Shadowland

"Yes! There's the life I've been missing!" He grinned, showing every sharpened tooth. "My children need fire to survive, Sabrina. They need a mother who is passionate and strong, someone who can carry them and teach them. You're exactly what they need."

One clawed hand reached down and gripped her thigh, sharp nails digging into her flesh. The coil of shadow that held her ankle loosened, allowing him the freedom to move her. Still grinning, Melanthius hauled her leg up, hooking her knee over his hip. She felt his cock, cold and slick as it always was, rubbing stiffly against her thigh.

She whimpered softly, turning her head away. Truthfully, she enjoyed the attention he'd given her for so many years. Her mother, a nurse, and her father, a CPA, had made enough money to easily support a family of five children. They just hadn't made any effort to spend time with them. She, the second oldest, was often stuck between fighting with her older brother and taking care of her younger siblings. With Melanthius at her bedside constantly, she at least had someone who would listen and pay attention to her.

Even more frightening was the fact that she'd enjoyed being corrupted by him. Her mother, having been raised Catholic, didn't seem to find it important to teach any of her daughters what sex was. Apparently, her mother figured it was a conversation best saved for the night before the wedding. As an uneducated teenager with raging hormones, her curiosity often got the best of her. Melanthius gave her the perfect opportunity to go wild.

She sighed to herself. She hadn't had a boyfriend since the day she left. Hell, she'd barely had a date. Not that men thought she wasn't attractive. She was just too busy with work and school to have a relationship. The consequence of that was many lonely nights spent with a litany of vibrators and cheap porn movies. For three years, her body had been craving someone, anyone, to occupy those nights. Even now, in the presence of her most seductive nightmare, her body was in a frenzy.

It amazed her how often her body won out against her conscience. Her body rarely lost a fight with her mind, whether it was over a craving for food or pleasure. If her body wanted release, it would find some way to get it. And right now, her body wanted what her mind refused to accept: a burning need to be ravaged by her childhood boogeyman. Fine. If that's what her body wanted, then abso-fucking-lutely fine. She would give her body exactly what it wanted.

Swallowing whatever modesty she had left, Sabrina turned to look at Melanthius again. Staring into his crimson eyes, she twisted her wrist so she could stroke the tendril of darkness with her fingers. It quivered for an instant before loosening its grip, finally releasing her hand completely. Taking a deep breath, she reached up and wrapped her arm around Melanthius' neck, digging her fingers into his slick skin for support.

He smiled and growled in approval. The thread of shadow released her other wrist, pulling back into the darkness of her room. Not that it had to retreat; there was no light left to do him harm. The sun had nearly set on the horizon, lighting the hallway with an eerie amber glow.

She twisted her wrist, setting the bones back into place before reaching around to grip his back. She exhaled a long, shaky breath, her body letting loose a shiver of anticipation and fear.

She tossed her head back and stared down the hallway. "Whatever you do, just don't eat me."

He chuckled. "I make no promises."

She shook her head. "Don't tease me. Not about this." She flinched when his tongue dragged up her cheek again.

"Very well. For you, Sabrina." His breath tickled her ear, making goosebumps rise of her flesh. "For you, I will stop the games."

She nodded shakily, closing her eyes and bracing for impact. One last lick along her neck was all the warning she got. Repositioning his hand so he cupped her hip in his palm, Melanthius shifted his body so that the tip of his cock pressed firmly against the folds of her sex. Giving her just enough time to inhale, he thrust forward, burying his cock inside her velvety pussy.

She gasped sharply and arched her back, her nails digging into his slick skin. Not being a virgin made it much more comfortable than she'd expected, but his size still alarmed her. God, he was twice the size she'd imagined he'd be! He filled her to almost bursting. Thick and powerful where she was delicate and soft - a beautiful blend of opposites.

"Oh, yes. You're as tight and hot as I remember. And so slick. Oh, Sabrina, we're going to have such fun, you and I."

Giving her a handful of heartbeats to adjust to his size, Melanthius began to move, cleaving a path through her still untouched flesh. Starting slowly so as not to break her, he quickened his strokes every few seconds, each thrust and pull eliciting a soft cry from her throat. It felt good. Wonderful, really. Big as he was, his body was a perfect fit to hers. Two puzzle pieces locking into place, fulfilling the destiny she'd tried so hard to run away from.

Another heartbeat passed by as he sped up his thrusts again. Allowing herself to be lost in the pleasure he offered, Sabrina tossed her head back and closed her eyes, chewing her lip to stifle her cries. The last thing she needed was for her family to arrive and hear her screaming out for more.

But Melanthius was not satisfied with her modesty. He wanted to hear her beg him for more, wanted to hear her screams ecstasy. Lifting her leg an inch higher, he thrust harder and faster, pounding his hips against her own. He fucked her long and hard, his labored grunts mingling with her cries of surprise and satisfaction.

The movements forced the breath from her lungs. God, that man could put some power in those hips. She arched her back farther, silently begging for more.

He laughed, the sound both delicious and deadly. "Good girl. That's right, take it all."

Another strong thrust forced a cry from her throat.

"Yes! That's my girl! Show me that whore I made you!"

He leaned back, knelling on the soft carpet. He straightened, pulling away from her grasp. She let her hands fall to the carpet, no longer caring that she couldn't hold him. The pleasure he gave her had wiped her mind clean of any thought or care. All she wanted was for him to continue, to never stop. Her torso now free, for thin threads of shadow crept out from the darkness of her room. Two wrapped gently around her wrists and caressed them. The other two spiraled around and over her breasts, teasing the tender flesh and making her head spin.

He slid his free hand under her other hip, lifting her pelvis high. On instinct, she wrapped both legs around his waist, locking them together. His movements turned frantic, almost crazed. And yet, he maintained a sense of complete control, his focus never torn from his game: watching her squirm.

"Oh, yes. That's a good girl. You love this, don't you?" He laughed out his triumph for the world to hear. "I think you do. Your poor body, suffering for three long years with no one to feed it. You should never have run away, Sabrina. I could have given you this long ago."

But she had barely heard his words. Lost in the ecstasy she had craved for so long, Sabrina had blocked out every sense given to her except touch. She had long ago blocked out the sounds of screaming winds and the smells of the forest, leaving her with just the beautiful sparks of pleasure racing along her flesh. That was all she wanted, all she needed to feel.

But even through the waves of bliss, her body twitched restlessly. She needed more, much more. As delicious as the feeling was, it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy her hunger. Her body demanding more, she arched her back, twisting her hips back and forth, trying to find a better angle.

Melanthius grinned at her, the smile almost sadistic. "Ah, I see what you want. Here, then. Let me help."

He shifted his hands, sliding them under her ass and lifting her hips an inch higher. The motion brought her body to the perfect height. Every stroke of his cock rubbed against her G-spot, making her cry out and squirm against him. Oh, yes. That was exactly the spot she needed him to reach. Against her will, she moaned out his name, too engrossed in her newfound bliss to care.

Much as she hated to, she let him have his way. That kind of pleasure was too enticing to fight, and she'd be damned to let her mother's inability to explain sex deprive her of acting out every fantasy she had. In the back of her mind, she began to play out a number of explicit situations involving Melanthius, each somehow ending with her finding complete bliss at his hands.

One last stroke and she was lost to the world. Closing her eyes and tossing her head to one side, she gave a silent cry of satisfaction. Her body twitched for a moment before she slumped into the carpet, her breathing labored and her heart about to explode. A thin sheen of sweat coated her skin, beads forming along the tops of her breasts and her forehead.

Seconds later, she heard Melanthius call out his own pleasure. Letting loose a roar that shook the windows of the house, his fingers loosened their grip on her ass. Gently, he slipped his cock from her body, slowly lowering her hips to the floor. He placed his hands on his thighs to steady himself, breathing heavily to catch his breath.

Slowly, the tendrils of shadow unwound themselves from her wrists and breasts, slinking back into the darkness of their birth. The threads on her breasts gave her nipples one last teasing flick before following their siblings into the darkness.

He chuckled again, looking up to smile at her. "Just as warm and tight and I'd hoped, though I never pictured you being so eager."

She refused to look at him, confusion and anger slowly replacing the bliss in her mind. Damn him for doing that. She'd hated and feared him before, but her anger had now reached its boiling point. As had her arousal. Damn it.

"My goodness, you're a little firecracker, aren't you? I may need to have that again." He reached out, clawed fingers tracing their way up her legs. "Come here."

She rolled away from his touch, curling up to shield herself. "No. No more. Please, no more." Her voice was quiet, still strained from all the screaming she'd done.

"No?" His voice was mockingly inquisitive. He pulled his hands back, crossing his arms over his chest and cocking his head. "Well, then. I suppose we'll have to make a bargain about this."

"A bargain for what? You've had me already. All I've asked is for you to stop." She stared at the carpet.

"Exactly. I've waited centuries for a young woman healthy and passionate enough to carry my children. Then you come along and make me wait another three years. I've been patient enough and you're keeping me from satisfying my urges."

"I apologize, master. I had forgotten you and I were married." Sarcasm saturated her words, her tone a hint sharper that it usually was.

He chuckled. "You always had a dark sense of humor, Sabrina."

Quicker that lightening, he had slid along the floor until he lay next to her, his body pressing against her own. He reached around, cupping her bare breasts in his slick hands. She shivered at his touch, the quakes intensifying when his breath caressed her ear.
"But, I have the perfect way you can make it up." His tongue traced a line along the side of her neck. "You can suck me off as a trade."

She closed her eyes and groaned into the carpet. Double damn it. She'd screwed herself now.

He pinched her nipple lightly. "Oh, come now, Sabrina. You were always so excited when I asked you to practice. You'd beg me to let you demonstrate the new tricks you'd learned. We would sit together and watch those cheap porn movies, and every time one of those women began to suck her partner, you would ask to try what she was doing."

She twitched away, permanently caught in his embrace yet desperately trying to put distance between them.

"And as I recall, you were quite the talented student." He inched closer, pressing his body firmly against her back. "You were only eighteen and could suck like a seasoned whore."

She shivered, trying one last time to put some distance between them. He'd guessed her move and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling back sharply and crushing her against him. Her resolve collapsed. If that's what she had to do to avoid being plundered a second time, that that's what she'd do.

"Fine," she spat, putting as much 'spoiled child' attitude as she could in her words.

His laughed resounded in her ear. "Good girl." He reached up to cup her chin. "I knew you'd be a good choice. You were always so compliant."

She twisted her head away from his grasp. "Not now."

"No?" His grip loosened a bit. "And why not?"

She gave a sarcastic laugh. "Do you remember fucking me? I'm exhausted. Even if I wanted to do it, I'd probably fall asleep in the middle of blowing you."

For the first time, he sighed. "I suppose. You'd fall right off the bed, wouldn't you?" He chuckled at the thought. "Very well. I'll give you time to recover."

He loosened his grip, letting her push herself onto her knees without struggle. She sat back, pushing her sweat-drenched hair out of her face. She sucked in a deep breath, a final attempt to settle the twist in her gut that had formed the moment she'd arrived here. Mentally, she'd completely resigned herself to silence and numbness. If she could force her emotions down, maybe she could make it out of this unscathed.

A sharp pain on her ass, coinciding with a loud smack, brought her back to reality.

"You'd best get going, Sabrina. Your family will be here soon. And I'd hate to have your mother see you in such a state."

She nodded, secretly torn between clawing his face off and running to the safety of her room. Curious, she peered over her shoulder to watch Melanthius's shadowy form slink back into the recesses of her room. His white-toothed grin, the only color on his body besides his eyes, winked at her as he continued to slither back into his hiding place.

"You enjoy your meal, Sabrina. Then, you come back to me."

With that final order, his smile disappeared under the darkness of her bed. One tendril of shadow stayed out just long enough to grasp the handle and push her door closed. She was left in silence, naked on the floor of the hallway and lost in her competing emotions. On one hand, she wanted to run out of the house and never come back, even if that meant abandoning her family and her clothing. On the other, she felt a deep longing to follow him back into her room.

Deciding it as best to leave her feelings alone for the moment, she shoved all thoughts of Melanthius thoughts aside clear and hauled herself to her feet. Her legs were shaky at first, sore from her indoctrination into sex, but she managed to get them working after a moment. Slowly, tenderly, she made her way to the bathroom down the hall, opening a cabinet and pulling out a thick bathrobe. She pulled it over her shoulders, trying to find comfort in the luxurious fabric.

She couldn't. As hard as she tried, her body felt bereft and empty. It craved her nightmare's touch again. She physically shook herself, trying to shake off the feelings of loneliness and remorse. But her body refused to have its desires ignored. Instead, her feeling for Melanthius remained, stamped into the back of her mind, where her body intended to make sure it stayed.

She sighed quietly. Fine, her body could throw its hissy fit. All she wanted was some new clothes since her old ones had been torn to shreds. She walked back down the hall, gathering the pieces of her clothing before making her way down the stairs. She deposited her scraps of fabric in the trash can under the kitchen sink, brushing her hands on her robe as she made her way over to her suitcases. She unzipped them both, rummaging through the piles of clothing until she found a decent outfit of jeans and a v-neck sweater.

She dressed in silence, pulling her fresh clothing over her sore skin. Fully clothed again, she stuffed the robe in the washer, zipped up her bags and lit the fireplace. She sat down in one of the plush leather chairs and waited patiently for her family to arrive. It was well past sunset; she and Melanthius had finished just moments before their scheduled appearance. What lucky timing.

Her family arrived fifteen minutes later. Pushing away the memories of moments past, she forced her brightest smile at seeing her parents and siblings again. Her grandparents, as wizened and cheery as she had remembered, followed close behind, exclaiming shouts of joy and surprise. They hugged and smiled, glad to feel the embrace of one another. She hid behind her smile, her mind never letting go of her experience. Memories flitted in and out of her mind the entire night, silent reminders of what was to come.

~~~

The meal was delicious, thanks to her mother's cooking having stayed constant even after her departure. All the family favorites had been splayed out on the massive dining table: roasted rosemary chicken, baked yams, green bean salad and lemon meringue pie. She and her family had stuffed themselves; her younger brother Nate had eaten so much he had passed out on the couch moments after dessert.

After dinner and long, drawn-out conversations about old jokes and new lives, the rest of her family went to bed, her younger sisters resigning to the guest rooms. Clearly, neither of them wanted her room. Not that it had mattered, anyway. Something about her bedroom, perhaps Melanthius himself, had marked that space has hers alone.

Sabrina had stayed downstairs after dinner, helping her grandmother with the dishes. They made small talk as they cleaned and set the plates in the dishwasher, with Sabrina stealing quiet glances at the staircase.

"Waiting for something?" Her grandmother arched a brow at her.

Startled, she resumed scrubbing a casserole dish. "No."

"Don't lie to me, Sabrina. You've been staring at those stairs all night," her grandmother scolded, picking up another plate.

She sighed and dropped her head, unable to speak the truth but desperately wanting to.

"Ah, so it's him, is it?" Her grandmother began to scrub tomato paste from the dish. "I might have thought as much."

Her eyes flicked to her grandmother, widening with shock and curiosity. "You know him?"

"Melanthius? Better than you know, my dear. He's been in this house for years longer than I've been alive."

She set the plate in the racks of the dishwasher, her mind now spinning. "How do you know him?"

"Before you, that bedroom belonged to your farther. Before him, it was mine. He would come out at night and entertain me with games and stories, always talking about how he was searching for a mate to bear his children. Fortunately for me, he had deemed me an unsuitable choice." She giggled for a moment. "As for your father...well, you can see how that wouldn't work out. That creature is the reason your father still sleeps with his door open."

"Yeah..." She picked up another plate, staring at it as her mind started to put the pieces together. The gears spun so fast, sparks nearly came shooting out her ears. This wasn't just her issue; he had been a family secret for years. Maybe even a secret belonging to the original owners of the house.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Her grandmother's wrinkled hand curled around her shoulder.

She swallowed loudly, tears welling in her eyes. "I don't think he's dismissed me as easily."

Her grandmother's hand tightened on her shoulder.

"I see." Her grandmother took a long breath, placing the dish back into the sink. "Do you know what that means, Sabrina?"

She shook her head.

"It means he's going to offer you a choice. You can either stay here in our world and go on with you life as you are now. Or you can choose to go with him to his world where you would live forever and bear his children."