Concordia, Nine Hundred and Forty Years Before Thaelen paused in his labor to remove his shirt and cast it to the ground. He was filthy but had almost completed caulking the hull with oakum. He squinted up at the sun. Another hour, and he would go down to the beach for a swim. He might encounter Ettel’s husband, Ferin, on the sand, and be able to discuss the next stage of the ship building with him. As a fifth-generation fisherman, Ferin had participated in many ship-builds and would, on occasion, come and assist Thaelen with his project. Thaelen would then wait until night fell to head down to the village for his evening meal. There was always someone who wandered from the house alone, to take a piss, meet a lover, or to check something that they left undone from the day. He would stalk through the houses until he found a likely human and could discretely take what he needed from them. He had his favorite regular meals - the repressed priest of the One God who preached about purity
Concordia, Nine Hundred and Forty Years Before Thaelen undressed slowly, lifting the shirt up his torso, the knap of the fabric rasping on his skin and the neckline gathering his hair as he lifted it over his head. He dropped it onto the table and stood waiting assessment. The past ten years had made him lean, and the physical exertion of building a ship had refined that leanness into muscle. “Ah, very, very nice,” Besafora rested the tip of the jade phallus against her lips and the pink tip of her tongue darted out to trace the slit carved into the stone. “Delwyn?” “Yes,” Delwyn agreed breathlessly. “He is… um…” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and giggled. “Rather… pleasing.” Besafora chuckled with satisfaction. “The rest of it my king, if you please?” Thaelen smothered his smile as he released the ties of his trousers, and let them sag on his hips. “Are you sure?” He raised an eyebrow teasingly. “I don’t look like your green carving. I would hate to disappoint.” “I’
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before“Uh-ah,” Heath snagged Rhett by the wrist when his dark-haired mate went to get into the front passenger seat. He tugged him back and nudged him into the backseat. “You’re mine,” he leered, gripping the doorframe and caging Rhett in as he landed on his back and pushed himself up on his elbows his face lighting in surprised laughter.“F-king oath, Heath, be gentle,” Rhett snickered. “Take me to dinner first, perhaps?”“You are dinner,” Heath swung into the cab and closed the door behind him.“I’m always driving,” Cameron pouted as he put the Ute into reverse and backed out of the driveway of Aislen’s house.“Ute is best for this. Small windows, high up,” Heath replied as Rhett slid along the seat until the back of his head and shoulders were against the door. Heath crawled over him, and ran his tongue over Rhett’s bottom lip, nipping the lip ring between his teeth and giving it a slight tug. “I’ve been thinking,” he murmured against Rhett’s lips. “About how
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before“I think it’s time we take this inside. I think we have taunted your werewolf lovers enough,” Talen decided to be straightforward and to see how she responded. It might lead to an awkward conversation, or simply open up the conversation, he reasoned. She was his mate, whether she knew it or not, and he needed to keep moving the relationship towards them both being fully informed.Morgana’s mouth dropped open, but her initial shock quickly became laughter and she relaxed against him. He felt the tension within him ease and wrapped his arms around her as she turned into him and pressed her face into his chest, lowering his face into her hair and breathing in the scent of her with a wide smile lifting his cheeks.He had been right. Morgana knew about the supernatural world. She was aware of what the pups were. He chuckled under his breath. In hindsight, on more than one occasion, she had less than subtly invited him to drink from her, so she knew what he was
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before“So, these boys did not realize that you were important to them,” Talen turned his attention back to the conversation, and digging into the problems between his mates.“They didn’t know about me,” she explained. “The pack thought that I was a human. And…”“Humans are complicated,” he nodded slowly in revelation. “A bi-sexual polyandrous group with a human mate. Complicated is somewhat of an understatement,” he murmured to himself. Perhaps it was not going to be as difficult as he had thought. Such things could seem insurmountable to the young, and no obstacle to the older and wiser. With years of perspective, once they got past their injured pride and wounded hearts, they might find the road smoother than anticipated.“I didn’t understand, and they could not tell me without breaking their laws, and things between us…” She shook her head to indicate the relationships’ disintegration. “It started badly, and just became worse. The pack offered me a scholarshi
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeMorgana turned to kiss his cheek. “I know that he was murdered by the vampires of Zeus Forest Works,” she said with gentle understanding, absolving him of any guilt by association, and he was shocked silent. “He left a letter saying that he thought he would be, though he didn't know what they were. I have some things for you, on the kitchen table, that he put together....”There was a lot of unpack from that statement, he thought in bafflement, starting from the fact that Morgana thought that he sought to tell her that his people were responsible for her father’s death.He was certain that vampires were not responsible. Tony and Fatima would have told him, and it was not Sigrid’s style to fake an accident. It wasn’t any Concordian vampire’s style. They would have followed Patrick into a secluded location, ended his life, and put his body into an oubliette for removal. The Concordia had survived for as long as they had by having strict rules about disposing
Havermouth, Two Weeks Before“Hmm, good,” Talen kissed the crown of her head, and took a breath to control himself. Leave it there, Talen, he cautioned himself. Change the subject, tackle the harder aspects of the relationship when she’d had time to adjust and accept, and think it through for herself. “Let us have a glass of wine to celebrate our agreement and look at whatever you have on Zeus.”“Sounds good… So, the vitamins and food aren’t to fatten me up to be your blood slave?” She added as they walked down the hallway towards the kitchen hand in hand.He smothered his laughter. “The vitamins and food were because I had a look in the refrigerator. Anyone who, after a week of living here, had a fridge that bare, wasn’t eating a balanced diet. I have other resources for sustenance,” he clarified, his eyes flicking to her face, trying to judge her thoughts. He was nervous, he thought with amusement. Over a thousand years old and sweating over what a girl thought about him like an ado
Havermouth, Two Weeks BeforeThe Triquetra had agreed that they wouldn’t crowd Aislen or force a confrontation with the vampire by parking in the driveway but would just keep an eye on her in wolf form, and so Cameron drove the Ute past Aislen’s house on a round-about journey to the graveyard. Heath twisted in his seat as they went by keeping his eyes on the house for as long as possible.The vampire’s Ute wasn’t there.Heath exchanged a look with Rhett. “It’s still early.”He wasn’t sure, he added to himself, whether he was hoping that the vampire would come, or not come. He remembered the way the big man had dragged him across the gravel by his throat as if Heath was as light as a thistle, and as dainty as… well, Aislen. His heart raced and his c-ck ached. F-k, he’d liked it in a big way, and a part of him wanted the vampire’s hands on him again.He felt his cheeks heat but Cameron parking at the graveyard gave him cover for his embarrassment, as he slid out of the car and began to