“Of sex?” he asked uncertainly.
“No. Of getting involved with someone,” she admitted quietly.
He considered that briefly, thinking that while it was causing them difficulties right now, he was actually quite pleased that he was her first lover. And her last. At least as long as he lived. She would not be interested in sex with anyone else so long as they both lived. However, he didn’t like the idea that she’d spent her life in fear of relationships. That would certainly affect them, so he asked, “Why?”
Allie was silent so long he began to think she would not answer, but then she sighed and said, “I had a weird childhood. I told you my father was raised a Follower of Christ.”
“Yes,” he acknowledged, though he wasn’t sure what that meant. He’d thought it was a cult, and knew they didn’t believe in medical intervention, but that was about where his knowledge of the subject ended.
“Well, I don’t know if he still followed all their tenets or made up some of his own after he left the US, moved to Canada, and married my mother, but life with him was . . . difficult,” she ended solemnly, and recalling the scars on her back he suspected that was something of an understatement.
“We were raised on a farm that was . . . well, it was practically Little House on the Prairie,” she said dryly, and then raised her head slightly to look at him. “Seriously. We had no electricity, and a hand pump faucet on the kitchen sink was how we got water. We used to drag this big tub into the middle of the kitchen once a week and we had to pump and boil water for a bath.” She dropped down to lie on his chest again with a sigh, and then admitted, “It was all I knew, so it was fine at the time.”
“But?” he prompted when she fell silent again.
Allie didn’t respond at first, but then said, “We were homeschooled, and weren’t supposed to make friends of children on nearby farms lest they—as my father put it—corrupted us.”
Magnus felt her begin to move a finger over his chest, circling his nipple in a wide arc before she admitted, “But I did make a friend.”
“How?” he asked at once.
Allie shrugged. “There was a copse of woods at the back of our property. My father used to send me out there to collect smaller branches and whatnot for starting fires for the cookstove and for heat when the weather turned cold. One day when I was about ten, I was sent out and I heard children laughing. I was curious so I followed the sound to the back of the copse, and there were these kids back there, playing. Their farm backed onto ours. Half the copse belonged to their farm and they were playing hide-and-seek in the woods.”
She flicked his nipple, sending a ping of excitement through him that roused his fading erection, and then continued, “When they saw me they gave up their game and came running. They were nice, and invited me to play. I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but they were laughing and . . .” She shrugged. “I played with them.
“After that, every time I was sent out to get wood, I’d look for them. Sometimes they were there and sometimes they weren’t, but if they were, we played together. There were four of them, all brothers and sisters. The youngest was Bethany. She was my age, and we became good friends. We had a blast in those woods,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice.
“And your parents never knew?” Magnus asked.
“No. We didn’t play that long. Not like hours or anything, maybe one hour. And the kids always helped me gather wood afterward so I wouldn’t get in trouble.” She shrugged against his chest. “Anyway, I don’t remember how it happened, but one day I ended up following them back to their house. I remember it was summer and hot, so probably we went in search of drinks. But what I got was an eye-opening,” she said dryly. “Their farmhouse looked a lot like ours on the outside, an old Victorian house. But the inside had been completely renovated. It was like a palace to me, and a marvel too. They had air-conditioning, and running water, and lights that turned on by electricity instead of oil lanterns. And they had television, and radio and computers.” She gave a short laugh. “I thought it was heaven.”
Magnus smiled faintly at the claim, not surprised by it.
“I think you’re shrinking again,” Allie said suddenly.
Magnus frowned as he realized it was true. He’d got so invested in her story that his desire had fizzled out and he was now at dire risk of slipping out of her.
“What do we do to—” Her words ended on a surprised gasp as he urged her to sit up on him and reached down between them to caress her just above where they were joined. He saw her eyes widen and her head drop back on a moan, just before her pleasure hit him, and he squeezed his own eyes closed.
God, she felt so good, and what he was doing was sending wave after wave of mounting pleasure and excitement through him too that immediately revived his faltering erection. He found that circling motions worked best, running his thumb lightly around the nub that was the center of her excitement, just brushing the edges at first. But then Allie began to move on him, riding him in search of the satisfaction she sensed waited for her, and he had to stop caressing her to catch her hips and stop her from pushing them over the edge.
“Tell me . . . what happened . . . with your new friends,” he got out between gritted teeth, and then took a couple of deep breaths before asking, “Did your father find out?”
Panting, Allie lowered her head to peer at him blankly. She didn’t immediately cover her breasts this time, however. Progress, he thought, and then she swallowed and gave her head a small shake as if to clear it.
“No,” she said finally. “He was too busy working on the farm to pay me much attention when I was sent for wood. We all worked hard. Everything was made from scratch, even our clothes.”
Magnus relaxed a little, relieved that she had the sense to give them a break.
“A couple of years passed with me keeping my friends secret, and then when I was twelve, a whole week passed where none of them showed up in the copse. I’d only been to their house a time or two and never went there without them, but I was worried so made my way through their field to the house and knocked. Her brother Brandon answered and said Bethany was sick, but would be happy to see me, so I went into her room to visit with her. That’s when I found out about doctors,” she said solemnly. “Her appendix had burst. I had no idea what that was, but she’d ended up in the hospital where the doctors had apparently removed her appendix. I guess the whole family had spent a great deal of time at the hospital with her, which was why her sister and brothers hadn’t come to the copse to tell me what was happening. She’d only got home that day and was supposed to take it easy for a while. So for the next week or so we spent all our visits at their house. We watched TV or movies or played on the computer. I really loved the computer,” she said with a grin.
Magnus wasn’t surprised. She made her living designing websites on a computer.
“After that, we spent a lot more time in their house. We were getting older and playing hide-and-seek didn’t appeal to any of us anymore,” she explained. “In truth, I think they only continued to go to the copse for so long to make Bethany and me happy,” Allie admitted, and then added, “And maybe because her brother Brandon liked me.” Grinning, she confessed, “I liked him too. He was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen. Of course, he and his brother were pretty much the only boys I’d ever seen,” she acknowledged with a wry twist of her lips. “But anyway, he gave me my first kiss at thirteen, and was my first make-out partner.”
Magnus stiffened, jealousy gathering on the edges of his consciousness.
“I was fourteen when their father had a heart attack and died. Bethany and Brandon’s mother immediately sold the farm and moved the kids to the city.” She grimaced at the memory. “It all seemed to happen terribly fast. They were there and then they were gone and I was left heartbroken. I’d lost my friend and the boy I loved just like that.”
“And your parents never even knew they were a part of your life?” he asked, finding that hard to believe.
“I think my mother suspected something was going on. Sometimes she got this look . . . and one time when I was out too long she came to find me. She must have heard us laughing and chattering before one of the boys spotted her. But when they hid and I hurried to meet her, she didn’t say anything. She just helped me gather sticks and led me home.” Sighing, she shrugged. “But they found out about it when I was sixteen.”
“How?” he asked with surprise. If her friends had moved two years prior to that, how could her parents possibly find out she used to have friends?
“I told them,” she admitted grimly, and then explained. “I had a little sister. Jilly. She was seven years younger than me so always remained at the farm when I went to the woods, but when I was sixteen she became ill. We’d had colds, fevers, and flus before, but this was different. She was in terrible pain and so sick,” Allie said with remembered anguish.
“What did she have?” Magnus asked with concern, running his hands over her arms in an effort to soothe her.
“I don’t know. They wouldn’t take her to the doctor to find out,” she said with frustration. “I thought maybe they didn’t know about doctors and how they could help. I guess I was incredibly naïve,” she admitted with a sigh. “But that’s why I told them about my friend Bethany and her appendicitis. I thought if they realized doctors could help Jilly, they’d take her to see one.”
“But they refused?” he guessed quietly.
Allie nodded. “I think Mother wanted to. She kept giving Father this pleading look as I talked. But he wouldn’t even consider it. Illness was a trial given to us by God, a punishment for our sins. We had to have faith in Him and pray for forgiveness and healing. That was the only thing that could save her, he said, and then he beat me for my sin in disobeying him, telling me the whole time that Jilly’s illness was because I had sinned and allowed those heathen children to corrupt me.”
“You did not believe him, did you?” Magnus asked with concern.
“I was a very young, very unsophisticated girl for sixteen,” she told him solemnly. “And yes, I might have believed him, but as she bathed the welts on my back, my bum, and the back of my legs from his beating, Mother told me—”
“The scars,” he interrupted solemnly, recalling how the sight had shocked him when he’d seen them covering her back, bottom, and upper legs. The memory of them now told him how violent and vicious her father’s beating had been.
“Yes. Pretty, aren’t they? A constant reminder of the father I loathed,” she said bitterly, and then closed her eyes and lowered her head with something like shame. “I knew you’d seen them when you came into the bathroom. You seemed transfixed by how ugly they were. I suppose you’re sorry you married me now.”
“No,” he said with amazement. “They were a surprise, yes. But they would never have made me not take you as my life mate or I should not have married you.” When she shook her head in disbelief, he admitted, “I saw them before we married, Allie.”
Her eyes blinked open with surprise at that. “What? When?”
“When we got here, Dani and Elvi were going to change you into one of Elvi’s nightgowns so you would rest more comfortably. I left so they could do it, but returned to find they’d stripped you but had stopped there. You were lying on your stomach, the scars visible.”
“But they didn’t change me,” she said with confusion and agitation.
“No.” He ran a hand down her arm soothingly. “The scars made them worry you would be uncomfortable with the knowledge that anyone had seen them. When I returned, they were debating continuing to change you, or putting you back in your clothes. But Stephanie told them you would not be happy to know anyone had seen them, so they redressed you in your clothes.”
“Oh,” she breathed unhappily, her eyes closing in shame again.
Magnus hated that she was ashamed of something like that. Scars were a result of life for mortals. Every mortal had them. Some were just worse than others. She was no longer mortal, however, and he said gently, “They are gone, Allie.”
Allie stiffened, her eyes shooting open to search his face, and then she turned her head as if to try to see if what he said was true. But, of course, she couldn’t see her own back no matter how she tried. Realizing this, Magnus sat up again and began to scoot toward the foot of the bed, taking her with him. The movement caused friction between them, and sent shafts of pleasure through them both, reawakening his once again flagging erection. Magnus could only think that was a good thing, but ground his teeth against it, determined she should see her back, and not wanting to have to stop until he got there.
Pausing once he reached the end of the bed and sat with his feet on the ground, he wrapped one arm around her to help keep her in place and then stood, ordering, “Wrap your legs around me.”
Allie did as instructed and they both groaned as he started to walk. Fortunately, the dresser was only a few steps away. If he’d had to carry her like that to the bathroom, Magnus had no doubt they would not have made it. The pleasure would have overwhelmed them, leaving them passed out on the carpet halfway to the bathroom door.
Setting her behind on the dresser, Magnus pressed himself deeper into her, fighting the urge to withdraw and push in again, and said through gritted teeth, “Look.”
Fifteen
It took Allie a moment to look. Not because she didn’t want to see, but because her body was presently humming with desire, and she really wanted to claw his ass and urge him to finish this torture. Dear God, the ups and downs of trying to keep him erect inside her without pushing past the point of no return was like a roller coaster ride.
Sighing, she rested her forehead briefly on his chest as she took a couple of deep breaths, and then raised her head and turned to peer at their reflection in the mirror.
Allie’s eyes widened at the expanse of pure, unblemished skin she saw. The scars she’d carried for nearly twenty years were gone. At least her outer scars, she thought, and stared at herself, and then her gaze slid to Magnus. He had done this for her. His turning her had removed the marks she’d hidden for all these years.
Turning abruptly, she leaned up and kissed him, the action raising her slightly on his shaft. Magnus groaned in response and kissed her back, his mouth hard and almost rough. Allie liked it. It turned her on, and she scraped her nails across his scalp, pressed closer against his chest, and sucked hard on his tongue as she shifted her hips, urging him to move. Much to her relief, Magnus thrust into her hard, closing the space she’d made, and they gasped into each other’s mouths at the pleasure that brought them. But then Magnus broke their kiss and caught her hips to hold her still.
“Christ, woman,” he muttered, leaning his forehead against hers, and then he turned it slightly from side to side. “We cannot.”
Allie didn’t say anything, she just clung to him and tried to catch her breath.
After a moment, he cleared his throat and prompted, “What did your mother tell you as she cleaned your wounds?”
Allie sighed, and forced herself to relax her hold on him. After a moment, she was able to pick up where she’d left off. “Mother knew about doctors and all the wonders I’d seen at Bethany’s. She was raised Catholic, and lived that life before she met and fell in love with my father. She said that when I was old enough I should leave and seek that life too. But for now, my father was in charge and his belief in God was strict and hard, but beautiful and pure. He’d assured her that Jilly would get better if they prayed hard enough and she believed him. God surely wouldn’t take such a precious little girl from us.”
Allie closed her eyes. “Jilly died two days later. By then I was feverish and terribly sick.”
“Your wounds were infected?” Magnus asked, pulling back slightly.
Allie raised her head and nodded. “My back.”
He ran one hand soothingly over her back now, and she smiled faintly before continuing.
“Mother was beside herself with grief and hysteria over both
my infection and Jilly’s death. She shrieked that father had lied—God had taken her baby, and He was going to take me too.” She grimaced and leaned her head against him again. “I really was very sick. Even I thought I was going to die.”
“And that’s when she took you to the doctor,” Magnus guessed, the words a rumble that she could feel in his chest.
Allie shook her head against him. “That’s when she hung herself.”
“What?” He pulled back and she raised her head to see the shock on his face as he asked, “She left you to die and killed herself?”
Allie nodded. Normally when she thought about this, she became angry and emotional. This time, however, she wasn’t feeling much at all and merely said, “My fever was crazy high when she came to me, but I remember it very clearly. She told me she loved my father more than life itself, and even at that point, with one child dead and one dying, couldn’t bring herself to betray him and seek medical help. But she also couldn’t live with the fact that her doing nothing had killed my sister and was most likely going to kill me. So she was going to take her own life. If I died, she and Jilly would be waiting to greet me when God took me home.”
“I thought she was Catholic,” Magnus growled with disgust. “Suicide is a mortal sin according to the Catholic church.”
Shrugging, Allie said wearily, “At that point, I think she was just crazy. The whole time she was telling me all of that, she was patting my shoulder and smiling as if what she was saying was perfectly normal and should be good news because I’d have her and Jilly to greet me when I died. Then she just got up and left my room. I tried to follow, but the effort caused me terrible pain and I passed out without even managing to get out of bed.”
Allie was silent for a minute, and then continued. “When I woke up, my father was there placing cold cloths over my forehead. He told me mother had ‘lost her faith in our God’ and hung herself. It was just the two of us now. We’d have to live right and pray for her soul and that of Jilly’s.”
Immortal Born EPB Page 22