Chapter Eleven
Chapter
Eleven
Beck
I panic when I realize she’s run. She did it. She
left me. My heart starts to pound. The anger will come later. Now I’m overcome
with fear. These woods are dangerous. What had I been thinking, bringing her
through here without a proper escort? But then, I can’t afford a proper escort.
Damn me, I shouldn’t have purchased a wife I can’t properly take care of. She’s
going to die here, and then I’ll lie down beside my brother and allow myself to
fade.
Maybe that’s what I should have done in the first place.
Stop it. This is no time for doubt or pity. If I’m going to
save my wayward wife, I need to think clearly. Find her trail.
It’s not hard. Meggie doesn’t have any idea how to hide it.
Her boot prints are plain in the dirt path. I toss my bow and quiver over my
shoulder. I’m fully armed. I have the sword on my back and knives placed in
various sheaths across my body. I toss aside the two rabbits I killed for
breakfast. My appetite is completely gone. All that matters is finding Meg
before something else finds her.
As I begin to jog down the trail, I watch for signs of her,
but my mind is caught in a punishing trap.
She ran because I was too rough with her. She gave me a
second chance after I treated her horribly in the arena, and what did I do? I
spread her legs painfully wide and shoved into her as hard and long as I could.
I covered her with my heavy body and forced her to take all of me. She is so
small, yet I pushed myself in, all the way to my balls. It probably hurt. She
said she liked it, but I know the truth.
I’ve known that my compulsions are perverse since I was
sixteen years old. I had a strong, overwhelming sex drive from the moment I hit
manhood. I tried to hide it from everyone except my brother, who matched me.
Cian doesn’t seem to need the same things I do, though. Cian can be gentle and
sweet with a woman. I need to bend her to my will. It’s my obsession. I thought
I found a good match in one of my mother’s handmaids. She was a few years older
than me and didn’t seem to mind when I ordered her to take my cock in her mouth
or spread her legs so I could look at her pussy. She seemed to like it. My
father found us just as I was discovering the joys of shoving my cock up her
tight ass.
I’ll never forget the look of horror in my father’s eyes. He
looked at me like he never saw my before. Like I was a dangerous animal. Father
beat me with the flat of his sword. Then he sat me down to explain a few things
to me.
Sometimes I think his words hurt far more than the sword.
According to my father, the maid went along with my
perversions because I was a prince. I had power over her, and she feared me.
Which is why she wouldn’t tell me when I hurt her. Which I almost surely had.
Women, he explained, are fragile creatures. They required gentleness. Anything
else was monstrous. If they said they liked my rough ways, they’re lying to
gain my favor. Father explained that if I treated my bondmate this way, she
would leave both me and Cian, and I would bring great shame to my family.
I was solemn and careful around Maris. There was no sex at
all with her, and sexual contact would never have been allowed until we bonded.
I vowed to treat her with honor and to never let her know about the beast
inside me.
Why can’t I do the same with Meggie? My heart is sick. I
care about her. I’ve seen deep into her soul. I know without doubt that I could
never have cared for Maris the way I do Meg. No matter what anyone says,
bondmates aren’t interchangeable.
Meggie is soft and vulnerable, despite that tart tongue of
hers. She wants to please me. I have to be a man and show her she doesn’t need
to. She wasn’t born into Fae society. She doesn’t understand the sacred
contract between a bondmate and her husband. It would be easy to take what
she’s offering. She’ll never know the difference, but it wouldn’t be honorable.
She’s left the trail here. I can see that she’s almost
walked a complete circle. Maybe she’s back at camp, having learned that the
woods are tricky. Maybe she’s waiting for me.
I will be gentle with her. I won’t allow my rage at her
defiance to show. I damn sure won’t do what I want to. I want to pull her pants
down, spank her bare ass red, and then fuck her until she begs me to stop. I
wanted to imprint myself on her so strongly she’ll never run from me again.
I almost make it to the hill above the river when a wave of
pure fear crashes into me. For the barest second I struggle but then realize
the powerful emotion isn’t coming from me. I feel Meg’s terror before I hear
the scream. It floods my body, causing my heart to pound and my soul to ache.
She’s so scared, and she instinctively reached across the distance to find me.
The bow is in my hand as I crest the hill. In one smooth move, I pull and notch
an arrow. I’m aiming before I even know what threatens her.
A kelpie. A fucking kelpie has Meggie. She’s on the kelpie’s
back, and it’s already taking off. Her scream echoes through the forest. That
sound will haunt me forever. I let the arrow fly, hoping to hit the heart
before the horse gets away with my wife. I hear the thud of the arrow striking
flesh, but it doesn’t slow the damn thing down. The horse plunges into the icy
river and Meg disappears.
Her panic threatens to take over my mind. She doesn’t know
how to shield, likely doesn’t understand she’s flooding me with her fear. I do
the only thing I can. I forcefully cut the connection between us. I can’t do
what I need to do if I’m overwhelmed with her fear. I rush out into the river,
cursing the cold. I take three deep, long breaths to fill my lungs, pull out a
cold iron knife, and dive after them.
The river is clear and the early morning light illuminates
the scene. The kelpie has gone deep. She sits patiently at the bottom of the
river among the thick reeds that sway with the current. It would be a peaceful
scene except for the woman struggling to survive. She can’t. The horse will
hold her in place until the river takes her life. When Meg is dead, the kelpie
will release her and devour her. If I hadn’t found her, the only thing I would
be left with is her heart. The kelpies never eat the hearts of their victims.
Meg is still struggling, but I can tell she’s already
failing. Her eyes flare as she sees me swimming toward her. She tries so hard
to push her body toward me, as though in her last moments, she needs to get as
close to me as possible. I swim straight to her and take her head in my hands.
I kiss her, forcing the air I hold in my mouth down to her lungs. It’s not
much, but I need every second if I’m going to save her.
I try to cut through the coarse hairs that hold her hands to
the kelpie. The horse is having none of that. She kicks out, trying to catch me
with her powerful legs. I don’t dare touch the mane with my own hands, lest I
get as trapped as my wife.
The horse catches me in the chest. I fly back in the water,
all the air blowing from my lungs. I float helplessly up to the surface. I drag
air into my chest. The knife is still in my hands. I managed to hold onto it.
How long had she been under? How long can a human
go without breath in her body?
She isn’t Fae. Her small body is more fragile. Goddess, I’m
going to lose her. I breathe in one last time and dive again.
This time Meg is slumped over. She moves as the current
moves, and her beautiful hair sways with the reeds. I can’t give up. I go
straight for the monster trying to take my woman. I avoid the strong, kicking
legs of the kelpie and savagely go straight for its throat. This time I don’t
even try to keep my hands clear. I forcefully plant my left hand in the horse’s
mane. It sticks immediately. I can’t move it, but it serves as an anchor. If I
can’t kill the fucker, I’ll go down with Meg. I’ll die as close to my mate as
possible.
With a sort of savage glee, I shove the blade I hold in my
right hand deeply into the horse’s throat. The kelpie, unable to kick me at
this angle, tries to use her teeth to bite. I dodge her mouth. I use every bit
of strength I have left to drag the blade through the kelpie’s thick flesh. As
the water around me clouds with blood, I know I’ll kill the monster, but it’s
too late. I feel my consciousness begin to fade. We’ll die down here. Cian will
never know what happened. We’re too far from each other. He might feel some
sense of my panic, but nothing solid. Cian will fade, never knowing why I
didn’t return.
Then suddenly my hand is free, and I feel myself beginning
to float.
I shake my head as my lungs start to burn and force myself
to move. I have to get a hand on Meg. I pull at her shirt and start to swim for
the surface. I kick my legs, even though weariness threatens to drag me back
down. I use every bit of my will to propel myself and Meg toward the light
above.
The sun is warm on my skin when I reach the surface and am
finally able to breathe in sweet, clean air. Meg is a deadweight in my arms. I
have to get her to land before I can try anything. I swim as fast as my legs
will take me. Seeing her skin so blue sparks an adrenaline rush that powers me
through the water. When I can touch the bottom, I pull her small frame into my
arms and race to the shore.
“Please come back,” I mutter as I lay her down. I fill my
lungs and then open her mouth. I cover her lips with mine, sealing them
together, and then push the air into her lungs.
Nothing.
I try again, my heart racing. She can’t be dead. I would
have felt it. I’m sure I would know. But then I threw up barriers. If she died
alone, I’ll never forgive himself. She would have died reaching out to me, and
I coldly closed our bond.
I try a third time. I worry this is how they’ll find me.
Trying and trying to save the most precious person in my life. I’ll just stay
here, filling her lungs until I can’t anymore.
Suddenly her eyes flutter, and her whole body convulses. I
turn her over as she throws up the water in her lungs. Her body shakes as I
pull her close. I freely opened our connection, letting her feel the relief
flooding my body. She starts to cry and turns over to clutch at me. Her arms
wind around me and she sobs against my chest.
I stroke her hair and rock with her. I close my eyes and
hold her close. She’s alive. That’s all I can ask for.