Chapter 30 Malachi #2
When I can’t drag it out anymore, we return to the water tower.
Roman is sitting on the couch, and he tosses me a wink that lets me know things are in order.
We spend the day lazing around and chilling, but, as night falls and the light fades, the mood shifts. Sensing it, Ophelia looks up from the book she’s reading and glances around, studying each of our faces in turn.
“Okay. What’s going on?” She cocks her head to one side. “There’s a definite vibe.”
“We want to do the ritual,” Roman says. “The one I mentioned before. I think tonight is perfect. The moon will be full, and it’s important both for light, but for the moon’s energy, too. We’ve all been through so much, and I think this will help us. It will bond us more than we already are.”
“I don’t think we can be much closer.” She nibbles her lower lip, and I want to bite it, then soothe it with my tongue.
“Us being together gives us all strength,” Roman agrees, “and I know you’re still scared about hearing the Prophet, even though he’s dead. I think this will help us all move on.”
He casts a concerned glance at Cain, and I know he doesn’t want to say that this is as much for him, yet Ophelia seems a little reluctant, and I wasn’t expecting that. She’d seemed up for it when we’d mentioned it before.
Roman runs his hands through his hair. “I just want to make sure we’re all spiritually close as well as physically. This will help us move beyond the terrible things that have happened recently.”
“If I recall, you said it involves kinky sex?” Ophelia narrows her eyes, but her lips twitch, showing she’s not pissed, not really.
Roman clears his throat. “It does, but it’s serious. It’s spiritual, deeply so.”
I smile at her, hoping to calm her fears. “If you don’t want to do this, once we’ve explained what it entails, you don’t have to.”
“You all know about it?”
There’s hurt in her voice, and I realize she thinks we all know what’s going to happen except her.
“Not the details,” I say. It’s not a lie; Roman told me about it, but I don’t know exactly what it entails, and to be honest, my brain short circuited after he described the sexual aspects of it.
“We weren’t trying to keep you in the dark,” Roman adds. “I wanted to make sure we had what we needed before proposing we do it tonight.”
She glances between us. “And are you all okay with this?”
I nod, and so does Cain, thank the gods.
“You’re the one who has to… um… let us all inside,” Roman says. “It’s more intense for you, I’d imagine.”
I don’t know why he’s blushing. It’s not as if we haven’t done shit like this before, but when he speaks again, I get it.
“It’s almost holy, in my faith view, asking this of you. I want you to let us inside you, at the same time, under the moon, as we are bound by silk, and we also will wear each other’s blood.”
“Blood?” Ophelia squeaks.
“It won’t take a lot. A small cut, but I mix it with herbs and other things.”
“What’s the purpose of it?” Ophelia asks.
“The blood sacrifice will form a protective circle around us all as a unit. This way, I hope it means I can ensure you never hear the Prophet again. And that none of us are haunted by the past.” He flicks a glance at Cain, fast, but meaningful.
“It also means when we’re apart, which hopefully will be rare, we’ll all still be connected, and finally it binds us to one another on a soul deep level.
” He quickly adds, ”It’s not a binding spell of the variety where you take someone’s will.
There’s nothing dark about this, it’s just…
it brings us closer, and forms protection around us.
It helps banish the bad memories and create new bonds. ”
She considers his words and then nods. “I trust you. All of you. If you think this is for the best, I’ll do it. What do you need for me to do to prepare?”
I want to go and hug and kiss her. She’s so fucking brave. She doesn’t think she is, but she really is. After everything she’s gone through, the betrayal, the heartache, she still has a heart big enough to trust, and I swear to myself that I’ll never break that trust.
“Nothing, other than take a shower, which we all need to do,” Roman says. “Then dress in something light, a pale dress, maybe?”
“Will you be wearing your robes and masks?”
There’s a slight tremor to her voice, and I realize with a pulse of lust that it’s not from fear, but desire.
Ophelia loves it when we wear our masks and robes. She’s even asked us to put the masks on before. I don’t know why she likes it so much, but I wonder if it frees her to be the wanton, sexual creature she is without feeling judgement or shame.
Not that we would ever judge her, but the robes and masks add a layer of false anonymity between us.
They make everything seem less real, and more like a crazy, sexy dream.
That’s my thinking behind it, but I know Roman would say it helps to thin the veil between the physical world and the spiritual one.
“Yes, we’ll be wearing our robes and masks.” Roman smiles at her. “If that’s okay with you?”
“Oh, yes.” Her words are breathy, eager, but she swallows and adds, “I mean if that’s what’s needed for the ritual, whatever it takes.”
I bite back my laugh. Our little angel is really a devil and a sinner in disguise, the same as the rest of us, and that suits me just fine.
My cock is already hard and aching like crazy at the thought of what lies ahead. If it wasn’t for the fact that I believe it might be bad to do, spiritually speaking, I’d go and take care of myself to take the edge off.
Ophelia stands and smooths her hands down her slim body. “Well, I guess I’ll go and get showered and make sure I’m squeaky clean all over.”
“Goddamn it,” Cain groans as she leaves the room.
“I’ll take a shower first, in the downstairs bathroom,” I say. “Then you guys can use it. I presume Ophelia will use the upstairs one.”
“No jerking off,” Rome warns, as if he can read my mind. “You need to come a lot, if you can, so don’t go fucking wasting it.”
“Come a lot?” I check. “As in produce a lot, or a lot of times?”
“The former.” Roman grins. “The more of our essence we can give her, the better.”
“Good job one of us has been behaving himself, then.” I give them both the side eye. I’m not the one who has been sleeping with Ophelia most nights the way Rome has, and getting off, the way I bet Cain has.
Heading out of the room, I turn on the shower, allowing myself to sink into the head space I need for the ritual.