I tugged at the ties that held my arms over my head and wished I could plead with Carson to hurry up. But he'd gagged me too and all I could do was moan at each slow steady thrust. I'd come twice already and the towel under me was soggy. I'd started on my stomach, gone to my back and now I was on my stomach again. I don't know where he was getting his stamina from but I was on the verge of passing out when he impaled me one last time and flooded me with his seed.

And I came again with the tiny little bit of fluid I had left. He'd gone boneless on my back and I welcomed his weight even though I was in the wet spot.

"Ned." It was the first word he'd spoken in almost forty-five minutes and I shook at the love he wrapped around my name.

He reached up and untied my hands then undid the gag. Very slowly, he rocked himself out of my well-used ass and I hissed when he finally came out. I hadn't been this sore since our first month together. Tender hands gathered me up and slid me from the bed into strong arms that carried me into the attached bathroom. He sat me down on the loo and started the hot water in the bathtub.

Then Car came back and knelt by my side. "I'm sorry I was so rough."

"What? Car, you loved me like you rarely have before. I've been asking you to let go a little." I cupped his face in my hands and made sure we made eye contact. "I love you, all of you and there is nothing you could do that would make me stop. If it had been too much I would have let you know. I love being the center of all that concentrated loving."

He looked at me a little uncertainly. "You're sure? I felt so focused on wiping away his touch that I didn't ask you what you wanted."

"I always want you, Carson Drew." I drew him close and nibbled a little on that lower lip that I love. "Rough or tender, it's always you and it always will be."

Sighing, he kissed me back. "I love you, Ned."

"Good, now help me into the bathtub, I need to soak." I let him lift me up and into the steaming water. I bit back another hiss at the stinging heat then relaxed all over. He dropped a kiss on my head then murmured something about ordering some tea for us and left me there to soak.

I ran languid hands over my body and counted the sore spots gleefully. He'd bitten me in at least five spots, including the one on my ass that really stung. Every time I sat down, I was definitely going to be feeling him. Which may have been the point, I guess. After we left Avery, we'd gotten a brief lunch then come back to the room. The maid had been in and made the bed for all the good that had done.

Carson had stripped off the covers, gotten two towels placed just so then gotten out the silk ties that usually meant an intense session of lovemaking. I just hadn't known how intense it would be. He'd slowly stripped me bare then tied me face down on the bed with a pillow under my hips and another under my chest so I could breathe easily. When I heard the cap on our oil pop off, I wiggled all over. This was going to be good.

And it had been, from his first slow easing into my ass to the swats that warmed my bottom until I almost came from just that. His thrust had grown deeper until I let out a cry and came. But he didn't and the next thing I knew, he was gagging me and coming out of me so he could turn me over and slam right back in. It was just a damn good thing he'd known how I'd react or somebody would have called the police at my yell.

He'd taken my nipples hostage all the while he thrust against my prostate. Gently, I touched them now and they throbbed in almost pain. I'd finally come for the second time but he still hadn't when he came out, flipped me over and plowed right back in. My balls were sore, my cock ached and it felt like I'd never shrink my ass again. Sighing, I sank a little further into the hot water and grinned.

Someday, I was going to have him go into warrior mode again. After he got over feeling guilty, which was silly but so very like my tender lover. A soft noise brought my eyes up to see him come back in with our soap. He knelt again and met my gaze with apologetic eyes.

"Let me wash you?" He asked and I sat up quickly to kiss him hard.

"Thank you for loving me, Car. Of course, you can wash me. Although as a proper body slave, I should probably be washing you." I batted my eyelashes at him and finally teased a smile to his face.

"I wouldn't be a very good master if I didn't take good care of you." He soaped his hands and smoothed them over my shoulders and down each arm. I sighed and enjoyed each tender caress until I felt clean and oh, so tired. He had to help me out of the tub my muscles had relaxed that much. Toweling me dry, Carson led me back to the bed and tucked me in.

A knock at the door made him snatch at his robe and answer it hastily clothed. It was a tea tray with lots of goodies on it and he sat it on my lap while he went in to wash up. I tipped some of the tea that Avery had given us into the hot water instead of the tea bags they'd provided. Maybe it would work for naps as well as deep sleep. While it steeped, I ate two of the little sponge cakes filled with whipped cream and thought about the bizarre situation we found ourselves in.

Carson joined me still slightly damp around the edges and I held up an edge of the comforter so he could slide in beside me. The bed still smelled of our loving and I thought that was the best smell in the world. Pouring us each a cup of tea, I handed him his and took my first sip of the slightly golden brew. It smelled like new mown fields and tasted earthy but sweet.

His eyebrow went up. "Avery's tea? Interesting, I wonder what it is."

"Probably an ancient potion brewed since the beginning of time." I said solemnly before smiling at him. "I hope we dream of another life together."

"I hope it will give us an edge in this strange drama we find ourselves in." He finished his tea and took one of the petits-fours. "I hope the girls are all right."

"I expect that Nancy took George back to the manor and pounced on her. Something in that circle really ratcheted up the sexual tension. Funny but it didn't seem to effect Sabrina. She just looked anxious and upset."

The look on Carson's face was odd to say the least. "You really think they went back and ... made love to each other?"

Oops, that thought seemed to disturb him. "They love each other, Car, so yes, I expect they went back and made mad passionate love to each other. Just like we did."

He looked at me and smiled. "She's still my little girl, Ned, and probably always will be. It's hard to think of her as a ... sexual person. Although, George has always had a very sexy walk that I'm sure you noticed."

"Me." I widened my eyes and looked innocent, or as innocent as I could manage while sitting naked in bed with my male lover. "I'll bet they play a version of our Master and the Pleasure Slave fantasy."

His eyebrow quirked up. "And who's the Mistress?"

"Nancy because George has to be the pleasure slave." I said with confidence. "I'd love to see them right now. I wonder if George tied her to the headboard so she couldn't help?"

Carson looked startled to say the least. "Really?"

"Really." I suddenly yawned and felt my eyelids go heavy. Carson moved the tray to the side table and helped me slide down onto the sheets. He pulled the covers up over us and I turned to him so he could hold me while we slept. "Love you, Car."

"I love you too, Ned. Sweet dreams, love."

I hummed and fell asleep.

************

This was not good. We'd come back to the village after chasing the bandits away and hadn't even had time to wash up before the Master was calling for us. Ewan groaned silently and tugged his tunic straight while checking me for bloodstains. There were only a couple and in the dim light of the manor, maybe they'd go unnoticed.

We followed the steward to the Great Hall and Father smiled grimly at us. "Finally back are you? How far did you chase them?"

"Just past Sillbury Hill, Sir. They'll not be back." I stood up straight as I'd been taught and wondered if I'd ever do anything right in his eyes. "Was there something else?" I bit back the name 'Father' since he didn't like me to use it. My younger brother could but then little Tom was his favorite.

"The priests have asked for someone of the family to assist them in the harvest festival. Now that you're sixteen and a man grown, it's time for you to take your place at the feast. High Priest Drusis asked for you specifically." He dropped his eyes and fidgeted a little, which was so unlike him that I started getting worried.

"When does he want me to go to the Grove?" Maybe he'd let some more of the details drop if I asked him the right questions.

"When the moon rises above the Heel stone, you're to be at the stone circle." He bit off each word as if it cost him a gold coin. "Go and wash up, you look like you've been rolling in the mud. Ewan will not accompany you. This is for you to do alone."

"But Sir ..." the leader of the guard protested.

"No! This is for Edward alone. He will not need guarding since it's only a mile to the circle. That is my final order. Now be off with you." He shooed us away as if we were flies pestering him.

I turned and left the hall to head for the kitchens. Maybe Nana Recca would know more. Ewan followed me silently but I could feel his concern like a hand on my back. The kitchens were bustling with the before dinner frenzy. Nana was in front of the fire, stirring something with a practiced hand.

"Nana, what is going on?" I asked her when I was close enough to make her hear me.

She started and turned. "I've no idea, lovey. None at all, first I heard of it that nasty High Priest was closeted with your father and pretty soon the word came down that you were to have a bath and a light meal before going to the circle." She snorted and went back to stirring the pot. "The bath is waiting for you in your room and I've fixed a nice little shepherd's pie to tide you over until what ever this nonsense is, is over."

"Thanks, Nana." I bussed her cheek and she laughingly made as if to swat me with her wooden spoon. But I danced away in time and fled to my room with Ewan still close to my side.

The bath was still warm and I stripped with a sigh of relief. Ewan scrubbed me down with the soft lye soap that Nana made every summer. It stung a bit on the bruises that were just now forming from our small battle. Once I was done, I made him strip too and I returned the favor. His body was strong and hard, just the way I liked it. I'd seduced him the moment I turned sixteen and he'd given in so quickly that I knew he'd been waiting for me to become a man.

He emerged from the tub dripping and I hastily toweled him dry before pulling him over to my bed. If I was going to have to endure a boring ceremony with the local Druids then I needed some loving to keep me going. He didn't even protest just took my slim body in his hands and made me moan. I was writhing on the bed when he finally sheathed himself inside of me.

He's really big and that always hurt a little but then he'd make me feel so good that I soon forgot the pain in the pleasure he gave me. This time was no different except it felt like he was sealing himself to me with every stroke. I could feel my body thrumming in time to his thrusts and soon I could no longer hold back. Flooding his callused hand with my seed, I waited to feel his inside of me but he kept on thrusting as if possessed.

So I squeezed my muscles around him like he'd taught me and was rewarded with another volley of thrusts that had me hardening again in an impossible short time. And I thought I was the one with all the energy, I thought with a smile. He'd told me that experience would always beat out youth and he was proving that with every stroke. Finally, he impaled me with his sword of flesh and bit my shoulder. That startled me so much that I came again and felt him flood me with his hot seed.

We collapsed on my bed and I felt him curl around me protectively. "Little Edward, be very safe for me tonight. I dislike the thought of you alone with the priest. He's been eyeing you since you were just a lad."

"He wouldn't dare try to take me, Ewan. One day, I'll be your sword-brother and leave this place to little Tom so we can travel to see the wonders of England." I hugged his arms around me and felt him lick the bite on my shoulder. "If you're that hungry, why don't we get up and eat dinner."

"Sorry, Edward, I felt as if I had to mark you before you go to the circle." He nuzzled his nose behind my ear and I shivered all the way down to my toes. Only with him could I lose control like this for he would always keep me safe from harm.

But the tap at the door said that dinner was waiting and I needed to dress for this silly ceremony. So we got up and he helped me put on the forest green tunic with the white leggings that I kept for special occasions. The bronze link belt was an old one that had been in the family for years and it was my prized possession. It was Grandfather Neville, my mother's father who had bequeathed it to me and Ewan liked to see me wear it.

We shared the light meal and many kisses before it was time for me to set off for the circle. The full moon over head lit my way and with a last fond look, I started the walk along the path that we'd worn in the plain's grasses. The stone circle could be seen from my village and it grew bigger in the darkening shadows. Several of the other priests were standing by each stone when I approached and with their hoods pulled forward, I couldn't tell which ones they were.

But the High Priest was standing tall in the middle of the circle and he beckoned me within with a single gesture. I felt a shiver run up my spine and my legs trembled when I passed through the stone arch. It felt warmer inside the circle and I stopped a few steps from Drusis. He held out a golden chalice and motioned to me to drink from it. The taste was strong and bitter and I almost gagged before swallowing a mouthful.

Almost immediately though, I felt warmth flush through me until I was sweating in the moonlight. I watched Drusis approach me and tilt my head up to meet his. That's when I saw what Ewan had meant. The lust in those eyes was sickening and I tried to jerk away only to have him hold me in a cruel grip that would leave bruises. With a minimum of gestures, he stripped me down to my skin while I kept trying to escape him.

But my legs would no longer hold me up and soon I was naked and lying on the cold flat stone. I watched in horror when he stripped away his white robe revealing his naked body. His cock was huge, hard and dripping in the cool white light of the moon. I prayed to the Lady, the way my mother had taught me when I was a child, that I would wake up from this nightmare safe in Ewan's arms.

The first touch of his hand make me quiver and he drew me towards him, only then seeing the bite on my shoulder. "So the little boy is a slut as well. Who'd have guessed that? We'll see what you think of a real cock up that tight little ass of yours, boy."

And without any preparation at all, he bent my knees back and thrust into me. I screamed silently at the horrible pain but nothing of my body seemed to work anymore. The hot fire of him burned deep inside of me and I couldn't breathe with the weight of him on my chest. That's when I saw the obsidian in his other hand. He thrust in and out, raping me brutally but it was odd because I couldn't feel it anymore.

My spirit seemed to look down on the priest and the body that I'd so lately worn. I heard my mother call my name and the light of the moon blazed brighter than the noonday sun. I turned towards her voice but spared one last look over my shoulder in time to see the knife plunge deep into my heart. The last link to the other world snapped and I floated towards the loving voice of my mother, sparing one last thought for my poor lover.

But Mother was there hugging me close and calling me her little dove, the way she had when she was alive. I threw my arms around her and called her name. But part of me knew that I had to remember what had happened for sometime, I would need that knowledge. And walking into the Moon's bright light, I knew that soon my Ewan would be joining me for our love would link us together forever.

************

I woke with tears on my cheeks and a distressed lover calling my name. I held onto him tightly and he rocked me slowly, scattering kisses over my face. In a whisper, I told him of the dream and what had happened to the first Edward. Neither of us had any doubt that the younger brother had continued the chain that linked the Wenton family to the bloody sacrifices at the stones.

"We'll find a way to stop him, Ned." Carson kissed me tenderly. "We will."

I prayed that he was right.

*************
The end for now