Page 53 of Dorchad

As red and green sparks erupted in the shadowy power hovering around her, Dorchad said in his mildest tone, “I await your command, my queen.”

“The cluet recently granted another wish. Why did your clan not find and deliver it to me?” As she spoke, she drifted around him, looking all over him as if he were a prized stallion. “Do not remind me that I gave you abominations until the winter solstice to find the wretched thing.”

He wanted to tell her that he’d just had his hands on the wretched cloth, but knew she’d go into another fit of rage and possibly wipe out the clan and everyone else in the highlands along with him and Rebecca. But how could he answer her in such a way that wouldn’t make her so furious?

“You’re wrong, your majesty,” a soft but clear voice said from behind his right shoulder.

Dorchad’s blood turned to ice as Rebecca stepped between them. She had his tartan wrapped around her, but her shoulders, arms and legs remained bare to the immortal’s gaze. She looked at the dark Fae queen in return with a calm countenance, showing no horror at the ghastly sight of her.

“Be silent,” he muttered to her.

“Chieftain Dorchad is not an abomination,” his lover told the immortal, ignoring his order. “He’s a good man.”

The queen looked down her nose at Rebecca. “Such loyalty from a little nothing of a mortal. Brave, too. She came out of hiding for you, half-blood, and now defends you in front of my guards. The yellow-haired one that your laird caught only whispered her counsel to him.”

“Later I shall beat this female for daring to speak to you, my queen,” Dorchad assured her, pulling Rebecca against his side and only just resisting the urge to clamp a hand over her mouth. “Please, tell me how the MacRune may serve you better.”

“One of my hunters sent word that my consort, that thieving Osgan, yet lives.” Her sneering smile peeled back into a hideous grimace of hatred. “He skulks about in your territory now in disguise. While you dither about looking for my treasure, doubtless he does the same. If my hunter fails to find him, perhaps I shall send my army to search this wretched realm for him.”

“Give the MacRune your leave to hunt the thief,” Dorchad said quickly. “He shall ken much about the cluet, and where ’twas hidden.”

“If you wish, only hurry, for my hunter shall torture him until he confesses,” the queen said, and reached out to touch Rebecca’s shining curls. “I like the hair on this one, and she smells delicious.” She caught her chin and tipped it up to look at her face. “Do you wish to live forever in my world, little mortal? All you must do is everything I tell you.”

Dorchad knew the immortal was using some kind of erotic magic, for his cock was so stiff now he could spill at any moment. He ignored his own lust, kissed Rebecca’s temple and murmured, “Refuse.”

“I belong to the chieftain, your majesty. I already do everything he says, and he commanded me to refuse you.” She said it with so much wry affection the queen laughed. “But thank you for the offer.”

The dark Fae monarch came closer, putting her face so close to Rebecca’s their noses almost bumped.

“You’re gifted beyond the scope of most mortals.” She stroked one of her long fingernails across Rebecca’s bottom lip. “’Tis never enough to quench the longing, is it? Even this grim half-breed must labor greatly to appease you.” She leaned closer and whispered something in her ear before she said to Dorchad, “You possess a fragile treasure here, MacRune. If you ever tire of this realm, summon me and I shall take you and your female back to Elphyne to serve me. I would be very pleased to add you both to my collection.”

Her sensual power swallowed him whole at that moment, and he could envision what eternity serving the immortal would be like for him and Rebecca. They would drown in the pain and pleasure of surrendering to her, and know bliss so exquisite it would fill them with eternal lust for more. Nothing he’d known or ever knew would give him so much dark joy.

Nothing he’d experienced had ever horrified him as much.

“Thank you, my queen.” It was all he could do not to shove the immortal back from his woman.

After one last, longing look the queen retreated to the rift in the soil. As her guards encircled her she looked back at Dorchad, and nodded to him before she dropped into the dark well of power. Her monstrous guards did the same, and then the ground shook as the ugly gash in the soil closed and vanished.

“I should keep my pledge to her.” When he glanced down he saw how pale Rebecca had grown. “Why didnae you obey me?”

“I thought she was going to hurt you.” She closed her eyes, and tears streaked down her cheeks. “I’m not sorry, either, so go ahead and punish me.”

Dorchad despised weeping females, but Rebecca had just survived an encounter that would have driven most mortals insane. She’d also tried to protect him when she’d thought him in danger, from his own kind, no less.

“Do you ken how close you just came to living in eternal torment as that cursed female’s bed slave? Or how much she would cause you to suffer forever?” he asked her as he held her and rubbed her back. “Never do such again.”

She nodded, pressing her face against his chest.

He let her sob for a time, and when at last she calmed he looked over at the dark silhouette of the stronghold. He should get her inside, and report to the laird about the encounter. Yet even as he thought of his duty he gently dried her tears and cradled her against him until she looked up, her expression both grateful and miserable.

“Tell me what the queen murmured to you,” he prompted.

“She said I’d never sleep again, and that I wouldn’t want to.” Rebecca rubbed at her ear. “Then she told me how she’d have sex with me the first time by binding me to a bed of crystal daggers, with all her kingdom watching us. She promised my wounds would heal after just a few moments before she hurt me again, and again. For a moment...just a moment...”

“You wanted to go with her, and submit to that nightmare of pleasure,” he guessed, and she nodded slowly. “She used magic to bespell us, so ’twas the same for me. Indeed, I came close to begging her to take us both.”

“Can we go home?” Rebecca asked, shivering.