Marked 2: Marked for Desire

by Jennifer Leeland

  “I will show them,” Shaun told him. His nostrils flared, and his face had lost color, but he stood straight and tall. His fingers wrenched his pants open; then he dropped them to his ankles. The belt thudded on the floor.

  Leo shot to his feet. “Shaun, you do not have to do this.”

  The man’s hazel eyes were sad, too old for his young face. “For them to trust me, I do. And we need them.”

  “Shaun—” Sera protested.

  “I can do this, Princess.” Shaun’s hands clenched into fists, and he turned so his ass was exposed to everyone in the room.

  “Shit!” Conner said under his breath.

  They’d seen enough. Rhea and Conner glanced at each other. Leo stepped in front of Shaun, shielding him. It hadn’t been easy for Shaun to admit he’d been dominated by another man. In most circumstances, the mark would never be shown. “Pull your pants up, ” Leo said gently. The man’s face was tight, and a blush washed over his cheeks. “I thank you, Shaun.”

  His startled gaze jerked to Leo’s face. “For what?”

  “For wearing my mark. For being brave enough to show it.” Leo touched the man’s shoulder. “I swear, they will say nothing.”

  He nodded, took a deep breath, and turned to face the others. Leo noted Rhea and Conner regarded Shaun with a little bit of awe. “I was wrong, Shaun Fenway,” Rhea said. “I’m sorry I distrusted you.”

  Conner glanced at Leo. “You meted out punishment so he wouldn’t have to face the Mistresses.”

  “I did. What he did was to protect his sister. Any dominant in his position would have done the same,” Leo stated. Shaun straightened his back. “I gave the council justice without breaking his dominance.”

  Conner nodded. “We swear, Shaun, to say nothing. Ever.”

  Shaun gave a curt nod, and Leo sat down. Now they could plan their trap to catch the Brotherhood.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mina’s, on the planet Elison, was a club that skirted the boundaries of even the most deviant in the galaxy. They offered it all, whatever the market demanded, regardless of moral right and wrong. Leo had been there, undercover as a Primarian soldier, partaking in some of the more questionable orgies. It hadn’t left him with a positive impression, but it did give him a good idea of the layout.

  The arena offered group sex for an enthralled audience, like live porn. It sure as hell was more potent to smell the arousal of the participants. But getting to Mina’s was challenging. The minute they hit the Elison spaceport, vid streamers were all over them. Sera’s assistant, Riordan, was on his way, but until then Leo was in charge of Princess Sera Placido.

  Leo’s hand clamped around Sera’s arm in an attempt to keep her close, afraid she’d get swallowed by the sharks swarming around them.

  There had to be hundreds of them. How the hell did she put up with this shit? And the questions? Fuck. He wanted to deck them all. Hell, he always had, but now that she was mated to him, it was unbearable.

  “Princess, your advisers declared you were on the planet Sethos Five on vacation.” The reporter drawled the last word. “Can you tell us where you were?” He shot a curious glance at Leo.

  Sera smiled, a sweet expression that boded no good for the streamer. “I had an appearance on Sethos Five, but the attempt on my life delayed that. Instead, I took an unexpected detour to my home planet, Placido.”

  A stunned silence filled the bay. Then a frenzy. “Do you plan to force your people to live on the planet?

  “Did you sell more of the artifacts?”

  “Did you record your visit?” Again, the last word seemed to have a double meaning.

  Leo shoved his hands into his pockets. He was close to putting a fist in someone’s face. His princess linked her arm through his. “No, but I became mated. This is Leo Eyler, a Nyral dominant, and he’s my mate.”

  Like bullets, the questions came at her rapid-fire. “Will he be your consort?”

  “Did you perform a ceremony?”

  “Will you have children?”

  “Does your father know?”

  Her father was alive? Shit! Leo realized he wasn’t ready for this. He loved her and yet knew very little about her. What did she want? Other than her sexual needs, he didn’t have a clue. And these assholes would smell blood in the water.

  “My father and I haven’t spoken in years,” Sera stated. “He’ll know now, won’t he?” Her fingers clutched his arm. “And Leo is my mate.” She held up her arm, and cameras zoomed in on her forearm. “Is that ceremony enough?”

  “What are your plans while you’re here? A honeymoon?” This reporter was getting on Leo’s nerves. Everything he said sounded like an accusation. Leo’s gaze narrowed on his face. Brown hair, handsome in a pretty-boy way, eyes too close together. Memorable. And Leo did remember him. Sera had called him Nigel.

  Sera answered his question coolly. “We plan to visit Mina’s.”

  Questions flew at that announcement, jumbled and incomprehensible. Sera held up her hand. “We’re going to use the arena, a first for me. And as you know, Mina’s allows no outside cameras, so I’m afraid you’ll have to use your imaginations to write about what happens.”

  They surged forward, closing in, and suddenly, Nigel, the man who’d asked the most obnoxious questions, put his hands on her.

  Leo exploded, his adrenaline spiking and his blood spinning. The rage, simmering beneath the surface, caught on fire, and his mate mark burned. He roared, then attacked the man. When he got the man’s camera, he crushed it right in front of his wide eyes. “Don’t touch her,” he snarled.

  When he blinked, he realized he’d attacked more than Nigel and his camera. All the vid streamers closest to the princess had been knocked on their asses.

  “Did you get that? The Nyral rage. Fantastic!” They scurried away like the rats they were.

  “Shit,” Leo said and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t kept his cool, and they’d probably pay for it. Not that he had a chance in hell of controlling the rage. It surprised him when Princess Sera Placido began to laugh.

  “Oh my God! I’ve wanted to do that for years,” she said breathlessly. “Did you see Nigel’s face? What an asshole. I’ve put up with him for a long time, and you just shut him up.” She placed her hands on his face and kissed him. “He’ll probably sue me, but I don’t give a shit. Thank you, Leo.”

  He wrapped an arm around her and plundered her mouth. God, she was perfect in his arms, soft, pliable.

  Click! Whir! The sound of cameras again reached his ears. He growled and broke the kiss, but she leaned close to his ear and whispered, “Ignore them. We’re going to give the best show they’ve ever seen. It’ll run on the vid streams for decades.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. Oh, she was a treasure. His treasure.

  They’d set the trap. Now they had to wait and see if the enemy took the bait.

  * * *

  Sera’s hand shook, and she tried for the second time to get her mascara on to darken her pale lashes. Nerves. She’d participated in scenes at clubs, but most of them had been tame compared to what they planned for tonight. On top of that, they were baiting the Brotherhood. It was enough to make her pulse accelerate. A strange mixture of fear and excitement created sizzling sensations all through her body. Makeup in place, her hair fixed, and a white robe covering her currently naked body. Yep, she was really at Mina’s about to fuck four other people in front of a salivating audience.

  A knock at the door made her jump, and she swallowed. She needed to calm down. Yes, there were probably several people out there ready to kill her. Yes, she was going to be dominated in a public arena. But she needed to keep her composure.

  “Who is it?” Good. Her voice still had that imperious ring to it.

  “It’s Rhea. Can I come in?”

  Sera opened the door. “Come on in.”

  Rhea looked stunning. Blonde, blue eyed, with a tight, firm body, she had sculpted muscles that were shown off to perfection by the l
eather halter top and black leather miniskirt she wore. Hell, she made Sera’s mouth water. She wore short boots with spiked heels that added three inches to her height. She smiled and held up a garment bag. “I come bearing gifts from Leo.”

  “Oh?” Sera gazed at the item with trepidation. What the hell was he going to make her wear? Black leather wasn’t her thing.

  “He says you don’t have to wear it, but he thought you might like it.” Rhea held it out to her.

  Sera snorted. “That doesn’t sound like Leo. Are you improvising?”

  Rhea laughed. “Okay. His exact words were ‘Tell her I said to wear this,’ but I thought I’d soften it up a bit.”

  Sera rolled her eyes and took the bag. When she lifted the covering, she gasped. It was beautiful. On the hanger was a white bikini top with jewels dangling from the cups. The skirt was soft and filmy, with microthin silver threads woven into the material, creating a sparkling effect. The shoes in the bottom of the bag were silver three-inch heels, open toed and sexy as hell.

  She shook her head. “How am I supposed to resist this?”

  Rhea grinned. “You’re not. Let me help you get dressed.”

  It was Rhea’s natural friendliness that loosened Sera’s taut nerves. When the time came to enter the arena, Sera was relaxed and ready. Rhea put the finishing touches on Sera’s hair with a silver clip and stroked her neck softly. “You’re beautiful, Sera.”

  “You are too.” She met Rhea’s glance in the mirror. “I hope—” Was it a bad thing to want this group session to include a little interaction between herself and Rhea? She swallowed and dropped her gaze.

  Rhea’s hand continued to touch Sera’s skin. “I hope so too,” she whispered.

  Sera lifted her gaze to the mirror, and Rhea smiled. With a deep breath, she rose to head for the arena with Rhea’s hand tightly held in hers.

  Leo, Conner, and Shaun stood at the entrance waiting. Shaun, clad in leather pants, a stiff leather vest, and boots with thick heels, looked every inch a dom. Conner had also chosen leather pants, but his shirt was a soft, silky blue, and his gaze was riveted on Rhea.

  But Leo? He surprised her. Leather pants, yes, but he had no shirt, and the pants hung low on his hips. So low that the dragon’s wing from his mate mark peeked out, tantalizing her. The blaze in his stare as he took in her outfit, her hair, everything, told Sera all she wanted to know.

  She was his.

  Each of the men carried a wicked-looking flogger. Each of them had a bag as well. Whatever was going to happen, she wasn’t going to know until they did it. Rhea squeezed her hand. “Remember to breathe.”

  Sera nodded and approached Leo’s side. His gaze swept over her again, and he opened his bag. “I have one more item I want you to wear.” He removed a sparkling jeweled collar. Those stones were real. Her gaze jerked from the collar to his face. When had he bought this? His hands were firm and warm as he clasped the collar around her neck. Then he clicked a leash to the brass ring on the collar at the back of her neck. “You’re mine, Princess. When you go out to center stage, I want everyone to know it.”

  She shivered. Did he want her on her knees? Did he want her to crawl? As if he’d read her mind, he whispered in her ear. “I want to see you stalk Shaun. Like a panther. You’re on a leash, but you’re going to chase him. And when I tell you to, I want you to bite him.”

  “Leo.” His hand brushed one of her nipples, then over the material covering her clit. She moaned.

  “On your knees, Princess,” he ordered.

  She dropped to her knees in front of him. God, he was so good at this. And she was so ready to give, to receive, to submit.

  The doors opened, and the crowd cheered. Apparently Conner had also provided Rhea with a leash. Conner and Leo allowed Shaun to go through the door first, and as instructed, she stalked him.

  She didn’t crawl on the ground, groveling, but scampered across the floor of the arena, Rhea close beside her. Leo jerked on the leash, and Sera growled, Shaun just out of her reach. The crowd screamed encouragement.

  A circular stage in the center of the arena held a bench, a St. Andrew’s cross, floor manacles, and an array of cameras everywhere. Above them, big vid screens showed close-ups of all of them.

  “Focus on Shaun,” Leo demanded. She turned her attention to the male dominant. Shaun snapped his flogger, and she moaned.

  Leo leaned down and released the leash. “If you can get him, you can bite him, Princess. Don’t disappoint me.”

  Sera charged Shaun. When she launched her body at him, he wrapped the flogger around her bare midriff in a pleasurable sting that made her gasp. For Leo, for her master, she caught Shaun’s neck and sank her teeth into his shoulder. He gasped and flicked the flogger over her bare skin again. She groaned.

  But Leo yanked her off Shaun and shook his head. “Not good enough. You’ll have to be punished.” He held her hands behind her back and kept her on her knees. “Shaun? You’ll deliver forty lashes.”

  Shaun’s glance was a wicked gleam. Oh shit. She wondered if she could take it. But she trusted Leo. He dragged her to her feet. Slowly, Leo undressed her until she was completely naked. Her master gripped her arm and pulled her to the foot manacles. A hook from the ceiling she hadn’t noticed floated down. Leo bound her hands with straps before hanging them above her head on the hook. The manacles held her legs apart, but they had long, thick cords so when the hook rose, she was bound and suspended above the floor, her pussy exposed.

  While Shaun was positioned behind her, Leo was in front of her, his mouth at tit level. When Shaun’s first strike with the flogger hit her ass, Leo took one of her nipples into his mouth and slid his tongue around her erect flesh. Oh God, the sensations of pain, pleasure, and need swamped her, and she cried out. Nothing mattered. The crowd. The assassins. None of it made any difference. The second strike from Shaun coincided with Leo’s attention to her other breast.

  With every lash, Leo added an erotic flavor with his tongue or his hand. His fingers thrust inside her damp pussy. His teeth nipped her skin, and he sucked hard on her nipple. Her hips rotated, desperate to come. Each time the flogger stung her ass, her pussy contracted, the pain part of her climb to release. She was so close.

  “Don’t come until I say you can, Princess,” Leo ordered.

  She growled and yanked on her restraints. Holding back, she focused on the lashes. Shaun seemed to know and struck harder, the pain wrenching her mind away from the overwhelming pleasure. Gritted teeth and clenched hands helped, but she was going to go over. “Master, please,” she shouted.

  “Are you begging for more flogging, Princess?” Leo asked her. The bastard.

  His wicked fingers pumped inside her aching channel, and she screamed, “Master, let me come. Please!”

  “Shaun, five more lashes.”

  “No, Master, I’ll come.” Sera didn’t want to disappoint him.

  “No, you won’t. Not until I tell you to.”

  She sobbed, and Shaun struck her with the flogger. The strands brushed her skin, tantalizing, sizzling. Her pussy throbbed, painfully needy. Tears were on her cheeks, her arms aching, her ankles sore. Leo’s mouth tormented her breasts as his hand continued to torture her slick opening.

  Leo cupped her ass and pressed his fingers into the sore flesh. “Come for me, Princess.”

  Like a steamroller, her orgasm flattened everything in front of it. She screamed, her neck corded and her muscles tight. Every particle of her body sizzled and burned with the pleasure. The sting of the lash, the scorching sensation on her forearm, her clenching pussy muscles all combined to wash over her, cleanse her.

  “By the stars,” Shaun whispered.

  “You are so perfect,” Leo murmured.

  He released her, lowering the hook and untying her hands and ankles. She would have collapsed, but Leo caught her. He lifted her and laid her on her stomach in the center of the stage. Rhea lay in the same position, her head near Sera’s. Conner, Leo, and Shaun all stood
around them. Conner and Leo stripped naked. Shaun kept his tight leather pants on.

  Conner ordered, “Rhea, on your back, little bird.”

  Leo gripped Sera’s hips and dragged her up until she was on all fours. Conner had positioned Rhea so her legs were wide open and Conner was underneath her, his dick buried inside her ass. The sight was arousing, erotic. Rhea’s glistening pussy, her glazed eyes, her tight nipples, and her flexed leg muscles were beautiful, tempting.

  Conner’s gaze glittered. “Shaun, my submissive needs a cock in her mouth. Why don’t you let her suck you?”

  Rhea’s gaze met Shaun’s in a blatant invitation that made Sera shudder. Shaun tore open the snaps of his pants and straddled Rhea, his cock sliding inside Rhea’s mouth, his moan sending shivers along Sera’s nerves. Leo’s hands clenched on her hips. “Now, Sera, I want you to lick Rhea’s pussy.” God, she wanted to, needed to. For him. For Leo.

  Shaun’s muscles clenched and unclenched as he thrust inside Rhea’s mouth. Sera crawled between Rhea’s legs and stared at the glistening folds of the other woman’s pussy. She envisioned the picture they all made for the audience, with Conner and Rhea reclining, and Sera’s ass in the air, her mouth near Rhea’s clit. Shaun’s feet were planted on either side of Rhea’s hips, his cock disappearing in her mouth, and Leo stood behind Sera, his hands on her hips. The smell of Rhea’s sweet scent and the way Leo’s hands stroked her skin made the whole thing so sexy she would have come in two seconds.

  She flicked her tongue over Rhea’s slit and tasted her cream. Sera slid closer, but Leo grabbed her hands and yanked them toward him, holding them behind her back. She could only use her mouth on Rhea, but she made good use of that.

  She found Rhea’s clit and sucked it hard. Rhea bucked beneath her, and Sera moaned. Satisfaction tore through her. It never occurred to her that she’d enjoy bringing a woman to orgasm, but she did. The fact that she did it all at Leo’s command only increased her desire. She continued to suck on Rhea’s clit. Finally Rhea screamed, the sound muffled by Shaun’s dick in her mouth, and the flow of her cum hit Sera’s tongue. The taste, the feel, the smell all made Sera so fucking hot, so needy. She thrust her tongue into Rhea’s pussy and felt the thrusts of Conner’s dick in his mate’s ass. Sera moaned and flexed her hands.