Of Hearts Bound Ch. 01

"I believe I would enjoy that, Evie, if for no other reason than to see if those breasts defy gravity despite their size or, if your seamstress earns every gold and then some."

***

Deres sat in the study of the Jaye home reading a letter asking for his aid. Being a healer now of some reputation, and when aspects of that reputation being that they could see he was trusted by the queen and that he often used his skill in the healing magics to help those in need, he found himself highly sought after by the latter group as, without him and those like him willing to devote themselves to helping those in need wherever they could, the people had little hope against anything a potion or poultice couldn't treat.

The letter he held now was from a family in a far flung village whose son was now paralyzed after being run over by a carriage. They spoke of him before the accident; his plans, his hopes, and his dreams as they begged him to see his way to helping them. As was now the routine, he would thoroughly investigate every word of the letter before deciding what to do. Helping such cases was time consuming and incredibly complex. The weaving of such spells usually took several mages of great skill several days. His and Neral's third, Bryana, gifted mage in her own right could be counted on and, if need be he would send for his adoptive mother. He knew already that she would come without question simply because it was he who asked, much less for the good cause. "This one interests me. Let's add it to the list."

Cassea Voss, part time aide in his Healer's office, part time formal liaison between House Jaye and Court took the letter and folded it into her leather-bound scheduling book in a manner that was almost dismissive though he knew she would not dismiss it. "Could you at least pretend that Court matters to you?"

He grinned. He always grinned at her and it was part of what made him insufferable. That she knew he did it to toy with her made it more so even as it aroused. Some years before she served as House Mistress for House Vesik, acting as part of a plot hatched by Lord Vesik to end the rule of a progressive queen he could no longer tolerate by using a mercenary mage to weave forbidden magics to set Neral Jaye to the task of murdering her. With his two greatest obstacles removed, he would likely have ascended to the power behind the throne if not the throne itself.

Deres happening across Neral and her own House Mistress, Tessa, and sensing the telltales of magic around the former, set them on a collision course that left Neral bonded to Deres and Bryana, the very mage Vesik had enlisted to corrupt Neral in the first place. When piecing together that plot, Cassea had been captured and put under the influence of magic to draw out her confession and enlist her aid in bringing down her House with finality in such a way that it wouldn't trigger feudal retribution among the Houses of High Court.

Those hours in his presence, resisting only to be broken brought forth feelings she both loathed and craved. She knew she was compelled to help and knew that House Vesik would fall so she indulged her desires in asking to be collared by him through the magic and owned by him through it. Deres, fond of her biting tongue and keen mind, changed little about her, beyond chaining her to him in the way she wished.

In the years since, they had fallen into a surprisingly normal relationship. She managed his affairs as a healer and at Court, and had henpecked him with joy fairly often, neither of them ever losing sight of who was truly in control, even if he never asserted it in ways she didn't love in the end.

She sat across from him in an emerald green dress that buttoned up to a white ruffled collar with her long black tresses draping her shoulders on either side. She looked every bit the high-born woman that she was, even as she was annoyed by his response.

"But it really doesn't, Cassea."

"The social standing of your House matters whether you think it does or not. I understand that you think very little of the duty I have undertaken..."

Deres looked into her eyes and saw that he had stung her and that did matter, so he tempered his frustration because his problems with Court never had anything to do with her. "That's not true, Cassea. Neral and I do appreciate all you do. And don't think I don't notice that your efforts actually minimize the times that I actually have to endure this nonsense."

It exasperated him. "I could simply be doing something helpful to people rather than spending my entire afternoon in a hall with two dozen others while we all dance around our agendas and, on top of that, I have to remember that it's the third spoon on the left for this course."

"This will not be as bad as some," she assured him. "Neral's mother will be there as well and we both know you have other friends at Court. The time will pass quickly. And it is helpful to people. It is helpful to your House, and when you are there, you can do as you always do: advocate for those causes that matter to you. That's why it matters, Deres. I can only do so much alone."

"I don't even think it makes a difference."

She was firm in her words, unwilling to be argued with, but already armed for bear if he wished to do so. "It makes a difference. I can advocate for the House on any issue, and, when it comes to issues such as aiding those in need in the classes below ours, I now share some of that passion, but you and Neral are the voices of this House in ways that I am not. You have changed minds and you have brought ideas and concerns to the floor that never would have made it there if not for your voice."

"Then why don't I ever feel that that's so?"

"Because you're arrogant in your own way."

He walked the line between bemusement and feeling as though she slapped him. "Excuse me, dear?"

"You are," she said with the certainty of a hammer strike, crossing her legs easing into delivering a lecture. "I am. You are. There's nothing wrong with that and I know where it comes from in your case. You're a powerful mage. If anyone in that room knew what you could do beyond healing broken bones they'd put you to death. Still, you know how much damage the likes of you and Bryana could do if you chose before you hung. There is arrogance there."

"That's enough for most people, but is that enough for you? Why, no it's not. You, the poor Southie boy found himself whisked away to Adar, the place of myth, legend, and fairy tales. There is no crime, no war, no poverty, and mages and mere mortals live together in peace. Add to that that, all who dwell there have all they need and you go into any room with the arrogance of knowing how it all can be, and how do they just not see it?"

"That arrogance leads you to believe you aren't making a difference because they don't just look at you stunned and, "By the Goddess, you're right. Thank you for opening our eyes."

He scratched his chin as he contemplated it. "You think that's how it is?"

"I know it is, Deres. I understand it. I don't blame you for it, but the difference you can make can and does come in small steps. Even if what you believe should happen doesn't you have planted seeds. To even get Court talking about something that would never have considered before is a victory. And I know General Jaye would tell you that small victories mount. If I were you, I would take every opportunity to engage Court that I could."

He looked at her daring him to dispute him. "I hate you when you're right."

"Then I would ask how you can stand the sight of me at all."

He took a deep breath and held it, tapping his fingers on the desk several times before yielding with another grin, "Please forward my acceptance and convey my," he groped for a word before almost letting it out with a wince, "excitement at the notion of again being in their presence."

She liked watching him suffer in that moment, but took mercy in the end. "I'll tone that down a bit. Some in Court might think you ill otherwise."

"I'll defer to your skill in that regard."

"Do that more often and I can promise you a less stressful life."

He looked at her there in her brown jacket and skirt with the black blouse underneath she looked the very definition of regal as she always did. "Never mind that you seem to be the source of much of my stress, what with you forcing me into painful, boring, Court parties."

"My heart bleeds," she said, her tone bone dry.

It was just another expression of her sense of humor. She crossed effortlessly between a tongue desert dry and filled with acid. It was one of the reasons he adored her. It was why he had no desire to change her when he claimed her. The afternoon they met, even as he broke her she was defiant and still powerful. He couldn't take that from her. Besides, it made their play so much more fun this way. "The least you can do is wear something with some cleavage for me, perhaps your green dress?"

She shifted in her seat slightly. "Since this is an afternoon affair, cleavage would be somewhat inappropriate. The green dress would be absolutely so."

"All the more reason to ask it of you then."

His smile made her squirm a bit more. He liked to torment her. He liked to remind her of her place, and as much as she loathed him doing so it made her damp and she loved him for it. He was a good soul with a wicked streak and she loved both those aspects of his being. "There are...more acceptable options than that. They may not be as revealing as that one, but they will entertain you and I can assure you that any one of will embarrass me sufficiently to wear for you there."

"That you are showing those firm, full tits is an embarrassment?" He was only slightly mocking in his tone. "I've seen you use them to full advantage at Court."

Her fine features were reasonably successful in not looking at him as though he were a dullard. "There is a proper time and place for everything at Court, including a time for a woman such as myself to use her wiles to sway the weaker of mind and will to the point of view of my House."

"I don't see why that's not any and every time."

She sighed. "That is part of why you don't understand Court."

He leaned forward just to be closer to her. "Are you sure that's it, Cassea? Are you certain that it's not that you don't want to sit there knowing those tits are pushed out so I get to look at them all day."

She smirked, uncrossing her legs and placing her arms atop the arms of the chair. "As if that matters to you. I sit here modestly dressed and you still want to defile me and are even now defiling me with your eyes. And if not me, Elan. If not Elan, even Tessa lets you into her bed and she prefers women in every respect."

"For Tessa and me it's about comfort with one another. One day she will decide that it's time to further her line and it would be to me to help her with that."

"A terrible chore for you to rut with her, is it not?"

"I am a giving person, Cassea. Heavy is the burden of the charitable."

She nodded slowly. "You poor man. And all that doesn't count your loves in General Jaye and the mage Bryana. Fortunately for you, you are a mage, otherwise I suspect you would have shriveled to a husk long ago."

"General Jaye teases you about having a harem, but it is so. You created a harem and you revel in it."

"If so, you revel in being part of it. You begged to be part of it. Do you recall that? Do you recall throwing the silver and gold necklace you're wearing right now to the table and begged me to turn it into a chain? You don't need to wear it to be mine and you know it, but I almost never see you without it, even as you sleep. You like the weight of it and what it means."

She shifted in her seat again, her fingers caressing the arm of the chair to quiet her agitation. "Southie pig making me want you and need you."

His words came with a decidedly lecherous tone to tweak them both. "Tits hanging out at that luncheon while I think of all the things I will do to them when they are near me again. You know it and you like it. You will be more distracted than I because you know I have needs in the same way I have needs now."

She looked him up and down, both ashamed and hungry. "Southie pig. Pull yourself until you empty yourself. Or find yourself some Southie cunt that is smart enough only to spread like a whore and breed like a dog, and it thrills her to do it."

"I don't need a Southie woman. You said it yourself, I have a harem. I did not set out with that as a goal, but it is so. When I have needs, I have you. Come here."

It tugged at her mind and her heart and her spine. She could feel the pull of his words and his needs and, as much as she hated it, her thighs clenched. She needed his command and she needed to resist and he needed to push until she surrendered. That was the game for them. "No."

"Not just women, well-heeled, high brow women who should never lower themselves to fuck me. Like you. Come here. Now."

She swallowed, gripping the chair. "Fucking you." She rose, making her way slowly around the desk to him.

"That isn't the worst part though, is it?" His body turned, following her until she settled gingerly on his lap before he wrapped his arms around her waist, "Only if I want to fuck you, Cassea. Only if I deign to touch you, kiss you, or show you affection. If I, a filthy pig from the southern quarter as you call me, tells you to bounce on my cock until I'm spent and then leave me be, you will bounce dutifully, won't you?"

Cassea let herself relish his embrace. His arms powerful, his chest broad and muscles firm like corded steel he was every bit a fine example of manhood. She dipped her face closer to his, caressing his smooth cheeks and memorizing his rugged features yet again, "I hate you."

"But I don't hate you, Cassea. You are exquisite, and that is simply your body. You manage Court and enjoy it." He looked her up and down, his lust growing by leaps and bounds simply being close to her. "You manage me and enjoy it."

Her tone had a mix of tenderness and condescension that was unique to her. "It pleases me that you listen occasionally."

"I know you are only trying to do what's best for us."

"House Jaye is now my home, I have to do what is best for it. That I can drag you about occasionally pleases me. It amuses me." She kissed softly across his forehead. "And it is something of salve for the fact that I would bounce dutifully as well as joyously. If I do not leave now I will likely be late for dinner."

Her mention of it reminded him of why, "Your dinner with your girlfriends is tonight."

"Yes."

"Most of whom still disdain me as I recall"

"They treat you with deference and respect."

"Hmm...to my face of course. Are you telling me that they no longer look upon me as rabble who has no place in their polite society?"

"They accept that your place is what it is. It's not as if you care what they think of you."

A lovely idea took up residence in his mind. "Not at all. But it seems like the perfect thing to make you late for because you have, shall we say, awakened needs in me."

"Would you be so petty?"

"Actually I would, Cassea." his lips touched her as his hand slipped behind her head to take a handful of that long black hair in his hand. "Not only late because of the rabble that calls himself the man of your House, but filled by him. Having a pleasant little evening with your stuck up little bitches while you drip me."

She closed her eyes, trembling at the vision and there was the added flare of heat that came with resisting the irresistible. "This is why I hate you."

"And why you adore me."

"Fuck you."

"I'm going to, bitch."

Her teeth grazed his lower lip. "Making me late just to prove you can do it. You are sooooooooo petty."

"I want you now, Cassea. That's enough. Tell me you won't thrill going there well-fucked with memories of my cock. You will stay until I'm done with you. You will stay and fuck me."

Her eyes closed and she exhaled harshly with the tug on her hair before her tongue plunged into his mouth to taste him and his heat as he pulled her jacket free of her body and she pulled his shirt apart. Buttons flew and skittered around the room revealing him to her. Her nails raked his skin, and relished the animal sound that he made and told him so. "Beast. Fucking beast."

'Yet you call me a good man."

"You are." He lifted himself just enough for her to expose his cock. She watched it bounce against his belly as it came free and her mouth watered. It tasted good and the filth of the beast that he was added to the flavor, and the fact that it owned her made it like having a living god inside her.

He nibbled her neck his hand pawing her left breast like that beast, pulling it towards him until she snarled at him and nipped his neck. "And I am the beast? Which me do you prefer?"

"As with whether or not to show cleavage in the afternoon, it depends on the moment."

"You're wet for the beast."

She shed her skirt and tossed it aside, letting him look at her toned and powerful body, from firm belly to muscular legs. She cultivated a warrior's body as part of cultivating her power. "I am wet for you always. I am wet for the man when I see him help others and give of himself to them. I am wet to see the man show his heart to all of us that he calls family, no matter how we have come to be so. I am wet for the man that loves me when he could simply treat me like the slave I am and have me crawl through hot coals to amuse him."

"I know you never would and it makes me love the man." Cassea placed her hand around the base of his shaft. It strained against her, thick and hard almost like the solid muscle of the rest of him. She looked at it as she let her hand drag upward then down, making love to it with one hand. She thrilled at it, literally dripping onto his lap. She enjoyed her power in the instant, seeing how he reclined in his chair, eyeing her as just so much meat but at the mercy of her touch. His jaw clenched and his breath would catch.

"And I love the beast. I am wet for it. I wait for you to come to me in the dark of night... for the beast to plow me until we collapse together, sweating, hearts pounding." She grinned lewdly at his expression, "Yes, I see you remember last time, Deres. Coming in the night to fuck me so hard and whisper words of ownership until I cum so hard I fall unconscious."

She stroked faster, feeling the smooth skin against her hand, not stopping under the head, but rather rolling her palm over it in a circle to let the precum bathe it, and make it buck into her hand and offer her more fluid as tribute before she would slide back down to start again. "I love the beast that is in my mind and my body even when I'm alone in my bed because I can rub my cunt like the worst of sluts wondering where you're satisfying yourself; what pussy has you wrapped in its softness even if it's not mine.

Cassea stroked faster "Jealous. Envious. Envious even as I understand them. Jealous even though I know they are my sisters in a way and we care for one another." When she saw the puzzlement cross his features she sped up to see if she could take it away and his face only contorted more. "We are owned by you. Elan and I, taken by you, Bryana, too."

"That..."

"Hush, Deres. Yes, it was all necessary in its own way. You never exerted your power for its own ends, but what does it matter? We are all tied to the loving beast just the same, all of us subject to your wants and whims like any slave. Like now. I could simply sit on your lap all night and play with your cock and think of ways to please you. Even as I know the part that is still me feels shame and will feel it even more as I rush to dinner, embarrassed at the breach of decorum in being late and knowing I will have to lie about why."