Captured Ch. 05

"Why, this is our new pet," Marun said innocently.

Thoran stared. "Is that an elf?"

"A she-elf, brother," Tareg cheekily corrected. "She poses no danger to us."

"Aye, she is most receptive to our lures," Marun grinned. He had the girl's wrists trapped in one hand, his other covered her mouth. "We did not mean to wake you, I thought she tired of screaming."

"Let her go," Thoran said flatly, arms crossed.

"Do you reign over our desires, brother?" Tareg asked coldly.

Indulgently squeezing Aelena's wriggling bare buttock, he tilted his head at Thoran's severity. "It was the sounds of your mating that turned us to the night. If you are to keep Sirah to yourself, we must procure our own means for release."

Tareg gestured to the squirming, lithe body draped across him. "After our deeds with this elf, she will likely return with a male troop less susceptible to our charms."

Thoran hesitated. Elves were a dignified race, and the males were particularly vengeful if their women were misused. "You will not hurt her?"

"Only her pride," Marun chuckled, staring into the elf's blazing eyes. "You know our tastes, Thoran. And you also know we'll not find a better prize to entertain us. Mortal women are too docile to keep our attention," he finished with distaste. The elf finally managed to jerk her face free.

"Let me go!" she gasped to Thoran, still desperately pulling against Marun's grip on her wrists and trying to evade his hand petting her tousled red hair. "Please, I will tell no one! I will never return! Let me go!"

"I suppose we have certainly had our fill of her," Marun joked with exaggerated thoughtfulness. "If she promised never to tell..."

"Please! Yes! Please! I will never tell!" the elf desperately begged, wincing every time Tareg pinched her bare behind. "I promise!"

Earnestly looking into Marun's soulful brown eyes, Aelena stopped struggling and even allowed the demon to brush his lips across hers.

"She sounds very convincing, brother," Tareg remarked with false enthusiasm, as Marun's hand again smothered Aelena's fresh protests. "Perhaps we should release the elf?"

Perfectly aware they toyed with their prey, Thoran's jaw set. "Ensure she has clothes, when you are not using her."

With a last glare of disapproval at his brothers, he turned to confront Sirah's shocked countenance.

"I told you to stay away." Thoran's voice was cold.

Sirah rebelliously peeked around his intimidating height, and gasped. "Is that...an elf?"

Sirah stared at the unusual female addition to the male-dominated abode, and Aelena returned Sirah's fascination, her blue eyes enlarged with astonishment.

Thoran's dark frown lightened to amusement. "You've not seen one?"

"Oh, they visit us, but rarely. When their prince invited me to their lands, father was angry. He forbade me to speak with them alone," Sirah said distantly, then blinked away her surprise. "Have you told them to set her free?"

"I tried." Thoran could not resist tweaking an unruly lock of light-blonde hair. "Come to bed, Sirah."

"Where are her clothes?"

The brothers grinned at Sirah's naïve bewilderment. "She has no need for them," Marun flippantly answered.

"But-"

"They give their word they will not harm her." Eyebrow warningly raised, Thoran turned to give his brothers a hard stare.

"Of course, Thoran, we will not harm her," Tareg echoed. Though the two brothers shook their heads innocently, their eyes glinted pure mischief.

"Ouch," Marun grinned. "She bites."

"And claws," Tareg chuckled, sharply smacking the elf's behind so she yelled into Marun's hand.

"Thoran, they lie!" Sirah exclaimed, her voice thrummed with censure.

"Bed, Sirah. Now." Thoran's tone did not brook argument.

Sirah was overcome by a very strong desire to poke her tongue out at Thoran's brothers smugly enjoying her chastisement. Directing a stormy gaze at Thoran, she stubbornly remained.

"Shall we discuss alternatives, Thoran?" Marun offered.

"Keep your elf, and sleep well, brothers!" Thoran snarled, still with his back to them. Then he seized Sirah and carried the indignant nymph back to their room.

"But Thoran!" Sirah gasped, outraged. "The elf was naked!"

"By necessity," he said wryly, dropping her to the soft bed.

"What did Marun mean by alternatives?" Sirah pried.

"Do you really wish to know?"

Sirah hesitated, remembering the first time he asked the same question with an answer she feared. "Is...Is it about me?" she asked in a small voice.

Thoran slowly nodded. "If they are to stay, then they need a ready source to abate their lust."

"Demons have no trouble finding victims! They do not take prisoners!" Sirah hotly argued, feeling awful to be the reason behind the elf's imprisonment.

"Being close to you is different. They cannot very well leave the cavern every moment your aura strikes them. Unless you are willing to bed us all, you will not interfere."

"Bed you all? You mean... if they were sated? I-If I accepted all three of you, the elf would go free?" Sirah faltered, with a nervous gulp.

"Aye, she would. But do not trouble yourself considering. I forbid it. I will not share you, Sirah," Thoran answered with a note of finality.

"Is that not the demon way?" Sirah pouted.

"If you do not notice, I am not like other demons!" Thoran snapped sarcastically.

"It should be my decision," Sirah grumbled, so irked by Thoran's domineering manner that she paid little attention to the meaning of her words.

Thoran's eyebrows shot upward. "Do you desire my brothers?"

"No!" Sirah hastily answered.

Thoran was certainly enough for her, and she was blissfully happy with him. But if an innocent was being cruelly retained on her account...

"They truly won't harm the elf?" she persisted.

Thoran smiled. "They are not blood-lusters, like Plyon and Vertar. My brothers favour sensual torture, but torture it is. The elf will suffer the insult of relentless pleasure, no more."

"This is a terrible thing, Thoran," Sirah muttered, curling up with her back to him. "Elves are noble creatures."

"As are nymphs," Thoran replied. "And you are happy here."

"I accepted you. But your brothers...I am uneasy, Thoran."

"It is our way," he said heavily, lying beside her.

From the corner of his eye he saw her wings twitching anxiously, and turned to his side to indulgently trace their silken sleek edges. "They will not harm her, Sirah. I promise you."

"But this is your home!" Sirah reasoned, and Thoran knew she was pouting.

Despite her unhappy mood, Sirah edged back to give better access to her wings. The sensation was a unique enjoyment she had come to adore in their quieter moments together.

"Sirah, it was the very sounds of your pleasure that forced their search," Thoran bluntly revealed, grinning as a small, mortified squeal emitted from under her palms. "Be consoled they will not harm her, the way other demons would."

*******

The following morning Tareg and Marun relaxed outside the cavern entrance, and met Thoran's glowering appearance with beaming smiles.

"I trust you slept as well as we did, brother?" Tareg grinned.

Thoran exhaled impatiently, knowing the cause of his brothers' good spirits. "Sirah is not pleased."

Marun shrugged. "It is her choice. If she wishes to change the arrangement...?"

"It is my choice, and I will not have it!" Thoran growled.

"You could guide her compliance, now you are bound. You know she would enjoy it," Tareg pointed out, grinning as Thoran's hands clenched into fists.

"Do not goad him," Marun lightly punched Tareg's shoulder, then looked at Thoran. "Do we hunt?"

"Aye, but we hunt for ourselves. Sirah eats fruit."

"Why, we were only hunting fruit last night, were we not, Marun?" Tareg said slyly, but Marun frowned.

"Cease, Tareg," he warned, sensing Thoran's simmering temper. "Thoran, what do elves eat?"

"How would I know?" Thoran retorted. "You battle them."

"Aye, but we don't take prisoners."

"I imagine their diet is similar to mortals," Thoran shrugged. "The food itself is not your challenge. Elves are stubbornly righteous. Convincing her to eat..."

"She must eat," Tareg grimaced. "I'll not see that delicious flesh reduce to a bony twig!"

"And she needs nourishment to fight us," Marun chuckled. "There's no sport tussling with a weakling."

"You've not had an elf, Thoran?" Tareg asked. "We'll gladly share ours with you," he sneakily added.

Thoran grit his teeth at their callous musings. It was true he'd not been lucky enough to snare an elf, and he might have relished in it before Sirah. But no encounter however fortunate could exceed the joy found in his mate.

Thoran glared. "Sirah is enough for me. And remember, you may keep your elf so long as-!"

"Aye, softling, she will not be harmed!" Tareg rolled his eyes. "Marun is enamoured with her. Tis fortunate she's dead to her people."

"Once spent, I took my rest," Marun snorted, also rolling his eyes. "I was not kissing her 'til daybreak!"

"One day she will admit to liking it," Tareg grinned ruefully.

Hugely puzzled, Thoran dismissed the unusual exchange. "What is the elf's name?"

"We still wager who will coax it from her," Marun answered, his light-brown eyes brightened by the challenge.

"Aye, we could not extract it without harming the girl. I believe she fears we'll bind her," Tareg laughed.

Eyeing them reproachfully, Thoran knew there was little point debating their unfortunate prisoner.

"Marun, come with me," he said, raising a hand when Tareg made to rise. "Remain as guard. We won't go far, signal if there is trouble."

"Why not Marun and I go?" Tareg queried, and Thoran looked cynical.

"I hunt for..." Thoran's eye twitched. "I provide for my mate."

Marun chortled, and Tareg threw back his head with a laugh.

"Aye, trust us not, to pluck hearty plums!" Tareg solemnly shook his head, but the jest proved too much, and he succumbed to mirth.

"I hope you are invigorated, brother," Marun's chuckle increased to match Tareg's ample laughter. "We passed a fearsome apple tree last night. Coaxing fruit from it will be no easy feat!"

Thoran snarled at the sniggering pair and stalked off, with Marun eventually following at a wary distance.

******

Once finally left alone, Aelena slept deeply. By dawn she was thoroughly exhausted, more than she could remember being her entire life. Relentlessly fighting two demons through the night as they took their pleasure and forced her own, strained Aelena beyond endurance. The prolonged effort proved too much and at one point she fell unconscious.

But she woke soon after, entwined with both demons. Eyes fluttering open to face Marun, who looked deceptively innocent in slumber, Aelena was dismayed to discover that Tareg was awake and curled about her, gently tasting the flesh of her neck. Suddenly aware of her consciousness, Tareg turned Aelena to claim her mouth fully. As Aelena tiredly yielded, Marun stirred but did not wake, nor did his hand leave her breast.

Still fatigued, Aelena sighed awake as the devil's mist imprisoning her trembled. Biting her lip, she sat up apprehensively, watching the smoke wall shudder as though encountering an attack. The brother demons were gone, so she'd hoped. Aelena dragged the blanket about her and waited, not daring to dream of a rescue.

Then a slender arm broke through, clawing at the mystical smoke. Huffing and puffing from the effort, the golden-haired nymph burst forth and continued to drag herself through the prison barrier. Aelena did not dare try assist, lest she touched the smoke and was thrown back again.

"I..." Exhausted from the struggle, Sirah took a moment to catch her breath. "I am Sirah."

Aelena stared as Sirah approached the bed.

"H-How did you do that?" Aelena spoke finally, unsure what to think of the strange nymph.

Sirah comfortably settled on the floor. "I don't know. I tried to have you set free, but my mate forbids it. I wanted to see you weren't harmed."

The female company and kind words tugged at Aelena's stoic mask, and after withholding tears for so long, she choked on them.

"How do you measure harm?" she asked tremulously. "They chased me and...in the open they...both of them...did things to me!" she stiltedly confided, her tear-streaked cheeks burned with shame as she remembered. "Anyone could have seen, and they did not care! And worse, they forced me-!" she broke off bitterly and shuddered. "I'd rather they killed me."

Sirah had no words to comfort the distraught elf, but at least only her dignity was hurting. Having experienced both sides of the lure herself, Sirah knew Aelena's ordeal would not have been on the unpleasant side, unless she disobeyed. From her dire encounter with three demons, Sirah learned very few, if any, had her level of resistance.

Aelena wretchedly shook her head, still trying to make sense of the strange circumstances. "A demon bound you? And his brothers keep me now? Why?"

A tell-tale blush stole across Sirah's cheeks. "Because they desire you. They enjoy your challenging nature."

Aelena again shook her head with confusion. "What kind of demons are they?"

Sirah shifted uneasily. "The better kind."

Aelena started up, recalling Sirah's words from the night before. "You've met the Elven Prince?"

Sirah nodded.

Aghast, Aelena stared at Sirah's dainty wings. "You're not...Sirah, King Devan's daughter?" she gasped with horror, forgetting her own plight.

Sirah nodded happily, and Aelena's long hair cascaded about her bare shoulders as she vigorously shook her head to clear her mind. "A Princess with a demon!" She raged, clenching the blanket. "You must be returned!"

"I am happy to live a free life with Thoran," Sirah said simply. "I love my father and my people, but I would have seen none of the world, but for Thoran."

"But surely you cannot prefer to love a demon!" Aelena cried, striving to forget she was slave to two malevolents.

"My father would let me love no one," Sirah cynically answered.

Aelena frowned. "Why?"

Sirah's expression became suddenly closed. "Never mind why. Just know that I do not want to be restored to my people. And if you try to harm my mate, I will fight you."

Aelena genuinely smiled for the first time since her capture. "Oh, little nymph. You are a gentle princess, and I have seen more war than you ever shall."

Sirah bristled at Aelena's patronising dismissal of her threat. Moments later, the elf scrambled back with alarm.

"Sirah, go! They return! I can feel it!"

"They do not return," Sirah said sullenly.

Aelena's eyes widened. "Malevolent!" she hissed, recoiling. "What has the demon done? Can it be reversed?"

"It is the way that I am." Sirah carelessly tossed her head to hide how much Aelena's reaction hurt her.

It seemed her whole life Sirah could never fit in; her wings were too small to be a common nymph. Though her people cherished her, she was also alone. And now, her dark ability set her apart from all benevolent races. Whether in the company of good or evil, she could never belong.

But thankfully, Thoran was an outcast; a contradiction to his kind. Now Sirah realised that he understood her plight, and was the best companion for her.

"So there is dark blood inside you," Aelena concluded in a hushed whisper.

Sirah's eyes filled with tears. "Do you sense I am evil?" she asked mournfully.

Wiping away her own tears, Aelena shook her head. "No, Sirah. You are the very picture of innocence. But I noticed your manner with the demons, your confidence. It surprised me," she admitted. "Now I understand. And I appreciate you spoke for me, even if they disregard it."

Still saddened, Sirah bit her lip.

"I do not wish to kill your mate," Aelena said slowly. "But I want my freedom back, and I will fight for it."

Sirah cocked her head. "A she-elf could never defeat a demon."

Aelena wanly smiled. "Perhaps with your aid, I shall." Confused, she watched Sirah rise to her knees and shyly reach for her glossy red hair.

"It's a wonderful colour I've not seen before," Sirah explained with awe, gently stroking a long auburn strand between her fingers.

Aelena hoarsely chuckled. "Says a nymph whose beauty is perfection."

"Perhaps you will unite with one of Thoran's brothers, and reside nearby," Sirah said, her wings wistfully fluttered.

Though aware her hopes were foolishly unrealistic, it would be nice to have female companionship now and again. Elves were wonderful sources of knowledge, and lively company.

"Sirah, I despise them," Aelena said flatly, slowly retreating from the nymph's touch. "They take me, they mock me, and they give me no peace whilst I'm within reach."

Sirah glumly nodded her understanding, and sat back with a sigh.

"I must escape," Aelena muttered, her nails digging into the blanket. "I must. Demons find their victims and release or destroy them. To be their captive...to perpetually suffer the lures of two demons will take its toll on me. I could lose my mind."

Guilt flooded Sirah, and she opened her mouth to explain the predicament, but quickly stiffened, the colour drained from her face as she sensed the barrier behind her dissolve at the same time Aelena's face darkened with loathing.

Sirah turned to see Tareg bearing down upon them, his eyes warmly fixed on Aelena, who blushed angrily when he winked. Finally, Tareg's attention was on Sirah.

"Greetings, sister," Tareg smiled down at her, but the smile was not kind. "I see Thoran did not exaggerate your capabilities. You should not be here."

Sirah defiantly angled her head to glare at his great height. "This is my home too, Tareg. I may go where I please!"

"Aye," he agreed.

Before Sirah knew what he was about, Tareg seized her throat. Not to choke, but with enough firmness to hold her immobile. Sirah's eyes widened with dread as Tareg drew their faces close.

"Stay away from our pet, unless you wish to take her place," he warned.

Sirah angrily began to retort, but Tareg forced their lips together in an unyielding kiss. Seconds later, Sirah stumbled back, stunned, and Tareg stood tall as though nothing had happened. But his eyes were black pools of desire.

Tareg had a distinct, yet similar energy to Thoran, and Sirah's heart raced with unwilling excitement from the contact. Likewise, Tareg's toned, bare chest rose and fell heavily as though he'd approached at a run.

"Thoran said you were hunting!" Sirah said hotly, fighting to expel the physical attraction. "You should not be here!"

"One remains as guard," Tareg silkily answered. "I am your protector."

Without a worthy retort, Sirah bared her teeth at him.

"Now run along, little halfling," Tareg huskily advised. "Your touch has created a need I must satisfy." Then his lustful stare returned to Aelena, whose jaw hung open as she realised the dynamic.

"That's why you keep me?" she exclaimed, her eyes flashed indignantly. "She's part siren?"

"Something of that nature, but you are diverting alone, elf," Tareg shrugged, his eyes sinister. "I am afraid we will take you with us, when our journey resumes." He looked to Sirah. "Do you remain to watch, or join us?"

With bewildered tears dampening her cheeks, Sirah furiously stamped past him. The smoke barrier returned, and she heard Aelena's angry protests immediately after. Tareg's delighted laughter carried through the mist and seemed to shadow Sirah all the way to Thoran's bed.