Page 42 of Loched in Love

My hand tightens on Elena’s as we approach the main bedroom, a massive chamber I once frequented years ago, our footsteps are silenced by large earthen rugs underfoot as we make our way deeper inside the villa. Just a bit further, I think to myself.

Then we can be on our way, gods be good.

I don’t want or need Elena inside this place for any length of time. I’ve long suspected Vivian pushed her magic throughout her home, and now, I know she does.

The relaxant in the air is subtle, but I can sense it all the same. The novelty of such a thing registers and I grin a bit to myself. It seems Vivian’s plan to keep me here backfired in a big way.

Because of my long stay at Draculas’ castle, held there by a mixture of Vivian and Odette’s magic, I can feel the threads of her magic, something I shouldn’t be able to do, which may come in handy.

“Hello?”

I hear a man’s voice call out, and Elena jolts at my side.

She gasps. Her hand jerks from mine as we reach the bedchambers, and I turn to find out why.

Confusion washes over me as I gaze at a man tethered to one of the large pillars situated just inside the entryway, his body completely uncovered and bare except for the long length of his brown and gray-streaked hair. The soft sound of music reaches my ears as he turns his handsome face to smile down at us.

“Oh, hello,” he says. He waves one hand awkwardly, manacled as it is to the wall, and a sense of familiarity washes over me as I take in his long beard and the widows peak in his hairline.

“Merlin?” I ask, as recognition slides across my senses.

His head pulls awkwardly from the wall as he struggles to peer closer, angling down to squint at me. “Lachlan, is that you?” he asks, his tone almost giddy with joy.

“What are you doing up there?” I ask.

Sidling next to Elena, who’s doing a good job of keeping her face covered, I glance up at the irons wrapped around the man’s wrist holding him to the pillar, and wonder why he’s not removed them yet. Merlin’s magic is all-powerful, and there are few whose magic could rival his magic. Vivian herself even studied under him for a time.

“Oh you know how it is, hanging around until Vivian returns. She somehow got a hold of these shackles a few years back I can’t unlock, and I’ve been letting her have her fun for a time. How are you, old chap? Heard you ran into a spot of bad luck after leaving us,” he says.

A pull of magic, and a blue robe appears seemingly from nowhere to cover his nakedness, though he doesn’t move from the wall.

“Och, it’s good to see you Merlin.” I grin.

“You know the Merlin?” Elena squeaks.

“Know him?” I scoff. “He still owes me twenty silver pieces for our last game of vingt-et-un, and here he is tied to a pole playing house.”

“Do pardon the mess,” he murmurs, his eyes twinkling with unbothered mischief as he casually crosses his legs at the ankles.

Elena quakes a bit at my side and I glance around noticing what I’ve been too late to realize. Vivian and Merlin have been doing much more than just playing.

A large bed sits in one corner of the room, along with a large chaise lounge, and matching couch. If not for the abundance of sexual brick and brack all over the place, it’s a bit sparse.

“Wockety shockety shibari shack, fold up the velvet, put the toys in the sack. Spanking benches, whips and all, shrink yourselves down to a size very small,” Merlin says, rolling his index fingers back and forth as he sings his ditty. A sardonic smile lifts his lips as all manner of adult pleasure devices float through the air, reducing themselves in size to retire into a large green sack on the floor beneath his feet, just as he bade them to do. All while he stays plastered and locked to the wall.

I smile to myself as Elena makes an odd noise, and pride swells in my chest when her hand reaches for mine and squeezes tight.

“What brings you two on your visit here?” Merlin asks.

Elena’s touch is a soft reminder of what’s at stake as I struggle with how to begin to tell him why I’m here. “I⁠—”

“We need the Lady of the Lake to fix his trident, so he can go home,” Elena supplies for me, and nudges me to show him the cup.

I do just that and nod down at her, happy to let her take the lead, as I stroke her wee fingers gently.

“Indeed, she should be able to fix that right up for you,” Merlin says, resting his head back against the stone after getting a look at my trident. “Here she comes now.”

Footsteps echo against the stone as Vivian glides into the chamber, balancing a tray with two goblets of wine. She’s dressed in her usual ethereal garb that shimmers across her body, her dark brown hair flowing down her back and a see-through toga that drapes across her like a second skin. This one a bright green color that brings out the light silvery blue in her eyes.