Staring down at her, I snorted, watching as her eyes slowly fluttered before closing loosely.
She’d lost a lot of blood, my obstinate, stubborn female, and despite my body’s need to strengthen our bond, right this minute, I knew she needed time.
“Bloody hell,” I muttered. Being a decent male was going to be a shitload of fucking hard work. “The things I do fer ye, wench.” Rubbing a hand down my drawn face, I wondered if I was even up to the task. “Gonna fuckin’ hump me palms hairy,” I groaned into her neck, voice muffled into the sweet smell of her soft flesh.
“Can I watch?” she murmured quietly, lids still closed, chuckling quietly when my cock jumped against her generously bared thigh.
It had slipped from the sheets covering her, her shapely leg, bared to my hungry eyes. The small scrap of clothing covering my junk was firmly in place, but the dragon’s tail of a cock snaking up, straight and out, wouldn’t be contained for long.
“Ah, fuck, I’m leavin’,” Ketik’s voice, growling and hard, preceded his heavy foot falls. “Bad enough I haveta hear ‘em, not gonna watch ‘em fuck in a room full ‘o’ dumb arsed busy bodies.”
“Then get the fuck out,” I snarled low.
Nugget gasped, eyes snapping open, head shooting up. She recoiled on a shriek, taking in all the unwanted occupants of the room. At the horrified look on her mortified little heart shaped face, my ears still ringing from her outburst, I tried to appease my squirming, ear shattering banshee.
“Hold still now, Nugget,” I muttered disgustedly, “I wasna gonna fuck ye in front ta everyone, bloody hell, woman.” When she settled down, I glared down at her, fighting a shit eating grin. “Not that me blood kin havena heard ye wailin’ me name in ecstasy before, muffled as I bring ye ta Mid-Realm, but this lot havena.” Hooking a thumb at the free loaders hugging the wall, waiting for a show, I hoped to hell they got the damned hint and scrammed.
“Oh! Troll! You... You... brute!” Beating at me weakly with her small little balled up fists, I couldn’t help but smile. Fires of hell, was she beautiful when riled. And she’s mine. All mine.
“Ah! Bloody hell, woman!” I roared, shaking the ceiling hard enough to rain red dust, rearing back as her tiny human fingers gripped the small nip on my chest. Flopping back, she folded her arms primly over her impressive bosom, tugging the sheet down into a more appropriate position, taking that tantalizing peek of creamy white flesh—mine—with her.
Prudish human, that succulent strip of thigh was mine, a feast for my eyes.
At that thought, I remembered the occupants of the room. Damn, I’d forgotten ‘bout them. Scowling hard, I eyed all the men evenly, letting them know with a low growl and a hiss, that this female, and any part of her gorgeous body, was mine.
“Don’t worry, Bek,” Bo offered graciously, “we didn’t see much.” Tossing a hand at Quaz, who was still holding my bairn, cradling him carefully, as his ass should, Bo grinned and explained, “He’s seen a lot more of your bonded than even you have. Why, who do you think brought that little lad into this world?”
“Ye what?!”
“Lord help us,” Nugget muttered, struggling to sit up as she glared at Wind. “Quaz, give me my baby, then you can run. Unless, you know, you like making wall angels.”
Quaz quickly did as he was told, ignoring my warning growl as he sprinted for the doorway.
“Oh, quit snapping at him like that,” my bonded muttered, “truth be told, I did most of the work anyways. He just sort of,” she shrugged, running a finger along the length of our offspring’s little nose, “helped.”
“Bastard willna be helpin’ ye wit’ anythin’,” I rumbled low, “anymore.”
“I’d hope not,” she laughed softly, a small, secret smile playing at her lips.
This just helped sour my mood.
“You’re going to be difficult for a while, aren’t you?” she breathed, still drained as she laid back against the bit of wood I liked to use as a headboard.
“No’ fuckin’ difficult,” I spat. “Ye be mine, woman. I’m bleedin’ pissed.” Grunting, I pushed off the bed, standing up to my full, towering height, boner and all, glaring at the rest of the room, who was still watching our heated exchange with morbid fascination. “What ye lookin’ at, eh? Be gone, then, nothin’ ta see.”
“Troll.” Nugget’s voice was getting a little growl to it.
Fuckin’ adorable.
I’d have to bite at those lips later, suck them into my mouth and- Shit. This particular train ‘o’ thought is sure as shite no’ helpin’ me any.
Whirling around, I grunted, “What?” It may have come out harsher than I’d intended, but at the dark scowl on her sweet little face, the irritation I felt rolling off her through our bond, I softened. “Fine,” then, much lower, “what the fuck ever.” Turning back to stare balefully at the group, I sat heavily at the foot of the large bed, shoulders slumping slightly, resting my chin on my fist, waiting. Every few seconds a deep snarl slipped out, my runes lighting up, unbidden.
“Troll!”
“Fuckin’ alright!”
Welcome Back
Nugget
Glaring at the back of his head, if I wasn’t so relieved to hear his surly grumbling again, I’d brain him.
Calder let out a soft little mewl, sniffling in my direction, large blue eyes popping open wide. Shaking my head as his little meaty fists flailed, I chuckled, undoing the ties at my shirt to set him up for a feeding.
“Nugget? What do ye think ye’re doin?” My surly mate-husband demanded in his deep, rumbly voice.
Glancing up, I only stopped for a second. “I’m going to feed my son, our son.” Lifting a brow haughtily, I inquired politely, “Do you have a problem with that?”
“If ye’re gonna whip yer tits out in fronta everyone,” he muttered, giving a sharp nod, “ye best be bettin’ yer sweet arse I do.”
Lips pursing, eyes defiant, I grumbled right back. “Well, deal with it.” Gesturing to his chest, I argued, “Your breasts are much bigger than mine, and you have them out on display all the time.” At the look on his face, exposing my breast for Calder as I watched my mate evenly, fighting back a wince when my little man latched on a bit too hard, clamping down around a mouthful, I murmured cheekily, “A little tit for tat, as it were.”
Troll’s eyes flashed, filling with heat at the sight, then anger as they drifted towards the others, then acceptance as they drifted back and he watched Calder suckle hungrily. “I dinna have titties, Nugget,” he muttered petulantly, “an’ mine are nothin’ ta gawk about. Yers are-” Pausing as his eyes flashed with barely banked heat once more, he cleared his throat roughly and grunted, “Yers are mine.”
“I’m beginning to rethink this whole mate-bond-thing. You two are worse than a pair of old married Travellers. Hmm. I think I like it.” A soft voice, chiming and absent these past long months, had my gaze darting around the room.
“Vidi?” I breathed, taking in the flowing white shirt covering her tall frame, masking a bit of her feminine shape. Long hair flowing freely around her shoulders, white and tangled in a curling, wild mass, they were a stark contrast to the tall black boots and black pants she’d donned, accompanied by a long length of material bundled in her long arms that I could only guess was a cape.
“Hello, bright eyes,” she called softly, cautiously approaching the bed.
“How did you find me?” I was a little dumbstruck, just plain happy at a chance to see her again. “Are... are you alright? Did Madga- No, of course she didn’t,” my eyes strayed to the Elementals gathered around, “they helped you, didn’t they?”
“Actually, no.” Smiling softly, Vidi sat carefully on the side opposite Troll on the bed, ignoring his grumbling mutterings of ‘manly chests’ and ‘breasts’. “I was looking for you already when they found me.” Glancing at Zeme, she gave the Elemental a grateful smile, gaze turning back to take the hand I offered her, the one that wasn’t cradling Calder close. Letting our fin
gers slip loose, she held out the length of the necklace I’d put on Troll, now a long length of braided leather, the ends of one section having been broken, which were now slightly frayed. Unraveling or not, the magic remained, humming low as she held it up for me to see. “If I’d have known all that was going on, I never would have interfered. I only wanted to help.” Regret laced her tone, but I shook my head.
“You can’t predict how things will go. I didn’t know.”
Troll flung an arm at Niniane and huffed. “No, but she does.”
All eyes turned to Niniane and she cleared her throat. “I don’t see everything, not anymore, and I’m not a Fate. I used to see the potential of what could be, not what’s to come.” Deep sorrow filled her eyes and she gripped the edge of the long blue cloak, light blue silk lining the inside. “I couldn’t see. I’m sorry, nothing should have come to... to what it did.” She was referring to much more than what she let on, and I was rather apt at reading between the lines on this one.
“No, it shouldn’t have,” I said slowly, “you can nudge things along, as much as fate allows, but you can’t take a man’s will, can you?”
“What?” Startled, wondering blue eyes met mine. “No.”
“You didn’t make him do anything, did you? Did you suggest he do such a thing? Did you drug him and...” I felt sick as the thought filtered through, but, considering the things she’d been willing to do, I had to be sure, “make that male do it?”
“What? Of course not! No. No! I’d never-”
“She dinna help anythin’ any, though, either. Dinna be makin’ excuses fer her, Nugget. Do her good to let her stew in it.” I didn’t blame Troll for his animosity about all that had transpired, feeling my own overwhelming sense of it so often.
In a way, though, in the back of my mind where I try to hide all my niggling worries, I still wondered if he regretted ending up with me.
Granted, Niniane hadn’t forced us two together, exactly, but she’d orchestrated events—to what extent, and how far back? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know—but I wouldn’t trade our bonding, or the child who came from such a pairing, for anything. It all happened, we happened, we’re going to make this work, make us work, end of story.
“Fates should call ye back fer judgement again,” Troll growled. “Ye abused yer powers, meddlin’ wit’ things best ye be left outta.” My bonded was overwrought, emotions high, chest heaving, body tensed up, muscles bunching, working himself into a right state.
Nudging him with my foot, I held out my hand, wiggling my fingers when he stared at it for a long moment.
Once he took it, shuffling closer, I squeezed my fingers over the bony ridges. Calder fussed a little and I readjusted him, letting go of Troll’s hand to pat the infant’s wide little back.
Troll’s eyes were immediately stuck to the sight, hands slowly reaching out to brush tenderly over his son’s spine.
A long breath left Troll and he squeezed in behind me, murmuring, “Thank you,” into my neck as his legs bracketed either side of me, settling me into the cradle of his hips.
We both needed this right now—this intense need, craving for each other’s touch gnawing at us—the contact soothing and calming us both.
Focusing back on The Lady, standing firmly before us, lips tight, her blue eyes flashed with suppressed emotion. “I’m sorry for what became of things,” she stated firmly, “but I’m not sorry he found you.”
Nodding slightly, I wasn’t about to disagree.
“What you could have done to Vidi was horrible,” I said quietly, voice hard but controlled. “You could have harmed her greatly.” Not to mention some of her other tricks, like drugging me in the ramshackle hut in the woods, the dreams, but I didn’t dredge it up. In some ways, I resented her for it, sure, but in others, for obvious reasons, it had been eye opening. I couldn’t deny that her meddling in our affairs had shed light on things for me, things I might have still been in the dark about. It helped me understand my troll better. She let me ‘see’, where I might not have otherwise.
“I did what I had to do,” Niniane replied just as quietly, just as unyielding. “That’s the way of it with Other. If she’d wanted the powers back, she would have found a way.”
Just like that? Did Vidi, an innocent party in all of this, mean nothing? Well, she most certainly did to me. Nostrils flaring, chin up, glaring down the length of my nose at the Elemental, my lips tightened.
“And that,” I said slowly, eyes flashing, voice deepening so low I fairly growled, “is why I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“But...” Eyes darting to Calder desperately, I could hear the question on the tip of her tongue. Troll fixed that with a snarl and a chuff. Apparently, he’d seen it too.
“Ye heard her.” Troll’s voice was deep and guttural, the only thing keeping him from springing at her and clawing her face off right this second, the fingers of my left hand digging into his thigh. “Me Nugget asked ye ta leave.”
Nodding miserably, Niniane started a small pool of water at her feet, swirling up and around her lower half until it was nothing but swirling blue liquid.
“I only thought of you,” she pleaded, eyes boring into her son’s. “Can you not forgive a mother for wanting a small semblance of happiness for a child she’d unwillingly cursed to an existence without? To know love? It came at a cost, several, and I know I tempted fate, I’m not saying what I did was right, or wrong, I just... I... I’d thought the price worth it.”
“Dinna come back. Ye set foot in me lair, ye’re as good as dead, ye hear?”
“Gersthart, you can’t mean... I...” A small sob caught in her throat. “I just... can’t you see? I had to! I had to! I couldn’t... I couldn’t live with myself a moment longer! I’ve cursed you all, and I... I couldn’t bear it! It was killing me!” she shouted, startling everyone. Her broken, choked out screech melted away as she disappeared in a veil of fine mist, blue sparks dancing as her evaporative form shot up and out.
Sympathy welled in me for her at the tortured look on her face, but not for long. She’d made her choices, which led to all this. Niniane had made her bed, and for once, she needed to lie in it. Maybe it would do her some good.
Vidi sat, stunned, staring at the spot Niniane had just vacated.
Would there ever be saving for someone like Water? Seems she was cursed long before she’d tempted the Fates.
Wind and Earth exchanged a long look, fear, worry, and sadness dashing across their expressions, seeping into their eyes before they turned to us collectively.
“Tis time,” Earth whispered, closing her eyes slowly as her hand slowly came up to rub at her brow. Wrapping an arm around herself in a small hug, Wind gave her shoulder a small squeeze.
A sense of deep sorrow filled the room.
“As I’d feared, but the winds have changed. Tis time.” Bowing his head as he took a deep breath, Wind lifted his gaze to us, resignation stamped across his face. “We must go now,” he intoned gravely.
“You will take care of this Ornthren?” Gaia demanded of me, tossing something for Troll to catch. Catching it onehanded, he opened his palm and kissed the glowing stone, a small smile of thanks tipping the corner of his lips. “You will always know your way home, heart, and Ornthren temperament or not, you know, our shortcomings be damned, we always loved you, blood kin or not.”
“I know,” Troll grumbled stubbornly, uncertainty clouding his features. “Dinna have ta sound like ye’re dyin’. Same too, fer me.”
Swallowing hard, a catch in her throat at his words, Earth turned without answering, eyes trained on Vidi. “I would ask that you look after the small lad, Brevin, for me. He is in need of much care still,” a wry smile twisted her lips, “despite his insistence otherwise.”
“I will,” Vidi promised, “I’ll head out at first light.”
“My thanks,” she said solemnly, giving a quick bow. “I will leave now. Think of me when you scent wet grass and warm earth, when the leaves fall fr
om the trees and the dove coo.” Stepping forward, she held out a hand out to my Traveller friend, waiting patiently while Vidi slowly got up, cautiously making her way towards her.
When their fingers touched and held, she gasped, watching curiously as Mother Nature pressed a small stone into her palm, placing a quick, chaste kiss upon her closed knuckles before making it into a tight fist. “To light the way, wherever you may wish to go,” she whispered, sand swirling around her toes, disappearing beneath it as she slowly sank down deep. “I hope that someday you might find your own home.”
Vidi nodded, expression unreadable, throat working, eyes filling, clutching the small stone tightly to her breast.
“We are dawning a new age,” Wind announced quietly. “The corners, for all their supposed effectiveness, have become defective. I sense a change of pace is upon us.”
“What are ye sayin’, wind bag?” Troll sputtered.
Wind nodded grimly, but forced a small laugh. “Twas bound to happen, you know.” With a careless shrug, he sighed, “Out with the old, in with the new, eh? We are, how you say? Obsolete.”
“Are you saying the corners will be no more?” Vidi gasped, taken aback.
“No. No, though I’m not quite entirely certain, my dear.” Wind raised his hand and snapped his fingers. “I’d say, it’s more of... a call for a change in occupancy.”
“What will become of her?” Troll rumbled low.
Bo got a faraway look, something lightening in his stern features, so often before carefree, as he brushed his hands down his trousers, as if to dust himself off. “Hopefully, once all the dust and smoke settles, seeing that Zeme doesn’t strangle your dear old mum first, and she accepts her new lot in life, she’ll... live.”
Troll tipped his chin and slumped against me, nodding slowly. “Alright.”
“Take care of that babe for me, milady,” Bo grinned that Bavol grin, tipped his imaginary hat, and winked.
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