WARNING: graphic sex, lighter non-con and a little bit of m/m

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

Ryun led the way back to his rooms, Aiden following with Nera bundled underneath his arm. No one spoke and Nera suspected Ryun’s angry presence was what cut a swath through the people in the corridors.

Miyn was there when they entered but wisely stayed silent and melted aside as Ryun stormed through the door. As he angrily yanked off his jerkin and boots, Aiden led Nera to sit on the wide bed. Aiden remained quiet and wouldn’t meet her gaze as he slid the cloak from her shoulders. He did reach up to smooth her loose hair and gave her a small, sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he rose and turned to face his master.

“Why wasn’t she branded?” In an explosion of movement, Ryun grabbed Miyn by the neck and slammed her against the wall.

Nera’s whimper was louder than Miyn’s and only Aiden’s hand on her shoulder kept her from leaping toward the other woman.

“My lord, I’m sorry.” Miyn’s voice was strangled, her body pliant.

Aiden stepped forward. “Ryun, stop.”

His use of Ryun’s given name startled Nera but not anyone else.

Ryun glared over his shoulder at the other man. “It’s all her fault.”

“No. We should have gotten Nera branded immediately yesterday. Miyn’s only fault is being kind hearted.”

With a growl, Ryun shoved Miyn into the wall to make her cry out, then released her to round on Aiden. “What’s your excuse? It’s your duty to see to my needs.”

Aiden stood his ground and spoke calmly. “And your needs demanded you fuck a virgin girl for hours on end. She was exhausted and worn out. Miyn’s a healer. Naturally she’d think the girl should sleep.”

Miyn knelt, cowering by the wall. Nera sat, speechless. The two men now stood toe to toe, displaying that Aiden was every bit as tall as Ryun if not nearly as wide. He showed no fear when faced with the bigger man. Like day and night they were. Aiden’s loose, shining gold hair and pale skin such a contrast to Ryun’s dark skin and raven hair. Aiden’s calm to Ryun’s flaming passion.

“Not to mention food,” Aiden continued. “Unless I miss my guess, your pet hasn’t eaten since last night.”

Still scowling, Ryun blinked. Nera ducked her head when he turned his head to look at her. “Is that true?”

Pulling her thighs together to guard her sex, she barely managed to keep her arm from rising to cover her breasts, thinking that might anger him further. She nodded.

He growled. Nera glanced up just in time to see him rounding on Miyn and bending to cuff her on the side of the head. “You are going to the guards.”

“No!” Nera cried before she could think better of it. She managed not to cringe when Ryun whirled on her. “Please. M-master.”

His eyes narrowed over her stuttering of the title.

“Please, master. Don’t take Miyn away.”

As, he approached her, she remained on her knees, her face down. His thighs looked very thick and muscular when they came into view.

“Become attached to her, have you?”

Amazed at her own boldness, Nera reached out to lay a hand on his thigh. She managed to meet his gaze although the hard look there made her tremble. “Please.”

He caught her wrist and hauled her to her feet. Startled, she fell against him, her breasts pressing into the soft leather of his jerkin.

“You have caused me a lot of trouble.” He speared his hand in her hair, bringing her face close to his. “You had better be worth it.”

Aiden appeared at their side and lay one hand on her shoulder, the other on his. “My lord, please. I must insist.”

Ryun allowed Aiden to put some distance between them but kept his hand in her hair. “You must insist? That’s rich.”

Aiden worked at Ryun’s fingers through her hair. “If you don’t calm down, you’re going to hurt her and if she’s not yours…”

“Damn it!” Ryun yanked his hand free and strode away.

Aiden met Nera’s wide eyes with a sympathetic look and patted her cheek.

“Damn, Scarn! And damn…” Ryun’s voice trailed off in a mutter. He hovered over Miyn. “Go. Get food for your mistress. And be quick about it.”

Miyn jumped to her feet and fled.

Ryun headed after her with a purposeful stride. “Get her cleaned up and fed, Aiden. I need to arrange for additional guards on these rooms.”

So great was the release of tension once Ryun left the rooms that Nera’s knees gave out. With a small whimper, she collapsed onto the bed and succumbed to a fit of trembling.

“Nera.”

Aiden’s soft voice as he knelt beside her unlocked the tears that shock and disbelief had held at bay. The weight of what had happened to her descended on Nera in a wave and she crumbled beneath it. Murmuring softly, Aiden sat beside her and gathered her close. His body was not the shape and size she was accustomed to for comfort, but she gladly took what was offered.

******

“Pleasure slaves are generally well cared for,” Aiden explained.

They sat at a small table on the balcony beside the bedroom. Miyn had been invited to sit but she insisted on kneeling beside the table after she’d finished setting out the food. Nera noted that she kept one wary eye toward the door, probably for Ryun’s return. A huge purple bruise marked one side of her face.

Nera’s sobbing had ceased before Miyn’s return but she still felt shaky. Aiden’s calm helped. He took a bite of the roll in his hand, surprisingly dainty for a man. “But all slaves are subject to the whims of their master. By not allowing Ryun to brand you, the sharif has afforded you some measure of protection. Any man who permanently damages you will be made to pay. That is if you brought charges and could prove it.”

“Brought charges?”

He waved toward her plate, encouraging her to eat. “If anyone were to harm you, you could go to the magistrate or to the sharif himself and make an accusation.” He shrugged, dusting crumbs from his hands. “Of course, you’d have to prove how you were harmed and that is sometimes difficult. But the sharif seems to have taken an interest in you so the threat of his displeasure should keep you relatively safe.”

She spooned more savory stew into her mouth, trying to digest what he was telling her.

“You are, however, still subject to whomever can hold you. The sharif has nominally given you charge of your body, but you have nothing else and no other protection.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s all right. I doubt the sharif will let things stand for long. There’s no one else who’s likely to take you from Ryun except Scarn and Scarn’s never taken a lasting interest in any slave, let alone a woman. Eventually, the sharif will either let Ryun have you or claim you himself.”

There was too much information being thrown at her. “May I ask…”

“Go ahead.”

“Do you know… why Prince Scarn… did what he did to me?”

“I don’t know for sure, but –” Aiden’s green eyes scanned the distant horizon as the breeze wafted through his loose hair, “– I have what could be considered a good guess.” He took a breath. “As you may have noticed, Ryun and Scarn are not on the best of terms.”

She nodded.

He glanced at her late. “Nera, if you don’t eat, I won’t answer your questions.” His voice was gentle but firm.

Obediently, she bent her head over and scooped up more stew.

“That’s better. I’m afraid they are constantly after whatever the other possesses. We should have realized that you would be a target for Scarn.” He sighed and looked down, plucking at the pristine embroidery at the front of his robes. “Also, Scarn would have guessed that Ryun might not have taken you where he did.”

She flushed, swallowed. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“I’d imagine not, given your upbringing.” He folded his hands in his lap. “But what was done to you is common for men to do with male pleasure slaves.”

Nera stared in shock. “Men with men?”

“Yes.”

“But… why?”

He smiled. “Did your priestesses never have contact with each other?”

She blinked, blushed. “I’ve… well, but…”

“Ah. So the innocent is not as innocent as we’d thought?”

“No! I mean, it was never… never anything like…”

“It’s all right, Nera. I very much doubt that life in the temple of Buir reached the debauchery of this palace.” He sighed. “Suffice it to say that the men here will fuck both women and men in many and varied ways. You’ll soon grow accustomed to it.”

She ate a few more bites in silence. “Are you a pleasure slave?”

That gained her a look.

“I’m sorry.”

“No. Don’t be sorry. I’m merely surprised you asked.” He smiled. “Yes. I’m Ryun’s chief pleasure slave.”

She still couldn’t imagine two men together, but after what Scarn had done to her… “For… long?”

He reached for the wine carafe to refill his. “How long have I been with Ryun? Nearly seven years now. And, before you ask, yes, he does to me what Scarn did to you.”

She blinked at her empty bowl, not wanting to picture it but fascinated nonetheless.

“I’ll further confuse you by letting you know that I enjoy it.”

Startled, she looked up. “Enjoy…?”

The look he gave her was sad. “It’s a little different for men than it is for women. And what was done to you was forced so naturally it hurt. Believe it or not, he was actually very careful with you.”

She couldn’t believe that. “Doesn’t it hurt you?”

“Not anymore.” He sipped without taking his eyes from her. “In time, you’ll get used to it.”

She felt a tear well at the corner of her eye.

He sat forward, setting down his glass. His voice was sympathetic but he spoke in plain terms. “The fact of the matter is, this is your life now, Nera. The sooner you can get accustomed to it, the better off you’ll be.”

“Why me?”

“At first, because you were a prize, a symbol of a conquest. Now, with the way your body reacts when you’re touched intimately…” He shook his head. “Now you’re an anomaly. Now you’re special. That’s both to your advantage and disadvantage.”

“Am I so different?”

“I’m afraid so. The way your body reacts is far more like a woman at the height of passion rather than a woman being raped. Your protest can be heard clearly but anyone watching or touching you can see your body craving more.”

She widened her eyes, horrified. “Truly?”

“Truly. And the fact you don’t know it just makes you all the more intriguing.” He cocked his head to the side. “Do you think the other priestesses will be able to tell the sharif anything? Are they like you?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t know I was different until I came here.”

Aiden sat forward. “I suspect if the sharif learns anything, we’ll know soon enough. Finished?”

Nera nodded.

Without a word, Miyn rushed forward to begin stacking plates on a tray. Nera reached out to squeeze her arm and received a brief, sad smile in response.

“Nera, you’ll need to get ready,” Aiden said, standing. “Ryun will be back soon and I doubt his mood will have improved.”

She stood and followed him from the sunlit heat of the balcony to the shadowed cool of the bedroom. “What should I do?”

Aiden stood at the foot of the bed, thinking. “Naked on the bed, I think. Be ready for him to fuck you and hope he’s not drunk. Maybe he’ll make it fast then return to his own rooms.”

“His own… Isn’t this…?”

“No. He has his own suite. This is actually yours.”

She froze. “My…?”

“At least for now. He’d intended to make you the first of his harem and these rooms are for his harem.”

She gazed about. “What about you?”

“He chooses to have me sleep in his bed. Besides, I’m not part of his harem.”

“Why?”

“The first members of a man’s harem are expected to bear children.” There was a flash of what looked like sadness that washed over his face, but it was just as quickly gone. He waved toward the privy corner. “Go and see to your needs. Now, while you’ve time. Miyn, hurry.”

******

When darkness fell and Ryun had not yet returned, Aiden left to find him.

Nera lay in the huge expanse of bed, gazing up at the way the candlelight played through the gossamer gold and blue hangings overhead. After a few silent moments, she sat up, holding a sheet to her breasts. “Miyn?”

The other woman’s voice rose from the darkness. “Yes?”

“Could you… come and sit with me?”

The small woman’s silhouette approached. “Are you sure?”

Nera edged toward the side of the bed. “Yes. Please.”

Hesitantly, Miyn sat, just beyond arm’s length away. Her loosely plaited hair hung down her back. “I shouldn’t be here when my lord returns.” She folded her hands primly in her lap, her profile to Nera. “He won’t want to see me.”

Scooting closer, Nera smoothed a hand over Miyn’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m so sorry you were hurt because of me.”

Miyn shook her head. “No. It was my fault. I made bad decisions. It was me who got you hurt. I’m sorry.”

“No, please, don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.” She slid her hand down Miyn’s arm to find one of the hands in her lap. Lacing their fingers together, she squeezed. “Thank you.”

Miyn finally looked at her, dark eyes wide. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when the suite’s outer door clicked open. In a rush, she hurried from the bed and back into the darkness beyond the candlelight.

Ryun strode in, headed straight for the bed. Aiden followed at his heels, catching the jerkin that Ryun ripped off and tossed aside. Nera shrank back into the pillows against the wall, unable to judge the prince’s mood. His face, when she could finally see it, looked calm but he wore an intensity that belied serenity.

He stopped at the foot of the bed and bent to remove his boots. “Aiden, strip.”

Aiden stared at the back of his master’s head for a split second before handing the jerkin to Miyn and reaching for the buttons of his own robe.

Ryun kept his gaze on Nera. “Since you’ve taken to Aiden, I’ll have him join us.”

She clutched the sheet to her chin, astonished gaze going to Aiden’s now bare chest shining pale and luminous in the dim lighting.

“Beautiful, isn’t he?” There was a softness beneath the harsh tone of Ryun’s voice, making Nera believe that he truly did think Aiden was beautiful.

He turned and they both watched as the floor length skirt Aiden wore beneath his robe fell to his feet, leaving him fully naked. Pale all over, the curls at the base of his soft sex just a few shades darker than the gold on his head, he looked like a piece of sunlight made flesh. He tossed his hair behind his shoulder, standing unashamed before them, his eyes locked with Ryun’s.

Ryun gestured to the bed. “Lie down with her.”

Gracefully, Aiden knelt on the bed. His gaze met hers as he crawled toward her. She read assurance there. He couldn’t stop what was about to happen, but she felt better for his presence. Safer. He reached her side and gently tugged the sheet from her. She let it go, let him bare her to the room.

“Nice.” Ryun’s pants dropped to the floor. Unlike Aiden, his organ was mostly erect, dark and flushed red. “I should have thought of this yesterday.”

Aiden lowered to one hip and glanced sidelong at his master. “Yes. You should have.”

“What’s this?” Ryun knelt on the bed and crawled toward them. “Are you jealous?”

“Hardly.” Aiden slid one hand sensuously over his upper thigh.

Ryun chuckled. “Yes. You have treats Nera can’t offer.” He palmed Aiden’s soft sex and squeezed.

Aiden’s head tilted up, his eyes shuttering. But the look that came over his face was anything but pained.

Nera yelped when Ryun’s free hand wrapped around the back of her neck and pulled her to her knees and closer. “What? No shock?” Her forehead met his, nose one nose. She had to span one palm over his heart for balance. His breath fanned her face, heavy with the scent of spirits. He was drunk. “No protests?”

She swallowed. This close, she could sense the anger that simmered beneath his seemingly calm surface. Better to do what he wanted, no matter how it scared her. “N-no, master.”

He purred and tilted his head the better to brush his lips with hers. “I approve. Aiden, you’re a miracle worker.” His lips moved up her jaw to just below her ear.

“Thank you, my lord.”

Nera could glance down to see Ryun’s hand still on Aiden’s organ, massaging it. Aiden saw her watching and nodded encouragement.

After thoroughly exploring her ear with his tongue, Ryun tightened his grip on her hair and used it to force her head to the bend of his neck. “Kiss me here.”

She stared at his skin, so dark and hot. This close, she could see his thudding pulse. Tentatively, she pressed her lips to it.

“Good.” His fingers massaged her scalp, threatening. “More.”

Unsure what she was doing, Nera pressed her lips down the column of his neck, going where his hand guided her. When they reached his nipple within it’s light dusting of hair, he stopped her. “Open your mouth and suck on it.”

Trembling, her hands braced on his chest for balance, she did as he demanded, taking the hard, tiny bud between her lips. An odd feeling that stirred an odd thrill in her belly. Was that part of what Aiden had been taking about? One of her “strange” reactions?

“Hmm, you’ll have to work on that.”

He released her hair and crawled forward. She stayed kneeling as he turned and sat himself beside Aiden, his back supported by the abundance of purple and gold pillows. His organ was fully engorged and jutting upright and out from its nest of curls.”Now –” he beckoned to her with one hand and slid the other arm around Aiden’s shoulders, “– you’ll learn to suck cock.” He spread his knees.

Despite her decision to do what he wanted, she froze. What did he want her to do?

Ryun’s scowl had just started when Aiden scooted down his side. “Lie here, Nera –” he pointed between Ryun’s thighs, “on your belly.”

When she stared at him in shock, he nodded. As she obeyed him, he wrapped the fingers of one hand around the base of Ryun’s organ. He glanced up at Ryun. “You’ll forgive if we don’t try anything fancy?”

The scowl smoothed away as Ryun settled deeper in the pillows. “Just get on with it.” He folded his hands behind his head.

Aiden faced her again, his fist sliding up the stalk of Ryun’s organ, pushing loose skin toward the flared head. “Wrap your hand underneath mine on his cock, Nera.”

Astonished that her hand wasn’t shaking, her did so. The coarse nest of hair tickled the side of her palm.

“Good, now –” Aiden leaned in closer, using his free hand to hook his hair behind his ear and out of the way, “– watch.”

She did, amazed when his pink lips parted and he slid them over smooth skin. He let them sink until lips met his fist, then pulled them back up. The flushed skin he left behind was wet. “Make sure your mouth is wet and be careful of your teeth.” He did it again. “Use your tongue and be sure to suck at least a little. You try.”

She swallowed, meeting his gaze.

He nodded.

She bit her lip as she settled down and couldn’t help a glance up at Ryun. He was watching with slitted eyes. Taking a fortifying breath that filled her head with the musky scent of man, she opened her lips and lowered her head. Soft. Soft and firm over muscle hard.

“That’s it,” Aiden encouraged, “down to my fist.”

She did, which took the head of his thing — his cock? — almost to the back of her tongue. She tasted a burst of salt as she pulled her lips back toward the head.

“Use your tongue.”

For awhile, they followed that pace. Aiden’s soft voice encouraged her and Ryun’s hard cock was not as scary from this vantage. The texture and taste of him was almost intriguing. Then he started to tell her to go faster and harder. He took away his hand and encouraged her to wet more of the shaft with her saliva so she could use her hand as well. Ryun’s hips started to rock and glances up at him showed his eyes closed and his face tilted up, clearly enjoying what was happening.

“Enough.”

With just that warning, Ryun leaned forward and pulled her from his staff. She yelped as he tossed her onto her back and crawled over her. He grabbed her wrist with one hand and devoured her mouth as he lowered his hips between her thighs.

“We’ll work on that more later,” he assured her on a growl just before he shoved his cock inside her.

Shocked, she screamed. But it didn’t hurt. She was wet and the tingling pain she’d felt the night before was gone, leaving behind only the overwhelming, frightening rush of warmth and sizzle. Ryun held her down as he rammed his cock into her again and again. She grabbed onto the sheets beneath her and closed her eyes, determined to ride it out without crying. But the cry did come, even if there were no tears, pushed up and out of her lungs by an explosion in her groin. She shook and moaned as he continued his assault. When it was done, he pushed up to another angle and began it all again. She spotted Aiden lying beside them when once her eyes opened of their own accord. He simply watched, hand busy on his own cock, which was now hard and flushed dark pink.

Then Ryun was done with her. She lay, trying to quietly catch her breath as he braced over her, lost in the final traces of his release. Then, in one move, he pulled out of her and launched himself at Aiden. It looked for all the world as though Aiden caught him, arms sliding around his master as their lips locked. The kiss was hard and passionate and brief. Ryun tore away to slip down Aiden’s body until he could wrap his hand and lips around Aiden’s erect cock. Aiden groaned, one fist at his mouth and the other wrapped in the sheet as Ryun swallowed him down. Nera watched in stunned fascination as Aiden shook, cried. And Ryun swallowed it all down.

Grinning, Ryun pushed to his knees, wiping his mouth. “That’s how it’s done, Nera.” He spoke to her but his eyes were on the pale man lying before him.

Aiden brushed mussed hair from his face and met Ryun’s gaze with his normal calm, marred only a little by his rapid breathing and the pink flush to his face, neck and chest.

“Come.” Ryun patted Aiden’s thigh then turned and crawled from the bed. “Miyn,” he called as he gained his feet.

She appeared at the edge of the candlelight. “My lord?”

“Stay with Nera,” he stepped into his pants. “Make sure she has everything she needs.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Aiden rolled to his knees at Nera’s side.

Ryun continued. “Nera, there are six guards on the door and six more on the ground below the balcony.”

Aiden patted her cheek before crawling past her toward his clothing.

Ryun faced her, tying the laces on his trousers. “It doesn’t matter what my father says. You’re still mine. Do you understand?”

Wincing, she nodded.

“Good. If you obey me, we can have a pleasant time, like tonight.” He glanced at Aiden, who was pulling on his skirt. “But if you let Scarn take you again, I doubt you’ll enjoy the consequences.”

“Y-yes. Master.”

The addition of the title pleased him. “Leave off the robe,” he told Aiden as he started to walk toward the door, “you’ll just take it right off again. Grab my boots.”

Without comment, Aiden bent to grab the rest of his clothing and Ryun’s. “Good night, Nera. Miyn.”

WARNINGS: non-con

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

It was the first time Nera was alone — or, at least, aware of it — since her capture. She pressed her forehead to the raised arm of the couch and clutched her fingers to either side of her head. The tears stopped after only a short time, leaving behind an emptiness. Her body ached in new places but she couldn’t believe it was anything serious. She’d survive, in body if not in soul.

Why was this happening to her? Why had Buir forsaken her? Or had Buir been attacked by the gods of the sharif?

She was still kneeling on the couch when they arrived. Huddled under the cloak, she peeked up to see Miyn rush in followed by Aiden in a great sweep of light gray robes.

Aiden fell to his knees at her side, the sleeves of his robe falling back on his pale forearms as he reached to cup her jaw. She might have flinched but his striking beauty worked as a balm to her nerves. For some reason, he calmed her despite the worry lines that marred the fine arch of her brows. She saw obvious concern in his narrowed green eyes. “Nera, are you all right?”

She opened her mouth but didn’t know how to answer. She would not say she had been “all right” since she’d been taken from the temple.

After studying her face, Aiden didn’t wait for her answer. “Miyn, where did he touch her?” With one hand, he yanked the cloak down her body.

Miyn was at her other side, pulling it away. Nera felt gentle hands smooth over her bottom, gently parting it. “She’s not bleeding. He did take care to prepare her.”

“He took her ass? Gods.” Aiden scowled, shaking his head as his fingers tensed on Nera’s jaw. “I doubt Ryun will appreciate the nicety.” His attention returned to her face. “We need to get you out of here. Can you walk?”

Again she was unable to answer, a dry sob spilling from her lips rather than words.

With a curt nod, he quickly pulled the cloak back over her body. Gesturing for Miyn to step back, he urged Nera back onto her knees then lifted her into his arms, cloak and all. She was shocked at the strength in the slim arms that held her but chose to take comfort as he carried her from the room. His smell reminded her of fresh summer air and fragrant meadow breezes. She wrapped her arms around his neck as instructed and kept her face hidden in the hood of the cloak that Miyn arranged for her.

They returned to Ryun’s rooms without another word. Aiden set her on her feet at the edge of the sunken bath, keeping his hands close to steady her. “Can you stand?”

Eyes downcast, she nodded. Her legs were fine.

“You should bathe,” he instructed, removing the cloak from her person. “If there is pain, let either me or Miyn know and we can help to soothe it.”

She shook her head and kept her voice soft. “I’m all right.” The ache within her buttocks throbbed a little, but it was starting to fade.

He carried the cloak away. Miyn stepped up to release her sweaty hair from its knot atop her head while she untied the rope around her waist.

Aiden returned to stand before them, scowling. “How did this happen, Miyn?”

Nera couldn’t see the shorter woman who was still behind her. “He stopped us on the way to see Yosef.” Her voice was very quiet.

“You were just getting to that?”

“I-I wanted to let her sleep.” She helped Nera lift the green strip of fabric over her head. “She’s had a rough few days…”

“And now, thanks to you, it’s rougher.”

Nera glanced at the other woman as she stepped away but Miyn’s back was turned. “I’m sorry.”

“You can explain to Ryun.” He met Nera’s gaze and the ice in his emerald eyes softened a little. “Please, Nera.” He gestured to the warm water. “You’ll feel better.”

She doubted it, but she stepped into the water. If nothing else, she could wash away the sweat that coated her skin. As well as Scarn’s dried seed. The water felt wonderful, a comforting c

“Where is he?” Miyn asked, keeping her face downturned as she knelt by the bath’s shelf of oils and unguents.

“He went directly to the Sharif.”

Ducking her head under water, Nera gulped, frightened that an incident involving her had been taken to the ruler himself. She doubted any good could come of that.

She missed what Miyn said next, resurfacing to hear the tail end of Aiden’s answer.

“….be angry. How could he not?” Aiden opened the doors of a small armoire. “What, exactly, did Scarn say when he took her?”

Miyn wrung a soft cloth in her hands. “He wanted me to watch. He wanted my lord to know how he took her.”

“Of course he did. And because she wasn’t branded yet, he was within his rights.”

Miyn whimpered. “I’m sorry, my lord. If I had known…”

Aiden stopped her with a wave of his hand. “I know, I know. Your heart was in the right place in letting her sleep. We should have had her branded immediately but he…” He shook his head, pulling a bare white shift from the armoire. “Nevermind. There’s nothing to be done now but wait.”

Nera was washing her hair when Aiden answered a knock in the anteroom beside the bedroom. Miyn knelt quietly beside the side of the pool, waiting on Nera’s needs.

Nera waded close enough to see the tense fear on the other woman’s face. “What will he do?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

With a glance toward the anteroom where Aiden was now speaking in low tones with what sounded like another man, Miyn swallowed. “I’m not sure. I’ll probably go to the guards.”

Nera recalled Scarn making that threat. “What does that mean?”

Miyn’s lips pressed together. “I’ll be given to a group of guardsmen for a time for them to do what they will with me.”

The gold around Nera’s wrist clacked softly against the bath tiles as she startled. “A group of them?”

“Yes.”

“Will they…?” How could she say? Everything in this place seemed to be based on or around sex. If what Ryun and Scarn had done to her was considered pleasure, what would a punishment consist of?

Miyn almost met her eyes. Her gaze traveled most of the way toward Nera but halted at her shoulder. “Fuck me? Oh yes. Repeatedly and in many different ways. Depending on the group of men, a woman may never be the same again.”

Driven to console, Nera lay a wet hand on a knee bared by the short hem of Miyn’s dress. Miyn smiled sadly and covered the hand with hers.

Aiden returned in a soft rustle of robes, again frowning. “Nera, time to get out.”

Miyn stood to retrieve a drying cloth. “Is my lord returning?”

Nostrils flaring, Aiden stared at Nera as she started up the steps out of the pool. “No. We’re to take her to him. And the sharif.”

Nera froze, one foot dripping on the rim of the pool. “The Sharif?”

“Yes.” He bustled forward, clapping his hands. “Hurry, now. We can’t keep them waiting.”

* * * *

Aiden escorted Nera into the same or similar room to the one in which Nera had first seen the Sharif. Again she was led by a leash and covered with a floor-length cloak, but Aiden’s hand was not as heavy as Marken’s had been. Also, he walked beside instead of in front of her, guiding rather than leading.

The room was dimly lit, a number of candles burning in wall sconces around them. The men sat on pillows that surrounded the clear area where the glass contraption sat. Soft string music filled the air, played by musicians that were probably hidden behind the copious drapery that hid the walls. The sharif sat farthest from the door, holding a hose that extended from the center, smoke billowing around his head. He watched her approach, his rotund body draped in bright yellow silk that gaped open to reveal his bare chest. Fleshy bare legs crossed casually in front of him.

Only Scarn and Ryun were in the room with him. At least, they were all who could be seen. There could be others behind the thick hanging veils. Scarn sat not far from his father, at his leisure among the pillows. He was now bare from the waist up, a thick mat of hair making his chest one large shadow. His legs were stretched before him, his hands folded underneath his bald head. He turned to smile in her direction as she was led inside. Ryun was standing. Or, rather, pacing nearest the door. He wore a blue jerkin, tied loosely over his bare chest, above snug black trousers and shining black boots. His hair pulled back in a tail although many tendrils escaped, as though he’d pushed his hands through it. The red in his cheeks and the tension in his expression clearly showed his emotions.

As soon as they entered, he rushed toward them. Taking hold of Nera’s shoulders and standing in front of her to block her view of the room, he looked to Aiden. “Is she all right?”

“As far as I can tell, she’s unharmed, my lord.”

“Ha!” Scarn barked as Ryun held her head by the back of her neck and tilted it to get a better look. “I told you I didn’t break your new doll.”

Ryun scowled as he looked at her. In the bad lighting, his eyes were as black as Scarn’s and she finally saw the resemblance between them. She flinched, but that made his scowl deepen.

“You see, Ryun,” came the sharif’s rumbling baritone, “all has ended well.”

Snarling, Ryun snatched his hand away and spun about. “All is not right.” He stepped toward the center of the room. “He made free use of what is mine.”

Peeking up, Nera could clearly see Scarn’s evil smile. “Perhaps you should mark what’s yours.”

Ryun took a menacing step toward his brother. “You fucking bull sucker! I’m not having this stupid argument again.”

“Indeed, let’s not rehash this,” interrupted the sharif. A pile of pillows toppled as he shifted. “Bring the girl here.”

Ryun’s spine shot straight. “What?”

Nera could just see the gold rings flash on pudgy fingers as the sharif beckoned. “I said to bring the girl here.”

“Why?”

“I wish to see what prize puts my sons at each others’ throats.”

Ryun took a step back, obscuring much of Nera’s view of the room. “What’s put us at each others’ throats is that he seeks to take what is mine.”

“Wrong.” Scarn sat forward, elbows on his knees. “If I sought to take her, she would be in my rooms now. I only sampled her.”

“Without permission.”

“Enough.” Fat fingers snapped. “Here, Ryun. Don’t make me say it again.”

Nera clearly heard the echo of Scarn in his father’s words and swallowed. She couldn’t move and Ryun did not seem inclined. She didn’t expect Aiden to take her arm, lay a hand on her back and gently lead her forward. As they came abreast of Ryun, Aiden paused. The two men exchanged a glance over her head, then Aiden led her forward again.

Nera dropped her gaze but couldn’t help sneaking glances at the man they approached. He was bald but, unlike Scarn, he had a neatly trimmed black beard that lined the curve of his jaw and emphasized fleshy lips. His dark eyes matched Scarn’s exactly, making Nera wonder about Ryun’s mother, the source of his blue eyes. Aiden stopped a few feet in front of the sharif and dropped to his knees, taking her down with him. She descended gratefully to the carpet, ducking her head so the floor length cloak covered her.

“That is sufficient, boy. Up and take the leash and cloak with you.”

Since he’d not instructed her to rise, Nera remained on her knees, trembling despite the choking warmth of the room when Aiden removed the cloak from her back. She could feel three pairs of eyes on the bare skin of her back and mostly exposed buttocks. Aiden and Miyn had clad her in near worthless scraps of cloth similar to what she’d worn the previous day so much of her skin was on display. She could see her own breasts quivering as she shook.

“On your feet, girl.”

She rose as gracefully as she could, keeping her face downturned.

She saw the sharif shift closer, highly uncomfortable that the ruler of the land sat at her feet. “Lovely,” he mused. A rounded hand reached out to stroke her bare calf. “She is well formed but I see nothing particularly special about her.”

“Father,” Ryun barked, boots scuffing as he stepped forward, “this isn’t necessary.”

Nera cast her eyes sideways as the sharif edged yet closer. His fingers closed on one tie of the fabric that barely covered her sex. “But it is necessary,” he purred. A tug and the fabric fell away, exposing the curls of her mound to him, just about level with his face. She whimpered, clutching her hands behind her back as he extended a finger to trace the crease of her thigh where it met those curls.

“Father!”

Nera jumped as four men materialized from behind the hangings spread out along the back walls. None of the men were armed, but all were bare chested with muscles upon muscles. Nera would not have been surprised if they were giants of lore that she heard when she was a child.

“Be still, Ryun.” The sharif caught her shin, preventing her from moving away. “Behave yourself and I might let you have her.”

“You already let me have her.”

“And you were careless.” The sharif patted the outside of her thigh. “Come, girl.” He sat back in his pillows and patted a stone ledge behind them. “Come sit here.”

“Father, I won’t stand for this.”

The sharif’s attention focused on his son as Nera took the trembling steps necessary to obey. “I don’t see that you have a choice in the matter.”

As she sat on a sumptuous red and gold pillow, Nera chanced a glance at Ryun. He stood at the opposite side of the circle, steaming, fists at his sides. Aiden stood just behind him, eyes averted, a sad look on his delicate features.

“You just expect me to watch?”

The sharif turned his back to his son. “I don’t much care what you do.” He smiled at Nera as he lay soft hands on her trembling knees. “Open up, my dear.”

“Please.” She heard the whisper spill from her lips before she could stop it.

It made him pause. “Please?” he asked with an indulgent smile. “My dear girl, you needn’t beg.” He chuckled as he gently pushed her legs apart. “Not yet.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scarn scoot toward them, positioning himself for a better view. She bit her lip and leaned on her elbows when the sharif’s pudgy hand pushed her back. One of the hulking men remained just behind her, a menacing shadow just out of sight.

The sharif leaned toward her sex and drew in a deep, loud breath. “Oh, yes. An intoxicating scent, no doubt.” He slid one hand up the inside of her thigh and made her gasp when he drew that thumb through her wet folds. “And wet already?”

Scarn chuckled. “I believe she’s like that, father. She creamed when I took her ass too.”

“You took her…!” Ryun’s cry was cut off as Aiden grabbed his arm.

The sharif’s attention remained on Scarn, one brow raised. “Oh? It was her first time?”

“Must have been.”

His thumb still resting at her core, the sharif turned his torso enough to look at his younger son. “Was she wet when you first forced her?”

Ryun cut off a heated exchange with Aiden. “Forced her?”

“Let’s not mince words, Ryun. You couldn’t have taken her with consent. She wouldn’t have given it. Besides, her screams were heard.”

Nera winced, feeling a flush of shame redden her face and neck.

Ryun growled and started to move forward but Aiden caught his arm. The prince and his man exchanged more angry, hissing words that Nera couldn’t make out.

“Ryun,” the sharif snapped. “Answer me.”

Their heated exchange clipped short, Ryun faced his father, fists at his sides. “Yes. She was wet. And she came like a storm, despite her protests.”

The sharif turned back around, interest lighting his pudgy face. “Interesting.” His thumb pressed inside Nera and she couldn’t help the tremor that took her over nor the way her eyelids dropped low over her eyes. “Very interesting.” Without removing his finger, he settled lower, bringing his face closer to her core. “And we have more of these priestesses below?”

“No,” she cried, disturbed by the low rasp to her voice. “Please, my lord, please don’t do… this to them.”

The sharif smiled as Scarn leaned closer, intrigued.

“Are they like you, my dear?” the sharif asked.

She gasped as he shoved more of his thumb inside her. Even she could smell the rich scent that wafted up from her folds. “I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“Highly sexed.” He brought his other hand into play, pinching that tiny bud of trapped fire that lived between her thighs.

She cried out when her hips bucked.

He kept rubbing that spot, also rubbing her with his thumb from the inside. “Are they?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

“You know that for sure? You’re different?”

It was difficult to think with him massaging her like that. “I-I’m not different.”

“Then they are like you.”

“I don’t know,” she whispered, clutching desperately at the pillows beneath her as growing familiar fire burst low in her belly.

“Hmm.” Watching her face, he picked up the pace with his hands, rubbing her furiously, fanning that flame.

She cried out to the ceiling when that wash of feeling spread through her limbs.

“So very responsive,” the sharif mused calmly, withdrawing his hands. She looked down to see him lapping at the wet on his fingers. “Rich and delicious. Oh yes, I see what it is now. Tazim!”

He held her knees as another man stepped out of the darkness. This one was fully dressed in pale yellow and rich gold. He stopped at the lip of the sunken center of the room and bowed. “My lord?”

“Find every priestess from the temple this one came from. What god was it?”

She only briefly considered giving him an incorrect answer, but instantly judged that folly. “Buir.”

“Yes, Buir. Find every priestess from that temple and have them cleaned up and isolated. I wish to personally inspect each one. Understood?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Go.”

“Father,” Scarn was sitting now just two arm lengths away, “I’d be happy to help with that inspection.”

The sharif’s attention was on Nera’s sex as he used two thumbs to spread her open. “I’m sure you would. We’ll have to see about that.”

“Father, no!” Ryun cried as the sharif bent forward.

But father ignored son. Nera whimpered, biting her lip when his tongue dragged through her folds. Unintentionally, she met Ryun’s gaze and the angry accusation she saw there scared her enough to look away. But the hungry lust she saw in Scarn’s eyes was not any better. Nor was the barely concealed lust she saw in the guards who ranged behind him. She recalled what Miyn had said about being sent to guards as punishment. She could well believe a night with such men could ruin a women. With nowhere to look, she closed her eyes and tried to tamp the fire that raced in her blood.

But she couldn’t. The sharif’s lips and tongue allowed her no quarter. He held her and speared her and ate at her and she cried and shook under the terrible heat. At one point, she fell back, clutching pillows, her back arching as wave upon wave of dark lightning seared through every muscle in her body, seizing them and rocking her. Even once she’d collapsed in a breathless, boneless heap, the sharif continued to lap at her, suckling and lapping until her body simply would no longer move.

At long last, the sharif pushed away from her. Since her eyes were closed and would not open, she only felt the retreat of the heat between her legs. A pat on her thigh. “Ah!” His satisfied sigh would have made her wince. “Yes. That was quite delicious.”

She wanted to move. She wanted to close her legs, all to aware that with him gone she was blatantly on display to the room.

“Father.” Ryun’s voice was strained. “May I take my possession back now?”

“Mmmm. Yes.”

A flurry of movement. Nera managed to pull her legs together and rise to her elbows by the time Aiden reached her. She was profoundly glad it was him and not Ryun. He took care with the cloak and was gentle as he helped her to sit.

“However.” All movement paused and everyone’s attention turned to the sharif. The fat man sat back in his pillows again, one of the mouthpieces of the room’s central glass ornament at his mouth. He inhaled then exhaled a cloud of fragrant smoke before continuing. “You may not brand her.”

Ryun, still on the opposite side of the room, straightened. “What?”

Scarn sat forward, interested.

The sharif smiled. “You may take her but you may not mark her as yours.”

“But she is mine.” The words leaned more toward question than statement.

“No. You may have her as long as you can keep her.”

“Father, that’s unacceptable.”

The sharif took another puff of the strange pipe. “I could take her from your possession altogether. I’m sure Scarn would agree to my terms.”

Scarn chuckled.

Ryun’s hands fisted as Aiden helped Nera to her feet. Blue eyes fixed on her. “Fine.”

The sharif chuckled, then held out a hand as Aiden began to lead Nera past him. “Girl, what is your name?”

She couldn’t help how she huddled close under Aiden’s arm. “N-Nera.”

“Nera. We shall meet again, you and I. Meantime, I want you to be aware of your status.”

She felt Aiden tense.

The sharif continued. “The bonds you wear on your feet, ankles and neck mark you as a pleasure slave of the highest order. You command the obedience of women who wear only a leather collar.”

Like Miyn, she thought.

“The lack of a nobleman’s brand, however, makes you fair game to any man.” He cocked his head to the side, dark eyes bright as he held her gaze. “Any man in the palace. Understood?”

Her eyes went wide and she just managed to nod.

He smiled. “Good.” He sat back. “Choose wisely where you can.”

This is part 4. You should go back and read parts 1, 2 and 3 to get the story so far.

WARNING: non-consensual sex ahead. Stop now if that squicks you.

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

She must have dozed for she woke in his arms. The fading sunlight streaming through the open balcony doors showed that the horrid afternoon had yet to end.

She tried not to move, not to give him any indication that she was awake. His heavy breathing suggested he was asleep but she had no idea how lightly he slept. The heat of his body seared her entire backside. The side of her face ached from his slap and the place between her legs still throbbed with awareness of the way he’d split her open.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

She lay for as long as she could but the needs of nature intruded. She didn’t dare soil the fine, soft sheets of his bed. As carefully as she could, she tried to ease out from under the arm that banded her waist.

She didn’t get very far before the arm curled around her, securing her back against the muscles of his chest.

“Where are you going?”

“Please,” she cried, fingers on the forearm that threatened to make her pee faster. “I need to …” Helplessly, she pointed toward the folded screen in the corner.

He grunted. His lips brushed over her neck before he released her. “Don’t have any thoughts about the balcony. Not only are we three stories up, but I’m watching you.”

She nodded, biting her lip as she rolled to a seated position. She winced at the unexpected ache in her legs. She stood and gasped when her knees threatened to buckle.

A dry chuckle sounded behind her. “Do you need help?”

She shook her head, grabbing one of the four posts that stood at each corner of the huge bed. “No.”

She screamed when he shot up and grabbed her wrists, spinning her back to face him. “No what?”

Her eyes went wide, searching his cruelly handsome face. At a loss for what he wanted. “I… I…”

Finger and thumb grabbed her chin and shook her. “’Master’, Nera. You’ll call me ‘master’.”

She blinked, felt more tears flow down her cheeks. “M-master.”

His thumb brushed aside tears as he nodded. “Good. Don’t forget.”

She nodded, hastily stepping back when he released her. She stumbled, almost fell, but caught herself. Spinning, she sped for the folded screen and the illusion of security it provided. As she sat, she stared through bleary eyes at the shackles encircling her wrists and ankles. She recalled that he’d spoken of branding. He couldn’t possibly mean that, could he?

Her peaceful life as a priestess of Buir was clearly over. She couldn’t go back now even if the temple itself still remained. She was ruined for service.

A door opened. She looked through the slightly open weave of the folding screen to see two people enter, one of them carrying a large, covered platter.

“Nera,” Ryun called, “stop hiding. Come out and eat.”

Steeling herself, she peeked around the edge of the screen. The two people proved to be Aiden and a woman. The woman was dressed in a short, sheer dress that barely concealed her nudity. She wore a studded white leather collar around her neck. Her shining black hair was pulled back into a simple, thick tail that extended partially down her back. She glanced at Nera, displaying huge eyes that were a startling gold color.

“Nera.” Ryun distracted Nera from watching the woman fuss over the platter. She turned to see him stepping into the tub in the corner of the room. “Come wash before we eat.”

She hesitated, unwilling to traipse naked around the screen to him, but his glare warned her that punishment would follow if she disobeyed. Keeping her head down, she scurried around the screen to the sunken tub.

She gasped when he hauled her into his arms. “Ignore them, Nera.” He cupped her cheek in his hand, forcing her to look up at him. “I am the center of your world now.”

She swallowed.

His nostrils flared but he let it go. He let her go.

She stepped away, cringing when he caught hold of her braid.

“Wash,” he told her as his fingers set to work to free her hair.

As best she could, she obeyed. They were close enough to the small set of shelves set in the wall that she could reach a cloth. She wet it and used it to wipe sweat and sexual aftermath from her body.

When he was done with her hair, he gathered it up and knotted it atop her head. “Keep it dry,” he told her, turning to see to rinsing his own skin.

She edged toward the side of the tub as he did so, peeking a glance to see that the woman had set the platter on a low table at the foot of the bed and she and Aiden waited quietly to either side of it.

Ryun left the tub without so much as a glance at her. “Aiden, what have you brought me?” He grabbed a thick, large cloth and used it to dry himself. A turn and a snap of his fingers toward Nera told her she needed to follow his example.

Meekly, she left the water as he strode naked across the room to inspect the contents of the tray. By the time she was dry, he was excusing Aiden and the girl.

“Wait.”

The two halted by the door.

“Nera, that is Miyn. She’s going to come for you tomorrow with or without Aiden. You’re to do as she says.”
Nera met the golden-eyed gaze of the shorter woman and thought she saw sympathy. She certainly saw a small smile.

Ryun snapped his fingers. “All right. Go.”

They left.

Ryun climbed up onto the silken sheets, kneeling at the foot of the bed beside the tray. He was spectacularly unconcerned with the fact that he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. “Nera, come eat.”

When she would have stood across the table from him, he gave her a stern look and pointed to the mattress before him. “Here.”

She went, sitting primly on her heels. The tray was set with a number of bowls. She recognized the sliced fruit and some of the tangy raw tubers, but the bit and pieces swimming in sauces were beyond her. There were no utensils. Unsure what to do and unwilling to spark his ire, she waited.

Ryun reached over to fish a cubed piece of meat from a rich, brown sauce with thick fingers. Nera watched, wide eyed, as he lifted it to her lips. Sauce dribbled on her thighs.

He grinned darkly at her surprise. “Open up, Nera.”

He was going to feed her?

She opened her mouth and he popped the morsel inside, smearing tangy sauce on her lips.

“Leave it,” he told her when she would have reached up to wipe thick brown liquid from her chin. “Until you learn to behave, you will eat at my discretion,” he informed her. He curled his dry hand around the back of her skull and pulled her close.

She whimpered softly when he licked her mouth clean.

He pulled back, staring into her eyes. “You are mine and little more than a pet until I decide otherwise. Do you understand me?”

She chewed the food, hardly tasting any of it.

Taking her quiet as acquiescence, he fed himself and her, alternating bites from different bowls. She came to the conclusion that he deliberately made a mess, letting sauce and juice ooze down her body so he could lick it off. She tried to keep her distance, tried to be limp and unresponsive, but his touch sparked that uncomfortable ache below her skin.

He pushed her back roughly, causing her to tumble onto the mattress. “Stay there.” He grabbed a bowl of a rich sweet concoction that was mostly pulped fruit and juice.

She gasped when he carefully tilted the bowl over her chest.

“Be still,” he snapped, even if he did grin.

She couldn’t help the small moan that escaped as cool liquid dribbled over her chest, between her breasts and down her sides. She didn’t even want to know what the orange-gold juice did to the silken sheets below her, just hoped that he would not blame her for any mess. He continued to pour down the center of her belly, into her navel and even down into the thatch of hair between her legs. He sat back and smiled down at her with seeming satisfaction. Leaving her there, he turned to return the bowl to the table. When he came back, he braced on all fours over her body. She closed her eyes when he lowered his head and began the slow task of lapping sweet juice from her body. She squirmed when he slid his lips up to the point of one nipple.
“You’re delicious, Nera,” he whispered over her skin and he dipped down into the valley between her breasts.
She whimpered when he caught the other nipple, clutching her hands in the sheets beneath her.

His lapped down her side, finding a ticklish spot that made her jump. She bit her lip over a yelp. He came back up to devour her belly, all the while keeping his body braced above hers. He touched her only with mouth, chin and nose. His tongue spent long moments delving into her navel, making sure it was clean. He nipped at the small swell of her belly below her navel. Only when he reached the curls between her legs did he touch her with his hands. Shifting back, he placed big palms on her thighs and nudged them apart. When she almost resisted, he slapped her thigh. Clenching her eyes shut, she spread her legs. She gasped to feel his lips at her curls. She bit her lip, unwilling to believe what he was doing as he lapped at the sticky layer of fruit juice that coated her.

“You’re wet again, Nera,” he murmured, fingers digging into the tender flesh inside her thighs as he pushed her legs up and further apart. “How can you deny that you enjoy this?”

She didn’t! She flung her head to the side, dug her chin into her shoulder, wanting to deny the agonizing heat his breath and touch caused.

When his mouth closed over sensitive, pulsing flesh, Nera was helpless against the moan that tore through her. Her back arched and her fingers tore into the sheets beneath her as his tongue swiped tender tissues and his lips sealed onto her. He started sucking, hard, holding Nera’s legs splayed and open when she fought to close them. She had to close them. He was eating her. He was devouring her. She had to stop him.

Her back bent the other way and her hands came up to sink into his hair. His figners bit into her thighs and he sucked harder.

“Stop!” she begged, eyes flying open to see his face, half-hidden between her thighs.

His startling blue eyes locked on hers but he didn’t lift his head. If anything, the sucking increased.

“Gods, stop! Please stop!” she begged, her fingers flexing in his hair. But she wasn’t quite brave enough to pull. He’d hurt her. More than he hurt her now. This was unbearable but this was… If he hit her, that was a different ache. She wanted neither, but… “Please.”

No. She saw the answer in his eyes. He was doing exactly what he wanted and she couldn’t stop him.

She shook, her body quaking underneath his onslaught. Her hips rolled, trying to pull away, but pushing back when there was no further to go. A spark lit off in her belly and she screamed as brutal fire spilled down her legs and flashed in her groin. Her body, her flesh convulsed and still he didn’t let go. He held her through it. When her convulsions quieted somewhat, he stopped sucking only to apply his tongue to a white-hot point at the apex of her sex. The touch had her crying again, flinging her arms aside and clutching sheets to avoid tearing out his hair. She flung her head from side to side, no, no, no! Her toes curled, her hips pumped up and down. She lost all control of her body and hid her sanity in a tiny, dark corner of her brain.

She wasn’t sure when he stopped. The ache was a pulsing storm along her spine, especially hot at the base of her spine, in the cradle of her hips. He pushed up to his knees between her thighs, his lips tilted into a smug grin, his cheeks and chin coated and shiny. She could only watch, dazed, as he reached for his organ, now fully hard and purple. She couldn’t even summon protest as he took it in hand and aimed it at her core. She was already sore and aching, his thing couldn’t make it worse.

But when he pushed in, putting his weight behind it as he fell forward to brace on his arms over her, she found she was wrong. It could make it worse. That thing inside her seemed a hundred times larger than it had before, forging through tissues made extra sensitive from his oral onslaught. She arched and screamed as the brutal fire alit anew, spilling up her body and burning her to the tips of her hair.

He laughed, pressing forward and pulling back. His silky hair fell forward as he let his head drop. The thighs underneath hers bunched with the effort of his pounding thrusts into her body.

Her throat was raw from screaming and her body exhausted and limp before he was done. She lay beneath him, arms and legs spread, her head averted and eyes closed as he continued to forge into her body. “Nera.” At long last, he shuddered above her, holding tense and almost still save for the twitching of his hips. He was like that for a long, silent moment before the tension left his body with a long sigh.

Continuing the experiment and the non-con starts.

This loosely goes with this series of images.

See the previous two chapters about how this one is mainly stream of conscious.

WARNING: non-consensual sex.

As for Aiden *sigh*. You really didn’t think I could get through a story anymore without one amazingly pretty man, did you? Oh no. I’m afraid the yaoi bug has me in its firm grip.

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

He pushed up off her spent body. She couldn’t have struggled if she tried. The fire had consumed her limbs and she fully expected to deteriorate and die on the spot.

Her eyes closed, she could only guess at his movements. But her guess told her that he’d moved from the bed.

Why wasn’t she dead?

She opened her eyes to see him cross the room, staggering just a bit, to a table on which sat a few bottles and glasses. He grabbed one and poured golden liquid into a glass then drank it all in one gulp. He muttered then repeated the process.

After the second drink, he took a breath, slammed down bottle and glass, and turned back to her.

Framed by fading sunlight streaming in through door open to a balcony to the right, he was beautiful. She could admit that. He reminded her of the stallions she’d seen in the herd that roamed the valley to the east of the temple. They were sleek, magnificent creatures, as was he.

He padded back to the bed. Realizing that she was not dying, Nera attempted to sit up. She managed to get to her elbows before he sank to kneel beside her. She didn’t have the energy to cringe away.

“What’s your name?”

She swallowed.

He reached out to grab her chin, making her look up at him. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Nera.”

“Nera.” He tried the name out on his tongue and seemed to like it. “I am Ryun, but you’ll call me ‘master’. Is that understood?”

She swallowed, but when his eyes narrowed, she nodded.

“Master?” The voice wasn’t hers. She gasped on hearing the second male voice.

Ryun twisted to look toward the main door to the suite.

Nera grabbed a few of the pillows and hugged them to her nakedness.

The voice had been masculine but that was all that told Nera the person who stood in the opening was male. Slim and elegant with spun sunlight hair falling in gentle waves to the waist of his ice blue robe. The face that regarded them was a thing of beauty, a delicate beauty unlike Ryun’s hard, masculine beauty.

“Aiden,” Ryun greeted, “Just in time. Or were you watching.”

The emerald eyes in that angel’s face closed briefly, demure. “Listening, my lord. I did not wish to interrupt.”

“Good.” Ryun glanced down at Nera. “Come and meet Nera, the first of my harem.”

The light golden vision glided closer. He was pale. Far more pale than Nera’s dusky complexion. She could only guess that he had been abducted from one of the frozen countries to the north.

“Indeed, my lord?” The smooth voice sounded amused.

“Indeed. Do you approve?”

The green eyes were framed with lashes the color of snow and they regarded her seriously. “She’s quite lovely, my lord.”

Ryun smacked the outside of her thigh. “And an amazing fuck!” He laughed.

Aiden smiled.

Nera hid her face in a pillow.

“You’ve embarrassed her, my lord.”

“I’ll do more than that. I want her branded tomorrow, see to it. And I want my mark on her bonds. She’s likely to bolt.”

Nera raised her head in shock. Brand? Cattle were branded.

“Bolt, my lord?”

“She resisted me.” He glowered at her. “And I think she’ll do so again.” His smile was dark. “But she was gushing the entire time.

This one’s special, I think.” He rounded on the other man. “But that is not to become common knowledge.”

The pale man raised a long-fingered hand to lay it delicately on his chest. “Would I do such a thing, my lord?”

“You would, if I told you not.”

Pale pink lips twisted into an annoyed moue.

“Nera, this is Aiden. He is my servant. My most trusted servant. You are to obey him as you obey me, do you understand?”

A small squeak popped off in the back of her neck, but she nodded.

Ryun regarded her thoughtfully. His eyelids dropped and his mouth quirked into a small grin. He reached a hand down and her eyes widened to see that monster rising again.

He stroked it slowly as he spoke to Aiden, watching her the entire time. “Aiden, go order us some supper. We’ll both need sustenance. Make it anything that doesn’t require utensils.”

“Yes, my lord.” Amusement laced the blond’s voice. “Will there be anything else?”

“See to the branding and the new bonds. Get Miyn and have her attend Nera tomorrow for clothing and such.”

Aiden bowed, loose hair brushing the pillows on the bed. “Yes, my lord.” He turned and left.

Nera clutched pillows, edging away.

“Where are you going, Nera?”

“Please, don’t.”

“Don’t? But you enjoyed it the last time.”

Vehemently, she shook her head. “No.”

“No?” He blinked in shock. “You were gushing cream. Your tight little cunt gripped me like a python. You were coming all over me.”

She blinked.

He smiled. “Oh, yes. You and I are going to have quite a bit of fun.” He lunged across the bed at her.

She shrieked, instinct hurling her aside away from him. She wasn’t fast enough. He caught her arm and pulled her back. Neatly, he flipped her onto her belly.

“Let me enlighten you about sex, my lovely Nera,” he purred into her ear, his chest pinning her to the mattress. “That wet in you cunt means you’re enjoying it.”

She shook her head, groaning as his knees forced her legs apart.

“If you didn’t enjoy it, you’d be dry and I’d really have hurt you. But, as it was, you were wetter than a trained courtesan.”

She didn’t know all the words he tossed at her, but she could guess. It didn’t matter. His words meant little since he was again aiming that thing between his legs, brushing it against her moist folds.

“You’re wet again, Nera. Or still. I think you like the struggle.”

“No! You’re wrong. I don’t like it.”

“Too bad,” he mused, forging forward.

She mewled as the head of the thing breached her.

He hummed, the sound vibrating the back of her neck as he ghosted lips across her nape. “Because I think fucking you has just become my very favorite thing.”

He pushed in, shoving a mangled shout from her throat.

The angle of the thing rubbed something inside her in a different way than before. She clutched the pillows and sheets beneath her, trying to ease the shudders that quaked her body.

“You see?” he purred, pulling out slowly and pushing back in. “That shaking. That quivering. Nera, some women never feel this.”

Lucky them!

He rocked over her slowly, the crisp hair at the base of his monster tickling her rear end. The pressure from his weight rubbed her breasts and aching nipples against the pillows beneath her. She groaned, willing it all to stop. What he said couldn’t be true.

This agony could not be a good thing. It wouldn’t stop! The heat and the pressure within her were unbearable. She squirmed, trying to alleviate it, trying to make it all go away, but he was there, he was inside her. The length of the thing butted up against something deep within her.

“No,” she groaned, clutching pillow, tilting her hips to try and break the angle that made him rub that aching spot.

“Gods, Nera,” he groaned, hunching over her. He yanked her hips up a little higher, shoving his knees underneath her somewhat to get a different angle.

She cried out. Oh no, this made it worse! He held her hips in big, strong hands and forced her up and down over that thing inside her, stroking it with her inner walls as easily as he’d earlier stroked it with his hand.

Her body shook again and she bit the pillow to smother her scream.

“Gods, Nera, yes!” he shouted, slamming her down on his groin one last time. This time she felt the pressure within her. Felt him fill her with his seed.

Gods! Was she pregnant now?

Continuing the experiment. Here’s where the non-con starts.

This loosely goes with this series of images.

See chap #1 for warning on how I’m writing this one.

WARNING: non-consensual sex in this chapter. Stop now if that squicks you.

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

He carried her back down the same corridor and up the flight of stairs. Again, no one stopped them or spoke to him. Nera tried to adjust so that the thick meat of his shoulder didn’t dig quite so badly into her belly, but the sleek skin of his back didn’t allow much purchase. His soft, loose hair tickled her side. One big arm was wrapped securely about her thighs and she gasped in shock when his free hand came up to caress her buttock.

“Oh yes. We’re going to have some fun,” he murmured.

They passed what she thought was the door to the original bathing chamber and mounted another flight of stairs. Her braid trailed loose over her shoulder, slapping against his tight rear end as he hurried along the carpeted passage.

At last, he opened a door and went through it, kicking it closed as they passed through.

Nera gasped when the world spun and she just managed to catch herself on her elbows as she landed toward the middle of a huge mattress. Pillows in varying shades of green and gold tumbled around her.

“What’s your name, beauty?”

She cried out, shocked to find him kneeling at her feet. She snatched her ankle away from him without conscious thought. It made him frown.

“Please!” she cried, backing away. “Please. Let me go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“I’m a vestal virgin of Buir. I… I can’t…”

“Vestal virgin?” He frowned, then it cleared. “Oh yes. That awful, filthy temple that we destroyed. You can’t be serious!”

She bristled. Her retreat halted when her back met up with one of the thinly padded walls that made up two sides of the bed. “I serve Buir.”

The blue eyes were nearly hidden under heavy eyelids as the man dropped down to all fours to crawl toward her. “Not anymore. Now you serve Ryun.”

“No!” she flung out a hand, palm toward him. “You don’t understand. I…”

He grabbed her ankle and yanked.

She cried out, falling to her back.

He crawled over her. He actually didn’t touch her, but the overpowering maleness of him covered her like a stifling blanket.

“I understand. You’ve been raised to serve some worthless godling who thinks to keep the virginity of the best of women to himself. It’s appalling. We won’t have it.”

“But…”

“But nothing. Listen well, beauty. Your temple is gone, razed to the ground. Everyone who worshiped your godling is either dead or soon to be serving as a slave here in this palace or the surrounding city. Your life, as it was, is over.” He paused, making sure that she heard him. Then he smiled, propping on one hand so that he could lift the other to smooth the backs of his fingers over her chin. “Your new life can be quite grand if you cooperate.”

“If…?”

He stopped her words with fingers to her lips. “If you cooperate. But know this. I don’t require your cooperation. The virginity that you’ve clung to is about to be a thing of the past. Now—“ He lowered his rear end, sitting on her thighs just above her knees. “—this can be easy and pleasurable for us both. Or, it can be hard and pleasurable for me only.” He smiled at her but she had no doubt he wasn’t joking. “Which will it be?”

He lowered his head toward hers. Her eyes got wide, unable to believe what was about to happen. He was going to kiss her. She knew kissing. But this was wrong. This wasn’t what was supposed to be!

His lips brushed hers and she exploded. There was nothing she could do and at heart she knew that, but she still fought. She scrambled to push him off, tried to buck him away. Her broken nails scraped at his bare shoulders, tearing skin.

Cursing, he struggled to catch her flailing arms. Her legs were immobile beneath him. It took a moment, but he had her wrists secure in one of his and slammed them to the mattress above her head. He scowled down at her. “I’ll take that as your answer.”

She cried out when he took hold of her jaw with his free hand but her words of protest were swallowed by the mouth he crashed down over hers. It was brutal and it hurt. She screamed denial around his tongue. Terror of his retribution alone kept her from biting the tongue that he forced between her teeth.

Her struggles had loosened the leather bands about her breasts. Without breaking the kiss, he slid his free hand down her neck and yanked the leather to free her breasts completely. He caught hold of one globe, fitting as much as he could into his huge hand and squeezed. Her angry cry became one of pain.

Tearing his mouth from hers, he hovered over her, spearing her gaze with his. “Fight me and it makes this worse,” his rough voice promised her. “Trust me, beauty, it’s not me who won’t like it.”

“Stop! Buir, please!”

“Fuck your dead godling!” he cursed, pinching her nipple so hard that her cries renewed. “He’s not going to help you.”

He released her breast and reached down, finding the worthless straps that banded her hips. Obviously more familiar with the garment than she, he had the whole thing loose with a few tugs. He dug thick, cruel fingers between her thighs.

She howled, her entire body spasoming, arching, when he touched her core. Horrible aching filled her belly and exploded, shimmering over her skin. She convulsed beneath him, certain her death was at hand.

But she didn’t die. The convulsions ceased and she subsided beneath him, tears dribbling down her temples.

He was frozen above her. One hand still held her wrists above her head and the other was still buried between her thighs, but he didn’t move. Not until she almost had her breath. Not until she turned her eyes to meet his.

Then he smiled.

“Oh, beauty, is that what they train into the priestesses of Buir?”

She frowned.

“You don’t even know, do you?”

She gasped when he wiggled the fingers at her core. An echo of that horrible feeling started to build again.

“You’re wet and primed, my beauty. I wonder what your godling really had in store for you.”

Wet? What did he mean? That place he touched was always moist and damp.

He spoke no more. The hand between her thighs pulled away, fingers glistening with her dew. To her complete amazement, he brought the fingers to his mouth and sucked them. The look of utter enjoyment on his face baffled her, as did the groan that rumbled his chest. “Beauty, you taste of Elysian. I’ll have to taste you more later.” He dropped his hand to the waist of his trousers, unlacing.

Her eyes went wide and she cried in terror to see the thing that sprang from his trousers. She understood now what men wanted to bury between a woman’s thighs. But there was no way that would fit. “No!”

“Oh yes.”

They struggled as he repositioned, getting his hips between her legs. Finally, in frustration, he backhanded her across the face. As she lay stunned, he wedged in between her thighs, holding one of them so that she was open to him. He still held her wrists above her head.

He groaned as he lowered that thing and dragged it lengthwise through her folds.

She shuddered as that all encompassing tingle pulsed low in her belly.

“So hot,” he muttered, pulling back and pushing forward again. “So gods be damned wet.” He sounded almost pained. The hand gripping her thigh left to grab hold of the python growing from a patch of thick, curly hair at his groin.

“No!” she screamed, watching as he pointed the plum-sized head at her opening.

“Oh yes.”

He shoved forward.

Pain curled her backward, crushing her breasts against the solid wall of chest looming over her. Instinctively, her legs curled around him, her heels thumping the meat of his flexing buttocks. She screamed, drowning out his crying gasp.

Pain subsided to that pulsing fiery feeling. She whimpered as he fed it, pulling that monster mostly out of her body then shoved it back in. It abraded her insides, building flames that ignited in her belly and shot through her limbs. She shuddered and screamed, her legs clutching, her body trying to evict the invader before the flame consumed her.

She barely heard his panting cries. Didn’t open her eyes to see his pained pleasure as his body slammed frantically into hers.

She didn’t hear the muttered curses. Her scream as the fire expanded to consume her drowned out his own shocked bellow of release.

This loosely goes with a series of images that I started a few years ago and have lately been playing with again. They can be seen here.

Fair warning I have no end in mind for this. Really. I’m just kind of writing. There’s no special climax I’m working for nor a set goal I’ve got for “ending” the story. This is just kind of going along. I don’t really know how far I’m going to take this. It could go far or it could stop after a few installments. Might depend on if people like it or not *g*

I hope you like.

WARNING: non-consensual sex in future chapters. Stop now if that squicks you.

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

Nera stumbled forward and fell to her knees on the smooth, hard tiles of the bathing chamber floor. Frightened, she scrambled to the side, anxious to avoid the man behind her.

He stood just inside the doorway, the thick rough blue silk of his robe settling about his tall frame. He pointed to the sunken bath. “Wash yourself.”

She stared at him, eyes wide. “Please, tell me what…”

He raised a hand, back of the palm to her, poised to deal another blow.

She cringed back against the bench carved into the wall.

“Do not question. Obey and you will be treated well. Disobey and you will not. Do you understand?”

She swallowed over a choking sob and nodded.

“Good. Now, strip out of those filthy rags and bathe.”
She used the bench to push herself to her feet. She walked to the edge of the pool and put her hands to the lacing of her dirty green robe. When she didn’t hear the door close, she glanced over her shoulder.

He still stood there. He grimaced. “Disrobe, woman.”

“But…”

“Your modesty has no place here. You have been captured. You are chattel. You will do as you’re told.”

Fat tears fell from her eyes as she put her back to him. Never before had she been naked before a man. Rarely had she been naked in the presence of other women. With shaking hands, she untied the lacing at her throat and pulled open the neckline her calf-long tunic. She let the filthy, ripped garment slip off her shoulders and fall in a heap at her feet. What once had been comfortable, clean vestments was now just dirty laundry. Trying to ignore the man behind her, she unhooked the wrap around her large breasts and unwrapped the band from her torso. That, too, she let fall. Last, she unbuttoned the light, cotton bloomers from her waist and let them slide down her legs.

“Leave them there.” She flinched at hearing his harsh words, freezing when she began to kneel to pick up her garments. “Step into the tub and wash yourself.”

Fighting sobs, she stepped down the first step, her feet secure on the slightly textured surface of the blue and white tiles. The water was warm, far more so than the tiny baths back at the temple. In truth, the entire room was a luxury she had never dreamed of. This bathing chamber was every bit as large as the main hall where she and her fellow priestesses had taken meals every night. The sunken pool itself was approximately the size of her cell, with two submerged benches every bit as big as her cot. On the other end of the room from the bath was a large vanity table with a padded stone bench before it. Scenes of aquatic life were cunningly depicted in mosaic throughout the entire room. Light streamed through a sunlight above as well as large windows and a door that opened onto a covered balcony. At least a dozen gilded candelabra were set at various points along the tiled walls, currently unlit but no doubt the source of light when the sun was absent.

She heard footsteps behind her and hurried down the four steps to the bottom of the pool, turning with her arms before her breasts. She knew it was useless to cover herself but habits could not be instantly broken.

The man in the robe snatched up her garments, holding them carefully away from the embroidered silk of his skirt. He nodded his head toward a line of bottles and jars seated along the wall and one side of the pool. “Avail yourself of any oil or unguent that suits your fancy.” He frowned at her. “Wash thoroughly and wash well. If you need to use the privy, it is there.”

She glanced toward a folded screen in the darker corner of the room.

He turned toward an opposite corner and tossed her garments into the flames that burned behind a gold screen in a fireplace.

She gasped.

He turned at the sound. “You won’t be needing those.” He pointed at the bottles and jars. “Don’t make me tell you to wash again.”

She turned and crossed the pool. Her left cheek already throbbed from a backhand he’d given her when they’d first dragged her out of the prisoner’s wagon. She had no idea why this man had singled her out, snatching her arm to take her away from the procession of prisoners and leading her down an elegant hallway, away from the others. She had protested, terrified to be separated from her sister priestesses, but his slap had effectively silenced her cries.

The tiered shelf holding the oils and unguents stood before a polished mirror. She started at the clear view of herself. The best the temple had possessed were polished copper plates. This, she could see, was a true mirror made of glass. She raised a filthy-nailed hand to her bruised cheek, tried not to focus on her large, brown eyes as they threatened to spill more tears. What was to become of her?

Unable to do anything but guess, she started to open the bottles, one by one. Jasmine, sandalwood, lavender, honeysuckle. These were the scents she recognized. There were many she couldn’t begin to identify. It seemed that the darker, more masculine scents were in the darker bottles while the lighter floral scents were in the lighter. She picked a soothing lavender bar of clean soap—real soap, not lye soap—as well as one of the wash cloths neatly folded beside the shelf and began to wash.

“Don’t neglect your hair,” he warned.

A glance in the mirror showed his back to her as he sat on the bench before the vanity, attending to himself by the looks of it. As she washed, she contemplated him. He was quite beautiful for a man. Slim and fit. Almost feminine save for the obvious musculature on the arms bared by the robe and the neat mustache and goatee framing sensual lips. She’d never before encountered a man who wore makeup, nor whose hair was so elegantly and intricately braided about his head. It was quite obviously long, but its sable length was twisted and braided into what was almost a headdress, so that the silky tail fell only a quarter of the way down his back.

He caught her watching him in the mirror and scowled.

She hastily leaned into the gently gout of water pouring into the pool from the gaping mouth of a huge stone fish. She used the separate liquid for her hair, curious despite herself at the sandy texture and the smell of salt beneath the overwhelming lavender, but she didn’t dare ask. When she had rinsed, she remained by the spitting fish, not sure what to do.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him twist on his seat. “Are you finished?”

She nodded.

He stood. “Dump the rag beside where you found it and come here.”

Her heart raced. Until now, he’d treated her with nothing but disdain. Now his tone held the faintest tinge of warmth. She’d heard its like before. It was the tone men got into their voices when they tried to convince the vestal virgins to come talk to them. It was the tone they used when they thought a girl was pretty. It was a tone the temple had sheltered her from.

She had no shelter now.

However, she did not wish to be beaten either. Hesitantly, keeping her eyes averted and her hands hiding her breasts as best she could, she mounted the steps to once again stand by the side of the pool. Water caressed her bare skin as it oozed down to puddle at her feet.

A thick, blue cloth appeared in her downcast vision. She chanced a glance up to see him standing before her. Sunlight twinkled in a row of gold hoops that ringed his left ear. “Here. Use this to dry yourself.”

She took the cloth and dried her skin. She raised it hesitantly to her head and, when he didn’t stop her, ran the soft cloth over her hair to wring out most of the moisture. When she was done, he held out his hand and she put the cloth in it.

He pointed at the bench before the vanity. “Sit.”

She did, watching as he took the cloth and dumped it in a basket in the corner beside a closed door.

He strode toward her and she flinched, but he took little notice. He grabbed a comb from the vanity and stood behind her, taking it upon himself to comb her hair out. She bit her lip over his rough handling and tried not to notice how he watched her in the mirror. She consciously kept her hands clutching the edge of the bench beneath her rather than over her breasts. This seemed to please him.

She wondered if he were her new master. If he was going to do to her that thing that the elder priestesses warned the younger against. Nera knew the basics. Knew that a man had something between his legs that would get hard and he would wish to shove it between her legs. She’d seen goats mate and had been told it was something like that. She had a hard time picturing it.

But he didn’t seem interested in anything other than combing her hair. In fact, she noted that he tried not to touch her skin at all. When he did, it was brisk and disinterested. Although Nera did not want to be molested, she was thoroughly confused and frightened to ask what was to become of her.

He finally had her wet hair combed out and he quickly braided it. Without so much at glancing at her in the mirror, he turned and went to open a chest not far from the vanity. From this, he lifted a few things that puzzled Nera at first.

“Stand up,” he said as he came back.

She did.

He held out the first item. “Put this on.”

She took what looked like three little flaps of leather but puzzled over it.

Sighing, he pointed. “That goes around your waist. The loose end of that then comes up between your legs and hooks on the front.”

She blinked, shocked.

“Put it on.”

Afraid of his stern tone, she did as he told her. The little thing could hardly be called a garment and did very little to hide her buttocks. The strap that came between her legs barely contained her mound.

He held out the next garment. This one proved to be more leather straps and he had to help her adjust them so they could eventually contain—barely—her breasts. The final pieces were quite obvious and she stood, trembling as he snapped gold encrusted shackles about her ankles, wrists and neck.

Once done, he draped a floor-length gold cloak about her shoulders, snapped a golden chain to the collar and yanked it. “Follow me.”

She did so, clutching the cloak closed before her. He led her out the door and down a short hallway to a wide staircase. At the bottom of the staircase, they finally encountered other people. She kept her eyes averted, recognizing the expensive fabrics and jewels that adorned these people and assuming that it made them some sort of nobility. She knew that a few paused to look at her, but the man leading her must have been a deterrent to their asking any questions.

The finally came to an open archway draped with layers upon layers of gauzy curtains in deep, rich jewel tones. He led her through these and into a dark, spicy scented room. A tug on her leash stopped her at the edge of a pillowed platform. She stared at the intricate embroidery, aware of others seated around the room.

“This is she, my lords.”

Soft talking ceased. She heard a strange hissing noise followed by a brief, profound silence.

“Well done, Marken,” proclaimed a deep, masculine voice.

The man beside her bowed low from the waist. “Thank you, my lord.”

“Girl. Raise your chin so we can see you.”

She hesitated, but saw the man beside her tense. Rather than receive another cuff, she raised her face.

Four men lounged among pillows toward the center of the huge platform. The center of the area was clear of pillows and sunken. In a place of honor was a huge, bulbous contraption the likes of which she had never seen before. It was gilded in places, smoky glass in others. Some of the glass looked to be housing dark liquid. Each of the men had a tube with a small nozzle within his hand or within easy reach. One of them was sucking at his nozzle as she looked up. He took the nozzle from his lips and smiled at her, exhaling smoke as he did so.

Two of the men wore silk robes, each open to expose bare chests. These men were older, fatter and more rotund than the other two.

The other two terrified her.

One wore comfortable black cotton trousers tucked into slouching black boots. He wore a vest of black encrusted with gold embroidery over a broad chest with chiseled muscles underneath a mat of wiry black hair. His head was shaven and an eyepatch covered his left eye. The right was as glittering black as his clothing.

The other wore dark green trousers, brown, soft boots and nothing else. His torso was equally muscled as the other but more lean and certainly less hairy. His silky black hair hung straight to his shoulders, one side tucked back to display a thick row of golden hoops marching up the entire length of his ear. His eyes were a startling blue, a color very much out of place in the dark olive complexion of his face.

All four men smiled at her. Nera’s heart thumped in terror.

The one in green rolled to his knees, startling her. Unconsciously, she shrank next to the robed man beside her.

The one in green grinned. “You haven’t touched her, have you Marken?”

The man beside her sniffed. “Hardly, my lord.”

She shrank back from him because of his tone.

The man in green rose to his feet, soft boots crushing pillows as he crossed toward them.

“Where do you think you’re going, Ryun?” asked the bald man.

“I’m going to take her.”

“What if I want her?”

“You got the last one.” He stopped one pace before her, proving his height to top hers by a full head. The man was massive.

She trembled.

“Father…”

“Now Scarn, he’s right. You did get the last one,” one of the portly men chuckled. “But what if I might want her, Ryun?”

The blue-eyed man gaped. He swung around to face the man still seated. “Father! Gods damn it, old man! You’ve been after me to start my harem for two years now.”

“True.”

Blue eyes turned back around and snatched her leash from Marken. She tried to shrink back as he consumed her with those light colored eyes, but he wound the gold chain tightly about his hand and yanked her close. She stumbled up against him, hands splayed in instinct. She gasped when her palms touched hot, silken flesh stretched taut over steely muscle.

He grinned at her surprise. “I’ll start with this one.”

The man behind him laughed. “Very well. I take it you’re leaving us, then?”

“I am.” He stepped off the platform, forcing her to stumble back a step. Only his firm grip on the chain attached to her collar kept her balance. “Marken, tell Aiden to attend my rooms.”

“I will, my lord.”

Blue eyes nodded, never taking his eyes off her. He herded her back toward the door.

She cried out, tripping.

His grin hitched up a notch. Before she knew what he was about, he bent and flung her easily over his shoulder.