Secrets (The Forever series, Book 8) (24 page)

Silence.

“Seb?” I turn to the bathroom door and get the shock of my
life. It’s not Sebastian, it’s Aelfric, looming in the doorway, taking up the
entire space with his huge size, and taking in my appearance with a wicked
gleam in his eye. I grab for a towel to cover up, as I am standing here buck naked,
and glare at him. “Get out,” I say with as much authority as I can.

He shakes his head and steps closer. “No, my dear. I didn’t
go to all the trouble of binding your powers, just to leave without getting
what I came for.”

“What?” I say to him, confused. “You bound my Powers? Why?
How?” I demand, stepping closer to him and then, realizing that probably isn’t
the best idea, I retreat.

His wicked smile widens as he sees me step back and he moves
closer, forcing me all the way back into the shower that is still beating down
and fogging up the bathroom. I am drenched and he hovers on the edge and flicks
his wrist. The shower turns off and he steps inside. Shit! I scramble for my
magick, but it isn’t there. It was sketchy at best here, but now it is
completely gone. Bound. By him.

“What do you want from me?” I ask and I hear the tremble in
my voice.

“Why, you of course,” he says matter-of-factly. “With this
amendment, I need to take a turn to get this child conceived.”

“Wha…what amendment?” I stammer, clutching my towel in a
death grip.

He laughs gently. “Oh, Kalen didn’t tell you? No, I didn’t
think he would. He is quite selfish. Always has been. Never liked to share.”

“Share?” I croak, wondering what on Earth he is talking
about.

“Enough talk,” he snaps, getting impatient. He reaches for
me and I put my hand up to stop him.

“Don’t touch me,” I say to him.

He grabs my hand and crushes it, breaking it. “Or you will
do what?”

I just stare at him in horror and he finds it quite amusing.
“I have to admit, it is possibly a waste of effort binding you as I don’t think
you would be able to stop me even with your powers, but I wasn’t taking a
chance you might throw something unpredictable at me. Besides,” he adds, “I do
prefer my females weak and subservient.”

I gulp loudly as the true realization hits me of what he has
done, and what he is about to do. And he is right. I can’t fight him off. I may
have had a better chance with my Powers, but now I am completely ineffective.
He lets go of my crushed hand, and with a searing pain I straighten it and it
heals, but then he is pushing me back against the shower wall with his enormous
body and ripping the towel from me. I push on his chest, not going down without
as much of a fight as I can, but it is like pushing against a cavern wall.
Nothing.

“You can fight if you want, I don’t mind,” he whispers as he
leans down to me. “I sometimes like it that way.”

I open my mouth to scream my head off, but he claps his big
hand over my mouth. “You can scream as well, but no one will come for you.
Everyone knows what is at stake here and make no mistake that your father holds
any affection for you. He will allow this to happen.”

No, I think to myself. He wouldn’t let this happen. He
wouldn’t let his only daughter be treated in this manner just for the greater
good. Would he? I start to doubt it and he sees it in my eyes and laughs again
quietly. “You know this is the only reason you are here. It is my good fortune
that you are a pretty little thing, especially in your natural form. It will
make this even more enjoyable.” He plasters his lips to mine in a rough kiss
that I squirm away from, but he holds onto the tops of my arms in an iron grip
that I cannot get away from. I feel a searing heat where his hands are and then
a vicious burn as he lets me go to run his hands over my breasts. The place
where his hands were is on fire, and as he pulls away from me, I cast a quick glance
down and two massive handprints have been branded into my flesh from his touch.

He tweaks my nipples roughly and I whimper in spite of
myself and it encourages him to pull on them even harder, rolling them in his
fingers, before he picks up me and lines my breasts up with his mouth. He sucks
on me and I take the opportunity to kick at him now that my legs are in a
position to do so, but he bats me away with a little tut. “You would enjoy it,
if you stopped fighting and accepted it,” he murmurs to me.

“Never,” I snarl at him, as I kick him again and he drops me
suddenly. I land hard on my feet and his hand is at my throat.

“I thought Vampires enjoyed variety,” he says, pushing me
back up against the wall. His other hand goes down between my legs and I clamp
my thighs together. He gently rubs his hand over me and sighs, “Don’t make me
use magick on you. It’s less fun that way.”

I clamp even tighter and his eyes go hard. “Very well. I see
you are not going not make this easy for me, so I will have to show you I don’t
mean to hurt you.” He wraps his arms around me and carries me kicking and
screaming to the bed. I Vamp out and claw at him, but it is all completely
useless. It doesn’t affect him and only angers him further. He throws me on the
bed and I scramble to get away. If I can just get to the door, I can call for
help. My hand reaches for the handle, but his lands on mine, again crushing it
until my bones shatter. I muffle my cry of pain as he pulls me back to the bed.
“Feisty,” he mutters to himself as he places me back on the bed and holds me
down with his knee on my chest. “I knew you would be a fighter, but you don’t
give up, do you?”

“No,” I growl at him, squirming under him, clawing at him.

“Pity,” he says. “I had wanted to take a bit of time with
you. Enjoy you for a while. I still could if I spelled you, but I want it real,
regardless. I want you to remember it.”

“You would have to spell me to ever want to be with you,” I
get out, before he backhands me across the face.

“How dare you disrespect me? You are an abomination, girl. A
disgrace and a Halfling. You should be grateful to lie with a King, but instead
you fight me.”

“Grateful?” I sneer even though I am now very afraid. He has
removed his knee from my chest and wrapped one hand around my throat, the other
quickly working to get the laces of his breeches undone. “I am a Queen, and it
will be a cold day in Hell before I ever want to be with you.”

“I have bound your Dragon and without it you are no longer
Queen of the Underworld, my dear. You are just a thousand-year-old Vampire with
no special abilities and no match for me. I am four thousand years old and a
Fae King. Your own power is weak and useless against mine.” He increases the
pressure on my neck and lifts me further up the bed. My hands go to his to try
and remove the pressure, but I am just not strong enough. “Those claws are
becoming a nuisance,” he says idly. I pull my hands back and retract my claws
quickly. I remember what Drake said about declawing and I am sure that Aelfric
probably knows this method of torture as well and wouldn’t hesitate to use it.
“Better,” he says with a smile, as he takes both my wrists in his one big hand
and pushes them above my head. I arch my back as I struggle and he drops his
head to lick my nipple before sucking it into his mouth. His long blonde hair
falls in a curtain around me and he moans softly as he suckles on me, but his
grip never weakens on my wrists and I resign myself to my fate. This is
happening and there is nothing I can do to stop it. I am bound and useless. I
try to call out to Sebastian to come and rescue me, but we have no bond so it
is pointless. I call out to everyone that I do have a bond with, but that is
fruitless as well, as any telepathic abilities I had are Dragon based and currently
bound, and my sire won’t be able to sense me in this Realm. I am done for. I
stop struggling and he stops and looks up at me in surprise and hope. I think
he is going to say something to me, but he changes his mind as he sees my tears
and lets go of my wrists before he cups both my breasts with both of his hands.
I pull on my arms, but it’s no use. He has held me in place with magick now and
I can do nothing to get out of it. I am lying naked in the middle of the bed
with Sebastian’s father crawling over me, his mouth all over me, his hands
stroking me everywhere and the tears seep out of my eyes. I close them and try
to think about anything and everything else. “Open your eyes,” he whispers to
me and I have to. I have no choice. That damn Faerie magick is really pissing
me off. He ducks his head between my legs, that are still clamped together with
every last ounce of strength I have, but he places his hands on me and again I
feel that searing burn as he pulls my legs apart. I cry out in pain as I struggle
against the invisible ties holding me in place. He lowers his mouth to me and
licks me softly and gently. “You taste so sweet,” he murmurs to me. “I wish I
hadn’t had to use magick on you. I wish that you could have let me do this to
you willingly, but I will make you enjoy it. I promise you.”

The tears continue to flow as he attends to his task as if
this is the most normal thing in the world, and that he expects me to enjoy it.
He goes about it as if he is making love to me and that he wants my pleasure,
but I am tied down and unwilling and there is no way that will ever happen. My
lack of pleasure doesn’t deter him though, and after what feels like hours, but
was probably only a few minutes, he lifts his head and slides his fingers into
me. “Just give in,” he says to me. “I can make you feel things you could only
have dreamed about.”

I shake my head, my voice no longer working, and he sighs.
“You are so stubborn,” he says. “You are beautiful, Aeval. You look like mine.
You would be accepted by the Light as their Queen. I could make you my Queen, I
could protect you from the others.”

I just stare at him. Doesn’t he already have a Queen? What
does he mean by “protect” me?

“A King can have as many Queens as he wants,” he says,
reading my thoughts. “I would make you mine, and I would worship you. We can
make this prophecy come true together. Just you and me. I will keep the others
from you, if you would say you would be my Queen.”

I balk at the idea and shake my head again, still not having
found my voice.

“Very well,” he sighs. “This is the way it has to be then.”
He rises to his knees. I can see the enormous bulge and I gulp as he finishes
undoing the laces and he springs free. My eyes widen in shock at the sheer size
of him. Oh god, this is going to hurt. I’m not ready for him and it is going to
hurt like Hell. He sees me looking at him. “I tried to get you ready,” he says
almost apologetically, before he grabs my hips and lifts me to him. “I wanted
you ready for me, but we are running out of time.” His cock twitches as it
touches me and he gently forces himself into me. I tense up as I can feel the
burn as he tears me as well. I cry out and the tears flow freely now. I hate
showing this weakness, but he has me beaten. He lowers my hips as he pushes
himself further into me and lowers himself onto me, bracing his weight on his
elbows. He goes slowly at first, but as soon as I have folded around him he
groans and shoves harder and deeper. I clench my jaw and bite my tongue, trying
not to make any more noise. He closes his eyes and fists his hands into my
hair. He kisses me, forcing his tongue into my mouth as he thrusts harder and
harder into me. It hurts and I want to shuffle under him to get him to fit more
comfortably, but I know that will only encourage him so I stay completely
still. He stops kissing me and opens his eyes. “Look at me,” he demands softly
and I tear my eyes away from the ceiling where I had been staring to look into
his eyes. They are just like Sebastian’s and it makes me weep even harder. “Don’t
be sad, sweet girl,” he whispers, as he kisses my tears away. “You are doing
your duty. You are helping to create a miracle child. You will be revered and
honored and loved.”

I swallow loudly, but stay silent as he speeds up. He is
breathing heavily and I know he is getting close. A few more thrusts and he
closes his eyes and with a soft cry against my lips, he comes. It lasts for
several moments and all I want is to be as far away from here as is possible.
He rides me through the last of his orgasm and drops his forehead to mine. He
breathes out and then in and pulls away. He adjusts his clothes and lets my
wrists go free with another flick of his hand.

He clears his throat and says quietly, “I’ll leave you to
clean up before I send Thrace to you. A word of advice though, girl. Don’t let
his boyish looks fool you. He is brutal and sadistic and you would do well to
go along with it and don’t fight him.” He purses his lips and adds softly,
“Just say you will be mine and we can avoid this.”

“No!” I yell at him, finding my voice, and with that he
leaves me staring open-mouthed at him. What the fuck is he saying that he is
sending Thrace to me? I curl up in a ball on the bed and cry. Why does this
always happen to me? As far as rapes go, it wasn’t bad. God knows I have
endured worse. He tried to be gentle, but why? I don’t understand what he meant
about the amendment.

I can feel the wetness of him between my thighs and it gets
me on my feet and into the bathroom. I stare at the shower and hesitate. I
don’t want to go in there now, especially if Thrace is on his way up here to
have a go with me as well. I need to get cleaned up, dressed, and I need to go
and find Drake and hope that he will protect me. I grab a washcloth off the
basin and run it under the warm tap and soap up. I run it between my legs and I
hear the door go again. Shit. Thrace already? I am so fucked.

“Livvie?” Sebastian voice calls to me, and the flood of
relief makes me go light-headed.

“Seb,” I call out weakly and he is at my side instantly,
sensing my anxiety.

“What is it?” he asks and then just stares at me, naked and
with the handprint burns on my arms and legs. I try to cover up, but he pulls
my hands away. “What the fuck?” he asks before his eyes go cold as marble.
“Thrace,” he growls and turns to leave.