Bound, p.12
Bound, page 12
“Who records these things?” asked Eddy. “And why couldn’t I find records of them?”
“Morgan is thorough and good at covering up or redirecting her failures, so they don’t come home to roost, so to speak. I decided to go directly to the source.”
“You talked to Morgan Le Fay?” asked Sage, eyebrows raised in alarm.
Eddy shook his head, grinning at her. “She spoke to the Order of the Seven Maidens.”
Chapter 16
Corinne looked between the two of them. “Dare I ask who the Order of the Seven Maidens might be?”
Saoirse gave her a smile. “The complete story is a long and complex one, but the short version is this: Originally, they were a group of nuns who were raped, left for dead and had their convent burnt out. Instead of conveniently dying so the church and all those who should have protected and cared for them could just wring their hands, they lived. And they followed the old adage that living well is the best revenge. They made a smashing success of their bees, brewing and farming. They were an integral part of the community. Some say they rivaled the Templars for wealth, and at one point the two entities were bitter enemies. They’ve been in league with Merlin, who is said to have saved them since the beginning. They’re also the ones who have been funding the Sentinel of the Portal all along.”
Saoirse turned to Eddy and smiled. “If you’re wondering, it was the Order that shut down your lines of inquiry into their doings. It was only when I told them you’d come from beyond the Veil to protect their Sentinel that they were willing to share information with me. They, too, are feeling that Morgan’s next attempt to open the portal is imminent.”
“My aunt never had a protector,” said Corinne.
“Your aunt was never called to act. It seems the protector only shows up when the threat is looming.”
“And?” said Anne suspiciously. “I know you, Saoirse. There’s something you’re not telling us.”
“Yes, but I should probably talk to Corinne alone and let her decide…”
“Not necessary,” said Corinne, waving the idea away and taking another sip of her drink. “I feel like you’ve all thrown in with me, and I don’t want there to be any secrets. I’m new to being a part of this supernatural stuff, so I want everybody to know everything. You never know who’s going to see something in a different way that leads us to making the right decision.”
Saoirse nodded. “All right. The abbess was quite frank with me. She said the Sentinel and her Protector have always had a sexual relationship—sometimes without the initial consent of the Sentinel. Keep in mind that female consent, within the context of time immemorial, is a relatively new thing.”
Eddy suddenly understood the true meaning and depth of the old saying: the silence was deafening. All those present sat not only silent, but completely still.
“Is that just because men were able to get away with that bullshit?” asked Corinne in an even tone of voice.
“Partly,” said Anne. “That was the natural order of things. During much of our history, women had no power at all and very few could have defended themselves. Sometimes I wonder why I let my family manipulate me the way I did. The answer is because I had no other choices.”
Gabe wrapped his arm around his wife, who snuggled into his warm comfort and assurance as she continued. “It’s easy to sit in this beautiful townhouse, in this relatively tolerant era, and say I could have struck out on my own, but I couldn’t have. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be poor; I didn’t want to die. I had been raised to serve my family’s interests and to be the wife of a powerful noble. I had no training whatsoever to survive outside the safe walls of castles, manor houses and palaces.”
“Then we shall have to find a new way,” said Eddy.
“I hate to sound like the chauvinistic, patriarchal sonofabitch my wife often accuses me of being,” said Roark.
“Only when you’re acting like one,” quipped Sage.
“But Anne is right; it was the natural order. And before every female in the room throws something at me, for the most part, it probably still should be. The problem is, a lot of men have offered up their dominance because it’s a lot of fucking responsibility and work. I personally think it’s worth it, but a lot of men got lazy and a lot of women, rightfully so, got angry. I have to say if I was a woman, I wouldn’t just submit to any asshole who called himself a Dom. He’d damn well have to earn it and be worth it.”
“You may well be a chauvinistic, patriarchal sonofabitch, but at least you’re an enlightened one,” said Sage, leaning over to kiss him. “And you’re mine.”
“In the interest of full disclosure, I spoke to Eddy last night…” started Holmes.
Rachel stood up, “And this, ladies, is when we leave the gentlemen to their brandy and cigars and go into the other sitting room and have a little girl-talk.”
Holmes frowned at her. “Rachel, we talked about this.”
“Yes, and I don’t disagree with you. I just think you are about to botch this and make all of our guests feel awkward and uncomfortable.”
With that, Rachel swept out of the room, followed by the other women, although Corinne looked back once at Eddy, as if curious to see his reaction before she, too, exited.
“What do you think that was all about?” asked Eddy when they were gone and out of earshot. The other men exchanged glances, and then Holmes shrugged.
“I think that was all about figuring out if Corinne is willing to submit to you,” said Holmes. “If she’s in…” He shrugged again, leaving the question open.
“Sage said Eddy was always her favorite character, and her body language seemed to indicate she was attracted to him,” Roark pointed out.
“What happens if she says no?” asked Spense.
“Knowing our wives, we’ll have to figure out how to fight this thing without the two of you being a couple,” Holmes answered.
Eddy made a sharp, chopping gesture with his hand. “I’m telling you up front, there will be no non-consensual relationship.”
Gabe chuckled. “There’s consent and then there’s consent.” He held up his hand to stave off an argument. “I know, no means no. But I can tell you with Anne, no sometimes means, persuade me…”
“Or I want it, but I don’t want to admit it,” agreed Roark.
“But you’re talking about women you’ve been with for a while now…” argued Eddy.
“But it’s been true from the beginning,” said Roark.
Holmes frowned. “Speak for yourself. I was very clear with Rachel from the beginning that she had to consent, and she had to understand what she was agreeing to. That works for us. But like everything else, each relationship has its own rules and evolves the way the couple wants and agrees to.”
Spense agreed. “At least she knows going in what she’s getting into and will have friends to help her along the way and answer questions she might have.”
“But she needs to be looking to Eddy for those answers,” said Gabe.
After that, the conversation drifted off, and each man sat looking at his drink, deep in silent contemplation.
Once the ladies were inside the other room, the library, Rachel closed and locked the door.
“So, what exactly did you and Holmes talk about?” asked Corinne, arms folded across her chest.
Rachel encouraged everyone to sit down, and then she explained. “He had a chance to talk to Eddy who, by the way, is crazy about you. I think it’s really interesting that all of these men have a bad habit of hanging back, then declaring themselves and expecting you to go weak at the knees.”
“Well, don’t we?” asked Anne, arching her brow.
“It’s so annoying,” laughed Saoirse.
“I feel like I should apologize for writing them that way,” admitted Sage.
“No need. It isn’t your fault. Gabe wasn’t one of your characters, and he’s just like the rest of them,” said Anne. “Which leads us to the first and most pertinent question… How do you feel about Eddy, Corinne?”
“Steamroller Anne strikes again,” said Rachel, rolling her eyes. The other woman shrugged a shoulder.
“I don’t think we have time to pussyfoot around this,” she argued. “If she has feelings for Eddy…”
The idea of it all felt a bit overwhelming. Corinne took a deep sip of her drink, thinking. “I just met the man… And then I found out he truly used to be one of Sage’s characters…”
“In a series of books you love,” the author pointed out. “And you once told me that Eddy was actually your favorite character and your ultimate book boyfriend.”
“Book boyfriend?” queried Anne, who occasionally was still stumped by new, modern terms.
“A character in a book that you most wish could be real and kind of fulfills all your fantasies about what the perfect boyfriend would be,” explained Sage.
Anne snorted. “No wonder Gabe wasn’t in the books.”
Everyone laughed at that, and then Sage said, “Don’t be too sure. Gabriel Watson is the stuff a lot of women fantasize about.”
“Which brings us back to my original question: Corinne, do you have feelings for Eddy?”
The silence in the room was only broken by the rhythmic swinging of the pendulum of the mantle clock as the minutes ticked by.
“If he was interested…”
“Trust me,” said Rachel gently, “there is no if.”
“I agree,” said Sage. “I’ve watched him evolve since the others got out. I think originally, he would have been inclined to stay on the other side of the Veil. His desire to come through the Veil has very little to do with the bogeyman that’s getting set to come through the portal; it has even less to do with this thing collapsing his space. I am convinced, as is Roark, that he would have come through the Veil to be with you, even if he wasn’t some kind of protector or you hadn’t been in danger.”
The others all nodded.
“I have to say, Holmes said pretty much the same thing to me last night after he talked with Eddy.”
Corinne frowned. “Eddy might have thought to say something to me about it,” she grumbled.
“I think that had to do with not wanting you to feel pressured. He’s had a lot more time to get to know you than you’ve had to get to know him,” said Saoirse.
“I agree,” said Sage. “I think Eddy would have preferred to take it slow, to let you get to know him, to date you and all the normal stuff, but now he doesn’t have that time.”
Corinne turned to Anne. “You’re being awfully quiet.”
“I have a different take on it and regardless of what anyone thinks, I hope you know you have the full support of everyone in this room… and the men as well, including Eddy. But I have to say if he’s supposed to be your protector and that gives us the best shot at stopping this thing, I’d be inclined to do whatever is needed.”
“Anne, how can you say that? You who suffered because of your family and Henry. I thought you’d be…”
“What? An emotional mess? Did my family and Henry use me up and discard me? Yes, but in the end, I protected my daughter and my family by what I did. And let’s be honest, I got to be Queen of England for a very short time. If she finds the prospect of fucking Eddy to be distasteful, then she shouldn’t do it. Which once again begs the answer to my original question, do you have feelings for Eddy?”
“It’s not that simple,” equivocated Corinne.
“It is,” said Anne, sitting down next to her and taking Corinne’s hands in hers. “We can’t proceed at all without the answer to that question.”
“You can’t just dump all this shit on me and say decide,” argued Corinne, trying to draw away.
“Time has caught you up as it does most of us. It may not be fair and may make you feel as though we’re only heaping more stress on you, but it is the question you need to figure out—and quickly. If you don’t, we’ll ignore the precedents from the past, but if you do, then we need to move forward as rapidly as we can in a way that works for you.”
Corinne searched Anne’s face and realized the former queen was right, that more than anyone in the room, she was the one who understood the call of both duty and the heart. And if her duty had involved her heart all those years ago with King Henry, then that meant…
“You loved him once, didn’t you?” asked Corinne.
Anne nodded. “Fool that I was, I did. And perhaps even more foolishly, I believe there was a time he loved me.”
“Would you make the same choice?”
“If I’d never met Gabriel and was in the same situation? Yes.”
Corinne shook her head. It was all happening so fast, and in such an unexpected way. “Forgive me,” she asked Saoirse, “but what does sex have to do with being the Sentinel?”
“I don’t think it’s just sex, but rather dominant sex. Sex has a powerful magick all its own. I think probably the sex is used to bind the Sentinel to her Protector and vice versa. And the presence of dominance to ensure that she is in the habit of listening to him and doing what she’s told,” explained Saoirse.
“That makes sense,” said Rachel. “You need to work together as a team to survive, Corinne. And in fact, Holmes said that to Eddy—that he needed to get close to you and use sex as a means to bind you to him so hopefully you’ll listen, and you’ll live through this.”
Corinne nodded and then turned to Saoirse. “After this is over, I want to have a little chat with the Abbess of the Order of the Seven Maidens.”
Chapter 17
They rejoined the men, who were waiting solemnly, and frankly a lot more quietly than Corinne would have expected. The more she thought about it, the more the idea of being with Eddy appealed to her—even if it was just for the duration of the fight. After all, he was supposed to be her protector, and she was interested in exploring the lifestyle of her friends.
“Hmm, I’m not sure how to interpret this little formation,” said Holmes, watching them.
“I’d like to talk to Eddy alone,” said Corinne.
“That’s our cue, then,” Holmes said. “I called in our dinner order. They should be here any time. I’ll have them deliver to the kitchen. Come join us when you’re done.”
When they were alone, Eddy came to stand with her. Gently, he took her hand and led her back to the settee. “You need to understand that this is your call. We’ll present it to the group as a joint decision. I will back whatever decision you make.”
“Thank you. It’s weird; I do feel like I know you and if I’m being honest, I would have to say that the idea of having sex with you is more than interesting… It’s downright intoxicating.”
Eddy chuckled. “Keeping an eye on you, to make sure you were safe, started as a favor to Spense and Roark. It was an easy favor to keep. Soon, I found myself watching you because I wanted to make sure you were safe. I tried to keep it at least semi-professional, but you are extremely beautiful and the idea of being with you is incredibly arousing.”
“Okay, so we don’t find each other repulsive.”
“That may well be the grossest understatement I’ve ever heard.” He laughed, a sound that sent a shiver of pleasure up her spine.
“The girls seemed to think I had a lot to learn in terms of the D/s lifestyle. I’ve been doing a lot of research since they took me shopping, but while I understand the theories and goals, I have zero real-life experience.”
He cocked an eyebrow, a grin playing across his face. “I just stepped out of a book, you know…”
“But in the books, you were a long-time player.”
“I don’t want to play with you, Corinne.” He pushed a lock of her soft blonde hair behind her ear. His touch, though slight, warmed her to her core. “Yes, I know what I’m doing, and I can teach you…”
“The girls thought some classes at Baker Street might help,” she confessed, feeling her cheeks heat.
Eddy nodded. “If you would feel more comfortable having some guided experiences in a place you know you would be safe, we can do that.”
“You need to know if I didn’t feel safe with you, there’s no fucking way I’d do this—regardless of whatever big bad is coming.”
Eddy frowned. “Watch your language…”
It was Corinne’s turn to laugh. “They all said you’d get on me about my language.”
“It’s beneath you…”
“And gives you the perfect excuse to get your hands on my ass and spank me.”
Eddy grinned and nodded as if to say touché. “That too.”
He rose to his feet but prevented her from standing until he extended his hand to her. “Patience. I lead. You follow. You wait for me—to help you, to pull out your chair, to open the door…”
Corinne stared at him, surprised. “You do know I’m perfectly capable of doing all those things without you, and I swing a mean broadsword too.”
“Oui. I am aware of both. I am also aware that from this point until you say we’re done, I am the Dom, and you are my sub. Agreed?”
“Okay.”
“Non. Not okay. Yes Sir, or yes Master.”
“It’s not like we’re playing a role…”
“Not for the world to see, but we need to immerse ourselves in these roles, so that when push comes to shove, I know you’ll do as I say. If you’re not used to obeying me, it could be catastrophic not only for you but for our friends. Understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Eddy grinned, “Good girl.”
She was beginning to understand some of the things she’d read. All he’d said were two little words, and she’d felt a lovely warm shiver roll all through her body. She hadn’t lied to him when she said she trusted him. The problem she worried about was, could she trust herself? At the end, would she have gone so far down this rabbit hole that if he wanted to leave, it would destroy her? At the end of the day though, did she have a choice?
