Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
But in Kael, I find myself slightly disappointed. Not about bringing him here, he is the perfect choice for what comes next. But about his reaction.
Usually, when I bring a scion up to meet the coven and take them inside this building they begin to panic. Not a lot, not usually. But they at least glance questioningly at the cutlery displayed artfully on the wall behind us, and they often pay more attention to the altar than Kael has. They notice things about it. Like how it’s just big enough to spread out a man. They notice the leather straps in the perfect position to tie down said man. And they notice how there are little grooves along the edges of the polished, black marble to catch his blood.
Situational awareness. Kael has none of it. And I’m disappointed. I feel like maybe, somewhere along the way, I failed him. So I let out a sigh.
“What’s wrong with you?” Kael snaps. He’s fisting the woman’s hair now, grinding his cock into her mouth.
I simply smile in response. But it’s kind of a sad smile. Then I notice that Emily has entered the building. I watch as Joshua greets her, leaning in to her ear to whisper something, spurring a chuckle out of his wife. Her eyes dart over to me and she nods, letting me know she’s ready.
In that same moment Joshua turns in my direction and starts walking towards me, pulling off his shirt as he closes the space between us. I keep my eyes on him and only him because in him, and all these people who live in the White River coven, I got it right.
I love them. And while I say I love them all, I don’t. Not like this. Ryet is the only one I ever put before these witches. The only one I ever put before myself. But the most remarkable thing about the people of White River is that they love me back. Truly love me in a way no one else ever has, and since this is my moment of illumination in regards to my buried emotional attachments, this is also the moment when I realize that this little village is… my home.
The Montana lodge is lovely and I like it, but mostly because Ryet built it for me. When I’m at the lodge everything around me is a memory of him and, as my first true offspring, it’s natural to be irrationally drawn to him because of what he means to me and my future.
But Ryet doesn’t love me back. Not really. He needs me, he likes me—maybe. I grew on him, I suppose. Became a fixture in his life. Something that was always there so he cannot imagine existing without me.
So it’s different.
I had intended to have my fun with Kael today. He’s attractive and he likes to do lots of nasty things with me that Ryet never would. But when Joshua reaches me, it’s him I want to spend this day with. It’s him I want to hold on to in my memories, not something disposable like Kael. So that, in a thousand years, when I think back on this day and how it all started, it will be Joshua I see. It will be Emily, and Rachel, and all the other lovely little snakes in my den of vipers.
Joshua stands before me, unafraid to meet my gaze. And why should he be afraid of me? I’ve never been anything but good to him. Yes, we sacrifice scions here to make Black magic, but he knows, with one hundred percent certainty, that he is not, and never will be, something I sacrifice.
So I place my hands on his cheeks, lean in, and kiss his mouth. I watch as his eyes close and his body gives in to me. Then I start walking backwards, still kissing him, until we’re next to the other men in the village who are already lying down, jerking on each other’s cocks.
The kiss ends and Joshua opens his eyes. They are a little glassy, like he might want to cry. “Don’t,” I tell him. “Don’t be sad.”
His smile is immediate. “Oh, I’m not sad, my lord. I’m full of happiness. So full, I’m overflowing. This is all I ever wanted. To be yours.” And then he gazes up at me with complete adoration as he drops to his knees and pops the button on my jeans.
The true ritual begins the moment Joshua’s lips wrap around my cock and I rip off my shirt. My pants come off next in a hurried rush, as do Joshua’s. And then that’s all there is. Twenty or thirty men in the middle of a large room, teasing the seed of Darkness out each other in every erotic way possible.
It’s beautiful, and intoxicating, and, obviously, magical.