“Ah!” she gasped, but she didn’t try to pull away. Instead she pressed her ass out even more, showing him she wasn’t afraid, taunting him, willing him to punish her, to take back the control she’d taken from him for so long.
Thorn swung again and again—not hard enough to break the skin but certainly hard enough to redden her ass, to make her pay. Soon Neh’sa lost count of the strokes—she only felt the bright, stinging pain and the warm, gushing pleasure it brought with it. She was losing herself in sensation…losing herself in the pain and the pleasure and the need that threatened to overwhelm her…
She was barely aware that there were tears running down her face as emotion overtook her until Thorn threw down the paddle and took her face in his hands.
“Goddess damn it, Neh’sa.” His voice was hoarse and low with something that sounded like regret.
“It…it’s all right,” she somehow managed to tell him. “I’m all right. I just…I just…” But she couldn’t say what she was or what she felt—couldn’t put it into words. It was too much—too overwhelming.
But it wasn’t over yet.
“Enough of the punishment,” growled the Krine from his alcove. “Her ass is red enough. Now it is time for the penetration.”
Thorn didn’t answer. Instead, he unfastened her ankles and wrists from the cross with quick, jerky motions. Then he pulled Neh’sa into his arms and carried her, torn dress and all, to the padded, waist high table in the center of the room.
It was the perfect height for what he had to do, Neh’sa saw. There were wrist and ankle cuffs on each of its four corners to hold a submissive in place.
But before he put her down, Thorn held her for a long moment, cradling her to his broad chest.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair. “So sorry, Neh’sa.”
“Don’t be. I deserved it—deserved the beating,” she whispered back.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
Thorn sat her stinging bottom carefully on the cool leather of the padded table and cupped her cheek in his hand, searching her eyes.
“Neh’sa, I…” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything. Just do…what you have to do.”
She got shakily to her hands and knees and placed her wrists in place so he could fasten the leather cuffs. Then she looked up at Thorn, waiting for him to tie her down.
“Go ahead—do it.”
He shook his head.
“I’m no rapist,” he growled, frowning at her. “I know you don’t allow yourself to be penetrated.”
“I…haven’t in a long time,” Neh’sa murmured. “But I did. Long ago…”
“The slave you loved so much,” Thorn guessed. “The one you dedicated the Mercy clinic to.”
Slowly, she nodded. “It’s been…a long time.”
“At least I know you’re not a virgin.” He scowled. “But I don’t like this. Don’t like this big bastard telling us what to do.”
“Do it,” Neh’sa whispered urgently. Her ass felt hot and tender and her pussy was throbbing with need. “It…it’s the only way we’ll get out of here.”
“I don’t know if he’ll let us go even if we do as he says,” Thorn growled softly. “He seems to like having his own private sex show a little too much for this to just be about vengeance if you ask me.”
“We have no choice,” Neh’sa reminded him. Then, seeing that he needed reassurance, she murmured, “Thorn, please—I want you to do this. I need it—need you in me.”
“Gods, Neh’sa…” His eyes softened and he stroked her cheek. “Never thought I’d hear you say that. Never thought I’d hear my Mistress beg me to fuck her.”
“Don’t call me that.” Neh’sa looked away from him. She couldn’t believe she’d admitted her forbidden desires—her illicit needs to him. “I’m not the Mistress in this situation,” she reminded him. “You’re the Master. And I’m your slave—tied down and helpless—waiting for you to use me however you see fit.”
“Gods!” Thorn’s low groan of lust seemed to go straight to her core. “I want you so much, sweetheart. Want to fill your sweet pussy with my cock and fuck you!”
“Do it then,” Neh’sa whispered. She folded her arms and lowered her forehead to the padded tabletop, spreading her legs even wider to bare her pussy—surrendering herself completely. “Do it, Master—fuck me.”
With a low growl, Thorn did as she asked. Taking her hips in his big hands, he guided the broad tip of his cock to the slick entrance of her pussy.
Neh’sa tried to bite back a moan as she felt him slip over her swollen folds. Her clit was throbbing like a second heartbeat between her thighs and she felt like she would go crazy if he didn’t fill her soon. She had given in wholly to her submissive side now—the cool dominant Mistress she usually presented to the world was completely out of reach. She had been reduced to a quivering puddle of lust and she couldn’t help it—didn’t want to help it.
She just wanted Thorn.
“Please!” she moaned at the same time the Krine ordered,
“Penetrate her! Do it now!”
With one long, hard thrust, Thorn filled her completely.
“Ah!” Neh’sa couldn’t help gasping. It had been a long time since Heroth and she could feel her inner walls stretching to the limit to accommodate the big Kindred’s immense shaft.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Thorn’s voice was hoarse and strained, as though he was having a hard time holding himself back. But he stayed where he was, waiting for her, wanting to make sure he hadn’t hurt her.
“I…I think so,” Neh’sa whispered. “You’re just…really big and it’s been a long time for me. A really long time.”
She shifted her hips some, trying to get used to the feeling of being filled so completely, of having Thorn’s shaft in her to the hilt. Though it hurt some, it was a good pain—the feeling of being filled and owned by a male she wanted so badly she would do anything to have him.
Anything at all—even let him dominate her.
How pathetic is that? whispered a little voice in the back of her head but Neh’sa pushed it away.
“I’m all right,” she told Thorn. “You…you can move now. You can…can fuck me.”
“Gods, sweetheart—if you’re sure you’re okay. Can’t hold back anymore.”
He pulled almost all the way out of her and thrust in again. Neh’sa moaned at the deep pleasure/pain that accompanied the motion and pressed her hips back to meet him, loving the feeling of being owned so completely.
There was no room in her head now for doubt or self-recrimination, although she was aware they would certainly come later. She couldn’t concentrate on the way she was shaming herself right now or on the way she was giving herself to a male who probably wanted nothing else to do with her when this was over.
All she could feel was the thrust and push of Thorn’s thick shaft inside her quivering pussy, all she could hear was his labored breathing mixed with her own panting and the slapping of their flesh coming together. The musk of sex was in the air and his long fingers bit into her hips, adding another small pain to the overwhelming pleasure.
Neh’sa didn’t care—didn’t care about anything but the delicious sensation of him filling her, of his thick shaft opening her again and again. He seemed to be reaching for her heart with each long, deep thrust and all she could do was spread her thighs wider and take it as she tried to be open enough for him, open enough to take him all.
“Ahh…Goddess, Master,” she moaned aloud, unable to help herself. “Yes, take me—use me! Fuck me—make me yours!”
“You’re mine now, Neh’sa—mine,” Thorn’s voice was a deep, possessive growl. Leaning over her, he covered her entire small body with his much larger one until Neh’sa felt completely surrounded by him—held in a cage made of his muscular arms. Lapping and sucking the side of her throat, he waited until Neh’sa turned her head to the side, giving him compl
ete access to her vulnerable neck… and then he bit her.
Neh’sa gasped as she felt the sharp pain of his teeth sinking into the tender flesh of her shoulder, just where it met her throat. The extra stimulation was almost too much—she moaned helplessly, delirious with pain and pleasure and lust—loving the feeling of being helpless beneath the male she cared for so much. Beneath the male she…loved?
Do I love him? she wondered hazily. Is that what’s wrong with me? Does he love me? Or did he mark me to pay me back for branding him?
“That’s good—good,” the Krine growled greedily, interrupting her lust-hazed thinking. Hearing the lecherous note in his gravelly voice, Neh’sa thought dimly that Thorn was right—there was more than the need for vengeance motivating this little display.
“Very good,” the Krine told Thorn as the big Kindred finally released Neh’sa’s neck from his teeth. “Now fuck her harder—fuck her and fill her with your seed!”
Those words, spoken in the grating, harsh voice suddenly penetrated the haze of lust that was clouding Neh’sa’s brain.
Fill her with your seed? But he can’t do that! He hasn’t had the special medicine that will ensure any pregnancy will result only in a female child. Kindred mates almost always have male children. He could make me pregnant—pregnant with a boy! And then everyone back home would know what I have done!
“No!” she gasped, finding her voice at last. “No, Thorn—you can’t! Can’t come in me. You might make me pregnant!”
“I might,” he agreed, but he didn’t stop or slow the pace of his thrusting. “Might give you a big belly, Neh’sa, when I come in you.”
“When you come? No—no!” she gasped.
For the first time she tried to wiggle free but he had fastened her wrists and ankles to the corners of the table with the restraints very firmly—there was no getting loose.
“Hold still, Neh’sa,” he growled, leaning forward to talk in her ear. “I have to come inside you. I can’t explain it now but I fucking have to.”
“No,” she moaned again, thinking of the shame—the shame of going back to Yonnie Six with a male child filling her belly. A child everyone would know was the result of spreading her thighs and allowing a male to penetrate her.
But Thorn wouldn’t stop. His pace increased and his grip on her hips tightened. With every rough thrust, she felt his heavy sack slap up between her spread thighs, stimulating her swollen clit in an almost unbearably pleasurable way. Though she didn’t want to orgasm, she could feel herself getting close to the edge.
No, she told herself despairingly. No, I can’t come! That will only draw his seed in closer to my womb! I can’t have an orgasm—I can’t!
But her body didn’t appear to care about what she could and couldn’t do. As Thorn thrust deep inside her for the last time, the head of his shaft kissing the mouth of her womb, she felt her inner walls begin to spasm around him and a deep wave of pleasure washed over her.
“Oh!” she cried, squeezing her hands into fists as the blinding wave of sensation swamped her. “Oh Goddess, no, Thorn!”
“Yes,” he growled. “Yes.”
And despite her last, moaning cry, he pressed even more deeply into her and Neh’sa felt his long shaft swell inside her. Then heated spurts, jets of warm wetness, were coating her inner pussy, filling her so completely that she felt his come running in wet rivulets down her thighs.
Gods he was doing it—coming inside her—doing his best to plant his seed in her womb. What would she do if he succeeded?
How could she ever go back to her old life now?
Chapter Twenty-eight
Thorn hated himself for what he’d done, but there was no choice—and it wasn’t just because the Krine had commanded it. He had his own reasons for flooding her womb with his seed.
He just hoped his plan had worked.
“Neh’sa?” he sent, trying to communicate with her through what he hoped was a newly formed bond. “Neh’sa, can you hear me?”
“What?” She spoke aloud, sounding confused and also as though she might be crying. Damn it, Thorn hated to be the cause of her pain but his first priority had to be keeping both of them alive and getting out of there.
He pulled out of her and she moaned softly as he withdrew. Yes, she was definitely crying—Gods, he hated himself.
“Can you hear me?” he repeated patiently. “In your head? I’m trying to communicate non-verbally—so the Krine can’t hear us. Think back to me if you can.”
“I can hear you.” She sounded amazed and confused. “But how—”
“Never mind that now. First we have to get out of here.”
Thorn unbuckled the restraints that held her wrists and ankles to the four corners of the padded table. She tried to sit up but her arms and legs gave out and she ended up on her side—had he really been that rough with her?
A look at the ten finger-shaped bruises forming on her generous hips and the red, angry bite mark on her shoulder gave Thorn his answer.
Gods, I’m a shit.
“No—you’re a Dominant,” Neh’sa whispered in his head, surprising him. She could apparently overhear some of his thoughts. Thorn made a mental note to try and shield himself.
“Come on,” he said aloud and pulled her into his arms.
She struggled weakly.
“Put me down!”
Thorn frowned—he couldn’t blame her for wanting to be away from him.
“All right,” he said, setting her carefully on her feet. “But don’t get too far from me.”
“Just leave me alone.” She stepped away defiantly and he saw that there were, indeed, tears standing in her lovely dark eyes. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me—how you got into my head—but after what you just did, when I begged you not to—”
“I swear I’ll explain everything,” Thorn sent her urgently. “But we have to get out of here first. Don’t you want to go home?”
“Home?” she sent back furiously. “As if I could go back to Yonnie Six after this!”
“You can’t just—” Thorn began aloud but at that moment the huge figure of the Krine rose from his place in the shadowy alcove. He looked like a god of darkness emerging from the depths of the Seven Hells and his three eyes were watching them with unblinking intensity.
“Well done, Kindred warrior,” he growled in his deep, gravelly voice. “You nearly fucked the life out of the little Mistress.”
Thorn had to agree with the Krine’s assessment, although it made him hate himself to admit it. But he could hate himself later—right now he had to get himself and Neh’sa out of here.
“I have done my best to honor your wishes and exacted your vengeance, oh Krine,” he said, bowing his head in a formal gesture of respect. “Now I will take my female, as we agreed, and leave this place.”
“You will do no such thing,” the Krine rumbled. Moving much more quickly than any being so large should have been able to, one long gray arm snaked out and grasped Neh’sa by the shoulder. “For I find that I like seeing my justice enacted upon this Mistress.” All three of his eyes gleamed in the dim room. “I like it so much that I plan to keep her and allow various other warriors to punish her even more.”
“No!” Neh’sa struggled against his grip on her shoulder but the Krine only laughed and held on tighter.
Thorn felt the possessive Rage that all Kindred feel when their bonded mate is threatened begin to rise in him and with it, rose the fire.
This was exactly what he had been afraid of—that the Berroff ruler would renege on their deal. Still, he tried to keep his voice even and emotionless.
“That was not our agreement, oh Krine,” he said, glaring at the other male. “You agreed that if Neh’sa submitted and I dominated and penetrated her, she would be free to go.”
“I never said anything of the kind,” the Krine said. “I choose to keep the little female—you, however, are free to go. You will be escorted from the palace by my guards now.”
A
s he spoke two doors on opposite sides of the dungeon chamber opened and four of the huge, muscular Berroff guards entered the room.
Thorn saw Neh’sa’s eyes widen. He was attuned to her now—he could hear her heart, pounding as fast and light as though she was a small, trapped animal caught in a snare.
“Thorn?” she sent, speaking through their new bond. “Thorn, what are we going to do?”
“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” he sent back grimly. “Just submit and get ready to run when that big bastard loosens his hold on you even a little.”
“I don’t understand,” she whispered but he had no time to explain. The Berroff guards were fingering their weapons eagerly. Doubtless the Krine had promised all of them a chance to “punish” Neh’sa. Just the thought of that made Thorn so angry he could feel the sparks in his eyes turning to flames again.
Instead of trying to suppress the fire inside him, he called on it, pulling it towards the surface. His eyes began to feel burning hot.
“Goddess,” Neh’sa whispered aloud. “Thorn, your eyes—the fire…I can see it!”
“You’re going to see a lot more of it before we’re through,” Thorn told her. “Don’t worry, sweetheart—we’re bonded now.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I’ll explain later,” Thorn told her. “I need you to trust me on this, Neh’sa—there’s no more time.”
Indeed the guards were closing in, a hungry light in their dull gray eyes.
“Stay back,” Thorn warned them. “Or I’ll burn the lot of you.”
“And what of your little Mistress here?” the Krine growled, nodding at Neh’sa. “If you burn us, you burn her too, and I do not think you will do that. You seem to care for her, despite the way she used and branded you.”
“Yes, I care for her,” Thorn said evenly. “I care deeply.”
The Krine’s craggy face darkened like a thundercloud.
“You are under her control—under her spell. You claimed to want vengeance but you lied—you are no better than my son!”
“It sounds to me like your son was in love and you fucked it up for him because you couldn’t understand it,” Thorn growled. “I’m warning you all, don’t come a step closer or you’ll be sorry.”