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Chapter 8
Wraythe
Ela had his appointment with Faylie on the last day before classes started again. In all the time they'd been doing this, it had become an almost casual thing. Since both Ela's and Faylie's clothes would come off quickly, neither of them spent much time dressing up. Quin and I had no problem with being comfortable instead of pretty. It also made it easier for us to step in - if we had to.
This time, however, Nari was coming with us, and that made it feel different. These sessions weren't my favorite, but I'd gotten used to the things Ela did. However, adding Nari made me anxious again, like it was the first time. That was why I wavered between dressing up to make a good impression on my girl and not caring about it. What I wouldn't do was take a single weapon - because I didn't want to give Ela any more tools than he already had.
Evidently Talin had the same idea. He left his sword in the closet, picked out soft pants and a casual shirt in black, and called it good. He didn't even trim up his beard, so I decided to do the same. When Nari stepped out, her hair was in a loose braid and she'd chosen clothes more suited to a weapons practice than a session. They still looked good on her, but it meant we were just waiting on Eladehl.
He eventually made his appearance, walking into the living room wearing well-fitting pants, a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show off his forearms, and little else. Somehow, that man still managed to look beautiful when dressed down. I watched Talin and Nari both drag their eyes across him and knew I was right, but I couldn't miss the way Ela's eyes were focused somewhere else. Somewhere I could never see.
Together, we headed across the hall. The pain room was small, but functional. Granted, I still hadn't gotten used to it, even though it had once been my room. The walls had been painted to match the dark tiles on the floor, making this space feel ominous each time I walked into it. There was no art on the walls. The bed was made with black sheets and blankets.
All the colors were picked to hide bloodstains, or worse, although I didn't want to think about what was worse than blood. That meant the large X in the corner of the room stood out even more. Nothing about the new decor looked sexy to me, yet that actually worked out. It meant I wouldn't be distracted.
Ela ignored the cross, heading straight for a chain attached to the wall. It operated like a chandelier pulley, but what he lowered down was not meant to be pretty. It was a flat board with two holes cut out of it. Those were for hands, similar to the idea of stocks, but meant to keep them over his intended victim's head. It also gave him full access to the person's body, while the cross didn't. That meant he intended to play a little, and I felt my guts clench.
Would having Nari here calm him down or excite him? I knew that Ela didn't want her to see him this way, and yet they'd done fine in their pain session with Tishlie last year. That should've gone so bad, but it hadn't. Nari kept Ela in line, and his need to not scare her off stayed his hand more than I'd expected.
This, however, was different. They'd talked about this. They'd planned for it. I was pretty sure that Nari was excited to finally watch Ela work. She just didn't understand how cruel he could be. The question was whether he could be that way with her watching. That was what Faylie intended to find out.
"Nari, you can sit on the bed," Ela told her, easily taking charge. "Talin, you'll want to stay on the far side of the room." He gestured to the back wall.
"And why would I want to stay there?" Talin asked.
Ela huffed out a laugh. "Because Quin always gets a clear path to the door. I don't want to make him feel like Faylie's trapped."
With a nod of his head, Talin moved to that side of the room. "Sounds fair. Also sounds like you don't hate her anymore."
"I don't," Ela mumbled under his breath even as he continued to set up his "toys."
I just moved to the side wall and leaned against it. For Ela, this was not something to be proud of. His ability to hurt people - and make them like it - wasn't something he bragged about. Oh, sure, the entire temple knew about it, but not because of him. That had been our instructors last year. Personally, I thought it was a good thing. If the people drooling over him realized that his attention came with not just a bite of pain, but putting their lives at risk? Maybe it would be enough to keep them away.
Except it hadn't. All too often, people assumed they could be the one to change him. Sadly, none of them realized that Nari already had. Talin had done his fair share too, but there weren't a lot of people who knew that mine and Talin's rings didn't work.
Then there was Faylie. She'd been Shalsa's partner during their initiation years. The woman loved pain and submission. It got her off like nothing else - and I'd seen it happen. She could take all of Ela's abuse, and in doing so, she'd spent months now teaching him how to control himself. It helped.
More than anyone else, this woman had changed him. I just wasn't sure if she'd tamed him or honed him into a more deadly weapon. I suspected it was more of the latter.
As if my thoughts had summoned her, there was a knock at the door. Ela reached over and opened it himself, revealing Faylie and her guardian, Quin, on the other side. The man glared at Ela with unveiled hatred and then followed his desire inside.
"So I'm outnumbered this time?" he asked.
"I'm here to keep you from killing my ward," I told him.
"I'm not," Talin said. "I'm here to separate them if things get out of hand."
Nari just leaned back on her hands. "I'm here because Faylie wanted me."
The pretty little blonde giggled. "That could be taken two ways," she teased as she walked over to where the love of my life sat.
Then she bent and kissed her. Nari tilted her face up, accepting the affection easier than I'd imagined, and my ring began to get tight. Fuck. They looked good together. Like a feminine version of Ela with my girl. Seeing their bodies press closer, all those curves right there, begging a man to watch? Yeah, not even nice.
Talin chuckled. "You know that's not going to tease Ela the way you want, Faylie?"
She broke the kiss and looked at him. "It was mostly for Quin, if I'm honest."
"And because she's been dying for another kiss," Quin admitted, smiling at his desire before looking to my ward. "Ok, where do you intend for me to be, Eladehl?"
