Page 17 of Trial By Fire

“Let us take care of you, beautiful,” Adrian whispers as his lips hover above mine.

I’m transfixed, drowning in his eyes. I feel the intensity of their love flow through our bond. I reach up and bring his lips to mine, pouring all of my emotions into our connection. I want to imprint my love on their souls so that there’s never any doubt in their minds about what we mean to each other.

I gasp, separating myself from Adrian as Gale’s lips wrap around my clit. My head hits the pillow, and my back arches off the bed as he sucks my sensitive flesh between his teeth. Adrian kisses me as I explode. I’m surprised at how fast I come as I scream into Adrian’s mouth. Gale continues to swirl his tongue over my clit, teasing me, drinking in my release as I attempt to come down from my blissful high. But my body has other ideas, and my need only heightens. Like an intense itch that I can’t scratch, need pools in my belly, fluttering like sharp butterflies as I come once more. It’s not enough, I need more. We need more. My Dragon claws at my insides desperate to be released. She wants our mates as much as I do. Is this normal? I reach out and grab Torin’s arm as he runs his hand down the side of my body. Enough touches. No more teasing. Something snaps inside of me like a rubber band, my nerve endings alight with pleasure.

“Fuck me!” I scream.

My eyes pop open. Silence. It doesn’t take long for my eyes to adjust to the darkness all around me. I’m alone. My mates aren’t here. I am not safe. It was all a dream, but my body still feels the same. The need and want for them is excruciating. Even here, alone in the dark, I can feel my arousal seeping through my jeans. This is not normal. I feel for my mates and the faint feelings of fear, panic, and anger flow throughout our bond. Then I am struck with a strong feeling of lust. Pure, raw lust. I moan just from the feeling alone. I quickly close my mouth, embarrassed by my outward reaction as everything comes back to me: the ball, Dravyn, the stranger who took me away from my men, my mom.

I try to sit up, the sound of chains scraping across the floor has me zeroing in on my current predicament. My legs and arms are chained to a bolt in the wall. I panic, my adrenaline spikes as I try to call on my Dragon, but for some reason, she feels distant and disconnected from me. I panic further. The walls of this tiny circular cell begin to close in around me as my breathing picks up and my heart pounds hard in my chest. No, not a cell. A hole. I am in a fucking hole in the ground. If I could reach up, I could almost touch the metal grate just above my head. What kind of sick twisted shit is this?

“Hello,” I call out to whoever will listen. I shout and scream for what feels like hours until my throat feels raw, but no one comes. I close my eyes and pull my knees up to my chest, wrapping my chained arms around myself. The sound of water flows just below me, and I’m sure it’s creating a chill that seeps deep into my bones. My teeth begin to chatter, and I wish I had on more than just a t-shirt and wet jeans, and I cling to myself even tighter.

Another wave of lust and need hits me, and I bite down on my lip hard enough to draw blood to stop myself from reacting to it. I take deep breaths, waiting for the feeling to subside, but it just lingers on. The need to touch myself and ease my frustration is calling me, but I refuse to fall so low so fast. I will not be getting myself off in a hole on a dirty floor.

“Why am I feeling like this?” I whisper to myself out loud. My own question triggers a memory of the guys explaining knotting to me and going into heat. I remember Torin saying I had a while before that happens, but it seems with my luck, this shit is happening now.

“No. Please, not now,” I say to whatever higher power is listening. I have a vague idea of where I might be. I’m sure I’m in another Realm with no way back to my mates, and that thought brings tears to my eyes. I am ready to have a full-blown meltdown. I close my eyes and think about where I want to be. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, I can teleport my way out of here, but there’s something blocking my way. I am truly stuck. I lay my head on my knees and let go. Right here, right now in the dark where no one can see me, I give myself over to my tears. I don’t know how long I stay curled up like this, if my stiff back is any indication, then possibly a few hours. The sound of heels clicking across the floor puts me on high alert.

“Maurelle, why would you put her here? This is an outrage. You could have at least put her somewhere that befits her station.” My ears perk up at the sound of the familiar voice. The voice of the man who brought me here.

“Oh, Dain. Please, your hole was much deeper, and I kept you there for thirty years. I should place you right back there after the stunt you pulled. I said to bring her to me. You tried to hide her the minute you landed back in Incantatia. Therefore, I trust no one. Not even you. Now, here we are.” I hear the woman say as they come to a stop right on top of me.

I look up, but there is not much light shining through the grate in the floor, so I can’t see their faces. “Hello. Where am I?” My voice sounds weak to my ears. My throat is dry from all the yelling I did earlier. I would kill for some water.

“Cordelia, I am so—”

“I didn’t permit you to speak, Dain! I will address her first.” I can hear the frustrated growl from Dain, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“Cordelia, oh my, this is not the way I expected our first meeting to go.” The woman’s voice has a certain ring to it that crawls over my skin. I can tell, just like I did with Vivyn, this is not going to go well.

“Oh, you didn’t want me practically buried in the ground beneath your feet so you could stand above me and gloat about it. You could have fooled me. You surely didn’t intend to meet me on equal terms.” I really tried not to bite back, but I couldn’t help myself. I hate women like her. Lording over others with their privilege and entitlement. She is who she is by birth alone. She didn’t work for it.

She laughs, long and loud, clapping her hands like I was a stand-up comedian delivering my best stick. “Oh yes, I can tell you were raised on Earth. I will forgive your naivety and your lack of decorum due to that alone. But she does have spirit.” She laughs and clears her throat. “Spirit can easily be broken, though, just ask your father.” I was about to say something completely different, but the last part stops me dead in my tracks.

“My father?” I ask. I vaguely remember him calling me daughter when he took from Celestia, but with everything else going on, I blocked that part out entirely.

“You didn’t give me a chance to speak to her,” Dain pleads, but he is quickly silenced. I can hear scuffling, a fist thrown, grunts, and then finally dragging.

“Dain, I told you not to speak.” She sighs. “Take him away.” She sighs again. I can almost see her shooing her hands at whoever she is giving the order to, like it’s an inconvenience. How could she treat her own flesh and blood this way? I can feel my anger rise, and in my current state of agitation, I am ready to breathe fire.

“You promised. I did what you asked. Give me this!” Dain yells as he is being dragged away from the hole, and I feel a pang of sadness at not being able to at least hear what he has to say. He has suffered at the hands of his own sister. I was so over this catty bitch.

“What do I call you? I thought the polite thing to do when you meet someone you don’t know is to introduce yourself. Since you didn’t give me that courtesy, I will opt for a name of my choosing,” I call up to her, dragging my chain across the floor as loud as I can. She wanted to annoy me, to get under my skin, well, two can play this game.

“Oh please, you know who I am. I am Auntie Maurelle to you, my young charge.” She laughs, and I’ve had about enough, and she’s only been in my presence for a few minutes.

“What is with everyone calling me a goddamn child? Last time I checked, I was a grown-ass woman. I am not your charge, bitch. I am a Queen. I may be in this fucked up prison of yours, I may even be naïve, hell, I don’t understand half the shit I’m told on a daily basis, but you will respect me.” By the time I finish, I am on my hands and knees in the dark, praying that she can’t see me panting. Another wave of lust and want has hit me so hard my moan turns into a groan as I try to hide what’s happening to me. The sensation hits every erogenous zone, sending wave after wave of need straight through me. A whimper escapes my lips, and I hurry to cover my hand over my mouth, but the damage is already done.

“Well.” Maurelle tsks. “I guess my advisors were right.” I try to hear what she is saying, but I can barely focus as I wait for the feelings to ease. How can I be strong and be this damn vulnerable at the same time?

“Pull her out and take her to a room in the castle,” I hear Maurelle say, but I don’t register what’s happening until sets of male hands reach down for me. I scrabble as far away as I can, not wanting them to touch me. I can’t let them touch me.

“Don’t touch me!” I yell. I attempt to swat their hands away, but it’s no use. One of them grabs the chain and yanks me forward, and I fall landing hard on my stomach. The other unhooks the chains and releases my legs and hands. There is not much space in the hole I’ve been in, and the two of them are laying on the floor above me, reaching down. As soon as they touch my skin, I feel utter revulsion as my stupid body betrays me once more. I moan softly as they drag me out of the hole. Their touch elicits unwanted pleasure, and I feel as if I am going to be sick. I silently send an apology through my bond to my mates. I don’t know how I am going to make it through this without them. The guards drag me across the floor and release me quickly, and I almost want to thank them for not taking advantage of me and my precarious situation. I turn over and pull myself up to stand on wobbly legs. I am sure I don’t look very regal now, but I hold my head up and meet her gaze regardless.

“Oh, you look a mess.” Maurelle eyes travel downward, I want to shy away from her judgmental observations, but I refuse. She stops just shy of my visible wet spot between my legs, and I glare at her with as much hatred as I can muster. I am absolutely mortified, and if I could teleport it would be as far away as I could go.

“You’re in heat?” She looks me in the eyes, and a malicious grin spreads across her face. I take a couple of steps back until I collide with one of her guards and quickly scramble away from them. The corridor we’re in is lit by floating orbs of ambient light, making Maurelle almost look ethereal. Her long floor-length turquoise gown sparkles unnaturally, considering the lighting in here, I can only assume it’s enchanted in some way. Her long black locks fall over her shoulders, hiding her substantial breast that fights to escape the scrap of fabric they’re hiding behind. Tiny diamonds are intricately placed over her eyebrows and under her lower eyelids to enhance her impeccable jewel-toned makeup. She was beautiful, voluptuous, and nothing like the Fae queens you read about in a fantasy novel on Earth. “Do you like what you see?” she asks, and my eyes snap back up to her. I internally berate myself for gawking for too long.

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