Chapter 15 – Baelen
CHAPTER 15
BAELEN
S hocked at their easy acceptance of Clawdia’s behavior, her endangerment of not only us, but herself, I stared aghast at my new family.
For the first time since I discovered them, we were all together, all of us knowing we would continue to be together, be a unit, until our deaths. I was not possessed. We were all alive and somewhat safe. It may have been a dream, but it signified that our bonds were reconnecting once more, and I was thankful for it.
But I couldn’t understand how they had survived so long when Clawdia insisted on putting herself in danger. How long will we survive the next trial, saving the titan race, if she forges ahead without her team, her army?
My soul mate bowed her head, not meeting my gaze as Charlie held her puffy, red face toward me. There was so much to say, so much to catch up on, and yet, at that moment, I found my role within the group. Like a puzzle piece, it clicked into place in my mind, and I decided now was the perfect time to demonstrate it.
“I didn’t say I wanted to stay angry,” I replied calmly, my face emotionless. I tilted Clawdia’s chin up to force her to meet my eyes and said, “But I do want to punish you.”
The catch in her breath was a reward all its own.
Zaide’s eyebrows jumped as his gaze flicked from me to Clawdia while Charlie hummed as he considered this. “I can get behind a spanking, but nothing involving blood.”
“I’m akari,” I stated and raised a brow. My taking blood would only be pleasurable for her. I’d never dishonor her as was done to Zaide. To take blood and cause pain was a punishable offense.
“Nothing that draws blood except your teeth,” Zaide added.
Hurt panged, like a stab to the chest, but I tried not to let it show. He thought lowly of me now, but he didn’t know … wouldn’t know until I showed him otherwise.
Clawdia scoffed and crossed her arms. “I don’t get a say in my punishment?”
I raised a brow, humoring her. “What would you like to say?”
She pouted, her bottom lip trembling slightly, and her eyes were sad and wide as she said, “Isn’t being separated from you all punishment enough?”
Both Charlie and Zaide hiccupped a breath before touching her in some soothing manner. But I wasn’t fooled. My lip twitched, and I replied, “I’m afraid sweet words from lying lips will not suffice as punishment.”
The men looked at me like I was a heartless monster before they turned back to their naughty little love and noted the twinkle in her eye and the slow curl of her mouth. But again, they didn’t admonish her. Charlie admired her ability to manipulate them.
He laughed and nudged her. “I fell hook, line, and sinker for that one, Clawdicat.”
While Zaide rubbed at his neck and tried to reason with me. “Is punishment really necessary? I cannot be angry that she wants to save me. I would likely do the same to free her.”
I understood his hesitance. Punishment to him was pain and suffering, and he didn’t want that for his soul pair. But she’d promised him once before that she wouldn’t leave unannounced and yet did the same to Charlie and me. She needed to be taught a lesson. But school and learning can be fun.
“I see,” I told them, stepping away and nodding.
They watched me like prey that freezes when it spots the predator, and I tapped my chin as I paced in front of them, deliberately dragging out the deliberation.
“This feels like a trap,” Charlie whispered to Clawdia, “But why am I in it with you?”
“You go, I go,” she retorted.
Zaide was the only one brave enough to ask, “What is it you see, Baelen?”
I stopped pacing and turned to the group sharply. “I see how things have gotten so out of control. No one is being disciplined for bad behavior.”
Their mouths collectively dropped.
“Bad behavior? You’ve made that assumption about us all based on Clawdia’s actions?” Zaide asked, his expression thunderous.
“You didn’t fight the hunters, as I know you could have prevented your imprisonment. You are both too eager to self-sacrifice,” I pointed out. They were split souls, so their actions were similar in nature, and I understood that. I softened my voice as Zaide opened his mouth to argue, “But you are no longer a self. You are an us. We are an us.”
“And at what point between the imprisonments, the running for our lives, and hunting down an end to this insanity were we supposed to give feedback?” Charlie exclaimed. “Did I miss the questionnaire? Have we not hit enough KPIs for you, vampire boss man? Maybe I’ll just bend over this bench and let you spank me.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I told him drolly.
“I don’t think going to save my soul pair is bad behavior,” Clawdia remarked.
“Perhaps bad behavior wasn’t the correct term,” I acknowledged with a nod, “But it’s clear you can put both of your men in their place with a single glance. The same doesn’t work in reverse, so when you need to be corrected, they see your fluttering lashes and fold. Just as I’ve witnessed.”
They looked at her, and she smiled up at them innocently.
“There’s nothing she could do that I wouldn’t forgive,” Zaide replied reverently, devotion shining in his purple eyes. She squeezed his hand, and I noted the tears welling in her eyes.
It was … almost spiritual witnessing such powerful love, and I hoped one day to be on the other side of his loving gaze.
Charlie simply sighed in defeat since Zaide’s words proved my point and stroked her head. “You try telling a cat what to do. See how well that goes for you.”
“You’re making out like I’m a misbehaving pet.” She frowned at him and, at his pointed gaze, huffed and folded her arms. “Well, I don’t appreciate it. I apologize for the worry I caused, but I only did it because I saw no other way. It was my only chance to get to the compound and save him.”
“Why was it the only chance? Why couldn’t you have come and got Charlie and me first?” I pressed.
“We weren’t certain about where the wards were and what might trigger them,” she muttered. “I thought if I waited, I’d forget the exact place to portal.”
“We?”
Clawdia sighed. “Your mother and me.”
“Who?” Charlie asked.
“Nisha,” Clawdia muttered.
Charlie’s eyes widened and swung to me. “The vision lady is your mom?”
I ignored him and continued to address my sunlight. “I might have known. Was she the reason you portaled into the last warehouse?” Clawdia nodded, and I stroked her cheek as I explained. “She has a way of making you feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders alone and action is immediately necessary.”
“So, you understand,” she replied and smiled brightly. “I can’t be blamed for being overwhelmed by the visions.”
I shook my head. “The visions may make you feel you need to respond urgently, but you do not. You share that weight with us. We are bound. We decide together.”
“You’re determined to punish me, regardless of what I say.” She pouted, momentarily distracting me with her plump and enticing lips.
But her wiles couldn’t fool me as they did the others. I explained, “It’s not punishment. It’s a correction. It’s protection from yourself. You need to stop endangering yourself, Clawdia, because it is not you alone who suffers. I understand your need to help, but you can’t save someone if you cannot save yourself. You charged in without a plan and were simply hoping for the best.”
“How did you know I didn’t have a plan?” she asked with furrowed brows.
I gave her a soft smile. “Because your heart leads you. It is a wonderful trait, my sunlight, but a dangerous one. I want to make sure the next time your heart takes hold, you think twice and make a better decision.”
The dreamscape changed around us as I imagined my rooms in Tartarus, golden and bright with the light streaming in from the large windows and my dark wood, four-poster bed with deep red curtains and matching bedspread, which was the only part of the room that felt like home.
“Where are we?” Charlie asked as he headed to the window to look at the view.
“My rooms in Tartarus,” I replied and grasped Clawdia’s wrists before pulling her toward the bed.
“There are golden apples!” Charlie exclaimed and pointed.
Zaide joined him at the window to look out and said, “My siblings and I used to play in an apple orchard.”
“But they are golden.” Charlie went on to explain that golden apples didn’t exist in the human realm yet a golden apple caused the Trojan war.
Clawdia tried to pull from my grip. When I didn’t let her go, she mumbled, “I want to see the golden apples.”
“Do you remember what I said about restraints?” I whispered in her ear as I placed her palms above her head against the posts of the bed.
“You want to tie me up?” she asked.
The catch in her breath and her dilated irises told me the prospect exited her. I kissed her ear and used my fangs to scrap at her throat. She shivered. Using my control over the dreamscape, I created two sets of ropes from the posters and then wrapped them around her wrists and ankles until she was standing with her legs and arms spread and her chest heaved with each gasping breath.
“Gentlemen,” I called to the males by the window, “I think you’ll agree the more stunning view is this one.”
She gasped as her clothing disappeared in a cloud of glitter and fell in a pool around her. Zaide and Charlie made noises of appreciation, prowling toward her with hunger in their eyes.
“Oh no. Please don’t ravish me as my punishment. I’d hate that,” Clawdia stated flatly; then she licked her lips as she watched us intently.
“Ravish?” I asked mockingly. “No. Zaide, Charlie, and I are going to enjoy you.”
We moved toward her without discussion. Zaide made his way to the mattress to kneel behind her and pressed kisses to her neck while Charlie caressed her breasts and pinched her nipples.
“That still sounds like a pleasure to me,” she replied breathlessly.
“Pleasurable. Yes.” I kissed her navel and listened to the music of her rapid heartbeat, her unsteady breaths, and the little moans she made as Charlie sucked and bit at her nipples and Zaide pressed passionate kisses to her lips.
“But you won’t come. We’ll work you until you’re a desperate, wanton mess but not give you the climax you’ll need. You’ll wake up frustrated and angry, but you’ll remember that being alone means you are without the pleasure we can bring you.”
“Cruel,” she whispered, but her body writhed under our touch.
Charlie smirked and caught my eye, giving me a nod of approval. “And yet you seem to be okay with this punishment, Clawdicat.”
Sliding my hands down her thighs, I gripped them and peered at the heaven of her pussy. She glistened with a wetness I longed to taste, and I swallowed, loving seeing the reaction she had to us, and rearranged myself, my cock hard, throbbing, and begging to plunge into her heat. But then she wouldn’t learn.
I kissed her stomach once more and worked my way down, and when my lips covered the little bud in her folds, she groaned, and her body tightened. As my tongue flicked and sucked and lapped at that bud, she became increasingly more desperate and needy, her breaths hiccupping as she got close to her climax. But just when she teetered on the edge, I stopped.
“Wha—What are you doing? Baelen! Please,” she moaned and wrestled against the ropes holding her open, her fingers clenching and unclenching around the tether.
“Please?”
Anger flared in her eyes, and she hissed, “You know what.”
“Ah, but you’re being punished.” I caught Charlie’s eye as he looked down at me, and I said, “Besides, it’s Charlie’s turn to play with your pussy. As long as he can stop at the right time.”
“You know I share her emotions, right? What did I do to deserve punishment?” Charlie muttered but did as I instructed and kneeled.
“Touching Clawdia is not a punishment. It’s a privilege,” Zaide said, his hands skating reverently over her hips and thighs as he nuzzled into her neck.
Clawdia turned to kiss his cheek, so she didn’t notice when Charlie mouthed “suck up” at Zaide. Zaide retaliated by grasping Charlie’s head with his large hand and pressing him into Clawdia’s dripping core.
Charlie didn’t need more encouragement than that. Zaide let go of him, choosing to continue caressing Clawdia’s soft skin instead of Charlie’s hair, and Charlie sealed his lips to her bud. She let out a yelp, lost her balance on her toes, and fell back against Zaide, who held her up easily.
The rope rubbing at her skin brought the smell of blood close to the surface, making her so intoxicating I almost started drooling. I took a moment to enjoy the sight of her, of them, of us. We were in our beginning, finding our feet as a group, and this was just a part of that. But it looked incredible.
“Clawdicat, you taste so good,” Charlie said between licks. “God, I can’t wait to do this in real life. And fuck you. God, I’m going to fuck you so hard.”
Her thighs trembled, and she whimpered. “This really isn’t fair.”
“You're right. It’s not fair that Zaide hasn’t had a turn.”
“Um, I’m not done here. You had way longer. Why do I get cut short?”
“Who said you had to move? Get creative, Charlie. Females appreciate a man with imagination.”
Clawdia’s laugh evolved into another yelp as Charlie took his frustration out on her clit with a savage flick of his tongue.
Zaide caught my eye as he set her back on her feet and circled her hips with his hands before moving to her backside. Her eyes widened, and her breath caught the moment she felt Zaide’s finger press against her entrance. Charlie stilled for a moment, flicking his gaze to meet Zaide’s over Clawdia’s shoulder before continuing to torture her clit.
She moaned and threw herself back onto Zaide’s finger, using the ropes like a swing. Her eyes rolled back, and despite the urge to see her lose herself in pleasure, I waved a hand and said, “Stop.”
They did, and Clawdia let out a pained wail. “No. Please. I can’t take anymore. Please let me come.”
The tears welling in her eyes made my heart pang, and for a moment, I thought I might have gone too far. But I could do nothing but follow the path I set now. I gripped her chin and said softly, “You will consult us before you make any more risky decisions. You won’t run into danger without our knowledge and approval.”
“Yes. Yes. I’m sorry. Please, Baelen, please.”
“You swear this to me. To us all. You’ll allow us to care and protect you as you care and protect us.”
“I will. I swear.” Her lip trembled.
“You are worthy of our care. You aren’t expendable. You don’t need to prove your worth. We love you.”
Her breath caught, tears dripped from her sparkling violet eyes, and I caught them with my thumb, wiping them away and pressing a kiss to the wet trail on her cheek.
“Then you’ll get what you desire,” I whispered.
With one hand, I guided Charlie’s head, and with the other, I gripped Zaide’s wrist and pulled it toward her core. As they worked her back into a frenzy, I took her nipple into my mouth and sucked on the turgid tip. When the steady stream of begging fell from her lips, I gave myself a touch of satisfaction with a bite to her breast, and she flew into a screaming orgasm.
My cock seemed to respond as though her screams alone could grip me and pull my pleasure forcefully from me. A siren song with an explosive response. From Charlie’s panting as his forehead rested against Clawdia’s stomach, and Zaide’s rose-gold blush, I think we all embarrassed ourselves. Thank darkness it was only a dream.
I allowed the rope tying her up to dissolve, and she sagged into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist and tucking her head into my neck. She trembled like a newborn animal, and I held her tightly and I walked us around to join Zaide on the bed.
“Are you all right, little cat?” Zaide asked, his head tilting from side to side as he tried to catch her eyes.
“She needs a bit of time to come down. Rub her ankles,” I told him, and he jumped to action, plucking a foot from my back to massage the red wounds around her ankle and leg.
Charlie hauled himself onto the bed to join us and rubbed her back. “Tell me that’s not going to be a regular thing. I don’t think my heart can take that.”
“You didn’t enjoy it?” I asked.
“I find coming in my pants humiliating, and you said it wasn’t a punishment for me.”
Clawdia chuckled, her whole body vibrating in my arms with mirth. “Stop being petulant, Charlie. Pleasure is pleasure.”
“My cock belongs in your pussy, Clawdicat,” he said in a growl that shocked us all. But then he shrugged and returned to himself. “And you won’t get these weird children if I come anywhere else.”
Clawdia tilted her head as she stared at him. “You’ve certainly changed your tune.”
“Well, if we’re doing this—being a family, getting the powers, saving the realms—we might as well add kids to the mix.” He tried to look nonchalant, but his hand trembled as he combed it through his hair.
Zaide’s laugh was a deep rumble. “You’re still green at the thought, Charlie.”
Charlie glared playfully. “You can’t blame me if my body reacts differently. I’d been alone my whole life until Clawdia and now you two. Give me a little more time to get used to the idea. I promise I will. And in the meantime, I’ll enjoy practicing making them.” He purred in her ear before pressing a kiss to her neck and she shivered.
“Thank you,” she told Zaide, who kissed her hands before she pulled them back to disentangle herself from me.
“Are you well?” I asked, and Zaide came to sit at my side so we all sat on the bed in a tiny square, still touching in some places.
“I’m well.” She gave me a sleepy smile. “It felt a little cathartic, actually.”
“I’m glad.”
“And I’m pained to do so, but I have to leave. I need to wake up to ensure my hunter doesn’t send me to a shelter before I can get him to help me.”
“I pity the man, honestly,” Charlie mumbled. He grunted as Clawdia slapped his shoulder.
I held her hand tightly and asked, “What do we need to know to help you? To find you?”
Clawdia rushed through telling us everything she had learned from searching the witch’s house, seeing the visions of Fafnir’s past, and listening to the guards. Then Charlie told her that Fafnir knew about him but had taken Laurence, which he now presumed dead. Her jaw tightened at the news, but there wasn’t time for grieving the man. It would have to wait.
Zaide told us what he’d learned, without adding details on his captivity, while he played with Clawdia’s hair as though he was loath to stop touching her. We couldn’t understand how Fafnir had promised the defected witches to free their dragons, but Charlie said he’d look into it.
In a rare show of seriousness, Charlie touched both Clawdia and Zaide and said, “We’ll come for you both. Hold on until then.”
Clawdia swallowed thickly, and her eyes glistened with tears.
She said, “Love you all. Please stay safe, and I’ll see you all soon.” She kissed me and Charlie quickly, then turned to her titan and whispered, “This will all be a bad dream soon. I don’t know if our bonds will remain fixed in the real world, but if they do, use it. Take strength from me and us. Allow me to take your pain and fear, because it will only be for a short while until I can get you out. I promise.”
“I don’t doubt you, little cat. Your strength has always awed me.” Zaide replied, his purple eyes also shining, and kissed her.
As they parted, Clawdia faded until she was gone from the dreamscape, and the three of us exchanged glances. We were lost without her.
Charlie sighed and rubbed at his face. “I’m going to see if I can get a head start on the search. Maybe call the task team and see if they have any info.” He looked at Zaide. “See you soon, mate, okay?” Zaide nodded once, and Charlie nodded at us both before he disappeared.
When it was just Zaide and me left, we shifted to face each other.
“Are you alright? Coping?” I asked gently.
At my question, the giant seemed to crumble, and the calm facade he’d been using melted away. He shuddered and buried his face in his hands. I wanted to touch him, but I wasn’t sure how it would be received.
“They are taking my blood,” he managed, his voice raw with pain. “You know what that means to me, how violated it makes me feel. I don’t even care about the beatings, but my blood …”
I knew what it meant to him. It was the same reason I was so feared among the titans. But there was no way to save him right now.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered before placing my hand on his shoulder. “Do you know what they want with it?”
“They are testing it to see how it can support their cause and to learn more about titans’ power.” He lifted his head, and his eyes were red and raw. The sight pained me. “Baelen, my blood can create life.”
I shook my head and massaged his arm. “Not outside of Tartarus and not without the pool, not without mixing with another titan’s blood. They can’t create anything with your blood. I swear it.”
“Are you sure? They took away buckets of it today.”
His eyes searched mine, so I tried to restrain my instinctive reaction to bare my teeth and hiss. My soul mate's blood was the only blood I could consume from the vein under Akar law. It’s mine. And these humans were taking it.
“And they beat you?” I asked, my jaw tight.
Zaide sighed. “They are measuring my healing time, but Clawdia healed me before I could stop her, so that will confuse them.”
“Good. You need to keep strong if you are to escape with her.”
He nodded, and I thought he believed in her, and us, to rescue him. But it hurt his pride to need rescuing, and he looked so broken. I wanted to apologize to him for failing him when he asked me to protect Clawdia and Charlie, but my guilt had no place in the face of his suffering. He needed my strength. He needed to take back control. And I had just the gift for him to regain power.
“I have something I want to show you.”
“A gift?” he asked, shocked but also pleased.
The landscape changed as I transported him to where I had spent my previous moments before joining Clawdia and Zaide here. This gift had been on my to-do list, but the opportunity to do so had only just manifested.
It was dank and dark in the caves under the fighting rings. How Zaide lived here without completely losing his mind was a miracle.
“This is the holding cells,” Zaide whispered as he looked around in horror. “Why have you brought me here?”
Perhaps I should have warned him of my intent before I brought him back to his nightmare. I felt a pang of guilt as he trembled and the color drained from his usual golden skin.
“Zaide, you are safe. I promise you this.” I rubbed his arms, and his gaze returned to mine, becoming clearer as he took deep breaths. When he calmed down enough, I whispered, “Look inside the cells.”
He steeled himself, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as he moved to the middle to look into the cells. I was apprehensive but watched avidly for his reaction. His gasp echoed inside the stone cave walls, and he took a step back.
“Baelen, what have you done?”
I looked at my presents to see the blood dripping from gashes in their limp arms. The buckets under them had gotten full while I’d been in Tartarus, and of the five akari males chained to the bars of the cell, three had already died from the blood loss. I was only sorry I hadn’t witnessed their last moments, but I’d informed them exactly why they were going to die by my hand as I beat them before bleeding them, just as they had done to my soul mate when he was a slave.
It pained me to think we were in the same realm for so many years and I didn’t know him, didn’t find him, couldn’t save him from this torment. But I could prevent these monsters from repeating the same torment on others. I could punish those who’d treated him worse than livestock. I could banish the fear that lingered inside him and give him a way to take control back.
“When?” he asked, his voice hoarse, and he turned to me. “When did you do this?”
“Before I came to meet you both.” I tilted my head and informed him, “Some are still breathing if you want to punish them yourself.”
“Punish them myself,” he repeated, the shock remaining clear on his face as he scanned the cells again.
Trepidation, a feeling I hadn’t had since I was a boy trying to impress my parents, trickled through me, and I asked, “Have I misstepped?”
He choked as he tried to form words. Then he swallowed and turned to face me. “I was forced to be a violent man. Pushed into a life where I hurt and killed to survive. It went against my nature and my beliefs.”
My shoulders slumped. “So, you are angry with me for hurting them?”
He surged in front of me, grasping my arms, and I steeled myself for his censure, but his lips pressed against mine suddenly, passionately, bleeding with pain and relief and gratitude. Our tongues warred against each other as he cupped my face and twisted his fingers in my hair.
My heart sang, and I could hear the pounding call of his heart and rushing blood. The smell alone was intoxicating, and my fangs descended without my permission. Zaide jolted but pulled away from me slowly, licking his lips and wide blown eyes.
Breathlessly, he said, “While I dislike violence and using it, I understand the necessity of it in certain situations. In protecting people. I just never imagined someone would want to protect me from my memories enough to punish those in them.” He pressed another gentle kiss to my lips, one that felt like hope and almost made tears come to my eyes. “Thank you.”
“You aren’t angry?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I find it distasteful to see a being in such pain and distress and knowing their last moments were filled with fear and pain, but it is nothing they didn’t deserve, and nothing they didn’t inflict on others. A part of me is rejoicing and relishing in it. I could never have done as you have, but I’m glad you did.”
“You need not suffer from the past any longer. If you see these males in your waking nightmares, you can now assure yourself of their miserable end. And know that those who keep you caged and suffering will also suffer the same fate.”
“I am blessed to have you.”
We left the dream, abandoning Zaide’s captors to their deaths and promising the same to those who held him now. I hoped it heartened him until we could rescue him. I know our kiss heartened me.