Coven: a dark medieval paranormal romance (Witches of the Woods Book 2)

by Holmes, Steffanie

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You think of me, you worry about me, you think loving thoughts, yes?”

  “I’m thinking of you always.”

  Grinning, Ada shrugged off her dress again, pulling it right down over her hips, revealing the luscious curves of her body. I licked my lips, growling low in my throat. “I’m thinking of you especially now.”

  “And yet, the pain comes only when we touch.” Ada grinned wider. “We don’t have to touch, Ulrich.”

  “Not to suggest that staring at your body doesn’t fill me with pleasure, because it does, but I really need a bit more than just admiring each other from afar.” I gestured down at my breeches, where my cock stood to attention like a standing stone.

  “That’s exactly what I mean.” Ada’s gaze followed mine down to my crotch. She licked across her lips as she regarded the hardness pressed against my leg. “Remove your garments.”

  A grin spread across my face as I realized what she was intending. It wouldn’t be the same, but at least… at least I would have some relief. As quickly as I could, I undid the strings of my waist and pulled my tunic over my head, stepping out of my breeches at the same time. Ada’s eyes flicked hungrily over my body, finishing between my legs, where my cock stood rigid as a tree trunk, the end twitching in anticipation.

  “You please me, Ulrich.” She said softly. Her words sent a shiver of delight through my body. I loved seeing her take charge like this. “Your giant, thick cock pleases me. Now, take it in your hands.”

  I did as she commanded, feeling my fingers close around my shaft. Her eyes bore into mine, and my stomach skipped. Somehow, even though we weren’t touching, the space between us didn’t act as a void, rather it drew us closer. I felt more exposed, more intimate, than I ever had during our dungeon sessions.

  “Now,” Ada said, her eyes sparkling. “Run your hands up and down your shaft. Start slowly, don’t get too carried away just yet. I want it to be slow. I want to see everything.”

  I followed her instructions, my hands warm against my own skin.

  “Imagine that is me,” she said. “I have my lips wrapped around your cock, and I’m sliding it into my mouth, back and forth, moving deeper each time… is this working?”

  “Oh yes,” I groaned, as I increased my speed, applying more pressure as I imagined her plump lips wrapped around me, her head bobbing up and down as she took in the full length of me. My cock grew harder in my hand. “But I don’t think this is fair. You’re giving me this incredible gift, and yet you get nothing.”

  “Oh, do you think so, do you?” Ada grinned cheekily. She leaned back against the furs, stretching herself out of her full length. My eyes swept down her body, languishing on her bountiful curves and swelling breasts. She placed her hands against her own naked flesh, one on the round of her belly, the other cupping her breast, and began to move them slowly across her skin.

  I pumped my own shaft as I watched her running her hands along her own body. Her face twisted in delight as her fingers swirled around her own breasts, and she licked the tips and touched them to her hard nipples, mimicking the touch of my tongue. She leaned back against the furs, her breath coming out in short gasps as her fingers traced the outlines of her curves.

  “I am imagining this is your touch,” she whispered. “It makes my skin flush with desire.”

  I moaned, my muscles tensing. Seeing her touch herself like that, knowing she was thinking of me, of my touch, sent me right to the edge. Gain control of yourself, Ulrich. Control, that’s it. That was what you’re good at. That’s what you enjoy.

  I slowed my pace, trying to draw out my orgasm, to prolong this exquisite feeling of need.

  Ada slipped her dress further down over her thighs, moving her legs wide apart so I had a clear view of her mound. She reached down with her fingers and parted her lips. I saw she was already dripping wet. I longed to touch her there, to send her screaming into oblivion. But just to know she was thinking about me fucking her as she touched herself was enough to send me close again. I gritted my teeth and slowed my pace even further. Not yet.

  She moaned loudly as she slipped one finger inside of herself, drawing it out again to show me the juices that dripped from it. She sighed with pleasure as she inserted the finger again, followed by another.

  I couldn’t control myself. My hands pumped faster, excited by watching Ada touch herself. It took all my willpower to slow my pace again. I wanted to draw this out, to enjoy the view.

  Ada swirled her fingers around inside of herself, exploring her own folds. Her expression changed to delight as she discovered sensations she’d never felt before. Another moan escaped my throat. I’d stopped stroking myself altogether, but my cock jerked in my hands. I was nearly ready to burst. A single touch would send me over the edge.

  Slowly, Ada pulled her fingers out of herself, and held them up to show me. Each was slick with her own juices. Ada grinned wickedly, and moved her hand back to her mound, dancing her wet fingers up along her slit, swirling the tips around her clit.

  “I’m imagining this is your tongue, slipping over me.” Ada breathed. I ground my teeth together, biting down on my tongue until I tasted blood. Every muscle in my body tensed.

  “Oooooh,” Ada moaned, as her fingers found that swollen bud. She swirled the tips around her, building up the pressure and speed as she drove herself toward climax. Her back arched against the furs. She was nearly ready to burst.

  I wrapped my hand around my shaft, squeezing hard as I imagined climbing on top of her, sliding myself into her wet folds, and biting her delicate neck as she squirmed beneath me. Ada took her other hand and inserted three fingers inside of herself, while her other fingers continued to swirl and drum at her clit. Her face twisted with an expression of pure joy, and she opened her mouth to cry out.

  As I pounded my own cock furiously, Ada’s orgasm tore through her body, her limbs convulsed violently, and her hands fell away as she lost all control, giving herself over to the hot waves of pleasure. The cot rocked beneath us as she thrashed against the furs. Her cry tore through the silent night, the sound sending me over the edge.

  I came with a moan. My cock twitched in my hands, growing harder, then shooting off a spurt of my own juices. They fell across Ada’s bare, beautiful stomach. My body shuddered under the force of my passion. Red stars blazed across my vision. The world ceased to exist, and I floated in a wave of oblivion, an ocean of hot, swirling passion.

  I slumped forward against the furs, my shoulders sagging. My legs felt weak, numb to the touch. Slowly, the heat left my limbs, and I relaxed against the furs beside Ada.

  “That was—” I tried to find the words.

  “—amazing.” Ada grinned back at me. She started to tug her dress on, but I held her wrist.

  “Stay as you are.” I let my eyes wander over her skin, now flushed with heat. She had never looked more beautiful to me than this moment. “I want to enjoy you a little bit longer.”

  We lay sprawled across the bed together, watching out the window as the moon rose higher in the dark sky. Occasionally, Ada reached out and stroked my skin, almost as if she was checking if I were still there. I longed to wrap her in my arms, pressing her delicate skin against mine, but after the pains she had, I didn’t dare. So instead, I stroked her cheek.

  “It’s beautiful here,” she said, staring up at the twinkling stars through the trees. “I can see why Maerwynn calls it, ‘Haven’.”

  “You must be careful here,” I told her. “It may seem like a paradise to you, but I need you to be on your guard. Maerwynn is not all that she seems.”

  “You and she have a history together.” Ada looked as if she wanted to say more, but she didn’t.

  “We do.” I put my hand to my lips. “Please do not ask me about that history. These are the last moments we have together, and I don’t want to taint them. Besides, I don’t feel as if it’s my story to tell. Perhaps Maerwynn will. She’d probably delight in it, but
I wouldn’t ask her, either.”

  “You’re being very mysterious. What did you speak of with her this evening? You both looked so serious when you came to the fires. If you just tell me, I’ll be better able to protect myself from her.”

  I shook my head. “I cannot speak of it, Ada. You must trust me. I don’t like to keep you in the dark, but the less you know, the better.”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” I turned away from her. I didn’t want to look at her face when I said it. “Because there is a price on your head. If the worst should happen, and you are captured in Lord Benedict’s Great Hunt, you will be tortured by men not as kind as I. If I tell you nothing, then you will have no information to give. The ignorant cannot succumb to torture.”

  I heard her gasp. “I … didn’t think of that.”

  I turned back around, my chest tightening as I saw the fear on her face. I cupped her cheek in my hand. “Oh, my love. Forget I said anything. That’s not going to happen. I will protect you, just as I have promised. I’m an old warrior, and I must always look at the worst possible outcome. I’m responsible for more than just your life, now. Maerwynn’s secrets are in my hands, too. I cannot take that responsibility lightly.”

  A tear rolled down Ada’s cheek. “I just don’t like being in the dark.”

  “Neither do I, my love.”

  I closed my eyes, and a weariness washed over my body, the aftermath of our lovemaking. I wanted to hold the memory of her beautiful body writhing in ecstasy, keep it close to me. It was a much more pleasant thought to fall asleep on than that of torture and death.

  Ada fell asleep quickly, her head resting in my armpit, her beautiful body curled around mine. I stared at the ceiling. Even though my body ached for rest, I could not sleep. For now the task that lay before me settled upon me with creeping darkness. It would be easy to find my father, but to kill him? Rotstrom castle would be heavily guarded, and even if I did find my way through, when I faced my father, would I truly be able to take his life? Could I force myself to commit such an abhorrent act as patricide, even if it was to protect Ada?

  I did not know how I would do it, only that it must be done. But even when I had killed my father, I would still not be free. Not until Clarissa was also dead and the blood oath she had forced on me was broken, and the price had been taken off our heads.

  I heard a creak, and I whirled my head around to face the door. The heavy wooden door creaked open on its hinges, swinging toward me while the moon cast a long shaft of light across the bare dirt floor. As I watched, a shadow passed over that shaft, a halo of white hair glowing around it like an aura in the moonlight. I could just make out the glint of Maerwynn’s eyes. She beckoned me with a long finger.

  I rose from the bed, slipping my arm out from beneath Ada’s cheek. Maerwynn ducked under the door frame, and turned to check I was following. I thought to grab my breeches, but decided against it. Maerwynn wasn’t used to seeing me naked, so maybe it would unnerve her a little.

  I followed her out of the cabin, down the winding path, and on to the rock shelf where the empty fire pits sat, the ashes turned over- ready for the next meal. Maerwynn turned to me, a vicious grin spreading across her face.

  “You look as if you’ve been having a pleasant evening,” she said.

  “That is none of your concern,” I growled.

  “It is my concern. Or have you forgotten my rules? Men are not to sleep in the cabins.” She pointed to three open hammocks handing from the trees beside the lake, where her three male servants snored loudly.

  “Where’s Tjard, then?” I demanded.

  Maerwynn pointed up the hill, at a cabin I recognized as belonging to the coven’s moon priestess, Gussalen. A loud yelp came from within, followed by a guffaw and a pearl of high-pitched laughter.

  “He hasn’t finished his revels yet.” She smirked as she stared down at my naked body, her eyes flickering over my now limp member. Maerwynn gave a little nod of appreciation.

  “Even when your snake is cowering, he is still impressive,” she said. “I can see what had my sister so entranced—”

  “What did you bring me out here for, Maerwynn.”

  “You have said your goodbyes. It is time for you to leave.” She flicked out her wrist, and I saw that in her hand she held a small, straight blade.

  “What’s that for?” I nodded at the blade.

  “Hold out your hand,” she commanded. I shook my head. I wasn’t having any more oaths sworn. My palms were already cut up enough.

  “Ulrich, this is for your own good.” Sighing, I did as she asked. She pressed the handle of the blade into my hand. The double-edged blade gleamed in the moonlight.

  “This is the knife he used on Ellyn,” she whispered. “I have kept it all these years, so that it might taste his blood also, a fitting revenge for what he has taken.”

  “I don’t need a blade. I have my sword and—”

  “You need this blade.” Maerwynn whispered, her eyes blazing. “Over the years I have poured all my rage into this knife, all my hatred and hunger for revenge. It drips with malice, it calls to him, Ulrich. It wants to be united with his flesh. This blade will be your ally, and you have precious few of them.”

  Maerwynn looked up at me, and an understanding passed between us. Memories flooded back to me, of all the times I had stared at those cold eyes while they watched me walk away, of the way they burned into my skin as she watched the fire devour Ellyn’s flesh. I knew she hadn’t changed the way she felt about me, but when she looked at me, she saw her own sadness, her own regret reflected there. She wanted my father dead just as much as I did, and she trusted me to do it. We were united by my task. “Here,” she whispered, turning away and pressing the handle into my palm.

  I wrapped my fingers around the handle, feeling the weight of the blade. It was strange, but for such a small knife, it felt oddly heavy, as if it were carrying a weight much heavier than the thin metal blade.

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “You can thank me by gutting him like a pig,” she whispered fiercely, “and by bringing me that ring.”

  I nodded, sheathing the blade. I gestured back to the cabin. “I’ll need to get my things. Can you bring my horse?”

  “Of course.”

  Back in the cabin, I leaned over Ada, watching her chest rise and fall with each rhythmic breath. I wanted to wake her, to hold her in my arms and whisper all the things I would do to her when I returned. But she looked so peaceful, so serene and beautiful with her eyes closed and her golden hair fanned out around her like a halo. I wanted to remember her like this, and not as the weeping mess she would be if she saw me leave. I had told her everything she needed to know. And if I woke her now, she would beg me to stay, and I wouldn’t be able to resist those big, wide eyes.

  I got up slowly, gently shifting Ada’s body and bundling up the furs so she would not notice I had left. I pulled on my clothes, and grabbed my sword.

  “Goodbye, my love,” I whispered the words, and pressed my lips against her forehead. She whimpered, but did not wake.

  My chest felt tight, the pain of leaving her like this real and tangible. Sighing, I followed Maerwynn and Willow out into the night.

  Ada

  I awoke in the night, my skin clammy with cold. I threw my hand over the other side of the skins, expecting to feel the warm, hard flesh of Ulrich’s body. But instead, I grabbed at thin air. My eyes flew open and I took in the cold, rumpled furs next to me, and the open cabin door.

  The candle beside the bed was still lit, nearly burned down to a stub. I picked it up and cast the glow around my cabin, searching for some signs of Ulrich’s presence. But everything of his was gone. His sword and scabbard that leaned against the back of the door had vanished, as had his tunic and the breeches draped over the chair. Even the scent of him on the wool blankets had faded. He must have been gone for hours.

  Ulrich’s gone. He left me.

  My chest clenched with fear, my h
eart felt as if it were tearing in two. I knew he was going, but I had thought I’d be able to say goodbye. There was so much he hadn’t told me. How could he just leave like that? Did I not matter at all to him?

  I felt tense, panicked. I pulled my cloak over my shoulders, grabbed the candle, and ran out into the night. A cold breeze below up from the river, and my skin broke out in gooseflesh. “Ulrich!” I called out, my heart pounding against my chest. I swung the candle around, searching the twisting trees for his shadow. “Ulrich, where are you?”

  But all that answered me were shadows and silence.

  I walked down to the edge of the water, where we had eaten our meal that night, and the women had danced skyclad around the leaping flames. I remembered how Ulrich’s eyes had watched me every moment, following me as I went to fill my plate again, or moved to talk to the women. Now the fires were dark smudges of ash, the only sound the lapping of the water against the stony shore. A tear rolled down my cheek, followed by another. And soon my whole body shook with sobs. Ulrich was far away now, he had left me alone here, and I felt an intense fear deep inside that I would never see him again.

  “What are you doing?” A harsh voice stabbed into the darkness. I whirled around, dropping my candle. It flickered and went out, but not before the light caught the fury in Maerwynn’s eyes.

  I sniffed back my sobs. Maerwynn bent down, and picked up the candle. She ran her finger over the wick, and a bright yellow flame burst from thin air. The light flickered across her features. She looked furious.

  “It’s not safe for you to wander around the forest at night,” she said, her voice harsh. “Especially not when you yell the name of a witch hunter at the top of your lungs.”

  “I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I was looking for Ulrich. He—”

  “Ulrich is gone.”

  “I know … but why?”

  “He could not stay here,” Maerwynn said. “It was his time to leave.”