Lilith Enraptured (Divinity Warriors)
By
Michelle M. Pillow
Lilith Enraptured (Divinity Warriors) © Copyright 2009 - 2013, Michelle M. Pillow
Cover art by Natalie Winters, © Copyright 2011 - 2012
Second Electronic Printing January 2012, The Raven Books
First Electronic Printing March 2009
ISBN 9781452403717
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Published by The Raven Books at Smashwords
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This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. Novel intended for adults only. Must be 18 years or older to read.
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Lilith Enraptured (Divinity Warriors)
By
Michelle M. Pillow
Lilith Enraptured
Alternate Reality Romance
Divinity Warriors Book One
Sorin of Firewall lives in a land forever at war. In fact, the Starian men are so busy fighting, their marriage ceremony has been reduced to a “will of the gods” event where they simply pick a woman out of a lineup and claim her as a wife. With women becoming scarce, it’s necessary to trade the offworld Divinity Corporation for brides. Duty-bound to attend the ceremony, he has no intention of picking a bride, let alone one from another dimension. That is, until he sees Lilith, the bewitching woman sent by the gods to reward—or punish?—him.
Lilith, a data analyst for Divinity, is betrayed by the Corporation and wakes up in a primitive, uncharted dimension filled with warriors who only know war and duty. But her initial fears of becoming a sex slave to a big beefy knight become all too real when a warrior of god-like proportions claims she’s his new woman. As Lilith discovers, there are worse fates than being the focus of Sorin’s skillful and earthy seduction.
Divinity Series
Divinity Warriors
Lilith Enraptured
Fighting Lady Jayne
Keeping Paige
Taking Karre
Divinity Healers
Ariella’s Keeper
Seducing Cecilia
Linnea’s Arrangement
Divinity Magic
Divining Helena
More Coming Soon!
Chapter One
“The faster you make them come, the less time you must spend in their presence,” Sera whispered, her words accented with an unfamiliar intonation. The tight fit of her white corset top squeezed her healthy waist and thrust up two very generous breasts. Long blue skirts billowed around her legs. She eyed the half dozen girls in the cell as she handed them loaves of bread. The need to be helpful shone from her sincere expression. “That is all they want—a vessel to find release in. Do not expect tenderness, but if you don’t deny them, if you don’t resist, you’ll be treated fairly enough. And if you give them sons, you’ll be greatly rewarded. Life here is not so bad.”
Lilith Grian didn’t move. She was still trying to get over the fact that she’d gone to bed in her own, lonely San LoFrancis apartment and awoke to find herself kidnapped and locked away in some small cell packed full of terrified women, with nothing but a long white robe over her body. The thick wool and shapeless design was a little to “sacrificial” for her tastes. A sniffle sounded next to her and Lilith glanced at the dark-haired woman crying next to her.
“This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening,” the woman repeated, over and over. “Wake up, Edith, wake up.”
Almost pleading, Sera shoved a loaf of bread toward Lilith. “I’m telling you how to best survive this place, please, listen. Spreading your thighs is an easy enough task for a decent life. Don’t bring trouble upon yourself. Let them find release. They are not such boars when they get what they want.”
Edith continued to rock herself, refusing bread and becoming more hysterical with every breath. Lilith wasn’t sure who “they” were, but she sure as hell didn’t like them already. Unlike Edith, she wasn’t upset about the whole inter-dimensional travel scenario. As an historical and cultural analyst for the Divinity Corporation, it was her duty to jump from one plane of existence to another and collect intelligence on that world. She loved discovering the different intricate paths of the human experience, how one tiny event could change the course of humanity. What did concern Lilith was the fact that this jump wasn’t assigned, and she was supposed to have two weeks off pending a board review of her last screwed-up mission.
Since Divinity had the only known source of top secret inter-dimensional travel technology on her plane, she guessed that maybe the review wasn’t going her way. That or someone wanted her gone. Out of the four-hundred-thirty-six known dimensions, she didn’t recognize this one as being charted, but to be fair it was difficult to determine much from inside a prison cell. As an analyst, Lilith had traveled to and studied most of the parallel planes. From what Sera described and the way everyone was dressed, this was new territory.
They shipped me off to an uncharted dimension?
Shock at her surroundings turned to outrage. This wasn’t an accident. She would have had to have been drugged to be dressed in this outfit and sent through the portal unaware. Natural slips were extremely rare and completely predictable by the company. Sure as sunshine, a portal would not have opened up in her bedroom.
How dare they! One fuck-up that wasn’t even my fault and I’m suddenly exiled?
She wondered how human this reality was. Some had vampires and werewolves, some had faeries and gnomes, and some had humanoids so alien her dimension’s species were hardly compatible. Many of them had never even heard of dimensional travel or portals. Some societies were obsessed to the point of compulsion, some with power, some with medical advancement and some with gladiator fights to the death.
“I can’t be here,” Edith whispered, shaking her head as if to make it all go away.
Partly taking pity on the frightened woman and partly desperate to get her to shut up, Lilith asked, “Where are you from?”
“San Francisco,” Edith said. “What’s going on here? Who are these people? Is this a reality show?”
Lilith ran through possibilities in her mind, trying to narrow down the geography to the right plane. “Is that the United States or Dominative Republic?”
“United States,” Edith mumbled, sniffing loudly.
Lilith nodded. No wonder the woman was scared. Her dimension had only theorized alternative realities. They weren’t even close to learning how to control them. This would be like time travel to her.
“First, you’re not crazy. This is another plane of existence you’ve stepped into.” When the woman only looked confused, Lilith explained, “Looking at a foreign dimension is like looking at your world if it had evolved in a different way. To a point there ar
e many similarities. Languages, generally, are relatively similar. Some people will look the same, but not be the same people. Certain events like natural disasters will be shared. Weather is the same and this is still Earth. These people are still human-ish.”
Lilith frowned, studying the iron bars keeping them locked in. Apparently, this particular dimension hadn’t made it too far past the Middle Ages—if the trencher to hold the bread, serving wench and barbaric mentality of “just make him come and keep him happy” was any indication.
“You’re as crazy as they are,” Edith declared, backing away from her.
So much for helping out my fellow humanoid.
The other women in the cell held themselves quiet. Each wore the white, shapeless dress with bare feet. A blonde woman whimpered pathetically, watching as a tall, black-haired woman paced in front of her as if she might pounce. The dark-skinned beauty strode with amazing grace and poise, much like a dancer or martial artist.
A redhead merely sat, staring at the bars as if she knew exactly what was happening and where she was. Her fingers picked absentmindedly at the long sleeve of her gown. She hadn’t moved since they woke up that morning. The last prisoner, a well-endowed brunette, had pulled a thin metal clip out of her upswept hair and thrust it into the outside lock, trying to work the door free.
Suddenly, the brunette jerked her hand back and thrust the clip into her hair. A burly man dressed in a hard leather jerkin and dark breeches approached the cells, standing between the bars and the blue-grey stone wall on the other side of the narrow hall. Metal diamonds plated the leather, creating a symmetrical pattern over his thick chest. The guard crossed his thick arms, creating a veritable blockade more effective than the iron.
Lilith knew how to defend herself if the need arose, but he would be a hard opponent to beat. Well, to be honest, she hadn’t actually practiced her defensive moves like she should have been according to Divinity employee policy. Her punches would only do so much damage and he had the muscle mass to absorb her blows with ease. A long, thin scar traced down the side of his cheek, adding a dangerous appeal to his look. Edith and the blonde whimpered. Lilith couldn’t help but note that maybe she was the only one who thought the man appealing.
The warrior guard studied them one by one, not appearing pleased with what he saw. Then, motioning to the side, he beckoned another warrior man to appear next to him. “The flaxen one and the crying one. They do not carry themselves well. Take them and give them the philter.”
Lilith automatically touched a lock of her straight, blonde hair. Her heart jumped a little in her chest, until she saw the guard look at the other flaxen-headed woman.
“What?” Edith screamed. “No, wait! I’ll be good. I swear I’ll be good. Please, don’t hurt me. Please, I’ll do anything you want. Do you want me to make you come? I will. I swear I will. I’ll do you all!” To disprove her point, her body began to shake and she started bawling anew.
The guard looked disgusted by her display. Lilith couldn’t say she blamed him. Where was the woman’s honor? Her pride? If death was to come, there was nothing to be gained by tears. What she should be doing is analyzing their environment and calculating her escape.
The barred door opened and four men filed inside. Their massive warrior-like presence made her feel tiny in comparison as they crowded the cell. Two grabbed the now sobbing Edith and dragged her out. The blonde screamed, kicking and fighting as tears streamed down her face. The four remaining women held perfectly still. Lilith did not want to be grabbed next. The gods only knew what this “philter” was. It didn’t sound pleasant.
As soon as the men were gone, the brunette went back to work, her face set as she tried to feel around the lock with her hairpin. The cell became eerily quiet now that the two women had been taken away.
“You won’t be able to open it,” the redhead said, staring at the lock picker. “Even if you did, there would be no escape. You’d have to fight through the warriors’ hall, out of the guarded castle gates and run three strikes over open prairie until you reach the forest. Should you survive the wild beasts that live there, you’d soon find yourself prisoner to an even more vicious race of creatures—monsters so fierce and depraved they’ll make you beg for death. Trust me, with the war going on in this forsaken place, we’re in the better of the two sides.”
“Who are you that we should trust what you say?” the brunette asked.
“Name’s Paige,” the redhead answered.
“Lilith,” Lilith inserted, glad they’d finally started communicating. She didn’t blame them for being cautious. All morning there had been a secret judging and assessing between them.
“What do they want with us?” The black-haired woman stopped pacing. All eyes turned to her. “Oh, I’m called Jayne.”
“They want us to be their whores,” Paige answered, bitterness seeping into her hard tone. “They don’t call it that, but that’s what they want—a subservient woman to rub their feet and spread her legs. If you don’t, they get pissed and the whole lot of them stares at you like you are demon spawn incarnate and blames you for your chosen warrior’s bad mood. It’s either fuck them and suck them, or you’re treated like the bottom rung of Starian society.”
“Again, I ask, why should we trust you? We don’t know you.” The brunette continued to try to pick the lock. “You could be a plant sent here to make us behave with horror stories of what’s beyond the tree line.”
“I don’t care if you trust me, but I know what I’m talking about. This isn’t my first time in a cage.” Paige tilted her head back and sighed. “They’ll be coming to get us soon.”
“What’s your name, locksmith?” Jayne asked the brunette.
“Karre.”
“Well, Karre,” Jayne said, “I don’t think we have much of a choice. If we all work together, maybe we stand a chance. Now, I don’t know how we all got here and at this point I don’t think it matters, but I do know I’m not staying to spend the rest of my life as some guy’s sex toy.”
“I agree.” Lilith stood, hoping Jayne would have a logical solution they could use. “We need a plan.”
“Fine,” Karre grumbled.
Paige opened her eyes and shook her head. “Don’t look to me to join your little band. You’re only fooling yourselves. I’ve been to the Hanging Forest. I made it all the way to the Starian borders and I’ve seen the creatures that wait beyond.”
“What about a dimension jump?” Lilith asked. “Does anyone know if this place has inter-dimensional travel technology?”
“A what?” Paige furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Staria? It’s too primitive. They don’t have the technology here,” Karre said. “I got a glimpse of the castle when they brought me to this cell. Through a door I saw servants cart water from a well in buckets and the drive wasn’t paved. No artificial lights or motorized vehicles. Though there were several large horses.”
“I’ve never been here,” Jayne contributed, “but I’m inclined to agree from what I’ve observed. These prisons don’t use lasers or shocks.”
“Someone’s coming.” Karre pulled her arms out from between the bars. She thrust her lock-picking tool back into her upswept hair.
A new guard arrived, dressed similar to the other men she’d seen. His nose had a crook across the bridge. He frowned. “Only three new ones?”
“It’s all they sent us,” said the man who’d ordered the other two women away.
“How’s it going, Edward?” Paige taunted, her face hardening to hide all emotion. “I see the nose is healing nicely.”
“Lady Paige,” Edward growled, glaring at her as if he wanted to pull the sword from his waist and run her through.
“Open the door, Eddie,” Paige taunted. “Let me break it again.”
Edward grumbled, but didn’t answer.
“I thought there were five new,” another of Edward’s fellow barbarians said, completely ignoring Paige.
“What’s wrong, Brock? Don
’t I count anymore in your little ledger?” Paige taunted. Lilith kept quiet, observing as was her nature to do.
“You are not new,” Brock stated, frowning at her in disapproval. “Your lord is waiting for you and I do hope his punishment is harsh.”
Paige’s smirk faltered. Brock grinned victoriously.
“You already have one of these guys?” Karre whispered, grabbing Paige’s arm.
“Two were not suitable. They were taken away,” Edward said, answering his companion. His nostrils flared in distaste. “Too weak.”
“Three will have to do,” Brock answered, sighing. As the two men walked off, he added, “I’ll tell my Sera to make ready.”
A long silence filled the cell, broken only when Paige whispered, “Ladies, welcome to Battlewar Castle.”
* * * * *
If Lord Sorin hated anything, he hated waste—wasted resources, wasted hours, wasted lives. And, as far as he was concerned, these breeding ceremonies were a waste of time. Nothing in the process of prancing women before the warriors, who then picked them based on an urge, guaranteed a well-made match. Their ancestors had the right idea when they’d raided villages and took the women they wanted. At least the raids served three purposes—the need for men to find a woman to put into their bed, the need for men to have sons and the need for men to fight their wars. Besides, going on a raid would not take the warriors away from the battlefront, not like traveling back to Battlewar Castle in the northernmost part of their kingdom for a breeding ceremony.
Women were scarce in this hard land. Sons became a necessity and their natural evolution seemed to answer the call with more sons than daughters—when they did have children. Their low birthrate wasn’t from lack of trying when the warriors were home, but war took them away all too often. Sometimes forever.
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