Unsidhe Assassin (Darkly Mine Season 1)

by Leona Windwalker

  “You’re going to need a driver,” Larch said as we left the dealership.

  “Crimini knows how,” Hawthorne added. “He used t help his father with the family cab business before he enlisted.”

  “I’ll speak to the captain about him,” I replied. I much preferred to keep positions within the circle of fae already found to be trustworthy. “He’ll know anyone else who might do, as well.”

  “True, that,” Hawthorne agreed. “I wouldn’t mind learning.”

  I would suggest that. It wouldn’t hurt for my personal guard to be able to drive my carriage, in case it was ever needed. One never knew what might come up and it was best to have all possible avenues covered.

  My errands done, we returned home where I found Ghost curled up in his cage, nude, looking miserable.

  “Come on out,” I said, opening his cage. He moved to obey without hesitation, but not without some stiffness he couldn’t hide. He managed to roll up to his knees, bowed his head, and placed his hands together behind his back. This was more like it. This was how it should be between us. “Good lad,” I praised him. “Turn around and let me see your asshole.”

  He turned without a word, bracing himself with one arm that shook with the barest of tremors, using his free hand to part his ass cheeks. I knelt down behind him, batting his hand away. He moved it to help hold himself up while I took both of my own hands and pulled his cheeks apart, revealing a pink, swollen hole. I wanted to fuck it, but he was being so very, very good. I decided to reward him by not adding to his pain. I leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his rosette. He gasped in surprise. I proceeded to lick, kiss, suck, and nibble his hole. When I tired of that, I pointed my tongue and accompanied by his moans of arousal and pleading whispers, I tongue fucked him, snaking one arm around his waist to pin him in place as he began to rock back into me demanding more.

  I reached my other hand around and began to jack him. His ravaged throat tried to utter more pleas and cries of passion as he writhed beneath me. He stiffened suddenly, a gargled cry erupting from him as his cock shot his load. I gently lowered him onto the floor, ten, careful to roll him away from the mess. I gave him a moment to come to his senses, then grinned down at him. Standing up, I undid my trousers, rolling them down my hips far enough that I could free my cock from the confines of my underwear easily. I held my prick in my hand, holding it out for him. I grinned. “My turn,” I said. He whimpered as he got back onto his knees, but opened his mouth obediently. I slid into his wet heat, slamming into the back of his mouth, not stopping until I bumped into the back of his throat. I held his head tightly with one hand, fisting his hair within my grip as I pistoned in and out. Tears ran down his face letting me know his raw throat must be in agony, but that was entirely his fault, so he could take this. I fucked his face furiously, not stopping until I shot my load down his throat. Letting him go, I looked at him expectantly, one eyebrow arched. He took the hint, leaning forward to lick my cock clean before tucking me back in and refastening my pants.

  “Good,” I said. “Now, follow me to the living room. You can keep my cock warm while I explain a few things to you.”

  23

  Jase

  I stood up and followed him into the living room, my hands still behind my back and my eyes down. Never in my life did I suspect that I would be someone’s sub. Over the past several days, and last night, in particular, I learned a few things about myself. For one, I might be able to kill strangers in cold blood, but I feared my own death. Secondly, I was not as hardcore as I had led myself to believe. While I sipped at the noodles in broth Keeper made for me, the words of one of my drill instructors came back to me.

  He’d said, “You all might think you’re a bunch of badasses now, but get you out there facing enemy fire, you’ll be wishing so damned hard that you were at your mama’s house baking cookies. You might be able to trash talk yourself into believing that if you ever got captured, you’d not break. I’m telling you now, you will break. And there’s no shame in that. It’s not the breaking down that makes a man weak. It’s the giving up and letting yourself die. It’s stopping to look for opportunities to take on your captors and win. It’s when you longer look for a means of escape. You ever watch Hogan’s Heroes?”

  Of course, we had. It might be an old show but it was one that ran on various channels running classic TV shows in syndication.

  “They followed the rules that mattered, but they didn’t give up. You find yourself in doubt, remember that. Heroes don’t wait to die. They do what they must to get to back to the fight.”

  I knew then I’d been very stupid, which was a very bitter pill to swallow. I’d forgotten his lesson. I’d also forgotten something else. Subs aren’t weak. They are the ones with all of the power. I might not have a safe word, but his talk of rules and rewards let me know that there was a system. I simply had to stop being pig-headed and learn it so I could manipulate it in my favor. I could put up with the sex. I liked a good fucking, and the way he ate out my ass had felt divine, soothing the sting away until it morphed into pleasure, albeit temporarily. It didn’t kiss away the actual boo-boo his torture device left. It also didn’t get rid of all of my resentment.

  Lord Willow sat down in an armchair. I knelt down before him. He spread his legs apart, and I remembered the words he spoke in the bedroom. He wanted me to keep his cock warm. I hovered my hands over his belt in question, my throat still raw to speak with ease.

  “Go ahead,” he urged. I undid his pants and pulled out his cock, which was half hard. I carefully settled down onto my heels and obediently sucked his cock down, resting my head on his thigh. He stroked my head, and if I didn’t know he was such a cold bastard, I’d have thought he did it out of affection, so gentle was his touch.

  “The way we are now,” he began, “is how you must be when it is just you and I. There are instances when the rules state you must act thusly among others as well, for example, if we have guests or if we are at court and you are not there in a professional capacity.”

  I suckled gently. He might be a tyrant, but his cock tasted good and I figured I might as well get some enjoyment out of all this. He continued to pet me.

  “Mm, your mouth is so hot and wet,” he mused. “Basically, at any private gathering, if you’re not there in an official or professional capacity, this is your role. I am the only one who can order you about, though, as you belong to me. Anyone else, who is above your position, must be treated with respect. Again, that does not include obeying their whims.”

  I got it. I had to bow and say yes, sir, and no sir, and all that. Act like the subs I’d at clubs. I could do that.

  “Court,” he sighed. “At Court, you’ll be there officially as my lover or professionally, as my assassin. That doesn’t mean you’ll be killing someone there. It just means I have you on show. You’ll still have to bow to me, and if I ask you to bend over and let me fuck your ass right then and there, let me do it.”

  Because the rules say I’m your sub no matter what, gotcha.

  “I’ve arranged for us to go visit my cousin Puzzle while he’s in residence at Court. We’ll be visiting him in his private quarters, though he may or may not have friends also visiting. Just because he’s my cousin doesn’t mean you can ignore protocol. It’s merely a safer space for you to show what you’ve learned, and if you do make a minor slip, I have a better chance to mitigate the fallout.”

  That sounded ominous. A mistake would result in severe punishment, but my boss would do his best to make sure it didn’t involve my death. Boss. That word no longer felt right. Willow isn’t my boss, at all, even though he promised rewards upon completion of eliminating targets he’d contracted me for. He was my owner, my master, plain and simple. His to do with as he wanted, as long as it didn’t break some rule.

  I nuzzled closer, nestling my nose against his hairless groin. He continued petting me.

  “Just remember these things, and as needed, I or one of the household will inform you if
there’s a rule you need to know and don’t. Other’s you’ll figure out by observing others, minor things.”

  I hoped so. I also hoped that by minor, he meant that I wouldn’t end back up on that cross or in the box for breaking it.

  “Would you care for some mead, Lord Willow?” Keeper asked, appearing. The woman moved as quiet as a cat. I still hadn’t figured out how she kept her feet on the floor, yet the counter and stovetop were always the right height for her as she worked, all while nothing appeared to change size. It was most unsettling.

  “Yes, please. And bring me my book from next to my bed.”

  I closed my eyes, still exhausted from my ordeal, and lulled by the gentle strokes of his hand in my hair. Sleep soon found me, catching me sometime between the sound of the clink of his drinking glass and the soft sounds of his pages turning.

  24

  Willow

  The day after my carriage arrived, I decided to show it off by using it to get us to the palace. The woodwork gleamed, my coat of arms and personal sigil brightly displayed in full color upon the doors, My horse had its mane braided, with fluttering ribbons and livery that matched the colors of my House. I had Ghost in a new collar, harness, and leash that matched. His loincloth bore my crest on the front, as did the soft slippers upon his feet.

  “Once outside the carriage, you’ll have to crawl, not walk. If I send you for a drink, remain on your knees,” I told him. It wasn’t against the rules for him to walk, if I allowed it, as long as he was showed proper deference. This was to make a point. I had conquered this strong, virile male, and he was mine. I knew word would quickly get out, thanks to Puzzle’s fondness for gossip. It would make people underestimate him, making for all the more impact when he made his kill for the test. People would fear him, and then, knowing I held complete sway over him, fear me even more. Right now, they thought I was an empty-headed young fop with a toy.

  They based that upon the folly of my youth when, as a young barely pubescent fae, I had been as loose-tongued as Puzzle, only to spill gossip I had been too young to know should be kept silent.

  Gossip that was quickly hushed up; gossip that they killed to silence, assassins setting up a series of convenient accidents. I only lived because, as a child, my murder was forbidden by the rules. In fact, they had to wait until my majority and wait for me to make another mistake they could legitimately place a kill order for, no matter how far it bent the rules to do so. Even better, they would never see it coming. After all, I was too vacuous to think I was a target, so I had no need to believe I needed to kill anyone. Nothing to see but a fop posturing with a dangerous toy. It was an image I’d cultivated ever since my faux pas came to my attention when then-Lieutenant Glade slapped a hand over my mouth and pulled me away after I said too much. I doubled down as my childish eyes realized that the courtiers present within hearing distance all died within a very short period. It had been a distinct bending of the rules. One was allowed to know things. Each one’s contract had allegedly been for something else, or their deaths passed off as accidental. Believable, if one did not know that they had learned something damaging to someone in power.

  My ruminations ended as we pulled up to the palace gates.

  “You ready?” I asked my pet. I’d meant it to be rhetorical. He had no choice but to be ready.

  He nodded. “Yes, Master.”

  Oh, how I loved the sound of that falling from his lips. I had settled on him calling me that and only that when addressing me unless we were in private, and then he could call me Sir.

  “I feel ridiculous dressed like this, though, Master.”

  “You’ll get used to it. I could dress you in a suit as long as your collar remained visible, but today I need them to see you carry no weapons. I don’t want them to know what you are until I petition the Crown for your professional recognition.”

  “I understand. I just hate how it flaps around.”

  “We could take that part off and let you go bare.”

  “I’ll be fine, Master.”

  I inwardly laughed at the look of discomfiture on his face. He did not relish parading around naked in front of strangers. He already felt entirely too vulnerable with what little he was wearing, as it was. Coupled with the knowledge that he genuinely was vulnerable among the fae, well, that just made it worse, I imagined.

  The portcullis rose to admit us, and my carriage rolled through. It went around the side to drop us by the courtiers’ residences. Puzzle was already standing on the steps, as was my father.

  “Glad to see you could make it!” Puzzle called out. “You said this was your new pet’s first outing, so I took the liberty of inviting over a few friends and their servants.”

  I’d hoped he wouldn’t do that, but known he probably would. It was why I had forewarned Ghost that my cousin might have friends over.

  Crimini dismounted from the driver’s seat and opened my door.

  “It’s great to see you, too, Puzzle. Hello, Father,” I called out in response, waiting to see what my pet would do. Puzzle gasped as Ghost climbed out of the coach before me. I smirked when he surprised even me by going down on all fours on the cobbles, debasing himself for me to use as a step. I alighted, using him as offered. Father’s eyebrows rose as Ghost grunted from the effort. His back was still striped in raised weals, though they were faded. My standing on them couldn’t have felt good. I began to walk away, joining my father and cousin. Ghost stood up and dusted off his hands and knees, then followed me obediently.

  Once we were inside, he fell to his knees on the carpet, his head level with my right thigh. I snapped his leash on, continuing to walk casually along.

  “So, who’s here?” I asked brightly, faking enthusiasm.

  “Lady Pecan and Lord Acorn,” Puzzle said, naming two minor nobles. “And Lord Cypress.”

  Lord Cypress, advisor to the Queen. Today, we were center stage, the spotlight on us brighter than I’d dared to hope. It was even more imperative that neither myself nor Ghost not messed up. I had to sell my tight hold over him. My cock perked up at that. Here there would be fucking. There always was at these gatherings, but today, I’d get to ream Ghost as hard as I wanted, as often as I wanted. I’d also have to share a taste of him. Lord Cypress always did like a hard, firm body, and Ghost was just his type, scruff and all.

  25

  Jase

  I didn’t get why his cousin was called Puzzle until I saw the potted trees inside and the frieze on the wall. His name was a tree, the same as the other High Fae. Well, the name he was called by, not his true name. He was called after a monkey puzzle tree, of all things.

  Puzzle had mentioned to Willow that only three people and their servants were present. There was more than that, but apparently, they were low enough on the High Fae social scale that he didn’t bother counting them. And as for servants, they were quite obviously concubines, male and female. None wore a collar and leash like I did, though. I was his property and a mere fuck toy. Concubines had a social status that I didn’t. They looked at me with disdain. Fuckers.

  “He’s certainly very masculine,” a redhaired fae female commented to a friend.

  “He’s definitely all man, Lady Pecan,” Willow told her.

  I reined myself in, tamping down tight the laughter that threatened to erupt as I caught the name. Pecan? Really? Willow even said it like my mama did- pee can.

  Lord Willow made a circuit around the room, greeting people. Eyes and whispers followed as we went, the sight of an adult human brought across the Veil a novelty rarely seen or heard of. Keeper had explained it to me as I helped her in the kitchen while our master observed the masons hocus pocusing new floor layouts downstairs. Unless they stumbled across a natural fairy ring while it was open or jumped a wild rift, humans usually only came to this realm if they were part of a changeling swap. Changeling swaps were rare, she told me because once the human child had eaten here, they had to remain. Plus, the rules said the children had to be under six months old so
that the human and fae parents both would be none the wiser.

  This was because changeling swaps were something called a Mayhem- an act of disruption or aggression authorized under the rules as an act of retribution. Basically, someone crosses someone else, and it causes them enough grief that they can order a kidnapping. Oddly, these are carried out by the assassin’s guild. The assassin must manage to take the fae child without anyone noticing, take it across the Veil, and swap it with a look-alike human child, then bring the human child and put it into place with no one the wiser. Why do it? Because the child will grow up magicless and thus unable to hold a position of status outside of a guild unless they married into it. Magicless fae or those with limited access to magic are automatically seen as less than and are a disgrace to a High Fae family. It was a bunch of egotistical bullshit as far as I was concerned, but then this whole higher and lesser fae caste system was racist as fuck. And hello, slavery. This society was rotten down to its foundations.

  Willow finally stopped and found a seat. I knelt beside him, resting my head on his knee. The hand holding my leash was on that side and he lifted his free hand to stroke my head absently while he chatted. Music began to play, and Brownies began circulating the room, offering wine and mead. The drink flowed freely, and all around me, I saw fae getting handsy with their concubines and each other. Willow was no exception, as his hand moved to toy with my nipple.

  “He’s lovely,” came a deep voice. I opened an eye to peer at who was speaking. It was a richly dressed fae male with faint lines about his eyes and mouth. Heavy, elaborate rings graced his fingers.