“You noticed that? Very observant of you. We all switched masks when the ladies were in the dressing room,” Devereux said.
“That was pretty smart. Who is wearing your mask?”
“Julian.”
She scanned the crowd and spied Julian being ridden by Samantha Honeybone. The lady would no doubt boast that she had ridden the real Lord Langley, but she would be wrong. “So the ladies all think you are Julian.”
“Yes, and Julian has been very unpopular with the ladies until now.”
Ever since the Countess had castigated and insulted him during public intercourse, Julian had been treated as a pariah. With the masks, the ladies could not tell the difference. Nefertiti should be able to differentiate amongst them, but she did not have an eye for details.
“You should not be here, absent of wig and dressed as you are. You are sure to be molested.”
She turned her head toward him. “That was the general idea. I’m being punished.” When she felt his hands slide under her robe and settle between her legs, she gasped in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“Aiding in your punishment, like the dutiful harem lord I am. Nefertiti sent you here so that you would be molested, but it is a dangerous game she plays.”
She breathed harshly when he began to stroke her feminine flesh. “Yes, but how fortunate I was that you found me first. I trust you’ll remain a gentleman.”
“Why would you assume that, especially considering the fact that my hands are upon your naked flesh? I intend to take full advantage of you. The Countess will think it is Julian who is ravishing you and she will not care, since she has lost all interest in the male.”
She sputtered and looked at him with shock. Surely he would not do such a thing right there in the main hall. “You will not.”
“That spot over there seems appropriate.” He pointed to a sofa in a darkened corner of the room.
He prodded her to walk toward that empty sofa, his hand still buried between her legs. She struggled in his arms, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. He clutched her tighter and propelled her more rapidly toward the sofa. She spotted Valerie and Valencia pointing toward her and giggling, enjoying her plight. She kicked him and he grunted in surprise. She started to run, but he caught her in an unyielding grasp and threw her on the sofa. She looked at him in surprise, but his eyes were nearly unrecognizable. He had never looked so alien to her and it made her afraid. She scooted backwards on the sofa as he leaned over her. He grabbed her robe and pushed the material apart, revealing her exposed womanhood. As she struggled, he grabbed her knees and spread her thighs apart.
He held her still while he stared at her exposed flesh. “Why do you deny me, human? The Flourdan fur trade is still in effect and my payment is past overdue.”
His words made no sense to her, and when she looked into his eyes, they showed no recognition. “Flourdan fur trade?”
“Yes. The original agreement between the Flourdan Queen and the hybrids still stands.”
She couldn’t believe that he was making statements about hybrids after he had ordered her not to discuss the issue. “I’ve never heard of any agreement.”
He cupped her sex in his hand and leaned down to whisper close to her ear. “The Queen who was conquered by the hybrids so long ago bargained with the hybrid King to spare her sons. She offered the daughters of Flourda in exchange for the life of her sons, and for a hundred years, the hybrids performed a mass culling of the Flourdan furs once a decade. After the hundred years was up, the contract was renegotiated. The Langley Queen offered her very own daughters and the daughters of her fellow noblewomen to the hybrids in lieu of the decade mass cullings. Per the agreement, one fur is to be offered to the hybrids annually, hence the fur trade. The fur is delivered by boat to the Isle of Anubis during the New Moon Festival. The Queen kept the agreement until recently. No deliveries have been made in three years, but the payments must be made in full or the mass cullings will begin anew.”
She had never heard anything about cullings, agreements, or festival offerings. “How do you know these things?”
“I was there.”
“That’s not possible. You’re not that old, Dev. What do you mean by that?”
He smiled at her. “Hybrid brains are more advanced than the brains of humans. Our brains can access collective knowledge of the Asstrum race, and when necessary, our minds can be utilized to meet the needs of the collective. Even Devereux’s brain is advanced enough to do this.”
This was entirely too weird. “I wish to speak with Devereux, not the collective hybrid mind.”
“You talk to us both, but the time for talking has passed. The Flourdans have forgotten they are our subjects and we are their masters. Submit to me. Take me into your body so that your people will see and remember what it is like to be conquered.”
She struggled to get free as he held her against the sofa. “Let’s not do this here,” she pleaded.
He knelt between her thighs and his eyes flashed. “Human, you must submit.”
She felt him tugging at her mind, telling her to give into him. Humans were there to serve their hybrid masters. One look in his eyes and she realized that he was lost to her. It was like Devereux had been replaced with another being. “You forget yourself. You are Flourdan.” He spoke in her mind. I am hybrid. You are my slave. I will fuck you until you breed a hundred hybrids. You must submit or I will bring more hybrids here to subdue the entirety of Flourda. You must honor the agreement. She stilled as she absorbed his threats. Could he actually do such a thing? He had once told her that he knew no hybrids and would never betray Flourda.
Valerie approached with Valencia trailing behind her and stopped at the sofa. “Halt, my amorous lord. You have mistaken this lady for a woman of low birth. My niece very foolishly chose to forgo her wig. I did tell her that it would only result in her ravishment, and it looks as if I was correct. You must release her at once.”
Devereux did not look at the ladies. “No, I will not.”
Briella spied the look of shock on her aunt’s face as she contemplated what to do. She tried once more to wriggle out of his hold, but his grip was too strong. “Let go of me.”
“No. You are mine,” he responded.
Her aunt rolled her eyes and produced a needle filled with liquid. “If only Markus could be so moved to rut with you, I would be so happy. But no, the only one who wants you is one of Nefertiti’s least favored lords. I must say his manners are vile. No wonder she tires of him.” Valerie thrust the needle into Dev’s upper arm and in moments, he collapsed against her in a heap. “Eunuchs, take this male to the harem and let him rest undisturbed.”
Briella squirmed underneath Devereux’s heavy weight. He had collapsed between her thighs and his head was resting against her chest. She could feel the hard press of his erection against her center, even though he remained fully clothed. She wondered how he managed to collapse on top of her in such a crucial spot. She tried to shift underneath him, but it only resulted in added contact. She started to rub herself against him and it shamed her when she realized what she was doing. He was only harmless now because he was unconscious, but when he revived, he would once again be a threat. She couldn’t seek pleasure from his body, not when he wanted to make her his slave. He was dangerous and she needed to rid the harem of his presence.
His heavy weight was lifted from her body by several eunuchs and Briella pulled her clothing down to cover herself.
“It is a good thing we got to you in time,” Valencia said with false sweetness. “You were nearly violated. How dreadful, to have to endure the press of a male body against your own. Only whores are used in such a manner. I shudder at the thought of what those poor unfortunate souls endure, to be taken in all sorts of vile ways to appease the unnatural appetites of the lusty male animal.”
Briella pulled herself upright on shaky legs. She didn’t know why she was trembling. “Yes, I thank you, dear Aunt.”
Samantha came tro
tting by with a gleeful expression on her lips. “While you were being molested by that uncouth lord, I was being serviced by royalty! Might I say that the Queen’s grandson has the most marvelous feel. He was so responsive and so eager to please me. I was pleasantly surprised, since I had heard that Lord Langley was impotent. I am happy to say that he is not.”
Chapter 8: Addiction
Devereux woke the next morning with no memory of the night following the carnival. The other lords had told him what he had done and he had been appalled by his behavior. Julian wasn’t too happy with him, since he was being blamed for the near rape of Briella. He had no memory of assaulting Briella, but he had been told that he had thrown her on the sofa and had been so intent on having his way with her that the Lady Valerie had injected him with a sedative. He groaned and rolled over in bed, trying to get comfortable. He still possessed a raging erection that he could not rid himself of. He hadn’t known what to say to the lords when they had confronted him with their reports of his behavior. His confusion about the events led them to think he had been under the influence of drink or drug, so they had forgiven him and urged him to “seek help” for his addictions. He obviously needed help. He needed to get himself under control because it terrified him that he could harm another while having no conscious awareness of it. He was certain that Briella would never forgive him. She would triple her efforts to remove him from the harem and he would have no choice but to silence her. If not by his hand, it would be by his uncles, who were already concerned about some of the rumors flying about the harem. Apparently, there was talk of his being a hybrid. He had thought that Briella had agreed to never mention such a thing, but he supposed the events of last night had loosened her tongue. It was too bad that they were destined to be enemies.
He eventually rolled out of bed and forced himself to dress. He planned to meet with Sebastian without delay. There might be some talk about his leaving without an escort, but he didn’t wish to bother with getting his excursion approved by official channels. Nefertiti would not approve of his travel plans, as he intended to visit the home of her rival and enemy.
When he arrived at Pembroke, the eunuch house servants directed him to the dungeon of all places. He wondered why Sebastian was in the dungeon. He entered the dark area and spied a light in the distance. He walked deeper into the dungeon until he reached the prison cell that housed Helsina. He was taken aback by the sight that greeted him. The hybrid female was shackled to a post in her cell. She was naked and muzzled. She stood upright and Sebastian was at her back, plunging into her from behind. The female moaned and keened as if she enjoyed such treatment, but he was still stunned to see his friend ravishing a hostage. He had never before abused a female in his care.
Sebastian caught Dev’s gaze and gestured for him to come forward, although he made no move to stop plowing the woman. “It’s not what it looks like. If she doesn’t have sex, she will die. We should be done shortly. She requires a dose every twelve hours.”
It sounded like a load of bullshit to Dev, but he nodded and took a seat in the next room to give them some privacy.
Sebastian returned a few minutes later. “I didn’t mean for you to witness that little display, but it couldn’t be helped. If she doesn’t get her dose, she gets very ill. The hybrids that were doing research experiments on her forced her to bite humans to establish a mating bond, but they never let her consummate the union. They left her in that unsatisfied state until she sickened and begged for their touch. When the humans she had bitten died, they repeated the process. Helsina says that she may eventually recover, but for now, the doses help her stay alive.”
“Why must she be dosed?”
“It has something to do with a mating bond that isn’t consummated. It can lead to insanity and death, which is why a hybrid should never bite another unless the mating will be consummated.”
He had royally screwed up by biting Briella. He had initiated a mating bond that would never be consummated, which explained why he was losing it. “Why was she muzzled?”
“To prevent her from biting me. I will not risk that and I cannot trust her. She is the enemy.”
“So why bother keeping her alive?”
“She’s worth nothing as a dead hostage.”
He talked with Sebastian and explained the recent events and he felt uncomfortable at the look of concern on his friend’s face. “I’m losing control and I don’t know how to gain it back.”
“I’ll take you to see Helsina. She is sure to know what to do.”
He followed Sebastian into Helsina’s cell. She was still shackled to the post, but she was covered by a robe and her muzzle had been removed.
Helsina stood and analyzed Devereux. “Hybrid. I’ve heard talk of you.”
“From where?”
“The Donovan King. He took an interest in you for some reason, but none of us know why. What brings you to see me?”
He told her of his problems and she listened attentively. He didn’t know if they could trust her, but she was their best source of knowledge. “How do I get control of this?”
Helsina studied him silently for a minute before speaking. “You bit a female and didn’t consummate the union, right?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
“You either need to consummate the union or stay away from the female. The cravings are worse if you are near her. In time, it will fade and her mark will disappear. You just have to live through the torment of the withdrawal period.”
“Withdrawal period?”
“Yes, the mating bond acts like a drug. If you feed the bond, the addiction strengthens. If you abstain, you’ll suffer withdrawal effects that could actually kill you. You’ll probably go insane, at least temporarily. With any luck, you’ll experience a complete recovery.”
How the hell had he managed to get himself into such a fix? He didn’t want to be addicted to Briella. “What happens if you feed the bond?”
“The bond grows stronger and you’ll be a slave to the bond until the female is impregnated. You will be consumed with the mating act, which may sound fantastic, but trust me, it is not. The mating bond will dissolve on its own once there is young growing in her belly. For that reason, it is not wise to initiate a bond unless the female is near her fertile time. However, it does make sense to initiate one earlier when competition for mates is fierce.”
He listened as Helsina gave him some general advice on developing his abilities. When he got up to leave, he took a gold coin out of his cloak pocket. “This is for your services.”
Helsina accepted the coin with a smile. “I expect to have a nice pile of coin set aside before I am set free.”
He thought about what he had learned on his way back to Avenal. He had to stay away from Briella and let the bond fade. Hopefully, he could manage the withdrawal effects without losing his mind.
Chapter 9: Criminal Acts
Briella’s life was a total disaster. She was about to be forced into an unwanted union with a male she despised. The male she desired was not even human and she did not have the sense to stay away from him. Her best friend was locked in a tower and unable to talk to her, and Nefertiti and the other ladies continued to twitter about Briella’s near ravishment. They were getting on her last nerve.
She walked to the library and pulled out an interesting book to read. She had to distract herself from her hellish future and the book titled The Destruction of Mankind Perpetrated by Fiendish Alien Hybrid Races would accomplish this. She felt suffocated in the mansion and she did not want to be confronted with any of her family or Markus.
She took the book and wandered outside. Her thoughts were consumed with ideas of hybrid domination and she again thought of the winged hybrids. Her whole way of life could change in an instant if they were invaded by hybrid forces. She didn’t want to be anyone’s slave. She wandered until she ran into her cousin and some of the other lords.
“Good day, Briella,” Valor said. “You should really practice more ofte
n in the training room.”
“Why do you say that?”
Valor frowned at her. “I heard what happened to you. You should practice self-defense. You are too weak and no male wants a defenseless woman. You nearly lost your honor. I know you are being mated to that Roman, but you would not wish to shame the Agrippa family. Rome is full of vile beasts, including gladiators. Females are expected to be able to defend themselves and a proper lady never has to depend upon a male.”
Dark Lord Page 7
