Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeAs Talen entered the main street of Havermouth, his phone began to ring. It diverted through his car, the name appearing on the screen before him: August Mason, Les Guerriers Sanctifies.“Hmm,” he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, debating whether or not to answer. Of the two pack leaders of the Les Guerriers Sanctifies, he found August the least likeable. Abigail had been tightly wound, sharp eyed and careful with her words, but August had a slipperiness to him, a veneer of jovial kindness belied by the hard sharpness of his eyes.He could not blame either pack leader for carefully guarding their true natures, Talen reminded himself. Being a pack leader was very much a political office. Upon the retirement, death or removal from office of a prior pack leading pair, the pack voted in who they wished to lead them. Much like a human election, that pair came to power through popularity, due to their connections, and as a result of making campaign pr
Havermouth, Present TimeTalen removed his jeans and lay himself over the too-small mattress, watching his mate through hooded eyes, enjoying the way she stood and admired him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. He raised his eyebrows as Morgana’s eyes met his.“I’m worried about my heels near your face,” she admitted. “You can’t hurt me,” he chuckled as he invited her to him, amused by her concern for him. With his help, she placed a knee just above his shoulder, swinging her leg over his head, giving him an intimate view of the beauty of her sex. “Hmm,” he wanted to taste her on his tongue again and stroked his hands from her ankles up to her hips, pulling her to him so that he could suckle upon her. “Oh, god,” she sobbed before leaning forward and reciprocating. He grunted in pleasure as she demonstrated not only a skill but an enthusiasm for f-king him with her mouth, using lips, tongue, teeth and suction to bring him pleasure.He caught the pearl of her clit between his t
Havermouth, Three Weeks BeforeTalen chuckled as he returned to his Ute. “Priestesses,” he muttered under his breath. His upbringing had instilled into him a faith in priestesses, the position of priest and priestess at the temple highly valued and honored, and those given the title expected to in every way represent the gods and goddesses that they served.At the temple, a priest or priestess could serve as a guide, as a counsellor, as a conduit to the gods or goddesses. A vampire or acolyte could approach any priest or priestess and expect to be treated with respectful courtesy, empathy, and confidentiality. Part of the training therefore included inspiring confidence and thoughtful listening.Witch priestesses possessed the same skill, he suspected, and probably underwent similar training, for the words had sat on the tip of his tongue and he never, ever shared the details of his life with strangers. He had learned to leave as little footprint of his presence behind, so that there
Havermouth, Present Time Heath could not sleep. At first, his concern for Rhett had kept him awake, listening to his dark-haired mate’s every breath and every movement, alert for anything that might indicate trouble. Worried was an understatement. He was nauseated with fear. Rhett’s face was taking on the shadows of the corpses at the hospital – his skin sinking to his bones in a truly terrifying way, as if he were being consumed from the inside out. If Rhett… Ah, f-k, even thinking the word caused a stabbing pain in Heath’s chest. He couldn’t imagine life without Rhett. He couldn’t imagine waking and knowing that Rhett wasn’t in the world. Even at the worst moments of the Triquetra over the last five years, even in their darkest days when he thought that Rhett or Cameron would reject the bond, it had been no where near as horrifying as the prospect of losing a mate, not just as a lover and life partner, but to lose them altogether… He couldn’t do it, he thought. He did not think th
Havermouth, Present TimeAislen woke when Heath and Talen left the room. She turned automatically to touch Rhett, who lay between her and Cameron. For once, her dark-haired alpha mate wasn’t rolling away from Cameron’s night-time embrace – Cameron’s body heat was keeping Rhett from shuddering through his fever.His skin was clammy to the touch, his hair curling as it stuck to his forehead, but he slept peacefully. In the moonlight that spilled through the open door into the room, his eyes looked bruised and sunken, and his cheeks hollow, the bones standing out against the skin sharply. His lips were cracked and peeling, with dried blood around the lip ring.Aislen brushed away her tears as she rose and tiptoed to the door. The main room of the second storey was empty, the moonlight streaming in through the windows that stretched along one side, the brightness filtered through the filthy squares of glass and falling yellowly over the tables with their array of unusual objects that Leig
Havermouth, Present TimeCameron and Rhett were awake when she eased open the door to the room and both men looked up as the light fell upon them, the sheen of their werewolf vision flaring as their eyes adjusted. Rhett looked like shit, but more coherent and comfortable than he had the night before and was sitting up independently, though Cameron was hovering anxiously.“He’s feeling better,” Cameron told her, teary behind his smile. “He isn’t feverish anymore and wants to have a shower and to eat.”“I smell like shit, and feel like it,” Rhett corrected, his voice hoarse. “And I’m starving. For food,” he added ruefully. “Not for man-flesh, though…” And his smile became a leer. “I am feeling horny too.”“Well, let’s feed you and then see how you feel after eating, and maybe we’ll be able to organize a shower,” Aislen decided. “I’ll go heat some food.”“Samples,” Leighton said from behind her, causing her to jump and put her hand to her heart. He placed his hand on her shoulder, giving
The Human Enemy’s Land, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeAs discretely as he could, Thaelen tested the strength of the cuffs around his wrists, pinning his hands behind him on the wall and leaning his bodyweight into the rings until he felt the metal give. His heart began to race. Four days now, and there had been no further spell-poisoning through Gera. His strength was almost fully returned, and the cuff’s effectiveness was fading every day.“Tell me about the castle and surrounding area,” he told Gera. “What lies beyond this cell?”“Do you not know?” Gera was surprised. “Did you not see as you entered?”“No,” Thaelen replied dryly. “I was inside a coffin.”“Truly?” Gera was astounded. “Why?”“I do not know. Containment, ease of transportation? No one explained it to me. The Lady Beupraxia said that I had been in the coffin for two weeks, and yet you told me that this is the closest location to the pass into Concordia?” Thaelen replied as he rearranged his chains.“The pass would take at
The Human Enemy’s Land, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeCaerin eased Isolte’s dress off her shoulders, and she crossed her arms over her chest defensively as she stood there in her shift, stockings, and shoes. Thaelen met Caerin’s eyes over her head, and gestured to her feet, so that Caerin knelt and removed her shoes and stockings one foot at a time whilst Thaelin stroked his hands up and down the bare skin of the woman’s arms, warming it with his touch and soothing her.He leaned over, brushing his lips along her shoulder, up the curve of her neck and felt her sigh, her head easing to the side and her posture relaxing. He placed his hands on her hips, letting her grow accustomed to being touched there, before stroking up to cup her breasts through the fabric, using his thumb and finger to stroke her nipples, whilst continuing to suck and kiss along her neck.Caerin watched, his ribs sucking with his heavy breathing, his c-ck hard.When the maid was relaxed against him, Thaelen lifted he