text:
Title: When the Wolfbane Blooms
Author/pseudonym: Tinnean
Fandom: The Wolf Man/The African Queen
Pairing: Lawrence Talbot/Thomas Fortescue-Smythe,
Tommy/Roddy Sayer
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: No, they don't belong to me. Well,
except for Tommy. Universal studio owns The Wolf Man, and C.S. Forester takes
the credit for The African Queen. James Agee and John Huston worked their magic
on the movie. I borrowed Brookfield from James Hilton.
Status: new
Date: 11/01
Series/Sequel: This isn't a series, but does follow
events that took place during Poor, Wand'ring One, which was my African
Queen/Mummy crossover.
Summary: The original owners of Talbot Abbey return
and rebuild after the debacle of Ardeth Bey.
Warnings: m/m, m/f/m (briefly), language, spoilers
for the movies
Notes: I've moved the setting of Talbot Abbey from Wales to Kent, and I've taken considerable liberties. This goes out to Athea, who was wondering what happened with Roddy and Tommy. And as always, to my home girls, Silk and Gail.
Even a man, who is pure
in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane
blooms, and the autumn moon is bright.
When the Wolfbane Blooms
Part 1
Talbots had lived in Wales since the time of the
Of course, they weren't known as Talbot when an
enterprising mercenary got himself knighted by Henry II. The property granted
him was mostly marsh, and only produced peat and swamp grass, and hungry
All of that changed, however, in the time of the restored
Charles. One of that knight's descendants profited by having a beautiful wife
who pleaded prettily to be taken to court.
Even then, we were not very clever in those we chose to
Because he could deny her nothing, her husband finally
acceded to her wishes. And once at court, she managed to catch the lusty
monarch's wandering eye.
Charles II had only enjoyed the woman for one night before
he returned her to her husband, but he was a generous king, and in recompense,
granted my ancestor a baronetcy. It might not have seemed like much in the way
of payment, save for the property that went with it, which alone was worth more
to my ancestor than a more exalted title.
Everyone concerned felt the bargain was well met. Except,
perhaps, for the wife, who had hoped for a permanent position under the king.
The land given with the title was in Kent, and contained an
Abbey, which was in sad disrepair since the Papists had fallen into disfavor.
Being a rather unimaginative sort, he changed the family name to suit the name
of the estate.
And so, we became the Talbots.
Adjacent to Talbot Abbey ran the estate of another baronet,
Sir Henry Fortescue-Smythe. His youngest son, Thomas, was my age, and we were
staunch friends, inseparable throughout our boyhood. We did everything together,
rode, fished, swam, hunted.
We even lost our virginity to the same woman.
Our first, and to my knowledge, only encounter with the
opposite sex, was with a lusty, plump milkmaid who enjoyed the thought of having
two randy young gentlemen service her.
Her cunny rather failed to excite me, and I had been losing
my erection, finding her overblown charms somewhat distasteful, when Thomas
shoved into her arse. All that separated me from my friend's cock was a thin
layer of tissue, and I nearly came right then. That friction had felt better
than anything I had ever experienced.
Our hips pumped steadily into her. Thomas scattered kisses
over each bit of flesh that he could find.
My arms were able to reach around to embrace both the girl
and my friend, and I found his muscular buttocks much more to my liking. He
wriggled under the assault of my fingertips, and spread his legs wider. I began
to imagine having my friend with nothing between us at all.
Thomas' lips were a temptation I couldn't resist, and
somehow it seemed natural that when his mouth was just a hairsbreadth away from
mine, I should kiss it.
The milkmaid was thrilled that our pricks suddenly became
re-invigorated, and her cries of fulfillment mingled with our own hoarse groans.
"Oh, la, young sirs! That was loverly! If you want to do
this again, Meggie is your girl!" she sighed voluptuously.
But we never did, because shortly after that, we lost our
other virginity, this time to each other.
We'd gone for a swim in the pond on his family's land,
and stripped naked. Unobtrusively,
I peeked from the corner of my eye. He was half hard.
I was fascinated by the sight of Thomas' cock. When he
realized I was watching him, his prick swelled, and I couldn't prevent myself
from reaching out to touch it.
I stroked my fingers over it, and it quivered beneath them.
"Will you let me suck it, Thomas?"
His cock jumped at my words, and his lips parted, but
nothing came out. He nodded, and I pushed him to sit on a rock on the bank of
the pond. My mouth was watering, and I leaned over and tentatively licked the
slit at the tip of his prick. A huff of breath crossed it, and he moaned softly.
"Oh, that's lovely, Lawrence. Please, do more!"
I took the head between my lips and sucked, and Thomas
moaned. "Am I hurting you, Thomas?"
He shook his head wildly, and I swallowed more of him. My
head bobbed up and down, and I became lost in the experience as I learned his
taste and texture.
I reached between his thighs and gently tickled his balls,
and with a cry, Thomas came. I swallowed thirstily.
Of course, it wasn't enough. I rolled him onto his
stomach and had him kneel on the bank of the pond. He raised his hips and
reached back to part his buttocks, and I licked a path from his balls to the
little pink pucker, loosening it with my tongue.
Thomas writhed. "Please, Lawrence, fuck me! I want
Come was still oozing from his softening prick, and I
smeared it over my own erection. I fitted it to Thomas' hole and began to push
He panted harshly, struggling to accept my bulk, and then I
was past the tight ring and buried in his silken heat. My balls slapped against
his as I drove into him, and his small whimpers of pain changed to moans of
pleasure. "There, Lawrence! That spot right there!"
I wasn't sure what he was talking about, but somehow I
found the place that caused him to gasp and thrust back on me, and hit it again
and again.
His head dropped onto his arms and his inner muscles
gripped me tight. His moans were music to my ears. My balls tightened and drew
up, and I came, pouring liquid heat into his passage.
I fell across his back, struggling to regain my breath.
"Are you all right, Thomas?"
He was silent, and I feared that I had hurt him. I slid out
of him and turned him onto his back. He peeled open an eye and grinned at me.
"Can we do this again?"
"Greedy get!"
"Oh, yes. What did Oliver Twist say? 'Please, sir. I
want some more!'"
We spent that summer off on our own, finding secluded spots
to experiment with our sexuality.
Those were halcyon days, but unfortunately, they were
drawing to a close, and with them, although we were unaware of it, our special
I kicked my horse into a gallop, setting him at the paneled
fence that separated the home farm from some fallow land.
"I say, Lawrence, not fair!" Thomas, raced after me,
but I was the better rider, and my horse cleared the bars with a characteristic
flip of his tail. "Lawrence, you blighter!" But he was laughing
I pulled up at the far edge of the field and slid off
Monte's back, waiting for Thomas to catch up with me. "Slow poke!" I
He hopped off his own mount and threw himself into my arms,
knocking us both to the soft grass. Monte snorted and ambled off a few yards.
Thomas's Galahad joined him and they began to graze.
White-blond hair spilled across my lips, and tourmaline
eyes glinted with laughter
"You're so beautiful, Thomas!" I said hoarsely, and
drew his head down to mine. "Kiss me!"
His mouth was like honey, and I feasted on it. But there
was a desperate quality to that kiss.
Thomas' fingertips stroked my cheek. "What's wrong,
gov?" We had been careful never to call each other anything that might reveal
our devotion to each other.
I turned away from him and plucked a blade of grass,
winding it restlessly between my fingers.
"We're leaving."
He nodded. "I know. Term starts soon. I shall miss you,
Lawrence. It's such rotten luck that your father insists you go to Eton,
instead of Brookfield. But I'll see you at the hols, and we'll have a
smashing good time fucking each other senseless!"
I shook my head. "No, you don't understand, Thomas. I
shan't be going to school here in England. Mother and I are leaving. She and
Father have had a tremendous row, and she's going back to Canada."
"She's taking me with her."
"How can Sir John permit that?" he demanded. He took
the blade of grass from me and stroked it across my lips.
I shrugged, trying to conceal the hurt that question
evinced. I was not the heir. I was not even the spare, but how could he
let me go?
Father's first wife was the daughter of a penniless earl.
But he loved her. She presented him with his beloved sons, dying in childbed
after the birth of the second one. This left Father devastated, and with two
small boys to raise.
On the rebound, he married Mother, whom he met while she
was on a visit from Canada. After ten barren years, she finally became pregnant.
But by that time things had gotten extremely rocky between them.
I grew up assuming that all married couples sniped at one
another over the dinner table, or that they slept in separate rooms, until I
stayed overnight at Thomas' home, Fortescue Manor.
For the longest time I wanted to be Thomas. But
loving him was almost as good.
"When must you leave?" he asked, his voice subdued.
"By the end of the week. I'm going to miss you so much,
"Lawrence, if you ask Sir John to let you stay…?"
I shook my head sadly. "Mother would be destroyed. It
would be just one more betrayal. I have to go with her, you see that, don't
"Yes, love, I understand. But oh, Lawrence, I shall miss
you!" His blue eyes swam with unshed tears.
I forced a smile to my lips and got to my feet. "We have
today, love. Come!"
He took my outstretched hand, and I pulled him up.
With the horses trailing along behind us, we visited all the spots on the estate where we had played, and made love in each one of them.
Part 2
The evening before Mother and I were scheduled to sail to
Canada, I slipped out and met Thomas one last time. He was waiting for me near a
clearing where a caravan of gypsies had been given permission to camp. I wanted
to take him somewhere else so I could make love to him, but he laughed and
backed out of my reach.
"I want to have my fortune told, first, Lawrence! Please!
Don't you want to know what the future holds for us?"
"I already know what it holds," I told him grimly.
"You're going to be here, in England, and I'll be three thousand miles
He leaned close and kissed me. "Please, gov?" he
begged. "Just a quick stop at the fortune-teller's tent, and then you can
take me away, and make me do anything you like!"
"Anything?" The thought of having Thomas wrap those
lush lips of his around my throbbing cock brought me to the edge of orgasm. He
nodded and laughed and bounded toward the camp.
A number of villagers from both the Abbey and the Manor
were already there, and we had to wait to see the gypsy, Maleva. We strolled
around the camp, past the young women who danced as they shook their
tambourines, and the young men who tried to interest the unwary in an unsound
horse or donkey.
I paid an old crone a few pennies for a dish of stew that I
shared with my friend. "If we were alone, I'd feed this to you with my
fingers," I whispered to him, delighting in the flush I could see in the
His lips parted. "Tell me what you would do, Lawrence."
Purposely I kept my voice low, so he would have to lean
close to me. "You see this piece of bread? I'd dunk it in the stew and then
rub it over your lips. When you opened your mouth to accept, it, I'd slip my
fingers in, instead, and make you suck the sauce off them!" He moaned.
"Thomas, must we wait for the old woman? I want to fuck you so badly!"
"Soon, I promise! See, it's our turn now!" He hurried
into the tent, dragging me after him. "Good evening, Grandmother," he
greeted her politely. "It's very nice to see you again."
"And you also, young sir. You have been well?" She
examined him in the fitful light of the candles, and smiled, a snaggle-toothed
grin that revealed a few gaps. "Ah, yes I think you have been more than well!
There is an aura about you!"
He blushed and his gaze sought mine as if he couldn't
help himself. "This is my friend, Lawrence."
She gestured
for him to seat himself before her. "I think he is more than a friend. Tell
me, young sir. What is your desire?"
He promptly held his palm out to her. "What is my future,
I stood at Thomas' shoulder and watched as Maleva took
his hand in her work worn grip and studied it intently. She stroked her
fingertips over the plump mound at the base of his thumb and across the
depression in the center of his palm. I saw her shiver. "Do you wish for the
truth, young sir?"
He looked affronted. "Of course I want the truth. I'm a
man! I can handle whatever comes my way!"
The gypsy smiled sadly and looked at his palm. "Proud!"
she murmured, almost to herself. "Very well, young sir. Your path will not be
easy. There will be loss along the way. But you are brave, and will bring much
honor to the name you bear. What more do you wish to know?"
"Love, Grandmother. Will my love return to me?" He
glanced at me through his lashes.
"The one you love will come to you through danger, across
flood and fire …" She gasped and her hand tightened convulsively on
Thomas'. Her eyes searched his deeply. "Because of the one who will love
you, you will be under the protection of a very ancient one!" She looked at
him with something akin to awe.
I thrust my palm in front of her. "Read my future, old
woman!" Already I was trying to determine how I could make her words to Thomas
refer to me. I was going across the ocean, surely that could signify as a flood.
Danger and fire, though…
She released my friend's hand and took mine. "Ahhh!
Young sir, be so kind as to bring me another candle!" she directed Thomas. He
ducked out of the tent, and I slid into his seat. The gypsy leaned forward,
speaking urgently. The words that spilled from her mouth were indecipherable.
They seemed to roll over me, reverberating in my skull, but I could not
understand a single one.
And then I could understand her again. "The young sir is
not for you, my son. Leave him be. Your future paths will cross, but there will
be only sorrow and death at the end of them!"
I was stunned. This was not the type of reading a gypsy
normally gave, and I struggled to free my hand. "You must be mad, old
Thomas returned just then with a branch of candles. "Here
you are, Grandmother."
"Thank you, young sir." She held my gaze over the
flickering light. "You will recall my words, and return to this place, when
the time has ripened. Until then, go with God, my son. Bela!" she called. A
young gypsy male thrust aside the opening of the tent. "Show these gentlemen
from the camp, my son."
She refused to accept our coins. Thomas bowed politely over
her hand, but I could see he was concerned by her action.
The gypsy, Bela, laid his hand on my shoulder, and I
shrugged it off sharply, disturbed by the sensation of his touch. His dark eyes
bored into mine, and it was as if something passed between us. He led us to the
edge of the camp.
It had grown late. The fires had all been banked, and the
villagers had all returned home.
"Thank you for visiting us, young sirs," the gypsy
murmured, and vanished into the darkness.
I swallowed and hurried Thomas away from that spot.
As much as my friend tired, with hands and mouth, to rouse
me, he was unsuccessful. I remained limp.
"I'm sorry, Thomas," I cried, ready to weep.
"Hush, love. It's all right. What did Maleva say to
"I…I don't know. Nothing, I think. It isn't
important. What is important is that I'm leaving tomorrow, and I can't make
love to you tonight! Who knows how long it will be before we can be together
We walked back to Fortescue Manor, my arm around his
shoulder, his around my waist.
"Will you wait for me, Lawrence?"
"*Yes*!" I shouted hotly. And then tears did fall,
because I knew how difficult it would be for us to remain faithful to each
other, with an ocean between us. I buried my head against his shirtfront.
"I'll try, Thomas. Oh God, I'll try so hard!"
His hand caressed my hair. "Me, too, love." His kiss
was salty from my tears. Or perhaps they were his tears, as well. And suddenly I
was trembling with desire, my cock threatening to burst through my trousers.
Glancing around quickly to make certain we were unobserved,
I shoved Thomas into the shadows that surrounded his home. His trousers were
already opened, and I reached in to free his cock.
I knelt before him and took it deep into my mouth. A spurt
of precome hit the back of my tongue, and his taste exploded in my mouth. I
rubbed my tongue vigorously along the underside of his shaft.
My friend was breathing heavily, and his legs trembled. I
tightened my grip on his hips, urging him deeper into my mouth.
"No, Lawrence!" His hands tugged on my hair.
"Together! I want us to come together!"
I climbed to my feet and undid my trousers, which slid
down, exposing my quivering cock. Thomas surged forward, his prick rubbing
against mine. I wound my fingers in his hair, holding his head still while I
plundered the honeyed depths of his mouth.
He swallowed my groans and sucked on my tongue as our hips
rocked in an increasingly unsteady rhythm. "Please!"
Thomas spun me around and pushed me to my knees. He spit on
his palm and lubricated his shaft with it, then rubbed his leaking cock against
my anus. The brief flash of pain was buried under a wave of pleasure, as with a
single, smooth thrust he was deep inside me, his balls nestled against the crack
of my arse.
We were both too close to the edge, and with one last, hard
push, we came, Thomas filling me with his essence, I spattering my shirt with
the white fluid.
He stayed in me for as long as he could, but eventually he
grew too soft, and slid out. I rolled onto my back, gasping for breath, and
fastened my lips to his throat, working the flesh so in the morning he would see
the mark.
"Lawrence, are you all right?"
I drew in a deep breath, savoring the scent of our passion.
My arse was sore, but I would take the feel of my lover's possession with me
when I left. "Never better, gov!"
He tried to smile at my response, but his face crumpled and
his arms tightened around me. "I will miss you!"
We tidied ourselves as best we could and spent another hour
saying goodnight with soft touches and deep caresses, until finally exhaustion
threatened to overcome us. With one last kiss, he disappeared into the house and
I was forced to make my way home.
I knew the Abbey would be locked up, but that didn't
worry me. There was a large oak tree that grew outside my window, which I had
had the presence of mind to leave open. I leaped to catch the first branch and
then scrambled up the rest of the way.
The window slid quietly up, and I eased over the casement.
Boxes were stacked by the door in preparation for our departure the next
morning. I stripped off my clothes and left them where they fell, yawning so
hugely the hinges of my jaw almost locked.
Suddenly, something hit me in the back, knocking me onto my
bed. A heavy body covered mine, the rough clothing abrasive against my naked
Before I could shout for help, a hand clapped over my
mouth, squeezing hurtfully over my lips. "You will not cry out, little
brother," the heavily accented voice whispered in my ear, and I trembled
beneath him. "I have no wish to hurt you, but if you make a sound you will
leave me no choice, and I will." He waited patiently until I nodded.
There was a rustling as he opened his trousers. I shivered
as I felt a cock prod my still-slick anus and then slide past the ring of
muscle. He was so big, and he was stretching me, filling me to the point of
pain, and I whimpered.
"I am sorry, little brother. This is the way it must
For a spit second I understood, and the future was revealed
to me. Then the shroud of forgetfulness descended once more, clouding the reason
behind this assault.
Tears streamed down my face. When I left England, my body
would take, not the memory of my best friend loving me, but of the young gypsy
who was plundering my back passage more thoroughly than Thomas had ever done.
I was ashamed, but I couldn't prevent myself from meeting
his thrusts. The gypsy was constantly targeting that special spot within me, and
my cock was hard and leaking precome. He reached beneath me and took my balls in
his hand, rolling them gently. I panted and whined as he pushed me closer to my
With a growl, he bucked one more time, and then held
himself still. I could feel his heat pouring into me, and I trembled. When he
was finished, he pulled out of me and turned me onto my back. My cock was
smeared with precome, and he leaned forward and ran his tongue around it,
tugging hard. A broad swipe laved it from base to tip, pausing to dip into the
He took the crown between his lips, and as he worked my
cock he shoved two fingers into my arse, which spasmed around them, and he
continued fucking me while he sucked my orgasm from me. I bit the heel of my
hand to muffle my cry of completion.
The gypsy removed his fingers from my body and wiped the remains of his own climax on his trousers before he did them up. He pulled me up to him and I was held powerless in his grasp. His teeth sank into the muscle of my shoulder and I stared at him stupidly, unable to do a thing to stop him, almost overwhelmed by the pain.
Yet when he raised his head there was no blood smeared over
his lips. I forced myself to look at my shoulder, at the horrible wound that
should have shredded it, to find only a faint scar.
"What…what did you do?"
"When you see this, you will know you are mine!"
"I am leaving England!" I murmured weakly in protest.
"But you will be back." He got to his feet and extended
his hand toward my face. I flinched away from his fingers, and sadness filled
his eyes. He stroked my cheek.
"Why, Bela? Why did you do this to me?"
"You are the one who is destined for me, little brother." He glanced back from the window before he stepped out into the night. "It has been seen in your palm!"
Part 3
The years passed, and the pain of my separation from home
and from Thomas gradually eased. The only thing that kept me connected with home
was the sporadic letters I received from my friend. I learned more from him of
what was happening with my family than from Father and my brothers.
"You'll never guess, gov!" he'd write. "Your
brother Harry is now a colonel! Perhaps once I'm in the army also we shall run
across each other!"
Harry was my middle brother, and Thomas was almost as army
mad as he had been.
When I graduated from University and joined a local
architectural firm, which had long been my goal, he wrote, "Congratulations,
Lawrence! I hope none of the buildings you design fall down upon their heads! Ha
ha! Seriously, gov, I'm so happy your dreams are coming true."
Or, "Only fancy, gov! I've got my commission! I'm
Leftenant Fortescue-Smythe now! The Mater has wept all down my brand new
uniform, and Father was so proud I thought he would burst a button! Of course,
Bertie, the sod, told me not to get above myself, but you know him, always ready
to lord it over me and depress pretensions!"
I could almost hear the excitement and laughter in his
voice, and I smiled, amused by the affectionate disrespect with which he and his
elder brother had always treated each other.
It was nothing like the rather strained relationship I had
with my own brothers, who were so much older than I. Because of the difference
in ages, I had never been as close to John and Harry as perhaps any of us would
have liked.
The letter after that brought sad news. "Father is dead,
Lawrence. The most foolish thing: he caught a cold, which settled in his chest
and developed into an inflammation of the lungs, and he was gone in a week's
time! I've been given emergency leave to be with Mother and Bertie. We're
all in shock, gov. I wish you were here. Father thought very highly of you, and
I…miss you!"
I was devastated, feeling the loss almost as keenly as my
friend. Sir Henry had offered me unconditional acceptance, and had been more of
a father to me than Sir John Talbot. If it had been possible, I would have
traveled home to be with Thomas and his family.
For sometime afterward I heard nothing from Thomas beyond a
note assuring me they were coping.
Eventually he was able to write in more detail, "Bertie
has assumed the baronetcy and is cutting a wide swath among the members of the
opposite sex, much to Mother's despair! She's trying to encourage him to
settle down! Fortunately for me she hasn't yet decided that I need a
steadying influence!" His sense of humor was emerging once more. "I think
she'd be rather shocked at my choice of mate, don't you, gov?"
I smiled sadly. I had accepted it would never be me.
The next letter had me a trifle concerned. "Rumors of
war, gov, but that's nothing new. I'm being sent to British West Africa. You
needn't worry about my safety. My RSM is Archie Cutter, and he's a godsend.
I wrote you about him, remember?"
I remembered. From what I had read between the lines,
Regimental Sergeant Major Cutter was more than a godsend, he was also Thomas'
Of course, I couldn't be jealous. I had had my share of
lovers since I had arrived in Canada, including one very intriguing encounter
with a cowboy called Arizona when I chanced to be in Alberta for the Calgary
Stampede. Bucking broncos and Brahma bulls were not the only things he knew how
to ride. My arse was pleasurably sore for a week after we parted company.
But the rumors of war were to prove true. The second week
of September I received a wire from England that suddenly brought it very close
to home. 'Harry killed 7 Sept Battle of Marne. Letter to follow. John'
I wasn't there to receive my oldest brother's letter.
The Talbots needed to be represented in this war. I knew Father would never
permit John to go, being the heir, so that left only me. I went into the first
recruiting office I could find and enlisted in the Canadian army.
It was only months later that the letter found me, and I
learned that Harry had been killed by mortar fire on the second day of that
battle, which had been a victory for the allies.
The next letter from Thomas was much longer in reaching me,
having to deal with not only the vagaries of the African postal service, but
also with the caprice of the army. I was in the trenches on the Western Front
when it finally caught up with me.
I tipped my gas mask off my face and sat down to read it.
"I've been promoted to captain, gov! And none of that 'Well, I reckon they
must be hard up for officers!' from you, Mr. Talbot! All joshing aside,
Lawrence, I'm so glad you're well out of this."
He hadn't received my letter telling him of Harry's
death, then, and my subsequent enlistment.
"It's a dirty, nasty business, this. The Huns are
burning villages and murdering the young men who refuse to obey their orders. As
for the women, I don't even want to think of what has befallen them."
I could imagine, and I hadn't been there to see the
atrocities. The next lines were a trifle smudged, but after a bit of squinting,
I was able to decipher the words.
"I must tell you of a rather singular occurrence, gov!
There was a tremendous explosion on the Lake, and my men pulled the most amazing
young man out of the water! He's little more than a boy actually, not much
more than eighteen, I'd say." This, from the maturity of his twenty-four
years. I chuckled, but sobered quickly and read on. "He's the brother of a
missionary who was at Kungdu, a small village in German East Africa. The poor
sod was killed by those bleeding Huns!"
That last shocked me a bit. Oh, not that the Germans were
capable of killing a man of God, but that my old friend was swearing. Obviously
this had affected him more than he was inclined to let on.
Just then my commanding officer strode by. "We'll be
going over the top shortly, gentlemen. Fix bayonets, if you please."
I sighed and tucked the letter away in the blouse of my
The fighting was short, fierce, and bloody. When we
returned to the trenches, there were fewer of us, but the line had held. I
cleaned my bayonet, struck a lucifer to light my cigarette and settled in for
the evening.
Taking out the letter, I scanned it quickly and found my
place. "…The poor sod was killed by those bleeding Huns!
"Roddy Sayer came down the Ulanga, which is called the
Bora down here because its temperament changes so much, no one ever realized it
was the same river! It was damn near unnavigable, but he did it, gov, with this
old riverboat captain, a Canadian chap, Allnutt by name. And that's not the
half of it! Would you believe it, Lawrence? They actually succeeded in blowing
up and sinking the Konigin Louisa, the German steamship that patrolled the Lake?
"I must say, gov, I was impressed!" The last word was
underscored three times.
I wondered if my friend had sampled the young man's
charms, and what RSM Cutter had to say about it. Thomas could never admit his
interest so blatantly in a letter that would be read and censored in the
interest of military security, but that last line was enough to inform me of his
fascination, and I felt a fleeting stab of loneliness. It had been too long
since I had loved anyone, and none who much cared if there was a rival.
There were no other letters after that, but I chalked that
up to distance and the demands of his command. And then came the Battle of the
That was a bad year. Just months before, the French had
been left decimated by the Battle of Verdun, and now it fell solely to us
British to assume full responsibility for the newest battle.
Within a handful of hours, there were over sixty thousand
I regained consciousness in an ambulance, my right leg
feeling as if it were on fire. A bullet had struck my shin, breaking it but
fortunately not shattering it. When I was carried into the field hospital, I
held my revolver on the doctor, who was quite good-looking, and informed him
that if I awoke without the leg, I would come after him, even if I had to drag
myself, and shoot off a favorite piece of his anatomy.
A nurse slapped an ether mask over my nose and I slipped
into unconsciousness.
When I came to once more, the doctor was sitting beside my
bed, scribbling something on a chart. My leg was encased in plaster and
suspended above the mattress by a metal frame. "Clean break, Leftenant."
I knew I was groggy from the after-effects of the
anesthesia but, "Are you sure you've got the right man? I'm not an
He regarded me with a slightly amused twist of his lips.
"You are now, soldier. Field commission. Congratulations. And I have every
anticipation of your leg healing nicely. There may be a bit of a limp, but you
should regain full use of it."
"Thank you, Doctor." I avoided his eyes and patted
myself down, searching for a cigarette, only to discover there were no pockets
in the get-up they had me in. I sighed and met his interested glance. "I
apologize for being testy in the operating room."
"Yes, well, I'm sorry, Leftenant, but an apology does
not cut it. You'll have to do more if you wish to make up for that appalling
display." He grinned, and I suddenly realized that he was not as old as I had
previously thought, possibly not too much older than I. "Dinner, I think, once
you're able to get around?"
"I'd like that, Dr…?"
"No need to be formal, old chap. Call me Hyde. Well, I
must be about my rounds. Try not to make my nurses irritable, will you? I swear
they can be more frightening than the Huns!"
I chuckled as I watched him leave the ward, then closed my
eyes, wondering how difficult it would be to make love with my leg in a cast.
Hyde invited me to his tent when the doctor who shared it
with him was busy in the operating room. He helped me onto his cot and raised my
johnny gown. I was rather surprised to find he had already slicked his passage.
He coated my shaft and settled himself comfortably on my rigid cock.
As it turned out, it didn't prove to be a problem at all.
The letter found me shortly after the Armistice had been
signed. It was in a lilac envelope and smelled faintly of the delicate flowers,
and it was from Lady Eugenia, Thomas's mother.
I shut my eyes against the pain. Thomas was gone. What else
would she be writing to tell me?
My hand clenched shut on the elegant paper, crumpling it,
while my eyes burned and my throat tightened. I opened my fingers and tried to
smooth out the worst of the wrinkles.
"My very dear Lawrence," she wrote. "It saddens me
deeply to inform you that Thomas was seriously injured in a skirmish with a
German battalion in Africa. His company suffered some casualties, the most
devastating of which was the death of RSM Cutter. He gave his life to save
Oh, thank God! He was still alive!
"I have not seen my son yet, as his physicians wanted his
condition to be more stable; however he's coming home via military transport,
and you know how quickly they can travel. We anticipate his arrival within the
next week."
The next page was spattered with what had to be teardrops.
"Oh, Lawrence, he's lost an eye!" Lost an eye? One of those beautiful,
tourmaline eyes? "From what we have been able to gather, it was done by a
saber slash. Sergeant Cutter shoved him out of the way and took the second blow
that would surely have killed Thomas.
"Please, Lawrence, if it is at all possible, please come
to see him…"
I didn't bother reading the rest of the letter. I went in search of my commanding officer to arrange for a leave.
Note: This one has a touch of bestiality in the mix. If that squicks you, there's the old delete key.
Part 4
It never changed.
Thomas refused to see me. I was his best friend, I had been
his lover, but now he wouldn't even speak to me.
Add to that the ambivalence of being home for the first
time in so long. I was bitter and hurt.
A spot of hunting might lift my spirits. Blowing the head
off Peter Rabbit sounded like a notion I could live with right about then.
I handed Monte's reins to the groom and went to fetch a
shotgun. Jack, Father's favorite liver and white spaniel, bounded excitedly at
my feet, and I decided to let him come along.
We tramped over the fields, flushing quail and partridge,
which I shot at half-heartedly.
A sudden fog descended on us, and the further away from
home we went, the denser it grew.
I began to feel uneasy.
There was the snap in the underbrush in the wood nearby, as
if an animal had stepped on a fallen branch. Only, no animal would do that,
and the two of us froze. Jack's floppy ears were cocked, and he listened
alertly, his nose raised as he scented the air.
And then his ears were down, his lips curled, and he began
to bark, high pitched and frenzied, in challenge to whatever was just out of
I started toward the wood, determined to find what was
there, and Jack threw himself against my legs. He became almost hysterical in
his efforts to keep me away from what he perceived as the danger that lurked
The fog made it impossible to get off a clear shot, and the
dog's fear telegraphed itself to me. My gut clenched, my mouth went dry, and I
backed away.
Jack obviously approved.
The sounds that tracked us came closer, and now we could
hear the low-pitched growls. I didn't know what kind of creature it could be:
there were no wild animals in this part of Kent.
Jack latched onto my trouser leg, trying to pull me further
away. I raised the shotgun and fired off a blast.
There was a grunt of pain, and the growl rose to a furious
howl. I fumbled with the shotgun, knowing I would never have the time to reload,
and I shook so hard I dropped the pellets.
I broke and ran, Jack positioning himself between me and
the threat. But the fog made it impossible to know in what direction I was
going, and I was hopelessly turned around.
From behind me came an anguished yelp, and I knew that
whatever it was had gotten Jack. The gallant dog had been injured trying to save
me, and I wouldn't leave him to face his fate alone. I ducked behind a tree,
only then realizing that somewhere along the way I had lost my weapon. I'd
have to confront that creature with nothing for defense but my bare hands.
I crept back the way I had come as silently as I could. The
fog was like damp, clammy tendrils that stroked across my face, and I shuddered
at the touch, barely able to make out my hand in front of me.
My foot caught on a rotted branch, and I went tumbling head
first to the ground, landing on something soft and furry and wet: Jack, his head
twisted at an unnatural angle, a gaping wound in his neck.
With a low moan, I pushed myself away from the dog's
mangled body. Before I could get to my feet, something came lunging at me,
knocking me backwards. Fetid breath clogged my nostrils, and I retched
It backed off and I thought I might be able to escape. I
crawled to my knees and tried to scramble away, but jaws closed over my
shoulder, clamping down like fiery pincers to secure me. To my horror, I could
feel the creature's prick, hot and hard, probing my trouser-covered arse.
It growled in frustration, and its claws ripped at my
trousers, shredding them and giving the thing access to me. Its hips rocked
jerkily, stabbing at me, trying to find my anus. When the slim, pointed cock
found its goal, it slammed into me and I cried out in shock.
Large paws gripped my waist, forcing me to submit to its
assault. Its jaws eased their hold, and its tongue lolled out as it fucked me,
drops of its saliva mingling with the blood that oozed from the wound on my
To my disbelief, the creature's penis rubbed continually
over that spot inside me, and I found myself growing hard, shivering from the
humiliating, unexpected pleasure, powerless under the savage pounding it was
giving my back passage.
With one last, powerful thrust, it drove the knot at the
base of its prick deep into me and stilled. The knot began to swell, plugging
me, stretching me, and then copious spurts of semen poured into my channel,
filling me with liquid heat, soothing the abused walls.
The creature rested on my back, holding me motionless.
Lazily its tongue licked my bloody shoulder in what was almost a caress. I
crouched beneath it, ashamed and yet unbearably aroused.
I wanted to roll over and offer it my unprotected throat,
surrendering completely to its will. I wanted to expose my weeping prick to the
beast's slavering mouth, to have its long tongue wrapped around my shaft,
licking it, tasting my essence.
But the beast turned its head with a jerk and growled, and
pulled sharply out of me. And then I heard what it had heard.
"Larry!" Someone was calling my name, searching for me.
It stood above me on two legs, manlike, as if to challenge
whoever approached, and I tried to croak out a warning. "Go back! Please, go
back! It will kill you…"
"Go back…"
"*Larry*! Come on, pup, wake up! You're scaring
me!" A hand closed over the shoulder that throbbed in time with the blood that
flowed to my cock. I reacted without thinking.
I threw myself at him. Growling much as the beast had, I
thrust against his groin. The feel of his warm body under me proved to be too
much, and I came, gasping as I poured myself over his abdomen.
I sank onto him; my head turned away, air whistling between
my lips as I desperately struggled to regain my breath. "Oh, Jesus, Hyde,
I'm so sorry!"
"It's all right, Law." He forced me to look at him,
and stroked the hair out of my eyes, his expression concerned. "Another bad
I sat up, nodding as I cradled my head in my hands.
"It might help to talk about it." He used a corner of
the sheet to remove the drying semen, and then offered it to me.
"I doubt it, Hyde."
He knelt up behind me on the bed and dug his fingers into
the tense muscles of my neck and shoulders. I rubbed my cheek against the back
of one hand. "What would I do without you, doc?"
"You'd do fine, Larry." He tipped my head around and
brushed a soft kiss over my lips. "Is it the same nightmare?"
I nodded uncomfortably.
He wrapped his arms around me. "Tell me about it, Law,"
he urged, but my mind shied away from the disturbing images, unable to face them
Instead, my thoughts went back to that time after the war
to end all wars had concluded, when I had returned to England.
There was no reason for me to remain in the land of my
birth, I realized.
Thomas would survive and come to grips with the patch he
wore to conceal the damage done his eye. His former commanding officer had come
to see him and was closeted with him for a goodly length of time. My friend
refused to speak of the outcome to anyone. Even me.
Both Father and John had been involved with the war effort
in London, and he had shut up the Abbey, which had fallen into shocking
disrepair with no one living there.
Since Father's intention was to continue his involvement
with the government, this would necessitate the taking of a residence in Town,
and he saw no reason to leave the house empty. He decided to let it.
My brother John found he preferred living in London as
well, and so moved into his own digs, driving out to the Abbey at Father's
request to oversee the work that needed to be done before the first in a series
of tenants could move in.
None stayed very long, however, and eventually the lease
was taken by a representative of an Egyptian gentleman.
I did some traveling, seeing something of the world. But
eventually, after a number of years, I sailed back to Canada.
My position in the architectural firm in which I had worked
before I left for France was waiting for me.
As was Hyde, the doctor who had treated me during the war.
He returned home to Canada after his discharge from the army to set up practice.
I had no idea his office was just down the road, although
after we had been together for a while he told me he had seen me on occasion and
was keeping an eye out for an opportunity to renew the acquaintance.
That opportunity arose on the day we ran into each another
in the local pub, the day I received another letter from Thomas.
"I've found him again, gov!" he wrote from Egypt. He
would never tell me what he was doing in that part of the world, but I suspected
it was something deep and dark, and to do with the government. "Roddy Sayer!
Do you remember me writing to you of him?"
How could I forget, I mused bleakly? I had sat beside
Thomas' bed, taking in the stark paleness of his face, the whiteness of the
bandage that hid most of the livid scar that marred the right side of his face.
As I waited for him to regain some sort of coherence, he
had rambled on about the courageous young man, about his blue eyes and
sun-streaked hair. And about how Thomas had lusted after him, even determining
to go so far as to lure the boy into his bed and away from the man who was
Sayer's lover.
That, in spite of the fact that Thomas had a lover of whom
he was very fond, to say the least.
I moistened my lips, recalling how Thomas' body had
quivered and wriggled voluptuously, and how he'd moaned, "Please, Archie,
please don't spank me any more! I promise not to interfere!"
I resolved never to let Thomas discover what he had
revealed that night. But I rubbed a restless hand over the front of my trousers
while I watched over him.
Roddy Sayer was back in my friend's life, and he was no
longer with that old man.
Charlie Allnutt, his partner, who really wasn't all that
old, had died in the desert, where they had been involved in the excavation of
the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Apparently he had fallen victim to the curse of
the Boy King.
Thomas was going to seize his chance, he wrote, and make
the young man his. He had already talked him into returning to England with him.
Hyde entered the pub and spotted me sitting in a corner in
the back, a row of empty glasses before me.
"Larry Talbot? Is that you?" His surprise wasn't a
pretense. He told me later that he had followed me into the pub, but hadn't
expected me to have put that much liquor under my belt already. "Er… Good God, man! How simply splendid to see you again!
Mind if I join you?"
I did, rather. I just wanted to mourn the loss of my first
love in maudlin solitude.
But Hyde ordered a whiskey for himself and sat next to me,
the warmth of his thigh radiating through the material of his trousers.
I shrugged and continued to stare broodingly at my last,
half empty glass.
"What's wrong, Law?"
I opened my mouth to snap that nothing was wrong, that my
life was absolutely perfect. Instead, the whole story of my youthful love affair
with Thomas Fortescue-Smythe came spilling out, ending with how we were
separated because my parents could no longer tolerate each other.
The only thing that didn't come spewing past my unguarded
tongue were the details of the last night I spent with Thomas, and how the gypsy
had stolen into my room and taken me. I would never tell anyone of that.
Hyde's hand rested on my knee, and his fingers squeezed
it rhythmically. My cock began to take notice.
"My rooms are behind my office, Law. Come spend the night
with me."
I struggled to focus my gaze on his face. "My heart
belongs to Another!" I told him melodramatically.
"That's quite all right, pup. Whoever it is can have
your heart. I just want your body!"
I went home with Hyde, and I must have enjoyed what he let
me do to his body, because shortly afterward, I asked him to move into my digs.
I needed someone in my life, in my bed. Hyde filled the
"I say!" He shook my arm gently. "Where did you go?
Come on, Law, talk to me!"
He wanted to know about that nightmare. I knew it would be
futile to try to avoid his questions.
"It always starts the same way," I began hesitantly.
"I'll be trying to see Thomas, and Lady Eugenia will tell me it's useless,
to just go home, her son isn't for me."
"Did he really refuse to see you?"
"No," I murmured, confused by that part of the dream.
"Although it wouldn't have mattered if he had. I'd have just barged into
his room the way I did and took up a seat at his bedside. And Lady Eugenia never
knew we were lovers, either. It must be my subconscious trying to do me in.
Anyway, in my dream I ride over to Fortescue Manor."
Hyde interrupted my narrative. "You didn't drive
there?" He shifted on the bed and pulled me down beside him.
"No." I slid my arm over his chest and laid my head
over his heart. The rhythmic beating soothed me. "The two properties are too
close to go to the bother of taking out an automobile. We always used horses. I
rode over on Monte Cristo. You know something, Hyde? After all this time, it
still surprises me that Father kept that horse. He was really too small and too
old to carry any of us for any length of time."
"You don't think Sir John kept him because he was your
horse?" Hyde wondered.
The thought startled me. "Father would never do that! Oh,
maybe if it was John's, or Harry's..."
"Why wouldn't he do that for you? Aren't you his son,
just as much as they?"
"It's not the same, Hyde." If I mattered that much to
him, he never would have let Mother take me away. Would he? I grew uncomfortable
with that conversation, and would have turned away from Hyde, but he refused to
let me go.
"All right, Law. Go on with your dream."
I was reluctant to dwell on the emotions that had haunted
my sleep, the shame and the uncontrollable lust, but even less did I want to
discuss my family dynamics with my lover, and so I continued, eventually
concluding with the attack by the unseen creature.
I made no mention of the beast's sexual subjugation of
"Well, I must say, that is a strange dream!"
"One for your Sigmund Freud?" Hyde had been reading
articles published by the physician who had become the leader in psychoanalysis.
"Perhaps," he murmured. "Perhaps something in the
letter you received from England yesterday triggered it off. Every time you hear
from home you suffer one of those nightmares."
"Perhaps," I echoed him, reluctant to reveal that the
night terrors were now coming with increasing frequency, and seemingly for no
reason at all.
Before I could decide whether I should tell him, there was
a brisk knock on the front door. "Bugger!" I swore. "I knew I should have
taken rooms in a hotel rather than rent this house!"
Hyde tugged on a lock of my hair playfully. "You'd have
hated it, Law. And so would I. Think how quiet we'd have to be when we made
"You may have a point," I agreed as I pulled on a
dressing gown and went to see who was beating at my door so early in the
The man who stood there regarded me in a bored manner.
"Lawrence Talbot?" he asked. When I nodded, he handed me a telegram and
waited impatiently while I found some change to tip him.
The last wire I had received had been from my brother,
John, informing me that our middle brother, Harry, had been killed in the War. I
searched out the signature on this one.
Father. I breathed a sigh of relief and began to read the
terse message. And then, "Oh, no!"
"What's wrong? Bad news, Law?" Hyde had drawn on a
pair of trousers, which hung low around his hips, and had followed me into the
I brushed past him, hurrying to the cupboard that held my valise. I tossed it onto the bed and began to pack. "I must go home. John is dead! And the Abbey has been destroyed!"
Part 5
I found myself wishing there was a faster method of
transatlantic travel than ship.
It wasn't simply because by the time I got to Father's
townhouse in London, John had been buried. Father looked at me with eyes that
were bleak and distant, and saw nothing beyond the fact that his heir was six
feet under. He had no use for me there, and I turned on my heel and left him in
his study with a bottle of Blue Ruin to keep him company.
I needed to be with someone who was actually pleased to see
me. I needed to see Thomas.
As it turned out, the ship hadn't been fast enough. I had
just missed him…
Acquaintances I ran into on the street took great pleasure
in trying to ferret out the gruesome details of the destruction of the Abbey.
"Talbot! I say, old chap, rum go about the family manse.
Hear it was King Tut, striking back from the grave! A-haw, a-haw, a-haw! Is that
so?" They were avid in their desire to learn every bit of gossip. It was only
as an after thought they they would continue, "Oh, by the by, so sorry about
your brother!"
It was the same thing, from every single one of them. The
bloody, be-damned bastards!
When I was finally able to escape, I motored down to Kent
to assess the damage.
But before I even stopped at Talbot Abbey, I went to
Fortescue Manor, to see Thomas. Lady Eugenia was in the front hall when her
butler opened the door to me.
Her eyes pooled with tears, and she hurried forward to
embrace me. "Lawrence! Oh, I am so very sorry about your brother! What an
absolutely dreadful thing!"
To my surprise, I felt my own eyes burn, and I blinked
"And the beautiful Abbey, destroyed!"
"I'm here to rebuild it, Lady Eugenia. That's why
Father sent for me."
She frowned at the bitterness in my voice,
her distress evident that I obviously still believed there would be no
other reason my father would want to see me. "I don't think you give Sir
John enough credit, Lawrence. Your father cares about you a great deal."
"Do you think so?" I asked flatly. "It would have
been nice if just once he had told me so."
"Ah, Lawrence, don't make the same mistake he made,
holding on to ancient hurts, letting your pride dictate your actions."
"No, m'lady." I didn't want to quarrel with my
friend's mother. "Is Thomas home? I thought I'd stop by to visit with him
before going to see the extent of the damage at the Abbey."
Lady Eugenia shook her head. For one disconcerting moment I
thought my nightmares were about to prove prophetic, but instead of refusing to
let me see him, she said, "You've just missed him!"
"I can return," I assured her, perhaps more eagerly
than might have been wise.
She gave my arm a slight shake. "He's gone to
"That mysterious job of his in the government?" I
asked, trying to lighten the heaviness that settled around my heart. I had been
counting on seeing him again.
His mother smiled and looped her arm through mine. "Do
come in, dear boy and have a spot of tea with me!" She urged me into the
house. "You know he refuses to talk to anyone about that. Well, anyone other
than Roddy."
"Roddy? Would that be Roddy Sayer, the young man he met
in Kenya?" Now I felt even worse. I had been hoping that that affair would
have fizzled.
"Why, yes! How did you know of him?" Before I could
respond, she exclaimed, "But of course! Your correspondence with Thomas. Those
letters meant so much to him, Lawrence. Thank you!"
"They meant a great deal to me also, Lady Eugenia."
More than she would ever know.
She led me to the conservatory at the rear of the house.
I had to smile. Almost every country house in this part of
Kent had a conservatory, and it seemed it was always placed somewhere toward the
rear of the house. Perhaps that's why the plans I had drawn up on the voyage
home also featured a large, airy room that would be filled with all manner of
plants, exotics as well as native, but it would be set to the side, rather than
the rear.
"Have a seat, Lawrence, and I'll pour." She held the
tiny cup and saucer with steady fingers. The teapot, in the other hand, was
tipped, and she filled the cup with consummate grace.
"How…er…how serious is it with them?"
She regarded me thoughtfully as she offered me the cup,
then answered my question with another question. "How long have you been aware
of my son's preferences?"
Did she expect an honest answer? I didn't think she would
welcome me into her home any longer if she learned that I was the one who took
her son's virginity. "Oh, quite some time, m'lady," I murmured vaguely.
Her expression became wry. "I truly wish someone had
thought to inform me of this state of affairs. You can't imagine how
embarrassing it was to be throwing girls at Thomas' head in hopes that he
might select one, only to discover that I'd have done better to parade some
likely young man before him." She sighed. "Well, the one bright spot is that
Bertie had no idea either!"
I had been in the process of sipping my tea when she made
that remark, and I choked. "*Bertie*?" He had almost caught us once, and
from his cool attitude toward me afterwards, I was positive he knew what was
going on between his younger brother and myself.
She took a neat bite out of her cucumber sandwich and
chewed thoughtfully. "After he married, he became even more of a matchmaker
than I! Thomas finally set him straight, and it was rather acrimonious, I
believe. My sons have no qualms with discussing their differences at the top of
their lungs. But once Bertie met Roddy, he did like him, and seemed to resign
himself to the fact that he would never be an uncle. Fortunately, his wife is a
good breeder, and they have a number of boys already, so the succession is
At least Thomas was spared the pressure of having to
produce an heir. Eventually, Father would realize that it now fell to me to keep
the Abbey lands in the family, and he would insist I marry some suitable girl. I
shuddered and thrust that worry aside for another time.
"Do you like this young man, Lady Eugenia?"
"Yes, I do. You didn't know, Lawrence, but there was a
time when I feared for Thomas. He was so recklessly careless with his life. I
think that's why he took that position his former commander offered."
I did know, but there was nothing I could have done for my
friend. There was nothing he would have allowed me to do. I remained silent.
There was sadness in her eyes before she turned away to
reach for her tea. "Losing his eye in that battle, and on top of that his RSM,
almost destroyed him." She laid her hand on my knee and leaned closer.
"I'll tell you something, my dear boy. Once I realized how things stood, I
was rather hoping he might find Roddy again. The only time he seemed anything
like his old self was when he spoke of him."
"Thomas wrote to me from Africa, telling me he wanted to
bring young Sayer home with him. You approve then, Lady Eugenia?"
"It's not the path I would have chosen for him, but
then, I'm not the one who will walk that path. Yes, Lawrence, I do
approve. Very heartily." Her smile became impish, and I saw her son in her.
"Roddy is an absolute delight! I'll never forget the time he told me he
wanted the doctor to see Thomas, because obviously the blow to his head was more
severe than had been believed. All that, because Thomas told him he loved
Again I began to sputter as a crumb lodged in my throat.
"I beg your pardon?"
She began to explain. "The Egyptian gentleman who let the
Abbey threatened Roddy in some manner, which they would never explain to me.
Thomas went to issue an ultimatum, and Roddy followed to rescue him. They were
wearing the most outlandish get-ups when we found them. My son had been beaten
quite severely, but Roddy assured me the men responsible had been shown the
error of their ways. Such a typically British understatement, and one I would
quite expect from the young man responsible for the sinking of the Louisa!"
"Were those men handed over to the Egyptian authorities
for their punishment?"
"I'm sorry, Lawrence, I didn't make myself clear. No
one escaped from the Abbey. They all paid with their lives!"
I was startled by the savage satisfaction in her voice, and
wondered how it came about that women were regarded as the weaker sex.
That was how I learned the tales about the destruction of
Talbot Abbey were not entirely poppycock.
I stepped out of the automobile. Even prepared as I had
been by Lady Eugenia, I was still appalled by the extent of the wreckage, which
was as thorough as it was inconceivable, and I stared in shocked horror.
The house appeared to have collapsed in on itself, but no
one had a reasonable explanation. Oh, the magistrate went on about shoddy
workmanship, but those walls had stood for over six hundred years.
As for the firm that my brother John hired to do the
repairs on the Abbey, well, I was the one who vetted them, and they were
some of the best in the business.
Of course the newssheets had a field day with it, laying
the cause of the destruction of my ancestral home to the curse of King
Tutankhamun. Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter had been in the neighborhood as
guests of an Egyptian gentleman, and that lent credence to the rumors.
The locals simply looked troubled and refused to speak of it. There was something else going on in that corner of Kent, but it wasn't until a few years later that it would come knocking on my own door.
Note: This is Lady Genie's POV. Since she had a warm relationship with her husband, m/f is implied.
Part 6
Lawrence Talbot was not an attractive child, but he was
What a shame his parents were both so lost in the
disillusion of what neither was that they could not see that.
Sir John Talbot married Helena Ware because he had two
small boys who needed a mother, and because of a vague physical resemblance to
his first wife. Both women were sturdy, blue-eyed brunettes.
Helena married Sir John because after being 'out' a
number of years, she feared being relegated to the shelf and becoming an ape
He thought Helena would be biddable and
She thought he would be the dashing, older man who
would rescue her from a commonplace life back in Canada.
They were both wrong.
I was not there when Helena finally delivered the child she
had waited ten years to have, but her lady's maid was, and she told my
woman, who in turn told me. There are no secrets, belowstairs.
It had been a difficult pregnancy, and an even more
difficult birth.
Sir John looked at the squalling, red-faced infant in the
doctor's arms, touched a gentle finger to the damp head, and raised his eyes
to the woman who lay exhausted in the bed he no longer shared with her. Her hair
hung in sweaty tangles, and her throat had been screamed raw.
Her glare was venomous. "You have your sons," she
rasped, referring to the children of his first marriage, who were away at
school. "This one is mine!" She waited until her husband nodded stiffly and
left the room, then said, "Let me see him!"
The doctor would have laid her son in her arms, but she
recoiled in shocked horror when she saw the misshapen skull. "He's a
"No, Lady Talbot, I assure you that the swelling and
bruising about the face is quite normal. In a couple of days this will all
recede and you'll think he's the most beautiful baby in Kent."
"He's a monster!" she repeated shrilly. "Take him
The doctor frowned and handed the infant to the woman who
had been hired as wet nurse, motioning for her to leave quickly. It was his
experience with new mothers that sometimes they reacted strangely to their
offspring. He'd instruct the wet nurse to bring the baby to her ladyship in a
day or so, and they would see what they would see.
In the meantime, he would just drop a word into Sir
John's ear to treat his lady with additional patience.
Everyone knew women were the weaker sex.
Sir John had ridden to Fortescue Manor to speak with my
husband, Henry. They were in Henry's study when I waddled by. I was in an
interesting condition, and had a short time to go before the birth of my second
child. I was feeling decidedly huge.
"Eugenia, would you mind joining us for a moment, my
"Not at all, my dear. What can I do for you charming
For a moment both men were silent, exchanging glances. I
pressed my knuckles into the discomfort that nagged at my lower back, and Henry
assisted me to a chair. He helped me maneuver my bulk onto it.
Sir John, who was a good deal older than both Henry and I,
stared down his nose at me, but I simply raised an eyebrow and waited patiently
for him to speak.
"After John was born, Elizabeth doted on him," he began
finally, speaking of his first wife. "Her last act before she died was to
place a kiss on Harry's brow."
"Not every woman reacts to motherhood in the same way."
He nodded impatiently. "That's what Dr. Cliffe informed
"Dr. Cliffe tells every prospective father that," I
sighed. "What seems to be the problem, Sir John?"
"I can't understand Helena's attitude! She won't
have anything to do with this boy! She almost acts as if she's…frightened by
"Would you like me to speak with her?"
The poor man looked relieved. "If it wouldn't be too
much trouble, Lady Eugenia?"
"Of course not. Henry, why don't you have Humphrey
Coachman bring the dogcart around?"
He smiled at me, and I grew flushed. We'd been married
for almost five years, and the man still melted my bones with simply a certain
glance or smile. This pregnancy could not come to its conclusion soon enough to
suit me.
I kneaded that spot in my lower back harder, then let my
fingers trail over Henry's arm. Color mounted his cheeks, and I returned his
smile. It was nice to know I could cause his bones to melt as well.
I insisted that Helena get out of bed. Lying in that
darkened room would be good neither for her spirits nor her waistline. She
pouted, but agreed. "I'll meet you in the Egyptian salon."
"Very well. But I'm going to the nursery first, to see
your son." At one point I could have sailed out of her bedroom, but that day
all I could manage was the waddle, and I ignored her objections. A passing maid
showed me the way to the baby's rooms.
Tiny whimpers came from the white and blue wicker cradle
that was set up near the window. I crossed the room and gazed down at the little
Dark fuzz covered his head, coming to a marked widow's
peak. He waved his hands and I caught one, admiring the way his grip tightened
around one of my fingers. "Such a strong little man!" I murmured. Something
drew my attention and I examined them more closely.
The forefinger and middle finger were the same length.
I kissed them and released them, then bent down to brush a
kiss over his cheek. His eyes, still the vague blue of newborns, seemed to look
into mine. "You will be loved, little one! I promise you!"
I left him and went down the stairs carefully, holding to
the banister. The butler was at the foot of the stairs, and he lead me to the
small room that was decorated in crocodile-footed furniture, screens with
hieroglyphs, vases painted in the Egyptian motif. There was even a mummy case in
the corner.
I eased myself down onto an extremely uncomfortable chair
and waited for the lady of the manor to deign to put in an appearance. After a
few minutes, I had to get to my feet, and I began to pace the room.
Helena finally came in. "I don't see why I had to come
downstairs, Eugenia. We could have spoken just as easily in my room," she
"Don't be an ass, Helena. It isn't healthy to remain
in bed so long. Now, why won't you see your son? He's perfect."
She turned her face away, distressed in spite of herself.
"There's something about Lawrence…"
"Helena, have you seen him since you gave birth?" I
pressed her, and she had the grace to look abashed. "I thought not. Spend time
with him. I promise you won't regret it! Oh!
"Is something wrong, Eugenia?"
"Oh dear! I do believe this baby intends to be born right
Dr. Cliffe refused to permit me and my new son to be moved,
so we had no choice but to stay at Talbot Abbey.
Thomas shared the cradle with Lawrence. They were both such
well-behaved babies, fretting only when we parted them.
When it finally came time for me to return to Fortescue
Manor, both boys resented the separation, howling strenuously. Helena was
proving not to be very maternal. She looked green, and asked if I minded very
much keeping them together, for just a little while.
Sir John was away, and until he could be consulted, Henry
had no objections. Lawrence and Thomas were able to remain together for a little
When the baronet returned home, he was appalled to find his
son had been farmed out to neighbors when the boy's mother was perfectly
capable of caring for him.
He stalked up the front steps of Fortescue Manor, and I had never seen him so angry. His gait
was stiff and his face was flushed with fury. "Lawrence is my son, Lady
Eugenia! My wife must learn that even if she won't see to the boy, we
have servants who will!"
I was tempted to strike him for his callous attitude, but
Henry's hand on my arm restrained me. And then I chanced to catch a glimpse of
Sir John's face.
As he said, Lawrence was his son. He loved him.
Of course, once Helena realized this, she used every
opportunity to drive a wedge between the two. She became almost pathologically
possessive of the boy, finding in him the perfect weapon to use against the
husband for whom she no longer cared.
"Henry, please, the atmosphere in that house is
poisonous! It isn't healthy for a little boy! Well, it isn't healthy for the
adults, either!"
My husband shook his head, refusing to be swayed by my
arguments. "We can't interfere, my love. As much as we might object to
what's going on at Talbot Abbey, it just isn't done!"
He was right. It wasn't the thing to interfere with the
way Sir John chose to conduct his household. I chewed my lip. "Will you permit
Thomas to invite young Lawrence to visit with us, my dear?"
"Oh, my love, as frequently as you'll allow. Those two
are like Damon and Pythias!"
But eventually, there came a time when the ongoing
hostilities between Lawrence's parents erupted into outright warfare, and
Helena took her son back to the country of her birth.
Leaving both boys devastated.
Note: Tommy's POV
Part 7
Three years away from home, going from one assignment to
another. If Roddy hadn't been given permission to accompany me, I couldn't
have done it.
I wouldn't have done it.
The mission I had been given by my superior in London, the
final one, he'd promised, was completed at last, and the report had been
couriered to him.
Before returning home to England, Roddy and I had taken the
train to South Africa, and then rode the rest of the way on horseback to the
property that belonged to my lover. It had taken us quite some time to visit the
diamond mines that were scattered over the uninspired landscape. It was an
exhausting, dirty journey that included meetings with the managers who oversaw
those mines.
But it was finally over. All I wanted now was to settle
down and raise horses in Kent with Roddy Sayer, the man I loved, and who had
been my lover for the past six years.
Roddy was out booking our passage, and I hoped that soon we
would start on our way home. I was too weary to do more than retrieve our mail
from the front desk and take the rattletrap elevator to the third floor of our
I fitted the key in the lock and entered our room. With a
deep groan I stretched out on the bed, letting the soft mattress mold itself to
my form. I slid a nail under the flap of an envelope that was postmarked from
Fortescue Manor. I tried to concentrate on the words from Mother, but I
couldn't get much passed the opening sentences. My eye drifted shut and I
dozed off.
I drowsily opened my eye, looked up from where I was
reclining on the bed and smiled at Roddy. The love on his face never failed to
move me, causing the breath to catch in my throat, and my heart to actually
stutter in my chest.
Out of all the people in the world, this man had chosen me
to love. Even the black patch that concealed the ruin that was my right eye
never daunted him.
"Have I told you how much I love you?" I asked softly.
"Not today, sweetheart. I'm starting to feel
neglected!" His expression was easy and warm. The sight of his eyes wandering
over my body, stripping the clothes from me, still had the power to leave me
trembling with desire. And then he noticed the letter in my hand. "Bad news,
"Just Mother catching me up on news from back home."
"How is Lady Genie?"
"She's doing well, love. Do you know, you're the only
one she allows to call her that?"
He frowned and removed his hat and jacket, hanging them on
the coat tree in the corner. "Should I not then, Tommy?"
I crooked my finger at him and he approached me with a lazy
grin, pausing by the bed to rest one knee beside me on the mattress.
He was still grinning when I reached up and snagged his
tie, using it to pull him down to me. Before he could do more than utter a soft,
"Oh!" I had my arms wrapped around him, and I swung him across my lap.
I bent over him and captured his mouth. His fingers
threaded through my hair, following the contours of my skull. The needy sounds
he made went straight to my cock. And I blessed the old man who had been
Roddy's first lover, who had been generous and caring and who had taught him
it was permissible to be vocal in his enjoyment.
Of course, Charlie Allnutt really hadn't been that old.
No older, I imagine, than Archie Cutter, my own lover.
Archie had also been my RSM. Because we were both military,
our lovemaking had been done in silence.
In the end, the last thing I had heard from Archie was his
roar of outrage as he attacked the Hun who had swung his saber at me, costing me
my eye. Archie took the blow that would have killed me, driving his bayonet into
the gut of his opponent at the same time. I survived, with a great, gaping wound
where my heart should have been.
"You're thinking of Archie, aren't you,
I shook myself and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry,
He caught my earlobe between his thumb and forefinger and
tugged it gently. "No need to be, Tommy. I would never begrudge you thoughts
of him. He gave his life to save yours, and if he hadn't, I truly would have
been alone after Charlie died."
"So, you're not jealous of Archie?"
"No more than you are of Charlie," he murmured archly,
and I sighed, knowing I had lost another round. Roddy moved his legs off my lap
and settled himself beside me, resting his head on my chest. "Of course, if
Archie was still alive, I'd have to challenge him to a duel for you."
"You would?" I had wanted Roddy since I had first seen
him, sopping wet and staggering out of the Lake after the sinking of the German
steamship, Konigin Louisa. I'd have attempted to steal him away from Allnutt,
but Archie saw the way I was eyeing the young man.
That was when I was still so full of myself, thinking the
world owed me my fondest desires.
In his most official voice, he told me he had dispatches
that needed to be seen to in my tent. Once in there, he had lowered the flap,
lowered my trousers and proceeded to give me a hiding.
The normal hustle and bustle of the camp disguised the
sound of the spanking my lover was administering.
"That's a happy pair, Thomas! You will not interfere!"
I'd been so randy from the feel of his calloused palm on
my naked arse that he'd barely had time to prepare my hole before I was
backing onto his cock and taking it deep within me, letting him fuck me to a
shattering climax.
"You're thinking of the time Archie spanked you,
aren't you, Tommy?"
I frowned at him. "What gives you that idea?" I huffed.
And then I gasped as he rubbed the heel of his hand firmly over the bulge in my
trousers. "You know me too bloody well, Roddy Sayer!"
He flipped himself over onto my legs and scooted down, his
fingers nimble on the buttons of my fly. Roddy parted the placket and carefully
took my cock out. I was already fully engorged from the thoughts of that earlier
time, and he dipped his head forward and licked the tip of my arousal with a
broad swipe of his tongue.
"I love the way you taste, have I ever told you that,
sweetheart?" He planted tiny kisses along the thick vein that ran under my
shaft. "I love the way you feel." He blew a breath that ruffled the wiry
hairs that covered my balls. "I love you, Tommy."
And my cock was engulfed by the wet heat of his mouth. My
lover's head moved smoothly up and down and I shuddered at the exquisite
sensations. Whenever he did this, I could never last long, and I did want to
this to last. I opened my eye resolutely, determined to distract myself with
thoughts of England.
But Roddy wasn't having any of that. He released my cock
and ran a finger over the weeping tip. As he swallowed me again, that finger
found its way between my arse cheeks and started teasing my anus, dipping in
I bucked up into his mouth one more time, and began to
spill myself into his throat.
It took me some time to catch my breath. "You didn't
come, love," I breathed.
"You weren't paying attention, sweetheart." I could
hear the smile in his voice. He took my hand and pressed it to the front of his
trousers. They were damp, and I recalled the rapid friction of his lower body
against my thigh.
"You're right, and I'm sorry. I love when you ride me
like that, it makes my climax even better!"
He rolled over onto his back and sighed happily. "We can
do it again, if you feel that bad about it, Tommy. I wouldn't mind."
"You're a scamp, you know that, Roddy? And I love you
more than life itself!"
"You do have a way with words, Captain Smythe!"
"Don't you think you ought to get out of those trousers
before you catch a chill?" I asked.
"Actually, I'm going to take a bath. Why don't you
read that letter to me while I'm in the tub?"
I watched as he skinned out of his clothes and padded into
the adjoining bath. That was one thing I had insisted upon when finding a hotel.
With the number of times we made love to each other, I didn't want my lover
having to traipse down the hall, or worse still, down the stairs and out into
the back yard, to use the facilities.
"I can't hear you," he sing-songed as he turned the
water on.
"Pushy get, aren't you, love? I was imagining you all
naked in that bath!"
"Oh, in that case…" Roddy draped himself against the
doorframe, and gave me a come hither look. He laughed when I tossed a pillow at
I tucked my cock away and did up my trousers, then went to
join him in the bathroom. He was just climbing into the tub, the silver chain
and pendant he was never without sliding over to snag on an erect nipple.
My hand went to the similar chain that hung under my shirt,
and my fingers closed over it. We didn't wear wedding rings, but we wore
The lid on the commode was down, and I seated myself on it,
tilting my head to one side. I found when I was tired that I tended to lose
perception in my left eye, and it became a trifle difficult for me to read.
"Come join me, sweetheart. Let the heat of the water soak
away your fatigue."
"You just want me in that tub with you!"
"Well, yes,
that's true." The smile he gave me was tender. "Will you join me?"
"Have I ever refused you anything, love?" I stood up
and gave him the letter, then quickly shed my clothes.
Roddy kept the letter from getting damp as I stepped into
the tub and sank down before him. Once I was comfortably settled against his
chest, he handed it back to me. Even though I assured him I had no objection to
him reading any mail addressed to me, well, as long as it wasn't from a
certain address in London, he steadfastly refused.
I imagined it must have been his Methodist upbringing.
Being the younger brother of a missionary cannot have been much joy. He rarely
spoke of his childhood, except, perhaps to tell me some tale guaranteed to make
me laugh.
Roddy's lips wandered over the curve of my shoulder to my
neck. "A penny for them, sweetheart," he whispered.
"Sorry, love. Just a bit foggy. You do have that way with you!" I snapped out the paper, finally able to focus, and began to read.
"My dear Thomas,
"First let me assure you that I am well, as are all our
"Lawrence has been overseeing the rebuilding of Talbot
Abbey, and it is now finally completed, but it has been a very difficult time.
The first year was exceptionally hard, with a number of the workers being
horribly killed.
"Things were better for a time, but I regret to tell you
that the deaths have started again. Colonel Montford, the Chief Constable, is
looking into them. The gypsies have returned, and of course the rumors are once
again running wild.
"Lawrence has become gaunt, and that limp of his from the
war has returned to plague him. He's taken to using a silver-headed walking
stick he purchased from Jenny Williams' little shop in the village.
"Thomas, please come home as soon as possible.
"A hug and a kiss to you, my dearest son, and to Roddy, the son of my heart."
I was shaking so hard the water splashed over the side of
the tub.
"Yes, sweetheart. We'll leave first thing in the morning."
Note: I mentioned at the start of this that I'd taken liberties. I'm doing it again. Those familiar with the movie know that Jennie Williams dies in an attack by the werewolf. Not this time. Needful Things was created by Stephen King, but the name of the shop got to me, and since Jennie will be selling things you don't realize you need until you see them, I thought it was apropos. Upper Uncton is from the Married…With Children The England Show episodes.
And for those who care about these things, there is an insinuation of m/f.
Part 8
I had thought that returning to England, to the place where
I grew up, would bring an end to the nightmares that plagued me, nightmares
filled with blood and pain and fear. And something else, as well.
Something dark. And hot.
I thought wrong.
It was a bad summer, that summer we started rebuilding
Talbot Abbey. A number of workers were found dead, their bodies savagely
mutilated. No one went out after dark. Doors and windows were barred, and a
certain local gunsmith let it be known that if a customer would provide the
metal, he would create the bullets: silver bullets.
Of course, it was all nonsense.
The gypsies, who had been welcomed on Talbot land since the
very first baronet, moved on. I sat on my horse and watched from a distance as
their gaily-colored caravans rolled down the dusty road. A pall of disquiet had
hung over me like a cloud that summer, and it dissipated the further away they
But I knew that eventually, they would return to Kent.
I was aware Father had a penchant for astronomy, but
somehow I never realized the extent until I went to the warehouse where most of
the Abbey's furnishings had been stored and found his telescope.
It was a beautiful piece of equipment, with brass fittings
that had been handsomely worked. I decided on the spur of the moment that I
would surprise Father by including an observatory in the restored Abbey.
It was almost completed at that point, however, and the
cost to tear out some walls and redo them completely in glass would have been
But there was a flat stretch of roof that was accessible
through one of the gabled attics. I made my way up to that part of the roof. The
expanse of sky visible from that spot seemed to stretch on forever, and the view
at night would be breathtaking. Off in the distance, I could just make out the
church spire and rooftops of the village.
This would be perfect.
I gave orders for the men to frame out the room, deciding I
would also need to find some way for the ceiling to open with the throw of a
switch. As I limped down the stairs and got behind the wheel of my Aston Martin
I was busy trying to determine the number of glass sheets I'd need to order to
encase this room. I drove into the village to see George Twiddle, who was the
village's glazier.
As I drove down the cobblestoned main street of Upper
Uncton, my eye was caught by a decidedly intriguing sight. Outside Jennie
Williams' shop, Needful Things, a young man, his back to me, was sweeping the
walk. As he bent low to examine something on the pavement, the material of his
trousers pulled snugly over his buttocks, emphasizing their taut swell. I just
avoided driving the Aston Martin into the wall of the building.
I swallowed hard and carefully maneuvered my automobile to
the side of the road. The glass could wait.
"Hello, there," I called as I got out of the vehicle
and approached the owner of that delectable arse, to get a shock.
"Mr. Talbot? Oh, my! How very nice to see you again!"
"*Jennie*?" I could get nothing beyond her name out of
my mouth. It had been a long time since I had buried my shaft in a warm, willing
body, and I had gone from flaccid to erect in a split second. I was very
disappointed to realize that erection would not be put into effect.
She blushed. "You noticed I was wearing trousers, didn't you? I know it's not the thing, but the shop needed such a going over; I've found that trousers are so much more comfortable when I must do that kind of work. And then I've always been a bit of a hoyden, I'm afraid!"
"Er, yes, I seem to remember you always preferred them.
Well, you look very dashing in those trousers, I must say, Miss Williams."
Her blush deepened. "How kind of you to say so. Would you
like to come into the shop, Mr. Talbot? I set the tea to steeping while I swept
the walk."
"Thank you. I'd like that very much." I would? I
began to question my sanity? I had known Jennie Williams to say hello to, but
nothing more. After all, she was village, and her parents would never have
allowed her to mix with the landed gentry.
I followed her into the cool dimness of Needful Things. She
led me past the curtained doorway to the living quarters at the rear of the
"Please, Mr. Talbot, won't you take a seat? How do you
take your tea?"
"Two lumps, please?" I watched as she dropped the sugar
cubes into a mug of tea and slid it across the table to me. Unable to tear my
eyes from the high, angular cheekbones, I sighed and shifted uncomfortably in my
seat. She would have made a very pretty boy!
We chatted easily of this and that, but eventually I caught
a glimpse of the clock on the wall.
"Oh! Look at the time! I must be off! Thank you for
giving me tea, Jennie." I felt a twinge of regret at having to leave. Aside
from being the owner of that tight, boyish arse, she was also a pleasure to talk
to. "I need to stop by George
Twiddle's to order glass for the Abbey."
"Yes, I've heard you're rebuilding." She looked
"Would you care to come up and see it sometime? It would
be no problem!"
Her face lit up. "You wouldn't mind?"
"Not at all. Let me know when would be a good time, and I'll come pick you up!" I got to my feet and staggered.
Jennie noticed how I was favoring my right leg, but she
refrained from asking me about it, unlike everyone else in the village.
So I told her. "A bullet in the Great War broke my leg,
and it's developed a tendency to pain me every now and again."
"I've got just the thing for you!" She hurried into
the shop, leaving me to follow slowly.
On her knees this time, that tempting rump was once more
raised high, wriggling as she searched for something, and I gritted my teeth. I
had only just succeeded in battling down my arousal, and now my unruly flesh was
bent on displaying its interest again.
"Here it is!" She sat back on her heels and exhibited
her trophy. It was a walking stick fashioned from ebony. But it was the handle
that was matchless, instantly drawing the eye. Crafted from beaten silver, it
was in the shape of a wolf's head.
"Jennie!" I breathed. There was something about it that
called to me. I had to own it. "This is exquisite!"
"I can make you a deal on it, if you're interested."
I ran my hand over the smooth wood. "Name your price,
Jennie! The Abbey? My first born?"
"Nothing so dramatic, Lawrence." She chuckled, a deep,
rich sound, and mentioned a figure that was reasonable. I reached for my wallet.
She accepted the bills and tucked them into a trouser pocket.
I strolled toward the door, testing my new walking stick.
Jennie walked beside me.
"It's been good seeing you again, Jennie."
I got into the automobile, watching her through the rear
view mirror. She waved me off, and I drove on to the glazier's shop to place
my order.
The house was finally finished. Father would be motoring down to see it for the first time. I was so nervous I had bitten my fingernails down to the quick.
"Lawrence, you're a talented architect!" Lady Eugenia
assured me as she instructed the men in the placement of the furniture Father
had put into storage once he decided to let the Abbey. She had a memory like a
steel trap. I never would have remembered where each piece was supposed to go.
"No, no! That console table goes against the far wall. Yes, that's much
She gave my arm a shake, just as she would do when I was a
small boy, and I smiled at the memory, momentarily soothed. "Your father will
appreciate what you've accomplished here. And he's going to love the
observatory you've built for him!"
"Yes, M'lady." I was back to worrying a thumbnail.
"Now, go put some sticking plasters on your fingers
before you bleed all over Sir John!"
"Yes, M'lady."
The Rolls Royce Silver Ghost came to a stop in the circular
drive. Andrews, the family chauffeur, hurried around to open the door for my
father, who climbed out stiffly. It suddenly occurred to me that he was no
longer a young man, and must be feeling his age.
Father turned and extended his hand, and a shapely,
silk-clad leg emerged. He assisted the young woman to whom the leg was attached
out of the automobile.
She was breathtaking, if that was the way your preferences
ran, with glossy hair that tumbled over her shoulders in a cascade of fair
curls. Her flirty skirt settled just below her knees, and the neat jacket
emphasized her lush curves.
"Lawrence!" He hailed me as I stood in the doorway,
waiting for him to approach. The young woman looped her arm through his, and
together they sauntered up the walk.
"Father." I limped down the steps to greet them,
leaning heavily on the silver-headed walking stick.
He eyed my stance briefly before turning to his companion.
"This is my son, Gwen. Lawrence, this is Gwen Conliffe. She'll be staying at
the Upper Uncton Arms. I wanted you to meet her before I had Andrews drive her
on to the village."
I extended my hand. "Miss Conliffe."
"Mr. Talbot."
"Oh, come, you're both being much to formal! Gwen and
Lawrence! I insist!"
We stood there uncomfortably, not knowing what to say.
Father frowned at me. "I'm sure Gwen would enjoy a tour
of the Abbey."
We spoke at the same time.
"Of course…"
"Oh, I couldn't impose…"
"Nonsense, Gwen. This is the first time I've been down
since Lawrence starting restoring the Abbey, and I'm most eager to see what my
son has accomplished. This appears to be a duplicate of the original façade."
I couldn't tell if that pleased him or not. "Come along!" He took her arm
and hustled her into the front hall.
I followed more slowly, letting the walking stick bear most
of my weight.
What was Father up to?
And suddenly a suspicion began nibbling at the corners of
my brain. As his heir, the only way for the succession to be assured would be if
I produced an heir myself.
To produce an heir, I would need a wife.
Was Miss Conliffe Father's idea of a suitable candidate for that position?
Note: I don't know how this happened, but m/f just kind of slipped in there!
Jennie's POV
Part 9
When I was sixteen, my whole world changed.
There was a young man who lived a few doors down from us in
the village of Upper Uncton. I had been watching him whenever he wasn't
looking, and more than anything I wanted to attend the local dance with him.
He was walking out with a girl from Lower Uncton however,
one who was soft and pink and who shuddered delicately whenever she saw me pass
by in my trousers.
I wanted to punch her on the nose.
I had to know if there was any chance I could attract his
attention, so I climbed out of my window, which was at the rear of our house. No
one saw me, and I made my way to the gypsy camp on Talbot land.
There was only a half moon that night, its light partially
veiled by the scudding clouds that floated fitfully through the night sky, but
it was enough to illuminate the path before me.
The old woman, Maleva, regarded me thoughtfully when I
slipped into her tent long after everyone else had gone, and for a moment I was
afraid she would refuse to read my future.
But she seated herself with a sigh. "I have been waiting
for you, my child. Show me your palm."
I sat down and thrust my hand before her, almost bouncing
in my seat with excitement as I waited for her to tell me what lay in store for
She regarded me with sorrowful eyes, reluctant to reveal
what she saw in my palm, but being young and headstrong, I pressed her.
Gypsies always foretold true love and long lives.
Instead, what Maleva had to tell me left me white-faced and
shaken, the young man completely forgotten.
I rose from the makeshift chair and backed away from her.
"No! That can't be true!" My voice was almost shrill.
"My child…"
"No!" I repeated. I didn't want to hear more and
wheeled, hurrying from the camp. All the long way home I had the nagging feeling
that someone…that some*thing* was following me.
The sweat of fear began to roll down my spine, and I
increased my pace. I glanced anxiously over my shoulder, hoping to see someone I
knew returning home, but of course no one was about at that time of night.
Behind me was the snap of twigs as if they were being
stepped upon, the rustle of bushes as they were pushed aside.
My nerves overcame me, and I broke into a terrified run,
but before I could gain the safety of home, an arm reached out and snagged my
waist. I was thrust up against a tree, and hot breath feathered the hair that
pulled loose from the string that kept it out of my eyes.
A hard, masculine body pressed against mine, and I could
feel his cock nudging the vee of my thighs. His tongue licked the side of my
throat, and long teeth bit gently at the spot where my neck and shoulder joined.
My hands came up to push him away, but the texture of the fur vest he wore
turned the push to a caress. I threaded my fingers through the long strands, its
softness teasing my palms. Suddenly I wanted to tear open my shirt and feel that
fur sift over my nipples. His fingers rubbed along the inseam of my trousers,
pressing the rough material against my woman's flesh, and I moaned and rocked
into his touch. Lost to all sense of propriety, I would have shed my clothes and
let him have me.
As I reached for the buttons, the light went on in the
house, and a window slammed up. "Jennie? Good God, girl, what's going on out
there? What are you doing?" The voice grew panicky. "Who's that with
The sound of the shotgun being cocked was loud in the still
autumn night.
My lover stepped back from me, and I felt bereft.
"Don't go!" I pleaded.
He growled softly and vanished in the shadows.
"Take me with you!"
But I was alone.
I skinned up the trellis outside my bedroom window and
swung into the security of my home. But it was a false security.
My father was waiting for me there.
"Who did you go out to meet?"
"No one, Da, I swear! I just walked to get my fortune
"You were with a gypsy?" He backhanded me across the
mouth. "You're a slut, Jennie Williams, and I'll not have you bringing
disgrace on this family!"
"No, Da!"
My mother
stood in the doorway and watched as he beat me.
I lay fully clothed on my bed and stared up at the ceiling,
the gypsy's words reverberating in my head.
Violence. Terror. Death. This was my future. I rolled over
to spare my sore ribs.
The next morning, they sent me away, and it would be many
years before I returned.
"Hello there!"
That seductive tone arrowed directly between my legs. I
straightened up, surreptitiously rubbing my thighs together. "Mr. Talbot?" I
grinned happily. "Oh, my! How very nice to see you again!"
"*Jennie*?" The shock in his voice was so apparent I
would have laughed if it hadn't saddened me.
I could feel myself blush as his eyes wandered over my lower body. "You noticed I was wearing trousers, didn't you? I know it's not the thing, but the shop needed such a going over; I've found that trousers are so much more comfortable when I must do that kind of work. And then I've always been a bit of a hoyden, I'm afraid!"
"Er, yes, I seem to remember you always preferred them.
Well, you look very dashing in those trousers, I must say, Miss Williams."
"How kind of you to say so." Was it possible for me to
blush any harder? I grew annoyed with myself. I was a grown woman now, and could
dress and do as I pleased. The success I had made of my little shop, Needful
Things, assured that. When I first
returned to Upper Uncton upon the death of my parents, I had found the business
to be barely thriving. But I had learned much while in exile, and determined to
use my knowledge to see that I lived independently and well. "Would you like
to come into the shop, Mr. Talbot? I set the tea to steeping while I swept the
"Thank you. I'd like that very much." I don't know
which of us was more surprised.
He followed me into the back of the shop, where I lived
now, and I could feel an almost palpable caress to my backside, but when I
turned to glance at him, his eyes were on my face.
"Please, Mr. Talbot, won't you take a seat? How do you
take your tea?"
I dropped the two lumps of sugar into the steaming liquid
and passed it to him, then poured my own mug and added a dollop of honey.
I always liked Lawrence Talbot and his friend, Thomas
Fortescue-Smythe. They had never made fun of me because I preferred trousers to
skirts, and in spite of the seven year age difference, they always said hello to
Before long we were Jennie and Lawrence. He spoke of his
life in Canada, and how desperately he had missed Kent. I told him about the
years I had spent away from Upper Uncton.
"Why did you leave, Jennie?"
I looked away, unwilling to bring up that unhappy time. Of
course, I had long dismissed the gypsy's words, deeming them to be nothing
more than nonsense to frighten an impressionable girl.
Lawrence realized how uncomfortable I was, and glanced up
at the wall clock. "Oh! Look at the time! I must be off! Thank you for giving
me tea, Jennie. I need to stop by George Twiddle's to order glass for the
"Yes, I've heard you're rebuilding." The Abbey had
been one of the most stately homes in the county, and I regretted never having
been within it.
"Would you care to come up and see it sometime? It would
be no problem!"
wouldn't mind?"
"Not at all. Let me know when would be a good time, and
I'll come pick you up!" His leg seemed unable to bear his weight, and he
nearly stumbled.
I watched as he recovered, deliberately keeping my expression blank. It was not my business. I made it a point never to listen to village gossip.
Nevertheless, he told me what happened. "A bullet in the
Great War broke my leg, and it's developed a tendency to pain me every now and
"I've got just the thing for you!" I'd come across
a number of walking sticks on my searches to find stock for Needful Things, oak,
hawthorn, teak, with handles that were quite functional. My clientele were
rather unremarkable, and preferred the commonplace.
But there was one stick… Somehow it had wound up beneath
a chest of drawers. I went down on my knees to pull it out, aware that Lawrence
was behind me. Perversely, I added a little extra wiggle to my backside before I
settled on my heels, and then had the grace to be ashamed of myself.
"Here it is!" I held it up, a lustrous ebony stick with
a silver wolf's head as the handle.
"Jennie! This is exquisite!" His hands fondled the hard
wood, and I found myself mesmerized by those long fingers.
I could see he wanted it. That was the way with things in
this shop. People would wander in, drawn for no particular reason, and idly
examine the contents. Something would catch their eye and they had to
have it.
I didn't want to fleece Lawrence Talbot, although I could
have. He offered the Abbey or his first born, and I had to chuckle. "Nothing
so dramatic, Lawrence." I named a figure that had him reaching for his wallet.
He paced toward the door, his hand fitted around the
wolf's head, and it seemed to bear his weight comfortably.
I walked him out to his Aston Martin and watched as he
climbed behind the wheel.
"It's been good seeing you again, Jennie."
It would be good to see even more of him. I had not had a
lover since returning to Upper Uncton, and Lawrence was very attractive.
It would be just my luck if he preferred men.
Note: m/f, but this is necessary, and will lead to
something … interesting
Part 10
I stared down at the letter in my hand. It was from Hyde
Livingston, the doctor I had been living with in Canada, and whom I had left
behind when I'd been obliged to return home.
When I first arrived in England, we had corresponded
religiously. He had even suggested shutting down his practice and moving across
the pond to be close by. Very carefully, I had not responded to that, and so
nothing came of it.
After that, the letters began falling off.
How long had it been since I'd last written to Hyde? I
scrubbed at my face and tried to recall, but couldn't.
Not that it mattered. It seemed Hyde was writing me off.
The words swam on the page, and then settled themselves.
"I'm sorry, Law. I've tried to be patient. I've
waited and waited.
"I'm not waiting any longer." He signed it as he
usually did, with a great, slashing H.
It looked as if I had demolished another love affair. Not
that I could have done anything about the love I had borne Thomas
Fortescue-Smythe. We had been too young, and events conspired against us.
Although sometimes I wondered. If Mother hadn't taken me to Canada…If Thomas
hadn't joined the army… If Roddy Sayer hadn't come into his life…
I turned wearily and stared at my father. For someone who
was looking at the other side of seventy, he was awfully energetic. Except when
he was matchmaking. Then he became the epitome of frailty and decrepitude.
"Yes, Father?"
"I've invited Gwen for tea."
My mouth tightened. He'd been trying to throw us together
for the last two months. "I'm sorry, Father, you'll have to entertain Miss
Conliffe yourself. I have an appointment I cannot put off."
He frowned and glared at me from under his brows. I left
him there before he could call me a liar.
He would have been correct, but I had no intention of
marrying the young woman he had chosen simply because she would have been ideal
for my brother John.
The only telephone in Talbot Abbey was in my father's
study. When he learned I had planned to have other rooms in the house wired, he
became mulish and refused to permit it, stating it was still his house,
thank you very much, Lawrence, and he was still very much alive. When he was
buried, then I could do what I pleased with the pile.
I ground my teeth in frustration.
The study was darkly paneled, although only a week before
Father arrived the walls had been covered in pine. He had taken one look at the
bright, pleasant room and sneered.
"It's too light. I'll never get any work done in
"But Father…"
"No. I want it the way it was! I want this ripped out and
cherrywood put in."
And of course my supplier had an enormous amount in stock.
No one wanted such dark paneling any more, it wasn't in style, but I could not
convince my father of that.
I limped into the room, overcome by gloom the moment I
crossed the threshold. I curled my lip at the shadows that seemed to fill each
corner, and crossed to the large, dark alder desk.
The operator responded when I picked up the receiver.
"Number, please."
"Tess, this is Lawrence Talbot. Can you connect me with
Needful Things?"
"Jennie Williams' shop? Certainly, Mr. Talbot. One
moment, please."
After a minute, the connection was made, and I heard
Jennie's warm contralto. "Needful Things."
"Miss Williams, I have a call from Mr. Lawrence
I fumed silently while Jennie said, "Thank you, Tess.
I'll take it."
As soon as the operator disconnected, Jennie burst into
laughter. "I'm sorry, Lawrence, but you should be used to this!"
"I know," but I was disgruntled. Tess insisted on
announcing me every blasted time! "Listen, Jennie, would you be able to take
tea with me?"
"I'd love it, Lawrence. Would you like to come here?"
We'd been seeing a good deal of each other since I first saw her in Upper
Uncton, and she often made me tea in the back of her shop.
"No, I want to take you to this little inn I know of near
Tunbridge Wells. I can pick you up in the Aston Martin in say, three quarters of
an hour?" That would make it almost three o'clock, and we could be at the
inn by teatime.
"Do I need to fear for my reputation, Lawrence?" I
could hear the smile in her voice.
"You never have to fear me, Jennie," I told her
"I know, dammit!" Her words were teasing.
"I'll get rid of these customers and run a comb through my hair." And now
they were almost caressing.
"Er, Jennie, would you be upset if I asked you to wear
"Not at all, Law. That's all I have in my closet. Ta
for now."
"Ta." I swallowed hard as I hung up the telephone. The
last person…the only person to call me 'Law' was Hyde.
But Hyde…
Determinedly, I pushed him from my mind. I had other things
to worry about.
Father was pressuring me more and more to marry, claiming
he wanted to see me settled with a wife and nippers before he shuffled off this
mortal coil. I knew from my one experience in my youth that I could get aroused
enough to penetrate a woman, which would be necessary for me to father a child.
Gwen Conliffe literally left me limp. I could never get a
child on her.
But Jennie Williams… I liked her, and while I still
regretted that she wasn't a man, she did have the most delectable arse I had
yet to see on a woman.
I also knew Jennie found me attractive, I could tell by the
way her eyes would linger on my body when she thought I wasn't looking.
Could I convince her to let me make love to her? And if I
was successful, could I convince her to marry me?
Jennie was wearing a pair of men's dress slacks that
looked exceedingly fetching on her. They molded over the curve of her arse, and
my unruly cock grew hard.
She glanced over her shoulder to find my eyes glued to her
derriere. "Lawrence, you naughty scamp. Are you undressing me with your
I smiled at her ruefully. "I beg your pardon, Jennie. But
I do like the way you fill those trousers."
She got into the passenger seat and I shut the door for
her. "Let me be perfectly honest with you, Lawrence," she said as I climbed
behind the wheel and put the vehicle in gear. "I like you very much. I'm not
adverse to having an affair with you, if that's what this tete a tete is
Jennie looked startled. "I beg your pardon?"
"It sounded as if you were about to add a 'but'."
Her lips tightened, and she kept her gaze on the passing
scenery. A hot blush covered her cheeks. "You're correct, of course. The
'but' is that I don't think you'll want to have sex with me once you see
me naked." She ran her hand through the short cap of white-blonde curls that
covered her head. "I look like an adolescent boy, Law. No hips, no breasts, no
…curves to speak of!"
There was that nickname again, but this time it didn't
seem to rip at me. I was starting to like the way it sounded on her lips.
"That isn't a detraction, as far as I'm concerned, Jennie. Would you let
me make love to you?"
The sound of her breath catching in her throat was audible
over the purr of my engine. I risked a quick look, but she didn't appear
As I turned the Aston Martin onto the road that would take
us to Tunbridge Wells, warm fingers slid over my thigh to cup the flesh between
my legs. My cock jumped and hardened, and I groaned.
My left foot stamped down on the clutch, and the engine
whined in protest. "Je…Jennie," I groaned. "Stop! I'll crash the
She gave my cock a last squeeze. "I think this fine
gentleman would rather you wrecked the car than that I stop!" she teased, and
I growled in agreement.
"Don't tempt me, please! We're almost there!"
Jennie leaned close to me, cupped my cheek, and drew it
toward her to press a kiss to the corner of my mouth. "You're so sweet,
"I'm not sweet, Jennie. I'm… I'm the worst sort
of man for you to know. I need to talk to you, my dear." There was no one in
the car park when I pulled into it. I parked the sporty little vehicle and faced
Jennie's expression flattened, and anger began to flare
in her beautiful golden-brown eyes. "You don't want to see me anymore.
Because I touched you. Because I wear trousers. Because I'm not pretty.
"Jennie, shut up! It has nothing to do with you! I think
you're very pretty, and I like you in trousers, very much indeed!" She
subsided and I took a deep breath. "There's something you need to know about
me. I like… I like men."
"What has that to say about anything? I like…
Oh. You like men!"
I could feel my face burn. Sharp as a tack, was Jennie
Williams. One of the reasons I enjoyed her company so much. Well, that and her
sweet arse. "That's behind me now, Jennie, I promise you. I must marry and
have an heir. Would you…would you consider being my wife? I'm very fond of
you," I hastened to assure her, "and I think we would rub along together
tolerably well. And eventually, you'd be the wife of a baronet!"
"Lawrence! I thought we were friends! As if I cared a fig
about social position!"
I shifted uncomfortably behind the wheel. "I beg your
pardon, Jennie. We are friends. It's just that, since I must marry, I'd at
least like the lady to be someone I could like." I groaned and buried my face
in my hands. "Jennie…" I tried to apologize.
She was laughing softly. "It's all right, Law, I
understand. But oh, my! You've taken me by surprise!"
"Will you at least think about it, before refusing me
Her eyes were bright with interest. "Very well, Law.
I just have one request, though."
"Certainly, Jennie."
"Will you feed me? I'm famished!"
"Of course!" I ran around to Jennie's side to open
the door for her. She took the arm I offered her, and we entered the quaint
little inn.
Mr. Nidd, the publican, came bustling forward. "Mr.
Talbot, I have your table waiting!" He smiled at Jennie. "This way, Miss."
We followed him to a table at the rear of his inn. I seated
Jennie and took the chair opposite her.
"I'll bring your tea straight away, sir."
"Thank you, Mr. Nidd." I said nothing more until our
meal had been served to us. "We'll need some honey, if you don't mind, Mr.
The smile on Jennie's face was enough to light up the
room. "Oh, Law, how sweet of you to remember!" She raised the teapot and
poured carefully, handing me my cup. "Thank you," she murmured as the
innkeeper placed the pot of honey at her elbow.
bringing your nancy boys out in public now, Talbot?"
My cup tipped and I narrowly avoided a lapful of hot tea. I
glared at the man standing behind Jennie and started to rise, more than willing
to engage in fisticuffs. Colonel Montford, the chief constable of the parish
that contained Fortescue Manor and Talbot Abbey, and my own personal bete noir,
rocked back and forth on his big feet, grinning evilly.
I'd been fairly celibate since I'd come home, and I had
no idea how he discovered I strolled that side of the street, but he never let
an opportunity pass to snipe at me. If I cared enough, I would have wondered
about that.
My companion put her hand on my mine and shook her head. I
subsided back into my seat.
"You remember Paul Montford, don't you, Jennie? This is
a little out of your bailiwick, isn't it, Paul?"
Jennie turned her head and let her gaze rake him from head
to toe.
The chief constable's eyes goggled. "Jennie
"Why, yes," I studied her carefully. "I do believe it
is. Do you have some objection to my taking tea with her, Colonel?"
"She… Um…What? Beg pardon, I'm sure!" Colonel
Montford left abruptly.
"Bloody arse!" I hissed softly. "Can't tell the
difference between a woman and a nancy boy!" Conveniently I forgot how I had
reacted upon first seeing Jennie from the rear. "Have another cup of tea, my
dear, and don't let him worry you!"
Her expression became amused. "I never let Paul Montford
worry me, Law. Officious, sanctimonious prig! Do you know, when I was a girl, I
thought I fancied him?" She shook her head, as if amazed at her lack of sense,
but then grew serious. "Do you have to face that sort of attitude often?"
I shrugged. "It happens on occasion."
"What do you do?"
"Well, you stopped me this time, but normally I would
have blacked his eye!"
She burst into laughter. "Seriously, Law?"
"Seriously, Jennie, I would just have ignored the
bastard. Beg pardon."
She leaned forward and pressed her palm to my cheek. I was
glad I had taken the time to run a razor over my face before I went to pick her
up. Of late, I found I needed to shave more frequently.
Jennie was studying my eyes, and I wondered what she saw in
them. I forced myself to keep my gaze steady.
"Oh, I do like you, Lawrence Talbot!" She sat
back and picked up her cup, taking a sip before speaking again. "You know,
Law, I rather think I would like to marry you. If you are quite certain?"
I took her hand and raised it to my mouth. "Jennie, you've made me the happiest of men! I promise you won't regret this!"
But events had already been put into motion.
here refers to soccer
I had been paying attention to my dreams, perhaps I could have prevented it. Or
perhaps what happened had been
foretold by the gypsy, Maleva, so many years before, and I never could have
escaped it.
package arrived a couple of days after I took Jennie to tea. It was addressed
simply, Mr. Lawrence Talbot, Talbot Abbey.
was no return address.
I turned it over in my hands, gave it a shake, but there was no outward sign of
what it might contain. Since Father had Andrews motor him off to London, I was
afforded a modicum of privacy. I carried the package to the study and reached
for my brother John's boyhood penknife, which Father kept in his desk drawer.
I would spot him running wistful fingers over it.
used it as a letter opener, and now sliced it through the brown paper that was
wrapped around a simple cedar box. There was a gold clasp that secured it, and
once I released it, the top opened readily.
on a bed of black satin, was... I swallowed and took the object from the box
with unsteady hands. It was approximately eight inches long and two inches
thick, with a bulbous head. About three inches above the slightly flared base
was a rather unusual feature: a knob or knot that protruded, marring the sleek
profile of the object.
of butter soft black leather, it was a dildo, one of the most finely crafted I
had ever seen.
dropped it back into the box as if it had burned my fingers. My mouth was dry,
and my cock was becoming engorged. I slammed the lid down and set it on Father's
desk. Who would have sent me such a thing?
paced the carpet in front of the window, running my hand restlessly through my
hair. Who *would* have sent me such a thing? And what was I to do with it?
moistened my lips and approached it again. When I raised the lid it lay there,
sensuously exposed. Only then did I notice the jar nestled in the folds of the
luxurious material. I opened the jar, and an alluring, seductive odor wafted
from the ointment that filled it.
my cock felt like an iron bar in my trousers. A massive shudder rippled through
my body. I sealed the jar and shut the box, then hurried up to my room.
the door was locked behind me, I set the box on a small table near the window,
and began to pace once more. I hadn't felt this aroused in a very long time. My
trousers were tented by my erection. I opened them and reached in to free my
aching flesh, but the thought of wanking off was not enough. I needed more than
my own hand.
took the black object from the box and ran a finger along its length. *This* was
what I needed!
stripped out of my clothes and carried the dildo and the jar to my bed, where I
laid down and spread my legs. Unable
to prevent myself, I ran the dildo over my cheeks and jaw, its leather scent
filling my nostrils. With a soft moan, I parted my lips, slid it into my mouth
and began to suck on it. By relaxing my throat, I managed to get the knot past
my lips. I stroked my cock and balls in tempo and became more and more aroused.
I opened the jar and covered the black leather with the spicy ointment. I bent
my legs back toward my chest and positioned the dildo at my anus. I rubbed the
blunt tip across my opening, smearing it with the lubricant, and then began
pressing it into me. With no effort at all, the snug muscle relaxed and allowed
the intruder entrance.
had been long years since I had been invaded like this, and I pulled my legs
back further and thrust the dildo in deeper. A flash of lightning went through
me as the knot slid into me and the dildo hit my prostate, and I bit my lip to
prevent a groan of pleasure from alerting anyone who passed my door as to my
ointment seemed to heat up, increasing the level of my passion, and I withdrew
the dildo until the knot was just outside my anus, then drove it into my back
passage in earnest. With my other hand, I squeezed and plucked at my nipples,
which seemed to be connected directly to my cock. It was leaking precome now,
and I left the dildo imbedded in me while I smeared the clear liquid over the
head of my erection. I pressed down on the slit at the tip and started to jerk
myself off.
fullness in my channel was like an itch that needed desperately to be scratched.
I abandoned my nipples and went back to fucking myself with the lovely leather
phallus. Too quickly I began to come, spilling my semen over my hand and onto my
collapsed in a sprawl, the dildo still in me. Lazily, I licked my hand clean,
relishing the feeling of being stretched. After
drowsing for a little bit, I roused myself enough to sit up, but I had forgotten
the black leather inside me.
perhaps I hadn't forgotten.
let it remain in place as I crossed to my bath. The shift and play of it in my
arse was almost enough to make me hard once more. After I cleaned myself off, I
dressed, leaving the dildo in place, and went about my normal routine for the
rest of the day.
night I put more ointment on it and used it repeatedly. The ointment soothed and
maddened at the same time. The next morning I was stiff and a bit sore, so I
left the dildo in my room.
through the day I was distracted, barely able to speak coherently. I saw Jennie,
rode my horse to the hill above the site where my gypsies were encamped.
Shifting uncomfortably in the saddle, I completed any number of tasks that had
been awaiting me.
became increasingly desperate for the shadow of darkness to fall.
learned from that: as long as I kept the dildo in place, I could function more
or less, and keep my desire under control until it was safe for me to return to
my room.
had been going on for some time. I became gaunt and hollow-eyed, and Jennie was
not the only one to remark on it. Lady Eugenia also questioned me. I was able to
dismiss it as worry over the number of savagely mutilated animals that were
being reported to Colonel Montford.
and villagers alike were becoming exceedingly fearful, and when George Twiddle,
the glazier, was found near the forest with his throat torn out and his body
eviscerated, tensions rose even more.
stood before the window, naked, the black leather dildo stretching me, and I
watched as the moon rose in the sky. My cock was hard and aching, but for some
reason, tonight I was reluctant to bring myself to release.
withdrew the dildo and coated it heavily with the unguent in the rapidly
emptying jar. Replacing it, I pulled on my clothes and decided a walk in the
woods would do me good. I was so concentrated on the maddening ache within me
that I neglected to take my walking stick.
night was cool after the unseasonable heat of the day, and a faint mist hung low
over the ground. I strolled past the stables, through a pasture and on into a
meadow, the play of the dildo over my prostate driving me wild with the need to
be fucked.
was a soft growl and then the sound of footsteps rushing over the fallen leaves.
A body barreled into me, knocking me to the earth. Breathless, I was unable to
cry out for help, and even if I had been able to, there would have been no one
nearby to hear.
hands tore at my trousers, while hot breath bathed the nape of my neck. I
shuddered and whimpered.
little brother. The time has come for me to claim you!"
arse was exposed to the pale moonlight, and sharp nails drew
lines of beaded blood over the flesh of my buttocks. Fingers parted my
arse cheeks, and he chuckled at the sight of the black leather nestled there.
The heavily accented voice whispered in my ear. "You wear my gift, little
brother. Better and better! I did not like the thought of hurting you, although
that would not have stopped me!"
I recognized the gypsy's voice. "Why are you doing this to me?"
stars are in alignment, as are the moon and planets. You must fulfill your
destiny!" The dildo was pulled from me and tossed carelessly aside. Before
I could protest or struggle, his cock was sliding into me, larger even than the
black dildo. I whined at the burn, and then gasped at the starburst of pleasure
that exploded throughout me as he targeted my prostate.
hard hands forced me to remain motionless, as over and over he took me. The moon
hung like a silver medallion, illuminating the land beneath it. A harsh growl
ruffled my hair, and sharp fangs sank into the flesh of my shoulder, mangling
I cared nothing for that as I felt a knot thrust into me, plugging me, and the
scalding heat of his semen flooded my bowels.
bucked into him, and took my weeping cock in my hands, stroking and pulling
until I spilled my seed onto the dry earth.
collapsed beneath him, and a long, lolling tongue swept out to sooth the pain of
my shoulder. The teeth nipped my back and neck, and he licked the tiny hurts. We
remained like that for almost an hour, his cock throbbing in my pleasurably
abused passage.
he finally shrank enough to slip free, gouts of come dribbled out of me. I
toppled to my side on the ground and glanced at the shoulder that should have
been destroyed, only to discover a wound that was already slowly healing. My
eyes raised to his, and I shivered at the sight before me.
wolf, huge, unnaturally *huge*, and
silvered in the moonlight. His long, plumed tail swept lazily back and forth,
and he raised his large head to scent the night air. He nudged me onto my
stomach and began to lick me clean. The feel of his tongue on my anus sent
ribbons of excitement through me, and I would have let him mount me again
was as if he read my thoughts. His black lips parted in a canine smile, and his
tongue swept over my balls and stroked gently. "No more tonight, little
brother." The words came from the wolf's mouth, but they were the heavily
accented English of the gypsy. "You must recover. But you will meet me here
again tomorrow night, and every night that the full moon shines."
paced forward, then turned and stood before me, proud and regal. I crawled to
him, then rolled over onto my back, exposing my throat and belly to him. One
final lick, to my cock this time, and he vanished in the night.
gathered the shreds of my clothing around me and somehow managed to stagger back
to the Abbey.
night that the moon was full I slipped out to meet my lover. Oddly enough,
during the day it was simple to act as if nothing untoward had happened to me.
Now that Bela had claimed me, I no longer needed the constant presence of the
the nights when the moon wasn't full, the gypsy would come to me, using the
ointment to ease his way in my passage, leaving me more and more in thrall to
a month to the day I had proposed, I took Jennie back to The Thorn and Thistle
for tea.
you feeling well, Law?" Jennie asked as we sat across from each other. She
had made a hearty meal, but I had simply toyed with the little sandwiches that
had lost their appeal for me.
ever was, Jen!" I responded, and wondered if my jocularity sounded as
forced to her as it did to me.
think you might need a haircut, Law. You're becoming a trifle shaggy!" She
reached across the table to take my hand. "I worry about you, my
dear." She began to play with my fingers, stroking and petting them.
"Oh! Were you aware of this?"
I aware of what, my dear?"
two fingers are exactly the same length!" Jennie held my index and middle
finger together.
I asked indulgently as I took a sip of my tea. I no longer took it with two
lumps of sugar, finding that too sweet.
the sign of the werewolf!"
tea spewed from my nose and mouth. "I *beg* your pardon?"
smiled and stroked the curve of my cheek. "I didn't mean to make you choke,
Law. My granny told me about that when I was very little."
"*Not* amusing, Jennie Williams!"
sorry, my dear, it was cruel of me to tease you." Her fingers caressed my
palm, and I trembled, but whether from the sensation, or from her words, I
couldn't tell.
was growing dark when we finally left the inn. I tipped back my head and
breathed deeply. The odors that rode the evening breeze flooded my nostrils. I
helped Jennie into my automobile and began the drive back to Upper Uncton. We
were silent for most of the way.
know, Law. It might not be a bad idea if we anticipated the vows."
gears howled in protest as I threw my vehicle into first when I meant to shift
into third. I whipped my head around to stare at her in shock.
keep your eyes on the road, my dear."
was not well done of you, Jennie! I am definitely going to wind up driving the
Aston Martin into a ditch because of you!"
shifted in the seat to face me, her right leg curled under her and her arm over
the back of the seat. "Sorry," she grinned, but I could see she was
asking for a hiding you are, Jennie Williams, soon-to-be Jennie Talbot!"
fingers threaded through my hair. "Am I, Lawrence? How
very...titillating!" She traced the sworl of my inner ear and I shivered
and leaned into her touch. "Seriously, my dear. It might save us both a
deal of bother."
you don't think that having sampled the milk, I mightn't want to buy the
be crass!" she chuckled. "I trust you, Law. And if I can't excite you,
isn't it better for us to know now? You'd be able to find someone who would
please you."
Jennie. I want to marry you." I struggled to make my voice convincing.
"I don't think making love with you will be a problem."
case you haven't noticed, I'm a little differently equipped than your usual
took a hand from the wheel and traced a path from her thigh to the notch of her
legs. "I had noticed, my dear." Her scent, the scent of a female in
heat, washed over me, and I found myself becoming aroused. "Very well,
Jennie, since you insist." She gave a soft sound of satisfaction, at having
won that battle, at the feel of my fingers gently stroking her. "But I will
marry you anyway, don't think I won't!"
you meet someone and fall in love?"
I meet a man, you mean? I shan't." Hyde flashed into my mind, and I
banished him back to Canada. It was not quite so easy to banish the gypsy.
well. But you'll tell me if you change your mind? I'll let you go, Law, but
please do me the courtesy of not making a fool of me; promise you'll be honest
with me."
licked my lips and steered the automobile down the narrow lane behind Jennie's
shop. "Will you promise me the same? Jennie, I'm not naive. I know there
isn't love between us at this moment, but we do like and respect one another. If
you should find someone...?"
I promise."
skin felt twitchy, as if it would have been better suited to a smaller body. My
palms became sweaty, and my mouth dry, and butterflies began to play football in
my stomach. I glanced uneasily up at the moon riding low in the sky. I should be
out in the woods, I thought, not here! Off in the distance I could have sworn I
heard a wolf howl.
It was just my nerves, getting the better of me. After all, this was the most
outrageous situation I had ever heard of!
got out of my sporty little car and limped around to open the passenger door for
her. She took my hand and rose gracefully to her feet, letting herself flow
against me for our first kiss. It was...different from kisses I had shared with
any of the men who had wandered into my life.
explored the interior of her mouth, learning her taste, which was a mingling of
honey and clotted cream and something that was simply Jennie. She stepped back
and smiled at me, then slid an arm around my waist and led me through the door
at the back of her shop.
walking stick made a muffled thump on the carpet that covered the stairs that
led to her bedroom.
was a nice-sized room facing the rear of the house. Most of the space was taken
up by a large bed, but there was a dresser along one wall, with a full-length
mirror to one side. Next to it was a cupboard. Gauzy lace curtains hung from the
window, which was open to let in the soft, autumn night air.
moon was rising just above the trees now, its faint light casting shadows into
the room.
shed her clothes quickly and bent over the bed to draw back the covers. A stray
moonbeam caressed the curve of her arse, and my cock leaped to attention. I
released a quiet breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I propped my walking
stick against the little stand beside her bed and began to remove my own shirt
and trousers.
crawled onto the bed and settled herself against the mound of pillows. Her gaze
was like a physical caress, and I swallowed heavily as I traced the long, lean
lines of her body.
gnawed on her lower lip for a moment, then rolled onto her stomach and rose to
her hands and knees. The glance over her shoulder was flirtatious. "Will
this make it easier for you, Law?"
growled. Again that tempting arse was before me, those sleek, taut curves, and I
was rock hard. Although she couldn't see me, I gave a feral nod, unable to say a
word as I climbed onto the bed behind her.
rubbed against her moist folds, drawing my cock back between her buttocks. I
teased her puckered opening, and she gave a ragged gasp. "Law? Is that how
you want to take me?"
one day, Jennie. I can make it very good for you. But not tonight," I
soothed, and scattered kisses over her waist and back.
my cheek against her shoulder, I closed my eyes and reached for her nipples,
squeezing and rolling them between my fingers. She was correct: she had scarcely
more curves than an adolescent boy. Carefully I slid into her moist, heated core
and began to plumb her depths. Her inner muscles clenched fiercely around me,
but this was not the snug, hot, tightness I craved. I plowed into her
desperately, but orgasm seemed just out of my reach.
was out of her reach as well. Sweat coated her shoulders. It dripped from my
temples. Frustrated, she took one of my hands and thrust it between her thighs,
showing me how she liked to be touched. I coated the little nub with her
moisture and caught her rhythm, plucking and rubbing it. Her head dropped to the
mattress, and she began to tremble
as her climax overtook her, humming in pleasure.
room darkened as the light of the moon was abruptly blotted out by a wave of
clouds that concealed it. The curtains fluttered wildly, but I was too lost in
trying to reach my own orgasm to notice anything. My anus was spasming, needing
to be stretched and plundered.
the bed dipped as someone joined us on it.
I could jerk out of Jennie and whirl around to face him, he was pressing up
against me. I knew it was Bela; his scent surrounded me. I groaned and
fingers explored the crack of my arse, seeking my opening. I shuddered and
mindlessly thrust back. Now those slick, clever fingers were dipping into me,
breaching the guardian muscle. It was rough, as always, but I needed it
that way.
There was a touch of fear in Jennie's voice.
my dear. It's all right!" I knew Bela would never hurt me. And I would
never permit him to hurt Jennie.
fingers that had been stretching me withdrew, replaced by a cock that was blunt
and hot and lubricated with precome, pushing steadily against my anus. I bent
low over Jennie, still buried deep in her, so relaxed, so wanting this.
Bela had ever dominated me in this fashion, making me burn, making me yield to
him willingly. The threat of violence hadn't been necessary that first time to
make me obey his will, but had succeeded in making the entire experience even
more passionate.
I groaned now as he hit my prostate. "More!" Each thrust penetrated me
deeply, rocking me forward into Jennie, who whimpered and let me take her,
burying her head in her arms. I spread my legs wider and angled my hips higher,
wanting him so deep inside me that when he finally came I would feel him in my
that moment in time, I was blind to everything except the sensations the big
gypsy sent coursing through my body.
thick, silky hair that covered his torso down to his abdomen brushed continually
over my back and arse as he rode me. I pleaded shamelessly for his possession. A
last, hard nudge to my prostate, and I was coming, pouring myself into Jennie.
She trembled under me, her inner walls clutching me as she climaxed again, while
Bela shivered over me, filling my bowels with
semen, just as I filled Jennie.
full moon slid out from behind the clouds.
was floating on a haze of satisfaction so great I thought nothing could rouse me
from it. Sharp teeth fastened onto my shoulder and bit down gently, worrying the
muscle. I smiled at the thought of that mouth on me, of the creature who seemed
intent on ravaging me.
scooted out from under me and with a scream, seized my walking stick. Swinging
it like a club, she stuck out at the beast. "Jennie, *no*!" The thuds
became sodden, sickening as bone was crushed. "Oh, God, no!"
must have swooned, because when I regained my senses, Jennie was beside me on
her bed. She cradled me in her arms and wept as she pressed a damp cloth to my
face, wiping the blood spatters from me.
Law. What happened? What *is* that?"
buried my head against her. Hot tears ran down my cheeks and spilled onto her
Lying across her rug before the window, fast assuming human form, was my brother, my lover, the gypsy, Bela.
~End Part A~
On to Part B