The Ward Ch. 08

Thanks for waiting! I wanted to wrap this up but...so much for that. Votes and commentary appreciated.

****

Before Aleksis could answer her bitter accusation, Sage unexpectedly stepped forward and cupped his face, her thumbs smoothed the black tears from beneath his eyes. They held gaze for a moment, then their lips met in a hard kiss.

Aleksis' arms enclosed Sage into a crushing embrace his height and ardour forcing Sage's head back though she pressed forward to meet his passion.

Emotionally exhausted, reckless and giddy with a strange excitement, Sage flung her arms about Aleksis' neck and felt her feet leave the earth. The kiss tasted sweet, fuelling her body in a way she could barely comprehend though she knew it was highly unnatural.

Suddenly the ground met her back, gently, the cool soil relieving heat of her back wounds through the fine material. Aleksis straddled her, his fingers worked quickly to unlace the pale front of her dress. His breath caught as his hands filled with her creamy breasts, at last touching them the way he'd craved, and then he lowered to taste them.

Sage sharply gasped and arched, her wide gaze on the sparkling sky, the trees lightly swaying high above. Aleksis' tongue and lips on her chest created a sharp pleasure between her legs, he spoke wretchedly through his ardour.

'Archetchin ardone, enctran, peris enctran, Sage...'

'I love you forever, forgive me, please forgive me, Sage...'

The ancient words carried across her bare skin, caressed her ears, penetrated her mind, encompassing her entirely.

"Aleksis," Sage moaned, her features tensed as though in pain. She closed her eyes and parted her thighs, feeling the cool night air as her skirt dragged up to bunch at her hips.

She heard his sharp intake of breath, shivering as his hands explore the area, the brush of his fingertips on her pussy made her cry out.

Aleksis growled and surged forward, overtaken by a strange, unfamiliar hunger. Not bloodlust. His mouth lingered, his tongue extended, tasting her intimately for the first time, and both were lost.

"Gods!" Sage gasped and jolted with pleasure, not realising her fists were filled with soil clawed from the earth at her sides. Glancing down, she saw her breasts swollen, nipples hardened little nubs, Aleksis' compelling black eyes staring up her body, the lower half of his face working busily on her sex.

Sage broke their gaze and indulgently arched to the sky. It was mind-numbing, decadent, everything he promised. It was physically thrilling and emotionally wrong. But she'd resolved to enjoy the forbidden.

A sob escaped Sage when the first climax struck. She seized up and shuddered, feeling that she was nowhere, her body humming with delight, not recognising her own eager voice screaming lust into the night. She opened her eyes and Aleksis' face swam before hers before their lips merged again, she tasted her sweet essence on his tongue, she opened wider, inviting his tongue and almost bit down when his hard tip nudged her entrance. Her cry was muffled by their kiss, then it was Aleksis who drew back.

"Sage, look at me," he ordered, cupping her cheek until her eyes fluttered open and he saw she was a bundle of emotions; nervous, aroused, afraid, but above it all, fiercely determined.

"Are you certain of this, Sage?" he asked, a warning in his tone that spoke his reservations but conveyed he would respect her choice.

That he offered this consideration now, in the wake of everything else, embittered Sage; the hardness in her eyes grew stronger, the blue of them striking with purpose. The effect on Aleksis was very powerful, but through his lust he could recognise she was in a wretched state that demanded he take what she offered, despite the reasoning being awry.

Her hands gripped the sides of his arms and squeezed in answer. He slowly lowered himself again, kissed up her neck, his hands moved between them, titillating her skin wherever they touched, deliberately rousing her to the giddy state he knew himself capable. If she would see through her rash decision, he could not refuse her, but would make sure she enjoyed it.

Aleksis heard her breath catch, sharply brushing his neck as he entered her. Slowly, she arched against the ground, her face tense with discomfort and pleasure. He groaned and she whimpered, resuming deep breaths, letting his talented lips take her mind elsewhere as she relinquished her virtue.

The pain was sudden and distracting, she relished in it; she wanted it to hurt. But the soreness didn't last, and immediately dissolved to a stark pleasure that crippled her mind. Relaxing into the cool Earth surface, she submitted to Aleksis' attentions, let his hands roam where they wanted and returned his kisses, raising her thighs by his waist to urge him faster.

Sage gasped and moaned every time he re-entered her, creating the most unique sensation, the act itself foreign and unimaginable. For the first time she witnessed Aleksis without composure or authority, grunting huskily against her lips, lost in his own passion.

They rolled and she was on top, Aleksis' hands found her breasts and pleasure jolted from her head to her toes, his touch calling to the magic in her blood, pulsing with an all-consuming ecstasy. Sage rolled her hips with rapture, filled with a reckless abandon. She closed her eyes, delighted in the evening breeze, the surrounding nature. She'd not care if the forest went up in flames at their sides and devoured them to nothing.

Aleksis betrayed her; she was always his prisoner. Nicholas abused her, and there was nothing left of her faith or purity for Edmund to salvage; he could never love her now. Nothing mattered; she didn't care anymore.

Even as tears spilled down her cheeks, Sage closed her eyes and felt the tell-tale sparking under her lids that seemed entwined with her heart, thudding rapidly, the exquisite man between her legs, sensing his hot gaze on her face, his love that broke her heart. The world was broken.

"Sage!" Aleksis begged hoarsely, squeezing her breast for attention, for her to connect with him, show some sign of forgiveness or affection before he was spent.

When she ignored him, his hand on her hip tightened demandingly, bruising her flesh. Caught up in his own release, he groaned and bucked under her, his chest trembled under her palms, and a delicious wet spread through her tight channel. It was a sensation she could not put to words, though its effect was staggering. At least he'd not lied about fulfilling her physical needs.

Sage rocked closer and closer to her finish, sobbing into Aleksis' soothing hand on her cheek. His voice in her mind was gentle but breathless, sharply ricocheting between her ears.

'My love for you was never a lie...'

In answer, Sage roughly dragged his hand from her cheek back to her breast, angrily shaking her head to dispel his words, feeling his hurt from her rejection and letting it fuel her sense of abandon. This wasn't an act of love, and she would not permit him to reframe it as such.

Even through her despair, an unshakable, shaming pleasure engulfed her entire body, somehow heightening her emotional pain. With a last urgent thrust, Sage threw back her head to gaze at the sky, grit her teeth and came again.

****

They lay together in exhausted silence, listening to the sounds of the night forest begin to lessen as dawn crept nearer. Tension brimmed in the aftermath, though Sage curled against Aleksis' chest, her eyes were starkly alert and not as sultry as to be expected after a pleasurable tryst.

Aleksis sensed the disquiet, though continued to watch the lightening night sky and stroke her hair.

With a resigned sigh, Sage sat up and began to arrange her clothes. Aleksis eventually followed suit, noting that she did not once look at him.

"Sage?"

"Yes?"

Aleksis flinched at her tone and dreaded the conversation in store. "We-"

"No," Sage cut him off and rose to her feet and began to busily brush her skirt and tidy her bodice. "You built my life, and now I have repaid you."

Aleksis' jaw went slack a moment before he recovered. "Sage," he warned, his face darkening with anger. "We've not had any upheavals since you grew to a woman-"

"You are wrong," Sage sneered, arrogantly tossing her hair. "I was not a woman before tonight, and I thank you for completing my education."

Aleksis drew back as if she'd slapped him.

"Or should I thank you for not slaughtering me as a babe?" she added sarcastically. "Was it amusing to keep me in a pen and watch me grow from piglet to sow? My only grievance is that you led me to believe I might escape the butcher."

By now, Aleksis recognised the storm building in Sage was not entirely her own, especially in the wake of their encounter. Any mortal girl would feel sensitive after spontaneously forsaking her innocence following a distressing imprisonment.

The combination of recent trauma, surrendering her virginity in an upset state, and the dark power of her blood would set Sage's emotions running uncontrollably high.

"Sage, listen to me," Aleksis said sharply. "Your blood is turning your temper, and it will only blacken with your mood. You must listen to me. Take a deep breath and calm yourself..."

It was a poor choice of phrase, as it drove Sage's anguished mind to the memory of Nicholas coaxing her cooperation while he sodomised her.

"Oh, I am calm!" Sage spat, her expression far from serene, contempt flashed in her eyes. "Do you know what Stiles did to me tonight? That you could have prevented it by leaving Joel be?"

Aleksis' black eyes flared incredulously. "You knowingly walked from a secure environment into the utmost danger! I taught you better than-!"

"I believed Joel and Edmund were in peril," Sage snapped over him. "You beckoned the last of my protectors." The breath left her in a winded moment as she remembered desiring Nicholas, her eager arms about his neck to draw him close; the fact she willingly, hungrily, kissed him. Though he was dead, nothing could erase the sickening memory.

"I endured the most humiliating evening of my life with Stiles!" she shouted, clawing both hands through her hair as though she might physically extract the image from her mind.

"You knew better than to go anywhere with that boy!" Aleksis exploded, infuriated by what happened and feeling his share of guilt.

"You taught me integrity, I perceive the irony of it now," she angrily retorted.

Aleksis shook his head to keep his mind clear. It would do little good if both were blinded by anger. He forced calm to his voice. "Sage, in this instance you must believe I know what is right for you," he insisted. "Please. I raised you-"

"Oh, you elect a poor moment to patronise me, Aleksis," she laughed without humour, pointedly swiping a leaf from her disrupted skirt. "Father or lover? Choose your role and have done with it."

"Sage, please!" Aleksis gasped, appalled by the principle she raised.

In hindsight he could see what a fool he was to accept her offer; he should have refused it. He'd blindly hoped it meant her forgiveness and a desire to be with him above Edmund. And he would never deny the experience was everything he desired.

Sage watched him in seething silence, shaking with angst and rage. Observing her building wrath, Aleksis rubbed his jaw, confounded about how to deal with her instability. Physical force would be a bad route. But he'd never seen her resistant to reason.

"You..." he gestured to the soft place on ground where they'd coupled. "You welcomed me to your body with hatred in your heart?"

"I don't know what is left in my heart, or how long I will have one," Sage said brokenly, tears brimming to surface.

"Gods, Sage-!" Aleksis reached for her.

Sage seemed inclined to embrace him, but her intentions shattered when a long, tortured howl stole their attention. The unpleasant noise brought all the recent issues back to surface. Aleksis turned with some alarm to stare the direction of his castle.

"Tend to him, Aleksis," Sage said grimly, squashing her vulnerability. She peered through the trees to where her mount waited. "I am not your concern anymore."

"Sage, listen to me-"

"You should have left me to die with my father!" she threw at him, but Aleksis had himself well in hand.

"You do not understand your current state." He raked a hand through his hair. "Sage, I know I have a lot to answer for, but you cannot continue to deny my feelings, my care, and claim that I ever intended-"

Simon's scream pierced the forest, and Aleksis growled with frustration. "I will come for you at the Bard estate," he told her.

"Do not trouble yourself. We have nothing left to give each other," she spoke coldly over her shoulder, already making her way to the mare.

"You insisted on your mount because you were planning to leave," Aleksis realised, following behind in a slight daze. "Not to save Edmund's feelings."

"Suffice to say both reasonings are correct," she said curtly, climbing into the saddle. She indifferently unfastened the leather strap from about the tree and idly smoothed her long, ruffled hair before gripping the reigns. The sight of her astride the gleaming brown mare was devastatingly beautiful, but a vision of tragedy. "I was too angry to let you carry me. I withheld my touch and put it to better purpose, wouldn't you agree?"

Aleksis lunged toward her, but Simon roared again. With a last glimpse of Sage as she rode off, he viciously swore and sprinted for his residence.

***

The front gates of the Bard estate were open, and Edmund was pacing the yard when Sage came to view. After so much anticipation, he at first mistook her for his imagination. But she quietly eased the mare through the courtyard, two lackeys briskly approached from where they'd waited by the gate.

"No, I am not dismounting," she dismissed the servant reaching to assist her from the saddle. "I am here to speak with the Lord." Her eyes lifted and she stiffened, feeling suddenly vulnerable when their eyes met.

The men hesitated, glancing behind with relief to see Edmund quickly approach to deal with an obviously delicate circumstance. One nod from the Lord was all that was needed for their dismissal, and they quickly removed themselves from earshot.

When Edmund reached for her, Sage warily edged the horse back and slightly shook her head to warn him to keep his distance.

"Sage, won't you come down?" Edmund asked cautiously.

He noted her hair was dishevelled and tousled as if she'd taken a fall. Her clothes were dirty and tightly refastened in contrast to her wildly loose hair. But her face; pale, angry, restless with her cheeks glistening tear-tracks all the way down her throat, fresh tears coating the old. She had been crying for a time.

"I have come to say goodbye, Edmund," she managed, breaking their gaze.

"Sage, you are not yourself, that much is plain to see," Edmund said, ensuring his voice was steady. "Please, dismount," he entreated, approaching her slowly, wondering how he might lure her into the house.

"Joel will have tea with us," he said cunningly, aware Sage had a softness for the old steward and was continually chasing Joel's elusive company. Though it would not be proper, Edmund knew Joel would acquiesce on this occasion.

But at the Steward's mention, Sage's face almost crumpled before her expression turned vicious.

"No!" she snarled, retreating whenever he came within reach until he understood to cease.

Edmund felt his heart twist as he watched her swallow more tears, the spark in her soulful eyes gone completely. She looked utterly broken, far worse than when she'd burst from the Stiles' underground.

"What happened tonight?" he whispered. "Please, Sage, tell me. Did Aleksis...?" he began, though seemed to discredit the question too much to proceed.

"Oh, I dealt with Aleksis," Sage laughed bitterly. "He never cared for me."

"Sage," Edmund replied carefully. "Even I cannot believe that of him."

Sage irritably looked away, biting her lip. It was plain to Edmund that she was conflicted and fragile.

"Please, just come inside," he said slowly, keeping his distance. "You do not have to tell me anything, just come inside for a moment. Please, Sage. Joel is there. He cares for you; he is so worried."

Sage burst into tears, angrily pulling the reigns when Edmund moved forward; the horse reared up and forced him to retreat.

"I said 'no'!" she cried.

"Sage, please, you are not thinking clearly-"

"Perhaps I am for the first time in my life!" she wept. "Though who could blame me for not-?" she broke off again and gulped down more tears.

"No one is blaming you for anything, Sage. None of this is your fault. Please, just dismount!" Edmund implored.

Sage's wretched gaze lifted from the ground and settled on him with frightened longing, as though she feared he would sap what little resolve she had left.

Edmund sensed her instability. If he could get her into his arms, she would melt into him and accept his comfort. But they were both wary of this fact.

Sage resisted the temptation and bitterly shook her head, feeling the error of meeting him in her miserable state. She knew she was close to losing all the control she had mustered on the journey over, having underestimated how seeing him again and hearing soft words would affect her. If he touched her with tenderness, she would yield in her weakness. And she would have to tell him everything. Well, there was one thing she should tell him.

"Aleksis gifted me..." she glanced away to pull herself together. "And In turn, I paid him my innocence," she revealed, watching Edmund's face and waiting for his revulsion that was to be expected after such an unladylike betrayal.

Once he understood, there was hurt, he flinched, but when their eyes met again, his gaze was earnest.

"I don't care about that," he declared. 'I love you, Sage, and my love is steadfast.' He paused, his eyes raking her features. Though pale and gloomy, she was still human. There was none of the unearthly, paranormal air that Aleksis carried about him. "What did he gift you?"

Sage's answering smile did not meet her eyes.

"We had plans," Edmund argued, panicking at her cool decisiveness, which seemed even more unnatural than her hysteria. The contrast was startling, and he struggled to picture the girl he'd fallen in love with, with spirit in her eyes and a determination for life, flushed cheeks and mischievous laughter. It was as though her zest for life had been ripped out of her and left a bleak shell behind. "Do not forget your happiness with me, Sage. Our future-"

"That dream is gone," she muttered, tucking some of her tousled hair behind her ear, she unconsciously traced the slow thud of her pulse, her fingertips lingered there before she dropped her hand with resignation. "It is no longer possible. Whatever I am, I do not belong with you, or Aleksis."

"Whatever you...? Or-?" Edmund's brow contracted. "Where do you go? At least tell me that."

Sage looked distantly beyond Edmund to observe the large manor's beautiful architecture. Joel's shadow was still by the window; she could feel his anxiety. She was a fool to return, just because she wanted to see Edmund without any farce, just one last time.

Sage was stuck by the pain of her thoughts, remembering the engagement ball; the memory of Celia, a carefree, cheerful, genteel girl with an uncomplicated life, rushing to greet another girl, another friend, a woman. Sage reminded herself she would not know how to make girlfriends or keep them, because her world was male dominated; filled with secrets; abhorrent villains and conflicted monsters. Her performance as Edmund's fiancé was a pathetic lie. How could she be so foolish to hope otherwise?