***
It hadn’t been easy to get rid of Rosanna, but it had been even harder to figure out how exactly Caleb and Daniel kept tabs on her when she was in her room. Today, it was Caleb, which sucked because she had a feeling he was more difficult to deceive. Since her first encounter with Val and Rosanna in the library, she had tried to pay more attention to where Max’s lackeys were and from where they used to watch her when she was in different parts of the castle. Sure, when she was in the courtyard, they were around, talking to other pack members or relaxing in the sun. The whole time Avelyn had been with Rosanna in the gazebo, Caleb had been in the garden, on a bench obscured by a rose bush, reading. It took her some time to notice that when she went up to her room, at the third floor, her watcher stopped on the second floor. To test her theory, she went up and down the stairs a couple of times, pretending she was looking for Christine, or she wanted some snack from the kitchen. Indeed, Caleb came down after her from the second floor, always keeping his distance. She was sure she had driven him insane, but she wasn’t sorry. “That’s what you get for stalking a woman. Weirdo.” She came to the conclusion that the lackeys’ headquarters were probably in the room right under her bedroom. Wonderful. It made things so much easier for her and her master plan.
Avelyn locked the bedroom door, went into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. “Hmm… this is not loud enough. I could use some music.” She went to her laptop, browsed through her playlist, and settled for some nice, progressive rock. “That should do it.” She turned the volume up and went back into the bathroom. The loud music mixed with the sound of running water could give even her a headache. She didn’t want to think of poor Caleb and what his sensitive ears were forced to endure from downstairs. She sneaked the same way she had the night before, except that this time she went up to the fourth floor. There was no way she could make sure she wouldn’t bump into anyone, and all she could do was pay attention to her surroundings and hope for the best. She would have preferred to go exploring later, at night, but there was no way she could do it in only twenty minutes, as she had done with Max’s office, and she couldn’t risk Max waking up to see she was neither beside him, nor in the bathroom.
There was no one on the stairs and corridor, so she reached the library with no incidents. It was too much of a beautiful day outside for the wolves to want to stay indoors. Caleb was probably going mad in that room, waiting for her to finish the stupid shower and move her ass either in the garden or the courtyard. Poor guy. The library was empty, as she had expected it to be. She had spent a couple of hours there, and no one had interrupted her, except that one time yesterday when she had overheard Val and Rosanna. She knew Max wasn’t coming to the Schloss before dinner, so she was safe for now. She was almost sure no one would be looking for her in the next hour. There was still the chance that things might not go her way, but she couldn’t succumb to the fear of being caught. It was now or never. She was getting used to the excitement, in fact, which was great. After she managed to escape her prison, she’d need all the adventure spirit in the world to make it to Dunkelstadt, and from there to the next city.
Avelyn climbed the few steps that took her to the second floor of the library, and made a right. At the end of the book rows there was the wooden table under the tall lamp shade. “This must be it.” She double checked the picture on her phone and decided that the door should be right behind the lamp shade. It was dark in that corner of the library even in the middle of the day, so she lit the lamp, hoping it would help her see better. On the contrary, the light fell directly on the table, leaving the part of the wall behind it in darkness. “Interesting.” She turned on the flashlight of her smartphone and started studying the wall. There was an almost invisible line that was connected to a second one at eye level, forming a 90 degree angle, and went down to the floor. She touched it, but it was so discreet that she could barely feel it under her fingertips. “Of course, there’s no handle. Maybe I should push…” She pushed hesitantly, and when she felt that part of the wall budge she pushed harder. With a soft sigh, the small door opened, letting in a draught of cold, stale air. “Here we go again. Dark tunnels and little oxygen.” She stepped over the threshold, bending slightly so her forehead wouldn’t hit the wall, and moved the small, but efficient flashlight around. There was a very small landing in front of her, just enough for a person to fit, then there was a narrow, spiral staircase that plunged deep down into darkness. Avelyn closed the door behind her, not before making sure there was a handle on the other side. Darkness enveloped her, and a chill ran down her spine. It wasn’t as cold as it had been in the tunnels underneath Alma Venus, but it was just as frightening. “Just wait until you get inside the mountain. Then you’ll see what cold really means.”
The descent was uneventful. The stairs were made of metal, so Avelyn had no difficulties climbing down, as they were in perfect condition. At some point, she reached another small landing, but it wasn’t close enough to the first one to indicate she was at the third floor. By her calculations, she must have been at the second or even the first floor. She didn’t have time to investigate such matters, so she simply kept going down. The idea was to make sure that was the way to the dungeons (or, one of the ways), look around a little and try to get used to whatever was down there, then climb back up and set the next part of her plan into motion according to the new discoveries. She knew she didn’t have time to actually explore the tunnels and find her way out. The map showed they had many levels that went deep inside the mountain, and there were four exit points. The thing was huge. Avelyn wondered how much of that maze was destined to prison cells and how much of it was just a way of escape in case of siege, or something. Officially, she was not a fan of medieval constructions anymore. When she reached Italy, she intended to buy a modern apartment in a block of flats which had no basement and no attic.
When she felt the air change, she knew that she was close to her target. After having gotten used to the cling-clang of the iron stairs, she felt stone under her sole. She flashed her light around and saw she
was in a dark chamber which was a bit bigger than her bathroom. She must have been well under the kitchens and the cellar, because no outside noise penetrated the thick stone walls. While she had been climbing down the stairs, she could sometimes hear different sounds through the walls, especially when she had been at the same level with the kitchens. But down here, inside the mountain, darkness ruled supreme.
Avelyn tried to orientate herself on the map, browsing a bit through the pictures until she found one that seemed to show the part of the Schloss where she currently was. She took a few tentative steps towards the middle of the chamber, and looked around. There were two wide tunnels from which she could choose, and she guessed that the one to her right stretched under the Lunar Wing, and the one to her left, under the Nox Wing. As she was standing in that chamber, she was probably right under the Crescent Wing, Max’s office, their bedroom, and the Crescent Tower. “This thing is incredibly well structured.” The thought gave her a feeling of relief, because she was absolutely sure that Alma Venus had given her the exact opposite sensation. Completely at random, she chose the tunnel to her left.
She had been walking for ten minutes, all the while having the impression that the tunnel was slowly descending, when she saw the first cells. They were no bigger than a storage room, and they were all empty, with the iron doors wide open. She had the impression that it smelled of death down there, but it could have well been her imagination. She was surprised it all looked so clean, save for the thick dust that covered everything. After all, what had she expected? Dry blood everywhere? Dead rats? Living rats? Traces of feces and urine? She shook her head and resumed walking. The tunnel took her to a smaller chamber, and Avelyn only needed one look around to realize that from there it split into six smaller tunnels, all packed full of small, empty cells on one side of the stone wall. “Wow! Well… I knew it was a maze, didn’t I?” She stopped to wipe the sweat off her brow and consult the map. She had recharged her phone that morning, knowing she’d need to abuse its battery for the flashlight. It was still half full, but she would have never risked getting herself trapped down there with no light. Obviously, she had no signal.
“Right,” she dared whisper in the cold, humid air for the first time. “Two of these babies lead to two of the exits.” Her finger moved the map on her phone in all directions until she thought she got the right position. “The second one and the fourth one.” The problem was that these small tunnels led to another chamber, similar to the one she was in now, and then to other small tunnels. And it went like that, deeper and deeper, and each time Avelyn would have to make sure she took the right turn. “I can totally do this. Hell, I’ve done it before.” But the tunnels under Alma Venus hadn’t been so numerous and maze-like. Delyse had been right, even though her words had only been based on rumors. “You wouldn’t want to get lost down there because no one would ever find your body.” Avelyn repeated what she remembered of her friend’s words and sighed. “I’ll figure it out, I’ll find a way. I have the map. Even if they realize I’m missing, they won’t know how I got out, so they won’t look for me here. And God knows these woods are friggin’ huge.” According to her map, one of the exits was somewhere close to Dunkelstadt, so she was aiming for that one.
Avelyn checked the time and saw that her hour was almost up. She turned around and headed back through the big tunnel, stealing a timid glance inside the cells from time to time. She thought she saw something hanging on the far wall of one of them, and curiosity took the best of her. She didn’t really want to go in, but she thought she could take a peek if she leaned over the threshold a bit. Her left hand grabbed one of the bars to keep her body from falling forward, while her right one held the flashlight as far inside the cell as she could. She lifted herself up on her toes, but she couldn’t see much. She squeezed her eyes, and took a step forward, but there was no way she could guess what that thing on the wall was. “Hmm… must be some old rag.” She pulled her body back, and her hand let go of the bar. The sudden movement made her sleeve catch slightly on the metal lock. A soft pull was enough to release her sleeve, and Avelyn wiped her sweaty palm on her trousers. “Eww… can’t wait to wash my hands.” She retraced her steps back to the large chamber, then up the spiral staircase, and reached the library in no time.
***
His soft touches made her body burn with desire. Avelyn moaned when Max’s hands squeezed her breasts and his mouth sucked on the tender skin of her neck. She was pinned down under his pleasant weight, and his body was moving against hers slowly. She had her legs wrapped around his waist, and her fingernails clawed at his back when he bit her neck gently.
“Tonight, I want to make love to you slowly. I want to take my time,” he said.
“Yes, please.” Avelyn’s answer was no more than a whisper. After they finished their dinner, she had attacked his lips and body with wild, passionate kisses, and his reaction had surprised her. Instead of taking her hard and fast, he had secured her wrists in a firm grip and whispered against her hungry lips that he had something different in mind. That’s how they had ended up in bed, completely naked, kissing, touching, and caressing every patch of skin they could reach.
Max moved down her body and his mouth found her hard nipples. She whimpered when he sucked one of them into his mouth, and her fingers found their way into his dark hair. He rubbed her other nipple with his thumb, causing her to arch her body up into him. Her pussy was already soaking wet and throbbing for attention. He released her nipple and blew cold air on it, then moved to the other one.
“You’re such a tease,” she moaned.
The reason she had wanted him to fuck her senseless without giving much thought to foreplay was that it could have made her forget about her plan. It could have taken the stress away for just a couple of minutes and helped her relax. What he was currently doing to her, however, had the exact opposite effect. As he applied gentle pressure here and there and kissed his way down to her clit, Avelyn could only think of how good and right it felt. Questions she had never asked herself before were suddenly popping up in her mind, causing fear and doubt to swell in her chest. “What if I miss him? No, there’s no way… It’s not like I love him. Wait. What if I do love him? This is crazy… I don’t.” Max kissed her pink, swollen nub, which sent a jolt of pleasure through her whole body, making her toes curl. Her legs were now resting on his shoulders, and he took advantage of the position to bury his head between her thighs and inhale her sweet, feminine scent.
“I love the way you smell and taste.” His tongue lapped at the juices coating her plump folds, and Avelyn tugged lightly at his hair, urging him to push his tongue deeper. “Impatient, are we?” His tongue finally parted her folds, and she moaned when it found her entrance and dipped inside. He fucked her with his tongue for a few seconds. She moaned in frustration, her pussy wanting to be filled by something much larger and harder.
“Fuck me,” she ordered in a whiny voice. Max laughed, which meant that she hadn’t been very convincing. He pushed her legs higher, and his tongue moved from her pussy to her ass, licking and pressing gently. “Oh…” That was the only thing she could say. No one had ever touched her there, and the strange sensation took her by surprise. “Wait, I don’t think…”
“Shh…” he said between licks. Then, his tongue pressed harder, and Avelyn felt it penetrate the tight ring of muscles.
“Mmm… that feels nice. And a bit wrong.”
“Nothing we do can ever be wrong, baby.” His tongue darted in and out at a steady pace, making her moan and squirm. She wasn’t quite sure if she liked it that much or not. Then, his thumb found her clit, and Avelyn didn’t care anymore. She pressed his face harder against her ass, and let herself be carried away by the orgasm that was slowly building inside her. His thumb moved in small, fast circles on her throbbing nub, while his tongue fucked her tight, virgin hole. Her body trembled under the power of her orgasm, and she moaned her release, her back arching off the bed. She wasn’t sure if what had sent her over the edge was his thumb furiously rubbing her clit, or his tongue fucking her ass, making her feel like she was doing something sinful and forbidden.
Max climbed back up her body and smiled at her. “Did you like that?”
“I… I’m not sure. Yes…?”
His warm palms went to cup her cheeks, his fingers finding their way into her red curls. “Use your hands to guide me inside you.”
That was all the encouragement Avelyn needed. She sneaked one hand between them, and grabbed his cock. She stroked it for a few seconds, enjoying the way it felt in her palm. She positioned the tip at her entrance, and pushed her hips up against him to let him know she was ready. Max held her gaze as he buried his cock inside her wet pussy, inch by painful inch. Avelyn felt like she could lose herself in those bright green eyes behind which she could catch glimpses of the wolf and his desire to claim her body and soul. When his cock was buried to the hilt, stretching her walls to their limit, Avelyn placed both her hands on his back, never breaking eye contact. He started moving at a slow, tantalizing pace, taking his time, enjoying the way her pussy clenched down around his cock, watching her eyes widen in pleasure when he hit a particularly sensitive spot.
“Please, move faster,” she begged.
He picked up the pace, but not too much. She felt too tight and wet for him to last long, and he wanted to enjoy her for more than five minutes. His fingers started massaging her scalp, and Avelyn closed her eyes in pleasure. She’d have purred if she could, because he was touching, rubbing, and massaging her in all the right places. It was like her body was an open book to him. He knew all its secrets, and he could play it like she could play the piano, pressing the keys in the right order, creating a symphony that caressed the senses and lifted the spirit to the clear, blue sky.