Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Darkness enveloped the manor.
After searching for answers in almost every book I owned, I braved a look in the mirror again. With my hand tracing where my reflection should be, I kept expecting the view to change. Unable to shake off the dread, I smashed the mirror with my fist.
Jacob wailed.
I brushed off glass fragments from my hand and licked at the small cuts.
Jacob’s cries worsened.
I calmed him down, having successfully hidden my own terror from him, and returned to the kitchen.
I tried to keep my eyes off the massacre. The stench forced me to breathe through my mouth. I quickly grabbed what I needed for Jacob and withdrew.
Denial came easily. After all, no one man could take on so many soldiers and live. Examining my hands, I was amazed to see the cuts had vanished, yet blood stained the edge of my cuff.
Loneliness had me by the throat.
Speaking words of comfort to Jacob, I was really trying to draw strength from my own voice, even though it had also been altered, the tone deeper.
I was just tired.
After gulping his third cup of milk, Jacob fell asleep in my arms. I found us both fresh clothes and then carried him through the house into what had once been the nursery.
Unaware of the horrors that had unfolded, Jacob beamed up at me with that sweet smile of his.
Lying beside him, I tucked my feet beneath me to fit his bed and hoped to find peace in the presence of sleep.
Despite all that had happened, I had Jacob to think of. I drew strength from his unwavering affection and as he snuggled against me, I was consoled by his breathing, a sure rhythm against my chest.
I awoke later, stirred by a presence in the house, and leaped off the bed.
The bedroom door burst open, and I was immediately faced with a sword pointed directly at my face. The tip stopped just short of my right eye.
Jacob was still waking up. A guard had grabbed him off the bed and I could do nothing about it. More men rushed in and, just behind them, strolled Felipe.
He stared at me, aghast. “Impossible.”
I was trapped.
“One wrong move and he dies.” Felipe leaned in, his stale breath too close. “Bury him, alive.”
I wanted to grab Jacob and run, but we’d never make it out the door. The men restrained me and dragged me outside. The sword in my back that persuaded me to comply cut into my flesh.
Wanting to fight back, wanting to tear them to pieces, I feared what would happen to Jacob if I showed any resistance.
A shove had me tumbling into a deep hole.
My hands were bound together, and I struggled to free myself as crushing soil pressed against my chest, oppressing me.
Thrashing, terrified, I cursed myself for not leaving the house. I’d outdone myself with my arrogance. The rope wrapped around my wrists gave, but even more mounds of earth were being shoveled over me.
Encased in dirt, it poured into my nostrils, soil blocking my airway. I shook my head from side to side until the weight of the resistance held me still, but I made a last-ditch effort to claw my way out.
I willed Sunaria to save Jacob.
I should be suffocating, but despite the lack of air, I didn’t lose consciousness. My chest rose and fell as though I were breathing.
Sunaria, save my son.
I gagged and choked, angry that I’d allowed Annabelle to persuade us to stay, that I’d believed as she had done once, that we were free from Felipe’s intimidation.
Though if I faced the truth, it was me who hadn’t wanted to leave the home I’d built.
This place was more than just bricks and mortar.
But my pride yet again ravaged everything in its wake and now I’d risked Jacob’s life.
Felipe had not found my corpse where he’d left it, and I suspected that was what had brought him here.
Sunaria, I need you.
Above me, Jacob’s faint cries were eaten up by the night.
My whole life had been one mistake after another. Everyone close to me was now dead or missing.
Sunaria!
I remained trapped as the days and nights came and went.
Another valuable lesson I was learning was the extent of Sunaria’s stubbornness.
Whatever you want. Whatever you want me to be to you, I will.
Buried deep within the earth, I unraveled. Despite resisting introspection, I had nowhere else to go but within, into unfamiliar territory. The first few days, I had only sleep to be grateful for and when awake, denial eluded me.
After the fifth day, I yielded.
Like a fleeting shadow, Sunaria’s presence swept over me, offering a moment of solace. News that she had Jacob caused me to sob pitifully. I relayed my thanks but feared that she might disappear with him. I begged her not to.
Jacob, I’ll find you.
Terrified of earthly creatures munching on my flesh, I dreaded the thought of my mind disintegrating. Madness lingered but soon scurried off, lurking not far away. Deep within my burial ground, I knew Sunaria’s true punishment. She haunted my waking hours as well as my dreams.
And then silence.
I finally surrendered to the isolation and the once suffocating trap morphed into a safe dwelling. All that I’d known before slipped away. Rules no longer applied down here, in here. A new way of seeing my world begged for discovery.
Sunaria offered me hope, a dependence impossible to deny.
Her voice found me. They came for your family during the day.
Forgive me.
Sunaria came to me in thought, utterly possessing me, and I gave myself over to her completely. She freed me from the soil with an astonishing swiftness, a preternatural strength that bore no understanding.
I ascended out of my dark grave and, as though I needed it, I sucked in the fresh air.
Sunaria’s hair was pulled up behind her head. A few trailing strands fell over her face. She stared through me with those almond eyes of hers, pouting with full red lips, exotic features that I’d once tried to disregard. Now though, I realized her devastating beauty and felt beholden to her.
Unable to make eye contact, hesitant to view her austere expression, I fell to my knees, panicking when I didn’t see Jacob.
Sunaria stared down at me with her arms folded. “Jacob’s safe with your sister.”
These were the words that I needed to hear more than anything.
“Alicia and Miranda are safe in Nuevo Portil, near Palos,” she continued.
I wanted to ask why she’d waited this long to tell me, but I didn’t want to remind her of my arrogance.
She sent me a mind message, a vision of Jacob safe with Alicia, proof that Sunaria told the truth. I marveled at this ability to convey information without words.
She looked away. “If you ever displease me again, I’ll personally put you back in the ground.”
She tugged on my locks, insisting I stand.
I was slightly taller, and despite her closeness, I wanted her closer.
Thoughts of her enslaving me were exhilarating, and I shuddered.
Never before had I been dominated and never before had I desired subjugation.
Yet here, now, I yearned for it and longed to please her, pleasure her.
Glancing back at the hole in the earth, I dissociated with the man who’d been buried there, my new life reflecting nothing of the old.
Leaving behind all thoughts of resistance, I followed Sunaria.
She commanded me to keep up with her and as my confidence increased, so did my ability to run with a mind-blowing, lightning speed. The land opened up to reveal a vast nightscape and I pursed my lips, afraid to swallow something other than air.
“Imagine yourself already there,” she had said.
Though I had no idea where “there” was, I followed her directions, trying to free my mind of preconceptions of how fast I believed I could actually sprint, bewildered with the pace which she maintained.
We raced across meadows, over hills, and through valleys, my teeth chattering from the excitement.
Within minutes of arriving at a creek, I stood dazed from our supernatural trek under a canopy of dense trees, their leaves hanging low.
I shuddered from the rush, removing my tattered, filthy clothing. Sunaria took a moment to admire my naked physique, her gaze lowering and then settling. I allowed myself to envision how those lips would taste, or what I could get away with doing to her.
She shoved me into the cool shallow stream, and I rinsed off my body.
Sunaria beckoned me to follow her again. I knew the mausoleum she led me into – it was the very tomb where I’d first seen her, the eerie place stirring terrifying memories, though the cobwebs were now gone.
Fresh clothes awaited me, a gentleman’s attire. She’d even gotten my size right. Sunaria had filled the coffin with reams of material, rich silks and soft velvets that softened our bedding, luxuriating our place of rest.
She climbed in first.
With a nod from her, I slid the stone lid over us and hugged her against me. Despite the dark, her turquoise gaze pierced mine. Her beauty was extraordinary, a resplendent vision.
I traced the tattoo of an ancient design on her left arm. “What does it mean?” I asked.
She softened against me but didn’t answer.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered.
She sighed softly, and I conveyed my gratitude for being here with her, thankful that I didn’t have to go through this ordeal on my own. Sunaria’s expression was unreadable. She’d been like a phantom floating in and out of my life, and now she lay in my arms like an inexplicable miracle.
A preternatural awakening hinted that I might even cheat death, lessoning my sadness and absorbing my attention. I drew comfort from this mysterious woman, captivated by her alluring timelessness.
She tugged up her dress, revealing striking long legs, and I grasped the material, pulling it even higher, exposing her spray of fine raven-black curls.
The promise of what awaited me felt like a sublime rite of passage from my world to hers. With her nod of permission, I nestled between those porcelain thighs and tasted her, the frisson sweeping me up and away.
With every stroke of my tongue, I worshiped her, bestowing rapid caresses that worked themselves into a perfect rhythm, demanding nothing less than her utter gratification.
Glancing up at her half-lidded gaze, and hearing the soft sound of her sighs, I confirmed that she approved.
With her fingers clutching my hair, tugging, and her quivering thighs wrapped around me, I felt beholden for the chance to serve her.
Not so long ago, deep underground, I’d allowed my imagination to stray to this moment.
Sunaria radiated sensuality, as though her very existence had been designed for man’s pleasure alone.
I couldn’t fathom how I’d ever disrespected her, couldn’t comprehend that I’d once allowed her to walk away.
I didn’t want this fierce intimacy to ever end.
I toyed perfectly with her hardened bud, and she responded by arching her back and moaning, subtle movements that clued me in on her unspoken words. As her scent moistened my face, dignifying me with the purest essence, I became her willing slave, her grateful paramour.
With my cock hard and aching, I dedicated this pang of need to her, ignoring my own desires for those of the one who had saved me. And I wanted to punish her this way for making me so indebted, force her to scream in ecstasy as she came and came again, refusing to relent until she commanded it.
Sunaria’s domination of me was like a bewitchment.