“I ain’t see you on the field t’day,” Ray said as he handed his bowl to Penny.
“So you was lookin’ for me then?” Penny smirked. This was the nature of her banter with Ray, and it had been so for years. Ever since he’d come to see the girl who’d gotten beaten with the bullwhip and who hadn’t made a sound. He and the rest of his friends had been impressed.
“Girl, I wasn’ lookin’ for you none. I jus’ notice you wasn’t ’round,” Ray replied with a bright, easy smile.
Filling his bowl almost to the brim with the thick stew, Penny handed it back to him. Old Ma gave him his bread.
Instead of leaving like was normal, Ray remained where he stood, staring at Penny.
“What, you struck dumb by my beauty or somethin’?” Penny teased, wondering what he wanted to tell her. Knowing Ray, it was probably something that couldn’t be said around conservative ears, probably a new swear word he and the other boys had made up.
He looked away quickly before returning his gaze to her. His eyes were no longer teasing; laughter was no longer on his face. “Not struck dumb by it—just admirin’….”
Clearing her throat meaningfully, Old Ma said, “Boy, you holdin’ up the line tryna be fresh wit’ Penny.”
Ray seemed to remember himself, and turned his charming grin on her. “Old Ma, you’s lookin’ prettier than evah. What you just turn, fifty?”
“Boy get out o’ here!” Old Ma chastised, but her mouth curved up.
“I talk to you later, Penny,” Ray said, eyes growing serious once more before he headed off.
“Smitten wit’ you, all these men is,” Old Ma grumbled, and then she chuckled. “Pretty as you is, only took ’em long ’nuf.”
“Ray ain’t smitten wit’ me,” Penny said softly, hoping she was right. Her friend had gotten so serious when he’d said he was “admiring” her beauty. Maybe it was a game. He’d probably laugh if he thought she was considering that he was serious.
Penny smiled and shook her head. Ray was joking, of course.
Agatha approached next, and they launched into a conversation about her new baby. Before long, she’d forgotten about Ray.
***
Armand had decided he would no longer leave today. Tomorrow, he’d said with calm, but tense finality. Leon knew why although his brother had offered no explanation. Pleasant. An occasion to kill the man had not opened up for the day as Pleasant was around either Hollis or the slaves, and it was growing late. It seemed as if Armand would do the deed as Pleasant left later in the evening, and until Pleasant was dead, Armand was a walking explosion. Even Étienne avoided him, choosing instead to flirt and tease a curiously subdued Jolie.
Deciding the events of the day were slowly giving him a headache, he scanned the fields for Penny. Although she’d been in his office that morning, he still missed her. Wanted to see her, to touch her if he could. He hadn’t been able to locate her anywhere, which meant she was probably at the slave quarters.
Turning his horse around, he led it back to the stables before walking the rest of the way to the slave quarters. He was just coming up to Penny’s cabin when he stopped in his tracks. Penny was braced back against the wooden wall, and another male was all over her. The man’s hand was against her cheek, and hers was over his—holding it there or removing it, he did not know. He didn’t wait long enough to find out.
His strides took him over to her in moments. He dragged the man away, ignoring Penny’s gasp and the man’s confused curse, before slamming him back into the wall.
“Son-of-a—” The man’s gaze landed on his attacker. “Massa?”
Leon growled as he smelled the man’s arousal. Arousal for Leon’s mate. His wolf howled, demanded he rip this man’s throat out.
“Leon, please—”
“You will not touch her again!” The words were growled in staccato bursts, emphasis placed on each syllable.
Lifting his eyes to the man, Leon waited for the affirmative response. When it didn’t come, his nostrils flared. He felt the change, coming quickly….
“He won’t,” Penny said from somewhere next to him. He could hear her voice but his rage was such that he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where she was. His vision was clouded, narrowed to focus just on her…suitor. “He won’t, Leon. Ray won’t. Just let him go. Please.”
Releasing his hold on the male, he caught her arm, pulled her against his side. It was a show of possession, mostly for Ray.
“You’re still here?” Leon snapped, turning to the man once more. Maybe he needed to be attacked before he—
“Ray, go. Please, just leave.” Even as she spoke to Ray, she clutched at Leon’s arm, as if she could hold him back.
Ray looked down at her for a few seconds before he nodded stiffly and walked off.
“That was unnecessary!” Penny hissed as soon as they were alone. Her eyes blazed up at him but he didn’t care. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t release her.
“He was touching you!” Leon snapped back.
“Ray is my friend, Leon!”
“Your friend who wants you!” he accused. “He won’t have you!”
“Don’t speak to me like a child, Leon! If he won’t have me it’s because I won’t allow it, not because of you!”
She tugged at her arm once more and when he released her, she felt a blast of triumph, which was short lived. Placing both palms under her buttocks, he lifted her. Instinctively, she clung to him, arms wrapping around his neck. He strode purposefully through the door of the slave quarters. With his acute hearing, he knew it was empty.
“W-what are you doing?” Penny sputtered angrily, barely resisting the urge to beat at his back. The man was insufferable at times!
“You know what I’m doing, ma louve,” was his quick, terse reply.
It was true. She knew his intent. God, she welcomed his intent. Without entering his mind, she knew that he wanted her. She read it in the yellow of his eyes, the hardness of his desire pressed against her mons.
Her body, treacherous thing, was already weeping for his. She was still upset at his irrational and undeserved display of temper, but it didn’t make her want him any less. He set her on her feet once they were inside, but before she could blister him for his behavior again, he’d spun her around so she faced the bare wall.
Before she could even blink, his hand dragged the material of her dress up and pushed the pants she wore underneath down. Penny felt her throat grow dry as her nipples pebbled. She would yell at him later. His hand settled on her hip and he pulled her back to him. Fingers traced down her slit, pausing to dip slightly into her dew. She shuddered and moaned.
“This is mine,” he hissed, his mouth close to her ear. She turned her face slightly, saw that he was close to her.
“I never doubted it,” she growled, groaning as she felt the hard probe of him against her opening.
“Good.” He buried himself in her. She cried out, feeling her body open for him.
Behind her, she heard him groan, and in her mind, he whispered, You feel amazing, ma louve.
Pleasure rushed her at his words, and she pushed back slightly, eagerly accepting more. Her hip secured, Leon thrust into her continuously, until they were both sweating. Penny felt her claws extend and dig into the wood of the wall.
Yes. Oh yes, Leon.
He kissed her neck, licking at it before nibbling softly, and then sucking. Moaning, she spread her legs wider, pressing eagerly against him. His other hand moved forward to squeeze at her breasts through the material of her dress. She wished the dress gone.
His thrusts grew harder, wilder. Turning her head slightly, she whispered into his mind, Kiss me.
He didn’t hesitate. Burying himself to the hilt, he caught her lips, pressing his tongue into her mouth before running it along her lips. Leon’s hips continued to move, short, hard jabs that curled her toes. It wasn’t long before her orgasm rushed over her, almost bringing her to her knees. Leon held her up, still moving. She heard him g
runt, felt his undeniable heat, and moaned again.
His lips released hers and she leaned her head against the warm wood before her, trying to catch her breath.
Leon slipped from her quickly. He hadn’t pinned her this time. Turning her around, he fixed her clothing before turning his attention to his own. When they were both properly dressed, he leaned down and kissed her slowly, sensually.
When he pulled away, her eyes were closed and she was smiling, “I think jealousy is bad for both of us.”
“I disagree, ma louve,” he replied with a teasing glint in his eye. “I like your jealousy….” He paused and his hands slid over her breasts. Her body heated. She opened her eyes to see his lips were curved up. “And I have good reason to believe you enjoy mine.”
She chuckled.
“He’s never to touch you again,” Leon said moments later.
Her humor faded. “Ray is a friend. Only a friend.” Ray had revealed that he wanted more and she’d been letting him down gently but quite firmly when Leon had barged in. “You have female friends.”
“I will never touch them again.” His face was serious.
Penny’s smile returned. She liked this bargain. Maybe she was being a bit of a hypocrite. She decided to be fair.
“He won’t touch me again.” She paused and glanced at his lips. “But you will…tonight.”
He nodded in the affirmative and gave her the kiss her lips seemed to always crave.
***
“You sure you ain’t wan’ nobody to come wit’ us for the walk back?” Pleasant had asked when Armand had volunteered to walk him to the main road. It had grown dark, and thunderclouds had been building for the past minutes. Armand had replied in the negative. It would just be the two of them.
“So you boys gon’ take ’em slaves away tomorrow?” Pleasant asked as they made their way from the plantation.
“Yea,” Armand replied, unable to engage him in idle chit-chat as his mind swirled with images of Pleasant hurting Julia, or him abusing her. It had taken every bit of control Armand possessed to wait for the hour when Pleasant would leave. He had found himself salivating more than once today as he watched him, imaging the taste of the overseer’s blood against his lips.
“Don’ see why you ain’t just take ’em today,” Pleasant muttered before his leered at Armand and said, “You see that nigger I was tellin’ you ‘bout? The one that look white?”
“Julia?” Armand asked in a deceptively soft voice. When Pleasant nodded, Armand answered in the affirmative.
“Shame you can’t even get a sample of ’er, but they’s still some field girls you can use. Ain’t pretty like her but mos’ of ’em wan’ it.”
“Tell me about Julia,” Armand heard himself say. A part of him wanted to know every painful detail, and another part shuddered to think of it.
Pleasant cackled. “Ain’t no point tellin’ you ’bout her now.”
“Tell me what you did to her,” Armand clarified, resisting the urge to allow his extended claws to sweep across Pleasant’s throat. They were about half a mile away from the plantation now. The main roads would come up in another mile.
“You one those, huh? Like to hear ’bout wha’ I did to them nigger girls?” Pleasant cackled again. “First time I had her, she begged me to stop. Not like ’em others who fight and cry. When I says she gonna take it, she don’ say nothin’ else. Just lie there, don’ even make a sound.” Turning to his new friend, he clapped Armand on the back. “One time not even ’nuf wit’ her. Had ’nother go that first time.”
“How many times?” Armand’s voice sounded strange, but Pleasant dismissed it as the man being affected by the stories. He knew men like him, who got all hot and turned on from hearing about things done to these kinds of women.
“Every night for ’bout a week. Two, three times. Felt betta than any of ’em. Hell, betta’n my own wife—”
“Have you ever seen a predator attack its prey, Pleasant?”
“Has I what?” Pleasant asked, confused. He turned and looked to his left, where Armand had been but the man was no longer there. Spinning around, he searched in the dark for him. “What is you doin’, disappearin’ like you’s a ghost? I ain’t got no time for games. Wife gon’ be callin’ me all sorts o’ names if I don’—”
Pleasant broke off when he heard a growl. Déjà-vu rushed him. He’d heard such a growl a few weeks ago, and he’d also heard it when he’d first come to work for Thorn, the older one, as one of the drivers. It had been a night similar to this, dark, with a storm threatening to come in. Thomas Thorn had been hunting two niggers who’d run, a pregnant female and a male. Thorn’s overseers and Ryder had been with them, along with a few dogs that’d refused to give chase. Later, when a large gray wolf had lunged at them, he’d understood why. The wolf had gone for Thorn, but an overseer had stepped in the way, and he’d fallen and died beneath the wolf’s jaws. Everyone else had scrambled into motion, shooting at the animal. Even with bullets lodged in its body, it had taken out the other overseer before retreating. They’d followed it, and had come across the female. Her hands had been up, a clear sign of surrender, but Thomas Thorn had been so angry he’d put a bullet directly into her heart.
And still she’d managed to scamper off. Before anyone could react , the gray wolf had lunged from his hiding place and gone for Thorn. Quick thinking on Pleasant’s part had saved the man. A bullet directly through the wolf’s head, and the animal had collapsed.
Now, it seemed he was to experience something similar. Again.
He grabbed the pistol he kept at his side and waited. Another growl made him turn to his left and open fire.
That done, he turned and ran. If he could get to the main roads, there would be light enough for him to see anything coming at him.
Something tangled his legs and he went toppling, falling hard onto his face. He cursed and lifted his head. Standing directly before him was a wolf. A large wolf with glowing yellow eyes, and lips pulling away from its sharp teeth. It was growling at him. Terrified, but thinking to survive, Pleasant reached for the gun. The wolf attacked, ripping into his shoulder.
He screamed exactly as thunder split the air. And then the rain came, blinding him.
Suddenly, the wolf was gone, and although the rain beat against his body, Pleasant wiped his eyes and tried to stand. A sharp pain tore through him and he looked over his shoulder to the find the wolf there. Its jaws locked around his ankle, pulling him back
Screaming, he dug his fingers into the earth, knowing he had a better chance of survival if he kept the wolf from dragging him into his lair. The pain was fierce, but then something happened, something more painful than any bite he’d ever felt, and his body rebelled, the contents of his stomach rising up and out.
His leg burned as if on fire. He looked over his shoulder in time to see the wolf toss the lower part of his leg, which he’d had in his mouth.
“Jesus CHRIST!” Pleasant yelled, trying to drag his weakening body away. He remembered Armand. Where the hell was he? Had the wolf killed him already?
His slow crawl stopped when his eyes came in contact with human toes. Looking up, he realized through the blur that Armand stared down at him.
In his pain, he didn’t think to ask why the man was naked or where he’d been.
“Help me!” he screamed instead, trying to push himself up on his remaining leg, only to fall back down. “Animal. Get the gun. Find—gun. More people.”
He was lifted. Thank Jesus. The man would help him. He was lifted off of his good foot, up, until he was looking directly into the yellow eyes of the beast.
Pleasant shuddered and then he wept. “Is you a demon?”
“Your demon,” he growled. “How does it feel to be helpless, Pleasant?”
“Don’t—kill me. I ain’t never done nothin’ bad—”
“You raped countless women, murdered countless men—”
“Niggers!” Pleasant spat viciously, struggling as if the fight had b
een reborn inside him. “I ain’t never touch or kill no whites!”
Something slipped over Armand’s face and then Pleasant felt himself flying. Flying through the air.
He grunted in pain when his back hit something, and he heard an audible snap.
Before he could think on it, he was being lifted again, made to face those angry yellow eyes.
“Remember Julia,” Armand said softly, and Pleasant blinked.
Julia was the last thing on his mind. A demon was trying to kill him. Christ, he’d never believed in these things, even with the talks in the Bayou, and now this.
“Tell me about her again.”
“I don’—why?” he broke off on a scream as something sharp pierced his belly. Looking down, his eyes widened in horror as he saw a claw digging into him, cutting him open. That was—blood, and guts. He screamed more.
“Tell me about Julia,” Armand demanded. “Tell me that you’re sorry for ever touching her, that you never should have placed your filthy hands on her, that she’s too good for you!”
“Sorry,” Pleasant gasped out. “I ain’t never shoulda touched ’er wit’ my—filthy ’ands. She too—” He almost blacked out from the excruciating pain but Armand went deeper and his eyes flew open. “Too good for me.”
“You’re pathetic,” Armand growled, tossing him away once more.
Pleasant grunted as he hit the ground. He lifted his trembling hands to his belly and gasped. He could feel his insides.
“Wha’ you gonna do to me?” he asked softly, tiredly. He was dying. Pleasant knew it.
“Kill you. Eventually,” Armand answered.
There was a flash of light and Pleasant wondered—hoped—that it was someone with a torch coming to save him.
It wasn’t. A moment later, the large head of a wolf drew over his face. Unlike the one he’d seen years ago, this would didn’t look gray, but black. Or maybe the dark was making him look that way.
“Please—kill—me,” Pleasant said slowly, slurring his words.
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