by Garnet Hart
“I did not know you were there,” Asra argued.
“Of course you knew, and you wanted to see me naked. Have you forgotten what I’ve told ya? I don’t prefer blondes. D’ya understand?”
“Well, to let you know, bloodsucker, I don’t like blabbering Vampires either!”
“Then what were you doing there?”
“This is my room, and that is my bathroom. Why don’t you bathe in your own room?”
“There’s no bathtub in my bathroom. I wanted a bubble bath, okay, if you even know what that is.”
“Bran, how can you be so rude?” Ceres said.
“You, too. Get out of here! And don’t disturb me for the next two hours.” Bran stepped back inside the bathroom and slammed the door closed.
“You can’t stay there for two hours!” Asra pounded the door with her fist. “I need to take a shower, too!”
“You can shower in my room. My husband’s not here so you shouldn’t worry about anything,” Ceres said.
“What if he comes back?”
“Then I’ll tell him not to enter until you’re done.”
She nodded and pulled a towel from the cabinet.
“Would you like to go shopping afterward?” Ceres asked as they headed in her room. “I’d like to take home some souvenirs from here.”
“I have no money...”
“Oh, don’t worry. You pick whatever you want, I’ll pay for it. I think you might also need a little haircut.”
Asra looked at the beautiful Vampire. It was strange to finally have someone being kind to her. “Are you certain?”
“Of course.”
“But it’s broad daylight. I thought you Vampires will die if you’re exposed to the sun?”
Ceres smiled. “Yes, but don’t worry I’ll wear my hoodie and I’ll bring a big umbrella.”
“Something like that will protect you?”
“To Nosferatus like me and my husband? Yes.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a more powerful group of ancient Vampires. Unlike ordinary Vampires, they could withstand exposure to sunlight. Although it weakens them.”
“You don’t burn under the sun.”
“No!” Ceres promptly replied and laughed. “We get burns on our skin, yes. But we don’t literally burn.”
Asra stared blankly at Ceres. She wasn’t sure if she was convinced. This Nosferatu thing was not in any of the books she had read about Vampires.
“We’ll talk more about Nosferatus later,” Ceres said. “Go on, take a shower. I’ll wait for you here.”
Asra nodded. “Thank you,” she uttered and entered the bathroom.
Ceres was the opposite of what she had expected of Vampires. But perhaps Lady Rochford just pitied her. She was a princess with no land and no castle. Worse, she was a prisoner of strange beings, helpless and powerless amongst them. How can she get away from this plight? How can she get her land and her castle back?
She was scared and confused and she had lain with her prisoner willingly, pleasured by him in ways she’d never imagined while her heart raged with hate for him.
She had never felt this pathetic before.
“Wow!” Olivia exclaimed, her gaze riveting on the verdant land before them.
Lior stood beside her, proud of the beauty of his ranch. He had taken her for a walk so she could see that there was a lot more in Skye than cows and fields of grass.
“I feel like a goddess standing here,” she said and danced in the meadow full of colorful, wild flowers. “Is this still part of your land?”
“Yes.”
“Just how big is your land?”
“As far as your eyes can see.”
Amazed, Olivia stared at the distance. “Then the rumor must be true that you own the Isle of Skye.”
“That’s an exaggeration. But I do own a big part of Skye.”
“You are too modest for your own good, Lior.”
He shrugged. The truth was… he’d subdivided the properties among his pack. He did not want the whole world to know how much land he owned. The less people knew of him, the better. Unlike Bran, he had no desire of becoming famous.
The lure of celebrity had come knocking at his door, too. In fact, on many occasions while he was in London, several agents had approached him if he would consider becoming a model and endorser, but he had declined all offers. A talent scout, who said he had the perfect height and features to play the lead role in a superhero movie also offered him a multi-million contract, but he rejected that, as well. Fame was not important to him. He’d had all that in Asgard for centuries. Here in Midgar, respect was all that he wanted.
Olivia moved closer to him. She was smiling at him, her eyes glinting with lust, her tongue brushing her lower lip, luring him. She boldly cupped the bulge in his crotch.
“Do you do that to all men you like?” he asked.
“No. I’ve turned down a lot of men, but you’re the only one I cannot resist. I want to feel you in my mouth again, right here in the middle of this meadow.”
The image of her kneeling before him while she sucked his cock in this openness was arousing, but something had changed. He’d rather have the Elf do that to him. “We canna do that here, Olivia.”
She looked up at him, as if to make sure she heard it right. When he did not say anything more, she proceeded to open his zipper.
Before she could reach inside his boxers, he grabbed her wrists.
She smiled. “Don’t tell me you’re being shy now?”
He shook his head. “We have a tradition here. If the women around here learned you have mated with me, they’ll challenge you to a duel.”
She smiled, as if she knew about that fact. “Lord Rochford has warned me of that, but I don’t care.”
“You dunna know much about the people here, Olivia.”
“What is it that I have to know? I heard you’ve been fucking that blonde woman. Do you prefer her over me?”
He sighed as he wondered who’d been spreading those things around his ranch. “And because of that she’d been branded a slut. Do you want that to happen to you?”
At first, Olivia was quiet, and then she shrugged her shoulders. “I’d probably not care.”
“Dunna disgrace your father, Olivia.”
“He’s not my father—” Olivia quickly shut her mouth, but it was too late.
He eyed her suspiciously. “So, who is your father?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
His suspicion remained. From the very beginning, he knew this woman was not as simple as how she looked. “The Rochford couple… how much do you know them?”
“What do you mean?”
“Dunna fuck with me. You know what I mean.”
“I know them quite a lot. But they have nothing to worry about. I wouldn’t go spread to the public what I know about them.”
“Do they trust you that much?”
“Yes, and they also know something about me which you probably have just noticed.”
Lior ran his eyes over her, and stopped at the sight of a familiar ring on her finger. It was very much like the one Priestess Nadia wore, and the ring Ceres wore when she was still a vessel.
He knew it. She was not an ordinary human. “You’re a goddess in a vessel?” he asked in a low tone to hide his surprise.
She smiled widely. “I thought you’d never notice.”
“What is your purpose here in Midgar?”
“I have no purpose. I was cast out of Asgard because I broke one rule.”
“What rule?”
Olivia shook her head. “Disobedience probably. But I like it more here in Midgar. In Asgard, I was a nobody. But here, I’m a Senator’s daughter.”
“What is your name?”
“I don’t want to remember. I like this girl’s name. Olivia. Besides, I was just a common goddess. My name would not sound familiar to you.”
“Does your vessel permit your use of her?”
/> “This vessel is as good as dead. She has a congenital disease and has been in a coma for months. Her family has agreed to let her go, but before the hospital could remove her life support, I came to her, and she woke up. Everyone thought it was a miracle. It was all over the news that day.”
Lior knew it was wrong for a goddess to intervene with the life of the humans, but perhaps this will only be temporary. “So what’s your purpose for befriending the Rochfords?”
“I’m just lonely, and because…” She smiled and swept the tip of her tongue over her upper teeth. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately, about that night we shared together and perhaps… you might want to do it again.”
Lior pulled her hand off his crotch. “No’ within the Lycan territory, sweetheart. I dunna want dueling females. It breaks my heart watching them almost kill each other just for the right to fuck me.”
Olivia giggled and then sighed. “Alright. Perhaps some other place?”
“How can I refuse a goddess who’d mastered the art of seduction?” he replied and she laughed again.
On their way back, he spotted his black SUV going out of the fenced perimeter of his house. He had never restricted anyone from using his vehicles, but they’d usually ask his permission first.
He met Ginny at the doorway and informed him that it was Lysander who borrowed the car, and he had taken his wife and Asra with him to explore the ranch. He was tempted to follow them right away in fear that Lysander was up to something, especially that the Vampire was contemplating on killing Asra.
But he held back. For a moment, he had forgotten that Lysander was the grand commander of the Ancient Forces. He trusted him fully.
He went to the town hall to meet with his Overseers. His couldn’t focus on the meeting.
Two hours later, he came back home but the Rochfords had not yet returned with the Elf. He tried to reach their phones but they were not responding.
He was really restless now. Fine, he trusted Lysander, but the Elf they brought along was very precious, not only to him but to other creatures, as well. What if Grunt found her? What if the Demons attacked Lysander?
He grabbed his keys and drove away in his pick-up truck. Ginny did not know exactly where they had gone, but he knew only one place where two women would want to go.
Half an hour later, he was searching through the shops in Portree. He found his SUV parked outside a boutique.
He pulled over at the curb and hopped out of the truck. Even from outside the glass door, he spotted the three people speaking with the cashier at the counter. There was the Elf, beside Ceres. It looked like she had her hair trimmed and she was holding two shopping bags. Behind them, Lysander was quietly waiting. The Vampire looked bored to death, and he had at least ten shopping bags in his hands.
He stood by the door and waited as he witnessed how pathetic Lysander looked in the company of the women. Asra was the first to head out of the door. She had a big smile on her face. Ever since she came to Skye, he had never seen her face light up like that.
He grabbed her wrist as she stepped out. She screamed and was about to throw punches on his face when she recognized him. The shopping bags were scattered on the ground.
“You’ve wandered around too much, Elf,” he said as he pulled her away. “Let’s go.”
“Wait! My things!”
“Lior! Where are you taking her?” he heard Ceres yell from behind.
He turned around and was alarmed when Ceres chased them, exposing herself under the rays of the sun. But her husband was quick to grab her back under the shade and raised an umbrella over her head.
“Lior! You’re such a brute!” Ceres kept yelling at him. “We’re taking her to the cinema! It’s her first time to see a movie!”
Lior ignored her and pushed Asra inside the truck. Before the couple could reach her, he drove away.
“Let me out! I want my new clothes!” Asra rained her fists on his shoulder, shrieking like a witch. If she meant to break his extra-sensitive eardrums, she just succeeded. In response, he sped up the truck. The screech of the tires scared her and she sat still.
“I told you no’ to go anywhere without me.”
“I want to watch a movie!”
“You canna. It’s no’ safe.”
“What do you mean not safe? Lord Rochford can protect me.”
“You think one Vampire can protect you in broad daylight?”
“And what made you think you alone can protect me if he can’t? What do you want to do with me? Rot to death in your cursed ranch?”
“You can find many other things to do in the ranch.”
“Like what? Milking your cows? I’ve collected buckets and buckets of milk but you’ve never given me anything in return. Instead, you forced me to wear those ugly servant’s clothes. I’ve never worn servants’ clothes in my entire life! And I had no underthings!”
Lior inwardly winced. He was probably guilty of that. He had thought about buying her some clothes and other personal things but he had been too preoccupied with loads of work the past days so he tasked Ginny to provide for Asra’s needs. Apparently, it was not enough for the brat. “It slipped my mind.”
“Of course it did, because you were too busy entertaining your beautiful Asian girl.”
“Fine.” He threw his hand in the air. “I’ll buy you hundreds of clothes and panties if you wish.”
“Don’t bother. I don’t want to take anything that comes from you.”
For several minutes, they argued endlessly. The moment he stopped the truck in front of the house, she stormed out and went up to her room.
He could have followed her, but he saw the SUV coming right behind him.
“What did you do that for?” Ceres asked as she followed him to the living room. “You could have just come along if you were worried. You did not have to take her away like that.”
He sighed and stroked his forehead. After tolerating a lot of yelling from Asra for half an hour, here came another one. “You should no’ have taken her away without my permission. You know how important she is.”
“You think my husband could not protect her?”
“She is my obligation, not your husband’s.”
“Darling,” Lysander entered the door and dropped the dozens of bags on the floor casually. “When a man becomes overprotective of a woman, you should know what that means.”
Ceres looked at Lior knowingly. “Is that so?”
Heat crept in Lior’s cheeks. He shot Lysander a hard stare. “I’m just doing my job. It does no’ mean anything else.”
Lysander chuckled. “I’ve told myself the same thing before. Now look at me. She’s got me around the neck.”
“Have I ever?” Ceres argued with her husband.
Lior turned away and was to go to the kitchen when Ceres called out to him.
“Are you not going to do anything about that poor girl?” she asked.
“She’s safe in her room. That’s all I care about.”
“Do you always treat women like filth?”
He glared at her. If he remembered it right, he had once allowed this woman to stay within his premises and even showered her with gifts to ease her loneliness. “Have I ever treated you like filth?”
“No, you did not. That’s why it horrifies me to see Asra in her two centuries old gown and without any underwear. How could you treat her like that?”
Why should he keep hearing about this? Was it really that terrible to forget about such trivial things? “I’ll go buy her right now if it makes you stop nagging me about it.”
“You don’t have to.” Ceres picked up the bags on the floor. “Go give these to her.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
“Please.”
He sighed and grabbed the bags from her. Lazily, he climbed up the stairs.
“And apologize to her,” Ceres said.
“How bad is it to forget about a woman’s underwear?” he complained, now pissed that they were making
a big fuss about some petty thing. It only worsened his feeling of guilt.
“Very bad,” Lysander taunted. “It makes you a pervert who likes watching her without anything underneath.”
“And stingy to the core considering you can buy a nice pair for just ten pounds,” Ceres added.
He murmured a curse and continued up to Asra’s room. “Elf, open this door,” he called out while knocking. “I brought you your things.”
Asra did not answer.
Heaving a sigh, he dropped the bags on the floor fronting her door. “I’ll leave them here at the door.”
He was about to leave, but then the door suddenly opened. She gave him a hard look, picked up the bags and was to shut the door closed again but he put his palm against the panel. “Are you no’ going to thank me?”
“What for? It’s lady Rochford who bought me these, not you. I’ve been milking your cows for a week and you never even paid me a penny.”
“You agreed to work here for your food, no’ for a salary.”
“Greedy pig.”
“Really?”
“Sex starved smut!”
He’d had enough. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Nothing, but you have a serious problem of sexual addiction.”
He grabbed her wrist to get her attention. “Is this about the night in the woods?”
She quickly pulled her hand off his grip. “And now you’re flirting with that senator’s daughter.”
“What about it? Even if I fuck her, it’s none of your concern. You Elves are sex slaves of gods. You have no right to complain if we fuck you day and night, and you have no right to stop us from fucking other women.”
Strange but he wanted to kick himself for what he just said. The little bitch could really bring out his temper to boiling point.
Just as expected, her eyes blazed, her ears protruding out of her hair. He was fascinated watching the changes in her. Spitting mad and so beautiful.
His cock swelled.
Shit, it wasn’t a good time to be wanting her when the Rochfords were just downstairs. Mating with Asra brought out the wildest beast in him and they would surely fill the entire house with all copulating sounds imaginable.
“Conceited prick!” She kicked him in the groin and pushed him out of the door, slamming it in his face.