Page 43 of The House of Whispers

Say something.

Chesmu stared for a moment before finally speaking, breaking the nervous tension that surrounded us. “Chaos needs no control. It must move freely or it’ll suffocate, destroying all that surrounds it.” I blinked at how calm he was. “These,” he lifted his necklaces, “aren’t just from my home. They’re sacred. Before I was stolen, my mother had heard of strange beings destroying the neighboring tribes. These creatures came in the night, hunting our people, devouring anyone and everything in their path, leaving the crippled tribes helpless against the Others that herded the survivors like cattle to be sold.” He ran his thumb along the beads. “She gave me this not long before similar events happened to our tribe. Said that these beads had been blessed by mother nature herself, protecting her children from the evil, unnatural things in the world.” Chesmu’s face hardened. “After the Others burned my home to ash and murdered our warriors, they assaulted the remaining women, leaving them for those creatures to feast on and stole the children.”

“Is that how you found Madame Chepi?” Chesmu lifted an eyebrow, his eyes glued to the beaded necklace as it rested in his hand.

“Chepi found me. She too had been taken from her home, presumably under the same circumstances. I don’t really know much about her past, but I do know thatsomethingbrutally attacked her before we met.”

“How do you mean?” His words drew me in with such curiosity.

“The night I met Chepi, the remaining children from my tribe had been shuffled onto a ship waiting to set sail. Unbeknownst to us, those same creatures that haunted our land had stumbled upon the Others. It wasn’t until one of those creatures made its way onto the ship that we realized how bad things really were. It attacked everyone, feasting upon them. Chepi had escaped her bindings and was running when one of these creatures attacked her.” Chesmu shuttered at the memory. “Our eyes met and I knew I needed to help her. So I did. Near us was a burning lantern. I kicked it down, setting the creature aflame. It shrieked, screaming the most unnatural cries I’d ever heard. The creature’s face met mine, and while still burning, it crawled towards me. I was bound, unable to escape as it widened its jaw beyond possibility and raised its head. I closed my eyes preparing to die, when it shrieked again and fell next to me lifeless. Chepi had run a piece of the ship through the monster’s chest killing it. She saved me.”

Hearing his story, how he gambled his life to save hers, it pained me.

“I thought I would die on that ship, but I didn’t—because of Chepi. She ran to my side, bleeding from her wounds and helped me to my feet. Together, we escaped the creatures aboard the ship and hid until it was safe. I don’t know how, but we eventually managed to sneak aboard another ship and leave. Over the next few months, we healed and I swore to protect her until the day I die. I gave her my life in return for my own. From that day, I have never left her side. When we finally arrived at our new destination, we found this world. It was so foreign, so strange, compared to what we knew. Together, we learned to adapt—to survive.”

Chesmu sighed, dropping the beaded necklace. “I remember the first hexer I’d encountered here in this world. He tried to force Chepi in an alley not far from here. I pushed myself in between them, to protect her. The man laughed, sending a force of his power into me. Imagine his face when it completely dissipated, leaving me unharmed.” He smirked. “You hexers love to think you’re invincible.” He winked at me. “It was then that the words of my mother made sense. These beads had protected me from the dark magik. Magik that was unnatural to my world.”

“Chesmu, if you’ve been by Madame Chepi’s side all this time, where have you been all these years? Why have I never seen you or known of your existence?” I scrambled to make sense of everything he had revealed to me.

Chesmu sighed. “I’ve been here longer than you realize. Over the years, Chepi has grown more fearful of the Others. Her trust has wavered, falling solely onto me. She has kept me as her deepest secret, only revealing my existence when she desires my protection the most. There have been times where our paths have crossed, you were just too focused to realize it.” He stroked my cheek with his hand. “But I have noticed you. When she brought me from the shadows and asked me to bring you to her, I experienced something I had never felt before. I wanted to tell her no, to free you from this place. You don’t deserve to be trapped here, enslaved to her will. You should be free.”

My heart raced as I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand. “You deserve to be free too.”

“When I promised to protect her, I made a sacred vow, a pledge that has my soul chained to hers. Until she dies, I cannot be free.” I flinched hearing the atrocious burden that Madame Chepi was to him.

“Break your promise, free yourself and run away. Far away.” I looked at him, the sun shining through the window behind him casting rays of warm light along his skin.

“I’ve already lost everything in my life. Without my word, what do I have left?” His other hand mirrored the first as he held my face, staring into my eyes. His face was mere inches from mine. All I wanted at that moment was him.

“You have me.”

I pushed myself to him, our lips slamming together. Passion erupted through my body, flowing from my mouth as I breathed him in, kissing him, my tongue dancing with his. Chesmu pushed from the wall, breaking from my mouth as he unlaced my corset and tossed it aside. I ripped my blouse off, flinging it from my arms as he smiled, taking in the sight of my bare chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back into him, kissing my neck. My head dropped back, soft moans escaping me as he continued. The faint memory of us together melted into my brain, exciting me more. I wanted this. I wanted him.

“She doesn’t want us together.” Chesmu spoke in between kissing, breathing his hot breath against my neck. “She wants me to stay away from you,” his mouth made its way back to mine, “but you are all that exists in my mind. I only want you.”

The craving I had for Chesmu had intensified, growing with each second we prolonged what we both wanted.

“No games,” I breathed, “no waiting. You want me? Take me.”

Chesmu released a laugh, smiling as he moved his lips down my neck and to my breasts. Soft moans filled my lungs as I dropped back into his arms and he moved his tongue. “She may not want us together,” he dropped my breasts from his mouth, raising his head to look up at me, “but I want the world to know that you are mine.”

Chesmu’s words rattled me, causing my core to grow hot as his hand moved up my spine. He gripped the back of my nape, twirling us as we switched positions. He twisted me around, pushing me into the window as he slightly bent me over. My hands lay flat along the glass of the window as warm sunlight burned down on me through the thick glass. Below us, the inhabitants of the town carried on, unaware of my exposed, half-naked self bent over in plain view.

Chesmu’s hands glided from my hips down my sides, feeling every curve as his nails lightly dug into my skin. I closed my eyes, my head faintly rising as his hands returned to my hips. “Forgive me, Casper,” he leaned down, whispering near my ear, “but I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time.” I hadn’t realized but the whole time he was warning me, he had loosened my pants. He gripped the sides and yanked them down leaving my backside fully exposed to him. I smiled, my back arching ever so lightly as his hands squeezed my backside, growling as though he was fighting a hungry beast.

Chesmu slowly pushed inside me, groaning deeply as he gripped my hips. The size of him was more than I imagined. My lungs inhaled the air loudly as my head rose. He pushed further, barely fitting inside as my body ached for him. Chesmu gently pulled back, barely remaining inside me as he breathed sharply, struggling to control himself, his hands squeezing me hard.

“Do it,” I whispered back to him, staring at his hazy reflection in the glass. Our eyes met as he stared back into mine.

He flashed me a smile. “Grab the window sill.” My brows twitched as I tried to prepare myself, but there was no time. Chesmu shoved deep inside me, using his strength as he slammed into me once more. Gasps and moans left my lips as my face almost rammed into the glass. My hot breath had begun to fog the thick glass as he continued, pushing deeper, harder, and quickening his speed. My hands gripped the window sill tightly as my body moved back and forth, rocking as he took me from behind.

My core vibrated, enjoying every second as my wetness grew, soaking him. He moved a hand, reaching around my hip and began to trace my center, sending fire through my veins. Our breathing matched, increasing as he moved faster, grunting with each motion. Hearing him made me smile, enjoying the sound of his pleasure dancing in the air mixing with my own.

Chesmu leaned over, moving effortlessly as his mouth hovered above my back, sending shivers down my spine as he licked it. “I’m going to break you.” His words made me tremble as he bit my skin. Feeling his teeth bite into me only excited me more.

Chesmu adjusted his stance, gripping my thighs fiercely as he loudly grunted while forcefully slamming into me. A loud gasp left my throat as he repeated the motion, again and again, each harder than the last. My body moved with each thrust, pushing me into the glass as it fogged from our sweat and moans. As Chesmu pushed hard inside me, my nipples rubbed the cold glass, sending shivers along my skin as I used my strength to keep me from completely being slammed into the window.

A few people in the town below had spotted us, making faces as they scuttled away. I only smiled, enjoying the idea of being watched.

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