Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

8. Aurora

8

AURORA

I watched as the strange, four-faced priestess began walking in a circle around the statue of the four-faced goddess in the center of the room. This was all so foreign and bewildering to me, I couldn’t even find it in myself to object. Also , I was still stunned by Slade’s words—he had called me his “ Fated Mate .” Did he really believe that his strange goddess had made me just for him?

We had no such beliefs on L’Crist . On my home world, no one looked for true love or waited for a special person. Girls might giggle about their crushes on various men at Court , but in the end, every single one of them married the man their father chose for them and that was that.

Men and women married early on L’Crist in order to have as many children as possible. Which was the reason I was considered so far past my prime. It surprised me to think that Slade had been watching and waiting for me for some time—though for how long, I didn’t know—because he thought I was somehow meant for him.

Then the priestess started singing and every other thought fell out of my head.

Earlier , only the face that was facing us had been in use and the others all has their mouths and eyes closed. But now all four sets of eyes opened, blazing red in the candlelight and all four mouths began to harmonize.

It was a beautiful melody with every head singing a different part from low, tuneful contralto to a high, clear soprano. But they all sang the same words—a hymn to the four-faced goddess.

“ Oh come and behold her,

She of the Four Faces

Let her bless your Binding

Let her love purify your hearts

And bring your Souls into union,” the four mouths sang together.

The words didn’t rhyme and yet the harmony was so perfect, they seemed to weave together in my mind.

As the priestess sang, she circled the statue of the goddess, her voices ringing out against the round marble walls and high ceiling until it sounded like a hundred voices were singing—not just four.

Finally she finished the hymn and stood to one side of the statue. She beckoned to Slade and me with both hands, inviting us closer.

“ Draw near, children,” all four voices said at once. “ And let us begin this Holy Binding .”

For a moment I just stood there, feeling mesmerized by the four harmonious voices and the soft glow of the candlelight. Then Slade took my hand in his and pulled me gently forward until we were standing in front of the priestess.

“ My children,” she said to us. “ I must charge you to answer to each aspect of the Goddess so that She of the Four Faces may bless your union and Bind you together. But first, you must drink of each other.”

From somewhere in her voluminous robe, she pulled out an intricately etched crystal goblet and a small green glass bottle.

“ The Blood of the Goddess ,” she said as she uncorked the bottle and poured about half of its contents—which turned out to be a clear liquid with a soft, floral scent—into the crystal goblet. She replaced the bottle in her robes and handed me the goblet to hold. I started to take a drink, but she put out a hand to stop me. “ Not yet, my child,” the motherly face that was looking at me cautioned. “ Your Fated Mate’s life essence is not yet added to the Holy Wine .”

She pulled out a long, thin, silver pin with a jeweled head and held out a hand to Slade .

“ Your finger—hold it over the Cup of Binding ,” she ordered.

Slade did as she said without comment and didn’t even wince as she jabbed the pad of his forefinger with the long, sharp pin. Several drops of blood fell into the clear wine—‘the Blood of the Goddess ,’ as the priestess had called it.

I couldn’t help noticing that the blood that dripped from his finger was golden instead of red, like human blood. It turned the liquid in the goblet gold as well—it looked like someone had melted a golden bar and poured it into the crystal vessel, I thought. I wondered if all the Brute Clansmen had golden blood or if it was only Clan Cruel .

I had no idea and no time to ask. A moment later the priestess was asking Slade to hold the crystal goblet and telling me to extend my hand over it.

I felt a surge of unease—not because I was afraid of getting my finger poked, but because of the sacred nature of this ceremony. Blood was binding—we pricked our fingers on L’Crist and pressed our bloody fingertip to the parchment when we signed a contract.

Well , men did, anyway. Women weren’t allowed to enter into any kind of business dealings or legal agreements. But still, using blood in this strange ceremony made me nervous.

Slade had promised he would only keep me for six months, but what if something went wrong? What if mingling my blood with his really did tie me to him in some way. What if?—

“ Ouch !” I gasped involuntarily as the priestess jabbed my finger with her long, silver pin.

I felt immediately embarrassed by my outburst— I should have been stoic like Slade . We both watched in silence as several drops of my dark red blood fell into the crystal goblet. For a moment they disappeared completely in the melted gold liquid. Then the Holy Wine began to change.

First it turned from golden to white…then blue…then scarlet…then black…and then back to clear again.

I wasn’t sure what this reaction meant, but the priestess nodded her head and I thought all of her faces—at least the three I could see, since one was facing away from me at the back of her head—looked pleased.

“ Very well—the test has been made and your status is confirmed. The two of you are, indeed, Fated Mates ,” the motherly faces said.

“ As the Goddess wills it,” Slade murmured, nodding.

I frowned skeptically. Surely they didn’t really think that mixing our blood in a cup like this could prove that we were meant to be together? Then Slade elbowed me and I realized he and the priestess were waiting for me to say something.

“ Oh —as the Goddess wills it,” I said quickly. I was relieved when they both nodded.

“ And now, you must each drink of each other,” she said. She handed the goblet to me first, much to my chagrin. I wasn’t eager to drink alcohol for the first time in my life— I had been told that it was bad for women and that those who drank it found it bitter and biting. Also , I didn’t like the idea of drinking anything that had blood in it. But one look into Slade’s golden eyes let me know I had better get on with it.

Lifting the goblet to my lips, I took a small sip and was surprised to find it delicious—sweet and spicy with not even a tiny hint of blood. I took a slightly larger sip, savoring the taste. It warmed my tongue and mouth and burned pleasantly in my throat when I swallowed. I wondered why I had been told all my life that alcohol was no good for women—it seemed perfectly fine to me.

“ Very good. And now you, my child.” The priestess nodded for me to hand the Holy Wine to Slade .

The big Enforcer took it—the crystal goblet looking ridiculously tiny and delicate in his large hand. He raised it to his lips and, holding my eyes with his own, downed the entire contents in a single swallow.

This seemed to distress the priestess.

“ Be careful, my son! The more you drink, the greater Your Thirst !” she cautioned.

Slade tilted the goblet to get the last few drops before handing it back.

“ I’m not worried, Mother ,” he told the priestess.

She sighed and shook her head.

“ Very well, then we’ll move on to the next part of the ceremony—your vows.”

She had us step close to the statue and stand in front of the youngest face— The Maiden . At the same time, her head swiveled in an impossible way and suddenly the face that was speaking to us looked younger as well.

“ Now , children,” she said in a lighter, higher voice. “ Will each of you repeat after me? You first,” she added, looking at Slade . “ And take your Fated Mate’s hands and look into her eyes as you do so.”

Slade reached for me and my hands were swallowed up in his much larger ones. He looked down into my eyes and began to repeat what the priestess said.

“ I , Slade of Clan Cruel , take you, Aurora of L’Crist , as my Fated Mate ,” he rumbled. “ I swear to give you my youth, my affection, and my enthusiasm for life. To look joyfully into the future with you by my side.”

It was a nice vow, I had to admit—very positive and happy. But I still felt kind of uncomfortable saying it to him since we were only supposed to be together for six months. Why was he even bothering to marry me, for that matter? He could have just taken me home with him and gotten down to the business of making babies.

But I didn’t want to think about that. I tried to concentrate on the ceremony and forget about what lay in store for me in the future.

After both of us had said our vows in front of the Maiden face of the statue, the priestess had us step around to the Crone face. At the same time, her head swiveled again, showing her oldest face, which was deeply wrinkled with tiny, faded red eyes.

“ I swear by the Goddess I will live with you and love you until death shall part us with his icy scythe,” she intoned. “ Nor shall I go into the beyond unless I have your name on my lips and your face in my heart.”

Slade said all this with perfect calm. Again , I felt uneasy about vowing to be with him until one of us died, but I assumed it was just part of the ceremony. So I repeated the words as well, though I confess I did stumble a little over the “love you” part.

“ Very good. And now for the Mother .” The priestess led us around to the next face of the goddess and her head swiveled, showing us the motherly face again.

This time our vows were a little different.

“ Repeat after me,” she told Slade , and he did.

“ I vow to do my best to give you children and swell your belly with life. I pray that the Goddess will open your womb and make you fruitful. And when our children come, I swear to be the best father I can be to them and raise them to be honorable, truthful, and loyal to Clan Cruel ,” he rumbled.

I was shifting from foot to foot when he repeated the part about “swelling my belly” but then it was my turn—which was even worse.

“ I vow to do my best to give you children,” I repeated after the priestess, as I looked up at Slade . “ I pray that the Goddess will…will open my womb and make me fruitful and I will do nothing to inhibit her will or my fertility. When our children come, I swear to be a kind and loving mother and raise them to be honorable, truthful, and loyal to Clan Cruel .”

It was really hard to say this part of the vows—especially knowing that I had no intention of actually letting the big Brute get me pregnant. But somehow I got them out, feeling like a liar the whole time.

But if I thought that saying the vows to the Mother face of the Goddess was bad, well, saying the Lover’s vows was much, much worse. It felt like the priestess had saved the most excruciating part of the ceremony for last.

“ Come now,” she said and led us around to the last face of the Goddess . This one was wearing a knowing smile on her full, painted lips. Her eye makeup was also dark and heavy, accentuating her beauty in a forbidden way. The women on L’Crist wore almost no makeup, so I stared at her in fascination. But soon enough, the Goddess was giving Slade vows to say to me.

“ I vow to be a thoughtful and generous lover,” he rumbled. “ I will part your thighs to taste your sweet juices and fill your sex with my shaft. Your pleasure will come before mine every time we are together and I won’t rest until you are completely satisfied, Aurora .”

The fact that he used my name instead of calling me “ Princess ” made me blush almost as much as the illicit-sounding vows. Nobody talked openly about sex on L’Crist and I had never heard of a man promising to put his wife’s pleasure first. Some married women at Court seemed to enjoy having marital relations with their husbands, but I had heard just as many say that it was a chore they had to do, like cleaning the house or cooking supper.

But it was the part about him “tasting my juices” that made me press my thighs together tightly with embarrassment and disbelief. Such things were forbidden and wrong! Everyone knew that a man must never put his mouth on his wife’s cunny. It was beneath him to place his lips on such a dirty place and it lowered him in the estimation of other men if they found out. Plus it was morally wrong—no man should even want to do it.

But surely Slade was just saying the vows because it was part of the ceremony, I told myself. He couldn’t really mean them—could he? He couldn’t really want to taste me there.

But the way his golden eyes were half-lidded with lust as he spoke the words sent a strange, trembling feeling through my body. It reminded me of how his face came to me sometimes when I touched myself, even though I knew it was wrong.

And then it was my turn.

“ Now , child—repeat after me,” the priestess said.

I tried to— I really did. But I had a hard time getting the words out while I was looking up into Slade’s golden eyes. It felt so intimate and my mind kept insisting on showing me graphic images of the two of us engaged in the forbidden practices I was describing in my vows as I stumbled my way through them.

“ I vow to be open to your love for me,” I said, repeating what the priestess murmured. “ I will…” I swallowed hard. “ Will spread my thighs that you may…may drink of my juices and quench your Thirst . I will open…” I cleared my throat. “ Open my body to you and allow you to give me, uh, pleasure and bring me to the peak of need and desire again and again. I will take…” I looked down, away from his intense gaze because I couldn’t stand the intimacy anymore. “ I will take your shaft deep into my sex and?—”

“ No ,” Slade interrupted. He lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes again. “ Look at me when you say it, Aurora ,” he growled softly. “ I want to look into your eyes when you tell me how you’ll take my shaft deep inside.”

And so I stared into his eyes again, feeling hot and cold all over as I repeated the last lines of the vow again.

“ I will take…take your shaft deep into my sex and your seed into my womb, Slade ,” I finished breathlessly.

It was hard saying those words as I met his golden gaze—and even harder to speak his name and make it personal. Part of me still couldn’t believe this was happening. Just a few hours before Slade had been nothing to me but the Brute Enforcer L’Crist dealt with twice a year. Now he was my husband and I was promising to commit all kinds of lewd acts with him!

And why did saying those words while I looked at him make me feel so funny? My nipples were tight and achy and the V between my legs felt hot and wet with need. I had never felt like this before—not even when I touched myself. It was almost like my body was hungry for something that only the big Brute could give me.

I didn’t think I did a very good job, but my stumbling recitation of the vows must have pleased the priestess because she nodded when I finished.

“ Very good,” all four of her faces said together. Then they began to sing again.

“ Now you are Bound

In the presence of the Goddess .

May She of the Four Faces

Bless your Union .

May your Seed be strong

May your Womb be fruitful

May your Love never end

May your Binding never break.”

As before, I was awed by her beautiful harmony. I thought the ceremony was over when the last note died but she spoke to us once more.

“ Before you go, I must give you a warning. The vows you have taken here in the presence of the Goddess are not to be taken lightly, my children. Do not break them, for in doing so, you will break your Union . This is a fragile time for you because this is only a Partial - Binding . Until you come together for a Deep Seeding and form a full Soul - Binding , your connection will be tenuous at best. Therefore , let me urge you to consummate your Binding as soon as possible.”

“ We understand,” Slade said, answering for both of us, though I didn’t understand at all. What was a “ Deep Seeding ?”

“ Very good.” All four of the priestess’s faces smiled beatifically. “ And now you may kiss to seal the ceremony.”

I had been prepared for this—well, sort of. A kiss at the end was part of the wedding ceremony on my home world too. It was usually a dry, chaste peck on the lips—it was improper to show too much emotion in public. And it wasn’t like his would be my first kiss— I had kissed a man before. Well , a boy—back when I was sixteen. That had led to trouble, so I hadn’t kissed anyone else since, but I wasn’t afraid to kiss my new husband…or so I told myself.

All this went through my head in a split second as Slade leaned down to me. He was so tall that I had to stand on my tiptoes and reach up as well, but I was determined to participate— I refused to show any fear.

Slade put his arms around me and took my lips with his own. But this was no dry peck—his mouth lingered on mine and as it did, a strange sensation rushed over me. My nipples went tight again and I felt a deep, urgent need between my thighs. I was getting wet down there— I was sure of it! It was embarrassing and yet I couldn’t seem to break the kiss.

A low, rumbling growl came from deep in Slade’s chest and he parted his lips and sucked gently on my own lower lip. I moaned softly and opened for him and suddenly I was tasting his tongue.

He didn’t shove it down my throat, though—it was a gentle intrusion. He tasted like cinnamon—my favorite spice from the Dying Earth where my people had come from so long ago.

When his tongue retreated, I dared to press mine forward. Slade welcomed me eagerly, sucking gently at my tongue, inviting me to explore him the way he had explored me. As I did, he groaned softly and pulled me tight against his big body. I could feel something hot and hard branding my belly through the gauzy skirts of my dress. It was very large and it rubbed against me with urgent insistence but my mind was too hazy from the kiss to realize what it was.

Why was I reacting this way to him? Why didn’t I want to stop kissing him? He was my enemy—a cruel Enforcer we were forced to pay tribute to. He had coerced me to into marrying him and tonight he would take my virtue whether I wanted him to or not. So why couldn’t I stop kissing him?

My brain had no answers and my body didn’t seem to care. I felt a hunger growing inside me, a need I’d never had before. It made me throb and ache all over—made my nipples sensitive and tender and my cunny was suddenly so wet I was afraid it might show through my skirts…

“ Well , well—what have we here? Slade , dear boy, I cannot believe you went and had your Binding Ceremony without inviting your parents!”

The shrill voice seemed to drill through my head and break the spell I had been under. I jerked away from Slade as though he was a hot stove I had burned myself on and looked around.

Standing just inside the entrance to the Holy House was a trio of people that must be Slade’s family.

The first was an older Brutal male with the same square jaw and golden eyes and horns as Slade , who I guessed must be his father. Beside him was a young Brute boy who also had the golden eyes and horns, though his were unpainted. It was hard to tell but I wondered if he might be Slade’s younger brother or possibly his nephew.

The third person was a woman wearing an extremely tight red dress—she must be the one who had been speaking, I thought. She was tall and thin with large, over-inflated breasts that honestly looked like balloons to me. Bright red lipstick coated her puffy lips and stood out against her pale grey skin. Her hair was a tall bouffant of black and green curls piled on top of her head like an elaborately decorated cake.

But it was her eyes that caught my gaze and held it—they were poison green and while she was smiling widely at the two of us, the smile didn’t reach her eyes at all.

Could she be Slade’s mother? I wondered. But no, he had told me she was dead. So then, who was she?