Seduced by the Beast (8 page)

            “I warned you not
to touch me.  I want nothing from you ... ever again.”

            He chuckled,
knowing her words as lies.  “No lasting harm will come to you.”

            “You are wrong. 
You cannot know everything.”  She bit her lip as he pinched her nipple,
tweaking it harder.  An ache spread from the peak of her breast and lower,
crept down to that place between her thighs.

            “I know your
desire, Swan.  You cannot deny your craving to know a beast’s every touch,” he
murmured huskily against her neck, his lips pulling at the tender flesh. 
Placing a hand on her neglected breast, he repeated his taunting actions,
massaging until the soft globe lay swollen and heavy beneath his hand.

            He stilled,
pulled away from her neck.  “This bud is shy.  What will it take to awaken it,
I wonder?”

            A soft roll, as
of lips moving over the small bud followed his words, and then his teeth raked
across her, dragging a groan from her throat as the nipple hardened beneath his
touch.

            “Don’t do this.” 
She whimpered as he latched on to the peak, pulled hard with his mouth.  A pulse
started in her sex, quickening with each hard drag, each sharp tease.  Moisture
followed close behind the intense stimulation, making her womb clench on a hard
spasm.

            She arched her
neck, bending her head back, moaning as he moved down her stomach.

            Heat flared at
his path.  Her blood rushed in her veins, pooling in her sex, a pulse beating
in her hidden nub.  She shouldn’t want this.  It should stop, but her mouth
couldn’t form the words.  She was as mute to say nay as she was blind.

            Raphael released
her hands and moved, freeing her legs of their cage.  He cupped her breasts as
he drew lower, then released them, nuzzled the apex of her thighs with his
nose. His lips teased the top of one limb, nipping the sensitive flesh as he
spread her legs with callused palms.

            He rubbed his
face against her inner thigh, faint stubble roughening her skin.  She shivered
at the contrast of silken lips and harsh stubble.

            Swan’s breath
hitched at the first probe of his finger in her wet folds.  He traced up and
down her slit, parting her like a blossom, edging nearer and nearer the opening
of her womanhood.

            “Say but my name,
Swan.  Tell me you want me.  Say you want a beast to pleasure you as no man
ever will.”

            “No, I don’t,”
she said shakily, trying to mean it.

            He slid up,
circled her clit with his wet finger, driving her mad with his teasing
nearness.  She wanted something from him, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to
beg.

            “I can end it,
Swan.  You have only to admit your desire.”

            She shook her
head, ignoring that unbearable touch.  She realized then her wrists were free. 
The bonds gone.  He’d released her when he let go of her hands.

            Hesitant, with
growing strength, she opened her eyes.  The pleasure disappeared in that
instant.  He was gone.

* * * *

            As night fell,
Swan changed into human form once more.  Shivering, she slowly opened her eyes
to dusk and the cool air of coming night.  She stared at the dying rays of the
setting sun, feeling an overwhelming sadness. She had always taken daylight for
granted, never known how much the sun could be missed, but she was a creature
of the darkness now, doomed never to see the sun again with the eyes of a
human, unless the spell could be broken.

            Her thoughts
turned to another creature of the dark, to Raphael.

            More specifically,
her thoughts returned to the strange dream she’d experienced earlier.  Had it
truly been nothing more than a dream?  Had guilt provoked the fantasy of
admitting desire for a man not her kind?  She was loath to say anything.  If it
had been a dream, she would be mortified to reveal the extent of her
fascination with him.  Lust could form no lasting connection--and she didn’t
desire to be chained to any man.

            A fire flared to
life, and she sat up, startled at the sudden flash.

            Raphael knelt across
the way, watching her over the small, orange flame, his dark look blistering.

            Cloaked with
trailing hair, she nevertheless felt completely exposed by his intense
scrutiny.  Swan covered her breasts with her arms, breaking eye contact.

            “Your gown is in
that basket.  You need to eat and warm yourself quickly.  We dare not keep the
fire long.”

            Swan complied,
waiting until he turned his back to rise and dress herself.  The muscles in his
back were tense as he crouched, watching the growing darkness.

            She ate dried
meat and cheese, studying him.  Sipping sparingly on the water bladder, she
finally could contain her silence no more.  “Is there something I should know? 
You are acting most strange.”

            Standing, he
faced her and pointed to the East.  “Ravenel is but a league distant.”

            He must have
carried her straight on through the day to cover so much ground.  Had he not
rested at all?  “That is not what I asked.”

            He smiled
briefly.  “Your persistence is admirable.”

            “That is a
pleasant way of saying that I am bull headed.”

            Raphael kicked
dirt over the fire and packed their few supplies.  “We are being followed.”

            There was no need
to ask if she should be alarmed--she was already.  “Are we in danger?”

            He didn’t look up
from his task.  “There is always danger in Shadowmere.”

            “How do you know
we are being followed?  Have you seen them?  Who follows us and why?”

            “It is vampire,
but their mind is shielded.  I believe they will not act until they know our
purpose, and by then, we will be under Ravenel’s protection.  Getting out again
is another matter entirely.”  He stared off into the distance, back the way
they had come.  “I may return to Barakus to find it under their sway.”

            Swan was
appalled. “You risk your rule for me?  Why?”

            “I made a
promise.  I am a man of my word.”

            His words brought
her no comfort.  When she said nothing, in fact, stood rooted to the spot, he
said, “We’ll need to travel faster.  I must shift.  I warn you now, you’ll
likely be frightened.”

            She watched as he
set the baskets down and unbuckled his kurt and red cape, averting her eyes at
the last minute to avoid searing her mind with the image of his nakedness.  He
packed the black garment in a basket and crouched on the ground.

            “Will it hurt?”
she asked, backing up a step as she watched him, unblinking.

            “There is some
discomfort if you are a changeling or it is your first time, but I was born
this way.  I have shifted for decades.”

            “Decades?  How
old are you?”

            Raphael looked at
her once, his eyes glowing with amber light, though he didn’t answer.  He hung
his head, allowing his long hair to shield his face from her view.  His muscles
tensed, jumping as though a surge of power coursed through his body.  A wave of
black fur flowed over his flesh like a rising tide, enveloping his bronze skin
and leaving none of the man behind.  His curled fists formed into great paws
with black claws that scoured the hard earth.  Ivory teeth flashed from the
long muzzle as his hair shortened and turned to fur, revealing familiar amber
eyes.  In but a moment’s time, the man before her had shifted into a wolf nearly
the size of a pony, as seamlessly as water flowing.

            She was held by
those golden orbs, mesmerized as he padded close and dropped to allow her to
ride him.  Swan hesitantly gathered the baskets and climbed atop him.  His fur
was incredibly soft and long enough she could gather a hand hold.  When she was
settled, he rose and took off at a full run.

            His speed raised
chill bumps on her skin, cool air whipped her hair in a frenzy at their
passing.  The land rushed by in dizzying starkness.  Swan bent and cradled her
face against his warm neck, burrowing into the fur.

            There was no
doubt in her mind they would soon arrive at Ravenel.  She only prayed they
would not be stopped.

CHAPTER SIX

            The fortress
loomed above, crouched on a rise like a great cat ready to pounce.  The gates
of Ravenel cracked open as Raphael bounded up the final stretch of land toward
them.  She didn’t wonder how those inside knew them as friend--could only be
thankful there would be no wait for entrance.  Swan clung to the baskets and
Raphael’s neck, pervaded by a sense of fear and desperation that had grown with
every mile they crossed.  She glanced over her shoulder at the dark, could see
nothing, but knew the vampire was closing fast now that their destination was
known.

            A howl erupted
from the sky behind them, like the earth gasping for breath as a cyclone of
wind gathered.  Raphael’s hackles rose at the sound, her own responding as her
blood froze.  A black shape swept past her peripheral, swooping down from the
air.  They passed inside, inches before it touched them.  The massive gates
slammed shut just as they cleared.  The creature dared not come inside.

            Swan breathed a
shaky sigh of relief and dismounted.  She stood with Raphael at her back as he
changed into human form and dressed.  The gatemasters nodded their welcome but,
strangely, no one approached.  The courtyard teemed with people, curious to see
their arrival but hanging back.

            “Why do they not
give greeting,” she whispered to Raphael as he came beside her.

            “There is no
need.  I come here often and am considered friend.  Come, we shall pay visit to
the lord of Ravenel.”

            He led her toward
the main entrance, the two great doors opening at their approach.  The crowd
parted for their passage, some bowing respectfully.  As Swan walked past, they
sniffed the air behind her, as though a succulent piece of meat had just been
dangled before them.  Her heart jumped in her throat at the gleaming looks. 
She tore her gaze away, keeping them straight on Raphael’s back as she kept
close to him, not wondering a minute at her trust in him to protect her.

            Would she always
be considered food in this land?  There was no greater reminder that she could
not stay--ever.

            The doors shut
behind them at their passing, cutting off the greedy, hungry stares.  The great
hall stretched wide and cavernous, their footsteps echoing before them.  The
ceiling expanded above into utter dark, supported by immense columns, its
blackness relieved only by a skylight cut into the rock above, raining faint
moonlight on them.  Basins of flame flickered golden near walls carved and
painted with legends of old, of battles between the lizzars and the leopards.

            “Raphael!” a deep
voice bellowed across the hall.  Swan peered over Raphael’s shoulder to see a
blond giant of a man striding toward them.  In the next moment, he was before
them, clapping Raphael on the shoulder jovially.

            “Welcome, my
friend.  Long has it been since you’ve visited us.  I wonder that you’d not
forgotten the way.”

            “I am glad to be
back,” Raphael said, returning the friendly greeting.

            The blond man
glanced away from Raphael, noticing her for the first time.  He looked her over
from head to foot.  “Who is this lovely creature?  I’ve never known you to
travel with a companion.”

            Raphael stepped
aside and presented her.  “This is Lady Swan of Avonleigh.  She is under my
protection.  My lady, our host is Lord Blasien of Ravenel.”

            Swan curtsied to
Lord Blasien’s bow.  “Thank you for your hospitality, my lord.”

            “She is tired,
and I wish to speak with you alone.”

            Raphael missed
the glare she directed at his back, but Lord Blasien saw, and his eyes
alighted.  He chuckled and summoned a servant.  “I will have her taken to your
room.  My ladywife will see to her.”

* * * *

            Blasien waited
until Swan was escorted out by an elder retainer before clapping Raphael on the
back.  Grinning broadly, he said, “You told me once it would never happen, my
friend.  Love turns us all into liars.  Who is she, truly?”

            They moved up the
dais and sat on the ancient carved rock, neglecting the throne for ease and
affability of nearness.  “She is but a thorn in my side, Blasien.  I do this
only to be rid of her.”

            “Strong words
that have not the ring of truth.  I see it in your face, you desire this
woman.”