Chapter Ten
Gabriel was punching me again. My face, neck, chest, anywhere he could reach while straddling me. I fought back the screams, but I couldn’t hold back the endless stream of tears. My body was so battered, he wouldn’t allow enough time for me to heal in between the beatings. The pain was astounding.
He smiled at me. A sickening, depraved smile. His face lowered toward mine, his tongue slipped out to lick my face as he forced himself inside me. I did cry out then, in pain and despair. He was raping me. I had no way to fight him. I thrashed around trying to disengage him, but it seemed to encourage him. I held my breath hoping to pass out.
My last thoughts before everything faded to black were: I want to kill him. I want to die.
Strong hands gripped my shoulders, shaking me. I swung out, but the pain made me yelp. They were still shaking me, speaking to me. I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t understand their words.
The movement sent waves of pain through my body. I had to be quiet, I couldn’t let Gabriel know how much it hurt. I bit down on my cheek, but it was so damaged, that I almost cried out again.
Suddenly, I realized the hands were no longer shaking me. Instead, they were caressing me. They were murmuring something, I tried to focus on the voice.
“Open your eyes,” the voice said. It was so familiar and comforting that I tried, but my eyes were so heavy I could open them no more than a slit. All I saw were blobs of blurriness in various colors and shapes. The figure sitting beside me was no different: just a big blob of blurriness.
Something warm and wet covered my eyes for a moment. “Try again, my love,” the voice said.
This time they opened enough for me to focus. A small smile pulled my lips upward and quickly changed to a grimace when they split. I licked them and sure enough tasted blood.
“I hated to wake you, but you were yelling and crying. You were in obvious distress. I felt waking you from the nightmare was probably best.”
“Ian.” His name came out as a whisper. “Yeah, it was horrible. Hold me.” I needed his arms around me, even if it hurt. I needed his strength. He climbed into the bed and gingerly wrapped his arms around me. I snuggled in as much as I could and drifted off again.
I woke sometime later. How long I’d been asleep, I wasn’t sure, but I was in Ian’s arms and that’s what mattered. He was asleep. I lay there and watched him.
How could I not have known? This was the man I’d loved since the day I laid eyes on him. Okay well, maybe not the day I laid eyes on him. I had thought he was a murderous banshee at first, but after getting to know him I found he was kind and caring. He hid these qualities under a rough exterior, but I saw through it and fell for him.
I lifted my hand, noticing most of the pain was gone, and ran my fingers along his cheek. His eyes flew open and met mine.
“Hi,” he whispered.
“Hi.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Better, not all that great, but better. I’m not throbbing everywhere anymore, but I’m still sore as hell.” I glanced at my arms seeing that the bruises and cuts were still there. “How long have I been out?”
“You have been in and out of consciousness for around forty-eight hours. It is now nine o’clock in the morning on the third day.”
“Two days? Um, not to be ungrateful or anything, but why didn’t you heal me?”
“Your body was too weak. Banshee essence may have been too much for it to handle. There was a possibility it could have killed you. Though, after that last nightmare, I did give you my blood. It strengthened you without sending you into shock. I wanted to help. It was the only way I could.”
“Thank you. I feel much better, so thank you. Am I by chance strong enough for essence now?” I may not be able to erase the memories of what Gabriel had done to me, but I wanted to at least get rid of the physical evidence.
He lowered his face to the side of my neck. Banshees have an excellent and unique sense of smell. They can tell if someone is sick or healthy by their scent. It’s a helpful survival tool since feeding from an unwell mortal can have negative effects on a banshee.
He pressed his lips to my skin as he took a deep breath. “You are. Do you feel ready?”
“Yes, but do you mind if I clean up a bit before we start? I feel gross.”
“You are beautiful. However, I understand the need for comfort.” He helped me out of the bed.
He helped me to the bathroom and began to enter with me.
“Do you mind waiting out here? I want to do this alone.”
“Fine, but you cannot take a shower alone. You are not yet steady enough. Wash in the sink. I will be right here. Leave it unlocked.”
I needed to see what that bastard had done to me before it disappeared. I didn’t want Ian there to see my reaction. It was too personal to share, even with him.
Using the wall and counter to get to the sink, I looked up to my reflection and gasped in shock. My eyes were two purple balloons, the whites were blood red. My lips were split in multiple places and so swollen they looked like I’d gone on a collagen injection spree. My entire face was one giant swollen, black-and-blue, bloody mess thanks to Gabriel’s faeritonium knuckle guards.
I lifted my nightshirt to see what other damage remained. I gagged when I saw the rest of my body. There were bruises, cuts, and teeth marks all over, mostly in the softest spots. My breasts still had bruises in the shape of handprints. The brand on my torso was a vicious shade of red.
Unable to hold myself up any longer, I fell to the floor in tears. Ian was beside me in an instant. He dropped to the floor and pulled me into his lap.
“Hush, my love, it is over, he will never touch you again.”
I now had a better understanding of what Juliana had been saying. Ian could promise me it was over, tell me I was safe, but it was going to take a lot more than promises for me to feel secure again.
He held me, rocking from side to side, until I stopped crying. Then he helped me stand. This time he stayed while I brushed my teeth and splashed water on my face. Washing it would be too painful, but the cool water helped to revive me.
“Well, that’s as good as I’m gonna get,” I said, trying to avoid my reflection.
He carried me to the bed and laid me down before sliding in next to me and pulling the covers over us both. He was wearing only boxer shorts. I gave a sigh of pleasure as his bare leg rubbed against mine. We rolled onto our sides and wrapped our arms around each other.
“Ready?” he whispered.
“As I’ll ever be.” I pressed my battered lips to his perfect ones. He needed no further encouragement, but he kept it light and gentle, knowing I was still sore. When I parted my lips, he opened his aura.
His essence enveloped me in warmth, and I relaxed into it with a contented sigh. I rolled onto my back, Ian moving with me so his body was covering mine. I let my hands roam over his back, caressing slowly, while he stroked me in return. The tenderness of the moment brought tears to my eyes.
All too soon Ian asked, “How are you feeling now?”
“Much better.” I felt only a little pain. Since his power went to my wounds instead of boosting my own, I had less of the euphoria. A quick survey showed that the bruises were a sickly shade of green, a sign they were healing, and the cuts were significantly smaller. We lay in silence, holding each other for a long while before I spoke again, “So… I know while you are feeding from a mortal you can feel their emotions. Um, so technically I was feeding from you, so uh, what I felt…”
“Is how I feel.”
“Oh… wow,” I breathed.
We kissed, stroked, caressed, and held each other for what felt like an eternity. While his essence had brought me pleasure, kissing him without it was more amazing. It was only us, him alone making me weak in the knees, not his essence.
“Am I hurting you?”
“No, I was just thinking how much I love this… being with you.”
“I feel the same. I lov
e everything about you. Even that smart mouth of yours.”
“You do?”
“I do,” he whispered before suddenly calling out, “Come in,” just before a soft knock sounded at the door.
Sheryl stepped through the door and averted her eyes, but not before I could see the hurt in them. “Do you want anything from the store?”
“Food,” I responded, even though I wasn’t hungry. Food might aid my healing body and I should probably have some.
“Yeah, but what?”
“Where’s Bryce? He knows what I like. Ask him to make you a list, please.”
Sheryl turned and left. I realized I was still filthy, and smelly.
“I have to take a shower.”
I wiggled out from beneath him and made my way to the bathroom. As the water warmed up, I brushed my teeth and hair. When I tried to run the brush through my hair, it got stuck in the crusted, matted mess.
“Ick! How could Ian want to kiss this?”
“Because ‘this’ is beautiful.”
“Damn, you can be quiet when you want to be.” I looked over at him. “Whatcha doin?”
“I think you should allow me to wash your hair in the sink first.” He pulled the shampoo from the shower.
“Why?”
“Because it is—”
“Caked with blood,” I finished for him, my voice cracking.
“Yes, well… You will feel much better once you are clean.”
He washed my hair three times before the water ran clear again. “Will you be okay if I leave or do you want me to stay?”
“Stay.” I took off my nightshirt. I stood still letting him look at me. His eyes traveled over my body creating a wave of heat to follow. His expression melted my insecurity away, and I relaxed.
“Goldie…”
“Maybe you could help me with the rest?”
A low growl came from him as he closed the distance between us. He held me to him with one hand on my bottom as the other slid to cup my breast. His lips moved down my neck, over my shoulder, before bending to take my nipple in his mouth.
“Oh!” I moaned, pulling away so I could run my fingers over his chest to his abs. When I reached the waistband of his boxers, he hissed, and I looked up at him.
“Should I stop?”
“No.”
The huskiness of his voice gave me the final boost of confidence I needed. Sliding my hands under the elastic of his boxer shorts I lowered them to his hips. I slowly kissed my way down his body as I continued removing his boxers. When I was on my knees in front of him, I smiled up at him.
“Goldie, you will be the death of me.” He lifted me into his arms and placed me in the shower before joining me under the warm spray of the shower.
He reached for the bar of soap. His hands, silky from the lather, began touching me and I could no longer think.
He pulled me to him so the lengths of our bodies met as he washed my back. I moaned as the coarseness of his chest hair rubbed over my breasts. Enjoying the sensation, I shifted so I could feel it again.
He moved us under the spray to rinse off the lather and reached around me to turn off the water. Taking me in his arms he carried me to the bed.
As he slid in beside me our lips met and ours hands began to explore once again. I dug my nails into his shoulders as his touch overwhelmed me.
He shifted to rest in between my legs, guiding them around his waist. When his lips found my breast, I arched into him and moved my hands down his back pressing his hips to mine.
“Goldie, are you sure?”
“Yes.”
As he slid into me, I tensed at the pinch of pain. It passed quickly and turned into a pleasure I had only read about until now. Though not one book came even close to describing how good it felt.
His movements were slow, almost tentative. “Does it hurt?”
“No. It’s amazing.” I lifted my hips, urging him to continue.
Wave after wave of pleasure washed over me. I slid my hands down his back to his bottom and back up over his shoulder to cup his face. Instinctively, I began moving with him. We soon fell into a rhythm that had the world exploding, leaving me with a feeling of satiety I’d never thought possible.
“How do you feel?”
“Wonderful.” I ran my fingers over his back.
He shifted to lie beside me, pulling me into his arms. I’d never been happier or more content. I let my eyes drift close and dozed off while wrapped in Ian’s arms.
Chapter Eleven
“Ah, so you’ve decided to rouse yourself,” said an unfamiliar voice.
“What? Who the hell are you? And where is Ian?”
I sat up and focused on the man sitting in the chair beside my bed. I’d never seen him before, yet there was something familiar about him. His head bowed as he examined his fingernails as though I was boring him to tears. As I continued to examine him, I noticed he bore a strong resemblance to Ian. Though where Ian was dark, he was light. Ian was more Mediterranean where this man was more Nordic.
“Ian will soon return. He tasked me with watching over you in his absence.”
“Tasked? One, I don’t need watching over. And two, you still haven’t told me who you are.”
“I am Rufus.”
“That tells me nothing.” He annoyed me. I wake up to a strange man in my room and no one there to explain who the hell he is. Not cool.
“Actually, it tells you my name.”
“Oh, for the love of fairies! Why are you here?” I sat up to swing my legs over the edge of the bed. “And do not tell me you are here to watch over me.”
“I am here at Ian’s request.”
“You are infuriating.”
“Thank you.”
I lowered my feet to the floor and moved to stand in front of him. Before I could speak again, Ian strode in with a suitcase.
“Goldie, you should be in bed.” He placed the suitcase on the floor and moved to stand beside me.
“Ian, who is this man? Why did you leave me alone with him?”
“I only went down the hall to get my things. I did not want to leave you alone. Rufus was close by, so I asked him to stay with you in case you woke feeling ill.”
“I’d have preferred being alone.”
“Ah, sugar, don’t be like that.”
“Do not call me ‘sugar’.”
“Rufus, I told you to be polite.”
“I was, brother.”
I scoffed, “You were ambiguous and irritating.”
“Nevertheless, I was polite.”
He kind of had a point.
“Wait… Did he just call you ‘brother’?” Normally I wouldn’t think much of it, but the similarities between them had me wondering… “Are you related?”
“Rufus.”
“Why bother, it appears you are ashamed of me.”
The words he spoke were seemingly serious, but his tone was light and sarcastic. Still, Ian looked abashed and shook his head.
“I am not ashamed of you. I simply do not think it wise to share our relation with the others just yet.”
“I assumed this lovely being would have already known as she seems to be important to you. I apologize for disclosing information before you were ready.”
“She is important to me. I have not had the time to tell her about you…
“So, he is your brother?”
Ian’s parents had died in the Great Fey War. He ended up in, and later escaped from, a clan run by a malevolent banshee. Once free, he had started his own. He’d never mentioned any siblings or other family members.
“Yes, he is.”
“So, you just didn’t have time to tell me you have family?”
Rufus and I were looking at Ian like he had two heads. How did he not have time to mention a brother to me?
“I do not share my personal life with many. You and I have only recently become closer.”
“Closer? I’d like to think sleeping together is more than that.”
“Yes, well that only just happened.”
I glared at him.
He cleared his throat. “I will not explain myself. I am telling you now: Qadira Morrigana ó Cuinn, meet my brother, Rufus MacBeaghne.”
Rufus bowed before me. “Pleased to meet you, m’lady.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. From what I’d seen so far, Rufus differed greatly from Ian. Ian was always so serious, and Rufus seemed playful and flippant.
“Please call me Kadi.”
“Kadi,” he said as if the word tasted bitter. “Qadira is such a lovely name, why have you chosen Kadi?”
Ah, so there was at least one similarity between the brothers.
“I do not understand it either. I have asked her the same thing many times over the years,” Ian remarked.
“Great, there are two of you. I am too young and live in a time where I feel the name Qadira draws attention to me. I am in a profession and of a certain bloodline that makes attention bad for me; therefore, I have simplified my name to Kadi Quinn to blend in a little better. There, I have explained it, happy?”
“No,” both men said in unison. Ian added, “Qadira is a family name. It will not make you stick out, so you will have to come up with a better excuse.”
I shrugged not agreeing with him. Qadira is a family name, but it’s from a family I do not know and will never have the chance to know. Kadi is easier and more acceptable. I saw Ian’s mind working and before he could try to prove another point, I changed the subject.
“So, where have you been, Rufus?”
“Deep undercover.”
“All these years?”
“Yes.”
“Oh! You’re the mystery scout Ian never talks about, but we know exists, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, his lips twitching upward. “You are a perceptive little thing.”
“Thank you for everything you do.” I held my hand out to him. He had been risking his life to help our clan save others for many years.
“The pleasure is mine.”
He held my hand longer than necessary. I took advantage of our proximity to study him. The resemblance to Ian was stronger than I’d first thought. They had the same patrician features, warrior-like physiques, and even the same grey eyes. They could have been twins aside from their hair color. Rufus looked older. He had little wrinkles around his eyes and his light, blond hair had turned grey at his temples. He had suffered a lot in his life.
Becoming Banshee Page 9