The Contestants Ch. 02

"And I've come for some bare necessities too," he continued.

She looked at him in wonder and confusion.

"You," he replied, and he laughed in her ear.

"You're absolutely out of your mind," she reproached him. "No wonder they are calling you the Mad Irishman!"

"But you wanted me to come, didn't you?" he purred against her cheek, and she closed her eyes and turned weak in his arms. He pulled her down into the bed and removed her linen and undid his jacket and trousers.

"There is an expression for it in French," he murmured with his hot mouth close to hers, 'Le Repos du Guerrier — The Warrior's Rest.' Please, I need to rest here with you or I'll perish. Please, take me into your arms and let me rest my weary body against yours. Please, let me enter you and rest my yearning inside you."

She encircled him with her arms and opened up her thighs for him and guided his hard throbbing member into her tight hot cunt, and she contracted her muscles around him until he moaned and gasped at the same time. Her hips undulated in a slow rhythmical motion, and she let her cunt pull at his cock, sucking hard and languidly at it. He lay on top of her, but he had turned himself over to her without reservations, and he just held on to her, quietly moaning all the time. When he started to come, he gave a high wild cry, and he pushed himself deep inside her, rigid in his release; only his twitching cock was moving violently within her with the explosions of seed that pulsated out of him. Then with a deep sigh he sank down over her in a slow movement, coming to rest on her, the soldier's rest he had come for.

She kept him in her embrace, and she lay looking at the ceiling without really seeing it, being totally concentrated on him, listening to his breathing and his heartbeats. He reached out and clasped her right wrist and covered the bracelet with his hand.

"As long as you keep it on, I will be able to come to you, and you will be able to see me," he said slowly.

"Oh Lord, don't let everything depend on this threadbare little thing!" she cried in anguish.

"Don't worry," he answered. "It is almost as tough as I am."

"Already when I came in contact with it the first time, I realized that I had to keep it on forever, and I will part with it only over my dead body," she reassured him.

When he loosened his grip over her arm, she looked at the slender piece of leather-work. It looked very normal just right now, and it was hard to visualize that it had lived a life of its own just a short while ago.

"Before you turned up, it shone with a blue light," she said.

"That is something I've never seen," he mused. "It is a part of me, and I don't know what happens when I'm parted from it."

Anna rose from the bed and went up to the window. "It's a full moon tonight," she said. "How are you going to be able to leave without being seen?"

"Do you doubt my powers that much?" he laughed from the shadow of the room. "I can still do a pretty good disappearing act if I have to."

"Can you stay a little while longer then?" she asked almost inaudibly.

She heard him get up and approach her from behind, and the next second she felt his lean, warm body close to hers and his hands that started to caress her. She leaned back against him and let him take possession of her. He turned her around in his arms and lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist and held on to him. He let her sink down on his erection, and she threw her head back and clenched her teeth and shivered with pleasure while he carried her to the bed and laid them both down without slipping out of her. She indulged in his heavy weight over her body and arched her back to meet his thrusts. He took his time as if he had an abundance of it. He leisurely caressed her, kissing her breasts and face with an open hot mouth. He nibbled at her lips with his fangs, but he didn't hurt her in any way. He gently licked her ears and made her freeze all over with excitement and lust. Then he lowered himself over her and eased his hands in under her. He grabbed her buttocks and pressed her body into his and his movements within her became rhythmic and urgent. He buried his head by her neck and fucked her hard, yet he didn't release himself until she had come this time, and she did at last. Suspended in time she broke into pieces, falling apart, exposing to him how she hungered for him and crying out loud when he satisfied her, being totally shameless, wanting him with ferocious passion. He smiled and his whole body exhaled slowly when he let go and filled her up with hot liquid.

Afterwards, they lay facing each other quietly talking, occasionally caressing each other. Time was too short and precious for sleep. Anna felt the old anxiety return. Soon he would be gone, and she would start worrying endlessly again.

"What is going to happen now?" she asked.

"I'm not altogether certain where they will send us, but I have a feeling that we are going to be part of the campaign to recapture Baton Rouge," he answered.

"There isn't much use in looking further ahead. Neither you nor I know what the future has in store for us. I have signed on with the Confederate army until the end of this year. After that, I have no immediate plans. You see, like you, I'm subject to the whims and decisions of Gareth. I'm not at liberty to do whatever I like or go wherever I want to. You must remember that I walk this earth only by his consent."

"Gareth, again," she murmured, and then she added because she had to know, "can you be killed?"

"No, not if you think of the action I'm engaged in. It is also unlikely that I can be taken prisoner, — I'm still good at escapes — but I can be wounded and crippled. The only one being able to kill me before my time has run out is of course Gareth."

She buried her face by his neck and thought in agony that there was little comfort in what he had told her. He sensed her fear and held her closer.

"Everything has changed," he whispered. "I can meet you, I can see you, and I can touch you."

"That intensifies my agony because now I expect you to turn up. I expect to see you and if I won't, what hell awaits me then?" she replied and started to cry.

He held her then in a hard and tight grip. "I'm going to fight for you," he said. "I'm not going to give you up, ever."

********************

Not long after Anna's meeting with Conaill news reached New Orleans that the Confederate army had tried to recapture Baton Rouge in early August and failed in their attempt. Anna heard or saw nothing of Conaill, and she waited in vain for news about him. At last she realized that she had to start to occupy herself with something rather than sit in the house, staring at the walls, being eaten up from the inside by her fears and agonies. She knew that it wasn't necessary for her to remain in the city to meet Conaill again. She could meet him anywhere in the world — if it suited Gareth of course. Anna started to feel the urge to talk to Gareth and try to find out how he related to what had happened. Why had he permitted them to meet? Was this just another of his whims and would she ever see Conaill again? Conaill had talked about the outrage she had committed. Would Gareth forgive her, or would he revenge himself on her? What if it was true that the agony she felt concerned Gareth rather than Conaill? Her life depended on Gareth. If he were intent on destroying her, she couldn't go on living. In a revelation, she understood what Celia had implied when telling her that it was necessary to "make peace with the King." At least it was necessary to talk to him.

********************

Anna went to Inis to seek Gareth out late one sultry evening in August. For a change, she found the place to be bustling with a lot of people and creatures. Maybe the hot weather had brought them all out. Not much relief from the heat was to be found though. Anna avoided meetings since she didn't fancy engaging herself in small talk. She looked for Gareth in the usual places; in the Council Room, in the large Gallery on the second floor with a view over the garden and finally, when she didn't find him there either, she used the secret stairway up to his private quarters, but his bedroom was empty too. She felt uncertain and confused all of a sudden. It had never happened before that she was unable to find him when she wanted him. In the end, she went to the Library to see whether Ibn could tell her where to find Gareth.

Ibn looked up from his desk and his large pile of books.

"Ah, Milady!" he exclaimed. "I was expecting you. The Master has told me to expect you this evening."

Anna pressed her lips together to a thin line. It unsettled her that Gareth always seemed to be one step ahead of her.

"Yes," she answered, "I'm looking for him. That is true. Where can I find him?"

"The Master has said that if you want to see him, you shall seek him out at the Border."

Ibn seemed to be conveying his news with relish, and Anna paled and turned around to hide from him how upset and afraid she felt all at once. She knew that Gareth was aware of that she hated the Border. Why would he force her to meet him there?

She went out into the garden in the quickly fading daylight and sat down on a bench. She felt miserable. It would be just as bad to turn back and leave without seeing him. She knew she would be in constant agony if she would miss the opportunity to talk to him now. At last she rose, and she went farther into the garden to the secret opening leading to the Border. She stood in front of the tall hedge for a long time before slipping through the branches.

The Borderland was silent this night, and it was all dark in there. She looked up at the sky, but no stars brightened it. The air was oppressive, and she feared that there might be a thunderstorm later on in the night. She stood still and listened for sounds that might give her a clue to where in the Border area Gareth was hiding. She remembered from her childhood when she and Gareth had explored this place together that she had felt exhilarated to roam around in there in his company. How much fun they had experienced in those days. He had taught her the shortcuts, and she had learned to look for specific signs, which would reveal to her where to seek out anyone visiting this inhospitable wasteland.

At last Anna became aware of the sound of feet against gravel. She heard it coming from a source directly in front of her but at a rather great distance. If she was right, Gareth was at the other end of the construction, not far from the Border itself. She started to make her way across the marsh, carefully avoiding slipping into the traps on the way. Halfway through, she heard someone crying, and she stopped dead in her tracks. So he wasn't alone in this awful place! Then, of course, the sound of feet might belong to the other person. As Anna had no other clue, she continued in the direction she had chosen.

Anna soon left the barren fields behind and entered the woods. About half an hour later she reached a clearing with a good view of the surrounding landscape, and she unexpectedly became aware of the changeling, who guarded the entrances to one of the underground caverns in the area. She recognized him as the Head Guard. She hid behind a large stone and waited and watched. The Head Guard was trusted with taking the abducted humans to the castle. She knew that he had carried her there too, and she always kept out of his way if she could manage that.

"Your time is almost up."

Anna gave a violent start when Gareth's soft voice suddenly whispered in her ear. She turned around and found him standing behind her, he was dressed in black and had he stayed in the shadows she might not have observed him at all. His eyes gleamed at her in the dark, and the air around him was menacing in a way that she couldn't describe.

"Why?" she asked. "Why do I have to meet you in here? You know how I absolutely hate this place!"

"There are a lot of things we have to do that we don't like," he answered noncommittally. "Such a lot of things."

Then he went up to the edge of the cliff and looked down on the Head Guard.

"You can let her out," he ordered.

The Head Guard showed his feral teeth in an ugly smile. He pushed some stones to the side and revealed a hole in the ground.

"You in there," the changeling growled, "you can come out now!"

Amidst a cloud of dust on the ground, a young woman appeared. Her pale face was covered with dirt and dried tears, and she shivered visibly.

"My baby?" she wailed falteringly.

"I'm afraid that your time is up my dear," Gareth said calmly.

Then he turned to Anna, who also was shaking now.

"Is she pretty enough for me? Shall I take her perhaps?" he asked with a pleasant smile.

Anna's eyes widened and she stared unbelievingly at him. Then she fell to his feet and put her head against them. Once she had kneeled this way to Conaill too, but that was in another life, eons ago.

"Please let her go," Anna sobbed. "I know I been brought here tonight because I might have offended you. Punish me then, but don't take it out on her. Please let her take her baby and go!"

The blood was pounding so hard in her ears that it took a while for her to become aware of the silence around her. At last she heard him speak.

"Your imagination is playing very hard and vivid tricks on you tonight, isn't it?"

When she lifted her head, she saw that they were alone, and nothing revealed that other humans or creatures had been there. She crumbled in front of him again, and she couldn't get to her feet. She didn't know whether the incident had occurred, if it was magic performed or if it was indeed her guilty conscience playing her a trick; she didn't dare to find out. The result of the outrage was the same anyway. She lay crushed in front of him. He bent down over her and gently lifted her to her feet, and he steadied her when she was about to fall again.

"I didn't choose to come and live in this place," she said. "Somebody else chose for me."

"But you have made other choices since then," he answered without looking at her.

"Will you let me run for those choices for an endless day too?" she whispered and tried to catch his eyes. "I have been running for my life for over one million ten thousand hours already."

He didn't answer; instead he turned to her and reached out for her right hand. When she saw that he had spotted the Indian bracelet and clasped his hand over it, she cried out and tried to withdraw her hand with all her might, but he held on to her wrist with a relentless grip. A flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and it was as if a spotlight focused on his stern and beautiful face. She shivered out of fear and exhaustion now.

"We mustn't let you lose this, must we?" he said with deceptive concern in his soft voice.

She stared at him and in her eyes knowledge dawned.

"Oh my God," she gasped, "YOU put it there! You put it on the window sill for me to find!"

She wailed and was about to fall to the ground again, had he not held onto her hand and arm. Still he made no comment, instead he traced his hand over the worn and dilapidated piece of leather and in the wake of his fingers a beautiful golden bracelet formed in white and red gold, studded with diamonds. The golden bracelet covered and encased the one in leather and shielded it completely.

Anna lifted her eyes and looked him straight in the face.

"Gareth," she asked, "do you love me?"

That wasn't at all what she had meant to ask; the words just tumbled out of her, but once said she didn't take them back.

"Of course I do," he answered lightly. "You are very dear to me."

"I don't mean it in that way," she insisted, "I want to know if you love me."

He didn't answer this time. Instead, he looked at her calmly with unfathomable and unreadable eyes. He bent his head a little and scrutinized her, and there was a small smile at the corners of his mouth. Her heart was beating furiously, and in his face she thought she could read the question: "Do you really want to know?" Then he went up to her and took hold of her, and he lifted them both from the ground. She knew that he could fly — both in his present form and in that of a bird of prey — and that he also had transported her quickly from one point to another, but always after he had rendered her unconscious. This time he didn't, and it was a breathtaking experience, flying over the barren landscape in his arms. He motioned the windows to his rooms to open, and he landed on the floor without losing his balance.

They remained standing on the floor for a long time without moving or speaking. Anna felt how utterly tired she was. There wasn't much force or resistance left in her now. She tried to keep standing upright although her knees were shaking. Then he came very close to her, and she bent her head backwards to be able to see his face. His brilliant eyes were fully focused on her, and an almost imperceptible smile trembled over his thin lips. Outside, a thunderstorm was raging, and it had started to rain. The open window shook in the outbursts and the floor became wet around their feet.

Then he closed the gap between them, and she felt the heat from him burning her. The sensation shot through her as if the lightning from outside had hit her. She wasn't going to contest his powers, she had seen enough of them tonight, and she longed to give in, to give up and to give herself over to him the way she had done it so many times before.

"I acknowledge your power over me," she said slowly and quietly.

He didn't answer but put a finger under her chin and lifted her face towards his and looked quizzically at her as if he hadn't heard or understood what she was saying.

"I acknowledge your power over me," she repeated almost inaudibly.

"So you keep saying," he replied in an equally low voice. "It is something I already know."

Then he fell silent again as if waiting for her to continue.

She lifted her eyes towards him then and with tears running over her face she whispered brokenly, "I love you."

And it was no lie. She loved him and she loved Conaill and that was the agonizing outrage in her life. Sometimes they were one and the same. She saw in his eyes that no detail of her surrender had escaped him and none of its implications. Then he bent over her and he started kissing her softly and savagely, sending shivers of wanting through her. He seemed intent on killing her softly.

He started to undress her. She knew that he could have done it with a flick of his fingers, but evidently that wasn't what he wanted tonight. Instead, he moved leisurely and was taking all the time in the world as he slowly unbuttoned her blouse and eased it down over her bare shoulders.

"Conaill says that you have made sure that he knows you are sleeping with me," she heard herself say.

"You seem to be forgetting that you have put the weapons in my hand yourself," he answered unperturbed as he moved the blouse down to her waist and exposed her breasts.

He grabbed the thin material with one hand and locked her arms with it. She felt utterly helpless, but she lifted her head in defiance.

"Does it please you to humiliate me and is it a whore you want?" she asked him with a shaking voice.

He brushed his hand over her erect nipples and smiled. "The evaluation of the situation is solely yours," he answered lightly.

Yet, at the same time she could see the flashes of lightning reflecting in his eyes, and how they seemed to ignite his fury. He came very close to her again, and she could feel the material in his coat brush painfully over her bare breasts.

"Would you have wanted me to kill you both back then?" he asked through his clenched teeth. "I could easily have done that, don't tempt me!"

With one savage move of his hand, he ripped the blouse off her. She gasped and felt her arms smarting from the pain. She tried to wrench herself free from him, but he held her tightly to his body as if he had trapped her in a vise. Only when she stopped fighting, did he ease up on his hold over her. She rested her head against his shoulder and regained her breath, trembling and gasping.