Knots of Thorne: His Collar

Sephiria awoke alone.

Jolting up with the fear that something more had happened to Thorne in the daytime, as her paranoia was wont to make her feel, she started to get up out of bed -- until a very heavy hand pressed upon her chest to stop her.

"It's safe, Soldier, relax," came the rumbling timbre of the man himself, sitting at her side with a flask at his side. "At ease."

The woman laid back down with a heavy sigh and laughed, the anxiety giving way to relief, her adrenaline calming. She wouldn't admit it, but she'd had a nightmare. He wouldn't admit it, but he'd seen her thrashing. He'd held her down at points for her safety.

"You have night terrors. Why?" Thorne asked, firmly yet in a tone that was gentle. He would have an answer for this; who had traumatized her so severely? She'd begged for forgiveness and screamed in horrible pain, all after such a heavenly night together...her peace was damaged and he'd have the head of whoever did this. "You're safe to talk about it here, love. I want to protect you."

Feeling the cool wetness of tears on her cheeks as her laughter gave way to sobs, Sephiria reached for him. She was exhausted; this was the first time she'd known peace, safety, any of it. Her entire life had been surviving...but she knew he could protect her. They'd fought together in war, after all. "I have lived a full life, but the fullness was of running from the Church. Not only them, but him as well."

"Him?" The man questioned as he brought her into his arms, pulling her from the bed into his lap. "Do you mean Quinchaveous?"

The nod she gave confirmed it, and Thorne bit the inside of his cheek to keep from growling in anger. He'd seen what that monster had put her through, what he'd done to her. Her shivering shoulders and the warmth blossoming on his shirt from her crying made his blood boil. He'd witnessed the attack on the balustrade of Hale Manor...he'd heard her screaming from miles away. It had been torture, and he would assure her safety from now on. Avreal would have wanted it. With last night, he had finally put to bed the years of grief they'd both shared over their dear friend, and her memory would live on through them. In her passing breath, she'd given them her blessing, but she knew Sephiria hadn't arrived in time to hear it...so she was unaware.

He held her in silence for a moment longer, drying her eyes after a few minutes with his thumb. "I need you to listen to me well, young maiden."

"Young?" She interjected with a soft laugh and an amused look in her eyes. "Thorne, you flatter me, but you know better than that."

"Younger than me, little lamb," Thorne retorted back, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. "Interrupt again, and I'll remind you. I need your attention for a moment, sweetness. Do me this favor?"

Sephiria was surprised; he was usually somewhat submissive to Avreal before, but with her, he had a completely different energy. She adored it, and decided arguing was likely a poor choice. She wanted to hear what he had to say, as he so rarely spoke. Although, the words exchanged between them between last night and today were more than he'd ever spoken to her before, though his wife had kept watch on him like a hawk...

Thorne saw her nod and smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Good girl. I remembered something important as we spoke last night. It's about Avreal, and her last wish." Giving her pause to register for a moment, he searched her eyes for signs of distress. After seeing none, he continued. "She gave me a blessing...to be with you, if you would have me. It was her wish that I am happy after her death...and I had to take time to mourn her. I should never have left you alone to deal with this, and for that slight, I am deeply sorry."

Her heart hammered as she heard him, having difficulty believing and accepting what she'd just been told for a moment...but it made sense. She thought his wife hated her, but it seemed her respect for Sephiria had outweighed her jealousy. So, it was not unwarranted, she thought to herself as she fully realized how much he'd wanted her in his life as more than just his guard. It all made sense. Sephiria was silent a moment longer before turning her gaze up into his, an overwhelming release of tension causing her body to loosen in his grasp. "I have loved you for a long time...and now, I'm able to have you. I will always honor her in our lives. We will finish the rule she started." With that, she gently kissed his forehead back -- an acceptance of his offer.

Thorne's heart was no longer heavy with grief -- and neither was hers. He brought her chin up to face him and kissed her passionately, cupping the back of her head carefully as he stood. He carried her to his chamber, smiling softly as he felt her nestle further against him. "My room is a bit warmer than this one," Thorne explained, "I'd prefer you in comfort, and I know you aren't too familiar with that concept." They approached the door and she decided to help by turning the door handle, which he appreciated since both of his hands were occupied with her ass and her back. She was still so shy, the poor girl, and he could see it by the fact that she was red as a beet with his hand where it was.

As they walked through the door, he gripped gently on her left cheek and purred in her ear. "Such a helpful woman. Perhaps it's high time I help you for once," He mused, and she looked up at him with surprise in her eyes. To comfort her, he spoke again. "Remember that you may always say no. Your word stops my touch. Alright?"

A nod. Good, but not enough. The graying Scottish vampire nibbled at her neck to encourage her, which got the response it was meant to. "Y-Yes...sir..." She had murmured out through a sigh of a moan, and Thorne knew she wanted this as much as he did right now. They both hadn't forgotten how close they'd come to his cock sheathing inside of her, filling her with his seed and hopefully his child. Sephiria's nightmares had robbed her of dreaming of it, but she now saw the image of her pinned to the bed burned into her brain like a photograph. It was incredibly vivid as though a memory, but it was not -- yet.

Thorne set her down and allowed her to stand; he wanted her to choose where he'd take her. To his surprise, however, Sephiria knelt before him. It gave him an idea, and he remembered the box that Avreal had given him...with that in it.

"Stay," He ordered, and after her assent was vocalized he stepped into the corner of the room where her dresser had been. The vampire opened the first drawer, and as he withdrew the box from it and headed toward her, Sephiria couldn't help but stare. His body was glistening in the fire's light, a slight sheen of sweat from carrying her coating every inch of his muscular figure. He was an absolute Adonis; broad upper torso, strong legs, a rock-hard core and an absolute monster caged behind his breeches -- that he'd not taken off since last night.

He smelled aroused. She could see the strain in his pants and she held back a whimper of desire; she knew her heat, a monthly cycle that ran similar to a woman's time of the month, was coming and she couldn't deny it. Did he know it too? Is that why he is so hands-on? Sephiria's mind raced with possibilities as she knew the man was crafty, but what she didn't know is that he was barely hanging onto his control of himself.

Sweet fuck, she looked gorgeous on her knees. Thorne Black was a strong man and resistant to temptations, but this woman had tried him since the day she'd met his family. He'd wanted to ask her this for so long. He stood before her with the box in his hand and he opened it, taking a breath to calm himself further as her silky lips distracted him. Focus.

"Sephiria Tepes," He began, holding the box and the beautiful silver circlet in his hands. "This is a collar. It is not a collar to enslave you to my wishes, but a collar with which you are to honor yourself. You are and always will be my equal; I need you to know that, and believe it. This collar only will be placed around your neck with your permission and understanding of what it entails. I will not be putting it on you today, because you do not understand what it means. For the meantime, I will teach you, and we will take our time to learn what it means for you."

His queen-to-be looked shocked but in awe of what he said, but she nodded and inspected the necklace. "I understand. You know well that I have a lot to learn about trust, and you know how hard this is for me. I appreciate you not rushing me on this...though I still...really..*" Her face turned pink as she grew quieter, her eyes darting from him to the floor.

Placing it into her hand, he knelt down to face her at eye level. "What do you want, My Queen?"

Queen? How long it had been since she'd been called that, and this time it was out of nothing but love. The gentleness he showed toward her was breathtaking, and made her body quiver all over again with the need to be filled. Seph looked into his eyes and spoke to his mind, so she didn't have to say it out loud. I want you, Thorne. I've wanted you for so long, and I cannot stop myself from staring at you.

Intrigued, Thorne chuckled and cupped her chin. "No, my Queen. You will say it with this mouth...the mouth that hungers for more than just blood tonight," He ordered with a sultry grit to his voice as he murmured against her throat. "I know what you want. Your body, your scent gives it away. I can read a woman very well...something else that Avreal never told you, is that you are not my first to hold the Collar. Avreal and I were...very open, and how often she dreamed of lying between your legs." To make a point, he slid his hand down to cup her dampening sex, tenderly pressing his palm against her aching clit.

"H-Haa! Thorne, th-that's..." She whined in his hand as he wrapped his other one in her silky alabaster locks, the white contrasting against his tanned skin beautifully as though the two were made to blend.

"I'm not done, little one," He purred, getting up for a moment and circling around her as he spoke, slowly but surely coming around to stand behind her. She stayed kneeling, despite her every desire to get up and pounce. Thorne could see her struggle. "Such restraint. What a rigid wall you have built around yourself, my dear. It's this very thing that I will bring crashing down, because it holds you back from your potential. You have been taught to hate yourself and what you have become, but what for? Your skill is unparalleled in battle, your diplomatic and compassionate self has saved entire countries from war, and you have nearly given your life multiple times for the right reasons...what have you been so ashamed and self-hateful for? What crime have you committed? Being what you are? A Vampire?" He gripped her hair a bit tightly, knowing she'd be alright with that after last night, and she swooned a bit in his grasp. It was a damned good thing he was holding her up. "Answer me, darling...or I let go."

Sephiria was cornered and she knew it. This was the day she ended her grief, and began to face her demons. Her friends from before had told her that she would need to face the truth eventually, and she hadn't understood what it meant. Now, she was all too aware of what they wanted her to face. It was time to tell him. "...My crime was devoting myself to a God who cannot save me from this. I was born cursed...Quinchaveous told me such when he rescued me from Vlad."

"Quinchaveous was a liar." Thorne growled, loosening his grip on her hair in favor of wrapping his fingers around the underside of her face. "You will not listen to his voice in your mind. You shall hear me and my praise of you, my girl. Do you understand? He has no place in your heart, that demon."

Gulp. Sephiria had never seen him this way; he was not angry with her and that was evident, but he was certainly angry for her. It was incredibly arousing, especially with his hand on her throat like this. "Yes, My King," she agreed from the heart, nestling her head in his hand by turning it a bit to the side. Her submission was so sweet that he loosened his grip and cupped her face.

"I am not angry at you, my love. He stole you that day, not rescued you. Your situation might have been worse at the time, but he had full intention of using you in the same way that man did. May the gods curse them both where they lie." He kissed her softly, tasting her mouth on his tongue as well as her soft little whimper. She was in so much need that it had to be hurting her, and he was aching as well. "I know it will not be tonight that you erase your self-doubt, or your pain. It will never leave you, dear, but it will become easier to sleep...and live outside of fear. Give me this trust. You are no monster, and certainly no Christian."

Spotting the cross tied to her neck, he entangled the twine in his fingers and pulled. It snapped off and it was tossed into the fire, melting slowly as the silver bubbled. He explained to her that the necklace had been coated, but that coating was beginning to wear off...making her dreadfully ill, which explained her intolerance for warmth and heat. Vampires were fully capable of going out into the day once fully healed and at full strength; Quinchaveous had given that to her as a gift when he had taken her all those years ago, and it had been slowly poisoning her. Out of sheer relief, Sephiria let out a breath as she listened. She hadn't been losing her mind all this time.

"It's also likely to give you nightmares," He spoke again, ending his explanation there. "The enchantment on it was to remind you of your sins, rather the sins he forced you to commit. The guilt is not with you, love. None of it was." Thorne helped her to stand and brought her to the furs by the fireplace, full of pillows and knitted fabric to cover up with - lined with more fur.

She laid down and it was by far the softest thing she'd ever felt in her life. The texture was heavenly, but what he was about to do would have her feeling far better. "If you believe you are full of sin," Thorne began as he removed his breeches and knelt between her legs, lowering his chest to hers so their faces would meet, "Then let me cleanse you, by the might of my Gods. They accept you, my Queen, as you should accept yourself. Is this what you want? To be cleansed of sin?"

"Yes, my King," Sephiria answered as he neared, feeling his heartbeat in his chest against hers as their lips met. She wrapped her legs around his lightly, more giving them a place to rest as his cock twitched on her belly. He made no attempt to go near her pussy yet; he'd make her beg like he did last night.

He purred "good girl" against her ear as he sank his fangs into her shoulder, tasting her blood for the first time. He moaned with how divine she tasted, mixed with her pure pleasure...made all the better by hearing her scream of delight. She loved being bitten and he'd seen into her mind to know that. He couldn't count the times she'd projected her dreams to both of them in her sleep, a power that he knew she didn't have awareness of, and seen the visceral, carnal fucking they'd been capable of in her fantasies. Yet not once, he realized, had she ever touched herself to them. Did she know how?

He slid his fingers along her breast and further down, tickling at her belly a little before finally finding her clit. Slowly he circled it with the pad of his index digit, causing her to jerk her hips up slightly, and he was thankful his cock was not further down. He wanted to sink inside of her so badly that it hurt him, but he would not do so before she was ready and willing. She was nervous today, unlike before. It would take more time. Thorne was deliberate in his movements and very slow, releasing her shoulder and licking the wound until it healed.

"Watch my hand, Sephiria," He gave her another order, something easy to follow, and she bit her lip as she looked down. He moved up slightly so that she could see his hand moving, tapping lightly at her throbbing bud. "This is how I pleasure you. Do you want to try it?"

Sephiria turned crimson, but timidly slid her hand down to replace him as he moved it away. She felt her clitoris and further down, realizing she was soaked for him already before moving her fingers back up to slowly rub the way he had before. She let out a gasp and yelped in pleasure, her hand briefly jerking back as she realized it was incredibly sensitive.

"Too much to do on your own right now?" He asked her with concern, then watched as she tried again - to no avail. Seeing her frustration begin, he stopped her hand and replaced it with his own once more, relieving her ache. Another moan passed her lips and she relaxed. "It is not a good thing to deprive your body of relief," Thorne spoke softly, educating her. "Your body needs rest, pleasure, joy. You cannot live a full life without them." Sliding a finger within her walls, still impossibly tight as before, he curled it upward in the way that he'd caused her to scream.

A much louder yelp this time surprised him, but he chuckled with a little growl to his tone as he slid another finger inside and let it join its sibling in assaulting that spot with a vengeance. Slow at first, but building momentum and speed with every thrust, he managed to widen her to three fingers before she was a screaming mess all over his fireplace furs. Washing them would never happen again. He craved her scent on them. Soon enough, though, her scent would be all over this room.

Sephiria lost it as his fingers had entered her, toes curling and pushing at the furs as her legs tensed and relaxed, trembling and spasming. Her nipples hardened quickly and the entirety of both breasts felt full with milk, despite her never having carried a child. She didn't even believe she could, all due to Quinchaveous, but she certainly had an urge to try now. He twitched against her belly once again and she couldn't stop herself; she reached down and began to stroke him slowly, which dragged a moan out of him more raw and feral than she'd ever heard.

"Woman, you test my damned patience."

A squealed laugh came out of the curvy vampire as she was picked up and flipped onto her belly, one of his hands full of her breast and the other holding her hips to his. He rubbed his throbbing member against her drenched folds, leaning down to nip her earlobe. "Say it. Say what you want right now, or this stops entirely, because I will tell you what I want." The tip of his cock prodded her entrance, but never went further.

She mewled in desperation, trembling in his arms and arching her ass into his dick. The softness of both holes was tempting, almost too much so in the moment, before he finally heard the relief to his restraint. "I want you to take me...take my body, Thorne, please, fill me...I want your sons," Sephiria begged, unable to restrain herself any longer.

Shocked beyond words, Thorne stroked against her pussy lips to coat himself in some of her juices. "You'll not wait any longer, then," He crooned to his beloved as his cock's head buried itself inside of her waiting hole.