Darkness Embraced Read online

  “Gods, you feel so good,” Dredd was almost slurring with his ecstasy. From the disbelief in his voice Ivy sensed he was experiencing this for the first time along with her “I knew...it would be...this good. You are so tight...so wet...I want to stay inside you forever. You are mine.”

  For endless moments he pumped inside of her, and she met his thrusts wildly, the urgency of their mating overcoming her. She was moaning with total abandon, uncaring. Soon the sensations were swirling within her, settling in her core, and Ivy could feel the build toward her peak. She gave herself up to it, the friction against her most sensitive place and the feel of Dredd deep within her sending her over the edge.

  “Oh Dredd! Yes! Yes!” Ivy screamed as her orgasm slammed through her.

  She felt herself bond with Dredd, her only lover, in a way that defied words. As the intensity of her climax pulsed through her, washing her in ecstasy, a warmth she’d never known before flowed through her veins like honey. Dredd stiffened as her walls clenched around him, her tight heat milking him of his seed. “Ivy, Gods, you are making me come!” Dredd exclaimed, his tone one of awe, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. He began repeating words in Ajaxyan as jets of his seed shot into her, seeming to go on and on as he continued to thrust within her, as if not wanting to let go of their joining.

  ****

  Still caught up, Dredd leaned forward to bury his face in Ivy’s fragrant hair. She moaned contently, clutching his neck tighter. These moments after the tumult were almost more intimate somehow, it seemed to Dredd, as he drifted back to himself and took notice of his sweat-slick skin pressing her so roughly against the windows, the fingers of his left hand finally relaxing the iron grip he had on her hip.

  Thoughts assailed him. Had he hurt her? Had he pleased her? She seemed as if she had enjoyed it. She had pleased him beyond reason, the demonstration of her desire for him nearly bringing him to his knees. Just thinking about it had him hardening again, still nestled deep inside her.

  Paradise.

  But then another thought occurred to him, draining the post-coital contentment from him. At the end, as he had climaxed within her, he had whispered words in Ajaxyan.

  I love you...I love you...I love you...

  Uncomfortable feelings pulsed through him: vulnerability, doubt, and...fear. Fear of what this slip of a female could do to him. Her rejection the first time almost sent him spiraling into madness, never to return. Her rejection now would kill him.

  Dredd pulled back from Ivy, the intimacy so pleasing a moment ago now felt suffocating.

  He heard her whimper in protest, trying to pull him back into her embrace. He wanted so much to let her, to silence his unwanted thoughts with her exquisite body, plunging inside her as long as it took until...

  Instead he turned, walked to the basin in the corner of the room near the tub, wet a washcloth and brought it to her. Ivy was still seated naked on the small sill, but her legs were now closed demurely, and she had pulled her long red locks forward to hide her breasts. She accepted the damp cloth from him hesitantly, obviously sensing the shift in him. “Thank you.”

  Dredd gave her privacy while she cleaned, but not before he saw a small wince mar her features. Uncertainty prompted him. “Did I hurt you?” He asked, his back toward her.

  “No, no. It’s natural...I’m sure a little soreness is to be expected,” her voice betrayed her awkwardness at discussing something so personal. “After all, you are so large and I was...” She trailed off.

  At that, Dredd once again fought the urge to pounce on her, take her to the bed, and show her just how large he was.

  Damn!

  How could she disarm him so easily? “I wasn’t assured of your virginity, forgive my rough treatment.”

  Liar!

  He knew she had been innocent.

  Ivy winced again, but this time it was at his cold manner. She dropped the cloth and grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed, wrapping it around her nakedness. “I told you I was untouched.”

  “You have been deceitful before. And the way you mouthed my shaft certainly seemed expert,” Dredd lied again. Her kisses and caresses had aroused him in their obvious uncertainty.

  Ivy sucked in a breath at that but apparently wasn’t ready to give up on their moment just yet. Instead she offered an olive branch, walking up behind him and placing a hand on his back. “If it seemed as such, it was only because I was taken by the moment.” She moved and sat down on the bed, gifting him with a half-smile. “Now do you want to stop picking a fight and join me?”

  It was his undoing. Ivy, the object of all his thoughts and fantasies for it seemed an eternity, was laying before him, smiling invitingly from bed while her naked body was covered by nothing more than a blanket. He could go to her now, and she would accept him, as she had so sweetly before, opening her thighs for him and him alone.

  Dredd laid down on his side of the bed, pulling Ivy’s back to his front. It was a tender and intimate moment, and he was amazed that instead of feeling awkward he just felt...complete. All the anger that was pent up inside him for so long just faded away as he lay there with her.

  They talked for awhile, about many things. He asked Ivy about her past, what it was like living in the ShadowBorn Stronghold, and about her life now at Doves. She asked him about life as a Beast of a Blood Sport, and they talked about the tournament taking place the following day. Ivy expressed concern, which Dredd assured her was unwarranted.

  “I’m so sorry about the blackwillow, Dredd. You have to believe that I didn’t know. I was just scared and—”

  “I understand, naya rhum. It has taken me a long time to admit it, but I do understand.”

  “Good,” Ivy replied and snuggled against him. “Can I ask you a question?” she whispered, absently caressing his forearm with her fingers.

  He grunted a response, too busy nuzzling the side of her neck to voice a reply.

  “Will you tell me how you got your scars?”

  Dredd tensed but she gripped his forearm to her. “Please don’t do this again. Don’t shut me out.” She turned to face him, caressing his face before he could pull away. “You want me to be your mate. I don’t ask to shame or humiliate you. I ask so that there will be no secrets between us.”

  Opening up went against everything inside him. But he knew that if he wanted to keep Ivy, he would have to change. And he now knew she did not ask him out of pity or morbid curiosity. She asked because she cared.

  “I brought great shame upon my horde. For an Ajax warrior, there is no greater shame than to refuse to fight.”

  Ivy’s eyes widened in surprise. But she said nothing, silently prodding him to continue.

  “It was a female named Annis,” Dredd began softly, rolling to his back. “I thought we were in love, that we were to be mated. I was young and gullible, not yet a man at ten and seven and I had spent my days practicing war, knowing little of females. She and I had been meeting in secret for many days. But that turned out to be nothing but a well-executed plan on her part.”

  When Dredd paused for breath, Ivy prompted him. “Why?”

  “There was to be a ceremonial death match known as The Rite between our two hordes. Her twin brother was set to be my opponent in the match. She heard of my prowess as a warrior and knew that I would defeat him. She begged me to spare his life, to refuse to fight him, all the while knowing what that would do to me.”

  “At the match the next day, I lay down my weapon and refused to fight her brother. For her. This action goes against everything the Ajax believe, an action so cowardly it has happened only a few times in the great history of our people.”

  Ivy continued to caress Dredd. “What did they do to you?” she whispered sadly.

  “I was served the ritual punishment of the coward’s ‘x’. I was dropped to my knees in front of all while the elders of my horde flayed open my face, making sure to cut deep enough to leave eternal scars. My shame was great as was the pain, but I comforted myse
lf knowing I was doing it for love. For Annis. And that she would accept my scars when others would not. My horde rejected me and my father forbade me from my family home. I slept in the woods alone, cast out from everything I had known. And once I had healed, I went to her.”

  Ivy reached out to touch Dredd’s face, but he pulled away, lost in the bitter memory. “She never planned to see me again. She simply used me to keep her weakling brother alive. When I found her, Annis looked at me with...disgust. She said and did those things with me only because she’d had to in order to save her brother. Annis’ devotion was all an act. Her father had already promised her to another. I lost everything. And she did not even wish to lay eyes on me. Enraged, I killed her brother. And then I did the same with her father and the warrior she was betrothed to. I killed them all, one by one. And all I could hear was the sound of Annis’ screams, of her hatred and anguish. But I felt nothing. I was dead inside. It didn’t matter if I killed one opponent or a thousand. I had sacrificed my honor for nothing. For a female who betrayed me. I vowed then that I would never again lay down my weapons.”

  Ivy leaned up to look down at him, tears streaking down her cheeks. “Oh, Dredd. I am so sorry. It was all so unfair. How could she do that to you? And how could your horde treat you so cruelly?”

  “They did what they had to do. I refused to fight. I showed no honor.”

  “You are the fiercest warrior there is! You were simply acting with your heart. How dare they torture you for that!”

  “It is the way of the Ajax.” Dredd said matter-of- factly, feeling defensive of the traditions of his people.

  “It is the way of barbarians,” Ivy replied heatedly. “You were a teenage boy who was trying to do the right thing. Only complete savages would treat you so.”

  Dredd sat up and glared at her, offended. “So that is how you see me? As a barbarian? Is that what you were thinking as I was inside you? When you were begging for more of the savage’s cock? Were you just curious about what rutting with an Ajax would be like?”

  Ivy’s hand whipped out and slapped his face. Crack! “How dare you!”

  “Ivy, I—” Dredd almost apologized. Almost. But then what? She would only have him more firmly in her grasp when she decided she was done playing house with a dirty Ajax. A marked Ajax. She had made it clear already that she held nothing but disdain for what he was and his way of life, both then and now. “I am well satisfied for the night. And I don’t wish to speak further. Now go to sleep.”

  The look on her face almost had him instantly apologizing, anything to take the pain so clearly visible there away. He wanted her to look at him as she had just a few minutes earlier, to touch him that way. And he wanted to wipe the tears streaking down her face, but he did not.

  At that moment, his chamber door flew open, and Sloane, the black-haired prostitute from Doves, flew in as if on the furious winds of a tempest. “I came here for my friend and I’m not leaving without her.”

  Dredd was baffled that this female somehow made it through a building filled with the scariest males on the Isle, not to mention dozens of male servants, without being stopped. “Get out,” he snarled at her.

  Sloane looked over at Ivy, at her tears and the smears of virgin blood still visible on her nude thighs. “You really think she should spend another moment in your presence?” she asked, her voice filled with venom.

  Dredd looked over at Ivy, seeing what Sloane saw, and felt bile rise in his throat. Sloane was right. “Go then.”

  Ivy was trying to stop the tears as she rose with as much dignity as she could muster. “He destroyed my dress, I have nothing to wear,” she said to her friend.

  “Here, take this,” Sloane removed her cloak and tossed it to Ivy who quickly put it on and held it closed.

  The two females headed for the door but just before she left, Ivy turned to address Dredd one last time. “You never wanted a mate, you bastard. You don’t know the meaning of the word. And to think I almost wanted to be yours.”

  As he watched her leave, Dredd picked up the nearest object—an end table—and threw it. It collided against the wall with unbelievable force, splintering into a million pieces and denting the wall behind.

  As he stared at the mess, he knew he earned her hatred this time. He almost wished for death in the arena tomorrow.

  Anything to stop the damnable ache in his heart.

  Chapter 9

  There wasn’t an empty seat in the house. The Round was full, the cacophony of sounds from the crowd of thousands echoed in Dredd’s ears as he sat below, waiting for his turn in the arena. He heard cheers followed by moans of disappointment as one Beast or another fell to his opponent. Dredd was to go last of course, The Magister having talked up the final matchup of the Ajax versus Morlac, an albino giant from Charron.

  From what Dredd heard, both Liam and Gryphon had been champion in their matches. But Barren was defeated, left to die on the dusty floor of the arena, the bloodthirsty calls of the crowd his only send-off to the afterlife. Barren had not been a good man and Dredd felt no sorrow for his brother of the arena. Barren of Dayne chose his fate.

  Would they say the same of him if he were defeated? Would Ivy? It was a sobering thought, as the answer was no doubt yes on both accounts. But Dredd was not worried. He had no intention of dying this day. He would see Ivy again.

  He woke with her name on his lips, cursing himself a fool for not keeping her in his arms as long as the fates allowed. He wasn’t ready to let her go. All Dredd wanted to do was win the tournament so he could go to Ivy and apologize for his abhorrent behavior the previous night. He was ashamed even now thinking back on his words, how he ruined her first time, by letting his doubt get the best of him.

  He also planned to tell her he was done being a Beast. He didn’t plan to renew his contract when it ended one moon cycle from now.

  Dredd broke the news to The Magister earlier at the barracks. “They are calling for the Undefeated Ajax,” a servant announced from the tunnel, rousing Dredd from his thoughts. He stood, gathered his two short swords and headed for the tunnel.

  He entered the arena, his eyes adjusting quickly to the bright sunlight, and took in the crowd. There was a chorus of boos and jeers to greet him, which didn’t bother him in the least. It was actually more fuel to his fire. He had more pressing matters anyway this morning, as he scanned the crowd for signs of Ivy.

  She wasn’t there. No surprise. He hoped she would come to see him battle, but didn’t really expect her to after last night, when he had acted like ten kinds a bastard.

  Dredd pushed all thoughts of Ivy to the back of his mind for the moment, and sized up his opponent, who just entered the arena. For once, it seemed an even match size-wise, as Morlac was actually almost as tall and broad as Dredd. His pale head was bald, and slick with sweat. He was red-eyed, snarling, and carried a large axe in one hand and a club in the other. All together a terrifying picture.

  Dredd stifled a yawn. He grew weary of the tournaments, of their constant attempts to come up with bigger and badder Beasts to combat the mighty Ajax. After spending the majority of his life focused on battle, Dredd was finding it no longer interested him. He dreamed of a quiet life, of a family he would protect and provide for...

  The roaring of the crowd reached new heights as Morlac quickly took the offensive, running at Dredd and swinging his axe in a high arc, aiming to take Dredd’s head. With lightning speed, Dredd deflected the blow, pivoted, and jabbed the albino, stabbing him between the ribs with one of his swords. The wound wasn’t deep and Dredd hadn’t meant for it to be. It was simply a message.

  Morlac drew back and the crowd shouted their displeasure as they spotted the blood from the wound. It went on like this for several minutes. Morlac would move in and Dredd would deflect and parry, inflicting several shallow wounds. Morlac was tenacious, however. Dredd began to grow tired, but he knew Morlac would tire faster as he continued to take the offensive, playing into Dredd’s hands.

  But j
ust as Dredd grew confident that victory was imminent, Morlac hit his mark, leaving a long jagged wound along Dredd’s ribs. The crowd went crazy with excitement, as seeing the Ajax bleed in the arena was rare. Dredd hit his knees as the pain sliced through him.

  Morlac must have sensed he would have only one chance to take down the dreaded champion. He came at Dredd with renewed force, three hundred pounds of murderous intent, and Dredd struggled to jump to his feet to fight him off.

  Dredd managed to get to his feet but had to immediately block a blow, throwing him off balance. As he pivoted to avoid being beheaded, he chastised himself for underestimating the albino, who was proving to be a worthy opponent.

  As he rose up the second time, Morlac closed in again, using the club to ram Dredd in the stomach. Dredd sucked air and hit his knees a second time, the wind completely knocked from him.

  For the first time ever, Dredd knew a moment of panic, as he struggled to simultaneously pull breath into his lungs and leap back on his feet. He knew a fraction of a second could cost him his life. This could be it. All he saw was an image of Ivy’s face as the axe swung toward him amid a chorus of “Die, Ajax, Die!”

  Her beauty washed over him, all the incentive Dredd needed. Glorious air filled his lungs, not much but enough. Dredd felt a breeze from the axe swing as he ducked out of the way a fingerbreadth before it cleaved his head in two. He jumped up and channeled his rage at the crowd’s bloodlust toward Morlac. No being alive would take him from this world! With a battle cry he leapt in the air and sliced through Morlac’s chest with both daggers, impaling his heart.

  The giant was dead instantly, falling to his knees and then collapsing, as blood pumped out of the mortal wound.

  The crowd’s loud protests echoed through the arena. Dredd staggered with exhaustion and wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to head back down the tunnel. He moved slowly, still working to breathe at a normal rate. After a few good breaths he looked up. And that’s when he saw her. The boisterous angry shouts from the crowd instantly receded. All of Dredd’s energy focused on Ivy. She stood at the bottom of one of the tunnels, watching him, her hands clasped to her chest.