Dark Elves 2: Mastered

by Jet Mykles

Suzana ran. Shadowy branches reached out to grab her, and rocks burst forth from the ground to trip her. She fell often, but picked herself up and continued.

  Stupid! She railed at herself, even as she continued. She had only the scant clothes on her back, no food, and no survival skills. She did not have the key to the belt around her waist. Nor was her body fit for such exercise. She fully expected a huge, wild animal to come crashing down on her at any moment and end her life.

  In fact, she welcomed the idea. Her entire family was gone. Everyone she had loved. Gone in a shipwreck she had somehow managed to survive. By rights, she should be dead, as well, deep in the depths of Lir’s watery embrace.

  She stumbled again, fell to her face and tasted dirt. Stunned, she lay for a moment, catching her breath. Her fingers dug into the scrubby grass as she tried desperately to think what to do.

  Weight descended on her. She screamed, instantly struggling, but went nowhere. Shadows encased her wrists, pinning them to the ground, and a solid mass straddled her hips, imprisoning her without smothering her.

  Her screams stopped abruptly when a sheet of white came hissing down from the shadow above her. Shocked, she watched it catch the scant moonlight, glowing faintly blue as it curtained her and the shadow above her.

  A dark chuckle sounded over her head. “Caught you, little one,” said a voice that resonated in her very spine.

  Slowly, she twisted her neck to see his face, which loomed just above her left ear. Even in the meager light, she could see his strong features and could just make out the lightning tattoo that crisscrossed his features. He smiled, flashing white teeth from between ebony lips.

  Suzana felt her existence halt. Her entire self lost itself in those eyes, eyes she was suddenly obsessed with seeing in the light so she could know their color. Her body heated, and reality faded away. Her nostrils filled with the strangely exciting scent of him, unlike any other male she had ever encountered.

  His grin faded, burned away by the heat of his gaze. In one swift, sudden move, he backed up and flipped her over. Before she knew what had happened, the length of her front was pressed against the hard mass of his body. Only her clothes separated them, as he was gloriously bare from the waist up. Instinct rolled her hips to rub her aching center against his flat belly, the short tunic riding up her hips. But the horrid metal of the chastity belt covered her pleasure and denied her the touch she sought.

  “What’s your name?” he demanded, the fingers of his big hands spearing the hair at either side of her head to force her to face him. Not that she wanted to look away.

  “Suzana,” she breathed, fascinated by one short stray lock of white that drifted down from the crown of his head to caress her cheek.

  “Suzana,” he rumbled, bending his head to seal their lips.

  Suzana had never been kissed. Not like this. Not by a man. Even her suggested suitors back home had only kissed her cheek or hand. No man had ever before crushed his mouth to hers, stolen her breath by inhaling it himself.

  He pulled back slightly. “Open your mouth.”

  She did, more out of surprise than anything else. Instantly, his tongue plunged in, shocking a groan from deep in her chest. She pulsed upon hearing an echoing purr from him. He took from her, and she could only lie there and accept. And enjoy. Oh, he tasted good!

  Her hands sailed up the slick skin of his arms to find the wealth of hair that hung from his head. Gods of water, he smelled good! His calloused hands slid from her face, down her sides, to command her hips. His fingers slid in under the metal panel between her thighs, stroking her dripping core. Her gasp was lost in his groan.

  “Krael!”

  She heard the voice only distantly. Her hands had filled themselves with silky white hair, clutching it near his head as his fingers struggled to enter her body.

  “Krael!”

  Abruptly, he tore from her. Eyes open, she shuddered at the fierce growl that vibrated in his chest, matched by the snarl on his upraised face.

  He was beautiful!

  “Krael, you can’t take her like this.”

  Again the snarl as he glared at someone over her head. Someone she irrationally hated for interrupting their tryst.

  “Leave off, Radin.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  Krael growled, his lips peeling back from his teeth just like a caged black jaguar she had once seen. Unable to help herself, she whimpered.

  Distracted by the sound, Krael’s attention returned to her. He instantly forgot the other man’s presence, again bending his head toward Suzana.

  Eagerly, she parted her lips, anticipating his kiss. Unfortunately, she fell unconscious before he could touch her.

  Krael knew she was gone when his lips touched hers. They were slack and unresponsive, worlds apart from the heated return kiss he had enjoyed just moments before.

  “Radin!”

  “Don’t snarl at me.” Radin’s purple boots appeared beside Krael. “You know Rhae’s edict just as well as I do.”

  Krael muttered every obscenity that came to mind. Added a few more. This choice little bit in his arms was far too tasty to release. He ached to tear away that damned belt and rough-spun tunic to bare all her creamy skin to his gaze. To his hands. His cock threatened to burst through his trousers to reach the moist, heated entrance he could smell but barely touch. He wanted to devour her, to live in her for days.

  Which is what gave him pause and allowed him to catch his breath. What was he doing? Never had a woman affected him like this. Not so suddenly and not so harshly. Did all virgins affect raedjour like this? Not ever having known one -- at least, a female one -- he wouldn’t know.

  Still muttering, he eased away from her. Suzana. He took a long moment to gaze at her lush body, so tiny, but beautifully curved and full. He picked her up, delighted to find that she was heavier than expected, not a weak little flower that would break if breathed on.

  He rose easily to his feet with her in his arms. A groan tore from his chest. He’d never make it back to the city.

  “Here,” he told Radin, unceremoniously dumping his precious bundle into the startled man’s arms. “You take her back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  Krael’s hand lingered in her tangled hair. He yanked it away. “To hunt.” To run. To kill something. To do something, anything, to put down the fire in his blood.

  Chapter Three

  She woke in a small bedchamber, nestled in a pile of blankets. A cheery fire kept the room warm as well as lit. A basket lay on a small table beside the bed, a loaf of bread and several cheeses poking out from the linen in which they were wrapped.

  Suzana sat up and gasped. Her tunic and the chastity belt were gone! What remained was a pretty, if small, embroidered vest and a tiny pair of panties. Her hair had been brushed. What had they done to her?!

  The door clicked, and she clutched the blanket to her near-nakedness.

  The red-eyed leader of the men who had taken her entered. Lir! He looks even better in full light! He was mostly dressed, at least from the waist down. Pale gold trousers hugged his muscular thighs and tucked into knee-high boots of soft violet leather. His sculpted chest and arms were bare. A thick silver choker hugged the base of his throat. The rings in his right ear twinkled in the light.

  “Greetings, little one,” he purred, shutting the door softly behind him. “Did you sleep well?”

  She nodded, watching him warily as he approached.

  “Do you have a name?” he asked conversationally. “Or should we continue to call you ‘little one’?”

  “Suzana.” She supplied only her common name.

  “Ah. How beautiful! It is a pleasure to meet you, Suzana.” He sat on the bed at her feet. “I am Radin.”

  “My clothes are gone.” She said the first thing that occurred to her.

  “Not so, Suzana. I left you with some clothing.”

  She hugged the blanket closer. “You undressed me?”

  He nodded. “A
nd got rid of that horrible belt. You’re welcome.”

  “Thank you,” she said automatically. Then she lowered her gaze, staring at the hand he had casually rested on a muscular thigh. “Did you ...?”

  “No, Suzana. Your virginity is intact. For now.”

  “For now?”

  He chuckled, edging closer. “For now. You see, I must fill you in on some details of your new situation.”

  New situation. As a slave. Still as a slave! She blinked back tears. This was not happening!

  Radin’s hand appeared at her cheek to gently brush away the tears. “Now, little love. Don’t cry. I promise you this new life could be heaven.”

  “It’s not my life.”

  Suzana widened her eyes in a vain attempt to keep further tears at bay. Her family was dead. Her beloved homeland lost to her. Yet she survived. Perhaps this capture was punishment. Perhaps she deserved this.

  The fear and anxiety of the days since her capture crashed onto her. She crumpled, sobbing, burying her face in the blankets.

  “Oh, little one,” Radin crooned, immediately leaning forward to scoop her, blankets and all, into his lap. “It’s all right, Suzana,” he soothed, seemingly sincere. “You won’t be hurt. You’ll be treasured.”

  She barely heard him through her body-wracking sobs. Distraught, she clung to him as a warm comfort. Despite his being a stranger, he was the first source of comfort she’d encountered in what seemed like a lifetime.

  Radin held her throughout, tenderly stroking her hair. At length, her sobs subsided. He prompted her to use the blanket as a handkerchief, assuring her that other blankets would be forthcoming. She huddled in his lap, accepting this strange man’s comfort.

  “Are you hungry?”

  She glanced at the basket of bread and cheese. Nodded.

  Securing her with one arm, he leaned over to snag the basket. Bringing it back, he opened it and laid it in her lap.

  She ate silently for a moment, staring fixedly at the contents of the basket while entirely too aware of the muscular body that held her. The blankets had fallen down during her crying fit, which meant that her right arm was snugged up against the smooth, hot skin of his chest. Completely hairless. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the strange white tattoo that flowed down his belly, like parallel waves, each inward point aimed down so that the entire tattoo drew the eye toward his groin. She slowly became aware of the smell of him, as well, a warm, musky scent that spun her thoughts far from depression and into melting interest.

  “As I was saying before,” he began, either oblivious of her interest or ignoring it, “you will be treasured among us. You see, we’re a race entirely of men.”

  She frowned. “How can that be?”

  “All children born to us are male.”

  She frowned harder. “But who gives birth to them?”

  “The women we take from the world above.”

  She froze, a bite of bread momentarily forgotten in her mouth.

  He took advantage of her silence to continue. “We’re a long-lived race. We think we’re related to the elves we’ve heard about but never seen, but we can’t be sure. We do know that we were created as a race by our goddess, Rhae. To be blunt, She created us as sexual consorts and bodyguards. When the gods left our world, She tried to do what She could for us. She told us to take human women and change them.”

  “Change them?”

  “To raedjour. We have a spell that will change you into one of us.”

  She looked pointedly at the glossy skin of his chest. “Do you mean black skin?”

  “I do mean black skin. Which, by the way, is almost as hard to cut as cured leather but --” He smoothed a hand over the outside of her thigh. “-- is much more pleasant to the touch.” She squirmed at his touch and heard him laugh softly. “I also mean you will develop night vision and a long lifespan. Changed women tend to add at least three to four hundred years to their lifespan, possibly more.”

  “Three to four hundred?”

  “Yes.”

  “You mentioned living underground.”

  “I did. But, as you can see, we don’t exactly live in bat-infested caves.”

  She had to smile.

  At his urging, she stood, and he stood with her. He led her to a window and parted the curtain. She gasped. Beyond lay a wondrous world she could never have fathomed. Her window was at least four stories up and looked out over single-story buildings. The layout was roughly like that of a castle, complete with a wall marching across the terrain in the distance. And there was distance. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, some touching the floor to cause columns, but the open space extended for miles. She glimpsed other structures, a few as massive as a castle, others the size of a house. Beyond the walls was what looked like a city, complete with meandering streets and a cleared town square. Scattered figures walked the roads. In the distance ... was that a lake? The shining, shimmery surface had to be water.

  “It’s beautiful!”

  “It is.”

  “Are we under the forest?”

  “No. We’re much farther under the mountains. We are in the heart of the city here. Most raedjour live within the main foundation, but many choose to live in the outskirts. We also have small gatherings, somewhat like villages, throughout the cavern system.”

  “I could never have guessed such a place could exist.”

  “It will be your home now.”

  She stepped back, but kept her eyes on the distant shimmer of the lake. “What happens now?”

  He tugged at her hand to turn her, then released it to cup her face with both his hands. “I start the process to make you one of us, little one.” He leaned forward even as she began to protest. “Welcome home.”

  She wanted to protest. She suspected that part of making her one of them included taking her virginity, and, as it was all she had left, she did not just want anyone, even this beautiful man, to take it from her. But his kiss overwhelmed her. More than a kiss, more than a meeting of lips. She tried to push away, needing to argue, sensing that his next actions would seal her fate. But her body already pulsed with a need she didn’t understand. Her hands slid along the slick surface of his skin. Finally, she gave in to her desires.

  Radin delved deep into Suzana’s mind. As she was ungifted in magical defenses, her natural shielding was child’s play to penetrate once he had distracted her with the kiss and a little push to the natural attraction humans felt for raedjour. With a sigh, she sank against him, and he had to release her face to surround her body with his arms to hold her upright. Her firm, high breasts pressed against his flesh, tempting him to take more than he should.

  If only she weren’t a virgin. He sighed, putting his thoughts back on track as he sifted through her mind. If she weren’t a virgin, he could volunteer to be her first and enjoy the lush body he felt against him. However, there were very definite rules regarding virgins, and he would be defying his goddess if he broke them.

  Although he couldn’t read Suzana’s precise thoughts or memories, he could get feelings and inklings. He read enough to know that she had to be well-born, and he read her guilt over the death of her family. He felt for her, but he could only hope that these pains from the past would ease in time.

  His first task was to judge her capability. Could she handle the change? Could she live amongst them? He saw nothing within her to convince him she needed to be freed, and he saw ample that convinced him that her compassion and demeanor would be welcome among the raedjour.

  Task complete, Radin broke the kiss. Suzana fell easily into his arms as he scooped her up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down, then stretched out beside her. Her eyes were closed, her plump, moist lips parted slightly. He smiled ruefully. Unfortunately, the planting of the spell would make this experience with him hazy in her mind. She would only remember fragments.

  Taking his time, Radin smoothed his hand down her body, flipping aside the flaps of her vest to expose her breasts. His mouth salivat
ed, but he didn’t taste. They weren’t his to explore just yet. If ever. But he could look!

  His fingers trailed down her softly rounded belly to the silky panties that guarded her sex. He pulled aside the flimsy fabric and fluffed his fingers through the curly hair there. Delving deeper, he found her moist heat. A moan escaped her lips as he caressed, finding and coaxing her little nubbin of pleasure to waken. It did, pushing at his finger.

  He concentrated on her face as she began to writhe in pleasure. Her hips rocked into his hand, but he was careful to keep his fingers from her channel. He couldn’t take her innocence. The rules were very explicit. He was to plant the spell, leaving her virginity intact. It was an interesting task for Radin, who had never planted the spell without also planting his cock deep inside a woman. He’d known the theory that it could be done, but had never seen the reason to deny himself before.

  He fondled her, allowing the natural oil from his fingers to mix with her already copious lubrication. He often wondered how other males existed without the oil that covered a raedjour’s body. The scent delved deep into a human’s sexual center, starting the simmer of pleasure that a raedjour man learned to cultivate with skill.

  Suzana writhed, and more oil from the skin of his chest rubbed off onto her arm. Even in her semi-conscious state, the smell and warm burn would push her just enough ...

  When she burst, he was ready. As her body convulsed in orgasm, he sealed his lips to hers and planted the spell within her. The orgasm weakened her defenses further and made her receptive. Her pulsing body and racing blood tangled with the spell, helping to lace it through her being, to tie it to her soul. Before she subsided with a contented sigh, it was done. The seeds were sown to convert Suzana into raedjour.

  Sighing, Radin pulled back his fingers and restored her panties. He licked his fingers clean of her cream, then shifted away from her and stood. Carefully, he arranged the blankets and pillows around her sleeping body. Then he left.

  Chapter Four