by Lora Darc
Danielle licked her lips and swallowed hard. She took a few deep breaths and confessed. “When I fled from you and your brothers, I fell into the swamplands.” Her voice shook. “Before the Night Lord’s guards found me… a witch by the name of Sheek gave me the power to feel pleasure with pain. Before she planned to return me to the palace… she wanted to make it a gift to you and your brothers in hopes of winning your favor….”
Prince Morgin seemed to think on her words for a long moment then he turned away and placed the cane aside. Without turning back he said, “And that was all? Nothing more than that?”
Danielle was thankful he didn’t turn around and see her face when she answered. “Yes… that was all.”
She knew lying to him more was a deadly risk. But she feared if she told him she could also easily seduce others, he would grow suspicious of her and find out what she sought to gain from him and his brothers.
Prince Morgin nodded then turned back to her. “You were afraid of what we would do if we found out... This is an exquisite surprise to be sure but not one we asked for. Though it is pleasing to see, I would have dearly liked to see you without such a helpful crutch.” He looked her over, regarding her for a long moment. “I could likely undo the spell, but I will let you keep it for now.”
Prince Morgin approached her once more and stood hovering over her. “Despite this new discovery I’m not finished here just yet.” He smiled. “With my little test over, now I get to play. And I think a punishment is in order.”
“Punishment?” Danielle blurted.
Prince Morgin tilted his head. “Yes, of course. For keeping this secret from us.” Prince Morgin chuckled and went back over to the table. He picked up a thick pair of silver balls, examining them carefully. “And since we now know pain does no good. We will just have to find another way...” Along with the balls he picked up a jar filled with some kind of salve. He came back over to her and looked down at her with fiery eyes. Danielle stared at his hands, stiffening.
Prince Morgin bent down and pushed one of the balls inside Danielle. She gasped as she felt the smooth, cool texture fill her. He placed the other inside and she felt it rub against her entrance. The balls seemed to vibrate and pulsate inside her and she could feel her muscles already begin to clench around them. Heat returned full force in and around her center.
Danielle moaned softly and begin to move her hips. Sweat broke out on her back and down her chest.
Prince Morgin then untwisted the lid from the jar and dipped his finger into the clear salve. He rubbed the ointment on and around Danielle’s clit and the heat leaped at his touch. He then set the jar down, took up the riding whip again, and went to sit at the chair opposite her.
Danielle shifted, wanting badly for him to touch her again. Soon a strange sensation started to tingle throughout her core until it felt like some unseen force was teasing her center with a slick, hot tongue.
“Oh... oh god.” Danielle breathed as the invisible tongue flicked at her core.
Prince Morgin made himself a cup of wine and then lounged on his seat, watching her body writhe and throb. He sipped at the wine, studying her with indifference, the riding crop still in his other hand.
“That should last through the night. But don’t think you’ll get a release from it. Not until I deem it so. I promise you’ll be begging for it in no time.”
Danielle drew in a sharp intake of breath as the tongue-like sensation swirled and pulled softly at her. The balls too moved inside her with pulsing heat.
But as incredible as both felt, they were just beyond the point of sending her over the edge. Danielle whimpered and moved her hips as if to grind, but it did little to stifle the shocking pleasure.
Prince Morgin laughed softly. “My poor little pet. I know it’s a lot to take. But you must see the error of your ways.”
Danielle shivered. The terrible heat in her center grew unbearable, near painful. She could feel her slick wetness dripping down her legs to the seat.
“Please…” Danielle spoke without thought. “Please, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I—ah, ah!”
The swirling and twisting heat at her core felt like a hot mouth sucking and lapping against her.
Prince Morgin rubbed his thumb across his lower lip as if in deep thought. “You were afraid. I get that now. And the witch tempted you with the power didn’t she?”
Danielle nodded desperately.
Though mindless in her need, she caught Prince Morgin’s expression turn dark. “You know... it’s strange. Ever since you came here, I’ve been more irritable than ever. My thoughts wandering. I’ve dealt with my share of humans in my time. But, you are different, aren’t you? I’ve been racking my brain over it. Trying to understand. I thought for sure it was because you had gotten away from me that first time. That all my brothers had their chance with you and I hadn’t, and it had filled me with jealousy. Yet, here you are, mine to do as I please, dripping and wanting before me, just like I had dreamed, and these feelings still won’t disappear... forgive me, I’m rambling.”
Danielle moaned and cried as she listened to him.
“You see, I like to play like this... and watch. But something in me wants... more.”
“I’ll do whatever you wish. Oh, please just let me come!” Danielle blurted, unable to control herself.
Prince Morgin seemed to contemplate it. His fingers curled at his sides and, as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, he seemed to straighten in realization. He stood up from his seat and slowly walked to her.
“You still hold fear of me. I see it in your eyes.” Prince Morgin brushed a lock of hair from her face. “You ran from me before. I don’t want you to run now.” He knelt before her and placed his hand on her thigh, gripping her leg. “Beg for me to release you.”
And Danielle did. With quick breaths, she begged and pleaded for him.
Prince Morgin closed his eyes and nodded. He got up and grabbed her hair at the back of her head, gripping with one hand and tugging gently so that her face was turned up to him. “Look at me, Danielle.”
Danielle did, locking eyes with him. They stared at each other for a single moment and then, with one swift turn of his wrist, he cracked the riding whip against her thigh. Danielle gasped then cried as the spasm shot through her and her core tightened. As she came, she looked at Prince Morgin who gazed down her whole body, down to her throbbing core.
His eyes brightened and Danielle caught a spark of some unknown emotion cross his face. Her body shook before him and Prince Morgin turned rigid as he watched her.
When Danielle finally collapsed, her body going lax in the chair, Prince Morgin released her and turned away, walking back to his seat. He grabbed his wine and took a long drag, then set the cup firmly back on the table. Danielle almost missed his hand shaking.
“It seems I’ve discovered something about myself tonight, as well,” he said softly, mostly to himself.
Danielle couldn’t imagine what he meant.
Chapter 6
Danielle was still stunned after last night as she laid out on the massage table, a servant going to work on aching limbs. After he had released her from the poles, Prince Morgin had Danielle serve him a little while longer, doing menial tasks like serve him more wine or fetch his books from the shelves. He had watched her in silence the whole time, deep in thought, until he deemed he was tired and that she may take her leave. He didn‘t ask her to stay or to go to his bed and Danielle left his chambers in odd disbelief and, later, slow seeping disappointment she feared to admit.
But, eventually, she admitted to Melina of these feelings as they ate at her and she longed to understand just what exactly had happened.
“I just don’t understand him,” Danielle confessed. “Or any of them, really. The princes talk of how they want to have me, but then they turn me away just when the moment seems right to do so.” Danielle wasn’t just talking about last night with Prince Morgin, but at the dinner event as well. How they had stopped
themselves at the moment when she was most willing to give herself up; she had sensed their sudden easiness to have her and it was bewildering. “They love watching me submit to them and be their compliant little pet, but when it comes to anything past that, they back away. It’s almost like they’re afraid to have me now, which is absurd.”
“Is it?” said Melina sitting beside her. Danielle looked at her quizzically and Melina shrugged. “You know very little of how the princes feel. But I have seen and heard enough to know. You are human remember. Their prey. Their victim for thousands of years. No known human has set foot into their domain and lived to tell the tale. And, even more so, no human has made them lust so painfully. They are unnerved by you. A mere human who brings about feelings they never thought they could possibly feel for anyone.”
Danielle remained speechless at the idea.
“You hold a sort of striking fascination to them, and perhaps even feelings of…”
“Yes?” Danielle asked as Melina paused with uncertainty.
“Perhaps even feelings beyond that of lust…”
Danielle frowned. “Beyond lust? Are you trying to tell me they might actually care about me as more than just some exotic pet?”
Melina shrugged again. “Perhaps, yes. And if that is true, if I know the princes as well as I do, such emotions would terrify them. There is a power in those feelings they have yet to ever face. Some of the princes might give in to these feelings; seeing them as something wondrous and new. Others, however, might try to fight them, afraid of what they might entail. One, in particular, might feel a contradiction of both. And I think you know of whom I speak.”
Danielle believed she did. She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t noticed that Prince Morgin had been the most driven to find her when she fled from the palace, or how he had been the first to arrive at the great hall and fight Lord Torquel to have her. He was also touched her the least, never allowing her to touch him, or to have his way with her physically.
There is power in those feelings...
A sudden idea struck Danielle’s mind.
“Melina... do you know where I’ll be serving tonight?”
“It is uncertain,” she replied. “Likely you are being given a night to rest until a prince has use of you.”
“The next prince you see... will you give them a message for me?”
Melina looked at her suspiciously but didn’t refuse. “I don’t see that being an issue. What is the message?”
Danielle thought for a moment. “That I wish to finish what we started before we were freed from the palace. That I wish to show my obedience.”
Melina arched a brow but didn’t criticize. “As you wish then.”
“Also, I’ve wanted to ask... something I’ve wondered about.” Danielle turned on her side and the servant began to massage the upper half of her thigh. She winced a little in pain. “I was told once within the mountain to never kiss a master on the lips. Does that rule apply here as well?”
Melina nodded her head. “Yes. A nightwoman may kiss anywhere the master likes but the lips.”
“Why is that?” Danielle had been told by Yuli of the rule, but the nightwoman had never explained why it was.
Melina looked into Danielle’s eyes and smiled. “Because a kiss upon the lips is meant for lovers only.”
***
The first to receive her message was Prince Cyre and, to Danielle’s relief, his response was to have her come to his chambers at moonset.
That night Danielle wore a simple, sheer, black dress similar to what she had worn her first night in the palace, only this time with no pearls or chains to have ripped off, only her full nakedness that could be seen underneath.
As she was being led to his rooms, Danielle learned that he no longer housed himself within the indoor orchard or had his bed in the massive tree, but now took up residence in the largest and highest tower in the palace. Several rooms were stationed at different levels of the tower but, of course, his bedchamber lay at the very top. Thankfully, to Danielle’s great surprise—and relief—there was a caged lift that could take them to each floor, run by a system of pulleys and gears.
When they emerged from the lift at the very top, a door with the crow’s symbol stood before them. It was there Melina left her. Lesser servants opened the great black door and Danielle entered without hesitation.
The first thing she noticed was the color of deep burgundy. Lanterns above bathed the spacious and open room in the color. Purple curtains flapped and billowed from the open windows all around. Floor cushions and low couches sat in various niches, a bath lay in the floor at one end, and tables of food and drink sat at another. At the very center was the pit bed just like she remembered from before; like an inlaid pool filled with satin and pillows. Prince Cyre’s ‘nest’ had grown.
As Danielle paused in the doorway, she was dismayed to find she was not alone. A near dozen nightwomen also occupied the space. Some lounged in the pit bed, others on chairs and cushions or standing outside on the balconies. A few looked her way and arched a brow or smirked, then went about their business. Prince Cyre was nowhere to be seen.
Disappointed, Danielle crossed the room to the tables of food and wine and poured herself a drink. She took a deep drag then poured a little more. As she looked around the room, she spied a pair of nightwomen sitting and talking in a small niche nearby. Looking closer she stiffened and nearly dropped her cup. She walked over to the pair and stared down at one in particular.
“Yuli?” she said.
The nightwoman looked up and Yuli—once a servant to the Onyx Pass and the Night Lords—cried out in surprise.
“Danielle! How wonderful it is to see you again.” Yuli stood and embraced her warmly. When she released her, Yuli placed her hands on Danielle’s shoulders and smiled. “I wondered if we’d be seeing you around or if you were to be locked away from us.”
Danielle couldn’t help smiling back at her. “You made it here after all. I didn’t see you with the others, though.”
“The women of the Onyx Pass gather in separate rooms for the time being, until things can be worked out.” Yuli shrugged, as if not seeming to mind.
“So they didn’t hurt any of you then?”
Yuli shook her head. “Nay. Once the Night Lords were defeated, the princes had their soldiers come and bring us here. The princes promised to house us if we agreed to serve them. As for the nobles. They swore their fealty despite being told no harm would come to them. It didn’t take long for them to settle in. So much for loyalty.”
Danielle lowered her eyes. “I can’t help feeling sorry for them... the Night Lords.”
Yuli shrugged again. “That is the way of the Nightlands I’m afraid. Those with the most power rule and the rest follow or are beaten down.”
“Actually... not much different from my world, I’m afraid,” said Danielle.
“Even so, I too feel bad for them. It’s a wonder the princes didn’t kill them. Likely they have some further use for them. They are still some of the strongest in the Nightlands after all.” Yuli took up her cup from a table and raised it. “But I can’t complain. The palace is where I’ve always wanted to be anyway.” She took a generous gulp of wine and set it aside. “As for you… me, and every woman here, I’m sure, can’t help being a little envious. Who would’ve thought the princes would choose a human as their favorite?”
Danielle smiled modestly. “It confounds me just as much as I’m sure it does you.”
Yuli waved off her statement. “In truth, I am deeply impressed as are the others. Though envious, every woman strives to help one another and see each other rise. It’s our one way of having some power.”
Danielle frowned. “Are there no women in power here?”
“There is said to be a great witch to the west. And, of course, there are the noblewomen and the head servants. But if you mean a woman who rules in any way—no.”
“Though it would be nice to see,” interjected the other nightwoman wh
o had been listening.
“Very true,” said Yuli. When the nightwoman gave Yuli a stern look, she winced. “Ah, forgive me. Danielle, this is Sashya.”
Sashya held out her hand and Danielle shook it. “Palace servant and former servant to house Ashur in the East. It is nice to meet you.”
“You as well,” Danielle said. They released hands and Danielle looked around the room. “Do either of you know where Prince Cyre went?”
“Oh, he comes and goes as he pleases, but he likes to keep the women around and ready for him when he so chooses,” stated Sashya.
“And when he’s gone?” Danielle asked.
“We keep ourselves company.” Sashya winked and gestured over to the bed where two women had grown bored with talk and had begun to pleasure each other.
Yuli laughed lightly. “Come, let’s go to the balcony. I believe the prince will return soon.”
They stood upon the balcony and Danielle took in the sight. She could see over the whole city and to the land beyond. She could even make out the swamplands and the mountain sitting dark and ominous in the distance. A warm, light breeze caught in her hair and she caught the scent of incense somewhere nearby.
“Much better than the mountain, I’d say,” comment Yuli, beside her.
They made small talk for some time when, finally, in the distance, Danielle spotted a dark shadow flying over the city. It grew larger as it drew near until she could make out Prince Cyre’s figure with his great black wings spread before him.
When he reached the tower the girls stood back and he landed perfectly onto the balcony. They bowed and Danielle saw his gaze fall over each of them, his eyes lingering a little longer on her than the rest. He stepped past them into the room and they followed.
The woman all stopped whatever they were doing to bow and give the prince their full attention. Prince Cyre took off his jacket and threw it onto a chair.
“Forgive me, my lovely doves, for keeping you so long.” He smiled, knowing the apology was unnecessary. The women would wait for him all night and never complain.
