by Tawny Taylor
“Now, my love,” he murmured, pulling Wynne flush against him. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she said on a sigh. “Yes, now. Please.”
His fangs pierced her skin and his mouth filled with the decadent flavor of her blood.
“Yessss.” She clawed at his shoulders, stiffened against him as he eagerly drank from her. With each swallow, a different kind of burning sparked inside him, desperate carnal need. He wanted her like he had never wanted a woman before. His cock surged to a throbbing erection. He roughly yanked her closer and pushed his knee between her legs. As his venom took hold of her, she writhed against him, grinding her pussy against his thigh, stirring his lust to even greater heights.
He whispered her name against her neck, repeated it over and over. It was the most glorious name he’d ever spoken. Each time he said it, he soared closer, closer to orgasm. And then she groaned and shuddered against him as a climax overtook them both.
It was done.
His precious Wynne belonged to him forever. He swept her into his arms and looked down into her heavy-lidded gaze. “My love for you will have no end. We will be together forever, no matter what happens to us now.”
Movement in the distance caught his eye. A man. Running.
Dierk’s joy faded, but only slightly. He had hoped his brother would wait a little while before sending guards to have him arrested.
He tightened his hold on Wynne.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, still not seeing the man heading their way.
“We’re about to pay the price for our love.” He motioned toward the approaching man, knowing she couldn’t see him yet. “Remember, we talked about this. Someone is coming to arrest me now.”
“No!” Wynne sobbed, twisted, and arched her back, forcing him to set her down.
“My sweet Wynne.” He pulled her into an embrace but she fought out of it. “Please don’t get upset. We knew this would happen.”
“I don’t give a damn. I won’t let anyone arrest you,” she murmured, sounding surprisingly calm. Her expression was fierce, determined, damn sexy. “Nobody is going to make you pay anything. We’ve done nothing wrong.”
“It’s Shadow,” Rolf said.
Rolf was right. It was their brother, the king.
“Am I too late?” Glowering, Shadow stopped directly in front of Dierk. “Did you defy me?”
Dierk gently tried to force Wynne behind him. “I did.”
“Dammit,” Shadow spat. “You ass.”
“You’re an ass.” Jumping forward, Wynne poked the king in the chest. Dierk grabbed her wrists and yanked them behind her back, but as he struggled to gather both into one of his fists, she growled, “What gives you the right to deny anyone the happiness they deserve?”
“Wynne, stop. He is my king. Your king.” Dierk tried to get her to turn around and look at him, but she wasn’t going to let that happen without putting up a good fight. And thanks to the strength she’d gained through the Joining, she was giving him a run for his money.
“I don’t give a damn what his title is. He’s still an asshole, and I’m not afraid to tell him that.” Standing tall, she glared up at his brother, who towered over her. “There’s a time and a place for obedience, submission. And maybe you all expect me to shut up and be the good little submissive girl I’ve become in the dungeon, but I can’t. Not when such a gross injustice is about to be done. Love cannot be stopped. It overcomes obstacles or it barrels through them, but either way it wins out over everything else. And our love led us to this place, against your wishes, against your law. We couldn’t stop it any more than we could have stopped a typhoon. So, why should we be penalized—”
“I understand.” The king crossed his arms over his chest. Wynne snapped her mouth shut. “But the law is clear. Only the king may Join with his bride.”
“The law isn’t fair—”
Shadow lifted a hand, silencing the fiery little Wynne. “The law has a purpose, and as king I am bound to honor it and every other written in our books.”
“Which is your way of telling us you can’t do anything to help us,” she snapped.
“Oh yes, I can.” Shadow nodded. “I have spent the past twenty-four hours looking into this dilemma and I have discovered we have a few options.” He extended his index finger. “I can have you arrested and tried for treason and if you are convicted, you will be executed.”
“I hope he’s got something better than that,” Wynne muttered.
“He does. I hope.” Dierk braced for what he hoped might be good news.
Shadow extended his middle finger, adding it to the index. “Two, I can step in your place, admit I gave you permission to Join, and pay the consequences for breaking the law.”
“I won’t let you do that,” Dierk said.
“Or three.” The king extended his ring finger. “You can confess your guilt now, relinquish your right to a trial, and place yourself at my mercy.”
Dierk briefly considered all three and quickly concluded there was only one that gave them any hope whatsoever.
Ironically, he was now forced to do what he’d asked Wynne to do all along. He had to place his trust at another man’s feet, and blindly have faith that it wouldn’t be crushed.
He released one of Wynne’s wrists, dropped on one knee, and nodded to her, suggesting she do the same.
She hesitated but complied.
He said, “Before this witness, we confess we knowingly and freely broke the law, completed the Joining against your counsel and in secret, and beg for your mercy, Your Grace.”
“You made a wise choice.” Shadow paused. “It pains me to do this, but I must find you guilty of Treason.”
Dierk felt Wynne’s hand tremble. He gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Your sentence is that you will be banished until my anger is appeased. You will spend this time overseeing the reconstruction of our castle in Ljubljana.”
“Ljubljana?” Wynne whispered.
Trying to hide his jubilation, Dierk fought a grin. “Yes, My King. Thank you, Your Grace.” He watched as Shadow took a step backward.
That was it? He would go to Slovenia and oversee the rebuilding of the castle that was destroyed? That was no punishment. Hell, it was a reward!
“Ljubljana?” Wynne repeated.
He didn’t move until his brother was out of sight, then he leapt to his feet, hauled Wynne off the ground, and swung her in a wide circle. “Get ready, Sweetheart. We’ve been banished to the most beautiful place on earth.”
She squealed and giggled in that delightful way that had him smoldering.
Rolf clapped him on the back. “Congratulations!”
He turned to Rolf. “Thank you. For everything.”
After they shared a hearty hug, Rolf said, “It makes me happy seeing the two of you together.”
“You’ll find her someday, too,” Dierk said, “the woman you can’t live without. God help you when you do.” After giving Rolf another quick hug, he headed toward the house. He had a lot to look forward to, the least of which was taking home his Joined mate, his wife, and making love to her until neither of them could lift an eyelid.
This was too wonderful to be true. Not only was she married to the man of her dreams but she was lucky enough to enjoy a much deeper and more intimate bond with him. He was her Master. He was her husband. Her lover. Her partner. And, in the most literal sense, her soul mate. A piece of her belonged to him now, inhabited him, literally. Their fates were tied to each other, and she would have it no other way.
Now, when she gazed into Dierk’s eyes, she no longer saw dark shadows, secrets, sorrow, and regret, but hope, love, and joy.
It was time.
In their bedroom, she knelt before him, the oiled hemp rope she’d taken from his cabinet lying on the floor in front of her. More than anything, she wanted to feel his rope binding her, holding her tightly. A loving web, caressing, grazing, chafing.
“Please, Master. I’ve waited a long tim
e for this.”
Dierk stood, went to her, cupped her chin, and brushed his lips over hers, a teasing, tempting kiss. “I couldn’t deny you anything. It may be me tying the knots around you, but you have bound me to your soul.”
He picked up the rope and stepped around her back. His breath caressed her nape, making her shiver. He leaned close and the heat from his body added tingles to the shivers. He eased a hand around her side and she closed her eyes and sighed.
He dragged the rope around her chest, just under the swell of her breasts. “Close your eyes, my love. Feel my caress.”
Wynne concentrated on her breathing as Dierk tied knot after knot around her torso, encasing her in a web of rope. As the web tightened, she began to feel an odd sensation, like she was floating. The soft ropes grazed her skin. It was so good. A patient, slow, and gentle seduction.
The rope between her legs shifted, rubbing against her pussy. She inhaled deeply…and sighed.
Dierk tied a few more knots down the center of her stomach, making her feel more helpless, powerless. But she wasn’t frightened, not when she knew Dierk had control. She heard him speaking. Her love. Her Master. Whispering in her head. “Surrender,” he said. “Let go.”
Yes, that was what she wanted to do, needed to do.
As he worked, more rope slid across her skin, the knots pressing against her breastbone, her stomach, her mound, and she felt some kind of energy zapping deep inside her. His voice grew louder. “Surrender, Wynne. Give me everything.” His words sent tingling vibrations through her body. It felt like a current of electricity was charging through her system. Up to her scalp and back down through her center, down her legs, her feet.
She opened her eyes and saw a faint light connecting her to her Master. It was rotating between them, joining them.
Confused, she started to pull back and fight his voice, trying to control the energy, to keep it inside. But the power of his words was too strong. It pulled her back under, like an overpowering surge of water, a wild tempest. She was lost but it was okay. Better than okay.
There were two energy streams now, their blended energies, pushing through her body, from her feet to her head. Out it rushed, into the head of her Master, down through his body, and back to her. It was magical. It was beyond words. Exquisite. Beautiful. Rare and precious. They were connected so intimately now that he didn’t have to touch her for her to feel his touch. All he had to do was think it.
She heard herself sigh again, but through Dierk’s ears this time, as if she was inside Dierk’s body and he in hers. Her reward was so close now, and yet she resisted its pull, wanting this moment to last. Her body was thrumming with sensual energy, her pussy ready to pulse with a hard climax. The churning was gathering force, like a storm cloud, a typhoon. She could come. Release was right there. And yet she held back, living this moment to its fullest. She had never been more energized and alive as now. She was one with Dierk, body, mind, and soul.
Pulsing heat slowly rippled out from her center, the sensation too wonderful for words or even thoughts.
“Sparrow,” he said.
She struggled. She fought. One more second, only one.
She lost.
An inferno swept through her body, and her pussy convulsed around aching emptiness. Muscles from her head to the soles of her feet spasmed as ecstasy charged along her nerves like jolts of electricity. She felt like she was racing to the stars, hurled through space. On and on the ecstasy continued through an eternity of unspeakable bliss. She soared to an impossibly beautiful place, hovered there for a short time, and slowly, gradually sank.
He was calling to her, coaxing her back.
When she opened her eyes, she was no longer bound in ropes. And Dierk was kneeling, cradling her in his arms, tears of joy trickling from his eyes.
“That was beautiful,” he whispered.
She took his hand in hers and kissed his palm, his fingertips, his wrist. “Thank you. For being my life. My love. My everything.” She placed his hand between her legs. “Make love to me now. Please. Not like a Master but a man. A husband.”
While kissing her to heaven and back, he carried her to the bed and set her down. She returned every stroke and stab of the tongue with one of her own as she scooted toward the center of the mattress, Dierk crawling on hands and knees over her. When she stopped her slow but steady progress, he wedged his hips between her thighs and settled on top of her. He cradled her head in his hands, lifting it and tipping it, deepening the kiss.
He tasted so good, felt even better. How grateful she was right now, having him here with her, touching her at last, kissing her. Finally, they were free to express their feelings, and she was so overcome she started to cry. Little sobs slipped up her throat, only to be swallowed by her husband.
He moved lower, kissing her neck, her collarbone, her breast. He flicked his tongue over her nipple, and little currents of pleasure zinged through her body.
Her pussy was hot, so hot. Wet. Empty. She didn’t want to wait any longer; the orgasm she’d enjoyed as she was bound was like the most intense foreplay she’d ever experienced. She could think of nothing but taking him deep, of their bodies joining like their spirits had moments ago.
She whimpered, reached down and stroked his thick rod. His skin was smooth as satin, sheathing granite. Warm and alive and perfect. He groaned, gave her nipple a little nip that made her shudder and kissed a warm, wet path to her clenching pussy.
Oh no. She wanted his cock. “No more…”
“Impatient, my precious?”
“Yes. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.” She tried for his cock again, but he had moved out of her reach, and he wasn’t letting her sit up. He pressed one hand to her breastbone, forcing her to lie back down. He lowered his head.
Oh no, he was going to…
The first swipe of his tongue nearly sent her to the moon. The second one had her writhing beneath him, caught up in an inferno of need. And the third sent a plea for mercy flying from her lips.
“Please, please,” she begged. She curled her fingers into his hair and pulled but he didn’t let up. He parted her labia and licked her hard pearl until she was quaking, on the verge of orgasm. “Dierkkkkkk…” She arched her back and parted her legs wider, but that did nothing to ease her torment.
Hard, thick cock. That was what she needed. Now. Right now. Not a second from now. Not a fraction of a second from now.
“Now,” she yelled. “Now!”
He chuckled. If she hadn’t been burning alive, she would have punched him. Hard. Instead, she grabbed his hair and pulled. This time, he moved, crawling up her body until his groin was pressed against hers. “Is this what you want?” He ground that thick rod against her pulsing clit.
“Yes,” she whispered between clenched teeth. “Deep. Fuck me.”
He lifted her knees, found her entrance, and surged inside.
She saw stars.
Her body coiled into one tight knot.
An inferno whipped through her body.
Then he started moving inside her and their bodies worked as one, meeting and retreating in a beautiful dance. She felt their energies blending again and that wonderful sensation whirled through her system once more. But this time, she wasn’t alone, swooping and soaring on a sparkling current of energy. Dierk was there with her, and they could see, hear, feel, and think what the other did. Their thoughts blended, their needs merged, their wishes and fears melded until there was no separation, only union.
In this state, they found completion and an ecstasy that couldn’t be imagined. Their combined orgasm was more powerful than anything Wynne had ever experienced, more beautiful and furious than any force of nature she’d seen—tornado, tidal wave, hurricane, volcano.
And the peace afterward, the contentment and joy—heavenly.
She had no idea who or what was responsible for their finding each other, and for all the pieces falling into place as they had, but she knew she would always be grateful.
She realized her whole life, both the heartache and the happiness, had led her to this point, to this man. To this moment. If she had missed a turn, if John hadn’t dumped her for a cross-dressing Dom or if Kristy hadn’t dragged her to Twilight, would they have found each other? Would she have lost out on knowing the perfect, unparalleled joy of total submission?
Someday, she would thank John for forcing her out of her imaginary world where they were in love and everything was perfect.
But in the meantime, she had a Dom to please. And please him, she would. In as many ways as she could.
Thanks to her experiences at Twilight, she had a whole new understanding of herself. But more than anything, now she knew a kind of loving that went beyond the ordinary. Sex was no longer a joining of two bodies; it was a joining of two spirits.
Turn the page for a tantalizing preview of Kate Pearce’s novella in SOME LIKE IT ROUGH!
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“Well, hell.”
Luke Warner leaned back and squinted up at the hole in the ceiling, certain he could see the blue sky beyond. He sure had his work cut out for him, but that was what he’d wanted, right? Something to do with his hands, something to connect him to his past. He grimaced as his gaze swept the broken countertops and shelves, the holes in the floor, the leaking pipes.
The old Warner family drugstore on the corner of Keystone and Main in Gulch Town, California, had definitely seen better days. For some reason, he decided it was his job to put it right. It smelled of dirt and mildew now, but once, the store had its own distinct odor of popcorn, coffee, and candy. Luke remembered sitting on a high stool watching his grandpa weigh a handful of pills on the old scales, the way he’d wrapped them in brown paper, the clunking ring of the manual cash register.
His father hadn’t wanted to run the shop, and it had been left to rot until Luke had shown up and demanded the key from his perplexed Aunt Josie. With a sigh, he picked up his sleeping bag and rucksack and walked to the back of the store. There was one room with a door that still locked and an outside toilet with running water and a sink. That would have to do until he got himself fixed up.
