Night had long since fallen when we at last arrived at the walls of Eldar. I had let Callan ride the rest of the way in relative peace, only rolling my hips against him occasionally to keep him on his toes. While I could almost hear him grit his teeth behind me, he hadn’t actually tried to follow through on his previous threat.
“The gate is over there,” I pointed out as Callan continued steering the horse away from the Valdan Road and into the darkness.
“You don’t say?” he replied with a mocking huff of laughter.
“You said that you could get us through the gate.”
“No, I said that I can get us into the city.”
Blowing out an exasperated sigh, I shook my head but decided not to argue further as a structure appeared ahead. Squinting against the darkness, I tried to figure out what it was.
“It’s a cheap stable,” Callan offered. “For those who can’t afford to stable their horses inside the walls.”
“So we’re going to do what? Stable the horse and then climb over the walls?”
“As much as I would have liked an opportunity to push you off the city walls, no… we won’t be climbing them.”
The brown horse snorted as Callan swung himself down. I did the same.
No candles were lit inside the building, so we approached the door with only moonlight to illuminate the area. I flicked my gaze over the stable. It was a wide one-story building that looked as if it had seen better days. Splinters stuck out from the wooden boards and moss speckled the tiles on the roof.
Dull thuds echoed into the silent night as Callan pounded his fist against the door.
Something clanked from inside. A moment later, light bloomed in the windows. Slight curiosity swirled inside me as I watched a man open the door and peer out at us. He looked to be in his forties, with dark hair and muscular build.
“A bit late to be stabling horses, don’t you think?” he grumbled at us.
“You’re John, right?” Callan asked.
Suspicion crept into his eyes. “Yeah. What of it?”
“I’ve been told that you operate a smuggler tunnel out of this stable.”
“A smuggler tunnel? If I did something as lucrative as that, I wouldn’t have to spend my night out here all alone, now would I?”
“There’s a horse out here that needs stabling,” Callan continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “We also expect there to be three horses waiting for us here when we return. Now, hurry up and open the tunnel for us.”
John stabbed a finger into Callan’s chest. “Now, you listen here. Who the hell do you think you are? Coming to my stable in the middle of the night and trying to give me orders?”
“Last chance before this gets ugly.”
“I’ll show you ugly.” Drawing his large fist back, John got ready to swing at Callan.
“West Market Street.”
John blinked at him, his fist hovering uncertainly in the air. “What?”
“Sixth house on the right.”
Mouth falling open, John stumbled a few steps back. Callan advanced on him. Light danced over his cold features as he and I moved into the candlelit stable.
“A lovely little green door,” Callan continued as he backed John across the floor. “And white curtains in the windows.”
“N-no…”
“Apparently your wife is a beloved librarian. And your two sons are both approaching twenty.” Callan touched his palms together before a force blade materialized in his right hand. Death gleamed in his eyes as he cocked his head. “I wonder if they’re strong enough to protect her. And themselves.”
“Please, please, please,” John begged.
I touched my hands together and let poison magic swirl down my arms as well. John’s eyes darted to me briefly before returning to the force mage who was still advancing on him.
Desperation shone in his eyes as he abruptly dropped to his knees in front of Callan.
Callan placed the force blade under John’s chin and tilted his head back. “I can have your family wiped out in a matter of minutes.”
“P-please,” he begged once more.
“But… if you do as I say, I might be motivated to spare their lives.”
“Anything. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Dark desire coursed through my body. A grown man, muscled and hardened from dealing with smugglers, groveling at the feet of someone fifteen years his junior. With only a few sentences, Callan had stripped him of his pride and made him beg for mercy. I watched the way John trembled, looking up with pleading eyes. The absolute power that Callan wielded in that moment made my core throb with desire.
Irritation flitted through me and I shoved out those feelings. I would die before I ever let the actions of Callan Blackwell have any sort of effect on me.
“I thought so,” Callan said. “Now, let’s start again. There’s a horse out there that needs stabling and I expect there to be three horses waiting for us when we return.”
“Done. It’s done.”
“Good. Now, where’s the tunnel?”
John scrambled to his feet. I let the magic along my arms die out while Callan made his force blade disappear as well. After a glance back at me, he followed after the frightened smuggler.
The smell of hay enveloped me as I walked deeper into the stable. A few horses raised their heads to watch as we passed, but most of them seemed to be sleeping. I adjusted the straps on my pack as I weaved between a few tubs of water.
“Here,” John said as he shoved aside a bale of hay at the back wall of the stable. Crouching down, he slid a metal bar to the side before grabbing the handle and lifting the trapdoor that had been hidden underneath the pile of hay. “This will take you into the city.”
“We’re going to need a place to stay tonight as well,” Callan said. “Somewhere discreet where people don’t ask too many questions.”
“There’s a place three streets to the left of where you’ll come out. Has a duck painted in yellow on the sign. Go there and tell them that John sent you.”
Callan nodded and motioned for me to start down the ladder. I narrowed my eyes at him but then skirted around him and positioned myself on the first step.
“Oh, and John?” Callan said while I started downwards.
“Yes?” he replied, nerves making his voice shake a little.
“If you breathe a word about this to anyone, I will slaughter your whole family. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Good.”
I jumped the final bit to the ground and craned my neck to look back up. Callan was climbing down the ladder while John held the trapdoor open for a few more moments before gently closing it again.
Darkness fell around us, but it wasn’t pitch black. I turned towards the low tunnel behind me as I noticed that there was still some sort of light source nearby. Bending down, I peered into it.
Crystal-like stones that emitted a faint white glow had been set into the walls of the tunnel. They weren’t bright enough to fully light up the place, but they at least provided some sort of illumination that would prevent people from losing all sense of direction and crawling right into a wall.
A thud rang out as Callan dropped down from the ladder. The space was incredibly small, and only a single step separated us even though we were standing as far apart as was physically possible. Turning around, Callan looked between the low tunnel and my face before arching a dark eyebrow at me.
“Well,” he drawled. “You’d better get down on your knees then.”
“You too, pretty boy.”
Challenge glittered in his eyes as he motioned towards the entrance that was right behind me. “Ladies first.”
Taking a step closer, I erased the small space between us and reached up to draw my fingers along his jaw. A sly smile drifted over my lips. “If you wanted a chance to stare at my ass, you could’ve just said so.”
His strong fingers curled around my wrist, forcing my hand away from his face. “The only thing I want to do with your ass is to beat it.”
A mocking chuckle rolled off my tongue as I rose up onto my toes and slanted my lips over his. “Your cock seemed to disagree back on that horse earlier.”
The iron grip on my wrist tightened even more. “You really are begging me to crush you into oblivion, aren’t you?”
“I’m just pointing out facts.”
“Well, here’s a fact for you. If I ever were to fuck you, you wouldn’t be able to handle it. You would come completely undone underneath me and be reduced to a trembling ball of need begging me for more.”
“Oh please, you couldn’t even find a woman’s clit with a map and a compass.”
“Ah, Audrey.” He let out a dark chuckle. “I learn more about your sad sex life every day. If you haven’t been with a man who actually knows where your clit is, you might as well not have been fucked at all.”
Embarrassment flashed through me. How did he always manage to do that? How did he always take my insults and read through the lines until he found some weakness that he could throw back in my face? It was infuriating.
Letting out a derisive snort, I yanked against the hand still keeping my wrist trapped.
Callan didn’t let up. Instead, he smirked down at me. “Tell me… When was the last time you had an orgasm?”
“Take your hand off me,” I warned, ignoring his question. “Before I cut it off.”
Callan’s grin only widened. For a few more seconds, he just continued staring me down as if to really drive the point home that he had won. Then he loosened his grip and released me.
I made a show of rolling my eyes and then turned around. After dropping to my knees, I started into the tunnel.
A smug laugh sounded behind me. “I knew it.”
“What?” I growled over my shoulder.
His dark brown eyes gleamed in the faint light from the crystals as a smirk stretched his lips.
“I really do enjoy watching you crawl.”
