by Moira Rogers
Avani dropped her hands and stared at herself in the mirror. Not a child anymore, and certainly not an innocent. The slender, jeweled leather cuffs buckled around her wrists and ankles had been fitted to her before her first night in the bed of a trainer, and her gown was designed to taunt a man with what he couldn’t quite see.
If it hadn’t been for the nervousness in her eyes, she would have looked like a woman ready to enjoy a lusty night in bed. She turned to Branwen and twisted her hands together to hide their shaking. “What if he changes his mind? What if I can’t please him?”
Branwen drew the ivory-backed brush through Avani’s hair again. “Remember your training. Remember what he needs, and how to help him. Don’t panic, and don’t try to force anything. Just enjoy it.”
Enjoying it wouldn’t be the problem. Enjoying it too much was the real danger. Letting Rais crawl under her skin until a young woman’s affection changed to a grown woman’s need.
Nothing to be done about it now. She caught Branwen’s hand and slipped the brush from her friend’s fingers. “Thank you for helping me prepare, but I need to go. He was already tense. The longer I wait, the worse off he’ll be.”
The pale brunette hesitated. “Be careful, Avani. Be safe.” She turned and hurried out.
Alone in her room, Avani reached for her robe and paused to brush a finger over the gold bands that encircled the sleeves. The heavy robe of a novice instead of the lighter, softer robe of a full priestess. It felt strange to pull it over the costume of silk and lace that barely covered her body, but she had nothing else to wear.
Her footsteps seemed to echo in the empty hallways of the Temple. She’d never been so aware of what was happening behind the soundproof doors she passed, of the tangle of naked flesh and the carnal fucking that left a warrior gentled and a priestess sated.
They’d given Rais one of the opulent rooms tucked in the far corner of the Temple, rooms reserved for the strongest and neediest warriors. Avani’s hand trembled as she lifted it to the small scanner by the door. It would already be programmed to recognize her, and once she touched it and crossed the barrier, the room would become inaccessible to any but the Temple guards and the high priestess herself. A safeguard for the priestesses who handled possessive men who could turn violent if someone seemed determined to interrupt them, but a terrifying act of finality for a nervous woman.
In the end it was Rais who decided for her. Rough and dangerous as he obviously could be, every instinct she had screamed for him. He would never hurt her, never cause her pain or distress. The worst thing he could do to her was reject her.
Avani blew out a breath and settled her hand against the panel. A heartbeat later the door whispered open, and her body tightened as she felt his power. Male. Warrior. Yes.
“Come in, Avani.”
Her feet moved without her permission, carrying her across the threshold. The door slid shut behind her and she caught her breath as her eyes adjusted to the dim room. Rais stood by the window, looking out into the sunset.
He’d discarded his shirt, and slanting light gilded the hard planes of his chest and shoulders. When he looked at her, his eyes were shadowed. “I want to speak with you. Before you come any closer.”
It wasn’t what she’d expected to hear, and her fingers stilled on the ties of her outer robe. “Yes?”
He only stood there, arms crossed over his chest, but his gaze was fixed to her unmoving hands. “I have enough control for now, but I don’t know how long it will last. If you aren’t absolutely sure you want to be here, you should go now.”
She knew the clearest way to show her willingness. It was so much a ritual it had become a symbol. A priestess in full robes was a woman to be approached with respect and deference. A priestess without them…
It was supposed to be smooth. In her imagination she envisioned her robe sliding down her body, pooling at her feet as she stood in silent offering. But nerves made her hands tremble, and the knot in her belt seemed tied too tightly. Not even an inelegant tug freed it, and furious heat rose in her cheeks as she looked down at her hands.
Rais stalked silently across the polished floor and plush rugs. “You’re to shed your outer robe, priestess.” He came out of the deepening shadows, and she saw his eyes blazing with unfed hunger. “Open it, or I will.”
Avani swallowed and spread her arms wide, giving him her trust as well as permission to claim her body. “I’m at your mercy, warrior.”
His eyes flashed again. He ripped the belt with one tug and left it dangling, frayed and ruined, from her robe. “Better?”
“Much.” She lifted her hands and caught the edges of her robe, unable to tear her gaze from his face as she pulled the fabric open and let it slide from her shoulders.
Rais had to have seen the ceremonial clothing a new priestess wore under her robe before, but his jaw clenched as he looked at her, and his voice was hoarse. “On the bed.”
Turning her back on him took a supreme act of trust. The sheer fabric of her gown fluttered as she walked, teasing against skin that felt too sensitive. The bed dominated one side of the room, a vast expanse of luxurious black satin bracketed by a sturdy, wrought iron headboard and footboard.
She slid onto it and turned, fighting to ignore the rush of heat that tightened her nipples and made her cunt wet when her gaze fell on the chains already attached to the footboard. She knelt in the center of the bed and forced herself to meet Rais’s dark eyes again.
He watched her as he circled the bed. “Some warriors would be on you by now, hands and cock under that scrap of nothing masquerading as a robe. I have more control than that.” His thin linen pants were tented in the front, strained by what looked to be a sizeable erection. “I’m going to make you scream first.”
“You can do whatever you wish with me,” she whispered, shifting her weight just enough for her gown to part and reveal how very naked she was underneath. “I’ve been wet for you since the door closed.”
“Liar.” A sudden, breathtaking grin accompanied the word. Rais lay across the bed in front of her and slid his hand up her inner thigh, his fingers slicking through the evidence of her arousal. “You’ve been wet for me since I kissed you in the main hall.”
Her breath escaped on a moan. She knew she should stay still, knew she should submit quietly to his will, but it was Rais with his broad, strong fingers teasing over her skin, and she wanted him. Wanted him enough to grind down against his hand and whimper when one of his fingers brushed her clit and sparked heat through her.
He came back to her clit, rubbing it in a slow circle with the pad of his thumb. Pleasure made her limbs heavy as he spoke in a low voice. “You need my tongue here, don’t you?”
She admitted the truth without thinking. “I don’t know. I’ve only had a man lick me there once before.”
His dark eyes went even darker. “You didn’t enjoy it?”
“It was my first time. My first…” She swallowed and closed her eyes, rocking down against his hand. “I was a nervous virgin. I don’t remember it all very clearly.”
“You should remember something like that.” She felt him move and opened her eyes. He’d rolled to his back, and he cupped one hand around the back of her knee. “Climb over me, Avani, and I’ll show you.”
Few of the positions she’d been taught involved being on top of a man. Her legs felt wobbly as she braced one hand against the hard muscles of his shoulder and straddled his chest. “You want me to…?” It seemed shockingly illicit, even when she’d been fully prepared to be bound to the bed and fucked to the edge of sanity.
“Come.” His easy humor had faded, and he growled a little as he grasped her hips and moved her up until her cunt was close to his face. “Yes, I want you to come.”
She shuddered and inched forward, her hands closing on the solid muscles of his forearms to keep her balance. “Show me. Make sure I never forget.”
Rais used his thumbs to stroke her cunt, opening it gently. “You’re a
beautiful woman,” he rasped, then dipped his tongue inside her.
Watching it was almost as erotic as feeling it. His tongue slicked against her and she fought to keep her eyes open, transfixed by the way he watched her. “Does it please you?” Do I please you?
He didn’t pause to answer. Instead, he took one of her hands in his and pulled it down his body. She had to arch her back to reach, and he finally wrapped her fingers around his cock. He stared up at her and groaned against her cunt when she tightened her fingers and squeezed, frustrated by the linen pants that kept her from clasping him skin to skin.
“I want —” His tongue flicked teasingly over her clit, and she forgot her words in the rush of liquid need. She dug her fingernails into his arm as she fumbled with her other hand, trying to slip it under the waistband of his pants.
He caught her wrist and jerked her hand away with a warning growl. “Behave, Avani, or I’ll stop and chain you to the bed.”
She forgot that she was supposed to obey, to submit quietly. His voice shook with need and his threat made her dizzy with anticipation. She tugged at his grip and moaned when his fingers tightened. “I want to touch you.”
Rais sat up suddenly, and she slid down his chest. He caught her ass before she hit his lap. “That’s it. Lie on your back, arms and legs out. I’m chaining you.”
Avani chanced his ire enough to kiss his chin and the line of his jaw. “You have to put me down first.”
One large hand landed on the curve of her ass in an openhanded slap. It straddled the line between pleasure and pain in the way she’d already come to love, the way that made her ache to be taken. She squirmed in his grasp, panting against his jaw as she wondered if she might come from that one touch.
His other hand twisted in her hair. “Still testing me?”
“Maybe a little.” But she didn’t want to push him too far, not until she’d sated his need. She moved slowly, sliding from his lap and waiting patiently until he released her hair. Nervous anticipation fluttered in her stomach as she stretched out and lifted her hands above her head. “But not too much.”
He rolled to his knees and reached for her ankles first. “Playing with fire, Avani.”
The chain he clipped to the cuff around her ankle looked too delicate to hold anyone, but Avani knew from experience that the magic in the metal made it strong enough to restrain a warrior. He’d played out just enough chain to give her freedom to squirm, but not enough to allow her to move more than a few inches. Trapped.
She shivered as his large hand closed around her other ankle and spread her legs wide enough to fasten the other chain. The flimsy fabric of her gown did little to hide her arousal from him, though the teasing brush of it over her cunt made her body ache.
Rais didn’t take off the gown before securing her wrists. Instead, he shackled her and then ran his fingertips over the buttons between her breasts. “What do you want? A gentle seduction until the beast takes over? Or are you really ready for me?” Challenge glinted in his eyes again, and his hard chest rose and fell with rough breaths.
She wanted to meet that challenge. Had it been anyone else, pride might have compelled her. But she knew Rais. Maybe not well, maybe barely at all, but some instinct whispered that he would punish himself later if he hurt her now.
So she licked her lips nervously and gave him the truth. “I don’t know if I’m ready. But I want to be.”
The challenge faded from his dark gaze, replaced by a warm certainty. “I’ll take care of you. Do you believe that?”
He was so beautiful. She wanted to touch him, but the chains clinking against the headboard reminded her just how much power he had over her. She’d expected to be more nervous, but her answer came easily. “Yes.”
It seemed to satisfy him. Possessive magic flowed over her as Rais tugged at the gown with painstaking gentleness, popping off the buttons one by one, underscoring his deliberate words. “I’m going to put my mouth on your cunt again. This time I’m not stopping until you come.”
It wasn’t what she’d been taught to expect. No one had made any secret that the warriors glutted the beast inside them on a woman’s pleasure, but her training had made it clear that the slow teasing came after a man had slaked his need with carnal fucking. His cock should have been inside her by now, hard and unyielding as he sought relief.
She watched his face as he peeled the transparent lace from her breasts. “Will it hurt you to go so slowly?”
He tweaked her nipple with a sudden, hard pinch. Her back arched and she whimpered, almost drowning out his reply. “Who said anything about slow?”
“Rais.” She wanted to rub her thighs together to ease the need inside her. She twisted and pressed her breast up against his hand. “I’m hungry for you.”
“I know you are.” His hand trailed down the center of her body until he reached the wet, exposed folds of her sex. He teased her with a few light, grazing strokes, and bared his teeth in a cocky grin when she writhed under his hand. “I’m glad, because I plan on giving you no mercy, Avani. Just pleasure.”
“More. Please… please.” She had to dig her teeth into her lower lip to stop the words from tumbling out, because they meant she’d already forgotten that his needs were the focus of the evening.
Rais only touched her again, more firmly this time, and bent his head to trace his tongue over her. His hands slid under her hips, lifting her to his ardent mouth.
She couldn’t stop herself. She screamed at the first touch of his tongue, helpless under the rush of pleasure when she couldn’t do anything more than writhe. The chains clanked loudly against the bed frame, a stark reminder of her helplessness. “I — I can’t take much more before I come…”
He lifted his head, but only to slide first one finger and then another into her. “Yes? What if I do this?” They curled slightly, massaging her inner walls, and he bent to flick his tongue over her again.
The twisting pleasure fractured without warning. Her cunt clenched around his fingers and she whimpered and tried to get closer to him. He made a soothing noise and looked up, his fingers still thrusting in and out of her.
Avani moaned and met his eyes even as her body trembled. “I’m ready for you,” she whispered. “Rais, I’m so ready for you… Have me. Take me.”
He stilled, then moved slowly to his knees to loosen his pants. He did nothing more than push them down far enough to free his cock before lifting her again, this time up to rest on his thighs. “Take you?”
The words were tradition, but she spoke them because she meant them, even more now than when she’d uttered them at the door. “I’m at your mercy.”
“At my mercy.” His voice trembled around the words, and he rubbed his shaft over the slickness of her cunt with a rough groan. “Avani.”
He drove into her.
She closed her eyes and let herself feel every inch of his cock as her body struggled to adjust to his size. With her hips lifted from the bed the chains had drawn tight, leaving her incapable of so much as squirming. She was at his mercy.
She loved it.
He eased back and thrust into her again with a low, guttural growl. “Made for me.” One hand smoothed up over her stomach and chest. “Open your eyes.”
“Rais.” She forced her eyes open and moaned when she found his dark gaze fixed on her face, his eyes wild. His clenched jaw seemed to be proof that he was still fighting to hold back, and the realization frustrated her. “I trust you. Let go.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know what that means.”
She responded by clenching her inner muscles around him, and Rais groaned and jerked her harder against him. He bowed his head for several panting breaths, then growled again. “You win, little one.” He slammed into her — hard, unyielding.
Then he did it again. And again.
She lost track of his thrusts after that, aware of nothing but the fire that sparked through her with every rough, claiming movement. It was fucking, dirty and raw and everyt
hing she’d been prepared so carefully to enjoy.
Nothing had prepared her for how much she’d enjoy it. The pleasure of her body was strong enough, curling tighter with every passing second, promising a bliss that would eclipse her first climax. And even that was nothing compared to the instinctive satisfaction and the way something inside her unfurled to welcome his savage dominance.
Words were impossible, but sound wasn’t. So she whimpered and moaned and did both as much as she could to make up for the fact that she couldn’t touch him. Yet.
He slowed a little, his gaze still fixed on her face. “Tell me why.”
She moaned her frustration as the release that had been hanging just out of reach slipped away, ratcheting up the tension and need inside her to feverish levels. “Why what?”
Now he gave her only quick, very shallow thrusts. “Why you came to me. Why you said yes.”
“I trust… I trust you.” She found his gaze and held it as her breath came in short, desperate pants. “And want you.”
“You weren’t frightened?” He stopped, his cock buried to the hilt inside her, and found her clit with his thumb. The tiny caress sent sparks to every nerve, and her body began to tremble.
It took two tries to answer his question. “Not of you. Never… never of — by the Goddess, Rais, please!”
He trembled as badly as she, but he didn’t move, just kept stroking her. “Come.”
She didn’t have a choice. The tense heat in her abdomen snapped, flooding her with earth-shattering pleasure. It felt so good she didn’t care that the cuffs dug painfully into her wrists and her arms, and her shoulders would surely ache later from the strain of writhing against her bindings.
Rais threw his head back with a howl. He gripped her thighs with bruising force and jerked her toward him to meet his frantic thrusts. She came again, harder this time, her entire body taut and her voice rasping in her throat as she let the magic inside her embrace him. Even through the pleasure, she could feel the way they fit together, the way the beast inside him fed on her pleasure and submission.
