“I guess you’d call it vampire headquarters. Administrative central for the Earthwing clan, which controls New York and most of the eastern seaboard.”
“You’re kidding,” Beth murmured. “Well, of course you’re not kidding...I’m just...my head is spinning.”
Zack grinned. “That’s one of a number of reasons the first meeting was held here and we didn’t drag you down to the keep.”
“Down?” Beth squeaked. “It’s in a cellar or something?
“Down town,” Zack said blandly, standing up. He studied her. “What I have been able to find out about bondings you may not consider good news.”
She shivered and wrapped her arms about her. “Why?”
“You already know it’s changing you. The final stage, if the little I’ve learned so far is right, will make you something other than human, Beth.”
“I’ll be a vampire?”
“Not with Lindál in the trinity,” Zack said. “And not as part of a bonding ritual.” He frowned. “I just don’t know. And I don’t think anyone else does, either.”
Chapter Five
She wasn’t aware of falling asleep, but a warm hand on her shoulder woke her. Beth didn’t feel startled at all. The hand was gentle, comforting.
“You must be getting hungry,” Lindál whispered.
“I am,” she agreed. “Why is it dim in here?”
“It’s raining outside,” he murmured. “Keep still. I’m going to remove the dildo.”
She felt his hands on her ass, tenderly ministering to her and felt no embarrassment. “Where’s Zack?”
“He went to the keep to do some research. It’s about two p.m. You’ve been asleep a couple of hours, but you haven’t eaten enough today, not for the calories you’ve burned.”
“Food sounds good.”
He unzipped the boots she still wore and dropped them to the floor, then picked up her hand and pulled her gently from the bed. “Come with me,” he said and led her into the en suite. This was not a windowless enclosure squeezed into the floor plan, but a room of its own, with floor to ceiling windows all along one side, overlooking Manhattan. There was a huge shower stall that took up one part of the windows and was glassed in on the other two sides, with the fourth side against the tiled wall, which contained the water controls.
“I know Zack likes the sun, but this is...overwhelming.”
“It’s perfect,” Lindál said. “He’s more elf than he realizes.”
“He’d kill you if he heard you say that.”
Lindál grinned. “I know.” He quickly stripped his clothing and placed the knife on the sink. Beth hid her sigh as his naked form was revealed. He was as fine as any athletic human male. The broad shoulders were strong, rounded with muscle—not bulging the way Zack’s did, but lean and with the subtle glow that marked him indelibly as elvish. He turned on the shower jets and adjusted the temperature, then rested his hand against the window where rivulets of rain matched the shower run-off. “Water within and without.”
He picked up her hand again and drew her into the water, where he washed her from tip to toe.
“You make me feel like a two year old,” she whispered, as Lindál worked soap through her fingers and rinsed them.
“You have never taken care of a loved one this way?” he asked, surprised.
“Children, yes.”
“Ah, well, in our land, this is a common way of expressing love.”
“Love?” She was startled. She looked up at Lindál, to find his blue eyes gazing steadily at her.
“Don’t shy from it, Seaveth,” he said softly. “I can feel your panic.”
“You’ve known me less than—“
“I’ve known your soul forever. It has taken decades to find you. You’ve always had my love, Beth.”
“Even though I am human?”
“It matters naught.”
“The bonding took care of that,” she said bitterly.
“The bonding had nothing to do with it,” Lindál said softly. “It was an excuse. It gives me a way out with my race—an escape I would not have had otherwise.”
She stared at him. This was an echo of Zack’s words. He would not have touched her had it not been for the bonding. “You’ll pay the price the bonding demands of you, just to be with me?” she asked Lindál.
He smiled. “I’m beginning to think the price the bonding will demand will be a bonus.”
* * * * *
After the shower, he wrapped her in a terry robe that was far too big for her, that smelled new and fresh. “This isn’t Zack’s,” she said as he worked over the kitchen stove, wearing only trousers.
“It’s mine,” Lindál said. “Bought with my fake, very sincere-looking credit card.” He shrugged. “I don’t think I’ll leaving Earth again very soon. I have to assimilate.”
She bit her lip. “Do you mind?”
“When you’re wearing the robe I bought with it? No.” He placed the plate of food in front of her. “It’s elvish, using human ingredients. Try it. Or shall I feed you, too?”
“I’ll do it myself. Where, exactly, is your...world? Land?” She took a bite of the concoction, which seemed to be an unexpected mix of vegetables and spices. It was delicious and indescribable. Her stomach growled and she began to eat quickly.
He frowned. “I lack the terminology to explain it in your language. The closest I can get is to say that it runs parallel to Earth’s reality.”
“An alternative world?”
“Not exactly. I told you there is no appropriate terminology for it.”
“How do you get there?”
“Teleportation—sort of. Elves can come and go freely. Others must be transported by elves, so the door to the elvish world does not need to be guarded. For millennia elves themselves have not been interested in leaving their world unless absolutely necessary.”
“Until you.”
He grimaced. “Even I cannot explain why the urge to visit Earth so often and so frequently came upon me. I wandered the globe on and off for a dozen years before I happened upon you in the Columbia library. It was like being hit in the chest by a hammer. I remember whispering to myself, ‘Yes, I see. Now I understand.’ It all fell together. At the same instant, I realized that you were human and I couldn’t have you, after all.”
He smoothed his thumb over the tabletop, a ridge between his brows. “I have a sister, Séreméla, to whom I dared to confide where I spent my days when no-one could find me. She tried hard to convince me to give up my wanderlust and take up my duties as the—what did you call it?”
“Crown prince,” Beth supplied.
“Yes, crown prince. Sera begged me to return and behave like a proper crown prince before others noticed my absent-mindedness and took exception to it. But even to her I could not confess my sin of falling in love with a human. I knew she would not understand. So I went for weeks, trying to deal with the impact you had on me, which did not diminish as time passed, but only grew. In the last few days it became like a fever, which not even running water could temper.”
Lindál got to his feet suddenly, as if the confession was making him deeply uncomfortable. He moved to the bank of windows and rested his head against the glass. Streaming water from the rain ran down the other side of it. She wondered if he was aware of the fact that he had sought running water again.
“And now you have me,” Beth said softly, “So what is still driving you, Lindál?”
He turned and leaned against the glass, watching her. “What damage have I done to the elves? What have I exposed them to?”
Ahhhh.... Beth pushed her plate aside and stood up. “So what you’re really dealing with is a nice healthy dose of guilt. You went after what you wanted and now you’re worrying about the consequences.” She reached up and wound her arms around his neck. “You bad elf, you. Don’t any of your race feel guilty about things, Lindál?”
He blinked and considered. “No,” he said shortly. “It must be a human trait.”
His mouth turned down at the corners. “It’s not a pleasant feeling,” he said.
“Not, it’s not. But consider this, Lindál. The bonding wasn’t something we chose. It was forced on us, because the Grimoré are coming, whether we like it or not. So the elves are going to face a war against the Grimoré whether they like it or not. You may have exposed them to change, but you may well have saved their collective bacon into the bargain—if we all do what we’re supposed to do according to the prophecy.”
“You mean, save everyone’s asses?” Lindál asked, his lips searing an imprint on the nape of her neck and making her shiver.
“Hey, you sounded just like a human, then.”
“I’m working on it,” he said.
She thrust her hand into his hair and pulled his head back so she could see his blue eyes. “Don’t work too hard at it, okay? I like that you’re elvish.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’ve seen very little of what it is to be truly elvish. They can be quite...obscure. Most elves consider me to be weird.”
“Well then, I like you, okay? Don’t change too much, Lindál.”
“I don’t think we’ll have any choice about that,” he said gravely, picking up her hand again. “Come.” He led her into a room that she had not seen until now. It shared, like the others, a wall of floor to ceiling windows, but was virtually unfurnished. There was a bench and weights in one corner that gave her a single clue. “A training room,” she said. The floor of the room was slightly soft and yielding underfoot, but not enormously so.
Lindál stepped in front of her. “I wanted to try something. It’s training...of a sort.”
“I see,” she said suspiciously.
He smiled, his eyes glinting with a wicked gleam. “You’ll enjoy it,” he promised, and brought out from behind his back a black scarf. “I’m going to blindfold you.”
Her heart pattered a little. “Is this training or seduction?”
“You’ll see,” he said, as he wrapped the scarf around her head, blocking her vision. She shivered, as her other senses seemed to leap to the forefront.
“Now you’re listening hard, aren’t you?” Lindál whispered and kissed her neck, making her gasp, for it had come unexpectedly. Her heart began to thunder.
“Yes,” she said truthfully.
“I want you to try and listen with your mind, too,” he told her.
“How?”
“Where am I right now?”
“From your voice, I think you’re standing almost directly in front of me. Just to the right a bit, perhaps.”
“In your mind, you can feel me as warmth. There’s an expression your military use...”
“A hot spot?”
“Yes. See me as a hot spot in your mind. If you can find that hot spot, you can start to read the feelings emanating from it.”
“You’re moving. I can hear you.”
She felt tugging at her waist. The robe loosened around her, then dropped away. “Hey!” she said, reaching for it.
“You’re not motivated enough to find me in your mind,” Lindál said. “So I’m changing that.”
Cool metal circled her wrist and she heard a quiet click before she realized that she had been cuffed. She reached for the cuff and realized her mistake when the second cuff slid over her other wrist and snapped into place. “Shit,” she whispered.
She heard Lindál chuckle. “I took advantage of your trust,” he admitted. “You would never have let anyone else get that close that easily.”
Her arms were spread out and up. She tugged. The cuffs had been secured, somehow.
Lindál’s hands were at her ankles, now, spreading them. “No, you don’t,” she said, trying to kick them out of his grip.
Silence. Stillness. She could hear her heart thundering in her chest and echoing in her own temple.
”Where am I?” It was barely a whisper, floating on the air. “What part of you might I caress next?”
She gave a shuddering little gasp, as she realized just how aroused she was already. Her pussy was thick with cream and aching to be filled. With her eyes blinded this way, she had no visual clues where Lindál would touch her next. Each caress would be a surprise. Anticipation was total, involving her entire body, for every inch and every part of her was a candidate.
She realized she was holding her breath and forced herself to breathe again, in gasping, unsteady lungfuls.
“Zack was right. You do like this.” Lindál’s voice was close. By her shoulder. His lips grazed her collar bone and she jumped.
“Is there anything you two won’t share?” she muttered.
“When it comes to your pleasure? No.” His voice was behind her now. Hands on her ankles again. This time she let him. He spread her legs and her ankles were cuffed with soft cuffs that held her legs apart. Now she was completely exposed, blind and at his mercy. She longed for his touch.
“Where am I now?”
She tried to find him with her mind, but her arousal was overwhelming. All she could focus on was the need to have his hands on her and where he might touch her next. Her clit was throbbing with need. “Please...” she whispered.
“You want me to touch you,” Lindál said.
She frowned, trying to focus on his voice and realized then why he had chosen this room amongst the others in the apartment. Voices echoed in this room, once you were far enough away. He had stepped away from her. Now she could not tell where he was, exactly.
“Yes, I want you to touch me,” she said, swallowing.
“I want to touch you, too,” he replied. “I want to touch you with a power undiminished from the day I first met you. Even more, perhaps.” He was moving as he spoke. Circling her? Circling in? “Can you feel it, Beth?”
Warmth...warmth from behind her. She focused on it as Lindál had suggested, and it slipped over her, enveloping her in an alien, powerful wave of wanting, directed at her. She gasped, feeling her own arousal reflected and regenerated, spiraling out of control.
Lindál’s body pressed up against hers from behind. “Yes, now you see me,” he said. His cock was a silk encased steel rod against her back. He was naked.
“You want me,” she cried, her head falling back against his shoulder.
The blindfold was whipped away. His blue eyes gazed into hers. “Yes, I want you.” His hands captured her breasts, squeezing and stroking them. For minutes on end he teased them, working on the breasts alone, or concentrating on the nipples and areoles. It seemed he would not tire of exploring them. His ministrations had Beth writhing and moaning, virtually hanging from the chains and cuffs for her legs were trembling so much. The moisture gushing from her pussy coated her thighs, liberally preparing the way, while her clit and labia throbbed painfully, linked almost directly to Lindál’s attention to her breasts.
“Fuck me, Lindál,” she gasped. “Please, please, fuck me.”
“Words I would have given the world to have heard that day in the library, when you were pressed against me like this.” His hand dropped to her hip and pushed her hips against him, while the other pressed her shoulders to his chest, in a rough imitation of the way he had protected her that day.
“It’s a pity you can’t read minds, then. That’s almost exactly what I was thinking,” she said. She turned her head to look at him. “Now, Lindál. Take me now. I can feel you’re right on the edge. I want you inside me when you come.”
His eyes seemed to grow darker. He nodded. “Very well then.” He reached over to the wall and unhooked the chains. Suddenly, her arms dropped to her side, the cuffs with their attached chains was no longer elevated.
Lindál lowered her to the floor. “On your hands and knees,” he said.
Trembling, Beth positioned herself on the floor. Her legs were already spread thanks to the cuffs on her ankles. She rested on her hands and looked back over her hips at Lindál. His tempestuous gaze was on her ass and his hands rested on her nether cheeks. “Gorgeous,” he said. He ran his fingers between her cheeks, mak
ing her arch, down into the thick juices coating the entrance of her pussy, to her labia, which he separated with his fingers to expose her swollen, yearning clit. With two fingers on either side, he tugged gently on it and she gave an inarticulate cry, her hips bucking in response.
He gathered the excessive cream from her pussy and worked it around her anus, rimming the hole, then pushing it inside with his finger. There was more than enough natural lubricant. The sensation sent silvery sparks of excitement through her and Beth clutched at links of the chains under her hands.
“Feel me,” Lindál whispered as he took hold of her hips.
She sought for his presence and felt it slip over her again...the overwhelming surge of excitement and pleasure this moment represented, the building climax.... She gasped at the impact, feeling her own body respond to the added stimulus.
Lindál groaned. “I can feel your pleasure leap, every time you do that. It feeds into my own.”
They were feeding off each other, she realized dimly.
His cock pushed into her ass with slow mastery. The sensation was already a familiar one and luscious in its own way. She threw her head back, reveling in the feeling of being possessed as Lindál’s cock came to rest inside her. Her clitoris bloomed and began to pulse.
“So tight, so hot,” he murmured.
“Fuck me, Lindál. Let me feel it.”
He began to thrust in slow, even strokes and she reached for his presence, to sample his feelings, knowing he was doing the same with her.
At the same time, she felt his fingers on her clit, knowingly stroking the throbbing bud in time with his thrusting.
The rush of feelings was overwhelming. Beth knew she was not going to hold on very long at all. With both of them feeding off each other, it was spiraling out of control. “Lindál!” she cried, scared.
“Let go. I have you.”
She fell into the chasm of her climax, and for a moment the world seemed to darken around her, as the explosive waves of the orgasm made her entire body lock up.
* * * * *
An arm under her cheek. A hand brushing her hair from her temple. Daylight still. She blinked. “What happened?”
Beth's Acceptance Page 7