Bound

  wife will make sure your mate has suitable clothing. My son has

  ensured that your steed is stabled and well-fed. You will find your

  saddle bags filled with everything you need for the journey. I am

  pleased to serve my king.”

  Beck was aware of the great sense of gratitude he felt for the small

  gnome. Rhys’s family had once served the King of the Seelie Fae, and

  Rhys and his family had preferred exile to serving Torin, the

  Pretender. “I do not know how to thank you, old friend. If you ever

  have need of a sword, I trust you will call on me.”

  The gnome grinned. “I know who to call, but no one bothers us.

  The deal we made with the Planeswalker clan protects us.”

  Beck knew the deal well. The Planeswalkers came from a plane

  many called Hell. They were a demonic clan and very mercenary, but

  easily controlled with an ironclad contract. Demons could access all

  planes and were great believers in contracts. Rhys and his tribe of ex-

  patriots served as salesmen for the demons’ wares. The demon tribe

  would gather items of interest. Rhys would sell them and take a cut. It

  had worked well for both sides.

  Beck finished the last of the food and took a deep breath. It felt

  good to be full. Now he needed to take a nap. He had several hours

  before he would fight. He just had to be sure of a couple of things

  before he found a corner to curl up in. “I want my mate covered.”

  He couldn’t stand the thought of her beautiful body on display.

  She was his. He should be the only one to enjoy her loveliness.

  Rhys frowned. “You know I cannot, Your Highness. The female

  must be properly displayed. If the Planeswalker discovered I was

  treating you differently, he would accuse me of breaking our

  contract.”

  Bound

  23

  Beck didn’t like the answer, but he had to accept it. He’d had to

  accept many unsavory truths since the day his world fell apart. “Do

  the vamps know she’s here?”

  “Yes,” came the quiet reply. “I had to inform the Vampire

  Governments as well. I gave them very short notice, but fifteen have

  already shown up. You know they can move very quickly when they

  want to. You were the first to see her. I have to open her to public

  view soon. I must have at least ten warriors in the tourney to see a

  profit.”

  “Well, you’ll have that if fifteen vampires are here. They’ll all

  fight for her.” It was a sad coincidence of fate that bondmates were so

  alluring to vampires. Since his uncle had closed the Seelie mounds to

  all outsiders, it had become difficult to find a bondmate, and the

  practice of vampires wooing faery bondmates had disappeared.

  Luckily it wasn’t all vampires, just the ones of royal blood, who

  required a woman like Meg as a mate. He had asked a vampire once

  why they needed Fae bondmates to procreate. Beck had been told that

  there was something about their blood that strengthened the vampire.

  They called the women “consorts.” A vampire of royal blood could

  form a psychic bond with the female, much as Beck intended to form

  with Meg. “The vampires will fight. They will all lose.”

  Rhys nodded his head. “Yes, sire, they will. I will make you a

  deal. I will personally ensure that no one else is allowed physical

  access to the bondmate. The other suitors will only be allowed to view

  her. I will tell the other Fae that we’ve had an expert prove her ability

  to bond. You are certain she can form the bond? The demon seemed

  very sure. He said she glows to him, and that is how he knew.”

  “I am certain,” Beck said, remembering how it felt to reach out to

  her with his mind and have her respond. “The vampires say our

  bondmates glow, as well. I can’t see it, but I feel her. She is perfect.”

  “Perfect enough to form a true triad?” Rhys asked speculatively.

  “You know what the legends say.”

  24

  Sophie Oak

  Beck laughed long and hard. He knew the legends. They were

  ridiculous. They were stories to tell children at bedtime. The legend

  claimed that one day, a pair of symbiotic twins would be born of royal

  blood. They would form a triad with a mysterious bondmate, and she

  would allow their true powers to flow. The intellectual half, who the

  people called the philosopher king, would become a Green Man,

  bringing prosperity to the tribes. The warrior king would gain the

  strength of a Storm Lord. The threesome would usher in a time of

  great joy for the Fae. It was a nice story, but Beck had stopped

  believing in legends a long time before.

  “Don’t pin your hopes on that, my friend. Meggie is just a

  bondmate. She is beautiful and suits my purposes. She will save my

  brother and balance us. I am not immune to the effects of not bonding

  at a proper age. I feel it, too. Meg can reverse the effects.” He hoped

  everyone wasn’t as prone to believing old stories as the gnome. “You

  mentioned a deal? What is my end of this bargain?”

  Rhys was every bit the savvy business man. “Please stay out of

  sight of the others until the tourney. If they realize you are fighting for the female …”

  Beck laughed. “They’ll turn tail and walk off.”

  “But, if they pay their money first, we have a strict no refund

  policy, Your Highness,” Rhys explained.

  “Fine,” Beck said, covering a yawn. “I’ll stay out of sight. I need a

  nap, anyway.”

  Rhys stood and gestured to the room at the back of his office. “I

  had a pallet made out for just such an occasion.” Beck stood as the

  gnome frowned. “Your Highness, would you like for me to find a

  female for you? To take care of your needs?”

  Beck growled, but it was at himself. He was still hard as a rock.

  “No. I can’t now. I’ve seen her, touched her. She is mine, and that

  makes me hers. I’ll be fine.”

  He pushed through the curtains and gratefully sank into the down

  mattress on the floor. The curtains closed and Beck was alone. He

  Bound

  25

  heard Rhys exit the main section of the tent. Beck pulled his boots off,

  thinking about the fact that he couldn’t take another female. It was as

  his mother had promised him. Meg was his, and the thought of

  another female was now repugnant to him. Beck laid back and

  loosened his trousers. He smiled up at the canvas roof of the tent. But

  the thought of her…

  His hand closed around his swollen cock. He slowly pumped up

  and down, thinking of her luscious tits and that pretty little mouth of

  hers. She could spew some shrewish waste out of that mouth. Beck

  decided whenever she said something he didn’t like, he would simply

  have to find a way to shut her up.

  His cock lengthened further. Beck brushed his thumb across the

  swollen head. The small slit in the head of his dick was weeping.

  Beck used the cream to facilitate his masturbation. He stroked from

  the base to the head and back, taking his time. He wasn’t in a hurry.

  While his hand worked his cock, his mind saw Meg. He couldn’t wait

>   to get her breasts in his hands again. He would palm them and gently

  pinch her nipples until they were ready for his mouth. He would suck

  those ripe berries until she begged him to move his mouth lower. He

  would, in his own sweet time. He would learn her body. Once he had

  her gorgeous body between him and Cian, she would know the true

  meaning of pleasure.

  Beck would make sure he was always in control. She was small,

  and he didn’t want to hurt her. She wouldn’t be able to handle his

  demanding nature, but he could please her all the same. Cian was

  going to love her. It had been almost a year since they’d shared a

  woman. Beck had been fucking a local woman from their village. She

  was lovely, but Cian couldn’t stand her. He refused to have anything

  to do with Liadan. Beck could admit that Liadan was a bit cold. She

  was a demure and perfect Fae lady. That had never done it for Cian.

  Cian liked a woman who gave him a bit of hell. There was no way he

  would refuse their own sweet Meg. Cian was going to lose his mind

  when he saw her.

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  Sophie Oak

  Beck felt his balls squeeze, and he picked up the pace. His breath

  labored in and out of his chest. He squeezed his cock as it started to

  swell. She was going to taste so good. That little snack he’d had

  would be nothing compared to making a full meal of her. He would

  love eating that sweet pussy. He would get his mouth on her, and he

  wouldn’t let up until she begged and pleaded that she couldn’t take

  another orgasm. Beck’s entire body flushed. He pounded away at his

  cock. She would taste him, too, he promised himself, and sooner than

  she could imagine. He just had to remember to treat her with the

  gentle care a bondmate required.

  He came, envisioning himself shoved halfway down her throat.

  He came in hot spurts, covering his thighs in his own cum. It didn’t

  matter. For the first time in a long time, he found it easy to sleep.

  * * * *

  Meg was shaking slightly as the gnome, and now she was pretty

  damn sure it was a gnome, removed the collar from around her neck.

  “Was that…?” Meg found it difficult to form the words. It was

  ridiculous. It was stupid. It just might be real. “Holy shit, were those

  men vampires?”

  The gnome, who she thought was named Cara, laughed gently.

  Her light blonde hair shook. She looked at her husband, the gnome

  named Rhys, and said something in that other language they spoke

  before turning back to Meg. “Aye, mistress, they are vampires, but

  don’t worry none. We won’t let them bite you. They just want to see

  what they will be fighting for.”

  She put a hand on her hip and said something to her husband.

  Rhys rolled his eyes. “Fine then, woman. Meg, my wife wants to

  unchain you. We’re taking you to the arena where the tournament will

  occur. You can watch one of two ways. I can keep you bound and

  naked like that, or I can give you a robe and let you sit with us in the

  stands.”

  Bound

  27

  “I think I’ll take the robe.” Meg wasn’t going to let this chance get

  by her. The gnomes were small. One well-placed kick, and she would

  be on her way.

  Rhys’s eyes narrowed on her. “If you run, you should know that

  one of them vampires will be on you before you can think to shout.

  They’ll play by the rules as long as you do, but the minute you run,

  they’ll chase you down. It’ll be a free for all.”

  Meg thought about the fangs and the look of hunger in the

  vampires’ eyes. She shivered. “I’ll stay close.”

  At least she would be out of the chains and clothed. She wondered

  where Beck was and if he’d changed his mind. He hadn’t been back

  to see her, and it had been hours. No one else had been allowed to

  touch her. When they tried, the gnomes explained that if they did not

  follow protocol, they wouldn’t be allowed to fight. Meg didn’t ask

  why Beck had been special.

  Rhys allowed his wife to unchain her. Meg sighed as she began to

  get circulation back into her wrists. “Where am I?”

  “You really don’t know?” Cara asked with a look of sympathy on

  her face.

  Meg shook her head. For the first time, she tried to look at these

  people as something other than her captors. If she was going to save

  herself, she needed them. While she was chained, it had occurred to

  her that if she were going to run, she should gather as much

  intelligence as possible first.

  Cara brought over a gossamer robe and handed it to her. It was

  really more of a caftan, Meg decided as she pulled it over her head.

  The fabric was the softest she had ever felt against her skin. Though it

  was practically sheer, Meg felt it warming her skin.

  The dress-like robe cut a deep V at the neck, showing off her

  breasts. She tried to tug it closed, but it didn’t work. Cara moved in

  behind her and expertly tied it in the back. The garment molded to her

  curves. It was utterly unlike the shapeless clothes she preferred at

  home. Her ex-husband, Michael, had always said she needed to lose

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  Sophie Oak

  twenty pounds and bleach her hair blonde. She’d never been willing

  to go blonde. Her auburn hair was the only thing she truly liked about

  her looks, but she’d tried to lose the weight. It hadn’t worked. Of

  course, Beck hadn’t seemed to mind her weight.

  “Bloody hell,” a fast-talking voice said from the background.

  “You’re gorgeous, sweetheart. Seriously, you are one fucking

  beautiful consort. Look at that glow. Are those tits real? No one has

  real tits where I come from. Fucking plastic surgeons screw up

  everything. Pretty soon we’ll all have plastic dicks, and what fun will

  that be? Let me tell you something, babe, the day they come for my

  cock and fangs is the day I leave my home plane forever.”

  Meg’s eyes widened as she took in the slick-looking vampire.

  Perfectly white fangs peeked from behind sensual lips, so there was

  no denying what he was. She had landed in an all-out, go-for-broke,

  freaky dream. Maybe she should start calling herself Alice because

  apparently, she had fallen down a rabbit hole.

  “Oh, no, Mr. Dellacourt,” Rhys was saying with a shake of his red

  cap. “The tourney is about to begin. Her viewing is over. If you wish

  to buy an entry, there is still time. However, her viewing is done.”

  The vampire named Dellacourt shook his head. Strangely, the

  vampires were the closest thing to a normal human she had seen, if

  one forgave the fangs. His skin was light, almost alabaster, and his

  green eyes were like emeralds. The vampire, as his fellow vamps had

  been, was dressed in an elegant approximation of a business suit.

  They wore somber, deeply colored jackets. The blacks and grays and

  navies seemed almost luminous. Dellacourt was wearing black from

  head to toe. He had on a sleekly cut jacket that reached his knees and

  a matching vest. The only color he had on was a ruby red shirt that

  peeked ou
t from under the vest. His trousers and loafers were

  midnight-colored as well. Unlike Beck, the gnomes, and the other

  men who had come to “view” her, the vampires seemed to have left

  the feudal era behind.

  Bound

  29

  “Yes,” Dellacourt said slowly. “We need to talk about that, little

  man. What would you say if I told you I could triple your business on

  this sweet little piece of ass?”

  Rhys sighed, and Meg decided that he and Dellacourt probably

  had a long history, and not a lot of it was good. “I would say that the

  day I start listening to a slick vampire salesman is the day my wife

  should carve me up with a piece of wrought iron.”

  Cara nodded somberly. “I have it all ready, too. The minute he

  goes soft, I’m taking him out.”

  Cara held out her small hand, and Meg placed hers there. The

  little gnome started to lead her out into the sunlight. Dellacourt didn’t

  miss a beat.

  “Seriously, I can make this a very profitable venture for you,

  Rhys.” Dellacourt followed them into the sunshine. There was a small

  whirring sound. Meg gasped as sunglasses formed around the

  vampire’s eyes. Dellacourt grinned down at her. “Nanites, babe.

  Those are tiny computers, to the less technologically advanced. All of

  our clothes and accessories have nanite tech in them. They are

  intensely useful little fuckers. Of course, every now and then they

  band together and try to take over the world. Hey, what’s progress

  without the occasional apocalypse?” He turned back to Rhys. “Back

  to my point, I just need a few hours. I’ll give you a half-million in

  gold, and all you have to do is delay this tournament until, say, eight

  o’clock.”

  “That ain’t happening.” Rhys turned from the vampire and

  continued walking.

  Meg studied her surroundings as Cara led her into what looked

  like a small marketplace. There were stalls with vendors hawking

  their wares in odd languages. She had calmed down from her initial

  rage and terror. Now she could concentrate on her surroundings.

  The gnome had mentioned that she didn’t speak Gaelic. This was

  the language that was spoken all around her now. It made sense in a

  weird way. The creatures around her appeared to be straight out of