The Taking of Talora Ch. 02 - Talaine

The penetration was tight, deep, painful, a frantic rhythm that seemed to drive the monster deeper and deeper still. The creature leered down at her, demanding the awareness in her eyes of how completely he impaled her, and Talaine could not look away from that hungry gaze, dark with desire for her. Her breathing was strained, his form too heavy atop her, her body at an unnatural angle, yet soon her breathing grew ragged from another cause; the monstrous thing within her pressed against some strange spot of pleasure, and above her opening the sweet bundle of sensitive nerves seemed to welcome to friction of the troll's demanding pace.

The rhythm grew frenzied, their bodies meeting with swift slapping sounds as he drove himself into her. The troll leaned back, breathing heavily, his terrible hands digging into her hips as he forced her body against his own, demanding to know every inch of her slickening passage. His breathing grew more ragged, his expression a fierce snarl of primal passion, until at last he threw back his head and gave a beastly cry, his cock spewing forth its climax.

Talaine breathed hard, her body on the verge of some new sensation suddenly denied. Within her, she felt the terrible organ tremble as it released its warm seed within her, and her body demanded it, hungry for some fulfilment she did not understand. She watched, trembling, as the creature withdrew from her, its thick green club glistening with her arousal.

She did not move, but lay with her arms spread, breasts heaving, her legs still parted as silvery-green seed spilled slowly from her womanhood onto the coverlet. The creature had walked over to her basin, and she heard splashing as he began to clean himself, a strangely civilized ritual for such a beast. Talaine's thoughts were empty, her awareness focused only on the sensations of her body, the ache of the troll's fucking and her strange sense of having been denied something. Tears drew a slow path down her temples into her hair, where the auburn tresses lay fanned around her head. She wept for her defilement, her pain, but also for the confusion of her unnamed need.

She trailed a hand across her breast, tender where Eishar had bitten her, down over her stomach, to the parting between her thighs. The creature's seed was snagged in the hair there, and she drew her fingers through her curls, feeling the slippery substance, before dipping into her opening to scoop some of that coldness onto her fingers.

She held it close to her face, horror growing within her as she took in the evidence of their coupling, the thick slime that the monster had spilled in the depths of her womanhood. As though he sensed what she thought, she heard the creature give a low chuckle, and she turned her head to find him watching her, his eyes hungry on her form, on her hand, on the proof of how thoroughly he had claimed her.

'Will...' she began uncertainly, her voice thick with tears, 'Will there be a child?'

It strode towards her, and she could not help but recoil from that tall form, terrible in its nudity. She drew away, huddling against the headboard, but the creature merely sat down at the foot of the bed, human in its posture, though never in its dimensions.

'Would you like that, Talaine?' it asked her. 'Do you long to have some part of me growing within you?'

She did not answer, but stared at him in mute horror, her tears cold against her flaming cheeks. The creature reached out a hand, if such it could be called, and Talaine flinched, her breasts and thighs and hips aching with the recollection of those strong fingers pressing into her, claiming her as its cock had claimed her maidenhead.

The long finger touched one of her tears and brushed it away, and Talaine closed her eyes, that she need not look into that gaze that had taken such pleasure in her defilement and her pain.

'I said that I would let you see your brother. A generous agreement; I might have taken what I sought without giving anything in return, much as Neere did to Talora. Although, one might argue that he gave her a child in return; your mother's greatest gift, I imagine.'

Talaine did not argue. It had always been thus; Devar had been the apple of her mother's eye, her greatest joy, and at the loss of him all the light had gone out of her world. It had hurt, at first, to know that her own presence could never make up for what had been lost, but with time she had accepted it, and that recognition had driven her to do all that she could to put her mother's world aright again. It was as much for her own sake as her mother's that she had made this bargain.

Eishar's finger drew a path down her cheek as the tears had, then down her neck and collarbone, and she drew in a hissing breath of fear as his hand claimed her breast again, fondling her slowly as a sharp nail brushed at her peak. He turned and clambered onto the bed slowly, as though stalking prey, and Talaine could not withdrew farther than she already had. Fleeing would not serve her; she quailed at the thought of what his strange powers might do.

Still, she whimpered a plea. 'You've had me. I have kept my side of the bargain. Now you must take me to my brother.'

The troll came closer, claiming one of her wrists in its hand and bringing its mouth close to her own. Talaine turned her face away, drew her body back, and suddenly he was pressing her down, so that she sprawled on her back once more with the terrible creature hovering over her, his eyes black again with lust, his need evident as his member rose again into a long, hard, thick length of green.

'No,' Talaine whimpered, beginning to thrash beneath him, and the creature dipped its head to her breast. She cried out as the sharp teeth clamped onto her nipple, and its maw began to suck at her flesh, sending currents of pleasure through her even as she closed her eyes tightly in denial.

'I have a better offer for you,' the creature murmured against her breast, his thigh resting between her own though she struggled to close them. Suddenly he grabbed both her wrists and splayed her arms above her head, bringing his face close to her own. She held her breath, denying his scent entrance as she sought to deny the rest of him. But he held her still, unmoving, until finally she had to open her eyes and look into that terrible gaze, lust-filled and cruel, mere inches from her own.

'Will you hear my offer?' Eishar asked.

'You said you'd take me to him,' she said softly, afraid. 'I gave you what you asked for. I am ruined. I...' and a greater fear made her choke out the words, 'I might even bear a monster! Just take me to my brother, please!'

'Yes. I will keep this promise. Unless, you choose my other offer. You will hear me, Talaine, one way or another.'

'Then speak,' she hissed, her eyes locked with his, the dark depths of his lust kindling some spark in the pit of her belly. She was lost in those depths, trapped by his desire and his eldritch gifts, and could do naught but listen as he made his proposal.

'In the world of my people, as in your own, kingship is hereditary. The title may pass to any offspring, however, granted they be born in binding, or wedlock, as your people would say. My brother sits the throne now, but his heir was skewered in the Thunder wars, and he himself perishes slowly from a poison of my making.'

'Is that why he took my brother? To be the next heir?' Talaine asked, shifting slightly to ease the strain of her arms spread so painfully above her head. He breasts bounced with the motion, and the troll's gaze slid from her eyes to her chest, and away, a low growl sounding in his throat as his grip tightened about her.

His length slid along her thigh, hard and impatient to take her, but she shook her head fearfully.

'You bade me listen, and I am listening. Release me or you shall never finish your telling.'

With another grunt of frustration he withdrew, releasing the vice-grip on her wrists yet still kneeling over her. Talaine covered her breasts as best she could with one hand, another resting on her mound as though covering herself thus might somehow ward him off, or make him forget the pleasures he had found in her depths only minutes before.

'Did Neere take my brother to be the heir?' she repeated, and was gratified when he focused on her face again, returning to the telling.

'You are correct. Though your brother was not born in binding, he is a fine balance of the best of our races, and will make a powerful ruler, for the gifts of the Atheer run thick in his veins. Our people have, for the most part, welcomed him as the next choice.'

'Neere has no heir of his own?'

'The first died, as I said, and his mother soon after. Neere remarried when he inherited the throne a decade ago, but his wife is barren. He has tried to do away with her, but she is far cleverer than he. Neere will die with no child born in binding, and your brother Devar will sit the throne after him, soon corrupted by it.' Cruelly he added, 'He will never again set foot on this land, and your mother will die of heartbreak. This, I have seen. Shall I show you?'

'No,' she said calmly, though her heart burned with fury. 'I do not need your gifts to know my mother's fate.' A tear raced down her temple, but no others joined it; swiftly she blinked away her distress. 'This much I have seen for myself.'

'You could spare her, Talaine. You could spare her and your brother both. He could return here, and I would make it so that they forget what he is and embrace him again as their beloved lord. I have power enough for this, I swear. Your mother would strengthen and live to a ripe old age, knowing joy each day for the tragedy averted, though she will never quite recall what it was.'

'If you are so powerful, why are you not king yourself?' she asked, but his words were already painting pictures in her mind, possibilities that she had never considered, for she had not known that there existed such magic in the world, a power to undo the terrible twists their tale had taken.

'I am the eldest, and the throne was mine by rights, yet for a misdeed in my youth I was bound in service to the tower, to be its watcher, to never again meddle in the affairs of our court. You and I could change that.'

'How?' she asked, though her pulse raced in a sudden need for flight. She knew that he would ask too much, for he had taken too much already.

'Bind yourself to me, and bear my heir, and our child will sit the throne of the Atheer, a trueborn heir with powers that have not been seen in centuries. You were a maiden when I took you; your essence bears only my mark; such a union would yield offspring of great power.'

'Bind myself to you? Live with you in your world and raise your-your monster? I cannot!' Now she struggled to escape his weight, and he allowed it, watching her as she grabbed her slip from the floor and drew it on over her head, then began to pace, rubbing her temples as she considered what he had said, despite having already spoken her refusal.

'Do you think your brother a monster?' came the troll's voice from the bed. Her trepidation, an echo of the earlier occurrence, amused and aroused him, so that he drew his hand slowly along his own length as he watched her.

'Of course not. Devar is the best man I know. I would not have gone to all this trouble, I would not have let you --let you do what you have done to me, if I did not believe that.' She whirled suddenly, her face pale but two bright spots burning in her cheeks as she regarded him, her nipples hard against the smooth fabric of the silken shift.

'Why me? Why not some other woman?'

'I do not seek an Atheer binding. A human woman would provide the balance of blood that I seek, yet I can only go where I have been summoned, and so I am not free to seek her. By all means, call another to your chambers and I will defile her, and plant in her my seed. But for what I intend, I require a virgin, or one who has known only my own essence. Should you bring me such a one, I could force her to bind to me, certainly, but from what I have seen of your brother, there is something in the blood of Talora that strengthens the gifts of my people. Such a one as you and I would make would be a worthy heir. I want you, Talaine, and I do not deny the pleasure I will take in breeding you.'

She understood then why her chasteness had so excited him. He had not expected to find a virgin, and his plan had taken form the moment his digit slipped inside her and encountered that ring of flesh that proclaimed her untouched.

'You could force me to bind to you? Why don't you do it, then?' she wondered, and quailed at the thought that he might take this as a challenge.

He threw his head back and laughed, a low, cruel sound that made her fold her arms over her chest protectively. His lips remained stretched into a terrible grin, and his gaze caressed her from top to toe, settling on the shadow where the auburn curls of her sex brushed against the sheer fabric of her scant garment. He licked his lips.

'I will,' he said, and rose slowly from the bed. 'I will take you, Talaine, as I please, and I will bind you to me. And I will lose myself in the ecstasy of your denial and your pleas, but I have some notion that you might fling yourself from my tower and take with you the child we will soon make, and so I offer you a choice instead: that you bind yourself to me of your own volition, that you take my seed and nurture it into the king or queen that I know will one day sit the throne of Atheeryn. You will spend your days in luxury; there is nothing I would deny you but your freedom from me and our agreement. You will be mother to a monarch, and you may shape your days and your future in that role however you please, knowing that your mother is happy, that your people prosper under the rule of your brother and his wife, Priscilla.' At Talaine's gasp, he nodded confirmation. 'Yes, this I have seen.'

He took a step towards her, and she took a step back. But he kept coming, his bright blue eyes devouring her. He seized her wrist before she could move away again, and they stood in the centre of the runes she had drawn to summon him. Her pulse thundered in her ears, and for a brief moment she wondered whether she would have done any of this, had she known the toll he would exact.

'What is your decision, then, Talaine? Do I force you, and spend my days guarding against your escape, or do you submit, and in return receive a lifetime of peace and joy for those you hold dear?' And before she could look away, he showed her a vision: her brother, Devar, human once more, but older, laughing as he watched three children playing on the banks of the river near Heldenar Keep. They were chasing a dog, the large shaggy creature splashing the squealing children as it bounded into the shallows of the river and back out. The children had Devar's eyes, but their mother Priscilla's dark hair and pale skin. And in the shade of a tree Priscilla watched her family, smiling at the children's antics, then laughing as her mother-in-law, Talora, made some humorous observation.

It was Talora such as Talaine had not seen her in years. She looked younger, her auburn hair streaming in rich curls about her shoulders with nary a hint of grey. Her form was fuller, the wasting of the last few years gone, and she was glorious in a gown of forest green and gold, every inch a lady.

And her eyes, those wide grey eyes that she had gifted her son and her daughter, were free now of the shadows that had haunted them for years. They glimmered with the joy of a fulfilling life, and a deep love for the people she regarded.

The image faded, and Talaine fought the ache in her throat, the burn of tears in her eyes. 'Will they forget me?' she whispered, as the creature brought his mouth to her own. He kissed her hard, his tongue demanding entrance and plunging into the depths of her mouth, and she struggled against him to repeat the question, 'Will they forget me?'

He drew away with a sigh, his arousal pressing against her stomach. 'No,' he growled. 'They will think you happily wed to some fine lordling. You are free to write to them. Please me, and you are free to see them again, for a week every year.'

It was more than she had expected. His mouth bent to her neck, and she did not struggle as his tongue swept along her clavicle, and he began pawing her breast.

'When will you do the binding?' she asked, raising her arms as he drew her shift up over her head, casting it to the floor once more.

'Now,' he growled, and his mouth latched to her breast, his nails digging into the soft flesh of her buttocks as he drew her against him. Her heart hammered in her chest at his ministrations, and she groaned as his tongue trailed from her nipple slowly down to her navel, and further down as he knelt in front of her and set his maw to her womanhood, his long tongue darting into her depths where his essence still clung to her flesh.

'Is this your answer, then, Talaine?' he asked, lust clouding his gaze as he looked up at her. In response, she widened her stance, granting him easier access, and closing her eyes as he sought to discover more of her. He chuckled against her, the vibration sending a jolt of pleasure coursing through her body. He rose but did not release her buttocks, his hands holding her aloft as he bore her to her bed and cast her down.

Talaine gasped as he knelt on the bed, his large form hovering over her as he splayed her legs obscenely, settling his bulk between her thighs. He grasped a breast and fondled it, twisting the taut peak as he brought his mouth to her own in a hungry demand. Her lips moved against his seemingly of their own volition, and for a moment she relaxed into his onslaught, but then that thick, hard length was at her entrance again, and she struggled beneath him despite her decision to give in, to be his and bear his offspring.

'Be still,' he bade her, and firmly encircled her wrists once more, dragging them above her head. He drank in the sight of her, lips parted and trembling, her eyes wild with fear and a hunger that she did not yet understand. A bright light glowed in the beast's palms, and suddenly thick golden rope encircled her wrists, drawn into being with the strange power of the Atheer.

Talaine watched, breathless, as he began to tie her wrists to the bedposts.

'I accept your offer,' she exclaimed, afraid, as she strained against the bonds, but the first was fixed tightly, her wrist drawn taut against the bed, and the second soon followed suit. 'Surely this is unnecessary?'

'You fight me even as you aim to give in,' he told her. 'But no matter; your struggles please me well.' He reached for her sex and she clamped her legs together tightly, drawing a low chuckle from him. 'Ah Talaine, there is no escape. I will have you. I will have you again and again, and my seed will quicken within you, and I will take you even as you grow large with our child. And you will grow hungry for my rutting. Already, I think, you begin to feel it.'

He drew her knees apart, so much stronger than she, and settled his bulk again between her thighs. He drew a sharp nail from her navel, down to her womanhood in a slow, stinging caress. His eyes held her, darkening as he parted her folds and pressed a digit into her warm passage, thrilled at the gasp she gave.

'Yes, I think you feel it,' he murmured, pressing a second finger into her passage as his thumb began to caress her clitoris. Talaine jolted at the powerful current that snaked through her body, her legs struggling again to come together to ward off these strange sensations. But his form kept her legs parted, her thighs splayed against the pressure of his own, and she could do naught but lie immobile, curiously thrilled as he withdrew his fingers and brought them to his lips, licking her desire from his green flesh while she groaned her denial of her own response.