Lore

by Sandra R Neeley

  Lore didn’t respond. He was busy watching. His Evangeline was down there, and she was singing.

  ~ The front door to the old deserted church opened, and Evangeline, followed closely by Lore, came in. Evangeline watched the play of sunlight through the stained-glass window as it shone in pinks, blues and greens across the stone floor. She loved it here. The moment Lore had brought her here, she’d felt immediately at home.

  He’d removed the old pews and replaced them with couches and chairs to recline upon. There was a bookshelf against one wall and an easel set up near the only colorless window. On a small table beside the easel were countless paints and brushes and stained linens from dabbing the edges of wet brushes against the fabrics. And a darkened cup of water from Evangeline rinsing those brushes.

  Their bedroom, kitchen, and other rooms were back behind where the altar used to be. Lore had turned the priests’ rooms and living areas into their private spaces.

  It was a perfect place for her. She loved it here.

  Evangeline was singing and laughing as they came through the door. She spun on her heels and reached out to pull Lore in for a hug.

  “Why don’t you sing with me?” she asked, a happy lilt to her voice.

  “You do not want to hear me sing,” Lore confided. “It is not a pretty thing,” he smiled, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

  Evangeline’s own smile slipped. She’d been doing her best to ignore his distance from her in these past few weeks. But it was getting to be too much. She’d moved on, he needed to as well.

  “Lore, you must forgive yourself. I have.”

  Lore shook his head. “I don’t deserve it.”

  “Oh, but you do. You’re a completely different male now.”

  “Doesn’t excuse the past.”

  Evangeline let her hand drop from his face. She walked over and took a seat on the chair across the room. “I have spent many a year consoling souls who have lost their way. And do you know what I’ve learned?” she asked.

  “That there are far too many lost souls?” he snarked.

  Evangeline pursed her lips. “I’m trying to make a point.”

  “And that would be?”

  “Some souls must hit rock bottom. They must lose all sense of self and hope, before they realize that the world around them is not the problem. They are. Happiness doesn’t come from things around you — it comes from within. The longer you search for it, the more lost you will become. That is what happened to you. And you, with all your little magics…”

  “Little magics?” he asked, amused.

  “Yes, little magics. You became so wrapped up in yourself that you couldn’t see anything other than an unfulfilled want. You were lost. But you are not lost any longer. You’re found. As am I.”

  Lore listened to her words. She was most likely right, but it didn’t make anything he’d done in the past excusable.

  “How can you forgive me, Evangeline?”

  Evangeline shrugged a delicate shoulder, causing a snowy white wing to flutter. “Love,” she said, smiling at him.

  “But I allowed you to…” he started.

  “No, you didn’t. I was saved.”

  “But what could have happened…”

  “Didn’t.”

  “You are far too good for me, Evangeline.”

  “That’s not true. We are meant to be together. We balance each other.”

  Lore walked over to her and caressed her dear face. “I love you, Evangeline.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “I’m going to rest for a bit, I think. Do you mind?”

  “Of course not. I’ll paint for a while.”

  Lore nodded and kissed her cheek. When he was halfway across the room, headed toward their bedroom, she called to him. “Why don’t you call me sweet anymore? I miss that,” Evangeline asked.

  “Then I shall do it again,” he promised. He smiled sadly and left her to her paints, their bedroom his focus.

  Sometime later warm hands stroked his skin, followed by feather-light kisses on his chest. Lore moaned, arching his back to press into Evangeline’s hands. It had been so long since he’d allowed her to touch him. He was trying to keep her pure. He planned to take her back to her brethren as soon as she’d fully recovered. And that time was now. He only needed to hold out for a little longer. He needed to return her untouched, so they’d accept her.

  In his dream, her hand stroked across his stomach again, and his chest rumbled in pleasure. Then her warm lips descended on his, and he opened to her soft, pink tongue darting forth to taste him.

  A slight smile on his face as she learned his body, he lay back patiently and allowed her to touch and tease him at will.

  Gently Evangeline pulled the covers back and found him sleeping in only a pair of loose trousers. She loosened the ties keeping them on him, and worked them down over his hips.

  Her eyes widened at the size of his manhood. She’d never actually seen one erect, and his was much larger than she expected.

  She unfastened her skirts and dropped them to the floor. Evangeline reached between her own legs and found herself wet and swollen. She’d dreamed of this for so long. And she’d tired of waiting, so she decided to take things into her own hands, so to speak. She approached their bed again and reached out a hand, gently stroking his length. Lore shuddered and thrust his hips up, making his manhood stand up even taller.

  Evangeline very carefully climbed up and over him. She moved one leg across him and straddled his body.

  “Evangeline,” he murmured in his sleep.

  “I’m here,” she answered. She smiled down at his sleeping form lovingly as she took him in hand and brought him to the mouth of her sex. Slowly, she lowered herself onto him, taking her time, allowing her body time to acclimate to him stretching her open. She held her breath and bit her lip. It was an intense burning, tearing, tingly, lovely kind of pleasure-pain. When she could take it no more, she took a deep breath and allowed herself to sink fully down onto him.

  She let out a whimper, and her voice caught in her throat. She was now seated on his body, and she held herself there until the pain subsided. Then she very gently began to move her hips.

  Lore’s hands were clutching the pillows beneath his head, and as she began to move, one came down to hold her hip.

  Another rumble left his chest as he raised his hips to meet her movements. When he did, a bright burst of pleasure shot through her body. She gasped and leaned forward to brace her hands against his chest.

  “Ummm, faster,” he purred to her.

  So, she did. She rocked her hips faster, and he rocked his, lifting his hips up with each thrust to reach as deeply inside of her as he could.

  “I love you, Lore,” she panted at his ear, her hips still moving.

  “Love you, sweet,” he answered.

  Evangeline smiled at his pet name for her and kissed his ear, letting her tongue trace the outside of it.

  His other hand reached out and grasped her hip, pulling her down more tightly against his thrusts. She whimpered a bit, not being used to such a large intrusion.

  Somewhere in his dream, Lore realized Evangeline was whimpering. Had he gone too deeply, he wondered. The idea that he might have hurt her disturbed him, and he raised a hand to fluff his pillow and turn over to continue his dream. Only her weight didn’t leave him when he tried to wake from his dream. It became more pressing, warmer.

  Evangeline twitched her muscles tightly around him. Experimenting, determining what she did and didn’t like.

  Lore’s forehead wrinkled, his brows coming down over his closed eyes.

  Evangeline lifted herself off him a little further this time, then slid back down.

  His eyes opened, dazed and confused. “Ev… Evangeline,” he stuttered her name. “No, Evangeline, love, what have you done?” he whispered.

  Evangeline was riding him, her eyes closed, her head tilted back when she felt his body stiffen beneath her. She opened her eyes an
d looked down at him, just in time to have him ask what she’d done.

  Her elation at finally being one with him crashed to the floor. She stopped rocking her hips, her eyes misted over, filling with tears. He didn’t feel it. He didn’t want her this way.

  She tried to lift herself off him, to run and hide her shame at his rejection. But he slammed his hands down on her hips, keeping her firmly in place atop him.

  “Evangeline wait, you don’t understand. I was trying to keep you untouched. I wanted to take you back to your own kind.”

  She looked at him, completely confused. “Why? I don’t belong with them.”

  “Because it’s the safest place for you. They’ll protect you better than I ever could. You’ll never be hurt again. You’ll never be in danger again. Nothing would ever happen to you if you were with them.”

  “But, if nothing ever happens to me, I’ll never get to live, not really. And I belong with you. I don’t want to be with them. That’s why I did this,” she said shyly, shrugging her shoulders up nearly to her ears and looking down at where they were joined.

  Lore lifted a trembling hand to her face, stroking her cheek gently. “I’ll never regret being yours, sweet. Never! I just wanted so much better for you.”

  Evangeline smiled tenuously. “There is no better for me.”

  Lore inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, resigning himself to the fact that he couldn’t take her back now. They’d never accept her. She was a fallen Angel now. His fallen Angel. Gradually the corner of his mouth began to turn up. “This entire time, I’ve kept myself separate, trying to keep you from becoming too attached so you could overcome the loss of me from your life. So you could go on and be happy without me to mar your future.”

  “Silly male. You are my future,” she chided, smiling down at him.

  “You’ve been planning, too, haven’t you?” he asked, very gently unbuttoning her shirt.

  Evangeline smiled brightly. “I have. I was tired of waiting. And I knew you’d never do it if I didn’t first.”

  Lore pushed her blouse open though it stayed on her shoulders, caught by her wings in slits they fit through in the back of it, revealing her full breasts to him. He stroked her nipples and smiled when she shivered beneath his touch. “Very well, then. What is next in your plan, you little minx?”

  Evangeline grinned even bigger. “Next, you show me more.”

  “More?” he asked, teasing her.

  Evangeline rocked her hips and looked up at him through her lashes. “More!” she said.

  Lore smiled, though it was not his doing and not his original plan. His mate had claimed him. Taken things into her own hands and made him hers.

  “There is more, isn’t there?” she asked.

  “Oh, sweet, there is so much more.” He bent his knees behind her, causing her to lean closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled them until he was on top. Her eyes rounded, and her mouth formed a perfect O, when the angle of him buried deep inside her changed.

  He reached behind himself and managed to tug his trousers down and kick them away. “You ready?” he asked her, leaning down to kiss her lips.

  “So ready!” she answered.

  Lore looked down into her face. “Kiss me, sweet.”

  Evangeline raised up just enough to press her lips to Lore’s. Lore kissed her passionately, licking her lips so she’d know to open for him. The moment she did, he swept inside her mouth, tasting, teasing, plundering. Suckling her tongue into his own mouth.

  Lore held himself above her, pulling his hips back before allowing himself to sink inside her over and over again. With each thrust Evangeline moaned and panted her pleasure, holding fast to his arms braced on either side of her head, her beautiful white wings spread out beneath her, fanning out above her head and over the bed on each side of her.

  “Mine,” he whispered, looking down into her bright blue eyes, alight with passion and love.

  “Yes!” she near shouted.

  “You are mine forever, sweet,” he murmured.

  “Yes! I am yours.”

  “And I am yours, love. For better or worse, we are one. I will not let you down again. Not ever.”

  “I know that, Lore. And I’m glad that you finally do, too.”

  Lore shifted his hips and began to take her to that pinnacle of pleasure. The ultimate gift that one lover can gift another. Their cries of pleasure filled the air. ~

  And the fogs surrounding the real Lore began to disrupt his vision.

  “Wait! Wait, I must see more!” he called out. He looked around himself, but Terrus was no longer there, nor was Carnage.

  “But I need to see more!” he said aloud. There in the distance, he saw the fog swirling again. He knew what that meant. Another memory was readying itself for him. He stood and rushed toward the area, eagerly peering down through the gradually clearing fog. Lore smiled down on the peaceful scene before him. He liked these memories. They made him feel warm and loved.

  ~ Evangeline sat by the stream that ran not too far from their home. Her shoes were off, and she dipped her toes into the cool, clear water.

  She had her hands braced on the grasses behind her and her face lifted to the sunlight. She’d spread a picnic for two on the blanket beside her and enjoyed being outside while she waited for Lore to join her.

  A shadow fell across her eyes, and she smiled. “I thought you’d forgotten about our picnic,” she teased.

  “It just took me a while to locate you. But now that I have…”

  Evangeline’s eyes popped open at the strange voice. She beheld the strange male behind her and screamed as he lunged for her. She dove out of his way, but then she was surrounded by a silvery light that prevented her from moving at all. She was frozen in place.

  The male leaned down and lifted her into his arms. “You will only make it worse on yourself if you make this more difficult than it needs to be!” he snarled at her. As he held her tightly against him, preparing to take her away, he heard Lore coming toward them.

  He smiled, the smile only making his face appear sinisterly. He waved a hand and released Evangeline from her immobile state.

  Immediately she began screaming for Lore, fighting the male who held her in his arms. She slapped his face and used her fingernails to scrape across his cheeks, while kicking her legs and trying to get away.

  “Be still!” he snapped, wrapping a hand around her throat. “You are too late, brother dearest!” Acaelo called in a voice dripping with hatred. He raised his face to the sky and glared heatedly at the clouds.

  The Lore of the past, having heard her screams, wasted no time walking toward the stream — he misted there. No sooner had he taken shape than he realized he was too late, Acaelo’s parting words lingered there on the air for him.

  “Evangeline?!” he shouted, endlessly. Searching for her to no avail. “Acaelo! Bring her back!” There was no reply, and his voice echoed hollowly off everything around him.

  “I will find you!” he screamed into the sky. He searched for days and weeks. Not only the land on which they lived, he searched any realm he could think of. Especially those Acaelo moved in. But he was always only steps away. Finally he returned to the place where he’d last heard her call for him. There in the grass was one lone white feather. It must have fallen from her wings when Acaelo took her. He lifted the feather and held it beneath his nose, inhaling the scent that was to him, home. “I’m coming, Evangeline. I’m coming. Do not give up, I’m coming!” he shouted to the winds. Then he misted away to resume his search for his mate. ~

  Chapter 18

  Lore watched from his vantage point in the fog, raging like a madman when Acaelo misted into the memory and snatched Evangeline away. He shouted warning after warning, but neither Evangeline nor his past self heard the warnings. He watched as Acaelo raised his face to the sky and stared at Lore with a look that could only convey hatred. Then the worst happened. Acaelo misted away, and Evangeline was stolen from him yet again. Tho
ugh Terrus and Carnage had changed their pasts and saved her, Acaelo had located them and stolen her away again. He refused to allow them to be happy.

  The memory went on forever, a never-ending vision of himself wandering, searching, losing a little more of himself each time he got close to her, only to have her snatched away again. He watched as he gave up and wandered back to the wetlands he and his daughter called home.

  And again he was forced to watch as he and Carrik battled one another for no reason other than he was a bitter, broken male, who resented anyone gifted with love — even his own daughter. And it was there, watching that memory for the second time, that he broke down, allowing his body to sink down into the endless haze he was surrounded by and give up all will to go on. He couldn’t do it; he was giving up. He would not witness any further pain to the people he loved, caused by his own actions. He’d stay here, waste into nothingness, and the universe would forget he ever existed. Perhaps then, Acaelo would lose all desire to torture those he loved.

  <<<<<<<>>>>>>>

  Carolena stood at the stove for the fourth day in a row, frying bacon. She didn’t know when Carnage would be coming home. But she’d be damned if she didn’t have bacon waiting for him when he did. If he didn’t come home soon, she was going to have to ask Enthrall to bring her a new supply of bacon.

  Boon was sitting on the floor in the living room, playing with a ball that Lily was tossing to him. It would roll away, and he’d crawl after it, laughing the pure belly laugh only children are gifted with.

  There was a knock at the door, and Carolena moved the skillet to the back burner before stepping away from the stove to answer the door. She pulled it open to find Lucitari waiting patiently there. She wasn’t surprised really. Lucitari was very often there since Carnage wasn’t.

  “Hello, Carolena.”

  “Luci, how are you?” Carolena answered. The strain of not having her husband there or knowing exactly what he was doing or where he was, was playing upon her sense of peace. In short, there was none.