignored my cautions and urge us to press forward despite the risk.”
“But that might have interrupted ‘bath time’.” Ransom thought aloud, obviously referencing Taylor’s trip to the river.
“Cleanliness is next to godliness, Dove, as my mother used to say.” Uriah proclaimed, leaning against a tree next to his partner.
“The gods took no part in what happened down there.” Ransom insisted.
Uriah chuckled merrily, obviously finding his partner’s cruelty funny. He casually began to eat a peanut. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, I’m told I have to ‘free you’ when this is over.”
“Aw, that’s nice of you.” Ransom remained focused on the road ahead. “Free me from what?”
“I have no idea.” He shrugged, popping the nut into his mouth and chewing. “I was hoping you’d know. But I guess it’ll be a surprise to both of us.”
“Oh. Well, I have that to look forward to then.” Ransom deadpanned. “Can’t wait.” She was silent for a moment. “Do I have to free you when this is over too or something?”
“That wasn’t specified.” He shook his head. “I’m not familiar with the girl’s customs, so I’m not sure how they work. Given the uncouth populous of this kingdom however, I’m just happy to hear of rituals which don’t involve eating someone alive or squatting naked in filth.”
Ransom was silent for a long moment, as if seriously considering something. “Honestly… now that I think about it, I don’t think I am going to free you. No.”
Uriah gasped. “You’re just going to let me be trapped!?!”
She thought about it. “Probably.” She nodded to herself slowly, as if making up her mind and becoming more certain. “Yeah, that seems like the way to go.”
“That’s not fair!” He protested, sounding indignant
Ransom ignored him.
“Rance?” He called again, tapping her on the shoulder. “I said: that’s not fair!”
“Shhh.” She held a finger to her scarred lips. “I’m ‘divining our path.’ Stop distracting me.”
Taylor’s patience with her guides was dwindling.
Rapidly.
Ryle seemed to share that opinion, walking up next to her, carrying his supplies. “Am I the only one having misgivings about this?” He whispered. “Our guide is a drunken pirate and our navigator is blind.”
“I still hear reasonably well.” Ransom supplied from her post, her voice utterly calm.
“And I’m reasonably sober at the moment.” Uriah finished for her, his smile never wavering. “So, I think you’ll be fine.” He assured them. “Why don’t you just leave the smuggling business to us and enjoy the scenery. From what I hear, your kingdom’s beautiful countryside isn’t long for this world, so this might be an excellent time to appreciate it one last time. Hopefully in silence.” He glanced at his partner. “Can you believe this kid?”
Ransom shrugged helplessly, in a dismissive and resigned “Hey, what are you gonna do?” kind of way.
It apparently never occurred to either of them that Ryle was obviously older than Ransom, or that his complaints and observations were entirely valid.
“Our clients are being pursued.” Ransom told her partner calmly, the wind blowing through her hair.
“Can we outrun them?” Uriah asked, not bothering to inquire as to how she could possibly know that.
“Not at the speed we’re going.” She shook her head, sounding concerned. “We have to leave the trail. I can lose them if we go cross-country, but it’ll mean a harder road. Straight down.”
“That’s why they pay us, Dove. If it were easy everyone would be a pirate.” He turned to Taylor. “Good news! You’re about to see more of this amazing kingdom.”
“What?” Dom stalked into camp, looking even less happy than Taylor was about how the day was going. “Why?”
“You know, if you’re not going to show up on time for these little family meetings, I really see no reason to give them twice.” Uriah heaved a longsuffering sigh, then paused when he got a good look at Dom. “What the hell happened to you?” He frowned in confusion.
Taylor cleared her throat. “I… I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“There’s no such thing as caring too much.” Ransom offered to no one in particular.
Uriah looked at his partner and chuckled in genuine laughter. “No, seriously. What’s his deal, Rance?”
His partner cleared her throat.
“Ooooooh.” Uriah reacted as if that meant something, a huge grin forming on his face. “Love blossoms in the strangest places, doesn’t it?”
Taylor’s eyes narrowed at him. “I’m really beginning to dislike you, Uriah.”
“Yes, the freedom loving people of every kingdom would rejoice at my agonizing death, I’m afraid.” He smiled wider. “But I’m still here.” He clapped his hands together. “So, should we continue on our way?”
Taylor made a face, but began packing up the camp.
Her entire morning was just going terribly. Well… it had gone really, really well for a few minutes, but now it was going terribly.
She’d taken advantage of Dom and had been unable to control herself around him.
Plus, she was seconds away from killing their guides.
A real shitty morning, all told.
Chapter Thirteen
Dom was having a real shitty morning, all told.
Taylor had barely spoken two words to him in the last 48 hours and seemed to be angry with him for some reason. He had no idea why.
Personally, he thought things were finally making sense between them. She had seen that resisting The Pyra was a bad idea, felt firsthand the kinds of effects it could have on the body, and had finally decided to see reason and be with him.
And it had been wonderful.
But then she’d stopped before the mating was finished, and ran off for some reason.
He could only assume that he had disappointed her in some way or had failed to do something she wanted, but she refused to tell him what it was.
So, he was back to square one.
No, that wasn’t true. This was worse than square one, both because he now knew exactly what he was missing out on, and because The Pyra would now only be more dangerous and extreme. Destiny did not like to be thwarted. Lives literally hung in the balance and if he didn’t do something soon to smooth over the problems between them, this could very well kill them both.
Soon.
The irony of surviving so many years of captivity and torture only to die because his mate was irritated with him and too headstrong to abide by the wishes of the Mountain, was not lost on him.
She was a strong woman, which was wonderfully attractive and he was grateful his mate had been given that quality, but that same strength was now dangerous.
It would almost be funny. Except it was happening to him. But if it had been happening to someone who deserved such a hideous anguishing fate… like say… Uriah… it’d be hysterical! He’d laugh his ass off as he watched the pirate burn!
He carefully picked his way through the undergrowth, making his way down the mountain. They had left the trail th
e day before yesterday, following the blind girl’s insistence that they were being tracked somehow.
Dom wasn’t entirely sure how she could possibly know that, but no one had listened to him.
So, now they were essentially lost in the woods, following a path which was literally only visible to the blind.
Frankly, he was beginning to suspect that the pirates were just screwing with them now, and this new path would merely lead right back to that ramshackle tavern in the Felony Forest, at which point they would probably demand additional payment.
It was becoming clearer and clearer that he’d have to kill them long before this trip was over.
He didn’t really want to though. No, that was the wrong word. He absolutely wanted to, he just didn’t want to have to.
He had killed a lot of humans in this war. While he liked to believe that none of those had been related to Taylor, the idea remained in his head. He’d never really given it much thought before, but now it was haunting him. He’d only recently arrived on these shores and from Taylor’s stories, all of her family had been gone by then. But the idea still horrified him.
Either way, he was worried that if she saw the kinds of things he was capable of, she’d never see him as anything else. Thus far, she had somehow managed to avoid recognizing him as a monster which killed her people, but the threat remained. It promised to destroy the only happiness he’d ever known, and so, he really didn’t want to give her any opportunity to rethink her views.
But with each passing hour, the pirates seemed determined to push him. They were seemingly asking to be slaughtered in front of her.
It wasn’t fair.
Between The Pyra burning away at his resolve to keep his hands off Taylor until she was ready and the pirates trying to ignite his temper at every turn, Dom’s life had become a test of his patience.
He held out a hand to help Taylor down from an overhang and back onto the forest floor. The “path” the blind girl had chosen for them wasn’t even a game trail; it was just a random route through the cliffs. They could be going in circles for all they knew. It was also far too steep and treacherous for humans, let alone his human! It seemed to be the worst possible option they could have chosen.
Travels With a Fairytale Monster Page 17