by Lisa Alder
A glaze of passion fuzzed her mind. It took a moment for the right image to focus. She pictured the Fae that her husband had his assignation with but that was it. He couldn’t see if she had been aware that the Fae wanted the gambler to lose to Vetis.
Her eyebrows scrunched in thought. “I don’t know.”
But Vetis had no desire for her to think any longer upon his questions.
He distracted her with his hand. Her body rocked to the rhythm he set. She thrust her hips upward as her channel begged to be fucked. Only his poor innocent had no idea what she longed for. Her yearning encouraged him. She would have her night of pleasure. He would demand it of her.
“Very good.” Vetis praised her and clamped her clitoris. Amara threw her head back as she orgasmed around his hand and her body wept for want of a cock to invade her. Conquer her.
Vetis glanced to the end of the bed as the jet of Zepar’s sperm shot into a bucket. Zepar’s gaze burned and his hand still pumped while the force of his silenced orgasm strained the muscles of his throat.
Vetis gave one last glance to the slackening cock of his friend while his own trembled with unspent seed. Zepar was better served than Vetis at this point.
His friend slipped from the room as silently as he had come. Presumably to share their new knowledge with Prince Gaap.
Amara was safe with him. For now.
With that thought, he rolled Amara onto her side, pulling her into a protective embrace. Her heartbeat thudded against her breastbone and vibrated along his arms. As she descended from the sexual high, her breath shuddered.
The cleft of her ass cradled his pulsing erection.
“What about you?” she responded drowsily.
“Sleep, peach.”
She was exhausted. If he were a forgiving sort, he’d agree that the bargain was fulfilled. But he would demand her complete surrender. Tomorrow. They would satisfy the terms of the bargain tomorrow.
Chapter Eleven
“You need to let her go,” Zepar said calmly. “And the husband with her.”
“Not until the bargain is fulfilled.” Vetis popped a grape into his mouth and chewed enjoying the burst of flavor on his tongue.
“The bargain is a trap. That makes the deal null and void.”
“I will not cheat her.” Vetis tamped down on his fury. “The bargain will be fulfilled tonight.”
Zepar lounged in a chair in front of the fireplace in his chamber. The crack of a log splitting echoed the tension in the massive room. “The longer he lingers in the dungeon, the more danger he puts us all in.”
“But the Fae have no idea that we know about their bargain with him,” Vetis said.
“And we have no idea why they sent him here.”
“We will follow Amara and Edward when they leave,” Vetis replied softly. Gods, he hated letting her leave with her husband. But the Demons needed to find out what the Fae had intended by sending Edward to the Demon castle.
He hated allowing the worm to go free. Bile soured the grapes in his stomach.
Evisceration would be kind. Vetis craved the violence of carving the gambler into pieces. Even better, he wanted Amara to have the option of killing the sod. He may yet let it happen.
“What do you suppose The Fae are up to?”
“They struck a deal with the gambler to lose to me specifically,” Vetis said shortly. “You saw what I saw.”
“I saw more than that.” Zepar grinned, his face creased with amusement. “Maybe we should change our names. For it seems as if our very natures have switched.”
Vetis gave a shout of laughter. “I am no match for your seductive powers.”
“You did a fine job without my help.”
“My student is most willing.” Vetis frowned. What would happen to her when she left the protection of the Demon castle? When she left his protection? And what if the Fae enacted revenge on her for her husband’s failure?
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like the idea of her out there.” He waved casually toward the window. “Without some sort of protection.”
Or at the depraved mercy of her ever-losing husband.
“We’ll protect her until we find out why the Fae used the gambler to target you.” Zepar planted his booted feet on the stone floor. “Then it will be over.”
Vetis understood Zepar’s admonishment. He didn’t have the time to worry about one innocent waif when their bargain was finished. He needed to focus on the coming battle with the Fae. He needed to spend his time gathering energy to wield Demon magick, not mooning after some barmaid.
But as if he sensed Vetis’s conflict, Zepar turned toward him. “However, if she turns out to be involved, we will kill her.”
Denial was immediate and visceral. A flash of pure rage rippled through his muscles. No one would touch her. But wisely, Vetis muted his reaction, unwilling to let Zepar know how strongly he felt about Amara.
As casually as he could manage, Vetis said, “Perhaps we should pay another visit to the groom and warn him of the danger of harming Amara.” The potential for violence, an outlet for the mass of emotion that swirled through him, perked him up.
“You have feelings for her.” Zepar stated as he propped his elbows on his knees and stared into the flickering fire.
“I will admit that this corruption started as a lark,” Vetis cautiously replied. He crunched a bite of carrot in his mouth. With a wince, her remembered the relish she had taken in biting the tip off. “Getting a human to do something good against their nature should be the purest form of corruption.”
But now that he knew Amara, he knew she deserved more. And he was determined to be the one to give it to her. He knew the reward would be much sweeter when she was finally ready for their loveplay. But the constant arousal was killing him.
“You can’t let her distract you from our larger problems.”
“Do you think that’s why they sent her here? As a distraction?”
“There’s no way anyone who has heard of you would believe that you would chose such a challenge over one more prone to violence.” Vetis had garnered a reputation among the Humans. Purely from their own damn faults.
A truly corrupt soul cannot hold out long against the temptation to reveal its blackened core.
In the battle against the Fae, the Demons needed all the energy they could trap. Rage, fear, and greed engendered far more energy than sex. It would be a waste of his time.
The Fae would know that. So what had they wanted?
“Maybe they thought I would have him...what? Kill her? And that would clear his debt. But what purpose does that accomplish?” Murder also breeds an energy but the act uses energy as well.
“Perhaps it is time to pay the man a visit.” Zepar’s arms rippled as he pushed to his feet. He frowned. “And what is the sweet Amara doing?”
“I asked the Graces pay her a visit.”
“Instruction?”
“Of a sort,” Vetis said thoughtfully. “I vowed to give her the gift of sexual satisfaction. She should be able to find pleasure.”
“An excellent solution.”
Vetis grimaced. His gut churned as he thought of her with the three women. He’d sent them to her, but he had to resist the urge to storm into his chamber and wrench her away from their tutelage.
***
Amara paced around the Demon’s chamber. She was unused to inactivity. With the exception of her bed play with the Demon, she had done nothing for two days.
A small flush spread through her as she remembered last night.
Zepar, the big Demon from the first night, had spied on them acting the voyeur. She had known he was there. Had known he watched and still she’d bubbled into a rich sexual puddle when Vetis had stroked her womanhood to orgasm.
A flush of arousal swept through her and flooded her feminine parts. Making her wonder...Last night had been quite enjoyable. But apparently Vetis had not deemed it pleasurable enough. How could there be more?
Ye
t, her womb ached, seemingly unfulfilled.
She longed for something, but she had no idea what else there could be.
The sex act itself was a painful, rough invasion. It would hurt when he tried to enter her with his cock. Vetis was huge.
And still her lower body throbbed as she pictured his thick erect cock, purple veins, and luminescent cum beaded on the bulbous head. And there it was again, that mystifying gush of liquid from her pussy.
Three soft knocks on the massive door interrupted her thoughts.
“Ah...Come in?”
The door swung open to reveal three beautiful young women, one blond, one dark, the other red-haired. Ivy and periwinkle twined like crowns through their long hair. They wore white panels of fine fabric that covered their breasts and flowed down to mid-thigh, gathered at the waist with a belt fashioned from rope. Each carried a large pot of steaming water.
“Hello,” they said in unison.
Lavender and rose scent wafted from the pitchers as they fluttered to a bathtub concealed behind a sheer curtain.
“Hello,” she replied tentatively. Amara had been sequestered in this room with no contact with anyone except Vetis, Zepar, and the butler. She had little knowledge of what existed outside of his large stone chamber. So she fell back on her regular service role. “Can I help you?”
They tittered as they poured the scented water into the bath. As they leaned over the tub, Amara couldn’t help but notice that they wore no undergarments.
“Who are you?”
“We are the Graces,” the blonde one replied softly.
“Like the ancient Greek goddesses?” Amara frowned.
The laughed together, the musical notes like a waterfall of sound. “No silly. That is just the title the Demons gifted us with.” The brunette smiled easily at Amara.
The blonde spoke again. “Vetis sent us to you.”
“Oh, Vetis,” the red-haired one sighed. “Is he truly as large as he looks?”
“Hush, Laia,” the brunette admonished.
“Um, have you never seen him?” Amara frowned. If he sent them, surely they must know him.
“His cock,” Laia trailed her fingers along her collarbone, her expression dreamy. “Is his cock as large as the rest of him?”
Amara swallowed thickly, remembering Vetis’s large erection as the chocolate ran down the sides of his rod. She licked her lips.
“Oh my.” The blonde one’s eyelids drooped as a huff of breath escaped. “Truly?”
“Forget it,” the brunette said grouchily. “It’s not like we’ll ever get to see the thing. My name is Thalia.”
“How do you do?” Amara responded formally, even though the situation was quite bizarre. What could they want with her?
“I’m Cleta,” the blond one smiled shyly, “and that’s Laia.”
Both Cleta and Laia appeared loose and flushed from the steaming water. But next to the tub, Thalia stood stiffly, her face set in a frown.
“If we could just touch him.” Cleta cupped her own breast and rubbed her thumb over her protruding nipple. Her ardent gaze focused on Amara.
The thought of Cleta touching her Vetis sent a shiver of annoyance down Amara’s spine and her fingernails bit into her work-roughened palms.
That was silly. He wasn’t hers. He was a Demon. Bound to no one. But then curiosity got the better of Amara. “Why will you never see him?”
For as much as her time here was enjoyable, she knew soon it would come to an end and Vetis would be entertaining someone else in his bed. Her mouth pulled down and she refused to acknowledge the weight that constricted her chest.
“Oh, we are not allowed congress with the Demon nobility.” Laia twirled her finger around the ivy twined in her red hair. “It’s against the rules.”
“Stupid rules.” Cleta pinched her own nipple.
Amara couldn’t look away from Cleta’s hands as she aroused herself. Amara’s pulse spiked as Cleta’s face tautened and her breathing increased.
“Cleta, we haven’t started yet,” Thalia reprimanded.
Started what? “Why are you here then?”
“Settle into the bath and we’ll begin your lesson.” Laia laced her fingers with Amara’s and tugged her toward the steaming water.
“What lesson?”
Thalia and Cleta unhooked the ties at Amara’s shoulder. “Vetis requests you to learn to pleasure yourself.”
***
Vetis and Zepar took up the same positions outside the gambler’s cell. Except this time the man lay on the simple cot, his body sprawled in slumber, while his cock tented his drawstring pants.
He dreamed of men abusing his wife while he looked on, cock in hand. But the gambler’s dream revealed what his conscious mind had not. He hungered for male flesh and his arousal stemmed from watching the other men’s aroused penises.
Vetis growled low in his throat. “He has no remorse for the way he treated her.”
Rage thundered through his body, blood pumped through him, the vein at his temple threatened to pop. Each heartbeat delivered a violent need to kill this miserable excuse for a Human.
“How are we the Demons?”
Zepar stepped closer to Vetis, lay his hand heavily upon his shoulder, and offered his sympathy. “We are not.”
“We must prod him to dream of what we need to see, not this...abomination.” He swallowed deep in his throat at the fury of watching sweet Amara be abused.
They had both seen worse. He’d corrupted people over less. And Zepar’s seductions were not always of the wholesome sort. But this was Amara.
Zepar said, “We will have our revenge.”
They nudged the gambler’s dream, pushing him toward another type of satisfaction. The dream shifted to the man standing in a pile of gold coins, laughing while the Fae probed his mind. Unfortunately, the dream solidified nothing except that the gambler truly did conspire with the Fae.
“You know what must be done,” Zepar said softly.
Vetis had to let her go. They needed them out of the castle.
“In the morning.” He would have tonight. She would have tonight.
“Now would be better.”
“The bargain must be met. If we deviate from the terms, Edward and the Fae could become suspicious,” Vetis gritted out. Silently he promised. She will have her pleasure.
Although right now he wasn’t sure who needed the pleasure more.
And he couldn’t fathom why he was so insistent on fulfilling her. But the more time he spent with Amara the more he understood she had no joy in her life.
He refused to think about how his bargain had turned into more. For him, for her, tonight was about ultimate pleasure.
“You’re right. We must fulfill the terms of the bargain.” Zepar shifted his cock in his breeches and leered at Vetis. “Do you want my assistance?”
No! The thought roared through Vetis but he forced himself to smile easily. “No. The moon will be full tonight. You must gather as much energy for whatever attack the Fae have planned.”
Chapter Twelve
Amara reclined on the chaise in Vetis’s chamber, the room illuminated only by the bright light of a full moon. The velvet curtains were tied back to let in the silvery light. Amara savored the cool, silent midnight.
The room was redolent with the scents of lavender, rose, and feminine arousal.
The Graces had been most helpful as they explained ways to self-pleasure and demonstrated on themselves, instructing her to follow their motions. She had dutifully learned their techniques, except she had imagined Vetis administering the languid caresses, until she brought herself to climax.
The experience had been...fine. Lovely.
But she longed for him. Not for her own administered affection. She ached for his hands to stroke and plunder and sate her desires. To fill that hollow place that resided within her. All these years she’d been unaware of how empty she truly was until Vetis had shown her.
And Gods, how wonderful. She ha
d desires!
She had never believed she could be normal. She had considered herself doomed. Who would have ever thought that a Demon could awaken her body? And now that she was ready for him, ready to complete the bargain....
He was nowhere to be found.
The door blew open with a gust of wind.
The slow thud of her heartbeat reverberated through her body. Her nipples pebbled, her womb clenched, everything within her tightened as she waited to discover if Vetis had come to attend her.
He stood in the doorway, a dark silhouette in the flickering lights from the shadowed hallway. Clad in leather Engineer boots, snug leather breeches, and a fine silk shirt, he lounged with lazy grace against the doorframe.
“My Lord.” The title rasped over vocal chords gone suddenly dry. Was tonight the night? She was ready for him. Ready to submit.
He strode into the room like a dark warrior intent on conquest. The silvery moonlight shadowed his face in lines of menace and his hooded eyes burned with intensity.
She lay against the stiff back of the chaise, unsure what to do next. “Are you...unwell?”
The Graces had given her a gown of pale pink, similar to their own, but with panels so fine it was painfully obvious when her nipples tightened beneath the filmy sheer fabric. He stopped as if drunk on the sight of her, bathed and pampered and lotioned, ready for his pleasure. The bulge in his breeches belied the shadows she thought she’d seen.
“We will both be very well. Quite soon, I might add.”
Her heart triple-timed at the promise inherent in his words. “I am...very glad to hear so, my Lord.”
He eased down next to her and caged her between his muscled arms. The heat from his body crowded her, pulsating like a living breathing entity, as he traced one finger slowly across the sensitive skin of her collarbone.
Goosebumps shimmied along her skin. Her nipples tightened in response to the simple caress. He nuzzled her with his jaw before licking up the side of her neck with his hot, agile tongue. Then Vetis traced the shape of her ear with his nose and inhaled slowly. “Mmm, there is nothing sweeter than the scent of a well-pleasured woman.”
His tongue curled around the edge of her jaw as he traced his hand from the curve of her shoulder down to her fingers. Like a proper English gentleman, he lifted her hand to his mouth in a courtly gesture. But then he dragged her fingers along his nose and drew them into his mouth.
