Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (71 page)

Expecting Fausto, I looked up in
surprise as four men in ornate uniforms entered, and moments later,
a man who took my breath away for all the wrong reasons entered the
tiny room—the king. Claustrophobia made my lungs ache, preventing
me from drawing a full breath. I shivered wildly, and began
hyperventilating. Dots appeared in my line of vision.

“
Woman, snap out of it or I
will put you down like the creature you are should be.”

His shocking words pulled me back to
the present. Feeling completely out of my league and fearing for my
life, I stayed mute. Nothing in my life could have ever prepared me
for this moment. I was in a room of vampires, and I had no chance
of getting out of there alive. The king stood there, towering over
me. He had eyes the color of a cold winter sky, and hair so white
blond, it looked like snow. There was nothing warm about this man.
Shivering, I glanced down at my wrist, wondering why nothing was
happening. I thought Lucius said I had a safety ward, that the scar
protected me; perhaps, it only worked when he was with
me?

“
Silly child; that ward
will not protect you from me. Maria may have cast a spell of
protection, but I am the king of all, and as the king, my spells
and enchantments are far mightier than any mere
witch’s.”

I couldn’t speak; no words would form,
and my brain felt totally addled. Too much was happening too fast
me to think coherently. The king chuckled, leaned down, and lifted
my chin.

“
I do not know what Lucius
sees in you. Perhaps I will later.”

His gaze travelled down my body, and I
felt completely naked. Shivering, I tried to wriggle free, only to
have the king clutch my chin harder.

“
Ivy, I have not finished
with you. I will get to know you intimately yet. After that, your
life will be worthless to me.”

As if the king silently commanded
them, the men in the room turned and left us alone.

I scrambled to my feet, but I had
nowhere to go, so I cowered against the back wall of the room,
tears threatening to fall. Violently, I brushed my eyes with my
fist.

“
So brave, little one.
Alas, resistance is futile. And as soon as I get what I want, you
will cease to exist.”

With that, the king stormed out of the
room. The door slammed shut and locked again behind him. Falling to
the hard concrete floor, I lay there, letting the tears finally
fall freely. How did I ever get into this situation? Why me? I lay
there crying, and eventually, sleep came to me. Slowly, my world of
terror faded for a few moments. Sweet moments, during which Lucius
came to visit me. As sleep closed her arms around me, I felt his
presence, his arms around me, his mouth upon mine, and passion
ignited my body once more.

My limbs felt heavy with desire, my
eyes too leaden to open. I lay there imagining Lucius beside me. I
moved my hand down my stomach until I reached my scarred pelvis,
which Lucius had showered with love. Gingerly, I slid my fingers
over my scars. Butterflies spread through my tummy as I remembered
Lucius using his skilled mouth. My nipples hardened at the very
thought of his tender ministrations. No longer able to hold off, I
slid my fingers under my skirt and found my wet panties. Slowly, I
started rubbing my pussy, hardly able to breathe. I found myself
grinding into my fingers, harder and faster, and I became so wet,
my finger slid into my tight pussy. I gasped at how good it felt as
passion spread throughout my body, and all the while, I thought of
Lucius, thought of his naked body.

“
Ivy, little one, slide a
second fingers inside, now. For me.”

My eyes shot open, and I looked
around. Horrified at myself, I quickly pulled my skirt back down
and fixed my panties. What was wrong with me? Why was I hearing
voices? Had I finally crossed the line from sanity to lunacy?
Considering all I was going through, I wouldn’t be surprised. There
was only so much a person could take before their mind checked out,
once and for all.

Suddenly, the scar on my wrist few
fiery hot. I looked down at it and gasped. The blood red teardrop
was enflamed and looked ready to burst. Desperately, I blew on the
mark, trying to cool it down. I glanced around solemnly. I was
alone—completely, utterly alone. The situation reminded of the
horrors I’d faced as a teen, and yet again, I was alone to face my
worst nightmare. Driven by a wave of hysteria, I ran to the door
and started hammering on it with my fists, screaming for
someone—anyone—to hear me and let me out. I could not bear this. I
could not bear being alone, facing my fears once again. Lucius
promised I would never be alone again, but he’d lied. I hitting the
door over and over again, screaming until my voice went hoarse, and
still no one came. Finally, exhausted, I collapsed to the ground
once again.

My dragged air in and out of my lungs.
My mind barely holding onto a thread of sanity, I raged inside.
This was not going to happen. I would get out of this. I had to,
and Lucius was somewhere waiting on me. The king must have me
hidden away somewhere, but I knew Lucius would try to find me.
Meanwhile, I wouldn’t just sit here; I had to figure out a way to
get out of there. In that moment, something happened to me. Not
only did I come to the realization that I would have to pick up the
pieces of my shattered, tormented heart and heal it, but it also
dawned on me that I would have to help myself escape. Lucius was
right; I had the power in me to get through this. I and I alone
could heal myself; no one else could. Just as I had this epiphany,
my scar stopped throbbing. I looked down to see it had sunken into
my wrist, a pale pink drop no longer blood red. Perhaps Maria’s
gift had served two purposes—not only warning me of grave danger,
but also helping me realize I had the strength inside me to carry
on. I stood straight, took a few deep breaths, and waited. No
matter how long it took, I would wait it out, and I would find a
way to get out of there alive.

I paced the concrete floor, rubbing my
shoulders from the cold. Hours passed, and I pulled out my phone,
mulling over the fact I could not use it. Pissed and despondent, I
threw it across the room; it clattered to the ground and broke into
pieces. Immediately, I regreted my actions. As I stooped to pick up
the shattered remains, I heard footsteps quickly approaching. I
screamed and hollered, banging my fists on the door. The steps kept
coming, and I backed away, up against the far wall, and waited. I
cowered like a caged animal, but I was ready to take flight. If
given half a chance to escape, I had to take it, even if I died
taking the risk. I had to get out, I had to find Lucius. The door
lock clunked and swung open, and one of the guards walked in and
looked at me, smiling like a Cheshire cat. He threw a tray of food
down beside me, and when he turned to walk out, I charged. With
everything I had, I jumped on him, but it was like hitting the
concrete wall beside me. He laughed cruelly and grabbed my
pummeling fists, squeezing them so hard I had tears in my eyes. I
could hear bones crunch, and I screamed. I kicked him and kicked
him, tried to scrape his face, but he grabbed my wrists and flung
me up and straight over his head. I landed on the cold, hard
ground. The guard stepped over me, then kicked me in the ribs. I
curled up into a ball. The pain was horrendous, but I’d managed to
block his aim with my arm, avoiding any lasting damage to my
ribcage. Maybe I couldn’t do this on my own, I thought, as I lay
there with my hands over my face. Where was Lucius?

Not
here. He’s not here, and if you don’t get up, you’re going to
die
. As the gravity of my situation fully
sank in, I reached inside myself for the last bit of my strength.
And then, with everything I had, I jumped up and charged once
again. The man apparently had not expected me to move, and I took
him by surprise. I sprang at him with a flying kick and sent him
falling back into the side of the open door. I heard a cracking
sound but did not wait to see what had happened. I was out the door
and running as fast as my legs would carry me, clutching my aching
ribs. I raced down the corridor with the lunatic guard chasing
behind me, fast approaching, his roaring obscenities burning my
ears. I turned the corner, saw a flight of stairs, and kept going,
taking them two at a time. My breaths were laborious and pained,
but still I kept on. Up ahead, I saw a door. Chances were high
there were more guards out there, but I also knew it might be the
door to freedom, so I kept going. Pressing the long metal bar, I
threw my weight against the door and pushed. An unsuspecting guard
had been standing on the other side, and I knocked him down. I dug
deep to find more strength and speed, and as I flew past him, the
fallen guard reached for my ankle, but I jumped like a gazelle and
raced ahead. Both men charged after me now, and as I glanced over
my shoulder, I saw one shouting into a cell
phone.

I rounded another corner in the hall
and saw a window, As I raced by, I saw it was daylight. Good. Most
of the guards were probably sleeping. With renewed courage, I
pushed through my exhaustion, pressing myself to new extremes. I
raced ahead and found a huge front door. Without pausing for a
second to think, I grabbed hold of the handle and pulled. The door
swung open. I could hear more approaching guards closing in as
raced down the front steps into the sunlight. Faster I flew, across
the lawn toward the tree line. I felt like a rabbit chased by a
fox, and terror lived inside me, making my stomach roll over and
feeding my fear and my imagination. Every sound I heard had me
looking over my shoulder, thinking they’d caught up with
me.

“
Ivy, hurry. Don’t stop
yet. Keep running to the river. You must cross it before I can
reach you.”

Lucius? Where had his voice come from?
I swung around, but the only people in sight were the guards, and
they were closing in fast. I turned and resumed running, charging
ahead through the woods. My lungs screamed at me, my heart
hammered, and every step felt like it would be my last. My feet
felt raw and blistered from my boots, but still I ran on, pushing
myself to my absolute limit. Branches smacked my face, and the
ground became slippery and dangerous, the leaves hiding the
undergrowth of snarled roots and fallen twigs that seemed to want
to grab me and pull me to the ground. I could hear noises behind
me, knew they were still after me, but suddenly I heard noise
ahead, as well. The river? I raced around behind a large oak tree
and stood there for a moment, gasping for breath and feeling dizzy
and weakened as I tried to listen. The noise sounded like water
rushing by. Yes! I’d reached the river! It lay just up ahead, and
with a new sense of purpose, I started off again. My legs were
killing me now, my stomach heaving, but I kept going. Almost there.
Almost there. And somehow, I would get across.

I rounded two more large oak trees and
stopped dead. There before me was a wide, swirling river. I nearly
fell to me knees in despair. How would I get across?

“
Ivy, you must swim. You
can do this. Look how far you’ve already come. It’s almost over; I
promise you.”

Laughing at myself and at the futility
of the situation, I decided I had no choice. I would rather die
trying than be beaten or raped by those bastards who I could still
hear behind me. In a few moments, they’d be on me, and my life
would be over, anyway. Between the two, the river was the better
option. After ripping the laces open on my boots, I pulled them off
and flung them aside. My feet screamed at me in protest, but I had
no time to rest them. I drew off my socks, yanked open the zipper
on my parka, and shrugged out of the heavy garment. I left
everything behind, as I took a deep breath and then hurled myself
into the frigid waters. The icy coldness momentarily confused me,
but I bobbed up to the surface and tried to get sense of my
direction. I could hear tree branches cracking off to the left, so
I swung to the right and began swimming with quick, strong strokes.
The cold stiffened my limbs, and I thanked the gods that my parents
had insisted I take swimming lessons as a child. Despite my skill,
my arms still ached, my breaths were pained and small, and the
frigid water made my thoughts jumble into a state of confusion. But
I kept going, and slowly, the other side drew closer, until finally
I looked up and saw him. Lucius, standing there in the clearing,
waiting for me. His lips moved, and I sensed him shouting
something, but I couldn’t hear him above the choppy waves. On I
swam, forcing myself to keep going, telling myself that soon—very
soon—I could stop. Lucius would take care of me. Lucius would
protect me. I risked a glance behind me and nearly drowned, for
there, on the bank, stood the king and Fausto, grim-faced and
obviously indignant over the fact that I appeared to have escaped
him. I turned back, and with renewed vigor, I pushed myself ahead,
kicking with everything I had. Lucius crouched down and placed his
hands out toward me. I grabbed on and held tight, and he pulled me
from the river as if I weighed no more than a small child. Lifting
me into his arms, he kissed me with punishing lips. I turned my
face, gasping for air, but I stayed safely in his grasp.

“
Ivy, I am in awe of what
you just did. Never for a second did the King think a human woman
could escape him, but you did. You are amazing.”

The dawning realization of what I did
hit me like a freight train, and I started to sob, making silly,
hiccupping noises. Lucius lowered us both to the ground, and I
curled up in his arms as he rocked me gently. He wrapped his coat
around the two of us, and we sat like this for the longest time.
Slowly, my breathing returned to normal, and my hiccupping grew
softer. Lucius lifted my chin, and I gazed into his molten eyes
with their red-rimmed pupils. I stroked his face, loving the feel
of his velvet skin. With a sigh, I reached up and kissed him,
savoring the taste that is Lucius. I inhaled his woodsy scent, so
uniquely him, and snuggled closer in his arms. I felt as if I’d
come home.