Kiera undressed and concentrated on making herself unseen. A glance down at her body was reassuring. If she couldn’t see herself, then neither could anyone else. Her heart wouldn’t stop racing no matter how much she told herself that she wasn’t truly exposed. I’m going to stroll down the males’ living quarters completely naked. This is crazy.
She would be fine as long as she wasn’t caught. Walking outside her room, she noticed others weren’t about. It made her feel safer and she worried less about the guards. What worried her more was Modez. Earlier, she had managed to slip something in his drink. The slow acting herb would make him much easier to manage, but she had no way of knowing for sure if he had ingested the entire contents of the drink. If he had his full strength and awareness, things would not go well for her. If caught, she could claim she had visited his room for some other reason. Like seduction. That would be incredibly embarrassing for her, and not only that, he probably wouldn’t believe her.
This would work. Kiera had done this sort of thing many times and it always went the way she expected. She had been watching Modez enough to know he always finished his nightcap. He would be drugged out of his mind by now, but hopefully he remained conscious. She didn’t want him to sleep through what she planned to do to him.
Now standing inside his room, she made out his shape in the darkness. Her vision was not as good as most hybrids, but she could see enough to identify the man in the bed. The bed sheet rested below his waist and she suspected he wore no clothing while he slept. She approached quietly and studied him for signs of wakefulness. One eyelid cracked partially open the second she touched his shoulder. Hazy with sleep, he pushed her hand away and rubbed the place she had touched, but otherwise showed no further reaction.
Kiera traced his throat with her finger. His eyes slid open, but of course he couldn’t see her. She gripped his jaw and pressed the side of his face firmly against his pillow, exposing his throat. She watched the vein pulse there while she contemplated the perfect spot for biting. He tried to push her away from him, but his movements were weak and ineffective.
“You drugged me,” Modez said in a labored voice. “I’ll fucking kill you for this.”
Kiera felt the familiar thrill bubble up inside her as she crawled on the bed beside him. There was nothing like the thrill of the hunt and Modez was her prey. She felt like she had the big bull by the horns as she struggled to overpower him.
“What do you want?” Modez asked. “You know you cannot get away with this. If I am harmed every warrior here will hunt you down.”
Kiera planned to get away with plenty. She let her fingers trail from his throat to the muscled walls of his chest then down to his flat stomach. When she reached the edge of the sheet, she pulled it away to expose the rest of his body. He had treated her with zero respect so she would accord none to him. He was the whore tonight, the one who would be touched and bitten without consent. His pulse began to beat erratically. She let her gaze drift over him. He was flawless perfection, which didn’t surprise her since he was a celebrated warrior of the royal line. His male part was not hard like it had been when it had pressed up against her when they had been outdoors. She found herself wondering what it would look like when engaged. Her gaze passed over that area to view his powerful, muscled legs. She grudgingly admitted that Modez was as appealing as the scrumptiously sexy Torin Sullivan. Worse, there was some indefinable quality that Modez had that made her crave to possess him. She wanted his blood but she also wanted to run her hands all over his body.
“Fuck! I don’t go for males. Touch me and you’ll die, you bastard.”
The drug had affected his senses. It amused her that he didn’t seem to realize she was female, but she knew that would change as soon as she pressed herself against him. He had a magnificent body and she longed to feel its hard length against her while she drank from him. But the yearning to touch him was just to satisfy her curiosity in the same manner one might touch a silk scarf or a velvet cloak. She didn’t want deeper intimacy.
She lowered her body to his. Her nipples rubbed against his chest and hardened in response. It shocked her so much that she lifted herself away from him, but that heightened her awareness of his powerful, chiseled body. And it wasn’t a detached admiration of his physical beauty like she had anticipated. No, this was sexual attraction and it was unwanted. His masculine, musky scent distracted her from her quest for blood. She was cognizant of him as a male and not just a receptacle of nourishment. She ran her hand down his muscular chest and its tight little nipple and down his flat stomach. His shaft swelled in response and found its way to her exploring hand. Her sex clenched in need. She was getting aroused by someone she didn’t even like, but she tried to put it from her mind. It meant nothing.
She heard him hiss and felt him shift beneath her. “If you think to force me to mate with you, you should know there is nothing you could do that would make me use my mating fangs on you. Being cock deep in a female has never made me lose control.” He threw back his head and groaned when her hand clamped around his male member and squeezed along its length. “Fucking me will gain you nothing.”
His hardness was encased in velvety soft skin. She wondered what it would feel like inside her. She removed her hand from his cock and repositioned herself so she would have access to his neck. She smiled, knowing that he would be horrified once he understood she wasn’t in his bed for sex. She licked along his throat, teasing with little nicks. The entire time she did so, she rubbed her leg against his shaft until he emitted a low, needy sound. Arousing him against his will made her feel powerful and in control.
“I have not consented to any of this,” he said as his hands lightly skirted her back. “If you continue what you are doing, you will be found and punished for assault.”
Modez’s voice was weak from the influence of the drugs, and Kiera hoped his body was equally defenseless. He certainly seemed that way and it made her feel brave enough to rile the beast that had aggravated her. She took hold of his shaft with her hand and played with it, running her fingers up and down its length and toying with its blunt head. His member was heavy and thick in her hand. She had been taken by males in the past, but she had never been allowed to touch their bodies during the mating tests. She was curious about the male form and intrigued even more by Modez’s body. She could tell he was becoming excited when she touched him. She enjoyed her ability to leave him in a painful state. If he thought she would relieve him from it, then he was mistaken.
Modez hissed and his fangs lengthened along with his shaft. “Do you understand how you will be punished, female? You will be stripped of your position and property. You will be publically humiliated and banished from society.”
He groaned as her hand circled his cock and squeezed. Touching him was…interesting. She was beginning to like it a lot.
“Your family will be made to pay restitution. And I will not use my mating fangs on you. Likely no male will after this.” His hands feathered down her back and pressed against her bottom. His breathing grew more ragged and his eyes were wild with lust. She rubbed her nipples against his chest and bit him gently on his shoulder. He thought she was only playing with him. He’d soon learn differently.
He groaned again and said, “You’re a woman unknown to me. Perhaps if you show yourself to me, and tell me your name, I’ll give you a good, hard fucking. If I like what I see.”
She could imagine his dismay should he learn who held him in her hands. She ignored his words and continued to lick him. He tasted good all over, but what she really wanted was his neck. She sank her fangs into his skin. Immediately, the taste of him filled her senses and gave her a rush. He had spoken the truth when he had bragged that Halloran blood was superior to all other bloodlines. It was marvelous—decadent, soothing, and the most satisfying she had ever had. The sweet taste surprised her. An asshole like him should have tasted like ass. She clutched his shoulders and latched her fangs even deeper into his neck. She heard him gasp
and moan. Suddenly, he waved a hand in the air and a rope of cloth cannonballed toward her and enclosed around her throat. She choked as she pulled the suffocating object, which appeared to be one of his tunics, off of her. Holy crap! He could have killed her with that move. She glared at him, although of course he couldn’t see her. To make her displeasure known to him, she bared her fangs and hissed as loudly as a poisonous snake.
He responded with a show of aggression. The flash of red in his eyes was her only warning before another heavy object launched into the air. It soared in an arc and aimed for her head. She ducked and it hit the wall and fell against the headboard. It bounced on the bed and she identified the would-be murder weapon. A steel battle axe. The lord had the power of moving objects with his mind, which made him very dangerous. She would have to disable him before he killed her.
She tore into him with a violence she reserved for enemy combatants. She drew his blood deeply, drinking with so much passion that her stomach ached from being filled so quickly. His blood was rich and she felt much like she did that time she gorged on an entire cheesecake. He tried to tear away from her, but eventually stopped resisting since he had no choice but to surrender. The more she drank from him, the weaker he became and the safer she felt. She sank against his body and every inch of her skin, from the front, made contact with his. He was warm and comfortable. Her hand slipped from his shoulder to his hip.
“Blood thief,” Modez gasped. “You will pay dearly for this outrage. I will remember your scent and hunt you down.”
She had tried to disguise her scent with some of the exotic lotions she had found in the bathhouse. She had even rubbed some of that disgusting peach jelly all over her feminine areas to mask her unique scent, but his threat to track her still had the ability to make her nervous. She curled her fingers around the base of his shaft and squeezed, needing to latch onto something sturdy. His cock was hard as iron and it heated her hand.
“You torture me with your touch, female,” he said as he breathed rapidly. “Cock-tease female. You jellied up for sex so you must have intended to lay with me. I scent the summer peach ointment that Diermont keeps in the dungeon, you know.”
Crappity crap! She should have known he would be familiar with that horrid stuff that the prince used in his perverted sex games. Modez would suspect his perpetrator came from within the villa.
“I won’t kill you, but you will wish I had when I’m done battering your pussy with my cock. You will beg for death.”
His words sent up a flag of alarm, but her brain readily ignored it. Each sip of his blood slammed her with euphoria and the intense pleasure made her snuggle deeper into his body. It was dangerous and intoxicating. The shaft in her hand had grown dangerously hard and was leaking fluid, threatening to explode. She knew she needed to release him before he left evidence on her skin, but she couldn’t tear herself away. He tasted better than the rarest chocolate from Ravenwood. But she was taking too much of him.
She released his throat and moved her mouth over him until she reached the flesh below his collarbone. Her fangs punctured just beneath the skin of his upper chest so she could taste him without draining him. She angled her body to sprawl atop him more comfortably. Centered over him, her sex rubbed against the hard ridge of male flesh. The sensual pressure against her sensitive nub of flesh made her writhe against him some more, even though she knew she was taking things too far. Blood drinking tended to arouse her and she wondered what it would feel like to feed both needs at the same time.
“Please, yes. Take me inside.” His lust superseded his anger, for the moment at least. He coaxed, begged, and pleaded with libidinous words as she drank from him.
She moaned as she imagined how he could fill her up and satisfy her appetites, all of them. But it was Modez. She wasn’t going to give that arrogant hybrid the gift of her body, no matter how much she yearned to use him. He seemed to think he could run his hands all over her and grope her whenever he wanted because he was a Halloran. He was a lord but he wasn’t her master.
His amorous mood was rapidly turning to ire now that he realized she had no intention of welcoming him into her body. His words were harsh and threatening. “Leave and let me be. Stop grinding against me or I’ll take action. Heed my warning, bloodsucker.”
She had pushed him too far. Truthfully, she hadn’t planned on stopping until she had taken her pleasure from him. Rubbing against him had nearly gotten her there, but now that she thought better of it, she knew she needed to stop. Preferably before they joined their bodies and he got a whiff of her most personal scent. She scooted forward to stop the intimate contact.
Just as she was about to release him, she felt strong hands grasp her hips. “Time to take the rest of me. You were warned, female.”
In an instant, he had her centered once more over his lower body. She felt something hard pressing into her sex. He’s trying to enter me. Her overstimulated sex, swollen and dampened, would accept him far too eagerly. She tried to lift herself higher so she could move away from him, but his grip was unrelentingly secure. She let out a whimper as she felt the tip of him nudge inside her entrance. With all the blood she had taken from him, he should be too weak to be of any threat to her.
She released her fangs from his chest and pushed her hands against his ribcage with enough force to break from his hold. She leapt from the bed and watched him carefully to ensure he remained there. His coloring was pale and he made no effort to move, indicating he was nowhere near full strength. That was a relief.
“Come back and finish the job, female. You forgot the most important part of it.”
She was stunned by the degree of lust evident in his tone and a glance down his body confirmed a dangerous state of arousal. My, he had grown. She felt her own sex clench with need, but she ignored it. She couldn’t afford to sully herself with another man’s seed since it would make her ineligible for the mating tests. And she didn’t even want Modez. She crossed her arms and backed up a step. He couldn’t come after her. He was too weak. And thankfully her invisibility kept her identity hidden.
Come back and finish the job. Ha! Kiera knew that some females served as blood donors to high ranking warriors so they could replenish their strength. The warriors nearly always initiated sexual intercourse with their donors, claiming it aided in their comfort. The comfort of the warrior, of course. Blood drinking tended to make one aroused. The males might insist on having a bit of sex with their blood, but Kiera was pretty sure it was different for females. Not that she knew of any other female blood drinkers who drank from random males.
After his lust faded, Modez would be angry enough to kill her. One didn’t even touch a nobleman without permission, much less steal their blood. She had used him like a blood whore and it was an insult he would be unable to forgive. He had said he would remember her scent and hunt her down. What if he recognized her? Would he accuse her openly or would he take his vengeance in secret?
Let him try to accuse me of this. Without proof, no one would believe him. Females just didn’t do this sort of thing. That would be enough to allay suspicion. She wished she could say as much to him, but he would recognize her voice.
He couldn’t see her, but his silver eyes blazed a path right to her. “When I find you, I will take back every drop you took from me. If that means I have to drain you dry to do it, I will. And I will bury my cock inside you while I drink.”
Her heart nearly stopped beating. He would do it, she was sure of it. It prompted an erotic image in her mind of Modez using her in every possible way to quench his masculine needs. But that male wouldn’t wish to do those things to her. Once he learned Kiera was the perpetrator, he’d kill her outright. He had made it clear to everyone that he would not accept Kiera as a bedmate. She was even more certain he would never deign to drink her inferior blood. He would probably choke on it.
Chapter 10
Cabrian was having difficulty abiding by Diermont’s rules. He wanted intimacy with his human slave b
ut doing so would endanger her. It wasn’t easy to share a bed knowing he couldn’t do what he wanted with her. Cassia slept soundly this night, but he couldn’t sleep at all. His balls ached with a ferocity that scared him. He hadn’t bitten her yet. She wasn’t completely his until he initiated the mating bond. He couldn’t afford to do it because of the ban on human-hybrid intercourse. Mating bonds had to be fed through continual sex.
Cabrian heard sounds coming from outside his chamber. He opened his door and spied some of his comrades engaging in some suspicious behavior. Seamus McLeod and Visant Brannon carried a tubular rolled-up rug down the hall. It was wriggling and moaning. Seamus waved him forward when he noticed him standing there.
“Some help would be appreciated.”
Cabrian raised his eyebrow. “What are you two doing?”
Seamus and Visant set the rug on the floor and Seamus opened it to reveal a youthful pale face. “We have to keep her hidden.”
“What do you have there?”
Seamus concealed his bounty once more. “We found this human in one of those villas we ransacked. She was too lovely to destroy.”
Hell and damnation. He had a bad feeling about this. “Is she a breeder?”
“No,” Visant said. “I have the gift of sensing human breeders, much like you. She’s not compatible. But Seamus and I want to keep her anyway as our slave.”
“You know it’s not allowed. You have to get her out of here now.” Cabrian was worried. The little human would be killed the second Diermont saw her.
“We’ve got nowhere to take her,” Seamus said. “Even if we transported back to our homes in Asstrumnia, the girl would be dead before we returned. We won’t be there to protect her.”
“She’s not safe here. Perhaps you should set her free in the city.”
“Visant and I are keeping her. Sharing her. We’ll find a safe place for her, but it would help if you’d agree to hide her in your chamber for a while. Just long enough for us to make arrangements.”
Vampire Enslavement (Lords of Bondage) Page 11
