Prisoner of Darkhaven (8 page)

DeMumart untied the ropes holding Elise’s thighs apart.

Her body slumped, pulling heavily on her arms that were still

bound high above her head. Aches and pains replaced the tension

leaving her body. She wept quietly, silently thankful for the King's

untimely psychotic episode.

DeMumart's eyes darkened with promised retribution. They

traveled her body from head to foot. He looked disgusted.

Elise wondered if it was with her or the King.

"Leave her in this cell. I'll come for her in the morning."

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Elise should have called on him by now. Damien walked back and

forth. She had promised to summon him once her meeting with the

King was done. Something must be wrong. Y
es fool, she's been

betrothed to the King and is now living in luxury.

Damien gritted his teeth. The nagging words in his head were

really pissing him off. Elise was better off. She deserved all the

riches and fineries being Queen could afford her. What kind of a life

could he give her?

Bah! He's probably better off too. N
o you're not idiot ... she

belongs to you!

Fucking little voice in his head. Alas, it was true. Elise was his

and no matter how much he tried to convince himself he could let her

go on to a better life, he would never allow it.

He stared at the scrolls before him, scattered about his desk. He'd

read and reread every word a hundred times over. Still he didn’t have

the vaguest notion who cursed him. It was there. It had to be! If only

there was a clue, anything that could give him some kind of inkling.

However, the curse was much too powerful.

He pushed away from the desk. Summoning one of his pets, he

waited until the tiny gargoyle appeared before him.

"Go find Elise, show me."

The little beast bowed at Damien's feet and vanished to do as

commanded

Damien laid his head against the back of the chair and closed his

eyes. Images of trees, roofs and empty dirt streets flashed by. The

town was devoid of any activity this late at night. Normally, when he

was bored he would send one of his servants during the day to see the

lives of people as they worked, loved and played. He watched as they

took their freedom for granted. It was his sick way of soothing his

loneliness. Yet, it only made his existence more pathetic.

The Royal Castle came into view. A moment later, he traveled

through the halls, farther and farther down the spiraling stairways. He

entered the dungeon, traveling past the poor souls forgotten in their

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chains. He made his way through the narrow passage, seeing skin and

bones that littered the stone floor.

He stopped. A single cell before him contained a tiny sole figure.

He crept up closer. The poor little human didn't move. It lay

slumped.

Closer.

It moaned, a weak feminine sound.

Closer.

It moved suddenly, slowly.

Closer.

It turned its head and looked up.

Damien's heart clenched. "No! Elise! No!"

* * * *

it hovered above her. A worried brow marred its small beastly face.

A small-clawed hand reached for her pendant and clasped it in its

grip. An instant later Elise was lying in Damien's arms.

He rocked her gently. His lips brushed her temple and let his

power envelope her. The glow surrounded them both.

Warmth penetrated her chilled bones. Soon the pain in her limbs

and back became non-existent. Damien whispered soothing words in

her ears as his magic soaked into her flesh healing all her wounds,

bringing her back from the brink of death. Safe. She felt so

incredible safe. This was where she wanted to be. Forever.

Damien laid her down on soft bedding. He fell on top of her,

careful not to crush her with his much larger frame. Their naked

bodies melded together as if it was the most natural thing in world.

Elise wrapped her arms around his neck. The feel of his hard

muscles tight against her belly and breasts created a surge of heat to

fill her already weeping pussy. She wanted him inside her with a

desperation that could never be sated. Too much of Damien was

never enough for her.

He lifted his hips away from hers, allowing movement. Elise

spread herself beneath him. Her thighs opened of their own volition,

inviting him in. That magnificent cock of his found her core.

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Torturously slow, he began to sink those wonderfully thick inches

into her sopping cunt.

Elise groaned.

When he finally imbedded himself completely, she ground her hips

against him, trying to force him in even deeper. Damien growled low.

His shaky breath indicated the quickening loss of control.

He began to rock against her gently. Their bodies swayed in

perfect synchronization. It built steadily.

The solid length deep inside Elise sent waves of throbbing pleasure

spearing through her cunt, caressing her from the inside out. Her hips

soon bucked against Damien's pelvis, wanting him to fuck her harder.

Her body climbed faster to that ultimate ecstasy; one only this man

could give her.

Damien shifted to his knees. Not breaking their intimate joining, he

wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her up so that her ass sat

on his hips. In this position, his cock drove much deeper.

Elise cried out. She tried to impale herself over and over again on

Damien's cock. His grip on her waist prevented her from taking

control of their fucking.

He smiled down at her. Unlike before, this smile was filled with

telling emotion, happiness. His eyes narrowed. Their depths

darkened with passion. His expression suddenly changed to that

predatory possessiveness she so loved. That made her so hot.

Elise's head fell back. She let herself surrender completely to him.

The moment her body relaxed in his grip, Damien took her.

His hips drove into her. He growled with every deep punishing

stroke. The fucking he gave her was so powerful it slammed the bed

against the wall. Elise begged him for more. She lifted her hips to

meet him as he pounded faster, harder, in and out, in and out of her

pussy.

Sweat poured from their bodies as the loved each other with brutal

need. It built and built until Elise could no longer see anything but

flashes of brilliant light dancing above them. She screamed his name,

panting and clawing his back as the pleasure consumed her mind body

and soul.

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Somewhere in the fog, she heard Damien shout, his words barely

audible. She was certain she heard him say it.

I love you ... I love you ... sweet, sweet Elise, I love you.

Bliss descended upon them.

She was safe.

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They hadn't slept as long as Elise would have liked. Nothing felt

better than Damien's arms surrounding her. However, she knew with

despair, a third task awaited her.

Damien held her hand. Bringing it up to his lips palm up, he first

licked the sensitive skin of her wrist, then placed a soft kiss in the

center of her palm. A gentle shockwave traveled up her arm.

He pulled her into his arms. "You have to go before the Duke

knows you're gone." Damien paused to bury his face in her dark

tresses and inhaled deeply.

"Do what you did with the first two tasks and all will be well."

Elise nodded solemnly. She stretched up on her tiptoes and

brushed her lips across his.

"Once this is done, I will come back to help you find a way to break

your curse." Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "It is the least I can

do for all that you have done for me."

Damien smiled, although his eyes looked sad.

He kissed her forehead. A second later, she was back in the cell

where DeMumart had left her.

As if on cue, two burly guards approached her and unlocked the

cell. They gently brought her to her feet. The dress she had been

wearing before Damien summoned her was back on her body.

Modestly, Elise tried as best she could to cover the lower half of her

body.

One of the guards hand her an old tattered frock. It stunk with old

urine and dirt, but at least it covered much more than the shredded

remains of her dress.

After she clothed herself, the guards brought her outside through an

underground tunnel.

Duke DeMumart was waiting.

He slowly walked towards her.

Elise swallowed. Her legs trembled, threatening to crumble

beneath her.

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DeMumart sneered his eyes seemed fixed on her pendant and she

realized that she forgot to hide it in her dress.

He slowly slid his eyes up to her face, his brow furrowed with

suspicion.

Elise waited for him to ask about the pendant, however to her

surprise he moved away. After instructing one of his guards, he

climbed on his horse and left.

The guard motioned her to follow him. Elise felt uneasy.

Something was not right about this whole situation. DeMumart

suspected something. Did he figure out that she had been using

demon magic to complete her tasks?

Before she could consider it, the guard stopped. Elise had been so

preoccupied with DeMumart; she hadn't realized they walked a path

directly into the middle of the forest.

He turned to face her. "You know what you have to do."

Elise nodded. "Yes, I must make it so that the trees grow edible

silver and gold fruit."

He indicated the three lushly grown trees before them. "Those are

the ones my lord has selected."

She took in the large birch trees and inclined her head. "I'm ready."

The Guard nodded once and climbed his horse leaving her to her

task.

When she was certain, he had gone far enough away from her, Elise

clasped her pendant and closed her eyes. For a third time the little

gargoyle creatures appeared out of thin air and began to work their

magic, Damien's magic.

Elise sat and watched with wonder the tiny creatures zoom to and

fro, like little blue and red lightning bolts. In no time at all golden

peaches, apples and silver pears shimmered in the sunlight.

With her attention completely focused on the miraculous little

creatures, Elise never noticed the movement behind her, or the guard

who squatted behind a tall bush watching her every move.

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DeMumart came for her the next morning. Elise smiled

triumphantly at him, when he surveyed the completed task with

astonishment.

"Well done."

He turned and gave her an unusually brilliant smile. It made Elise

extremely uncomfortable, especially when the smile turned evil.

"However," DeMumart almost purred, "I do believe your efforts

were in vain, my dear."

Elise took a step back with a hand to her chest. Her breast heaved

and the pounding of her heart rang in her ears. He knew!

DeMumart tossed his head back and laughed.

"Did you really think you could fool me?" He took three large steps

and towered over her.

Elise trembled, but refused to look away from him.

"It doesn't matter how I completed the tasks you gave me! They

were impossible and you know it!"

DeMumart didn't move. His lips split into the most heinous smile

she had ever witnessed on another human being. DeMumart wasn't

human. She knew that now.

Without warning, he tore the pendant from her neck, pulling her

forward with the force of his aggressiveness.

Elise gasped. She stumbled, nearly falling but managed to keep

herself upright.

"That belongs to me!"

DeMumart studied the pendant.

"No. It belongs to someone I haven't seen in eons."

Time itself seemed to halt in that moment. Elise stared at

DeMumart as it dawned on her what the evil Duke was implying.

"You couldn't possibly..."

He grabbed her arm and yanked her against him, before she could

finish her thought.

She looked up at soulless black eyes.

"Why!"

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DeMumart regarded her rather amused with her sudden bravado.

"Why give you all these impossible tasks?"

Elise narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin up, trying to display the

courage she truly didn't feel. "Yes!"

DeMumart tilted his head to the left. Suddenly his body contorted