Aequitas Betrayal

by Mason, a. c.

  Before him stood an altar with three cups on it. On the other side, three figures covered in white hooded frocks knelt. Amongst the females, the intriguing General. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about her? Beautiful, yes, but she was involved in a shady affair with some Deimos fellow.

  He moved up a few feet from the altar, his steps unstable, and examined the cups. Which should he pick? The right answer was most often “C”. But how would he decide which cup was “A” so he could pick “C”?

  A saccharine smell commanded his attention. Eyes closed, he followed the alluring fragrance and saw everything as if they were open, sensed intricate details. Once he reached the altar, he stopped in front of the center cup.

  Hell, he’d pick the middle one. The mouthwatering nectar scent commanded his hand to grip the cup. Wetting his lips, he lifted the cup from the altar and turned to Gabriel.

  Gabriel came over, pointed to the name engraved at the base and read, “Auria.”

  Good, right? Not the General. Heaviness sunk his heart and made his chest heave. Why did he want it to be her?

  A hush came over the crowd. One of the kneeling figures stood and made her way to them.

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl. A nervousness buzzed from the mass, who whispered amongst themselves. The hooded female stopped a mere foot from him and remained motionless. Gabriel glided to the figure and pushed the cowl back, revealing her face.

  Dear Lord. The General stood before him.

  Gaze downcast, she bowed. He shook his head in disbelief. Was this a figment of his imagination? No, it was her all right. An odd rush of excitement he didn’t understand overtook him at her submissive gesture. Silence blanketed the room, and his rapid breath echoed as it sped up.

  What in God’s name had he gotten himself into?

  “I challenge this union,” came in a deep voice from the crowd.

  Gabriel’s stare darted to a large male standing in the audience. “On what grounds, Deimos?”

  “I claim her.”

  “You have been denied that request.” The angel’s lips tightened.

  “Yes, but I have indulged in her.”

  The audience’s gasp mirrored the horror on her face, which remained steadily fixed toward the ground. Her eyes and mouth widened, then she returned to a stoic state. She didn’t turn to look at Deimos. Why didn’t she want to see the man who pleaded for his right to be with her and risked such a public announcement? Maybe she felt nothing for him.

  Gabriel looked at the General in shock. “Is this true?”

  “Yes,” she responded in a faint tone, not meeting Gabriel’s glare. Not at all behaving like the creature he’d encountered in the park.

  “The three of you will follow me. The rest may disperse.” Gabriel’s voice remained even.

  The rows of spectators emptied, and he trailed Gabriel, who walked at a fast pace to the door on the side of the large chamber. Nearly three feet taller than him with a huge frame, Deimos followed.

  Gabriel closed the door behind them. “Auria, I’m wounded by your behavior.”

  “I left her no choice, Gabriel,” Deimos interjected in her defense.

  Gabriel’s expression turned to horror.

  She blew out a long breath. “I chose to take part.”

  Two large monstrosities entered, imposing in the small space, and fixed hard looks on Deimos as they moved behind him. Large tattered horns protruded from their temples and their lower halves appeared to be animal, with massive hoofed legs. As Deimos moved away from the towering beasts, their claws clamped over his massive shoulders. “Auria is mine. He cannot have her.”

  “She belongs to no one.” The angel’s voice held a pique of anger again.

  Deimos lunged, fighting to clutch his throat. “This weak male is an unworthy match.”

  He met the scorned lover’s angry stare.

  “I will not give her up to you, human.” Thick fluid clouded Deimos’s eyes. The creature to his left placed its huge hand over his mouth.

  “You let yourself come too close, because of your obsession with Auria. I will do my best to save you, but if I cannot, you will be destroyed.” Gabriel lowered his head.

  Deimos struggled to free himself from the creatures, but the demonic beings took hold of his arms and carried him off, still thrashing his limbs. Deimos’s eyes were saturated with pain, his hands moved in her direction. Tears formed as they dragged him away. Not once did she turn to watch him being hauled off. She didn’t protest. Why?

  Better she not be attached to another man when she’d soon be his wife. Now he worried she dealt with her emotions by burying them. What would happen if he dug in, pulling out all those deeply entrenched emotions? Maybe he could melt the ice queen and unleash eruptions of passion. He could only hope.

  Gabriel floated to her. He paused, looking at her, then brushed his fingers gently over her head. Auria lifted her gaze to his.

  “This should not have happened, General.” Gabriel spoke with what sounded like regret.

  “Will you obey and take Etienne?”

  She stared intently into Gabriel’s eyes and lowered her head.

  Chapter 5

  Gabriel’s forehead rested on the crown of Auria’s head. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed her shoulders.

  “What troubles you?” Gabriel said in her mind.

  Too much history lay between them, having been under his wing for nearly two hundred years. Did he feel torn between handing her over to Etienne and his own interest in calling upon her services? He would never have relinquished his hold over her willingly, but she’d outgrown him and he knew it. No longer could she look at him with child-like wonder. That blind admiration, long gone, which gave her the freedom she’d always sought. “I leave being troubled to you and the council, which is why I am such an efficient hunter.”

  A sigh escaped his lips.

  He disapproved of her detachment, but attachment was for the weak.

  “Stop trying to fix what you feel is wrong with me, let’s get on with this.”

  “For his sake, agree out loud then.” Gabriel’s head cocked sharply as he moved away from her.

  “Yes, I will obey.”

  So what if she liked to toy with the males’ lust? Her games had always turned out mutually beneficial, until her partner tired and chose to pair. No matter how she’d pushed Deimos to seek satisfaction elsewhere, he never had.

  “Good.” Gabriel moved to the door and opened it.

  She returned to the altar, followed by the two males.

  Once at the altar, Gabriel picked up the two cups, handed his to her and gave him hers.

  “Auria, drink Etienne’s blood, linking you to him, accepting your duty to him above all.”

  Raising the cup to her lips, a sorrow filled her for Etienne as she stared at him. A life with her would be no prize, but she must subject him to such a fate. In a quick motion, she lifted the bottom of the cup and emptied the contents into her mouth. His blood, now thick as tar, slid warmly over her tongue, coating it.

  Wait. A shiver ran up her arm as she tried to place the familiar flavor of him. Sweet, unlike the bitter metallic taste of human blood. She relished the essence of him as it made its way down her throat and into her body. His thoughts filled the air around her as she placed the cup on the altar.

  “Auria is such a soft name for her,” she heard him thinking. Allowing her access to his thoughts to simmer down like background noise, she focused.

  “Etienne, drink Auria’s blood, linking you to her, accepting your duty to her above all.”

  She held her breath. His consumption of her blood would be what bound her to him. Forever.

  Intense blue eyes examined her, then the cup. He lifted his gaze, met hers and brought the rim to his lips, tilted his head back and downed the contents.

  A shudder rattled her body as her blood emptied into his mouth and he peeled the brim from his lips. No turning back, not for her. Shackled to him for every instant, she would remain trap
ped in her flimsy vessel.

  “Take time to get to know and understand each other. You’re both free to return to Auria’s quarters.” Gabriel headed to the door, but his pace slowed as he reached the archway, and he glanced at her, then continued. She shook her head as a chapter in her life ended.

  “So, that’s it, we are married?” Etienne turned from having watched Gabriel exit, a puzzled expression on his face. “It’s kind of anticlimactic after everything that just happened.”

  She walked to the large tablet doors. “If you like, you can dress up and be presented to me.

  We can get some long-winded fellow to say pretty but meaningless words and then present us to the others. A large party can be thrown where we dance and drink.”

  “Right, because that’s just what I wanted. No, thanks. Been there, done that.”

  “I was right about her ass. Damn, I can see through her frock. Quick, look at the back of her head before she catches on.”

  Containing her urge to laugh at him, she drowned his thoughts with the sound of the ocean.

  Wonderful. Now she had to listen to his nonsense. He obviously hadn’t yet figured out she could hear his thoughts.

  The path to the housing quarters was deserted. No doubt the other aequitas were all busy talking about what had happened. She entered her chamber and shut the door behind them, then faced him.

  “Life here is fairly simple, much like a small town back on Earth would be.” Crossing the room, she sat in a chair covered with a heavy white multi-layered fabric, attempted to clear her mind and relax. “You live here too now, so you know, don’t bother me.” She twirled her index finger at the room, providing him the grand tour. The decor wasn’t rocket science.

  ****

  Wow. Marital bliss obtained, and here he’d thought she’d be difficult. The bare, square space, much like a loft studio apartment with its open concept wasn’t much to look at. A large bed off in the left back corner had been covered with what appeared to be multiple layers of canvas-like fabric. Four strips of black material about a half meter in width hung from the center of the ceiling and wrapped around stone posts at each corner. A wooden dresser stood to the right of the bed.

  Auria sat in an L-shaped chair with the same odd, layered fabric, ignoring him. Not five minutes into the marriage, and he’d managed to get the cold shoulder. This had to be some type of record. A cube table with three more identical chairs stood to the left of her. The room had a high ceiling, which must be for some of the larger creatures. Four torches burned at each corner of the room.

  No feminine touch. “Why the stone?

  “It dampens the telepathic echo and reach. When we sleep, our minds are more open to receiving the thoughts of others unintentionally. Some of us enjoy telepathic voyeurism and might invade your mind.”

  “I don’t feel that much different, maybe bolder and more confident.”

  “That is the demon. Vanity, loss of inhibitions and fear. It’s normal. You are definitely different. Physically you’ve changed.”

  A sudden rush of jealousy burned his insides, remembering how Deimos had acted out over her. “This thing with you and Deimos is over. I expect loyalty.” Regret filled him as the words left his mouth. Hell, Gabriel hadn’t asked her if she wanted this union, only if she would consent to it.

  And she had, so why would he be making demands of her?

  “So soon?” He heard her voice in his mind. “He would oppress me with words of obedience.” Sadness weighted her words. “Me, who had vowed to lay on my back for no man ever again. Just one more to be a bed servant to.”

  What the hell? “Can I hear your thoughts?”

  “I presume you can. I heard yours but tuned them out, since you didn’t seem to want me to know how great my body looked through my frock.”

  His jaw dropped. Umm? Wait. What was he getting worked up about? Her words were matter of fact about his admiration. Not such a bad thing if she knew he was attracted to her. They were married. “What do you mean by ‘bed servant’?”

  She shrugged. “I am your concubine.”

  What a repulsive idea. She thought he wanted that from her. Worse, this was what she offered him.

  Images of his mother’s bedroom door and the constant parade of men with hungry, lustful faces going in and out barraged him. A call girl. The words whore, prostitute or hooker sickened him. No longer ashamed of her because it was what she knew—as horrid as that seemed—and for her, safer than happily ever after. The number her stepfather had done on her from the age of four had left her numb.

  Men, no, mangy animals, had devoured her goodness over the years. He’d vowed never to be the type of man who used a woman or her body. Nor would he become such a man. “If that’s how you see this, I won’t take part.”

  “Because of your mother?”

  “No, because of me. Who I am.” He pointed his index finger at himself.

  “And that was shaped by the things you witnessed.”

  “I’d never be comfortable with a woman lying on her back to appease me. I couldn’t ask such a thing of you.”

  “You don’t have to. In order for you not to break, my physical submission is required. Don’t worry. I will not make things difficult. My body is yours, but that is all. Don’t ever question my loyalty again, or I will personally behead you.”

  Umm. Was she for real? First she offered to lay on her back and next she threatened to cut his head off. “What did you mean, ‘just one more to be a bed servant to’?”

  Shaking her head, she arose from her chair and moved around the space. “Do you really want to know about all those I have served? The nobles, angels, demons and aequitas who have taken their fill of me. Are you the kind of man who gets off on thinking or hearing of your woman’s sexual prowess, how I caused them to call my name or the ways they found to make me beg for them?”

  Images of her being used flashed in his mind. A surge of hate and rage rushed over him, a black film coated the surface of his eyes. Then her body pressed against him, banded by his arm, and one of his hands covered her mouth. How had he crossed the distance between them that fast, taken hold of her without knowing?

  Her eyes too, were glazed with the same tarry color he remembered from the park. The heels of her palms shoved into his chest, knocking the wind from him, and he crashed to the floor. “No control of your demon. Angels are passive. They would allow us to hang ourselves, but offer us the hope to choose differently. Learn to draw on that calmness, which is the strength of your angel.”

  That didn’t go so well. He sat up, regained his composure.

  “You will only become more dangerous until you feed its lust and hunger. Then you will have time to learn to control the demon’s impulsiveness.”

  “I don’t want you to speak of yourself in this way to me. Ever. Would you like to know about the women I’ve been with?” Pushing up off the floor, he stood in front of her. The malice had gone from her expression, replaced by her sweet baby face.

  “All three of them?” She snickered. “You even married one. That can hardly be called prowess. Yet you are eager to please, and a quick learner. I’m sure you’ll find ways to make up for your lack of experience. And I will ensure you learn to pleasure me.”

  Needing to calm his growing anger, he took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, then sat in the chair next to the cube table. “This isn’t going to work between us.”

  The look on her face turned serious, and she lowered herself into the L-shaped chair across from him. “No, it won’t. But we are stuck with one another. We’ll have to come to an arrangement we can live with.” Her full breasts rose and fell as she let out a deep breath. Thank the heavens his frock hid his growing erection. “I’m sorry for your misfortune in having picked my cup.”

  “It’s the other way around. I wanted to pick you, but my shortcomings will make our situation awkward.”

  Her gaze darted away. “I would never seek a partner, Etienne. Your lack of experience has nothing
to do with my disinterest.”

  Getting up from her spot, she unbuttoned the front of the frock while walking over to him.

  The flimsy fabric gaped, revealing her golden skin and luscious breasts, and the material pooled at her feet.

  A soft shimmering glow lit her. Exquisite. A lean and muscular form, yet shapely and curvaceous. Breasts shaped like tear drops, perky and full, with centered nipples surrounded by milk chocolate areolas. She had small markings above her left breast, which appeared to be tattoos.

  A pronounced rib cage led to her narrow waist and defined abdomen. He wanted to kiss the deep scar on her right side gently with his lips. A light dusting of hair between her thighs hinted at what waited beyond. Muscular, defined legs revealed the power of her body.

  “Auria, please. Not like this,” he pleaded, not wanting to reject her.

  “Oh, come now. You don’t really mean that. Just a moment ago you were thinking of kissing my scar, which could lead to all kinds of kissing.” A grin graced her lips.

  “Reading my thoughts again?” The heat of her body warmed him as she straddled his lap.

  To prevent himself from giving into the urge to touch her skin, he moved his hands behind him.

  She didn’t really want him. And despite his need, he sure as hell wasn’t about to give her eagerness.

  “Telepathically we are linked. It’s more work to block your thoughts. ‘Want’ is a relative term, and ‘eager’ isn’t a bad thing. I’m attracted to you, which should be enough.” Her hand touched his face, and he pulled back.

  “Why don’t I hear your thoughts?”

  “Does that matter?”

  “Yes, of course it does.”

  “It will make things easier if you don’t.”

  “So, you’re able to hide them from me. Though you say we are linked.”

  “Seek out my thoughts, I do not hide them. All you need do is figure out your route into my mind.” Covering one of his hands with hers, she rested it on her thigh. “I’ve had many years to strengthen my abilities.”

  God, her skin was soft. “H-h-how many years?” He tried to steady his voice.