by Jones, L. A.
His hand slowly reached out and began to caress her breast. His tongue slowly flicked out and licked her back as he clutched it. Aradia just stood still, softly moaning. He peeled off her top and grabbed both of her breasts with her hands. He then extended his arms around her waist as his hands traveled down. Finally, he turned her around to face him. Once again he kissed her and plunged his tongue into her mouth. This wasn't the first time Aradia had been French kissed. Roy had kissed her passionately and clumsily. Saul, however was different. His tongue stroked the inside of her mouth as her tongue went into his. Her hands began to slip around his neck. Saul gripped her behind with both of his hands and swept her up into his arms. He never broke the kiss as he carried her up the stairs. He softly laid her down onto the bed.
"Wait Saul," Aradia tried to say, "I don't want to take any chances. I need protection?"
After peeling off his shirt, Saul leaned down and kissed her again. He then reached over to the beside table and pulled out a condom wrapper. He never broke the kiss as he tore it open. The only time his lips left hers was when they traveled down her stomach. His hands left her body to peel off his jeans. After putting the condom on, he wove his arms around her own. He caressed her with his mouth, his hands, even his own skin. His cold skin against her own hot sweaty flesh.
The first time Aradia had been penetrated it had hurt her like no tomorrow. She had felt like she been stabbed by a red hot poker. Saul was gentle when he entered her. He whispered as he went in slowly. It still hurt but Aradia was beginning to feel the one emotion she had never really felt before: pleasure.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Saul lay with his back against the headboard. He had only briefly left Aradia's side to toss away the used condom and apply sunscreen. The last thing he needed to do was to lie by Aradia's side and start bursting in to flames. He felt contended more than he ever had in a hundred years. He had had so many lovers but Aradia was different. He felt it was probably because she was the last witch and her power intimidated him. Another part argued that maybe it was because she was so naive and trusting.
In the end it didn't matter because he had her now and he was never going to let her go. He was going to treat her to a concert and wine and dine her in New York. He had chosen this week because he knew the High Hidden Council was having a meeting on Tuesday. Aradia had missed ten of them by now and missing another would make the others take her membership into serious re-consideration.
Thus making her more isolated, he thought with a satisfied grin, and even more willing to join our side.
"She isn't here again?" King Rian demanded.
Tristan winced a bit at his father's tone. He didn't envy his father's page being the one to deliver the message. I can see the wisdom in the saying 'kill the messenger.'
King Rian didn't seem notice nor care about his page quaking in front of him. Or the fact that the other council leaders were watching him with wide eyes. Tobias, the Night Shadow clan leader, seemed surprised that Aradia was a no-show again. Brannon, the Paramount of all the Shape-Shifters in Salem, looked more annoyed than anything else. Adolfo and Castel, who were now considered the representation of all the werewolves in Salem, sat right next to each other and looking more grim faced than ever.
They are still arranging their brother or cousin whatever's funeral, Tristan thought, this in addition to the fights leading to the tournament must be really burning their fuel.
While the council started arguing about this newest 'Aradia' scandal Tristan took the time to gaze around the room. He caught a glimpse of Roy clutching the hand of his girlfriend Melina. The training fights had began about a week ago and Roy was already nursing his first wounds. His eye was swollen and bruising and several scrapes of bleeding flesh could be seen on his face. Huge swollen bumps could be seen on his head in addition to huge teeth marks on his legs and arms. Usually werewolves wounds healed in about two days so Tristan guessed that these wounds were new.
Like last night new, he realized grimly.
The fact that Melina looked much thinner and gaunt also supported his theory. He had to admit he had never seen that woman look so freaked. Her eyes darted around like a frightened deer. She clutched her boyfriend's hand as if she was holding on for dear life. She even sat close to him as if she was afraid that in one brief moment he would be taken from her.
Tristan shrugged. Sad really but what can you do?
He smirked. I bet Aradia would do something. He tried to stifle a laugh as he thought about what Aradia might do in this type of situation. She'd probably give a huge inspirational speech and then throw a party. She would give out free food and stuff and then bitch and moan about cleaning up.
He couldn't help but chuckle as he envisioned Aradia running around, trying to unite people, and pulling off risky but brilliant political tactics in like nano seconds. He envisioned her running around in her causal but chic outfits trying to be a teenager and yet a Queen at the same time. He remembered her shrill laugh, her biting wit, her poor eating habits, her tendency to twirl her hair around her neat little finger whenever she was thinking. Right before his very eyes there seemed to be a vision of Aradia turning her head towards him, flipping her golden red hair back, and her cute pink mouth splitting into a pearly white smile.
Sighing a little, Tristan put his hand against his face. Unbelievable! I confess to hating the wench and yet here I am missing her.
He hated to admit but he did. He did miss trading insults with Aradia. He did miss mocking all her efforts of helping the hidden people. Most of all, he missed the surprise he always felt seeing all her efforts pay off.
Yet what can I do? Tristan speculated, I don't know where Aradia is or even if she's acting normal. Who knew getting your heart broken could completely destroy you?
"Then it's settled!"
Hearing his father speak was what brought Tristan's attention back to the meeting.
King Rian cleared his throat. "According to my page Dallen, Aradia has been acting extremely disrespectful these past months and the only reason for this is because she is suffering from a broken heart!"
"How can we expect her to be a part of the council when she acts like forlorn teenage girl?" Brannon cried out.
"Hello?" Tobias pointed out while rolling his eyes, "it was you who said we should give her a position on the council in the first place."
"Only because you all agreed with me," Brannon argued.
"Well that was only because we saw her as a potential political influence," Adolfo muttered but everyone heard him and nodded.
King Rian massaged his temples and then slammed his fist on the table. "Yeah well this is what we get for putting our trust in a snot-nosed, whiny, preachy child! We should have never given her a seat of power on the council regardless whose idea it was. In light of her latest antics, we have but one chance to rectify our mistake."
The rest of the council nodded resolutely. Tristan just watched in trepidation. Titania could sense the tension in him and that what was going to happen wasn't going to be good.
"If the council is in agreement with me," King Rian said, "then we have no choice but to revoke Aradia's position of power on the High Hidden Council. We must take away her title of Witch Queen, and expel her from the council."
Titania gasped and covered her mouth with her hands even Tristan couldn't believe it. His father had made no secret that he had been against Aradia having a position in power but there was no way he could deny all good that she had done.
The other council members nodded once again. King Rian cleared his throat and smiled. "Well if we are agreed then I put it towards an actual motion."
The tension in the room was now so thick you could cut it with a knife. Neither Roy nor Melina moved or said anything. They, like Tristan and Titania, were too stunned.
"All those in favor of revoking Aradia's title and position and demoting her to the rank of the lowest civilian," King Rian stated, "raise your hand..."
Brannon and
the others had barely raised their hand before a loud cry was heard.
"Father, wait!"
Every head, most especially King Rian's, turned quickly towards the sound. Tristan was amazed at how fast he had stood up in defense of Aradia. Now that he had and was being stared at by everyone in the lodge he couldn't very well excuse his statement and sit back down. For a few awful moments, he just stood still and awkward facing his crowd of onlookers.
Until finally King Rian said, with a patronizing sneer, "Yes son, what is it?"
Tristan gulped. "Uh...well...that is...I mean."
"If you have something to say then I suggest you say it."
Tristan still struggled and sputtered.
King Rian then turned his face away and said, "well if they are no further arguments then all those in favor of revoking Aradia's title as Witch-Queen..."
"Father, wait! Just wait a minute!"
King Rian narrowed his eyes as he turned to his son once more.
This time Tristan was ready and knew what to say. He cleared his throat and began, "I know Aradia has been acting strangely lately but don't you think it's a bit extreme to take away her title."
He took another breath before going on. "I mean she has done a lot of good for the hidden people of Salem. She has helped our society to advance by introducing laws to keep or people safe. All this in addition to helping promoting tolerance in effort to deter the violence existing among us. Don't you think after everything she has done for us she deserves a little bit of clemency? I mean to take away her title would be like exiling her from the hidden community. To suffer such humiliation would be making her a social pariah. No hidden in Salem would dare approach her after this. In friendship or in anything!"
The council listened to this and then turned to King Rian. He merely signed and said, "I am sorry son, but a leader no matter what their age must always act like one. Whether she chose the title or not, Aradia was meant to be a leader to this community. As a leader she must control her emotions and always put her people's needs in front of her own. No hidden leader is allowed to make mistakes and Aradia is no exception. She cannot afford to make mistakes and we cannot allow her to. Everything has consequences Tristian, shirking your duty and becoming a social pariah is just one of them."
"But what if Aradia comes back?" Tristan asked, almost pathetically. He knew he was grasping at straws by now but he had to try. "What if all this is just temporary? What if Aradia comes to her senses and wants to come back?"
King Rian sighed. "You weren't listening to a thing Dallen said did you?"
"What?"'
He sighed once again. "He just said that he personally saw Aradia leave Salem with her new boyfriend. It seems that Aradia's new favorite band is performing in Central Park, and the vampire she has been seen with has VIP tickets."
Tristan's jaw dropped. "Aradia's in New York?"
King Rian nodded solemnly. "Not only has she been shirking her duties for the council but she has now officially abandoned us in order to go to a freaking concert!"
Tristan was speechless. After a few minutes, he slowly sat down.
"Now if that's settled," King Rian said as he once glanced around the council table. "All those in favor of revoking Aradia's title of the Witch Queen, exiling her from the High Hidden Council forever thus condemning to be a pariah in the hidden community of Salem, raise their hand!"
It was sad how none of the other council members didn't even hesitate with their answers. In a matter of seconds, Brannon, Tobias, Adolfo and Castel raised their hands.
"Since I was the one who put forward this motion you all know my vote." King Rian drew a heavy breath before reaching for the gavel. It lay on his right like a ominous hammer of truth and finality. "If we all no further arguments," he narrowly glanced at his son who didn't even notice. Tristan was too busy staring at the ground in utter shock. "Then it is settled, from this night forward Aradia is stripped of her rank and title on the High Hidden Council. She is no longer the Witch Queen. She is no longer anything to us but a mistake that we must lean from."
"And move on from," he muttered as he raised the gavel high in the air and brought it down onto the table.
The thunder from the gavel was so loud and distracting that no one could have noticed Tobias's smirk of satisfaction.
Chapter Twenty-Four
"This is so cool!" Aradia shouted.
"What?" Saul asked.
Aradia just laughed and shook her head. The music and fireworks were so loud that it amazed her why she hadn't gone deaf yet. It's worth it though, Aradia thought as she glance towards the stage.
The band Vampires are Everywhere which consisted of a lead singer, drummer, electronic keyboard, bass player, and lead guitarist performed their first single Immortal Love. The song that had made Aradia fallen in love with them in the first place. They all wore their signature black clothes and hairstyle and Saul and Aradia stood in the fourth row watching the band perform in total rapture. The lead singer screamed into the microphone while the guitarist screeched heavily onto the guitar. The others payed equal attention to their instruments making Aradia feel as if she were in a dream.
They, Aradia and Saul, had driven all the way to New York and checked into a glamourous hotel. After meeting up with Shayde and the others, they had made their way to the concert and had spent the following glorious hours listening to the band perform.
Aradia had been surprised to see Rage being passed around. I didn't know it was such a popular drug. The fact that had been introduced just a year ago made Aradia extremely surprised at it's success of becoming a party drug. I doubt LSD had this much success. Hell even cocaine took years to become a full mainstream drug so the fact that Rage is becoming extremely successful is awfully suspicious.
This brought her back to wanting to confront Saul about Roy's alpha being poisoned by Rage. She had meant to confront him but after all the partying they had done it kept slipping her mind. The drugs, the booze, and what not was starting to make Aradia feel weary. So weary that Aradia was discovering some rather unsavory things about her powers. Such as the fact that unless her energy was at one hundred percent she couldn't use them at all. Unless she was well-rested and fed she was completely helpless! This she had found at the hotel room right after Saul and her had checked in.
Aradia had been stepping out from the shower and Saul had showed up. He had stood in front of her with a hungry expression. Aradia had laughed and wrapped the towel around her tighter. She had tried to move past him but Saul had pinned her to the wall. Without so much as word, he pressed his mouth down on to hers. Aradia had tried to fend him off. Although she was enjoying her new sex life, she still wanted to maintain a level of control in it. She had tried protesting or at least asking for a condom. Saul hadn't listened, he had just kept kissing her. Aradia had had enough and tried to push Saul away only to discover she couldn't! On any regular day, she could easily break Saul over her knee but for some reason she wasn't able to stop Saul. Only Shayde's opportune knock on the door had stopped him from dragging Aradia to the bed. Apparently, Saul had a visitor waiting for him in the lobby. Aradia had asked, extremely curiously, why didn't his friend just call him. Saul had then fastened Aradia with a cold steel stare. In a split second, Saul had seized Aradia by the throat and pinned her against the wall. He had snarled into Aradia's shocked and gasping face that under no circumstances was she allowed to question him. Furthermore, she was not to leave this room until he came back. He then left without so much as a backwards glance. Not even when Aradia slid to the floor, massaging her throat and trying to feebly to ask Saul why he was acting like this.
Come to think of it, Aradia thought, that wasn't the first time he's been rough with me.
For the past month, ever since the theft at the store, Saul had been treating her very differently. When they had first met Saul had only been a bit forceful on her but now he was practically ordering her around. Whenever he wanted to do something they did it with no argum
ents and whenever Aradia tried to argue with him Saul would slap or yell at her.
"What?" Saul's voice brought Aradia's attention back to the loud blaring concert. The music was so loud that it was hard for her to believe that she zoned out in the first place. However, the way she had been surrounded by the Rage drugs made it somewhat believable. The drugs reacted to her very differently from the others. Sometimes she would lapse into a coma, and other times she wold just black out into a state of meditative euphoria. Aradia knew the drug was dangerous especially after what had happened to Adrian. However, she had been hitting the drugs so hard before that finding out the truth didn't seem to be enough to get her off of it. She had tried limiting her intake of Rage but it had been hard. Saul had so much of it on him that it was like trying to go on a diet while you were locked in a Fudge Shop. However, during the times Saul had been asleep Aradia had searched the loft from top to bottom and found no trace of drug making equipment so whatever Saul was doing with Rage he definitely wasn't supplying it.
But if he isn't the supplier then who is?
There had been another reason for why Aradia had wanted to come to New York. She had hoped to find Kaiser and talk to him. It had been hard giving Saul the slip but eventually she was able to do it. The moment she did she found the nearest Yellow Pages book and looked up Kaiser's name. The following days consisted of narrowing the search and eliminating results until finally she came to a run down looking apartment building.
Kaiser's mom lives in this dump? Aradia thought as she knocked on the door.
She knocked twice before sighing deeply. Maybe nobody's home.
She was about to leave before she heard someone from behind the door. "Whose there?"