White Wedding Nightmares
Elissa Wilds
With a hastily muttered chant and a blinding flash of light, Mark managed to transport the three of us to Lucien’s mansion. I so totally coveted Mark’s ability to teleport. That particular talent would have come in handy during many a battle. My eyes narrowed as I realized where exactly in the mansion we were. The master bedroom.
He seriously thought we were going to get it on? I mean, really? Maybe I could turn myself back into a wolf. He wouldn’t want me then, right?I had a long-standing no sex with furry creatures rule. That included Ulfric in wolf form. Surely Mark wouldn’t stoop so low? I tried then, to change. I willed my muscles and skin to stretch, shift, my nose to lengthen, and my teeth to sharpen.
Buy This Book
I saw myself running through a forest, the wind ruffling my fur as twigs snapped beneath my paws and branches parted to bid me entrance. The woods filled my senses. I sniffed the raw odor of freshly turned earth, tasted the metallic flavor of the air just before a summer storm –
“Stop!” Mark’s voice fractured my vision.
I blinked and tried to focus my brain, which was still fuzzy from Mark’s anti-furriness spell, and glanced around the room. During my creative visualization, he’d unhooked Lucien from our joint bonds and stationed him at the bed. The oak shackles still circled Lucien’s wrists, only now they were attached to the one of the bedposts. Lucien’s eyes sparked with rage as he struggled against his bonds. I quickly averted my gaze. I couldn’t stand to see my strong vampire made weak. And I knew how proud Lucien was. He’d been bested by the wizard twice in one night. He was not a happy camper.
Mark put himself between me and Lucien, his face flushed and his eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
“Do – not – attempt – to – shapeshift,” he ground out, each word uttered with deliberation.
“What? You don’t wanna do it doggie style?” I knew I probably shouldn’t taunt him, but I couldn’t help myself.
He grabbed my arm and shook me. Hard. “No, you idiot. Because it won’t work as long as you’re shackled. All it will do is drain you of any strength you have left.”
Come to think of it, I was getting dizzier by the second. I shook my head and Mark’s face swam in and out – and into view.
I glared at him. “Like it’s my fault no one explained how the whole shapeshifting thing works.” Frankly, if he intended to take me against my will, he’d better make sure I was unconscious or Goddess help me, he was going to lose parts of his body he’d grown very attached to. Which made me wonder…
“Why would you care if I have any strength left?”
Mark’s response was to lift me up and toss me onto the bed. He started to peel off his clothes. My eyes went wide as his shirt hit the floor and his broad muscular chest was bared to my view.
“What are you doing?” I demanded. Suddenly, my vision got crisper – fast. A wave of panic swept over me.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“You know I’ll fight you with all I have,” I spat out.
“No, you won’t.”
“Oh, I see, you’re going to freeze me or something?” My eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute – you never answered my question. Why wouldn’t you just let me try to go furry until I passed out? Wouldn’t that make this easier for you?”
Mark paused in his undressing. He sighed as though explaining himself was a chore. “I need you awake, aware, and fully functioning. In fact, I’ll be removing your shackles before we begin.”
He’d what? There was a lot more going on here than I’d realized. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it either. My skin prickled with dread.
“Why?”
He was down to his heart imprinted boxers now. Wait a minute. Hearts? I blinked and, willing to ignore the fashion faux pas for the moment, tried not to notice what a nice body he had. I hadn’t gotten to look at it much during our courtship, such as it was. I still wasn’t sure how much of our relationship was real versus a magically induced illusion. We’d agreed to postpone sex until our wedding night. I’d thought it was a sweet, quaint idea. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me.
Mark continued to ignore me and crossed to where Lucien stood.
He paused in front of Lucien.
“I’ve no interest in what you’re hiding in those tacky boxers,” Lucien muttered. Ah, Lucien, how I loved his smart ass, antagonize-the-madman-who-wanted-to-kill-you ways. We were so alike. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
Mark smiled an unnerving smile and lifted his hand to Lucien’s cheek. His pointer finger trailed across Lucien’s pale white skin, leaving a gaping wound in its wake. Blood, striking in contrast to Lucien’s alabaster skin, dripped down his cheek. Lucien flinched but didn’t move.
I scrambled toward the edge of the bed, as far as the chains would let me go. “Mark, tell me why you didn’t just knock me out. Why do you need me conscious? Why not just use me and take my power?
“ Maybe if I distracted him long enough, I’d think of some way to get myself and Lucien out of this mess.
Mark shrugged. “Now that you’ve taken the potion, it won’t be so easy to steal your power. There are only two ways to do it now – and either way requires that you give yourself willingly.”
“Two ways?” I prodded.
“Sex or blood.”
“You mean you have to drink my blood?” I’d never even let Lucien do that. Okay. Maybe there was that one time.
“I’d rather you drink my blood at this point,” I muttered knowing he’d never do any such thing.
“Yes, but you know how I feel about that.” I did. It went beyond the ordinary distaste that affected all non-vamp types. Wizards did not drink blood. Ever. Not only did they think themselves far too civilized for such an act, ingesting any blood that was not their own, diluted their own powers. Their magick – literally - ran through their veins. If only there were some way to force a transfusion on him.
“And why exactly do you think I’m going to willingly have sex with you?”
“Because we once meant so much to each other?” he offered wryly.
“Get real.”
For a moment, a look of regret crossed his face. “This isn’t how I wanted it to be, Raven. I would have given you anything. Instead, you force me to take everything.”
He stood back from Lucien and waved his hands in the air over the vampire. Sparks of light began to weave themselves into sharp points of – silver. Then, to my horror the objects stabbed at Lucien’s fragile skin, one at a time, creating puffs of smoke and the putrid scent of burning flesh. Lucien writhed and cried out in pain.
I choked back a wave of nausea.
Mark turned away from Lucien and sank onto the mattress, crawling toward me. “I’m going to remove your shackles now, Raven. But don’t bother attempting to rescue Lucien because you can’t. Only a wizard could break this spell.“
“Let him go. Please.” I hated the sound of my own voice right then. I didn’t beg for anything, but I couldn’t watch Lucien be tortured.
Mark touched my face, then pressed a strangely tender kiss to my lips. I resisted the urge to swipe my hand over my mouth.
“There’s only one way to save your beloved vampire.”
I took a deep breath and steeled my spine. “Then let’s get this over with.”
He waved his hand over my ankles and the shackles disappeared.
Have a comment? Share it on our Forum - Romance in the Backseat Ning - Here
Next Installment - by Teresa D'Amario Here
Want updates on new videos and when the new pages post? Follow me on Twitter - RITBS_Terry