The Seeker

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  But Bret would eventually find her. He didn’t give up.

  She could tell him the truth.

  That startled a laugh out of her.

  Even though they shared a bed and she knew he was fond of her, Rose didn’t think he would keep her secret. He hunted mages for a living. He wouldn’t condone her behavior, no matter how well she pleasured him. He could very well turn her in to Divintry, and she would be hung at dawn or burned at the stake. Rose wasn’t sure what the popular execution was in Divintry. In Demerest, it was beheading.

  Touching her throat, Rose peeked out of her window. Her two coven guards were still there across the street. The door to her room opened and she bit back a startled gasp.

  “How’s your head?” Bret asked, locking the door behind him.

  “I told you I would come to you. My parents aren’t asleep yet,” she whispered the last part, even though she had the entire floor to herself.

  “I wanted to see your bedroom.” Bret walked around the wide, airy space.

  “Why?” She had a moment of panic wondering if she had left any clues about her being The Seeker around. When her brother was at sea, she kept them under her bed. But now that he was back, all of her equipment was in the caves below Robert's house. Letting out the breath she had been holding, Rose eyed Bret warily as he picked up her childhood treasures.

  “Because you never tell me anything about yourself.” He trailed his fingers over the books in her bookshelf. If he was looking for hints of her personality, he wouldn’t find it there. All those books were gifts from her parents. She kept her heretical tomes in The Seeker’s cave.

  “As you can see, there’s not much to tell. I’m the black sheep of the family. Imagine, a mage coming from a respected old family like this one.” Rose clasped her hands in front of her and watched him like a hawk.

  He smirked. “And yet instead of being a dutiful daughter, you rebel.”

  Rose bit back a snort.

  “I can see why you hate being shut up in the coven.” Bret picked up a figurine of a horse.

  It was black, like Atalanta. Did he suspect her after all? Was that why he was stalking around her room?

  “Couldn’t you persuade the matron to give you bigger accommodations?”

  “I’m not that powerful of a mage to warrant it.” Rose would never wield deadly powers. She never wanted to. It was bad enough her skill with a rapier and dagger took men’s lives. She didn’t want her magic to do it either.

  “You’re rich enough.” Bret fingered the necklaces that hung up on her dresser.

  Could that be the way to get him to leave her alone? Could Bret be bribed?

  “My parents have the money. I’m not even allowed to have a job.”

  He smiled. “You have everything you need and if you want something, you can barter your magic to get it.”

  “Not everything,” she said. She couldn’t barter her freedom. “What would it take for you to stop retrieving me? Could I pay you more than my family does?”

  He shook his head and unbuttoned his shirt. “My reputation would be ruined if I allowed that. No one would trust me with a bounty again if it was known I could be bought.”

  “Is there magic I could perform to barter for you to look the other way the next time I leave the coven?”

  “You promised me you wouldn’t leave the coven. I’ll make you regret it if you do,” he warned, kicking off his boots.

  She didn’t promise him anything, but she wasn’t going to remind him of that fact.

  “I’m not allowed visitors in the coven. So, you’re all right with never seeing me again?” Rose didn’t want to think too hard on how important his answer was to her.

  “We have tonight.” He unbuckled his pants.

  “So, this is good-bye?” Blinking back tears she refused to let him see, she forced a smile on her face.

  Bret shook his head. “You’re not getting away from me that easy.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at him while he stepped out of his pants and shrugged off his shirt. She was so mad she wouldn’t even look at the thin scrap of fabric he wore over his private parts. “If I’m not leaving the coven and you can’t visit me, how is this not good-bye?”

  He uncrossed her arms and pulled her to him. “I’m not an idiot, Rose. You’ll run. It’s in your nature. When it’s safe, and the elementalist has been caught, you’ll escape. And when you do, I’ll be there.”

  Slightly mollified, she looked up at him. “Why? Am I just a job for you?” Ugh, why did she say that?

  “I don’t sleep with my other bounties.”

  That eased a tightness inside her that she hadn’t realized she had. He untied the belt of her robe and eased it down over her shoulders. Rose smiled at his intake of breath. She was naked.

  He swallowed hard. “I keep forgetting how beautiful you are.”

  She didn’t want his words. She fell more and more in love with him when he talked. It was easier if they just fucked. Rose dipped her hand inside his underclothes, but he clamped his hand over her wrist.

  “No.”

  “No?” Rose arched an eyebrow.

  “We’re not rushing tonight. Tonight, I’m going to kiss every inch of you and fuck you slow and long. I’m going to take you in your very own bed so you won’t be able to lie here anymore without thinking of me.” He eased his final layer of clothing off.

  He made her mouth water, he was so perfect. From his powerful leg muscles, all the way up to his chiseled abs, he had a body that she dreamed about. Damn him.

  “Oh, shut up and fuck me already, Bret.” Rose pressed her mouth to his. She couldn’t hear any more honeyed words. She was already trembling with need. Any anger or worry, had been burned away by the heat of his words.

  He kissed her as if to devour her, backing her towards the bed. Instead of the narrow little cot the coven provided, this bed was wide and soft, more than big enough for the two of them as they wrestled each other to be on top.

  She won because he let her. Straddling him, she eased his cock inside her. Rose paused for a moment enjoying the feeling of him filling her up completely with his girth. All the jagged and frayed pieces of her nerves fit back together and smoothed out.

  Bret laid his big hands on her thighs. “You going to move or do I have to do all the work?” His voice was tight and gruff.

  Smiling down at him, she trailed her fingers from her collarbone, over her breasts to her stomach. Bret’s gaze followed the journey. Laying her palms flat on his muscled chest she began to slowly raise up off his long cock. “I thought you wanted it slow,” she purred, unable to resist an arch of pleasure as she sunk back down on him.

  “There’s slow and there’s you’re killing me, sweetheart.”

  If she could kill him, it would make her life easier. But if she wanted an easy life, she wouldn’t have become The Seeker.

  “We’re doomed, you know,” she said, moving a little faster.

  “If doomed feels like this, I’m all right with that.” Bret gripped her hips and arched into her.

  Letting her head fall back, she enjoyed the ride he gave her and when he tired of thrusting up into her, Rose took over the pace. By this time, she was near frenzied with need. The chants of the coven were fading and all that remained was the feel of his thickness stretching her and the pounding rhythm of their dance. Grinding her hips, she rocked against him, feeling the hard brush of him over her sensitive folds, she cried out.

  “Quiet, you’ll wake the house,” he growled, giving her a playful swat on her backside.

  As she bounced on him, Bret captured her nipples and tugged, sending a pulse of pure desire right into her core. Her pussy clamped down tight on him as the first wave of pleasure hit. She was still shaking with reaction, when he rolled her over on her back and took over the pace.

  It was best when they both lost control like this. Rose’s legs wrapped around his waist and his thrusts were wild and all over the place. Bret used the head
board for leverage, driving fully inside her only to withdraw to the tip before doing it again. Her legs were like jelly when he pinned them above her head.

  “Just like this,” he grunted, pistoning in and out of her.

  Her head tossed from side to side as she was unable to move because of the weight of his body slamming into her. She moaned his name over and over again as each shockwave sensation overrode the one before. Rose came twice, once from his body and then right after by the look in his eyes just before he came.

  “Mine,” he snarled and that was all it took for her to shake apart once more. He groaned in his own release and let her legs fall down as he slowed his claiming of her body to just a few languid thrusts.

  Bret rolled over to his side and kissed her until she melted against him. He was right again, damn him. Any time she would sleep in this bed, she’d remember this moment.

  “Bret?” she asked, just as they were falling asleep.

  “Give me a few hours to recover,” he chuckled.

  She smiled against his chest. “Is it always going to be like this for us?”

  “Gods, I hope so,” he said reverently.

  Thumping his arm, Rose lifted her head. “I mean is it always going to be stolen moments. Or are we going to let everyone know how we feel?”

  “Darling, if I make you my woman, you become a target. The bad guys with grudges or their families will go after you to get to me.”

  “Not if I’m in the coven.”

  He snorted. “You’d stay in the coven?”

  “Maybe,” she lied.

  Bret pushed her on her back and kissed down to her breasts. He lovingly sucked one nipple into his mouth. Rose bit down on a gasp and clutched the sheets. “Trying to distract me?”

  “Mmmm,” he went to the other nipple. “Can’t resist.”

  Her legs opened on their own as he drew the tight bud into his mouth. It was only natural when he dipped his fingers inside of her.

  She hissed at the intrusion.

  “Sore?” he asked, and at her nod rubbed his knuckle over her clit instead.

  “Oh,” she sighed, watching him pleasure her as he went back to licking and nibbling on her breasts. When she was panting again, and writhing against his knuckle, Bret propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her.

  “I don’t have enough money to buy your contract out from the coven. Not with your father’s money backing your position to stay there.”

  “I’d run away with you,” she said, moaning as he rubbed her slow and gentle. Rose clutched at his arms. She didn’t want gentle. She didn’t care that she was sore. She wanted him inside her again. “We’re smart enough to avoid getting caught.”

  Bret went back to her breasts, not gentle this time. His rough sucking and tugging had her on the verge of coming. He held her there on that plateau, her legs shaking, struggling for her next breath.

  “I cannot be an outlaw,” he said and covered her mouth with his, when he pushed her over the edge, catching her scream of pleasure as the jangling sensation crashed into her and she jolted against him in release.

  He rolled on his back, dragging her on top of him.

  “Why not?” Rose gasped when she had her breath back.

  “Mmm?” he asked sleepily.

  “Why can’t you become an outlaw?”

  He rubbed her back for a few minutes and Rose had given up on getting an answer out of him. Just as she was starting to drift off he said, “My father was a bank robber and a horse thief. When I was a kid, my Mom would send me to find him and get money so we could afford rent and eat. I swore I would never stoop so low.”

  Rose bit her lip. “We wouldn’t steal.”

  He gave a humorless laugh. “If you came with me, I would be stealing you.”

  She scowled. “I’m not a horse to be traded and bartered with.”

  “Without your parents’ money and without me collecting bounties, how do you think we’d survive?”

  She was getting really sick of him treating her like a spoiled little rich girl. But then again, that was all she ever let him see. “I’m not an idiot either, Bret. Neither one of us are. We could find our way. Maybe in Solace.”

  His laughter was a little more genuine this time. “Like the free mages of Solace would welcome a mage hunter in their midst.” He kissed her hard. “Go to sleep and stop tempting me. If we’re lucky, we’ll have some time in the morning before your parents wake up.”

  Her body was boneless and content, but Rose’s mind whirled. They had no future. They had only this. She was too wrung out to be disappointed and she slipped into an exhausted sleep.

  Chapter Eight

  Bret left in the morning before Rose had a chance to say a final good-bye. He had hidden while the maid brought in the large washtub and the two of them splashed around while washing up. They managed to make a slippery mess of the floor and Rose still felt him inside her when she walked. The slight soreness was both irritating and pleasurable, just like him.

  Bret was off to track The Seeker because the elementalist was too powerful for him to take on alone. She very sweetly wished him luck with that. Rose knew she’d have to take care of the elementalist, if he wasn’t caught. But she wasn’t looking forward to the meeting.

  Rose was summoned back to the coven before lunchtime. The two coven guards escorted her across town. At least they had waited on her parents’ steps while she gathered her things.

  The days passed in a strange combination of numbness and expectancy. The coven kept them on a tight schedule, morning exercises, then breakfast. Then the experienced mages would tutor the acolytes in their studies until lunch. After lunch the coven would do advanced studies while the acolytes did their chores. There was a mid-day meeting about the coven’s goals and then a few hours of free time before the evening meal. They would run emergency drills until lights out, preparing for when the elementalist attacked. They warded against all the elements, just in case and ran ragged with rituals and practice. Rose did her best to follow orders and keep a low profile while she bided her time.

  However when the days turned into weeks and nothing happened, eventually everyone’s nerves eased and Rose noticed a gap in security that she could exploit. After everyone went to bed, the coven guards grew bored at the non-activity. A few nodded off. Another read a book. And a few more got together to throw dice. If she could time it just right, Rose was sure she could get to the wall and climb over. She didn’t dare try and invisibility or levitate spell for fear that the wards would alert the guards that magic was being used in the courtyard. Once she was over the coven walls, she could cloak herself and get to her brother’s house. Just because the elementalist wasn’t attacking them, it didn’t mean that another town wasn’t in danger.

  Rose was pretending to enjoy a walk in the gardens before dinner, while she scoped out the best place to go over the wall. If she could move a few of the stone planters, it would give her a good boost. Even better if she could figure out how to get a spike in the wall. She heard voices up ahead of her and she ducked behind a tree, not wanting to talk with anyone.

  “Do you think he’s gone to Solace?” It was the matron talking to the captain of the coven’s guards. Rose moved to crouch behind the large stone statue of the first coven matron. Hiding behind her wide marble skirts, Rose could listen in to them without being seen.

  “They wouldn’t have him. Not after what he’s done.”

  “You don’t know that. They might have even sent him here to test the defenses of the towns.”

  The captain of the guard laughed without humor. “Solace won’t invade us for the same reason we don’t invade them. There are too many advantages against the attacker when people are defending their homes.”

  “So, where is he?” the matron seethed. “He should have been burning a path from Divintry to here or to Caddlesbury if he turned that way.”

  “There have been rumors that he was taken in by a group of rogues.”

  The matr
on groaned. “That’s all the people need is to see a bunch of rogues take power.”

  “It’s worse than that. These rogues aren’t thugs and thieves. They’re coven escapees, intelligent and trained in our ways.”

  “Oh, that reminds me,” the matron said. “Make sure someone is always watching Rose.”

  Shit.

  “She hasn’t made an attempt to escape in a while. This time, I want her caught before she gets out of Demerest. That bounty hunter her family hires makes us all look like fools. I’m going to make an example out of her once and for all.”

  Double shit.

  “That’s not a bad idea.”

  Up yours.

  “It’s a fine line, but I finally convinced her father to let me give her five stripes across her back if she escapes this time.”

  Tears sprouted in Rose’s eyes. Her father agreed to have her whipped?

  The captain grunted. “I’m assuming you’ll make this public?”

  “In the town square,” the matron crowed. “And then I will shave her head and bust her down to acolyte. If she wants to earn her place back in the coven, by the Gods, she will work for it.”

  “Do you have another ready to take her place?” the Captain said. “With the rogues and the elementalist still out there I don’t want us to be vulnerable just to make a point.”

  “Theresa has made it known that she eager to take her place in the coven. And her tutors have confirmed she has the skill.”

  Theresa had her tongue so far up the matron’s twat it was a wonder she could even speak to cast a spell.

  “Theresa doesn’t have Rose’s experience.”

  Rose bit back a snort. She didn’t have Theresa’s experience either.

  “She also doesn’t have her willful nature. I can give her experience,” the matron said.

  I’ll bet.

  “If that’s the case, I have a few men who have expressed interest in Rose.”

  The matron sighed. “Tell them to spend their coins at the whorehouse then. I can only alienate her family so much.”

  Rose shuddered and held herself tightly.

  “These are good men,” the Captain continued. “I don’t want to lose them to other covens who aren’t so restrictive.”