by Caris Roane
“I don’t give a fuck if I could become like the god of the underworld, I just want you to back off and let me do my thing. You told me to dominate this man, and that’s what I intend to do.” Once more she drew Reyes’s power into her and let it flow, so that her hair moved around her shoulders.
Sweet Dove finally lifted both hands in surrender. “Please, do whatever it is you wish to do. I won’t attempt to intervene again.”
Though she could hardly trust Sweet Dove to keep her word, Angelica nodded once firmly, then turned toward Reyes. Glancing down at his hips, she was astonished to find he was still fully aroused. She met his gaze. You liked this little standoff?
It’s you, Angelica. I’m hard for you.
A shiver of pure desire ran through Angelica. You’re hard for me?
Only for you.
She resisted smiling and instead withdrew the flogger from the strip of leather on her thigh. She slapped it against her hand. Will this hurt? I mean, how much of this can you take?
Bring it. I’ve had a thousand times worse. Slap me hard for effect. Trust me. I’m a vampire, remember?
Angelica knew that if she didn’t make this good, make it a real show, the bitch wouldn’t buy it. Forgive me, she sent. She lifted her arm and brought the flogger down hard once on his left pec, then his right.
Like a butterfly wing, Reyes responded. Can’t you do any better?
She met his gaze, wanting to know the truth, but his eyes were at half-mast and his cock twitched. You’re enjoying this.
I’m enjoying you.
Another shiver traveled through her. She couldn’t believe her harmless attempt at flirtation all those weeks ago at the Ocean Club had led her here.
She forced herself to forget about Sweet Dove and instead to savor the body she’d come to know so thoroughly over the past week.
For the next several minutes Angelica used the flogger on Reyes, slapping his arms and chest, building a rhythm into the calculated series of strikes. His body reddened, but the whole time Reyes writhed and his arousal stiffened.
She stroked his cock with the flogger and watched the tip weep, then she went to work on his legs.
By the time she reached his feet most of his body had a red hue, but he writhed and was breathing hard, his eyes closed. She had no doubt he was in a profound state of arousal.
She secured the flogger once more between strips of leather, then moved to the side of the platform. She dragged a finger up his body, digging in slightly with her fingernail, and took a long moment to look at him. She slid her palm over the muscular contours of his arms, his pecs, his chest.
She leaned close and kissed him on the lips, then sucked his nipples in turn. Her body was already heated up; still she took her time to explore him with her lips and tongue. She started biting him hard, which caused grunts to leave his throat. She came close many times to drawing blood, but he kept encouraging her to make a show of it.
Reyes, you’re magnificent.
And I love what you’re doing to me, that you have control of me. I didn’t think it could be like this, so erotic. But it’s all because of you.
His words, the beauty of his body, the taste of his skin as she bit him, had built an inferno of desire within her.
I need you, Reyes.
Then take me.
She climbed up on the platform to straddle him, guiding her wet body over his thick cock. She moaned as she eased down on him, then arched her back and ground her hips. She savored all that he was, the size and feel of him.
Angelica, my God.
She opened her eyes and met his gaze.
His lids low, he pushed up with his hips, letting her feel him. Oh, Reyes, I want more, but you’d better stop. Aloud she said, “You don’t move unless I tell you to move, slave.”
“Yes, mistress.”
She leaned over him and kissed him on the lips. Open for me.
Yes, mistress. He sounded teasing.
Don’t do that, not in my head, or you’ll have me laughing. She worked him with her hips, setting a steady rhythm.
Reyes parted his lips and she drove her tongue inside. He groaned.
After a moment she rose up, flexing her hips. Meeting his gaze, she said, “Take over, slave, and make it good. Make me come.”
The chains jangled as Reyes started to pump into her, lifting his hips in quick, pleasurable jabs. She cried out, the sensation deep and hitting her just right.
I’m close. She trembled.
Scream if you can. The louder the better.
No problem.
He moved vampire fast, which brought her orgasm flowing in a stream of intense pleasure. She screamed long and loud, as the ecstasy flowed up her well and abdomen, gripping her stomach and tightening her breasts. She rocked her hips against what was still so hard, taking the last of her pleasure.
She leaned over him, breathing hard, her hands on the wood platform.
“You haven’t lost your touch, Reyes.” Sweet Dove’s voice sent a sudden jolt of fear through Angelica. She’d forgotten the woman was even there.
But with his cock buried inside her, Angelica was in a vulnerable place. She started to rise up, to place herself in a more powerful position physically, but Sweet Dove’s hand was on her shoulder. The woman let her power flow in a hot, painful arc. Angelica groaned, her body twisting, trying to get away. But Sweet Dove had her pinned in place with just the pressure of her hand.
“Sweet Dove, stop this right now,” Reyes shouted. “We’ve done what you wanted.”
“Even though your slave performed adequately, she has misbehaved and needs to be disciplined.”
* * *
This was just what Reyes had feared, that Sweet Dove would take charge and he’d be unable to protect Angelica. “You’ve gotten what you wanted. Now release us both.”
“Don’t be a fool. We’re just getting started.”
“I’m not your slave anymore.” He took his cue from Angelica’s earlier attitude toward Sweet Dove and matched the woman’s haughtiness with his own. “You owned me for a century, but those days are gone. I like being a slaver. You taught me extremely well.”
Tears now flowed down Angelica’s cheeks.
Sweet Dove released Angelica’s shoulder and transferred the same flow of power to Reyes’s chest. He barely held back a serious shout of pain, but the last thing he wanted was for Sweet Dove to gain even a moment of pleasure from hurting him.
Reyes, fight her. I have a feeling you can break free right now.
What do you mean?
I don’t know. But I sense something within you, something I’ve never felt before. I think it might be your Ancestral power.
He felt it as well, that Angelica fed him in ways he didn’t understand and made him want to be more than he was.
Ignoring the pulses of pain that radiated through his chest because of Sweet Dove’s hold on him, he shifted his gaze to Angelica. His Ancestral power rose in response, calling to him, begging for release.
Reyes, the sensations have grown stronger. Can you tap into your power? Maybe you can even break free of these bonds.
I feel them, I do, but I’m not sure. Despite his current predicament, Reyes held back. He’d fought becoming like Sweet Dove for so long, always rejecting even the idea of embracing his Ancestral power.
Reyes, please listen to me. I can tell that Sweet Dove won’t let us go. You have to do something. I feel her vile intentions like a fire on my skin.
He knew Angelica was right, but he had to try a different tack first. Shifting his gaze to Sweet Dove, his body now trembling with pain, he said, “Let us go. You’ve accomplished what you’d hoped for. You made me in your image. So let me continue on my slaver path, Sweet Dove. You owe me this.”
“I owe you?” She trilled her laughter. “I owe you nothing, Reyes. You owe me. You are my slave, now and forever.”
Angelica’s voice punched through his mind. Find that power, Reyes. Do it now. She’s gearing up.
> Angelica was right. Sweet Dove had never intended to let him go. But how the hell could he break free?
The only way he’d have the smallest chance would be to use his latent Ancestral ability. He knew that a double blood-chain would gain him instant access to his Ancestral power, but there was another way. Before the blood-chains were invented to speed up the process, those with latent Ancestral DNA could connect with the power, usually in times of great stress, and bring the ability to life.
And even Angelica sensed he could do it.
Sweet Dove began slowly increasing her power. His body shook now with pain, but he held back.
Closing his eyes, he grew very still. He dove deep within himself, focusing on his Ancestral power. He’d never considered the possibility before of having anything to do with this power since so many of the Ancestrals were heavily corrupt, like both Engles and Sweet Dove.
But right now, his life as well as Angelica’s depended on him finding the strength to break free of the preternatural chains.
As though coming from far away, he heard Sweet Dove’s voice as she issued command after command. “Obey me, Reyes. Submit to me.” But he ignored her.
He had to tap into his Ancestral power or he’d die on this table, because the last thing he’d ever do was place himself in Sweet Dove’s hands again.
Reyes, she’ll kill you. I can feel it in her. She’ll let you die before she releases you from these chains.
He wanted to reassure Angelica, but he had to stay focused.
He reached his Ancestral power, which resided like a deep water table within his body and his soul combined.
At the same moment Angelica screamed. Sweet Dove must have figured out what he was doing and, in an attempt to distract him, was hurting Angelica again.
He struggled to stay focused. His primary instinct shouted at him to stop Sweet Dove from torturing Angelica. But what could he do if he didn’t have added power?
He turned all his attention back to his Ancestral storehouse. He began to sink within it and felt an absolute rush of sensation, like nothing he’d ever known before. He felt strengthened from within and without at the same time.
A second sensation followed, like the tightening of a bond, which he knew would complete his rise to Ancestral status if he allowed it to form. But he didn’t want that, at least not now. He didn’t trust the Ancestrals he knew and wouldn’t allow himself to become one of them.
By pulling back slightly the impulse of the bond melted away, yet he could still draw from his power. When he felt he’d gained enough to break free of the preternaturally charged shackles, he began the long glide back to consciousness.
Angelica, if you can, reach down and grab hold of me. Can you do that?
Too … much … pain …
She couldn’t move. Sweet Dove had her trapped in pain. He knew that sensation. He’d lived with it for a century.
He flooded every muscle in his body with the stream of Ancestral power. He focused on the shackles at his arms and wrists.
As the power coalesced, Reyes opened his eyes and saw that Sweet Dove was distracted by Angelica’s pain, that she was feeding off her suffering. Her attention sidetracked, in one burst of energy Reyes broke out of each shackle, rushed toward Angelica, and gathered her up in his arms.
Before Sweet Dove had the time to react, he shifted to altered flight and flew straight up and out of the cavern system.
He wanted to keep going, but he had a powerful instinct about the situation that if he didn’t play this moment right, he’d get kicked out of Starlin then and there.
Angelica, we have to return. I must speak with Sweet Dove. I’m sorry.
She trembled in his arms. No, I get it. You have to mend this bridge right now or she’ll revoke your membership.
Exactly, but I hate taking you back there.
Please, don’t worry about me. I’m siphoning your power and healing as we speak.
He circled back quickly to Sweet Dove’s torture cave and found her crumpled on the floor, against the cave wall.
As he touched down in front of Sweet Dove, the woman’s eyes rolled in her head as she worked to recover.
She looked up at him, squinting. “You broke free.”
“I did. You’ll never own me again, Sweet Dove. But you’ve made me what I am today. I’m a slaver now and this slave belongs to me, to use as I see fit. I wouldn’t mind becoming your lover, though, if you’re open to it.”
Sweet Dove sat up and her vision finally came together. “Even after I tried to enslave you, then to kill you?”
“Now that I know I can occasionally tap into my Ancestral power, that you can’t hold me, I’m open to a relationship. Your ruthlessness excites me.”
She got a look on her face that he’d seen before, a very calculating expression. At one time he would have shuddered, knowing that nothing good could follow. But after having escaped just now, he had no fear that she could ever capture and hold him again, not like before.
“I’ll have to think about it, Reyes. I’ve never thought of you as true lover potential, but it might work.”
“We could be excellent partners as well. I have a head for business and already have ideas about ways we could expand the Starlin enterprise.”
“You did quite well for yourself after you escaped me, and I’ll admit I’m impressed by that. I suppose this means I’ll need to adjust my thinking, but you’ll have to give me time. I’ve thought of you as just a slave for so long, it never occurred to me you could become something else in my life.”
He used words she could understand. “But I want more, Sweet Dove, so much more. I have ambitions and want to fulfill them.”
She gained her feet and stroked his arm. “I guess we’re more alike than I ever understood. We’ll talk again. Soon. Perhaps when the final event of the festival is over.”
He almost pressed her about the one thing she’d promised, a place on the Starlin Board of Governors, but he knew he’d reached his bargaining limit.
“Yes, we’ll talk after the masked ball at the Crystal Dome.”
She glanced at Angelica. “And maybe by then you won’t be so encumbered. It would please me if you would get rid of your slave.”
Reyes actually smiled, because he had every intention of faking Angelica’s death immediately following the masked ball. “That won’t be a problem.”
With that he returned to altered flight and shot toward his home in the Como Cavern system.
Once arrived, however, he recalled that Angelica couldn’t handle flying that fast. When he touched down in his bedroom, he released her, apologizing. “I forgot. Angelica, I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”
She blinked at him. “I’m not hurting anymore. Once you tore me away from Sweet Dove, the pain stopped.”
“No, I mean, don’t you have a headache?” Previously when he didn’t take altered flight slow enough, Angelica would experience a pounding headache that made her sick for a long time after.
She shook her head, then her eyes went wide. “Oh, because you moved so fast during altered flight.” She put a hand to her head. “I’m not. I’m fine. Why?”
“I guess because I tapped into my Ancestral power.”
She held both his arms and frowned slightly. “That’s right. Does this mean you’re an Ancestral now? Although I’m not sensing much of a difference.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not, but I did make use of the power.”
Her lips curved slowly. “You broke out of those chains.”
He nodded. “I did.” He still couldn’t believe he’d accomplished the impossible.
“While it was happening I felt so much from you, what you were going through, even while that bitch was hurting me. I could sense you reaching deep, and I knew the moment you connected. Everything began to shift. Most of the pain Sweet Dove was inflicting drifted away. And the way you looked when you were free, like a triumphant warrior.”
He turned in a circle. “You have no
idea how wonderful this feels. All those years with Sweet Dove I was powerless, but now I feel as though I could do anything.”
“You know, there were a couple of times I didn’t think we’d make it out alive.”
Reyes reached for her, pulling her into his arms. He kissed her deeply. I’m so grateful to you.
She drew back, smiling. “We did it, Reyes, and you were damn brilliant going back like that, saying what you did just to keep her hooked.”
He searched her face, her brown eyes, how wild her hair looked because of all that she’d done. “And the way you siphoned my power. You even levitated. Did you know that?”
“Oh, that’s right, I did. I was just so intent on keeping Sweet Dove away from you.” She shuddered.
He held her waist and pulled her close, connecting his hips with hers. “You stunned me, Angelica. She could have decimated you with one carefully aimed thought, but you faced up to her like a warrior.”
“I suppose it was foolish, but I’d reached this point where I didn’t care if I lived or died. I just knew I couldn’t have her anywhere near you, not with you chained down.”
His heart swelled as he kissed her again. He’d never been so happy, so full of excitement, in his life. After a moment he drew back, his body on fire once more. “I’m not sure you remember this, but before we went to the masked ball I promised you something, and right now I intend to deliver."
She looked wonderfully confused. “What’s that?”
“Maybe I should just show you.”
He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. Throwing the comforter back, he settled her near the edge.
“Should I get out of this costume?” Her hand fell to the bustier.
He shook his head. “Not yet, because we’ll be taking care of you.”
She put a hand to her chest, her eyes widening. “What do you mean, ‘we’?”
Chapter Two
Desire poured through Angelica, a rush of sensation that brought a warm flush to her cheeks. She remembered now. Reyes had spoken about being able to split into two beings.
