Rowena's Revenge (Broadus Supernatural Society)

by Theresa Marguerite Hewitt

  His sharp, strong jaw line with the slight dusting of stubble and his dark, untamed hair sticking up in every direction makes a silly little smile grace my lips. I find myself leaning forward and placing my forehead against the passenger seat as I stare at him, taking in the way the fading sunlight hits his skin and the way his eyes are scanning the passing road and scenery out the window. It’s like just the sight of him, the feeling of him next to me on the seat, even though we aren’t touching, puts me in a trance and my leopard purrs loudly, grabbing his attention just as I’m reaching out to trace his slightly pointed ears.

  “What are you looking at, Kitten?” He smiles, grabbing my hand gently and bringing it to his face, sending lightning like tingles all over my skin at the simple contact. His smile is sweet and loving as I stare at him, unable to say anything for a minute as I catch my breath.

  He does something entirely different to me than what I experience with Blaine. With Blaine it’s hot and heavy, outright lust and need, but with Penton he pulls at something else within me. Just looking at him makes my heart flutter, my breathing pick up and my palms sweat. His stare seems to promise me things, but as I try to look deeper, squinting, I still can’t really tell what that is.

  His laugh pulls me from my thought and I shake the feeling off, pulling my hand from his face and rubbing it on my jean clad thigh, trying to dissipate the tingling feeling. Looking back up, I see him watching my hand move along my thigh, his creased brows displaying the hurt, and I regret the move.

  “Where are we headin’?” Blaine’s voice breaks the awkward moment as my skin flushes, and I steal a look up into the rear view mirror and see his eyes locked on me. He winks and I silently thank him, mentally kicking myself for being flustered.

  “Here’s the address,” Penton seems to growl, sliding a piece of paper over Blaine’s shoulder and sinking back into his seat like a wounded animal. He’s recoiled and sulking, as if I’d hurt him. “Just follow the signs. We are going to be staying at the home of your half-sister’s brother. He is Alpha here, and he has been gracious enough to offer us shelter.” I see him slide me a side long glance and it sticks like a knife, the pain in his eyes that are so much like mine. I have to say something; I have to do something to show him I meant nothing by taking my hand from him only moments ago.

  “Tell me about you,” I say in a whisper, and my voice squeaks. I clear my throat as he looks at me full on, his eyes a little wider with a hope shining through, and it lifts my heart. “Tell me about what brought you to me, and why in the hell I could hear music last night when I kissed you?” My question ends in a laugh, because I can’t help how silly that sounds, but when I see the smile spread across Penton’s handsome face I know I’m a goner.

  His smile is so warm and perfect. It’s almost like it’s calling me home and my leopard purrs loudly as he shifts in the seat to face me with his legs crossed. I do the same and can’t keep the little sigh of relief that slips through my lips as he takes my hands lightly, his long fingers wrapping around mine and his thumbs massaging the tops of my knuckles.

  “Where do you want me to start?” He says, still with the wide smile that is illuminated by the fading reds and orange from the sunset, and I have to force myself to blink when I notice I’ve been staring. He chuckles softly and I blush, looking back up to see Blaine roll his eyes and smile in the rearview mirror. “Do you want me to start with why you heard the music? Why you feel different when I touch you, compared to Blaine? Why it seems like I pull at something deep inside here?” He taps me on the chest, right between my breasts and my breath catches in my throat at the split second contact of his skin, but I manage to nod my head.

  His smile turns into a mischievous smirk and he looks down to our joined hands, his thumbs rubbing circles over my knuckles in a slow methodic pattern. I hear him sigh then laugh a little, his face displaying the look of someone who just remembered something heartwarming and maybe just a little romantic, and I can’t help but smile along with him. He winks just as a hot, rampant lust runs through me, tingling my skin all the way down to my toes and seeping into my core, rendering me breathless for more than a second.

  “First, close your eyes,” he says smoothly, reaching one hand up and cupping my cheek. I can’t help but lean into his touch, and as his thumb rubs over my cheek my purr rumbles through my throat and chest.

  “Close your eyes, Kitten,” he whispers and something in his stare bids me to follow his command, so slowly, languidly my eyelids slide shut. “Good girl,” he says, and I feel his lips brush my opposite cheek as his thumb sweeps down and over my bottom lip, making me shiver.

  I feel his hand move back to tuck my hair behind my ear, and goose-bumps fill my skin when two of his fingers rub right behind it, my head lolling back and a sense of overwhelming calm filling me in an instant. His lips brush mine ever so lightly and trembles wrack my body. I need him. My hands fly to his face and I keep his lips pressed to mine, deepening the kiss when his tongue sweeps out and over my lips, begging entrance that I gladly allow.

  It feels like his scent is wrapping around me, bathing me in fresh apricots with a slight ocean breeze, and I sigh when his arms wrap around my waist, pulling me into his lap. His warmth soothes me and I sink into him, nipping at his bottom lip as his hand moves up to tangle in my hair.

  He smiles against my lips and I can’t help but reciprocate as he chuckles lightly, the feel of it vibrating through his chest as I lean into him, pressing my aching, needy breasts into his rock hard muscle. The salty smell of the ocean hits me again as a breeze swirls around me, dragging my hair across my face and I swear I can hear seagulls.

  “Open your eyes, my joy,” Penton’s voice sweeps over me as he holds my lips a whisper from his, teasing me as I try to claim them once more, but his hold in my hair prevents it. Another slight breeze sweeps my hair across my face and it confuses me. The strand of hair is much longer than it should be, and then the screeching of the seagulls hits me again and I pry open my eyes, shocked that the sun is beating down on my face.

  “What the…?” I start to say, but stop and just look. We aren’t in a car on the thruway; we are sitting in a grassy hilltop, overlooking the ocean. I don’t understand, and I turn my shocked face down to Penton, looking for answers, but I have to stifle another mild gasp as I take in his appearance.

  His hair is long and kept back with a ribbon that is tangled in braids lining his temples. As he brushes the hair from my face in light, caring strokes, I look over his features and notice a slight exaggeration in the point of his ears. I feel his finger twist in my hair and he brings it in front of my face, holding it on display and my eyes go wide. I have long, curly, red hair.

  “That is not my hair. What happened? Where are we?” I start to freak out, but he just laughs and wraps his arms around my waist again, tucking my face into his neck.

  “Nothing is wrong, my joy, I am just showing you our past.” He sweeps the back of his fingers across my cheek, gripping my neck and pulls my face to his; lightly kissing me and all the worry melts away. I feel the pull of the land, calling me home. I sense the love that I have for this man holding me, smiling down at me.

  “My name….my name is Helen?” I ask, as flashes of a wood and sod home flow through my head followed by everyday medial tasks; washing the clothes in the creek, cooking dinner over the fire place in the small home I share with my parents, and sneaking off in the dark to rendezvous with Penton in the woods and staying ‘till dawn in his arms.

  His smile is wide as I look him in the eye, seeing the love that he feels for me on full display. He kisses my forehead, setting fire to my skin, and I have to take a deep breath to soothe the lust burning deep within, wanting to burst forth. There are so many scenes playing through my head that it’s hard to put them together, but a few resonate and I have to smile to myself.

  “We’ve never…” I make a motion between us with my hands as confusing images continue to flood my mind. Our bodies are tangled in th
e cool moonlit grass, but we’re separated by clothing; or I’m straddling his lap by the creek with my head thrown back in bliss, but the only thing entering my body is his fingers. “We’ve never made love?”

  “No,” he laughs, pulling me into his lap and up against him so that his chin rests on my tightly bound breasts. A naughty little grin fills his face, and I can’t help but giggle at him. “I respect the traditions of your people, even though you’ve pushed me close to breaking many, many times.” His teeth flash in the sun right before he buries his face between my breasts, effectively motor-boating me while nipping lightly at my skin as he rolls me over onto my back.

  I try and fight him off and roll us back over, but he pins me to the warm grass as his teeth and lips no doubt cause hickies all over my chest. He makes a hot, fast trail over my chest and up my neck, hovering his mouth just above mine as his hand roams my dress covered stomach and breasts. Please, just rip it off, I think as my eyes roll back in pleasure when his fingers pinch at my nipple through the material, sending shocks all over my body.

  “Do you love me?” I breathe out before I know it, and shock myself at the words. It’s weird, as he stops all playing and locks eyes with me, I don’t regret saying the ‘L’ word. It feels right in this stolen moment, and I almost feel as if my other life, my life as Rowena, is the one that is the dream.

  I am Helen. I am the daughter to a well-respected Chief in a small highland village. I have been sought after by many suitors, but have never batted an eye at one until Penton walked into my life—well, swam actually. A rampant laugh runs through my chest as a flash of a fully naked me comes to mind and the feeling of fright I had when hands grabbed my waist as I swam in a small creek; only to find a fully naked Penton standing before me, his chest heaving from holding his breath below the surface. It had been a shocking introduction, but as the memory stays, letting me take in the full frontal of his magnificent body, I realize that day at the creek I fell madly in love with this man.

  “I love you with every ounce of my being; my joy…my Kitten,” he whispers, running his nose along mine as his warm, sweet breath washes over me. “I would only be a shell of a man, of a Fae, if it weren’t for you. When I found out you were my mate, and that I had found you once more, I was beside myself. I knew that this would be my second chance and I won’t make the same mistakes as last time. I’m not the same person; I no longer recognize my dark heritage.”

  The mixture of joy and sadness in his eyes concerns me, and I wonder what had happened that would make him lose all hope. What happened to me when I was Helen? I think to myself and my brow furrows, seeing the hurt pass over Penton’s features.

  “Don’t worry about that, my joy; just know that we are together now and nothing, absolutely nothing will keep you from me this time.” He leans down to me and covers my lips with his, causing me to moan into his lips when his hand cups my cheek, but I can’t keep the wonder from my mind. I need to know what happened to Helen.

  As soon as the name crosses my mind again, darkness surrounds us, shutting out the peaceful sunlight and happy birds, replacing it with a lingering evil feeling, and Penton tenses over me, slowly removing his lips from mine. The negative energy that my leopard feels pouring off of him scares the shit out of me and the hair stands up on the back of my neck when a deep, blood freezing laugh fills the air around us.

  “Do you want to know what happened to you because of him?” The air right before my face shimmers, and then those glowing orange eyes appear and I can’t keep the scream in, remembering how his fingers felt around my throat and I fight against Penton’s hold on my waist, trying to scramble away. He’s telling me to stay still, but the fear has taken over and even my snow leopard is reacting, issuing bone chattering hiss after hiss, drying my throat out in a moment’s notice as my hands grip into the long grass and pull my body free of Penton’s grasp.

  I’m pulling myself away in the tall weeds as Penton yells after me, but I don’t listen and not knowing where I am going, just heading wherever my rapidly beating heart is taking me when I feel the cold hand grip my ankle, flipping me over onto my back as the orange eyes and pale face come into focus. His black tattoo curves around his eye, and his look freezes me as I’m reduced to pleading. My leopard recoils, slinking into the recesses of my mind to try and prepare for a counterstrike.

  “Penton can’t hold true to his promise of protection,” the man growls into my ear, his lips only a hair away from my skin as his sickening scent washes over me and I gag, trying to hold my breath and struggle from his grasp. His fingers tighten around my jaw, forcing my eyes to his as a wave of bee sting like pricks fills my body and I scream out in pain, the sensation bringing tears to my eyes. His touch makes my skin crawl and my limbs shake involuntarily as he presses his lips to mine.

  “This is what happened to his precious Helen when he chose her over his family,” the man whispers in my ear as his eyes start to glow even brighter, pulling me in until I’m still and I can’t move. I’m screaming internally, but no sounds will come out. He smiles down at me as his grip tightens on my chin again, and when his lips touch mine, I’m transported once more.

  My body is humming with pain and a loud moan slips over my sore lips as my tongue sweeps out on the tender flesh, tasting my own blood running freely from more than one cut. I try to move, but find my hands tied tight to a tree as my legs are forced apart, my clothes torn and scattered around my body in bloody shards. My vision is blurred with tears and blood, one of my eyes throbbing, and I’m guessing it’s swollen as I try to look around me some more in the dark, finding a pair of white-blue eyes watching me intently.

  “Finally breaking your silence, sweet Helen?” The dark, fear inducing voice rolls over me as the weight of his stare bears down on me, making my skin heat and my wounds ache. I want to scream at the top of my lungs, but that would only give him what he wants. As I struggle, my wounds and soreness takes over, and I can’t help but moan again, hearing twigs breaking and returning my attention to the eyes. The shadowy form moves from the dark to reveal a being about the same build as Penton, but this one has bright blonde hair; so bright it’s almost white, and as I find myself staring at him, he laughs.

  “My brother is an idiot to think our parents would let him leave us, leave his destiny, for you; a mere mortal woman. Tsk tsk tsk.” He smiles and I see his tongue run over his lips in a hungry manner, the look in his eyes turning from mocking to lust in a flash. My stomach rolls as he comes closer, his warm hands roaming over my bared and cut chest, and I cry out slightly before I remember to bite my tongue.

  His hand runs up my neck and into my hair, tugging my head back so that I see the blade in his hand up close and personal as he brings it to my cheek. The bright moonlight reflects off the metal, chilling my blood because I can see what he plans to do with that in the look in his eyes; the evil lust very evident in his stare. The cool touch of it sends shivers through my body and the tears spring from my eyes, flowing freely down my cheeks as I try my best to hold in the cries.

  Penton where are you? I scream in my head, trying to jerk from his grasp, but he holds me tight, bringing his mouth down hard on mine. His tongue tries to gain entrance, but I keep my lips clamped shut and he growls in protest, biting down into my bottom lip with sharp teeth; sharper than they should be, and they drag a scream from me, causing him to smile as my blood runs over his lips.

  “My brother cannot help you.” He laughs, bringing the blade up against my cheek, and then dragging it down my chest and stomach, stopping just as the tip grazes my clit. “But I will make sure he hears your screams in his dreams for centuries to come.”

  Those glowing orange eyes appear above me again as a hand clamps down around my throat, holding me while choking me just slightly to cause my screams to come out in coughs when the blade slices through my entrance. I think my screams might literally rip from my chest as a hard slap comes down across my cheek.

  “Come back, Rowena,” Penton’s vo
ice is a far away echo as the pain radiates through my body, the blade cutting and slicing repeatedly as I scream out and get slapped again. “Rowena! Wake up!”

  I feel hands around my ankles, and as I scream out again from the bite of this blonde man’s blade, the darkness dissipates around me and I gasp when air rushes into my lungs. My chest is heaving, trying to replace the oxygen that I’ve been deprived as my vision starts to clear, flashing back and forth to the orange eyes and the interior of the Landrover.

  “What the fuck are these things?” Blaine’s frustrated voice pulls me from the haze as my skin still crawls from the pain. I’m in Penton’s arms in the back seat, sweat soaking my clothes as Blaine swerves all over the thruway. Horns are blaring at us as I see a shadow flash by the passenger window along with a fingernail on chalkboard screeching sound coming from behind me. He swerves hard to the left, shoving me into Penton’s chest as I turn to see bright red eyes glaring at me from the back window. I don’t hold in the shiver of fright when I close my eyes only to have a flash of that blade, those orange eyes, and the feeling of the sharp edge cutting through my entrance run through my mind. Penton’s arms wrap around me, holding me to his warm chest.

  “They are a form of Ghoul, mutated by Cearbhall’s dark magic,” Penton shouts, pushing me down onto the floor gently. “Stay down and take this.” He hands me a small dagger with a dark blade and steps over me to slide into the passenger seat.

  “Who the fuck is Cearbhall?” I shout as the scraping of the nails on the glass gets louder, making my leopard spring to the surface and hiss in return; my hands tightening around the handle of the dagger.

  “And what the hell is a Ghoul?” Blaine yells as he swerves and I smash my head into the side of his seat, hissing at one of the winged things banging into our vehicle as it stares at me through the window just above my head.

  “Just focus on the road,” Penton grinds out and I look up, catching his eyes as he glances back. I see his sword is in his right hand, at the ready, with the bright silver steel reflecting the faint moonlight and lights from the thruway as we speed by. I can see the anger and hatred in his eyes when he passes over me and turns his attention to the disgusting creature latched onto the back hatch, clawing at the glass. “Kitten, I need you to do something.”