Jorje lowered his head shamefully before his liege. "I beg your forgiveness, my friend. We promised to protect her. We failed both of you. We are in your debt."
"There was no failure, and the debt is mine to repay." Dom patted Jorje on the shoulder. "Our enemy was clever. None of us saw the ambush, and he caught us in the middle of a storm at the beginning of nightfall. I have never known anyone to use such a strategy. You cannot blame yourself, any more than I can blame myself for not being able to conjure the persuasion. I just don't understand why her scream did not destroy him."
"Did you not see how he watched your every word? He was deaf, Sire. His fall took his hearing, and his sanity. He survived on milk of the poppy, his pain was so great. Your lady," Jorje inhaled, "she will not be the same as she was, will she?"
Dom lowered his face and shook his head sadly. "I fear her voice will be damaged. The scream of death I shall not miss, but her singing, I will. There is always so much joy and life in her song."
"Can a banshee survive without being able to cry?"
"I truly hope so, Jorje. I truly hope so. Let's just get home."
***
They arrived in the dead of night. The servants were roused from their beds to care for their master and new mistress. There was no fanfare or great announcement of the king's homecoming, yet word spread quickly of his arrival.
"Good morning, Sire," Mikel said softly, pulling back the curtains from the large windows to let light and warmth into the room. "Did you sleep well?"
"I had hoped that just one time, you would let me sleep in," Dom grumbled, slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Shannon slept quietly beside him, her delicate face snuggled into the soft down pillows. He tucked the blanket over her shoulder and kissed her temple as lightly as a butterfly. "Allow her to sleep. Notify me as soon as she wakes."
"You must see this, Majesty," Mikel said, gazing out of the window. Thousands of brightly colored flowers and herbs had been strewn over the castle walkways, next to giant baskets of grapes.
"Where did those come from?" Dom blinked in wonderment.
"I suspect word has spread regarding your journey. The grapes," Mikel gestured to the baskets, "show that your people are aware of your battle against the Ottoman army assault. And the flowers of healing are in honor of your lady."
"How did they learn of this so quickly? Where did you hear it? Never mind," Dom shook his head. "Father used to say that the castle steward knows all, and gossip will spread like wildfire after a single wench is pleasured by one of the knights."
"Your Grace? Are you going somewhere?" the steward asked in confusion, as his king quickly donned riding clothes.
Dom buckled his belt around his tunic and turned to his old friend. "Yes. I am going out to meet my subjects. I wish to open my doors to them and find a means to make their lives happy ones. I suspect that they were informed of my generosity while I was gone." He looked at the men with a raised eyebrow.
"The information might have escaped the castle walls somehow. Please, Sire, they deserved to know that you were fighting for more than just their freedom from our country's enemies, but for their lives as well. They also deserved to know that you were bringing them home a queen."
Dom sighed, placing his hand on the man's shoulder. "At least the people have nothing to fear from me any longer. My gift is no more."
"Dear Father in Heaven." Mikel's face paled. "What happened?"
"I will explain later. Please, prepare a feast for my guardsmen for this evening. They deserve to celebrate their homecoming. My lady will be sitting by my side at the table tonight. Spare her nothing."
***
Dom rose as Shannon entered the dining hall that evening, adorned in a flowing gown of green and gold. The knights followed his example, staring at her regal beauty. A velvet choker hid the scar across her throat.
"How do you fair, my lady?" Dom asked quietly, as the men around them grew rowdy with wine and good cheer.
"I fear I am desirous of more than food and drink," Shannon whispered. "Would it be too bold of me to ask for your attention?"
"Attention?" Dom's eyes brightened as he understood her meaning. "We have not yet said our vows, and I fear that I will not be able to contain my need for you."
"I do not wish it to be contained." Shannon looked into his eyes, penetrating his soul with her gaze. "I wish you to make me yours."
Dom shook his head, feeling the gift drifting past his thoughts. "You are a temptress. Are you trying to use my own gift against me, you wicked woman?" He grinned with piqued interest.
"If I do so, my Lord, it is without malice. I simply feel this need growing within me. Your father used to tease and call it wishcraft."
"Interesting," Dom commented, kissing the back of her hand. "That does not sound much different from how my gift worked. Come, my lady. Let us depart before these men put my mind to work and start planning their next campaign to buy you gifts."
"But I like gifts!" Shannon giggled.
Dom waved off his guards as he started up the stairs, pulling Shannon eagerly behind him. They entered the large bedchamber and closed the door behind them, both laughing like children who had just escaped their chores.
"You are certain you desire this?" Dom asked, turning to her. Shannon captured his mouth in hers and began to pull the layers of soft clothing from his body. Her gown fell on the floor as well, leaving them both standing naked before each other.
"I do not know how you have become more beautiful since the moment I first laid eyes upon you, but you have bloomed," Dom praised, running his hands over the length of her torso and visually devouring her nakedness.
"I feel different," Shannon said. "It is as though something sparked inside of me and started to grow. Look…"
Dom's eyes widened as he was suddenly surrounded by a cool mist. It swirled around every inch of his body, and felt like a thousand tiny fish nibbling on his flesh. "What are you doing?"
"I am able to pull the moisture from the air and refresh our bodies without a tub," Shannon giggled. "Just in case you decided that you wished to use your magical tongue on me again."
Dom grinned, his eyes twinkling. "That is certainly a desire of mine. Mistress Aida was correct—you do taste heavenly."
Shannon looked confused. "Why would she say that?"
Dom embraced her. "She gave you a gift of seduction when we visited her. She has a siren's call, and shared it with you."
"And she tasted me?" Shannon's expression was one of both shock and intrigue.
"She did. Mikel is very much in love with her," Dom sighed. "Perhaps you can use your newfound gift and convince her to join him here."
"If the opportunity arises, I shall. However, King Domitri d'Gavril," she wrapped her long arms around his neck, "don't you think now is the moment to discuss our love life, not your steward's?"
"Aye, my lady," Dom agreed, lifting her off the floor and carrying her to his large bed. Carefully, he laid her upon the soft coverings and climbed atop of her. "Let us discuss our love life. Starting with here."
Shannon eased her hands along the course of his belly and cupped his bobbing erection. "I want all of you, Domitri. Not just your heart, but your body," she whispered, in a voice that was almost unrecognizable as hers.
"Open yourself to me. Wider," Dom murmured, pushing her soft thighs apart and baring the secrets of her femininity before him. He inhaled the sweet scent of her arousal, and rubbed a single finger down the center of her slit. He teased the throbbing nub for a moment, before plunging his digit into her glistening moistness.
Shannon arched against him, her hand stretching to touch his cock. "Please, allow me to explore the stallion I am to ride this evening."
Dom shifted slightly to grant her request, and sighed as her soft hands enfolded his solid member with adoration. She sensed his reticence. Tears misted her eyes as she felt the tenderness of his restraint despite his need.
"You will give this to me tonight. Freely, or I sh
all just take you as mine," she said boldly.
"Mother of the gods," Dom muttered hoarsely, as she invited him into her mouth. She pulled at him with every movement and drew him closer, telling him in breathless hints of the mindless ecstasy she would deliver. Shannon clutched his shoulders for strength, and allowed herself to be lost with every thrust of his tongue, and each pumping caress of her hand around his rigid manhood. Her thumb rubbed along the helmeted tip, spreading a drop of his arousal around the edge, and then she slid her velvety tongue between his teeth.
His parted lips followed the curve of her breast and sucked at the rosy crest until it stiffened. After whisking it with his tongue, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed the palm, gazing at her with unbridled desire. He returned to her hard peaks, suckling them until they were wet, engorged and sensitive to even the tiniest breath blown upon them. Shannon's eyes rolled back as his caress entered her blood and his hunger pounded in her. Her thighs clenched together as his mouth sipped and stroked her intimately, treating her as though she were a tender bud being coaxed to bloom. Her breath was stolen as he lapped at her sweet treasures with tender persistence. There wasn't an inch of her that he didn't taste—from the base of her throat, to the curve of her waist, to the backs of her knees. When he returned to the already damp petals of her womanhood, Shannon tangled her fingers in his hair and pressed her trembling body into his mouth.
"Release yourself to me, Shannon. All of you. Hold nothing back from me this night," he enticed her, his voice low and ruthlessly sensual. He stared deeply into her eyes, searching them for signs of mendacity, but saw only leaping arcs of desire, and impressed a hungry kiss on her receptive mouth. His shaft became even fuller within her caressing grasp, and he gently nudged her knees further apart before settling himself within the cradle of her spread thighs.
His eyes did not leave hers as he imbedded himself within the hot, wet walls of her virginity. In one long, slow plunge, he entered her, covering the cry of her breaking with his mouth. He paused, resting his dragon with her cave, and waited until her struggles ceased. Her body slowly became pliant and molded itself to fit around his steely contours. The first pain of penetration faded, and Shannon raised her knees to her chest to invite him in deeper. Dom needed no further urging. He buried his face in the perfumed cloud of her silky red hair, and dove inside. His mouth found her ears, her throat, and her mouth, as each rhythmic thrust grew more demanding.
Shannon purred as his splayed hands anchored under her hips, pulling her pelvis more tightly towards him. Her hips lifted to his demands as Dom rediscovered her nipples with his cheeks, chin, nose and tongue. He murmured Gaelic love poems into her ear, mastering both her mouth and body, until she melted into a puddle of weeping desire in his hold. Shannon arched her back on the down mattress and cried out his name. Her arousal bubbled through her like a tidal wave, until she convulsed in a solid wall of implausible pleasure that took her past the point of reality. Ripples of unending joy flooded through her, altering her, and making her ineradicably his.
Dom heard her cries even as his blood roared through his veins like rivers of molten steel. His shout was muffled in her shoulder as he surrendered to his release. He folded on top of her, breathlessly touching her mouth to his.
A tiny jolt entered his body. Looking at her closely, he leaned down to kiss her again, this time not pulling away.
"What is this I am feeling?" he asked, mumbling into her skin as his mouth made its way to her breasts.
"I am releasing myself in submission, my lord," Shannon whispered. "I am giving in to your gift."
"I have no gift," Dom muttered, gently biting the soft flesh of her side.
"Yes, you do. You have the strongest gift of all. You have love."
Dom sat up to look at her. The words churned inside of him.
"Sing for me," he whispered.
"I cannot. My voice is lost."
"Shannon," Dom leaned over her, his eyes meeting hers. "Sing for me."
"Please, do not torture yourself or me," Shannon begged, placing her hands on his shoulders.
Dom hopped out of the bed and ran to the window, opening the drapes wide. Light from the full moon shone into the room, illuminating the thick, luxurious carpet.
"Come, druid. Dance in the moonlight and sing for your lord and king. Obey me."
Shannon sighed, and slowly rose from the bed. She stood, naked, in the moonbeam and raised her palms. Shadows from the tiny flames she held in each hand flickered against the ceiling and Shannon began to turn…
***
"What have you named her?" Mistress Aida asked, rocking the tiny newborn in her arms.
"Isabella," Dom said proudly, his arm wrapped around Mikel's shoulder. "After my mother."
"She has the spark," Aida whispered, holding the child up to the moonlight. "Born of a Banshee and a Siren, she will be a force to be reckoned with."
"Aye, add to that the red hair," Mikel smiled, touching the fine, strawberry locks. "It is good she will have an aunt to watch out for her."
"I still do not know how you managed to persuade me to come, Domitri," Aida said, kissing the baby's head.
Dom winked at Shannon. "You heard the siren's call, I suppose."
"That is impossible, unless…" Aida frowned, looking at the man. "How did it happen?"
"Love is the greatest gift, and the strongest," Shannon said, accepting the baby and placing her upon her breast. "Our powers were united the night Isabella was conceived. It was his wish that I bear him a girl-child, and that the hopes and dreams of his kingdom, and those closest to him, be realized."
"I have never heard of such a thing," Aida sighed, leaning back in the arms of the steward.
"We learned that the only thing that can conquer death and hopelessness is love, my friend," Dom said, holding his daughter's tiny hand between two fingers. "With her song, Shannon brought peace to these lands, and love to the hearts of her people."
"She can sing? But her throat…"
"She is whole again. When the powers returned to me, they came back tenfold. We have only one issue that causes us pain."
"That is?"
Dom cringed as Isabella broke into a loud wail the moment her mother removed the breast from her mouth. Several windows shattered.
"Our kingdom requires a glassmaker. We cannot keep up with repairs."
The End
Breanna Hayse
#1 BESTSELLING Multi-Genre Author in categories of :
BDSM *** WESTERN ** VICTORIAN ** CONTEMPORARY
MYSTERY ** HUMOR ** HISTORICAL **ACTION AND ADVENTURE
HORROR ** SCI-FI ** URBAN ** ROMANTIC EROTICA
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"I write what I know. With few exceptions, my scenarios are pulled from either personal experience or observation. I've served overseas as an Intelligence Specialist in the USMC, work as a hospice nurse, and have degrees in Biology (pre-med) and a masters in Psych. Specialty? Deviant behavior and alternative lifestyles, of course. I put all of this together and try to bring about a fun, unique and, hopefully, thought-provoking reading experience."
BDSM/AP lifestyler Breanna Hayse strives to give her readers truth and reality of the BDSM/Age-Play/Total Power and Erotic Exchange lifestyle.
Background:
A native Californian gone 'wild', Bree was gifted with the opportunity to travel the globe and discover the world through the eyes of both a Marine Intelligence specialist and a BDSM lifestyler. This experience has allowed her to gain unique inspiration for her books and provide realistic plots and characters that her readers can easily relate to and learn from.
She left the service to go into hospice nursing and grief counseling, eventually working as a marriage and family therapist for those involved in alternative lifestyle development. In 2004, Bree and John joined forces to work with both submissives and dominants- teaching, training, listeni
ng and loving. Their goal: take the mystery and fear out of the lifestyle and mentor people in safe, consensual and exciting relationships.
Her first book, Game Plan (AKA Cassie's New Plan) was published in 2012 and opened the door to the world of Age-Play literature. Since that time, she had published over 48 titles and devotes herself to writing, researching, community involvement, and private and group pro bono counselling in deviant behavior, alternative lifestyle, and addiction recovery.
The Lifestyle:
Bree is a full switch (acting in both an active dominant and submissive role) and her scenarios are pulled primarily from either personal experience or observation. She openly admits to being a 'workaholic' as seen by multiple college degrees in science and psychology, including an MA in psychology with specialties in deviant behavior and sexology. Her multi-faceted background allows her to glean from many avenues and provide a unique and intelligent literary experience through elements of fantasy and fiction. She also addresses the questions and psychology of the lifestyle in a manner that is fun and informative, and based on 'the real deal'. If asked, she will tell you three things that summarize the seriousness in which she embraces her lifestyle.
"I don't do drama, I don't do cheating (except for miniature golf), and I don't do fake."
Guardian Domination is the discovery of Breanna's inner submissive and subsequent training. Except for the obvious 'artistic details', the scenarios are real. In it, as with all her books, she communicates this: D&S is more than spanking, it is a way to true freedom and a healthy, happy, trusting relationship.
She lives with her husband, musician and author John Hayse, and two border collies in southern California. Bree and John practice a 24/7 D&S relationship with speckles of AP, and happily spend every moment together that they can. Her hobbies include her puppies, hiding her vanilla salt-water taffy where John can't find it, exotic art, collecting inspiration trinkets, and developing her own paddle line. You can also see her as a featured author/instructor in professional conference settings,
Her King's Command Page 15