lily harper 04.5 - the bladesmith (2 page)

“Dude, you’re like the worst person to try an’ have ah conversation with,” the angel grumbled before sighing audibly. “This is hell. Bein’ stuck in this prison with you for all eternity.” He sighed again. “FML.”

“Aye, ’tis nae paradise fer meh either.”

Thankfully, I was spared from suffering through the angel’s retort when the iron door to the cell room opened. Watching Lily step inside the dimly lit prison, I was immediately seized by anger and outrage. She was dressed just as scandalously as she was the last time she visited me. This time, however, her gossamer gown floated around her curves. The dark blue material revealed her nakedness beneath the garment in the low light. Her heavy breasts were prominently displayed, the peaks of her nipples pebbling underneath the flimsy fabric. As soon as my eyes beheld them, I flushed with shame.

Although my mind was more than aware of the treachery brewing inside this woman, my body desired her. The realization infuriated me, but I could not deny it. The memory of her slick tightness was etched forever in my mind. Verily, I could admit my own carnal thoughts of her were almost as punishing as the very chains which held me in place.

“You …” I started, but could not finish. My tone was laced with venom and, yet, my eyes must have betrayed me. It was Lily I saw … no matter the treachery that lay beneath her soft skin.

“Who is it?” the angel bellowed from the other side. “Has the Wicked Witch returned?”

Lily did not respond. As soon as she entered the prison, my eyes were riveted on her soulless, empty ones. They were as black as her long tresses. Never did I miss seeing Lily’s emerald eyes and deep-red hair more than I did at that very moment. As she approached my cell, she stared at me deliberately, lasciviously.

“Remove the angel from his cell,” she instructed Saxon. He popped up from behind her, reminding me of a circus monkey obeying its master. He refused to look at me, which was just as well. His uncut hair covered the fresh bruise below his right eye and the yellowing marks on his neck, my gifts to him. Of course, now that my chains were shortened, I had no chance of attacking the yellow-bellied coward again. Had I been unbound, I would have torn his windpipe out and shoved it straight up his …

“What would you like me to do with him, my queen?” Saxon asked. His groveling reverence to this woman disgusted me. I would never acknowledge her as anything more than a usurper.

“Move him to the prison block adjacent to this one,” she announced without bothering to retract her gaze from mine. “I want the bladesmith to sit in this prison wing alone.”

“What the hell’s going on?” the angel demanded as soon as Saxon unlocked his cell. “Why don’t you take my chains off and face me like a man? Huh, Saxon, you little fucktard? Take what you got comin’ to ya!”

Moments later, I heard the sounds of scuffling, followed by heavy breathing. All at once, the squat, little angel appeared in the corridor, still chained, before being dragged off by Saxon. As they passed Lily, she did not bother to turn around.

“Whatever the hellz you’ve done with my best friend, you skanky bitch, Conan is gonna fuck your ass up! You hear me?!” he yelled at her as he was forcibly lugged past her. Bolstered with bravado or sheer stupidity, he made a snorting sound from deep within his nasal cavity and moments later, spat a wad of something on her feet.

“You will regret that!” Saxon bellowed. He stopped short and the stookie angel nearly plowed into him.

Lily held up her hand, and her expression was bored as she shook her head at Saxon. “Remove him,” she said simply, her eyes instantly returning to mine. Saxon didn’t reply, but started forward again, leading the fuming angel from the room.

“Fight it, Lils!” he yelled as soon as they reached the iron door. “Fight the power! Don’t let whoever the hellz is inside of you win! Fight the bitch!”

Saxon yanked him through the iron door as the angel fought and cursed like a drunken sailor after realizing he’s been shanghaied and never to be seen nor heard from again. The door slammed shut behind them at the same moment Lily unlocked my cell door before slipping inside.

“I know who you are,” she said simply, taking the few steps that separated us until she was standing right before me.

“Dae ye?” I asked with little concern. It was simply a matter of time before she uncovered the hidden mystery between us. For myself, I had had my suspicions regarding the identity of the spirit possessing her, and now I supposed those suspicions would finally be put to rest.

“Do you know who
I
am?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Ah have mah suspicions.”

She laughed, and although it was Lily’s voice, the sound was unlike any laugh I ever heard from her. There was nothing cheerful about it. It sounded acidic and ugly. And only further ignited my embers of anger.

This foul creature has nae right tae be inhabitin’ the body o’ one sae pure as mah wee lass,
I growled at myself. But my words would do me no good because the situation was far beyond my control.

“I have been gone a very long time,” she started as she stood above me with a smirk. I had no doubt she liked looking down at me. It was a position I was not accustomed to. Judging from the smile on her face, she was well aware of that. “It has taken me quite a while to adapt to this body,” she said as she glanced down at her prominently displayed breasts before grinning more broadly. “Though I must admit, I am quite pleased with it.”

“Ah am certain ye are,” I said coldly. Lily was beautiful. Her face and her body. But she was only beautiful to me when she was herself and not possessed by this foul temptress.

“Just as it took me a while to adjust to this body, it has also taken some time for my memories to be restored,” she continued. She straddled my legs before taking a few steps up my body. The material of her skirts tickled my legs, causing gooseflesh to break out all over my skin. I was hopeful she would not notice my reaction.

“Why are ye botherin’ meh with this?” I demanded as I glared up at her.

“You already know the answer to that,” she responded before inching her skirt higher up her thighs.

I dared not divert my attention from her eyes. Sensing the hunger in their depths annoyed me. I swallowed hard because I knew what that meant. She was ravenous, and greedy. I could see the proof of her desire in her eyes. She wanted me … again. My cock responded with a pulsing throb and my ensuing shame engulfed me.

She isnae Lily!
I railed in protest, fully knowing that my body saw her only as such.

“I could not understand what was drawing me to you,” she continued as she worked her way down my body until she was straddling me again, wrapping her legs around my waist. “As time went on, though, I uncovered the reason.” She pulled her skirt up to her hips and sat down on me abruptly. Then she leaned forward until we were eye-to-eye, our noses no more than an inch apart.

“Git away from meh,” I growled at her.

Laughing, she reached down to begin stroking my eager cock. The bloody traitor jumped into her hand as soon as she touched it. I was at once growing long and thick, despite a torrent of anger in my mind. My disloyal body sickened me.

“Part of my attraction to you was simply due to the silly girl who shares this body with me,” she continued.

I felt myself flushing with hot steam. “Ye would dae well nae tae discoos Lily with meh,” I warned her.

She laughed, a high-pitched, horrible sound. “Ah, it seems the mighty bladesmith was quite taken with the young girl, were you not?”

“Finish yer story,” I ordered as soon as she started running her index finger down the side of my cheek, outlining the scar that bisected my cheek. Her other hand stroked my erection, busily sliding up and down until I felt like punching a hole in the stone wall if I could not bury myself inside her, if only momentarily.

“Very well,” she acknowledged with a quick nod. “Her desire for you is strong. I mistook the reaction, at first, and thought it was merely her biological need that propelled me toward you,” she finished. She began shaking her head as if to say such was not the case. “But as the days passed, I realized this burning desire for you did not belong to her alone. No, it was something she and I shared. And once my memories were fully restored to me, I could begin to understand my attachment to you.” She took a deep breath and glanced down at her hand, or more pointedly, my straining erection. “And your attachment to me.”

“Ah have nae attachment tae ye,” I spat in reply, finding it suddenly difficult to speak the longer she tightened her hold around my cock.

“Do you know me?” she asked, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

“Aye,” I breathed out, struggling to ignore her as she resumed her manipulation of my erection.

“I thought so,” she said as the smile spread across her mouth. For a brief moment, I could not even recognize the woman before me. She was Lily, aye, but she looked nothing like her.

“Who am I?” she asked as she leaned down to blow on the tip of my cock. I slammed my lips together and shook my head, refusing to answer or look at her.

“Say my name,” she crooned softly, running her index finger sensuously around the head of my erection as I strained to control myself.

“Ah willnae!” I insisted.

“Say. My. Name,” she demanded. She opened her mouth and slid my cock inside it.

“Nae,” I ground out, throwing my head from side-to-side as she began sucking on me, stroking my shaft up and down with her hand and taking me inside her mouth fully. I was on the brink, and she knew it. I could tell by the way she quickened her rhythm. Her intimacy with my cock was no surprise since they were old acquaintances from the past. Intimate friends.

“Say my name!” she demanded as I ascended to the brink.

“Persephone!” I yelled, and exploded into her mouth.

TWO

“How nice to make your acquaintance … again,” she said, scorn dripping from every word. Her smile was self-impressed, even authoritative, as she pulled away from me and stood up. Meanwhile, my entire soul deflated as the gravity of what just happened fully registered.

Ye have nae control!
I berated myself as I shook my head and cursed my basic weakness.
Ye are nae better than ah pubescent schoolboy!

As soon as the thought cleared my head, I sensed the rumblings of Donnchadh rising within me. Donnchadh’s essence felt like a sudden angry force, swelling inside me, coloring my thoughts and my disposition with his vehemence and darkness.

Ye took whit was yers tae take,
his voice sounded in my head, and shock ricocheted through me because this was a rare occurrence. It meant his power was growing, that his control was eating away at mine.
Whit was
ours
tae take.
His tone was admonishing and indulgent.
An’ ye will take her again, as it pleases ye. Every woman is ours fer the takin’.

Nae,
I retorted as I struggled to repress him. I had to force him back into hibernation so he could be manageable once again. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, slamming his existence into nothing, forbidding his voice and banishing his thoughts from entering my head, or daring to use my body as if it were his own.

Thankfully, I was temporarily successful in controlling Donnchadh, but the situation was fast becoming more dire. Donnchadh’s strength grew inside me, multiplying exponentially as the days went by. Having not bled myself for far too long, now I had to pay the price. It became increasingly difficult to silence his voice, never mind his authority. It was a small wonder that he hadn’t made an appearance during the brief time I’d lost myself to pleasure.

What a fool I was …

“The bladesmith,” Persephone said, forcing my attention back to her face, to Lily’s face. I couldn’t help examining the beauty I saw there, feeling suddenly and indescribably saddened that this woman was as far removed from Lily as possible.

“How is it that ye are here, talkin’ tae meh?” I demanded, fresh anger infiltrating my thoughts as I remembered the horrible situation at hand.

She shrugged and appeared unconcerned. “Why act so surprised?” she started, tapping her index finger against her lips before a broad smile overtook them. “Ah, could it be because the last thing you remember was when you killed me?” She glared at me for a few seconds, but didn’t allow me to speak. “Or, perhaps I should say, you
thought
you killed me.”

“Aye,” I agreed, nodding, because she was correct. The last time I’d seen her I was slitting her throat. “Boot apparently, Ah wasnae good enoof at it.”

“Apparently not,” she concurred as she stood above me. She crossed her arms over her chest while she studied me. “You surprise me, bladesmith,” she started, her voice growing softer.

“Ah dinnae know why,” I grumbled, no longer interested in anything she had to say. The truth was that I was exhausted. The culmination of everything I’d borne in the last week finally crashed down on me like an avalanche.

“Together we were so strong, so powerful,” she announced, her jaw growing tighter.