by Abbott, Alex
I plan to keep my blindfold on until everyone is off the bed and we have shuffled so that I can’t tell who was who.
9
So this is it—close curtains, take a bow. The day of reckoning or whatever. Perhaps the last time I’ll see Calla, perhaps not, but probably the last day Scott and I can consider ourselves friends. Then again, who knows? The three of us experienced something pretty special here, so we’re definitely more bonded than before, but I’m not sure what will become of the relationships between us.
We start moving off the bed and I’m so glad Calla decided to leave her blindfold on. Scott and I both took ours off at some point during the act—I guess deciding to face it all like men.
We both know what Calla is doing, so we try not to leave any indicators of who was where.
“Is it safe yet?” she asks after a few moments.
We both head to the shower, but I get in first and Scott heads back to Calla.
“Safe,” he says.
She takes her blindfold off, glances at him, and then at me.
Her face is full of emotion and thoughts, but I can’t tell where she is in any of those places.
When it comes to her body though, I know she had a hell of a good time here.
I’ll do everything I can to pleasure her like that from now on, if she’d let me.
I seriously hope she’s not planning to get back with Scott because he’s not exactly giving me ‘thoroughly disgusted’ vibes—I get the sense he’s actually capable of getting over this whole thing, and is willing to take her back if that’s what they both want.
While I’m drying under that air dryer, Calla gets in the shower, and by the time she needs to dry off, I have moved on to putting on some clothes.
We move like some sort of odd machine.
Scott brings up the rear, showering last, and we end up in matching white T-shirts and silk boxers.
Calla takes one look at us and dissolves into giggles.
She is dressed like before, but I guess she figures she’ll take a clean set of underwear with her because she has on a different pair of sexy matching bra and panties underneath her robe and jeans.
I don’t blame her—take what you can, Calla. Like I said, the soft underwear provided for us is the shit.
Once completely ready, Calla goes over to the wall next to the bed with a blindfold and waits for us, kneeling and grabbing a pair of ear plugs.
I follow her lead, kneeling at her right side, while Scott kneels at her left.
We wait for The Voice to tell us to begin the countdown.
“Blindfolds,” Voice says.
I put on my blindfold and wait for the next command.
“Wait—I don’t have ear plugs,” Scott says, but as it turns out, we didn’t really need them anyway—not right then, that is.
We hear a strange, hissing sound, and when fumes hit my nose, I realize we’re probably about to get knocked out by a kind of gas.
“Do not remove your blindfolds or you will be sorry,” Voice says. “This is the easiest way to transport the three of you, so don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
I wonder where we’ll get dropped off?
I feel Calla grab for my hand, and I assume she has also grabbed Scott’s so that when we fall unconscious, we’re all joined by hands.
Either way, I’m glad to feel Calla’s touch again, and I look forward to regaining consciousness and finding out, once and for all, where we all now stood.
END
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rowena writes friends-to-lovers erotic romance and erotica with an element of unwillingness. She likes a bit of darkness involved as long as no one really gets hurt—at least, only in good ways. ;) Forced proximity and kidnapping romances are her favorites.
She enjoys making up circumstances in which two people are forced to confront their feelings—sexual and otherwise—to the object of their desire, feelings they have been hiding or running from for a while because of a major barrier or conflict of interest. Usually, her characters have known each other for quite a while, so their first sexual encounter has been a long time…coming.
CONTACT:
Join Rowena’s mailing list for news about upcoming releases, sales, giveaways etc. here!
The author can be reached by email here. Check out her blog/website here.
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AMAZON
***
Exile: The Lost Tribe
By Lola Kidd
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
One
“This is all you’re fault Lena!” Sophia screamed hurling a bolt of lightening at her younger sister. “You think because you’re a princess you’re better than me. Newsflash little sister, I’m going to be queen not you!”
Lena dodged the lightening bolt easily but the heavy curtains behind her caught fire. Lena quickly put them out before the flame ruined too much. She picked up the red curtains and shook her head. “You need to control you’re temper sister. A queen should have control of her emotions at all times.”
Rage distorted Sophia’s beautiful features. “Are you going to help your queen or not?”
“The queen is dead and no one has been crowned yet.”
“I am the queen!” Sophia shot off another lightening bolt.
Lena raised her hand and absorbed the attack. “You aren’t even a member of the royal family. You can’t be queen.”
“You don’t even want to rule! You’ve said it yourself a million times.” Sophia circled Lena. Her hair was pulled up in a tight mass of curls and she wore a long formal ballgown. She looked much more the part of royal than Lena in her simple day gown. Sophia always dressed for the role she wanted. That should have been Lena’s mother’s first clue. Prescott, their father, had warned Queen Marie that Sophia was dangerous.
Lena’s mother had a soft heart and had loved Sophia as her own the moment she laid eyes on her. Lena suspected that she would never have been born if Marie hadn’t seen what beautiful children Prescott could produce. Sophia’s mother had died during birth and the queen had taken in the baby. While Sophia didn’t have a title, she was as much a part of the royal family as Lena was. That was the mistake. Sophia was raised as a princess without the ability to ever be queen. Thanks to her mother’s kindness, the entire clan was in danger.
“I can’t help you Sophia.” Lena shook her head. “Nobody can help you anymore. You and your people need to turn yourselves in to the Council. There’s still hope for leniency.”
“As if I would ever lower myself to grovel to those fools.” Sophia stopped circling. “You know you won’t be spared this punishment. They mean to send away the entire clan dear sister.”
“No they won’t,” Lena said confidently. “They will punish you and the people who committed these awful crimes. The rest of us will be fine. I told you not to play with fire sister.”
Sophia laughed. “You are so naïve! The only people who will be spared are the three who have turned on us. Father didn’t make you part of his deal. He’s leaving you to rot with the rest of us.”
Lena left the room. Sophia’s laughter followed her. Lena went out to the grounds. She waved her hand at the footmen who tried to follow her. She wanted to send a message to their father in private.
“Come find me when he breaks your stupid little heart!” Sophia was standing on the balcony still laughing. Lena looked over her shoulder and pushed her sister back into the house. She slammed and locked the balcony door behind Sophia. She was lying. Their father would never abandon his people or Lena. Sophia was trying to goad Lena into helping her again. She was already hiding her from the Council and the lynch mobs. What more could Lena do? It was Sophia and h
er hate that had caused all the problems and now she would have to pay.
Lena walked into the hedge maze to get some privacy. She turned a few corners before crouching in the grass. She reached out to her father trying to find him in the world. Usually, he kept an enchanted mirror to speak with her and Sophia. That had stopped once the Council started looking for Sophia and putting together what was really going on. Lena thought it was to protect them. If anyone found the mirror, they would be able to find the girls in a matter of seconds.
Divining in the grass, she couldn’t locate Prescott. She frowned and tried again. There was a small map of the world burned in the grass but no flame was appearing to show his location. She cast twice more before giving up. He didn’t want to be found. He had to be using very strong magic to block himself. Sophia was telling the truth. There was no reason for Prescott to hide from Lena. She had done nothing wrong and those who followed her would surely follow Prescott once Sophia was gone. He could finally be King of the Northlands Fae.
Lena trembled in the grass. If anything was going to happen it would be at sunset. The Council had given Sophia and her people until the end of the day to surrender themselves. Lena got up and ran back to the house.
“Sophia! You need to turn yourself in!” She ran from room to room. Sophia was lounging in the queen’s old room. She was flipping through patterns.
“I will do no such thing. The punishment will be the same no matter what I do. I want them to know that I am not sorry for what I did. I would do it again. I will do worse next time!”
Lena kneeled next to the chaise. “If you don’t go, they will punish us all.”
Sophia looked at her sister and smiled. “Will you help me now?”
“I will not! I can not!”
“Then you deserve to be punished too. All that power and you’re going to bend to the will of those less powerful? Why does it matter so much to you?”
“I don’t care what they think. I care what I think Sophia. I couldn’t look at myself if I did what you ask.”
“You won’t be able to look at yourself when they get done with us.” Sophia held up the book and pointed to a purple gown. “I like this one. I think it would look great with my coloring. You could get one in green and we could be matching like when we were girls!”
Lena looked outside. It would be anytime now. “If you love me at all, you wouldn’t do this to me. To our people.”
She put her hand on Lena’s cheek. “You’re willing to forsake me for the other supernaturals and humans. I should kill you where you stand dear Lena.”
Lena stood up. “I should kill you where you sit. I’m sure the Council will be just as happy to take a dead body as a live one.”
Sophia raised an eyebrow. “Are you finally getting a backbone little sister?”
“I can’t let our people all be punished for what you did.” Lena raised her chin. She couldn’t kill her sister but she could knock her out. The guards could drag her to the Council. It would be over quickly.
The air in the room was tense as the two sisters looked at one another. Sophia stood up slowly and brushed off her dress. “I don’t want to kill you Lena but I will hurt you very badly.”
“You can try.” Lena didn’t even raise her hand. Boulders fell from the ceiling. They crashed onto Sophia’s head and split without harming her. The pieces fell onto the chaise and broke it along with a footstool.
“I liked that chaise.” Sophia said angrily. Lena flew backwards and out the window with a crash. She landed on her feet in the lawn. The guards watched with interest as Sophia flew out to the lawn and set the grass around Lena on fire.
The head of the home guard came forward to help Lena. She pushed him back. “Stay out of this Gavin!”
He was a good guard but he couldn’t stand up to Sophia. She really did mean to hurt Lena. Sophia let her glamour fall and her beautiful face was replaced by mottled grey skin with deep black cracks running through it. Her shiny brown hair was replaced by long, stringy white strands. The true face of the Northlands Fae. Lena let her own glamour drop. She wasn’t quite was ugly as her sister but then she wasn’t quite as powerful either.
She had to rely on her speed and cunning to best Sophia. They had been play fighting since they were children. Sophia had never hit Lena with the full force of her power but Lena had a good idea of what her sister was capable of as lightening rained down from the sky and hail the size of small horses hurtled toward her. She used quick teleports to dodge the hail but she couldn’t attack back. The minute she would get to a safe spot the grass and dirt reached up to hold her down.
Lena was teleporting and floating as she zipped to each spot.
“Getting tired yet sister?” Sophia asked as she floated. Lena needed to get her sister on the ground. She pushed wind at Sophia to try to force her down but her sister didn’t move more than an inch. Lena absorbed some of the lightening and shot it back at Sophia. The heat burned off a chunk of her white hair. “Good. This was starting to get boring it was so easy.”
The ground rumbled under their feet. The sisters looked at each other. Sophia’s eyes turned red in a rage. It felt like someone had stabbed Lena in the stomach and was ripping her organs out through the hole. It was like her body was trying to turn itself inside out. She was faintly aware of the guards screaming and writing on the ground. She thought she was screaming too but she couldn’t be sure. Blood was pouring from Sophia’s eyes as she too began to scream.
Whatever they were doing, it was working. Lena would have ripped Sophia’s heart out if she had the energy to move. The fires had stopped when Sophia lost her control on her magic. Lena was glad her mother wasn’t alive to see what had become of their country home. The maze was partially burned and the topiary figures were all ruined. They wouldn’t be able to play croquet on the lawn this season. Such a waste.
The longer the pain went on the more Lena started to understand why Sophia had wanted them all dead. They were willing to do this to Lena and her followers even though they were totally innocent. She didn’t understand why her father had let this happen. Why hadn’t he taken Lena with him at least? She curled up on the ground as the pain intensified. The pain was so great it felt like she was floating or maybe she had just detached from her body. Lena opened her eyes a millimeter and the ground around her was shimmering.
Sophia was grasping at the rippling ground trying to stand up through the pain. She made it to her knees before she fell through the grass. Lena watched Gavin fall through before she too sunk into the grass. The moment she touched solid ground again, the pain was gone. She was in shock and still didn’t move. It was like flipping a switch and now her eyes needed time to adjust to the light again. She held her hands up to her face and moved her fingers. She touched her chest and stomach. She was alright. Not dead!
“Princess Lena!” Ellia’s face appeared over Lena. Her blonde curls dipped and tickled Lena’s cheeks.
She giggled. “Ellia? When did you get here? I thought you were on holiday in France.”
“I was.” Ellia was Lena’s only handmaiden and her bestfriend. She had left when things started getting bad. Her parents had died in the first purge of the Northlands Fae too. “You need to get up Lena! Sophia will be here any moment.”
Lena sobered up. She finally looked around and realized she had no idea where she was. She sat up fast. They were on a beach and the sky was dark. There was a full moon hanging high in the sky…only it was purple. She picked up some of the sand and let it fall through her fingers. It was the softest sand she had ever felt and it was black.
Ellia pulled on her arm. “Get up now Lena! She will kill you!”
“Where are we?” Lena stood up and let Ellia lead her down the beach.
“I have no idea. I’ve been walking and there’s a castle just across down the sand. Maybe someone there will help us.”
Lena could just barely see the structure that Ellia was leading her too. It was pretty far away and it was slow goin
g in the sand. Lena tried to teleport to get them there faster but nothing happened. She tried again and again but each time it failed. She stopped. “I can’t teleport.”
“You can’t do magic at all.” Ellia said and pulled her again.
“Can Sophia?” Lena began to walk faster up the beach.
“Not like before but yes.” She tightened her grip on Lena. “Don’t worry I won’t leave you. You can hide and I’ll come find you when I find help.”
Something passed overhead. It cast a shadow in the purple moonlight. A roar rumbled that shook Lena to her core. She put her hands over her ears and looked up.
“Ellia…”
Her friends mouth was gaping open and her eyes were as terrified as Lena’s. They both ran for the trees next to the beach but the great black beast dropped from the sky and reared up on its hind legs. It was the color of night and its wings were as wide as Lena’s country manor. Its claws were as long as her entire body and its beady eyes looked at her coldly.
Ellia’s nails dug into her arm. “Lena am I mad or is that…”
“A dragon.” Lena finished grimly.
Two
She had no magic and no weapon. She had no idea how she was going to beat the creature. It had to be Sophia. She had never cast a dragon before but it wouldn’t surprise Lena to learn her sister had been practicing in secret. No one had cast a dragon in centuries. Most believed it was only a rumor. Lena didn’t believe in the ancient magic herself. That wasn’t going to help her now. She had no idea how to fight the creature.
The beast was looking right at her. Lena moved toward the castle slowly taking Ellia with her. The creature didn’t move. It only watched Lena with its dead eyes as she moved. She didn’t take her eyes off the beast as they moved. Sophia was toying with her. As long as she didn’t hurt Ellia, Lena didn’t care what happened to her. She had failed her people, if anyone else was left alive. They were a two kilometers away when the beast moved.