by J. E. Taylor
His tongue was more magical, more commanding, than his hands had been. I laced my fingers through his hair, keeping him in the spot that produced the most decadent sounds from my mouth. So much so, that Shadow started to howl from the other side of the lake.
Aiden chuckled, his hot breath making me shiver. He glanced up at me and grinned as he gently nibbled. He pushed his fingers inside my hot path and wiggled them, creating delicious waves through my entire form.
Muscles tightened, and a heat so strong wrapped itself around me. I cried out his name, relishing the way it echoed on the rocks surrounding us as a rush of wetness flowed from between my legs.
Aiden’s hands and mouth left my skin, and he stood with my fingers still entangled in his hair. The tip of his hard member brushed my sensitive nub, and then he plunged his hips forward, sending his hardness deep inside me.
I gasped as pain and pleasure collided. My eyes widened, as did his smile. He gripped my hips, pushing himself farther inside me until our bodies touched. Aiden’s eyes closed, his head fell back, and his mouth parted in a pleasured sigh.
I yanked his head towards me, crushing his lips to mine, and he twisted, pulling me off the rock and into the warm water. My back slammed against the side of the rock with the force of his thrust. I arched into him, crying out into his mouth. Our frantic rhythm created waves in the pool, and grunts of exertion sounded from both of us.
Our lovemaking was on the verge of violent, but it brought me beyond this realm, filling me with power like I had never experienced before. Intense sensations filled every pore of my body. A grinding twirl of my hips or raking my nails across his back brought forth pleasure in the form of a growl with my name on it.
Intense heat flushed through me, tightening my muscles, and I tilted my head back with a scream of satisfaction as I peaked. His mouth clamped on my throat as he rode me hard through each wave of ecstasy until he plunged deeper than he had before and cried my name to the gods as his hot seed filled me.
Trembling, he held me tight, still coupled, his head resting on my shoulder as his chest heaved in time with mine. I kissed the spot where his neck and shoulder met, and his flesh transitioned into a map of gooseflesh. He lifted his head and captured a gentle kiss, sucking my lower lip between his teeth.
He uncoupled from me, and the sudden emptiness sent an ache through my body. Taking my hand, he led me under the waterfall. The chill in the falling water invigorated me, and I stepped close to his warmth, letting the water soak through every strand of hair.
Aiden tilted his head back under the deluge before rubbing his face. He stepped behind the waterfall into another cozy alcove.
As soon as I stepped behind the wall of water, Shadow howled in discontent from the other shore. I poked my head back through. “Shush. We are right here.”
The wolf pup climbed up on the bedding and curled up in a sulk only I could read. His eyes locked on our location.
I crossed into the alcove and ran my hands through my hair, smoothing it away from my face. It was darker in this space without the glow from the pool or the crystals at the top of the cavern.
Aiden leaned against a rock, his legs crossed as well as his arms. He stared at the ground.
I stepped closer, and his gaze flicked up, stopping me in place. It was hard and full of resolve.
My heart recoiled, and I wrapped my arms over my exposed chest.
“We can’t...” He closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. “Damn it, May,” he snarled. “We just can’t.” He waved towards the waterfall. His jaw tensed as he stared at me.
My chest hurt. I had given him everything in that moment, and he stood here rejecting me. My eyes stung, and I turned away before he could see the tears that I fought back.
“Aw, fuck,” he whispered. A moment later his hands landed on my shoulders. He gripped them tight and pressed a kiss on the top of my head. “My mother died giving birth to me. All the MacMahon women die in childbirth. I just can’t...” His chin pressed down on my head, and his arms wrapped around me. “Just like I can’t even consider the cure.”
I turned in his arms, looking up at him. The hardness in his eyes had been replaced with melancholy.
He nodded towards the waterfall. “That can’t happen again. I lost complete control, and it is too dangerous for you.”
My insides twisted with disappointment. “And what if I want to take the risk.”
He smoothed my hair back and planted a gentle kiss. “No. You dying is not a risk I’m willing to take. Even though I had a taste of heaven that I’ll crave for the rest of my life, I can’t.”
My heart wanted Aiden.
My body wanted Aiden.
My soul wanted Aiden.
Anger bloomed inside me at the injustice, and power flooded through my veins with it. The air around us swirled and before I could utter a sound, it pierced through my back like a lance, filling my form and shutting my voice down. I was trapped in my own body.
Aiden stepped back, his eyes wide with horror. “May?”
The cackling laugh coming from my mouth made me shiver. “Parere me.” Marigold’s ghostly voice flowed from me. The words formed a mystical fog that surrounded Aiden.
He stiffened when it pierced his skin, seeping into him like a fatal disease. His eyes muted grey. I struggled to get loose of Marigold’s mental grip. Pain flashed in my head.
“Silly girl, you cannot break my hold. Righteous anger let me in, and now I control your flesh as well as your lover’s.” My form sauntered to Aiden.
He looked down at me with grey lifeless eyes. I screamed.
Chapter 9
Marigold was insatiable, demanding Aiden perform until he finally fell into an exhausted stupor just before sunrise. I was bruised and battered from his voraciousness, and while I was locked inside my own mind, I still felt the pain accosting every muscle.
Shadow had fled the area, shaking and soiling himself from the cavern entry as he watched. He sensed the evil and whined every time Marigold spoke. I hoped Aiden would be able to break free once he was in bear form, but the sinking feeling in my stomach told me that was wishful thinking.
The night transitioned to morning, and Aiden transformed. His bear still slept where he had fallen. Marigold strutted around him, her hands rubbing the beast’s fur. The softness of it clung to my skin, squeezing my heart further.
“Oh, to be mounted by such a mighty beast,” she whispered with such curiosity that I gasped. Her intentions terrified me.
Aiden stirred and swung his massive head in my direction. His eyes reflected that same muted grey. I shivered.
Marigold still wielded power over him, even while in bear form. She crossed to one of the boulders and draped herself over it. Inviting the bear without words.
He crossed to where Marigold had me draped, and he sniffed at me. He turned, heading towards the water.
Marigold snarled within me. “Tolle eam.”
The bear stiffened and turned in such a stilted manner, I thought he would break. As he started towards me, Shadow darted from his hiding place and put himself between the bear and where I lay. My wolf growled with such heinous intent that my heart leaped into my throat.
I couldn’t tell him he was a good wolf. I couldn’t tell him to get out of the way, either.
Aiden’s paw swiped at the little thing.
Shadow buried his teeth in Aiden’s paw. Aiden bellowed in pain, trying to shake off the wolf. His eyes flashed blue for a moment, and Shadow released, flying into the lake from the inertia. The wolf surfaced and swam to shore, then shook and slunk back into the dark.
Aiden licked his paw, showing no interest in me. When he glanced over, the blue was gone from his irises and only grey remained. Still, he didn’t approach me. He didn’t conform to Marigold’s command.
“Tolle eam,” she yelled, still holding my body against the rock, like a drunk harlot looking for action. She wiggled my butt.
That got his attention. Interest
flashed across his bear features. He lumbered over and climbed on my back. The weight of him yanked the air from my lungs, nearly crushing me.
“Prohibere!” Marigold squeezed out, stopping Aiden before he started. As the bear retreated, Marigold stood and turned, regarding him with disgust. “We can’t have your precious girl being crushed to death before the eclipse. That would ruin my fun.”
The eclipse?
“Aye. Today is the day we die trying to break the MacMahon curse.” She cackled, and a wave of gooseflesh covered my bare arms. “If you hadn’t provided me with the perfect entrance, I would have had to take you by force as you slept.”
Aiden’s eyes flashed for a moment, and then that obedient grey overshadowed them.
Marigold picked up my discarded clothing, sneering at the pants and shirt. “What kind of clothing is this?”
It’s my hunting outfit.
“Well, we will just have to make do.” She glanced at Aiden’s shirt hanging over the rock and dropped my clothing. The soft fabric caressed my skin with his honey scent as Marigold put the shirt on. It fell to just above my knees. She grabbed his belt and fastened it around my waist. “This will do far better than your hideous hunting outfit.” She pulled on my boots to complete the outfit and glanced at Aiden. “It is time to head to Stonehenge. Lead the way, mighty beast.”
He lumbered past where I stood, and Marigold followed, forcing my muscles to obey her nefarious order. I already knew what the ritual entailed. The thought of Aiden drinking enough of my blood to leave me on the brink between life and death turned my stomach.
“Child, he will drink every last drop. He will not stop until your heart does,” Marigold whispered.
My lips spread in a smile that was not my own, and I struggled to break free of Marigold’s mental grip.
The path out of the cave was not as hard to navigate as the path I used coming in, although the entrance was hidden behind a large patch of prickly bushes.
We stepped into the thinning woods. The sunshine played between the leaves. Bright rays dotted our path until the woods gave way to an open field. The sight of my father’s army surrounding the majestic stones was welcomed. He must have found me gone sometime during the night and sent his men out to stand watch. A piece of me rejoiced. Marigold didn’t have a prayer of making it through the crowded field.
Aiden stopped at the edge of the woods, and Marigold stepped beside him, putting her hand on his head. His soft fur tickled my palm.
“Invisibilia,” Marigold whispered and then stepped into the open glen.
I kept waiting for someone to see us, but she navigated through the men like we really were invisible.
When we stepped into the great circle, she turned and put her hands up. “Praesidio!”
The space around the rocks shimmered with her protection spell, and my heart sank. Shadow ran from the wood line, weaving in and out of the guards as they moved. They nearly tripped on each other as the wolf pup navigated the same path we took. The moment my dog came in contact with the barrier, his little form was thrown back ten feet.
“No!” I cried, but it was only in my head. Marigold’s laugh was the only thing flowing from my mouth.
Shadow climbed unsteadily to his feet and let out a heart-wrenching howl. One of the guards close to him drew his sword with the intent to take down my furry friend. I cringed as the blade whistled towards Shadow, but it met the unyielding steel of my father’s sword.
He glanced up at me through the shimmering barrier, his expression stoic.
“Let them go, Marigold!” he called, his gaze narrowing.
The witch keeping me captive laughed and turned away, dismissing my father in a way I would never dream of. She propelled my form forward, nearly throwing me onto a flat stone in the middle of the array.
She sat me up like an old rag doll, spreading my legs wide so my calves dangled over the edges of the rock. Leaning back on my palms, she said, “Come here, my beast.” She raised my shirt high enough to give Aiden, along with anyone beyond the barrier, quite the view. “Time to hunt for some honey with that tongue of yours,” she purred.
I cringed and renewed my mental struggle.
Aiden climbed onto the rock with his front legs and stuck his snout between my thighs, obeying the order. Mortification crept through me, but Marigold kept that hideous smile on my face and glared at my father. Her satisfaction as his face turned red zipped through me.
I growled and forced my body to respond. My hips bucked, and my hands slipped, knocking the witch backwards. Our head connected with the rock, sending a dizzying wave through me.
Aiden’s head snapped up, his eyes wide, and blue flashed for a moment. He was struggling to gain control, just like I was.
Marigold screamed in frustration, shooting my right arm over the edge of the rock. The sky above us darkened as shadows began blocking the sun.
“Indicem minibus apertum carpi ulnaris!”
Aiden hopped off the rock and crossed to my wrist. His teeth flashed and captured my flesh between them, slicing to the bone.
I screamed but the sound never left my head.
“Absorptio!” Marigold cried.
His mouth clamped down, drinking my blood with such fervor, that my head spun. For a moment, the fact the sky was near black didn’t register. The pain in my arm was too great. My heart slammed in my chest, each beat weaker with the bear suckling my blood.
The moment the moon blocked the sun in totality, Aiden transitioned to man. His grip on my arm was as feral as the bears had been. He consumed my blood in large pulls, sucking, swallowing.
His gaze moved to mine, and despite Marigold’s hold on both of us, I saw the desperation in the grey-blue of his irises. Marigold just laughed as he drained my body.
The world swam. My father’s cries from outside the protection spell echoed in the space around us. Shadow’s mewing matched that of Aiden’s.
When Marigold grabbed Aiden’s hand and placed it between my legs, he actually cringed, but that didn’t stop his fingers from their slow swirl on the spot that his tongue had played with last night before Marigold had taken over.
The grey in Aiden’s eyes faded, replaced by a sheen of tears. Yet he kept pulling blood from my mangled arm, swallowing my life in greedy slurps. He silently pleaded for me to hold on, for me not to die before the moon passed through the sun.
I could see it in his soul. I could feel it in his fingers as they played gently with me, fueling my adrenaline, pumping my heart harder. Killing me faster.
When a tear slid down his cheek, I knew he had no control. This was the curse itself driving him. This was Marigold in her finest hour.
Marigold’s laugh continued as my vision faded. Rays of the sun hit Aiden, and he closed his eyes. The strength of his drinking lessened. His teeth dislodged from my flesh, but his lips remained on my skin. His tongue swiped back and forth over my torn flesh as if his motion could bandage the damage.
Tears flowed from his blue eyes as he opened them and stared into mine. Pain etched his face as the sun bathed him in light. He forced his hand from between my legs, the strain of it tightening the muscles in his neck, and he cradled my arm in both of his, sobbing.
The slowing of my heart pounded in my ears.
“Aiden,” I forced out between Marigold’s cackles.
He pulled his mouth away from my arm, momentarily gaining control, just like I had. “Don’t die.”
Then Marigold took control again, forcing his mouth to cover the wound once more.
His request was a tall order, especially since darkness had already taken control over the edges of my vision.
Aiden jerked away. “NO!” he cried to the heavens, still cradling my limb. His grip on my upper arm tightened like a noose.
“Et abiit suppeditat animus cupidine!” The cry came from outside the protection spell.
With the last of my strength, I turned my head and looked straight into my mother’s eyes. My father knelt before h
er with a knife to his throat. Tears cascaded down my mother’s face.
“Accipere sacrificium meum,” my father said.
The knife slid across my father’s throat. I gasped. Blood splattered the ground in front of him. Marigold, being the greedy witch she was, favored the king’s body over mine. She fled with such force that my body jerked from the rock, yanking a cry of pain from my lips.
Aiden collapsed on the ground, and Shadow darted through the space now that Marigold’s protection spell had been broken. My arm ached, and the light around me started to fade. I heard nothing above the buzzing in my ears.
I stared at the reanimated body of my father and blinked, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. A blade flashed and severed the head from the body, but what rolled on the ground did not look like my father. It looked like the prize pig from our stable.
More words were uttered, and then a flame lowered from a familiar hand between the rocks, lighting the pigs head on fire. My father glanced at me, the torch in his hand, his expression stoic and hard.
A yank at my waist focused my attention behind me. I stared at Aiden as he ripped the belt from around me.
He looked beautiful in the sunlight, his eyes bluer than the sky above.
“Aiden,” I whispered, and his gaze found mine.
The brightness at the edges of my vision grew. A jerk on my upper arm pinched. The light filtered over everything, and even Aiden’s blue eyes faded into the white.
Chapter 10
“If she needs more, she can have more!” Aiden’s voice penetrated the blackness surrounding me.
“If you continue, you will die.”
I didn’t recognize that voice, but the words hit hard. “Don’t die.” I forced the whisper from my lips.
Silence and then feet shuffling about the room. Pain registered in my arm.
“Hold this tight,” that strange voice said.
My fingers tingled with the pressure being applied to my arm. I tried to open my eyes, but all I saw were glimpses through my thick lashes before my lids would become uncooperative again.