Darkness Embraced (31 page)

The edge of her skirts brushed the tops of my hands and I raised, letting the flogger fall from my lips into her lap.

She laughed and I knew she had retrieved it. “Ti amo,” she said, caressing my face. “Ti amo, cara mia.”

Those fingers tickled down my cheek, sweeping lower to the line of my throat.

There are those Elders that thought less of me because I had been the Queen’s beloved pet, because they believed that love and submission were for the weak of heart and faint of will. On the contrary, I had learned that to love, one must carry a reservoir of great strength. Their judgments and frowns did not trouble me overmuch. Behind the doors to Renata’s bedchambers, she allowed me to be all that I am and more.

She accepted the whole of my being without question, without doubt, and most importantly, without judgment. She did not ask that I restrain any aspect of myself, both the strong and the weak.

I was simply her Epiphany.

Winter Pennington is an author, poet, artist, and closeted musician. She is an avid practitioner of nature-based spirituality and enjoys spending her spare time studying mythology from around the world. The Celtic path is very close to her heart. She has an uncanny fascination with swords and daggers, and a fondness for feeding loud and obnoxious corvids. In the shadow of her writing, she has experience working with a plethora of animals as a pet care specialist and veterinary assistant.

Winter currently resides in Oklahoma with her partner and their ever-growing family of furry kids, also known as, The Felines Extraordinaire.

Darkness Embraced
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