The Long Road to Ruin Ch. 19

"You want to know more about Dhorn?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, taking note of how comely she appeared. He drank in the sight of her with more than just a fleeting interest. His eyes danced over her form with a newly heated pleasure. Shiloh could swear she could feel it coming off of him in waves. She could almost smell it, taste it. It saturated her senses, nearly becoming a living breathing thing of its own.

Heady.

Potent.

And utterly palpable.

Shiloh nodded her head and leaned in close to him, her lips parting seductively. She took hold of his hand, anticipating the impending kiss. Erotic images raced through her mind, eliciting a soft moan. "Yes," she sighed, gazing up into his electric blue eyes longingly.

Arto cleared his throat as heat seeped into his cheeks. He took a step back from her, away from her magnetic pull on his senses. As he retreated, she advanced, placing a hand upon his armored chest. She slid it upward, curling her fingers as she delved them into his golden hair. She guided his head down and fused their lips. Electricity zinged between them.

She pulled back, her eyes meeting his. Shiloh's gaze bored up into his as she ran her hand over his face. She leaned in, and kissed him softly on one cheek, then the other. She caressed his open face with both hands, and then kissed him deeply on the lips. He gasped as he felt all common sense crumble. She rubbed her cheek softly against his and pulled his hands down, and placed them around her waist, kissing him again. His eyes closed, and she wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him into a tight embrace. Arto jerked and moaned violently into her mouth, clutching her hips hard.

Shiloh gasped aloud, "Oh!"

He ran his face through her silky hair, trailing his lips down her neck and biting softly, tasting her skin. His hands ran up and down her hips and back, sliding between the layers of her dress. Her soft hands slid soothingly across his armored shoulders and he moaned softly, momentarily biting harder as his hips twitched involuntarily. He released her neck and trailed his lips to her ear and his hands to her thighs.

She gasped and pulled back from him, staring into his face, "Come to me."

His intense, hungry sapphire stare was answer enough, and he kissed her, first deep, then slowly softer, then teasing, as he slid his hands up the sides of her legs under her gown.

The room Shiloh led him into was large, with bold tapestries depicting sensual acts and soft burgundy rugs that cushioned their feet. The enormous four poster bed, draped in fine wine-red fabric, dominated the room, and was braced by low couches set with a luscious silken fabric in the same brazen red hue. A muted beam of light from the veiled window crossed Shiloh's face, reflecting on her pale hair and making her lashes glow with reflected light. She knew she was playing with fire, but at this point could not stop it.

He looked so very handsome. She could not help herself, even though she knew there would be the hells to pay for it. His very presence had affected her in a way that she had not expected and she knew deep in her heart that their fates were so closely intertwined. She knew she was courting disaster, mayhap even her death, but she knew she had come too far to turn back now.

And besides, he was not resisting. She knew he was lonely and though he was a Dhorn that lived by strict rules, he was also a man. A man with needs and wants. A man who had not seen his wife in nearly a year he had said. Shiloh took advantage of that, and further initiated the deadliest dance she'd ever been a part of.

She quickly stripped him of his armor and the fine clothes he wore beneath the mail. Unveiling his body was a delight to her. Sparse curly blond hair glistened upon his scarred but finely muscled chest. The strong ropy arms and legs were a testament to the hard work he put in as a soldier. His body was utterly beautiful, lithe and fluid without being overdone and muscle-bound.

A moan escaped her throat as her eyes zeroed in on the fine length of manhood jutting proudly from his golden groin. "Touch me," he murmured commandingly, and began to work his mouth down her neck and collarbone. Gentle hands caressed his chest and arms, and he jerked her hips, gripping the flesh of her ass and sliding his fingers up and down the back of one thigh. The other hand slid down her front, baring one full, pink nippled breast to his searching tongue.

Her fingers caught on his shoulder as she cried out, and he jerked again, sucking hard for one moment before releasing her nipple with a gasp. Nails ran down the back of his neck and his body began to writhe slowly at the caress of Shiloh's seeking hand.

Arto pulled her dress to her waist, grasping one lush breast in his hand and the other with the suction of his mouth. He pushed her backward while grabbing her thighs and pressing her hips against his own, sliding his hands up the backs of her legs as he leaned in for a deep kiss.

Her nails trailed up his abdomen while her hips started in a slow roll against him. It made him cry out into her mouth and begin to thrust mindlessly against her. She slid one soft hand up his back, digging in her fingers at a particularly well-aimed thrust. Arto snarled into her mouth and bucked against her, shoving himself back from her embrace and looking at her with wild eyes. His gaze dropped to the offending cloth between them and he grabbed the front of her dress in two hands and ripped, the remainder sliding easily down as he tossed the ruined garment to the floor. Her pale, soft breasts jiggled as her smooth, white abdomen and pink, downy sex was exposed to his gaze.

Arto paused, drinking in the erotic sight of her spread out before him. Taking what she offered was a sin and he knew it. A sin against his vows, his position and his country. He groaned as her fingers grazed his engorged length, scrambling his thoughts of what was wrong and what was right. His head told him to cease this course of action, and to punish her for her wickedness. Yet a desperate voice deep within him begged him to take what she was offering and revel in it. The voice begged for release, begged to know the beauty of her touch and passion in which she offered him. No one need know, it urged him. No one knows you are here. Take her and be fulfilled.

A groan slipped from his lips as he gave in to his needs. Surely the fires of the hells awaited him. Surely there was some price to be paid. He would pay the piper when the time came. And so would she.

Bolts of raw need shot through him as he threw her onto the bed, kneeling between her shapely legs. Her pink lower lips were full, and pressed together under a fine dusting of pale blonde hair. He gasped, sliding a thumb between them, bottom to top. When he hit the top, she bucked and cried out. He hit the spot again and she moaned and jerked her hips toward him. He bent his head and ran his tongue along her lips, exploring between them and darting his tongue into the moistening space at the bottom. Seeking fingers wove into his hair and gripped him as he licked, tightening convulsively as he reached the tiny nub at the top again.

"By the Gods please!"

He caught the nub in his teeth and sucked, still rolling his tongue along it. Shiloh arched, and began to buck helplessly, releasing an unending stream of desperate whimpers that went straight to Arto's cock. He snaked his hands up to her breasts and loosely palmed them, teasing her nipples with a feather-light touch. She cried out, and jerked into his mouth hard enough to bruise. "Oh Gods... please... don't... stop... please..."

Arto gasped roughly, the sound of Shiloh begging driving him out of his mind. He dove to continue, deriving delicious sounds from her perfect, pink mouth, and Arto crushed down a violent urge to immediately test what it would feel like around his cock. The desire brought a sudden, vivid image of this beautiful, young woman gazing up at him from her knees, with her glossy pink lips stretched around his shaft, and he almost came on the spot.

With a strangled moan, he slid his tongue along her nether lips to her clit and sucked hard. Her legs spread for him as she arched, hips bucking into him and mouth open in a throaty scream. This time, he did not relent, and rubbed his tongue in rough circles onto the bud in his mouth. Shiloh began to beg again, but this time with the tone of sobbing desperation. Smooth hands roughly grabbed fistfuls of his hair and jerked him upward, before gripping his arms. Hastily, he wiped his arm across his mouth and leaned his full length against her, as she caught him in a deep, lustful kiss.

He pressed onto her, running his hands through her masses of fine, silky hair, and felt her slender hand slipping between them and fisted his shaft, causing him to groan and buck into her uncontrollably, his hand delving violently in her hair, before he could recover a moment's control. He pulled back and looked down upon her. Her cheeks were flushed, her full lips open and gasping, with blonde strands of her hair stuck randomly to her face across her lust clouded eyes.

Her response was to guide him with her gripping hand to her warm, slippery entrance and slide her moist sex in circles onto the head of his cock. Arto cried out and thrust violently inside of her, then again, eyes wide, then again, unable to stop. He held her hair with the arm on which he had his weight, and grabbed her hip roughly with the other, using it to slam all the more violently home. He was not even aware that he cried out with every thrust, or that she was making noises as wild and guttural as his. He released her hair as her legs made their way to either side of his face, resting on his shoulders. He knelt upright, using both hands to slam her hips up onto his cock. Shiloh's weight was now on her shoulders, and her slim hands moved to grip her full, bouncing breasts, white fingers pulling and twisting at her nipples as her cries went higher and higher pitched. Her long, shapely legs spread wider and her knees fell backwards onto the bed as her wet walls began to pulse and milk him.

Desperately trying to press deeper, harder, against him, she threw her arms around his back and dug her nails deeply, pulling him in. Arto's eyes rolled up into his head as he slammed her wildly into the bed, muffling his primal scream in her flesh as he came, biting her neck.

It was only then as he finished emptying his seed into her that he jerked back in disgust and viewed the scene before him with unclouded senses. He stood at the bedside, feeling appalled, watching her as she continued to writhe. He watched as blood tricked down her white skin, staining the sheets beneath her. It was at that moment that he realized that he had bitten her neck far too hard. He yanked her off the bed and to her feet, a noise of revulsion slipping from his lips as he inspected the wound.

"Vile temptress!" He screamed as he slapped her face repeatedly, his punishing blows jerking her head to and fro. Shiloh cried out as pain exploded within her. Slumping down between him and the bed, she curled into a ball. "Your sins shall be cleansed in the fires of hell, wretched succubus. You have sealed your fate. You shall be punished. You deserve to be punished. You and your wickedness."

He jerked her up and dragged her to the fireplace, grabbing from within it a burning ember with a pair of tongs. He placed it against her skin, grinning wickedly as she screamed in pain and begged him to take it away. Sliding it lower, he pressed it against the edges of her pubic curls. She bellowed even louder as blackness assailed her.

It overwhelmed her, coaxing her into its velvet embrace. She went willingly until she could feel nothing more.

O.O

Light flooded Shiloh's senses. She blinked against it and let out a startled shriek, scanning the small room with a wild eyed stare. She didn't recognize where she was, but the cot was clean and smelled of soap. The pain coming from her belly was close to being unbearable. She rolled to her side, biting her lip in order to choke back another cry.

"Help me!" She croaked out, her throat felt scratchy and raw. "Someone. Please. Anyone."

"Shhh.... save your strength, Shiloh. You are safe. We managed to get you out of there in time before any more harm could be done to you." Shiloh blinked twice and focused on Mando, who had knelt beside her. A desperate look of concern lingered on his face. His voice was soft and soothing. "What happened, sweetie?"

She shuddered as the memory of that night flooded her senses. "Things got out of hand and he said that my sins needed to be cleansed in the fires of hell. He burnt me with a hot coal." Wracking shivers coursed through her, bringing a sob to her lips.

"Your only job was to find out some information, not to bed him," Mando scolded her.

"I am sorry, but he spoke of taking me home with him. That is if he were not already a married man. I learned that he has a daughter that is a few years younger than I am and that Dhorn women either bow to their fathers or their husbands if they are wed. It sounds very old-fashioned to me. A Dhorn woman has not a say in anything. I am glad I am not a Dhorn woman."

"Hmm, that information could very well prove useful to us," Mando pondered it thoughtfully.

"Can you tell me how you managed to rescue me? That last thing I remember is pain."

"We had five different people watching that apartment, and yes, there was someone inside with you. Once the situation went sour, he shot a poison dart at Benthur. It knocked him out. The others descended upon the place and tied him up. It was then they carefully carried you out of there and brought you to me."

"Where am I?"

"Ah, this is a spare room here at the guild. If the door were open, you would be able to see Jazz and Dalino," his warm smile engulfed her.

She nodded. "Any chance I can get some healing? I think I have a draught in my haversack."

"We didn't find it so it must be at The Bear Pit," he shook his head, "Now that you are awake, I will give you this to drink."

She forced herself to sit, clenching her teeth against the shot of pain that coursed though her body. Accepting the vial from him, she pulled the stopper from it and drank it down with a grimace. "You'd think it'd taste better."

Mando chuckled. "Perhaps you should rest some, sweetie. The burns will heal. I can already tell that much of the redness and swelling has subsided. Sleep and we shall talk more in the morning. Never fear, no one will disturb you. I shall make sure of that."

She cracked a smile at him. "I do feel somewhat better already and I thank you for watching over me. Tell me something, Mando. Is Vico aware of what happened to me?"

"Not to my knowledge, why?"

"Don't tell him, please."

"Very well, Shiloh. I will not say a word, unless he already knows. If that is the case, I can't keep the truth from him."

"I understand that nor would I want you to," she nodded.

"You need to focus on getting well. After that, Alfons needs to talk to you. I believe you have some explaining to do."

Shiloh sighed. "I am sure I do."

"Pleasant dreams."

Shiloh closed her eyes and rested for a while before she silently crept from the cot. She searched the crates and boxes stacked up in the room, pulling from one a heavy mottled greenish-grey cloak and barely there black dress which dipped low over her cleavage and rode up high on her thighs. Searching around, she found her shoes and slipped them on. Then she tiptoed to the door, and peaked out into the main room. Very few people were present in at the guild which led her to believe that the hour must be fairly late. A solitary candle flickered upon a sconce on the wall.

She crept from the storeroom and headed to the door, as silently as she could manage. She had to get out of there. She needed time to think. She knew what Alfons wanted to talk to her about, but she wasn't ready for that. She had no explanation of why she stabbed Mick. She didn't even know if he had lived or if he had succumbed to the poison that laced her wicked blade.

She was not sure where she could run to. She could not go to Vico's. She could not face him either at this moment. Despite the fact that he had thrown her out, she knew he would be greatly angered if he knew she had bedded another man, an enemy.

Kasha and Gina were at their posts, but someone she did not recognize had taken Mick's normal spot. Sneaking past them, she raced through the sewers and exited near the Bear Pit. She knew she couldn't go there either. Not right now.

The hour had to be very late for only a few patrols of Dhorn soldiers could be found in the streets. She made her destination the temple. She needed to see Rhys and as she entered his chamber, she took note that he was awake and sitting up in bed. She immediately sat on the edge of his bed and flashed a smile at him.

"I didn't figure to see you so soon, my sweet. What pray tell is troubling you?" He eyed her thoughtfully. He knew something was amiss. Her eyes were glazed over, her skin flushed.

"I have sinned," she whispered. "I have killed and I have seduced my enemy."

"Who have you killed?" Rhys asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"At least I think I have killed. It was someone not too much older than I. A member of the thieves' guild named Mick. I stabbed him for a stupid reason. He taunted me over the fact that Vico had thrown me out after a fight. It made me mad because I was trying to keep my relationship with that asshole quiet. Too many know about it." Shiloh sniffled and wiped away an errant tear that ran down her face.

"And who have you seduced, Shiloh?"

"His name is Arto Benthur.... "

Rhys let out a gasp. "Are you crazy?" His voice raised an octave or two and he stared at her through wide eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"You seduced Commander Benthur, the scourge of Betancuria. He is responsible for your father's death. He ordered your father's execution. He oversaw the beheading."

Shiloh's jaw hit the floor and she stammered, grasping for the words to explain what had happened. "I... I did not know. I was.... A member of the guild gave me an assignment. I was to meet a 'lonely' man and to find out information about him. Little did I know that the lonely man was none other than the same one who had rescued me from a bunch of drunks inside The Swordfish?"

"What were you doing in the Swordfish?!?! By the gods, Shiloh, have you no bloody sense?"

Shiloh glared at him contemptuously. "It wasn't for pleasure, you braying ass. I sent in there by a member of the guild to deliver a message to one of the patrons. I was attacked and Benthur saved me. Then Mando gave me this job to meet that 'lonely' man and it turned out to the same person. I had a little too much to drink and I played my charms. I seduced him. He broke his marital vows because of me. He said that Dhorn men do not take mistresses. He punished me for it. He burnt me. I'm still in pain from it."

"How did you get free of him? He would not have willingly let you go. And you know he will hunt you like none other. How could you be so stupid? Do you want to be the cause of destroying everything we have worked so hard for just to satisfy your need to have a cock in your cunt? Dammit Shiloh!" He lurched off the bed and grabbed her, shaking her furiously.

"Stop... please... Rhys!" Her head snapped to and fro. Pain shot through her. "Stop!"

"Then explain yourself!" Rhys let her go and sat back down upon his bed. His head ached from his outburst and beads of sweat broke out on his brow.

She took a few steps back and sank down onto the floor on her knees. "I can't tell you what came over me, Rhys, and I am not entirely sure how I was rescued. I blacked out and Mando told me the ones that had been watching over me used a dart to knock Benthur out. That is how I escaped. They took me back to the guild where they gave me some healing. I am not wholly well. I came here because I didn't know where else to turn. I know they will be angered over my actions and I am scared to face them."