“Inserted into my…womanhood? This?” She stared at the thick, blood-red shaft curving from the bumpy golden disk.
“Well…yes, my lady.” The slave looked perplexed. “That’s how you wear it. Haven’t you ever worn a phallus before?”
“I…I don’t…” Trin was almost speechless.
“My lady doesn’t need this.” Thrace took the strange device from her and dropped it into the slave’s hands.
“Oh yes she does,” the slave countered, trying to hand it back. “If she wants to be properly dressed and admitted to the feast tonight. No mistress will be allowed in without one, I can promise you that.”
“Very well,” Thrace growled. “Then give us the smallest you’ve got.”
“The smallest?” The slave looked as though he couldn’t believe it. “But you know, the heart’s blood stone is so valuable. Most mistresses are choosing to take an even larger size than they normally would just so they can have a more costly souvenir to take home.”
“I don’t give a good Goddess-damn about any of that,” Thrace snapped. “Give me the smallest you’ve got now.”
The slave shrugged his narrow shoulders.
“As you wish.”
He put the huge double ended phallus back into its black velvet bag carefully and then reached for one on the other end of the table. It came in a light blue bag and when he pulled it out, the heart’s blood end was a bit shorter and much more slender. This one, Trin estimated numbly, was barely as big as two of her fingers put together.
“Here you go.” He tried to hand it to Trin but she stepped back from the table, her hands behind her back. Shrugging again, he gave it to Thrace instead. “Good feasting, my lady,” he told her. “And if you wish to break in your new phallus, may I suggest you do that soon. The festivities begin early tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-three
“Goddess…” Trin paced around the vast room, her hands still clutched behind her back. Thrace sat on the sleeping platform, the light blue velvet bag held loosely in one large hand and watched her. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her so agitated.
“Mistress?” he asked, concerned at the wild look in her eyes. “Trin?”
“I can’t…” She paced back and forth, her long scarlet dress rustling as she moved. “I can’t.”
“I understand,” Thrace said gently. Honestly, he had expected nothing else. She’d been raised in a religion built around being unpenetrated—unsullied by allowing herself to be filled. It wasn’t surprising that the teachings of her childhood still had a vast influence on her—Thrace still remembered the things his own Sire had taught him so many years ago.
“But if I don’t do it…” She stopped pacing for a moment and looked down at her hands. “If I don’t wear it, I’ll never sell those damn crystals. I won’t be able to make the last payment on The Alacrity…or pay my crew…or buy enough fuel to do another mission. If I don’t wear it, I’m screwed—figuratively speaking.” She gave a jagged laugh that worried Thrace even more. “And if I do wear it I’m literally screwed. Looks like I’m screwed either way.”
“Come here.” He laid down the blue velvet bag on the bed and reached out a hand to her. “Come here and let’s talk about it.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” But she came to him anyway.
“We’ll find a way to make it work.” Thrace took her small hands in his—she was cold, he noticed—probably with shock. He rubbed her hands gently, trying to warm her up. “We have enough fuel to make it to the nearest station. I can get some work there—I’m a hell of a mechanic when I have to be. We’ll earn enough eventually.”
Trin gave that bitter laugh again.
“Eventually. But the payment on The Alacrity is already past due and the interest is mounting up.” She sighed. “I guess I could ask my mother for credit…but I don’t want to do that. I’ve never borrowed from anyone. I make my own way.”
“I respect that about you,” Thrace said evenly. “All right, so let’s talk about the other way. Tell me about your religion. Do you believe you’ll be damned for all eternity if you allow yourself to be penetrated?”
“Well…no.” Trin shook her head. “No, it’s not like that exactly. Really, if you go by the letter of the law it says that only allowing yourself to be penetrated by a male’s shaft is blasphemy—an affront to the Goddess herself.”
“What about being penetrated in other ways? With other objects or…” Thrace cleared his throat. “Other body parts?”
“What…you mean like…fingers?” Trin’s creamy cheeks went dark with a blush.
“Or the phallus.” He nodded at the blue velvet bag where the hated implement rested. “Is that forbidden?”
“Well…not forbidden per say but if it happened—if I wore it—I could certainly no longer call myself one of the Unpenetrated.”
“And how important is that to you?” Thrace asked. He wanted to know for his own curiosity too—not just the situation at hand. “How does it affect your life? Is there some kind of grand parade or celebration back home on Zetta Prime where all the Unpenetrated get to march down the street waving flags or something?”
“No, of course not.” Trin gave a startled little laugh and he was glad to see the agitation fading from her dark eyes. “Nothing like that—it’s private. I mean it’s just…it’s between you and the Goddess.”
“And do you believe the Goddess would never forgive you if you lost your status as one of the Unpenetrated?” Thrace asked.
“Well…I mean, it’s not like all daughters of Zetta Prime are called to it…” Trin hesitated, nibbling her lower lip in a way Thrace found distractingly erotic. “Most of them pair up with another female and they penetrate each other with long silver rods for sexual pleasure. If they want to—it’s not required or anything. Some of them prefer…other forms of stimulation.”
“So most the females who pair up, they’re not Unpenetrated and the Goddess of Judgment still loves them, right?” Thrace asked.
Slowly, she nodded. “Well…yes. I mean, she doesn’t really love anyone. It’s more like…she approves of you.”
“So if wearing the phallus won’t damn you to the Seven Hells and no one back home will ever know about it, then why not just wear the damn thing?” Thrace asked reasonably. “I mean, it’s only for one evening, right?”
“I suppose…” Trin bit her lip again. “It’s just…”
“Just what?” he said gently.
“Just that…Goddess, I feel like such an idiot saying this.” She sighed and ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “It’s just that what if it hurts? I mean, I’ve never had anything up there before. The daughters of Zetta prime don’t have any kind of barrier—what they call a maidenhead—like they do in some species. But still, we’re very tight and my entire life I’ve been taught I should never put anything up there and I just…” She sighed and sank down on the bed beside him. “I guess I’m afraid. Stupid, huh?”
“Well, coming from the female who was brave enough to walk into the Demon’s Eye by herself…” Thrace began.
“Like I said, stupid.”
“No. Uncertain. Cautious. And there’s nothing wrong with that.” He took her hand again and laced their fingers together. “What if I told you I could help you wear it without pain? That I could put it into you and give you nothing but pleasure, no matter how tight you are?”
“What? How?” Trin frowned. “Do you have some kind of ritual?”
“A ritual?”
“Yes. Before they make a life bond, females on my planet have an entire ritual they go through to get each other ready for the silver penetration rods. Is it something like that?”
“Well…not exactly like that but…” Thrace frowned, trying to think the best way to put it. “Look, with any female, the key to not hurting her when you, well…when you penetrate her, is getting her ready first.”
“Ready? As in…?”
“As in aroused.” He looked into her eyes. “You ne
ed to be hot—sexually hot enough to take the shaft inside you without pain. I can help you with that.”
“I…” Trin was back to nibbling her lip. “How?”
Thrace shrugged. “Mostly by doing the same things we did last night. Sucking your nipples…rubbing your pussy.”
“Oh, um…” Trin’s creamy cheeks were growing dark again.
“But in order to absolutely guarantee you have no pain, you’ll have to let me go a little further than before,” Trace murmured.
“Further…how?” she whispered.
“Well, rubbing your pussy won’t be enough. I’ll need to taste it—taste you—too.”
“You will?” Was her breathing a little faster? “Why?”
“I have…compounds in my saliva that will help you open.”
“You do?” Her eyes widened. “Is that some kind of a Havoc trait?”
Thrace nodded. “It is. You may have noticed I’m not exactly…small.” He nodded to the area between his thighs. “Well, no Havoc is. So to compensate and ease the way for any female we make love with, our bodies produce chemicals that help even the tightest and smallest female open. It’s not that unusual—some of the Kindred produce similar chemicals for their females.”
“But in order to do that…to help me open…”
“I’d have to lick you. A lot,” Thrace emphasized. “And not just on your outer pussy. I’ll need to put my tongue deep inside you.”
“You’re sure that’s necessary?” Her voice sounded soft and breathless.
Thrace nodded slowly. “It’s the only way to be sure you can open with no pain.” He tried to speak nonchalantly, as though it was no big deal. As thought the idea of spreading her creamy thighs and licking her sweet, wet pussy while she moaned and trembled under his tongue didn’t make him hard as a rock. “Also,” he murmured, “It’ll be a good way to get you used to penetration…a good way to work up to wearing the phallus.”
“Get me used to it? How…how exactly do you mean?” She was definitely breathing faster now and the warm, feminine scent of her arousal was filling the air around them.
“What I mean,” Thrace said in a low voice, looking into her eyes, “Is if I penetrate you very softly and gently, first with my tongue and then with my fingers, you’ll be much more open and ready to take that damn shaft inside you too.” He nodded at the blue velvet bag.
“So…you don’t just want to put the phallus in me. You want put parts of yourself as well.” Trin frowned but her heartbeat was galloping—Thrace could hear it. He was so attuned to her right now he felt like he could have heard her breathing a parsec away.
“I want to work you up to it—get you ready for it. Remember, you’re going to be wearing it all night. You need to feel comfortable and open before you put it in,” he reminded her.
“And you’re sure you’re not just offering to do this because you want to…to touch me that way. To taste me?” Trin looked skeptically at the hard ridge of flesh which had risen under the black loincloth covering the opening in the crotchless black leather trousers he wore.
Thrace cupped her cheek. “Baby,” he said softly. “I honestly want to help you through this. But I’d be lying to you and to myself if I said I didn’t want to get on my knees and worship your pussy with my tongue. Because that’s what it is,” he went on before she could protest. “Worship—a sacrament. To my people, anyway.”
“I thought the Havoc didn’t bond,” Trin whispered breathlessly.
“We don’t. Well, we try not to.” Thrace sighed. “But when we taste a female, we take it very seriously. Many of my kind believe it is an offering to the Goddess—the Mother of All Life. I know you think of it as some kind of blasphemy but to us it is the ultimate act of devotion and worship. If not to the Mother herself, then to the female we adore.” He lifted her hand and placed a slow, hot kiss in her palm. “Plus, we absolutely fucking love to do it.”
“Why?” Trin asked, her voice trembling a little. “What pleasure could you get from it?”
“The pleasure of having a beautiful woman spread out before you, her most tender and intimate places exposed, her sweet pussy wet and trembling and ready…” Thrace licked his lips, picturing how Trin would look in such a situation. “Then, the first taste…the drag of your tongue across her cleft, the sweet, salty flavor of her juices…the way she moans and gasps when you trace her clit with the tip of your tongue…when you press lower and thrust it inside her…”
“Oh…” The word was a long sigh escaping her lush lips.
“The way she trembles under your mouth as you bring her to the edge,” Thrace continued, unable to stop himself. “The way she pulls your hair and begs and calls your name when she gets close…and the way her pussy gushes with honey when she comes under your tongue.” He let out a low growl of desire. “There’s nothing like it in the universe. Nothing I’d rather do.” He looked at Trin. “I’d like to do it with you. Will you let me?”
* * * * *
Trin looked at him uncertainly. Those hot, forbidden words he’d been saying had made her feel shaky inside—like everything from the waist down had turned to molten lust. She’d never been affected like this by anyone before. No one had ever made her feel weak with need, just by talking to her.
But he’s a male! You shouldn’t do this—you know it’s wrong!
She knew the guilty little voice in her head spoke the truth. But… it sounded like letting him taste her was the only way she could wear the heart’s blood phallus inside herself without having any pain. And considering how tight and tiny she was, Trin honestly felt like it was necessary.
Riiiiight. And that’s the only reason you want to do it, the little voice murmured sarcastically.
No, not the only reason, Trin admitted to herself. She looked at Thrace who was sitting there quietly beside her, waiting to hear what she would say. He was being patient but there was a lust burning far back in his piercing silver-blue eyes that made her stomach feel fluttery and strange.
He really wants to do this, she thought. And I want to let him. And…I’m going to let him. After all, it’s not really blasphemy unless he penetrates me with his shaft. True, I won’t be one of the Unpenetrated anymore but that can’t be helped. And anyway, it’s only just this once. After we get finished here I’ll leave Yonnie Six and never think about what I had to do here again.
She had almost rationalized it to herself but there was still one thing bothering her. The idea that she wasn’t only agreeing to this out of necessity.
“Well?” Thrace rumbled softly, watching her through half-lidded eyes.
Trin looked up at him.
“I…I shouldn’t want you to do this,” she whispered at last, trying to put her thoughts into words. “I shouldn’t want this.”
“But you do.” It was a statement, not a question. “I’m a male and you should want nothing to do with me. You shouldn’t want to spread your thighs for me and let me lap your soft little cunt until you come all over my face.”
“Thrace…” She hitched in a breath and crossed her legs under the scarlet dress, pressing her thighs together. Already her nipples were tight and achy and her pussy was throbbing and he’d done nothing but talk to her about what he wanted to do.
No…what he’s going to do, Trin told herself and knew it was so.
“But you’re going to let me anyway, aren’t you, baby?” he murmured. “You’re going to open for me and let me taste you…let me get you nice and wet so I can slide that shaft deep into your hot little pussy.”
“I…yes. I guess so.” Goddess, what was it about him? Why did he affect her so intensely?
“Come here then.” He pulled her towards him gently and leaned down to kiss her. Trin moved her head so that his lips fell on the corner of her mouth.
“Wait—now? But the feast isn’t until tonight.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You’ve got something else you want to do—want to visit the ornamental gardens or suck some more dream gas bubble
s from the fountain?”
“Well…no.” Trin looked down at her hands.
“Look at me.” He lifted her chin gently and looked into her eyes. “I want to take my time with you, baby. Want to open you and kiss you and taste you until you’re as hot as you can possibly be before I put that damn phallus inside you. That takes time, especially when you’re all keyed up and nervous.”
“Well…” Trin sighed. “All right, I guess. So…how do we start?”
“Slowly,” he murmured, stroking her cheek. “Slowly…with just a kiss.”
“A kiss? Like this?” Daring greatly, Trin leaned up and touched her lips to his, initiating a kiss between them for the first time.
Thrace growled in approval at her newfound boldness. He kissed her back, eagerly but gently, parting her lips with his and teasing her delicately with his tongue. Showing her, perhaps, the way he planned to penetrate her.
Her heart started beating faster at the thought and she would have pulled away from the kiss but Thrace ended it first.
“That was nice,” he murmured. “But that wasn’t exactly where I meant to kiss you.”
“You…you mean…”
Slowly, he nodded. “Remember how I kissed you when I offered you obeisance?”
“Yes,” Trin whispered.
“Well, I thought we could start slowly. Like that.”
“Okay.” She lifted her chin and tried to sound calm. She had committed herself to doing this and she wasn’t about to back out now. “So…do you need me standing up?” she asked.
Thrace shook his head. “First I need you naked. It’s going to be hard to get to you with all the lace and frills in the way.” He flicked at the red dress she’d put on that morning contemptuously.
“Completely naked?”
“Mmm-hmm.” He nodded.
“All right…”Trin felt reluctant, even though he’d seen her in that state the night before. And you slept naked in his arms, reminded the little voice in her head helpfully. Don’t forget that. You might as well just strip down and stop making such a big deal about it.