“Fine, you think you will embarrass me by making me say it, but you won’t…I am not going to let you give me an orgasm!” At this Nero burst out laughing and said,
“I knew I liked this chick! Right, well I’ll leave this one to you, Cocktease,” she said with a wink at Trice making him groan before grumbling,
“Cockatrice…damn ye, Vern.”
Chapter 22
Hexes and Hell’s Rum
“Not a fan of the nickname, eh?” I commented making him give me a pointed look in return. Then he got up off the bed and one handed, swiped one of the small side tables by the sofa, making the books that had been piled up on it go tumbling. Not that he looked like he cared much, and damn it, I hated that my eyes followed the line of his biceps as they bunched at the movement.
After this he plonked it down by the bed in that heavy handed way, and then walked over to retrieve the tray so he could place it next to the bed. He still wore his trousers (thank the Gods) and now I could see the wrap of the tartan around his narrow waist that was red and green, with slight lines of sky blue. The lines of his hip bones created dips low at his sides, where his waistband had slipped lower due to the lack of the multiple belts. As for his stomach, well it looked like it could have doubled up as somewhere to scrub clothes on, as there were muscles there that I didn’t even know the names of!
“Turn aroond,” he said making me squint, as if this would help me understand. He rolled his eyes at me.
“Turn a…round,” he said, slower this time, making a motion with his finger in a circle.
“But I said…”
“Aye, I know whit ye said, Lass,” he replied cutting me off and as he reached out to turn me himself, I batted his hands away and snapped,
“Fine! I can do it.” I muttered this last part and did as he asked, only just realising now that I wore an oversized man’s tunic in dark grey. But then the tightness around my chest and back suggested that I was wearing something more. I gritted my teeth and turned around but the second he started to pull the material up, tugging it first from under where I sat on the long shirt, I jumped and jerked away.
“Gods, yer as skittish as a whipped mere, just calm will ye, I will nae hurt you,” he said and I had to say, hearing how sincere he sounded when saying how he wouldn’t hurt me, well it made me trust him enough to do as he asked. So, I took a deep breath and gestured for him to carry on with a nod of my head.
He went back to what he had been doing before my overreaction and gripped the material before starting to lift it up. He did this until he pulled it over my head, leaving my arms in place, so now it just hung down the front.
“I will leave it lik’ this,” he said making me nod before muttering a quiet,
“Thank you.” He made a sound of acknowledgement that was barely a grunted huff before I felt his strong calloused hands come to my back and again, I flinched.
“Easy, Lass,” he cooed gently, and when I felt the tugging at my ribs, I looked down to one side and saw that it was bandages that were wrapped around my middle section. He started trying to unwind them, but I obviously wasn’t co-operating as he told me,
“Lift yer arms up fur me.”
“Why?” He sighed in frustration and said,
“Because I cannae cut th' damn thing off ye without hurting ye, that’s why.” I took a deep breath and hated that he was right. But having him here so close like this, about to have his arms around me, well, it just felt way too intimate. To the point, that all I could think about was Lucius and it had me questioning if something like this, despite how innocent it was…meant I was being disloyal?
“Alright,” I said softly before raising my arms up, but just before I could do it too high, his large hands came from behind and took hold of the tops of my forearms, preventing them from going any further. Then he leaned down and said in my ear,
“If ye go tae fair ye will tear th' skin,” he said, his accent even thicker now, along with the timbre in his voice. But because my words had fled me, I found I could only nod, telling him silently that he could carry on. And he did. Oh, boy did he, and I swear that for a warrior for hire, I was shocked at how gentle those large rough hands could be. But they also worked with efficiency and got the job done. However, the problem with this was that the more and more strips of bandages he passed from one hand to the other in front of me, then the less of it was on my body, as my bra was long gone for obvious reasons.
So, the moment he pulled the last strip free from my now naked torso, I sucked in a deep shuddered breath when he grazed my naked breast. It was a reaction he ignored and instead he focused on remaining a gentleman and simply placed his hands at the top of my forearms again. He applied pressure, which told me I was now free to put my arms down, covering my naked breasts with the front of the shirt.
“Now this will hurt,” he warned as he started to pull a piece of cloth from the wound the witch had inflicted and he was right, I started crying out, making him stop. Then he let me go and gave me some more space causing me to look over my shoulder to see what he was doing.
“What is that?” I asked watching as he started to pour what looked like some kind of brown spirit into the smallest glass imaginable. Something made possible with the thin red wax spout moulded to the top of the bottle which was covered in a hemp net. Then he handed me the thimble sized glass and said,
“It's something ye wilnae lik' bit it might help, now drink.”
“I wilnae lik?” I asked.
“Will not like,” he said taking the time to say it slower and making me grimace at the small glass I took from him.
“Oh goodie…hey, it’s not like demon piss is it?” At this he laughed, and I had to say the sight of him smiling was a startling raw beauty.
“Na, tis just the Devil’s Rum or some call it Hell’s Rum, depending on where ye can git it.”
“And this is all it will take?” I asked looking down at the tiny amount.
“Fur me, na… bit fur a human, shit aye it will.” I frowned not sure that being drunk was a good plan right now but then again, this pain was a bitch, and I had a feeling it would only get worse, so I said,
“Then I guess it’s cheers, Laddie!” taking the piss out of his accent, making him roll his eyes, but then he had the last laugh as I shot it back and I swear I thought my insides were melting! I started coughing instantly, and I swear I was close to being able to breathe fire!
Damn but absinthe had nothing on this bitch!
“Holy shit! What the hell is that stuff for, stripping the scales off a dragon!?” I shouted making him give me a wry look before taking the glass off me and telling me,
“Tis what demons git drunk on.”
“Yeah and what humans die on! Gods, that stuff is foul!” At this he chuckled and as he nodded, I interrupted, mocking him with his accent again as I said,
“Turn aroond…yeah, yeah, I know.” He scoffed at my attempt to sound like him. Then I did what he had been about to ask me to do by facing the other way again, already feeling the warmth starting to spread in my belly, making my head swim. But then his hands were on me again and once more I flinched, as a heavy hand took hold of my shoulder.
“Och, ye flinch lik' ye have ne'er been touched by a man,” he commented making me tense and tell him quietly,
“Or just by one.” At this I felt like crying I missed Lucius that much and wished it was his hands that I had on me right now. Gods, but I would never have flinched and shied away from the touch then. But seeing as I couldn’t see his face, I had no idea what his reaction was, other than when his movements stilled for a second before he continued, telling me at least he had heard my comment.
“Now how dae yer feel?” he asked as I could feel him about to go back to removing the strip of cloth that was obviously stuck to my skin with whatever they had used.
“Well, I feel a little fuz…AHHH…Oww!” I said with the scream in the middle being from where he had just ripped it off, getting it over with. Of co
urse, it felt as though he had taken half of my skin with it as well.
“Och, this doesn’t look good,” was his hissed comment in return.
“No, maybe that’s because some big brute just ripped half my skin off!” I snapped making him chuckle,
“Ney, that would all be th' work of a witch wi' her claws in yer bonnie golden skin,” he replied and I was sure that had I had the extra blood I would have blushed at the compliment.
“Yeah, I guess that would do it as well,” I muttered in annoyance.
“I'm going tae wash it now,” he told me and I nodded for him to continue, hissing when he placed a soaked cloth to the wound.
“Aye, she git ye good,” he commented with a whistle through his teeth.
“Aye,” I agreed in Scottish, no doubt making him roll his eyes behind me.
“So, this witch, a'm going tae tak' a guess 'n' say ye 'n' her...”
“…Oh yeah, we go way back, the bitch and me,” I finished for him making him grunt a,
“Aye, she didnae exactly look th' friendly type.”
“They never do when they are trying to kill you, but you’re right, that would be a Hell no…quite literally as I am coming to discover.” He chuckled again and I had to say, talking with him like this helped make me feel more at ease around him. I also had to admit that the Devil’s rum had started doing its job, as it didn’t hurt as much as it first did when he had started cleaning it.
“So, what is it she wants from ye?” he asked making me scoff,
“Usually it’s my blood, and I swear I am close to just bagging the shit for her just to get her to piss off.” At this he laughed again,
“So, I tak’ it this isn't th' first time?”
“That would be a no,” I replied sarcastically.
“Well, I dinnae know about all th' last times she got tae ye, but this looks bad.”
“Bad how?” I asked not liking the sound of that.
“What I mean is, I could put more salve on it 'n' it will help, but if I dinnae try 'n' heal this, then it could just git worse 'n' wi' ye bein' human, that means infection.” I grimaced at the thought, knowing that he was right and as a human then it wasn’t like I could just pop to the nearest chemist and order some antibiotics.
“And Nero, could she…?”
“Aye, she’s good, bit nae that good, Lass,” he replied making me realise my options here were pretty limited but then something in his voice suggested something more.
“I take it you have something in mind?”
“Aye, that I do,” he said before leaning in closer and telling me,
“Tis called healing ye.” I sucked in a breath making him chuckle, before he shifted some of my hair off to one side so he could whisper,
“Dinna worry, Sweetheart, when I mak' a Lass cum, tis nae by blowing on her back… 'n' just so ye know... I usually dae so wi' th' intentions of getting something back in return...” I shuddered at the sexual intent in his words, making him grin at my ear before I felt his lips lowering to where my wound was and he said over it,
“But well, I'm a greedy bastard lik' that.”
After this was when he started his version of ‘healing’ me and it started with hands holding me steady, with one at my waist and the other one wrapping around me from behind. This put his large arm firmly across my collar bone and I was just thankful for the tunic that still draped down my front or his muscled forearm would have been pressed against my naked breasts. And well, it felt far too intimate as it was.
“Now tis time tae mak' ye really shudder,” he said with sexual intent coating his words and even before he began, I found myself trembling. But then he started and doing so now by blowing along my heated flesh with an icy breath and he was right, as it was one that this time really caused me to shudder.
This soon told me why he had taken this intimate hold on me as my body soon started to shiver uncontrollably, and he cooed softly in between breaths. But the cold was unlike anything I had ever felt before, as it wasn’t like someone had just put an ice pack on your back or ice cubes against your skin. No, it was more like someone had injected you with a cooling agent, like having part of your body numbed at the doctors before they stitched you up or something.
At first it felt uncomfortable and almost too much to take but then after whatever he had done started to take effect, it caused the pain to magically fade away, to the point that I released a deep satisfying sigh, letting him know it too.
“Aye, there it be,” he said as if satisfied that it was working. He then gave it one last cooling blow and shifted his hold on me, so he was no longer gripping me as tight. Then as I sighed again, marvelling in the pain free movement, he chuckled before asking,
“Was it as good fur ye, as 'twas fur me, Lassie?” This was said in a cheeky tone and I couldn’t help but laugh as I smacked the arm that still had hold of the front of me,
“Oi! Behave, you brute!” I scolded, making him chuckle too. But then there came that awkward point of silence after we had both finished laughing. And it came the time for him to let me go, something I wasn’t sure that he wanted to do right in that moment. I closed my eyes against the feelings he was invoking, making me feel guilty for the comfort I found being in his arms. It was just the sheer strength of him and being in this place, this level of Hell, that even the witch had been able to find me in, well it was of little wonder I felt this way.
But then I also had to remember that I was just a job to him, as he had made that clear enough to Nero before he thought I was awake.
So, I cleared my throat and said,
“Well, you may be a cheeky bugger, but it has to be said you’ve got skills, Trice.” He scoffed and then let me go, replying with a cocky,
“Aye, bit that's because ye know what I can dae wi' me sword.” I granted him a wry look over my shoulder, making him wink at me before he turned back to the table and grabbed a pot of something yellow.
“What’s that?” I asked as it became obvious he intended to use it on me.
“Tis a healing salve that Nero mak's,” he replied making me frown in question,
“But I thought that your…”
“Ney, that was only tae take away th' pain 'n' help stop th' spread of th' Hex.” This was when I utterly froze, and it had not one thing to do with his icy breath but everything to do with what he’d just said.
Because that was when I started to realise the real reason the witch had attacked me. She didn’t just want to drag me down into her void at all.
She had been there to deliver a message about Lucius’ capture and there to deliver much more still…
To deliver…A Hex.
It was at this point that my reactions took over as every memory of a Hex assaulted me.
And naturally…
This was when I started screaming.
Chapter 23
Boyfriends
“HEX!” I screamed making Trice jerk back, dropping the jar to the floor as I started to lose it!
“Whoa! Calm yourself ‘ere, Lassie!” Trice said as panic gripped me and I was suddenly scrambling off the bed, first getting caught in all the fabric around the frame and hitting out at it in a frenzied way to free myself.
“Hey, come on now,” Trice tried, now up off the bed and coming around to my side to help me. But I freed myself just in time, throwing my arms up and walking past him, shaking my head, too afraid to speak. But he snagged my hand and pulled me back, making me fall sideways so he caught me.
“What is this all a’bout?” he asked but I shook my head at him and let my wide panicked eyes do the talking for me. Then I mumbled a jumble of unintelligent words. This is when it must have dawned on him, as he pulled me into his embrace and wrapped his arms around me, soothing me by making me feel safe for the moment.
“Hush now, calm yersel' fur me,” he whispered as he smoothed my hair back from my forehead. I swallowed hard trying to breathe through my panic, knowing that my ‘oh shit’ situation just turned into an
‘oh fuck’ situation! But then he told me,
“I dinnae know what Hex ye have come across before, Lass, bit this one dinnae stops ye from talking.” I looked up at him, now doing so with wide eyes for a different reason. Then I whispered,
“Are you sure?” He chuckled softly before grasping my chin and giving it a squeeze before saying,
“Aye, I'm sure, pretty eyes.” Then, just as I was about to take a step back, he had other ideas. This was when his hold on me tightened before his grip on my chin started to raise my face up a little further, at the same time his head started to dip, making me tense. Then I opened my mouth and his name slipped out,
“Trice, we can…” In the end I never had chance to finish stopping him, as someone else did it for me…two someones actually.
“What happened! Is it the girl, is she alright?!” Vern shouted as he burst through the door. He was quickly followed by Gryph, who stood a full head height above his brother’s, looking over him with ease. But it was in this moment they both took in what must have looked like an intimate scene between lovers. Gryph then commented,
“Oh Aye, ah think she is mair than a'lright, Laddie!” Then Gryph burst out laughing making me suddenly tear myself from Trice’s arms like I should have done the second he took me into them. Damn my panic and need for comfort!
Meanwhile Trice growled low in the back of his throat and the warning was clear even if his words weren’t,
“Git oot noo!” The heavy frustrated accent was obviously understood by his brothers as Gryph said,
“Aye, aye Casanova, keep yer kilt on!” Meanwhile Vern granted him a nod of his head and said,
“I salute you, good sir, but remember to treat her like a lady.” I groaned in humiliation whilst Trice roared,
“OOT!” Gryph grabbed his brother by the back of his shirt and yanked him out as he was still saluting with two fingers at his temple. After that Trice stormed to the door and slammed it shut whilst muttering,
Kingdoms Of Hell: Vampire Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Book 7) Page 19