What is a forked tale?

Well, it's a tale we write together. I write and give you two options….We all vote. Majority rules and the story takes root…

Welcome to the third installment of Ellie Masters' Whiskey Wednesday. Haven't read part one of Cursed to Walk in the Light? Well click here to catch yourself up!

PART THREE BEGINS NOW….

LIGHT

Rolling her shoulders back, Irynia lifted her chin and turned to face the thundering hooves. Nothing in the land of the living existed without an intent to harm, so she prepared to defend against this threat. A slight pivot brought her right hip forward. She curled her fingers, readying herself, and shifted the balance of her weight to the balls of her feet.

Not once did it occur to her to flee. Although that might have been the wiser choice, because one look into the eyes of the charging stallion had her questioning her decision.

“Whoa,” a voice shouted. “Whoa!”

Irynia’s attention shifted from the whinnying beast to the man sitting astride it. Half the size of Ahimoth, his broad shoulders filled out a strange metal skin, and his arm muscles bunched with lethal power. His legs formed a vise around the ribcage of his mount, squeezing the breath out of the animal as he jockeyed to remain in the saddle.

Typical.

Men can not be trusted. Ahimoth’s words rumbled in her mind. Mindless with the need to destroy, it is best to avoid them, or kill them if you must.

Ahimoth had warned her to stay away from men, but a relentless pull drew her toward this man. She licked her lower lip with a sudden desire to taste him. What was this need sparking within her bones? Overwhelmed, she took a step back.

And whatever this hunger, it urged her to widen her stance, not to fight, but to give the man astride the beast an unobstructed view of her body. An insatiable need ignited and prepared her to join her body with his. While he rutted, she would slake a ravenous thirst.

The man yanked on the reins, pulling at the bit shoved into the horse’s mouth. Rearing back on its hind legs, the animal screamed as the bit traumatized the tender tissues of its mouth. It jerked to a sudden, heart-wrenching stop less than ten feet from where she stood.

Golden hair streamed from beneath the man’s helmet and his eyes widened to reveal the deepest blue. His mouth gaped and his gaze arrowed straight to the juncture of her thighs. A throbbing pulsed between her legs, spurred by the heat of his gaze. Her craving grew more insistent and appeared to be mirrored in the man. With each pull of her breath, he answered her desire with ragged exhales.

Confusion warred with lust in the fierceness of his gaze.

“What are ye’ doing alone in the woods without a scrap of clothes on?”

The air between them sizzled with a rising heat.

When she didn’t respond, he fixed her with a heated glare. After a moment of silence, he pursed his lips and his gaze roamed over her flesh, lingering on her breasts before plunging down to her most intimate parts.

“Are ye’ lost?”

She cocked her head. Her answer was a ponderous blink.

“Do ye’ not speak?”

Again, she refused to answer.

Lust flared in his eyes. “Not from around here, that’s for certain.” A smile spread across his face, one filled with the promise of pain and destruction. “No one to protect ye’ either.”

He kicked the poor animal in the flanks and angled toward her. Spinning his mount, he reached down and yanked her off her feet.

The world spun as Irynia was lifted in the air. She landed in his lap, one leg to either side of the beast. His arm locked around her waist and pinned her against his chest. With her heart thundering, Irynia struggled to catch her breath. And while the metal of his armor heated her skin, the essence of him saturated the air. A hunger roared inside of her. There was only one thing which could quench it.

She needed him.

Inside her.

Now.

Ahimoth had said men weren’t safe, but he’d never mentioned how she would crave them.

She had to make a choice. Run? Or allow him to take her?

One thing was certain, she couldn’t stay where she was. The silvery mist which had brought her to this place had disappeared. Her path home no longer existed.

Irynia had no choice but to walk in the light, but for all the warmth of the sun, a chill wrapped her heart in a block of ice.

Part IV is here.

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