“What’s wrong, Talia?”
She retched as the bread refused to journey down her constricted passageway and lodged firmly in her throat, making it difficult to breathe. Isaac cupped his hand around her chin and stared deep into her watering eyes.
“It’s alright, Talia, spit it out.”
His tenderness dissolved the lump in her throat and the bread slid down, happily continuing its journey. She whimpered, and Isaac stared at her in disbelief.
“What’s going on inside your head, Talia? Tell me, you need to eat.”
“Will you force me?”
“Force you? No. You said you were hungry.”
“That’s not what I meant… I was not referring to eating, Your Majesty.” She dropped her head and peered up at him from under her eyelashes, steeling herself for his response.
“Will I fuck!”
The words exploded in passion and fury, his intensity saturating the room. She trembled, her teeth chattering with fear at this primal threat to her safety. Isaac was volatile, unpredictable and intense. It was a terrifying combination. A devastatingly exciting combination. A tiny incoherent moan escaped from the corner of her mouth, but she was no longer afraid of Isaac. She was afraid of herself. Her response was irrational and twisted; this arrogant king had already seduced her and enslaved her to his dark will.
She wanted him. Wanted his emotion and intensity inside of her.
Wanted him inside of her.
Isaac’s eyes narrowed as he drew in a long breath of air. “What do I have to do to make you listen to me, Talia? To open your mind and really hear what I say?”
His voice was even and calm now. Reassuring. He thought he was the cause of her fear, if only he knew the shameful truth. But her indignation overrode all her other feelings.
“Your Majesty, I am not a fool, so please don’t treat me like one. I do not have a closed mind. I am captive here! How can you expect me to trust you when you abducted me from my home? I am here against my will. I am your prisoner! You took me to the blue room but refuse to answer my questions about that. You won’t explain anything and my lack of knowledge is stoking my fear. All I can think of are your infamous rooms of torture and wonder what horror lies ahead of me here. There are things in this palace I cannot even begin to imagine, and that terrifies me. The unknown between us terrifies me,” she repeated emptily as she began to wilt and lose courage under the onslaught of his smouldering eyes. The spectacular something lurked deep within them, but was dominated by quiet menace. She had no idea what he would do or say next, and she didn’t think he did either. The unknown was truly terrifying. Isaac’s mercurial nature was terrifying. She had never been in such an unsettling, vulnerable situation, one moment reassured by his tenderness, the next left quaking from his anger. He expected too much of her, more than any sensitive human being could bear. She was his captive, but he didn’t seem to understand why she was scared and confused. He had an all-encompassing sense of entitlement as well as a tempestuous nature and that made him more dangerous than ever. Her stomach lurched more each passing second of his silence, but she boldly met his eyes. They glittered ferociously, but he did not shout or curse or threaten her with violence. He did something far more shocking…
He took her hand in his.
Her head was swimming again, giddy and disorientated, but not from fear or confusion. Her angel hawk was circling overhead, his cries soft and soothing, but she was not tempted by his call. The sensation of her hand in Isaac’s was more seductive than the spirit realms, their shared energy vibrating through their skin. And Isaac’s eyes were consumed by the spectacular something, and that told her everything.
This was where she was meant to be. In this room, on this bed, her hand in Isaac’s. This was her destiny. One thing shone clear through the fog and confusion in her mind. You were always where you were meant to be however difficult it was to believe at times. This was just part of her journey through life, a lesson from the spirit realms. She would not let them down. She would learn her lesson and her soul would be enriched by this experience.
Somehow.
And then Isaac frowned, blinked twice, and the spell was broken.
“The unknown between us does not include torture and suffering, Talia, it only requires your absolute trust. Without trust, we have nothing. All you need to know is you can trust me. Together we will discover what our unknown is.”
Together. She stared into his intense eyes as she absorbed this astounding information. Together. Isaac knew. Somewhere in the untapped mystical potential of his soul, he knew the truth. This was their joint destiny, whatever that might turn out to be.
“Your Majesty, if I trust you… will there be kindness and tenderness between us?”
It meant everything to her. She could cocoon her soul within spiritual walls, draw sky blue veils around it, protecting it from harm, but separating the body from the spirit during sexual communion was not the Lokian way. The spirit should always be present for such a sacred act. She had to fight to bring Isaac into her reality, not be seduced by his – fight for tenderness and respect.
He turned her hand over in his and ran his thumb lightly over her palm. The strength and beauty of their shared energy flowed powerfully between them, radiating through his skin to hers. His touch made her tingle, sent intense, pleasurable shivers through her body and soul. At this moment she trusted him completely.
“Talia, you are overthinking this. The intellect is not involved during the sexual act; it is a primitive, instinctive thing. All you need to do is relinquish your control and surrender to me. Soon you will look back in wonder at this conversation and realise it didn’t help you understand anything. Surrender, and allow your primal emotions to guide you, and I will do the rest. Trust me, Talia, you won’t regret it, I promise.”
She swallowed. How was it possible to be so scared and yet feel so safe at the same time? She was expected to embrace intimacy with her captor, but he refused to reassure her with promises of kindness and tenderness. His emphasis was on primitive sexual connection, not the communion of two souls. In matters of the spirit, he was a child, and it was her responsibility to enlighten him. She vowed to remain faithful to her Lokian ideals whatever happened between them tonight.
“You want me to be your slave, Your Majesty.”
“You have been my slave since you arrived at my palace,” he murmured, examining her eyes with his impossibly beautiful ones. “Now we have to discover what that means for us.”
“For us?”
He glowered as he moved his hand abruptly from hers, leaving her bereft and floundering at her time of need. Her curiosity was angering him and she did not want to couple with an angry Isaac, but she could not relinquish autonomy on the last night it was hers. It was precious but completely at odds with Isaac’s need for control.
“Eat.” He pressed a piece of cheese against her mouth and she opened obediently, praying this small gesture of compliance would appease him. She had to be practical; her stomach was growling with hunger and she needed to be physically strong for the trials ahead. “Good, little visionary, that’s good. All you need to do is take care of yourself. You are overly preoccupied with a day that has not yet dawned. I want you to focus only on this moment in time and nothing else. That is your first rule.”
“I thought you were not implementing my rules until tomorrow, Your Majesty,” she whispered through a mouthful of cheese. He smirked.
“You are determined to cling to every last moment of liberty, Talia. It should help you focus on the here and now. Eat.”
Isaac ate little, focused only on sating her appetite, thinking of her needs and not his own. It was a powerful statement of intent. Her mind was jumbled with conflicting information, but this shone through her confusion like a beacon of light. Isaac was considering her feelings so she would do as he had asked her to do. She would trust her captor. It was probably a terrible mistake, foolhardy, stupid and reckless – but it was all she could do. Eve
ry bite she took led her closer to the abyss, to the end of this meal and the coupling Isaac had promised would happen tonight.
Promised, not threatened…
Trust.
Isaac had promised to initiate her gently. She had to trust he had spoken the truth. She had to believe in miracles if she was to survive tonight emotionally intact. She must remember the peace of her hand in his, the strength and beauty of their shared spiritual energy, and retain those feelings when his body was united with hers.
Somehow she must share this experience with Isaac, show him the wonder of spiritual connection. She would cling to her mission of converting him to the Lokian way for she would not be converted to his…
Katrina returned to draw the long curtains, collect the empty plates and replenish the jugs of water. She moved quietly and efficiently around the room, but could not hide her questioning eyes and furtive glances. Katrina was trying to understand what was happening between her king and Talia. Talia wished she understood.
Katrina left, and Isaac sprang into action. The time for questions was over; he had decided they had talked enough and that was that. Nothing was negotiable. She was no longer a free spirit in control of her own choices. Whether it was deciding what to wear or eat or how she spent her time, the choice was now Isaac’s. Her new master owned her body and all it did. But he would never own her spirit. Trust was one thing, surrender something else…
Isaac stared into her eyes as he removed her swaddling, peeling away her protection without ceremony as only a master would. The spectacular something surged into his eyes, keeping her vulnerability at bay. It was Isaac’s truth, the essence of his soul. Whatever it was, she could trust it. It was his gift from the spirit realms.
Her breath caught as he stood and began to undress, her heart thumping with a disconcerting mixture of excitement and dread. Soon they would be equal in the vulnerable state of nakedness, exposed and laid bare to each other. He pulled off his shirt, the shirt that had clung to her body on the long walk from the blue room. It smelt of Isaac, of sandalwood, orange blossom and musk, and now it smelt of her too. She and Isaac merged, their scents united as their bodies were destined to be. She swallowed as she stared at his muscular chest and the powerful arms that had carried her here. His beauty was bewitching. However hard she tried to concentrate on the softness in his eyes, she could not. The magnetic allure of his body was too compelling, their shared energy too powerful to resist. It coursed through their blood, surged through their veins, an irresistible and mystical magic. Isaac was inextricably connected to her, but he was also her opposite: masculine versus feminine, strength and brute force versus fragility and softness. She stared blatantly at his body, trying to force the familiarity and intimacy that took years of love and tenderness to build. It was the only way she could survive tonight. Lokians needed intimacy like they needed oxygen to breathe, but could she find that blessed gift here? With her captor? Her master? Her eyes returned to his. This was the way to forge a bond, not by staring lasciviously at his body.
“So, you like what you see, Talia. Good, I want you to enjoy tonight as much as I will.”
She was unashamed of her wantonness. The naked body was a beautiful, natural thing and Isaac clearly felt that way too. He had left all the lamps alight, demanding she experience this daunting act under their penetrating glare. There was nowhere for her to hide. Isaac wanted to experience uninhibited sensual pleasure, something she would normally embrace but this was not normal, not a loving act between soulmates and equals. Her heart thumped and her head spun as the conflict between attraction and terror escalated and became too violent to bear. Her visionary ideals were battered and bewildered, condemned to endure a destiny they did not understand.
But this was her destiny, a lesson she must learn. She swallowed hard and grimly concentrated on Isaac, determined to learn her lesson well. She must trust in the spirit realms – they always had a plan.
Isaac pulled off his boots, each discarded piece of clothing leading her closer to the moment of reckoning, the point of no return, union with the devil. She was not Isaac’s beloved bride, she was his slave to be used and debased. She shuddered as he unbuckled his belt.
“You are perfection, Talia.”
He dropped his trousers, and her mouth fell open at the magnificent sight. Strong, powerful thighs, taut muscled abdomen and…
She had been wrong. Isaac was not vulnerable in his nakedness. That was a woman’s burden. Her head swam as she stared, transfixed by his enormous erection. Demanding and majestic, it was as assured and domineering as its owner, making no apology for its arrogance. It was proud of its beauty, its supreme masculine potency… proud of what it was about to do to her.
“Shush, Talia, it’s alright.”
He slid onto the bed alongside her and a soft moan of terror echoed around the room. The ghouls had followed them here. Isaac’s palace was a refuge for disturbed souls, aimless, wandering spirits without a home.
Terrified, disorientated visionaries far from home…
The sound was coming from her.
“Come here.”
She remembered everything Isaac had told her. This was her choice. She didn’t understand how but it was. She had to make this move, not him. She stared at the enormous erection straining impatiently towards her, the veins standing out against its monstrously swollen girth. Isaac’s manhood was magnificent – and powerful, an irresistible instrument of love and pleasure or a deadly weapon of torture and despair. Which would it be tonight? Its owner chuckled, unabashed by her fascination with his member.
“Talia, I am mortally offended. Look at my eyes, not my cock.”
She raised her eyes, unashamed at being caught ogling her king.
“Come here,” he repeated, only the faintest whisper of urgency in his voice. His eyes were soft and playful, the spectacular something obliterating everything else that had been lurking there. It reigned supreme. She took a deep breath and crawled into his embrace.
He wrapped his arms around her in a possessive yet cherishing hold, capturing her within the inescapable carnal web of a king. She was cocooned in his strong arms and the tenderness in his eyes was overwhelming; Isaac was taking pleasure in their intimate embrace. This was not an emotionless man driven by riches and power, this king had genuine warmth in his soul. His chest hair tickled her breasts and his heart thudded against them as if he was terrified too, but that could not be right.
“Good little visionary,” he murmured into her hair. “You are exquisite, Talia. Let me show you just how exquisite you are.”
His swollen manhood throbbed against her belly as if agreeing with its owner’s words. It would not wait long for its pleasure. She whimpered pathetically and rubbed her nose against his face in silent entreaty, for what she did not know. He instantly responded, nuzzling his face against hers as if they had been sweethearts since the beginning of time. Somehow they were bypassing hours of conversation and forging an intimate connection in an otherworldly way. She stared into his eyes, liquid blue like the ocean, flooded with desire and tenderness and something she did not yet understand. The unique magic in Isaac’s soul. Her heart melted and foolishly allowed her captor to invade it before reforming as a new thing. It was part of Talia that now held Isaac tenderly within its midst.
“Trust me, Talia, that’s all you have to do, remember?”
“Trust,” she whispered for that was exactly what she was remembering. It was the only thing in her mind. She had trusted Isaac enough to allow him inside of her heart and now he was flowing through her veins alongside her blood, part of her as she was part of him. She was ready now – for this. For him.
She clung to the softness in his eyes as he brushed his knuckles over her cheek, every moment of tenderness increasing their intimacy. They stared into each other’s eyes for an eternal moment – and she watched in horror as everything changed. A dark shadow slowly eclipsed the spectacular something, her dreams destroyed by anger and mistrust. S
he trembled against Isaac’s newly taut muscles, petrified by the rigid tension in his body, shielding his soul and blocking her out.
Something was very wrong…
And then he scooped her up into his arms and marched towards the cage.
She clung to his shoulders, her head spinning as he strode inside and deposited her unceremoniously onto the cold stone floor. Her fingers curled around his bare skin, but he prised himself free, breaking the connection of their spirits and breaking her heart.
“Soon, Talia, soon.”
His whispered words were drenched with erotic promise and the spectacular something was fighting to stay in his eyes. But there was something else there too now, something monstrous, and it was winning the battle. It was cold and unyielding, defensive and hard, and it was building a wall between them. A sky blue wall designed to keep Talia out. Isaac was in hiding, denying the spiritual energy they shared, using every shred of his formidable will to construct impenetrable barriers around his heart. She stared, paralysed by fear and confusion, the unknown between them a terrifying thing. She had opened her heart and let Isaac in, and this horror was her reward. The spirit realms were punishing her for past life sins tonight. Isaac stared silently back at her, his eyes betraying nothing, and strode from the cage without another word. He padlocked the door as if she were a captive animal, a merciless predator toying with his prey before ripping out its heart and destroying it. She whimpered as he threw on his crumpled shirt and trousers and left the room without a backward glance.
She was alone again. Shocked. Numb.
She crouched on the cold stone floor, her bare feet icy against the bars of the cage, and shivered at the cruel chill in the air. The world was dark outside the long windows, as black as Isaac’s twisted soul with not a solitary star to guide her through the hell she was living. Night had fallen on her life and on Isaac’s palace, and it was freezing her body and her soul. The cornflower blue blanket that had been wrapped around her lay crumpled and discarded on the floor. Rejected and unloved just like her. She gazed at it longingly but knew even the warmest of blankets would leave her chilled now. Her spirit was frozen, splintering into knife-sharp icicles intent on piercing her foolish heart. How could Isaac do this to her? He had mercilessly seduced her only to revert to the role of cruel captor, leaving her naked and freezing in his cage. Where had he gone? And why? She had done everything he asked her to do, such a good little Lokian slave. His behaviour was barbaric. She shuddered and hugged her arms tightly around her breasts, trying to warm her painfully erect nipples, comfort the tiny taut pebbles tormenting her. She should be lying in Isaac’s bed, his lips caressing her warm breasts while their shared spiritual energy flowed between them. Instead – this.
Talia and Isaac Page 4