A while later he came out of the woods into the clearing that Enthrall’s home sat in. He could hear their voices and laughter as he came nearer. He paused to see what was happening.
Enthrall stood behind Carolena at his kitchen table. Her hands were working some kind of dough, and Enthrall was against her back, his hands with hers, helping to work the dough. His head was bent near Carolena’s, and he was speaking softly to her. He dropped his head lower so that his lips were just at her ear and said, “That’s it. Strong fingers, soft hands, caress the dough as you would a lover, strong yet gentle.”
Carolena turned her head ever so slightly, their lips were centimeters apart, Enthrall stared into her eyes — and Carnage lost all control.
Roaring, charging the house, ripping the front door off its hinges as he rushed to get between Enthrall and Carolena. Somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice told him, “This! This is what Murder tried to warn you of! Fool! You left her alone, and she turned to another.”
Enthrall and Carolena, startled by Carnage’s sudden appearance and the tone thereof, jumped back, both of their hands covered with flour and bits of bread dough.
“Carnage!” Carolena said, “Look what you did to Enthrall’s door!”
Carnage, his face a twist of anger, snarled at her as he stepped between Enthrall and Carolena.
Carnage placed Carolena behind him, and faced Enthrall directly. He did not fear Enthrall. He knew that he was physically the superior of the two and could win any confrontation; as long as Enthrall didn’t start that damn shrill sound that he used to control the more animalistic of their people. If he did that, then everyone froze until he stopped.
“Control yourself, Carnage. Nothing has happened here,” Enthrall said calmly.
Carnage snarled at him and shoved a hand in Carolena’s direction.
Enthrall did not look away from Carnage, “I said, nothing happened here. Though it well could have and should have. You left her alone for so long she questioned you, your intentions and her choices. She has just begun to assimilate to a new world. You left her.”
Carnage’s face flashed to rage; he made a series of growls and flung an arm out in the direction of the home he just built.
Enthrall could guess his intention, and said, “I am aware. She is not.”
Carolena put a hand on his arm, turning him toward her, “Why are you so angry?”
Carnage pointed a finger at Enthrall, “Traawwl!”
“Yes, he’s Enthrall. He was only teaching me to make bread.”
Carnage used two fingers of his right hand to tap his lips while he glared at Carolena.
Carolena shook her head, “There was no kiss. Nothing happened,” she said almost sadly.
Carnage stared at her for a short time before spinning to pin Enthrall with a threat-filled glare. “MINE, Leenah!”
Enthrall watched him with a swirl of emotion on his face before finally responding, “Then perhaps you should actually make her a part of your life. Introduce her to your world, rather than leaving that to other males in her life.”
Carnage roared a string of unintelligible sounds, and in one motion, turned, threw Carolena over his shoulder in spite of her protests, and stalked out of Enthrall’s home.
Enthrall did not go after them. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Carnage would not hurt Carolena, no matter how dangerous he was to everyone else. He adored Carolena. And he also knew that his presence at this particular time would only escalate the situation. Instead he took a deep breath, pressed his hand against his own lips in an effort to end the tingling that had started when he’d made the decision to kiss Carolena. He was actually grateful that Carnage had interrupted them. He didn’t want to do anything that would endanger the easy friendship that he and Carolena had developed. But with her feeling slighted, her obvious affection for him, and his need for contact, it was almost too tempting not to explore. He sighed, rinsed his fingers off before toweling them dry and flouring them again, so he could finish making the loaves of bread they’d started.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Carnage kept a steady pace in spite of Carolena dangling down his back, regularly beating at his back, and shouting threats of removing his manhood if he didn’t put her down. The only response he gave was when she stopped fighting and just said softly, “Your shoulder is hurting my stomach.”
He didn’t miss a step, but swept her from his shoulder into his arms to carry her there instead. He did not look at her, did not even break stride. He was angry, and did not want to let that anger out on her. This was new for him. Normally, whatever emotion he experienced was let out into the world, anger being no exception. But with Carolena, he’d have to learn control. He’d been trying — this was the greatest trial yet. He’d much prefer to turn her over, spank her like an unruly child, and smash a few trees on the way to his new home.
He spared her a glance, and lifted his lip at her, displaying a huge fang. She lifted her lip at him and snarled back, crossing her arms across her chest in an act of defiance.
He was shocked, but not unpleasantly so. He couldn’t smile though, because then she’d know his anger was dissipating. He instead popped her on the bottom, “Ssspaaann eww,” he said.
She flinched in his arms, her mouth dropping open. “I don’t think so! And if you do, you better not go to sleep. Because I will find something heavy to hit you with, Mister!”
“Hmpf,” was the only reply she got.
Thirty minutes later Carnage slowed and stopped walking. He looked down at Carolena in his arms and waited for her to look back at him. She was staring at the tree tops, studiously ignoring him, though he carried her.
Since she wouldn’t look down at him, or around, he turned so that her eyes would fall on the trees their home was built in the center of.
Slowly, she became aware of what she was seeing. She pulled herself more upright in his arms. “There’s a house up there, in the middle of those trees!” she exclaimed, forgetting that she was angry with him.
“‘Es,” he said.
He knew the minute her eyes followed the line of the house down to the support beams and the two levels of stairs that led up to it. Her face lit up, and she struggled to be put on her feet.
He obliged her, setting her gently on her feet. She walked over to the support beams and ran her hands over one of them. Then walked around the outer edge of the home, looking up at the bottom of the deck it was mounted on.
“This is amazing! Who lives here? I’ve never seen anything like this. Can we go look inside?” she asked in rapid succession.
He walked over to the stairs and indicated that she should go first. She wasted no time in starting the climb to the top of them where she’d find the home in the trees. The climb was easy really, the stairs were only inches apart and spaced so that they were on a slight rise. About halfway up there was a landing where the stairs switched directions, then continued their rise. When they arrived at the top, there was a small wooden gate, whitewashed, with a hook and latch closure. Carnage reached out, flipping the catch and releasing the gate, which swung open gently.
Carolena looked up at him with a smile, delight in her eyes. She walked through the gate and onto the deck. She was like a child, going from the railing to the house and back to the railing again, trying to see everything she could from so high up in the trees, and peering through the windows at the same time. Finally, after her third trip back to the railing, she turned and almost stumbled into the little table that Carnage had placed on the front deck for them to sit and have breakfast or dinner at. It was the same table and chair that he’d had in his original space down near the edge of the swamp, only he’d added a chair so that they could both sit.
Carolena recognized the table. She walked over to it, running her fingertips across one of the chairs sitting there. “This is your table,” she said, not waiting for an answer.
With her hand still on the chair, she looked at the house, then turned to him, “Is
this your house?”
He shook his head, no.
She looked back at the house, then down at the table. She had no doubt this was Carnage’s table. “Then whose house is it?” she asked him, looking directly in his eyes.
A slow smile spread onto his face, all his teeth eventually showing as his smile grew. He pointed a finger at her and said, “Leenah howwsh.”
Her eyebrows shot up, “What?” she whispered.
He never stopped smiling, just pointed at the house then her, and back at the house again.
“Mine?” she asked, completely dumbfounded.
“‘Es,” he answered. He walked over to the door, opened it and stood back, as he waited for her to enter.
Carolena walked past him, still in shock and peered inside. She saw the larger kitchen table with four chairs, her sink, her stove. Her living room with a couch and two chairs, and hallway that lead to, where? She walked slowly through the house lightly dragging her fingertips along the tops of the furniture and walls in the hallway. The first door opened on a bathroom. There was a tub, very similar to the one that was in Enthrall’s home. There was a toilet and a sink. She opened the cabinet and found folded towels and washcloths and a set of sheets for a bed.
She left the bathroom and went to the next door just a few steps further down the hall. She opened it expecting a bed, but it was empty. She looked at Carnage, who offered no explanation, just stood there silently watching her explore. He shrugged his massive shoulders, so she turned and went to the final door at the end of the hallway. She opened it, and there she found the bed piled high with pillows, a chest of drawers and a chifferobe. There was a soft rug on the floor beside the bed, and there was a mason jar filled with water and fresh picked wildflowers, just as there’d been in each room.
She spun in a circle, slowly taking in all the details of the room. She stopped when Carnage came back into view. “This is where you’ve been, isn’t it? This is why you were gone from me all this time. You were here, building a home for us?”
Carnage smiled sadly, nodding his head yes.
Carolena looked around the room again, “And all the while I was whining about being alone. I feel like a terrible person.” She turned to face him, taking the steps that separated them until she was right in front of him.
“I’m sorry I doubted you. I’m so sorry. I thought you wanted to keep me separate from your life. I thought you were having second thoughts.” She looked down at her hands where she wrung them together near her waist, then up at him again, “Can you ever forgive me?”
Carnage understood. He’d have felt the same if she’d just kept disappearing with no explanation. In retrospect, perhaps he should have told her what he was up to, but he’d wanted to surprise her. He leaned down, took her chin gently in his fingers and brought her lips to his. Just before he pressed his lips to hers, he said firmly, “Miinne, Leenah.”
Carolena nodded, her chin still in his grasp, tears in her eyes, “Yes, yours. And you’re mine.”
Carnage grinned, “‘Es!”
Chapter 18
Carolena and Carnage spent the rest of the afternoon exploring their new home. He showed her all the little things he’d added just for her, and she let go of the hold she’d had on her emotions, all doubt of her Goyle now gone. Murder had stopped by to see how she liked it, and she was almost sure she’d seen a blush on his dark skin when she rushed over to hug him and kiss his cheek in thanks for helping Carnage build it for her. Murder explained about the Eucalyptus trees and the way they naturally warded off insects, especially mosquitoes, which was the reason that Carnage had chosen this location. She offered him a drink. Carnage had stocked their kitchen well with sarsaparilla root, but he declined. Shortly after Murder left, she caught Carnage yawning. “Why don’t we take a nap?” she asked.
Carnage raised his eyebrows in answer.
“You’ve been working so much, and I didn’t sleep well last night without you, it’s our home, we can do whatever we like, so why don’t we just take a nap?”
Carnage gave one single nod of his head and held his hand out for her to take. He led her down the hall to their bedroom, but she stopped him outside the room that was empty. “What is this room for, Carnage?”
He shyly looked away from her, but she didn’t move, standing there, holding his hand waiting for his answer.
Finally, still looking away from her, he mimed rocking a baby in his arms. He did it so quickly that had she not been looking right at him, she may have missed it.
Her heart warmed, she’d not thought of it before, “Can we have children?” she asked.
Carnage shrugged, but was now at least looking right at her.
She took his answer to mean that he wasn’t sure, but he’d planned for it, just in case. “Well, we’ll find out then, won’t we? I’d like very much to have children. And since I’ve claimed you, you’re my only chance.”
Carnage did blush, no doubt about the pinkish hue that flushed through his bluish grey cheeks. He reached out, took her hand again, and led her to their bedroom.
He propped the door open with a large sparkling stone. She recognized it, quartz. He’d found some quartz filled geodes and broken them open to show their sparkling insides. He’d placed one in each of the bedrooms and in the bathroom to act as a door stop. He turned down the bedsheets, pulled his shirt over his head, dropped his pants to the floor and climbed in.
Carolena stood where she was, frozen in place. She’d just seen her Carnage, completely naked, for the first time. He was…stunning. He was so perfect he appeared to be carved of marble, and parts of him were just as hard. She was no wilting flower, but neither was she very experienced in these things. Carolena looked at Carnage waiting for her in bed, and realized she did know one thing. He’d never hurt her, and that her body was calling out for him. Once she gave herself to him, they’d be bound, and no one would ever be able to come between them. Carolena held Carnage’s eyes as she lifted her shirt up and off her body, dropping it to the floor. Then she unbuttoned her trousers and dropped them to the floor as well. Her breasts were not bound, so she stood there, clad only in her panties — her delicates Enthrall had called them.
Carnage’s chest heaved while he watched his woman undress. This was it. He’d decided to hell with waiting. Enthrall wanted his female. Destroy was obsessed with his female. Too damn many males wanting what was his. He’d found her. He’d verbally claimed her. He loved her. And today, in their own home, he was making her his.
Carolena watched her male, her husband after today if she had her way, struggle to control himself as she slowly pushed her panties down her legs, tossing them a short distance with her toe, before approaching their bed and sliding in beside him. Carnage watched her, his eyes huge, other parts of him — even more huge.
She knew he said he wanted her to love him first, but what he didn’t understand was that she already did. Seated beside him, she reclined against the pillows and turned to him, “I love you, Carnage. I know you said you wanted to wait until you had my heart, but you already do. I’m all in, there is no going back for me. If you told me I could go back to my other life, right now, today — I’d stay here with you. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
Carnage listened to her, focused on her words, her eyes as she said them. He kissed her lips gently, “Mmyyy lahb Leenah.” He struggled to say.
Carolena lit up, “I love you, too. And can I just say, I love that you call me Leena.”
Carnage pulled one of the pillows out from behind her back, causing her to lay back even further. He was no longer looking in her eyes; he was lost looking at her body, trailing a sharp claw softly across her breast. “Mine, Leenah,” he whispered as he pulled the covers down to reveal even more of her body.
She didn’t answer, just moaned her pleasure at his touch.
Carnage leaned over and dragged his tongue across her breast. He looked up to see if it was okay with her. Her eyes were flashing, and she was panting as she
wrapped her hands around his horns and brought his face back to her breasts. “More,” she begged.
He wasted no time, alternately lapping at her nipples and suckling them. When she purred and gave him more moans, he experimented and lightly grazed her breasts with his teeth. Her hips bucked up off the bed in response. He smiled to himself, being sure to discover all the things his mate loved best. He was a very big male, and when he opened his mouth fully, he found he could fit almost her entire breast in his mouth, tonguing it when he did. She held him tighter to her and whispered, “Yes! More, please!”
Carnage flung the covers off Carolena and suckled and kissed his way down her body. This was new for him as well. He’d only ever flipped over a willing female and slammed into her from behind. He’d not ever taken his time to give a female pleasure, to take his own pleasure from the beauty of her body, the sounds she made while he pleasured her, the tastes, the scents. All were assaulting his senses in a way that he hoped never ended.
He nudged her legs apart and settled his body between them, looking at her most secret places. He ran his fingers through the soft hairs that hid her from his view, dropping a kiss on her pelvic bone before he pushed her legs back, to make her knees rest almost on her shoulders.
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