Tesotoro seemed quite unimpressed by the outburst. ‘You will free her,’ he said simply, ‘at once.’
‘I will do no such thing!’ She laughed contemptuously, but with little conviction. ‘In fact, I shall have your freedom too, just as I have hers.’
The warrior removed his gloves. ‘This is your last warning,’ he vowed.
‘What are you going to do,’ she scoffed, ‘strike me?’
‘Strike you as an enemy male, no, but I shall strike you as a spoilt female; over my knee.’
Allura retreated to her desk, grabbing an ivory letter opener. ‘Approach one step and I shall cut out your heart,’ she threatened. ‘Veeta, run and call for help.’
‘No,’ said Tesotoro to the girl, ‘stay where you are.’
Veeta looked back and forth, eyes flitting between her mistress and the new man. She seemed unsure whom to obey.
‘Do as I say, or I’ll have your head,’ Allura warned.
‘Saraveeta,’ Tesotoro countered calmly, ‘go to the bath chamber and wash yourself. Your serving days are over.’
Saraveeta hesitated a moment longer, took one last look at Allura, and scurried for the bathroom.
‘Bastard,’ the princess cursed, arcing a slap at his face, but the large man easily swayed back out of range and caught her swinging wrist in one brawny fist, instantly spinning her around and pinning her arm up behind her back.
‘You are badly in need of learning some respect,’ he informed her.
‘Perhaps,’ she panted, continuing to struggle, ‘but not from scum like you.’
With contemptuous ease the warrior pushed her across to the nearest chair, and sitting down he laid her across his lap, just as he’d promised. With a flip of her skirts he bared her underclothing, and with one hand pressing on her back he used the other to insolently caress her buttocks.
‘You will die for this!’ she cursed, but Tesotoro merely delivered a punishing blow, her rage instantly reduced to girlish protests.
‘That hurt, you animal!’ she complained. ‘You can’t do this to me!’
‘Oh, but I can and I will.’ Thrice more he smacked her, his seasoned palm cracking upon her soft behind. Allura moaned, wriggling against him, terrified that her reactions were turning sexual. This was a beautiful man and she wanted him inside her, all the more so for his masterful treatment of her. ‘Are you prepared to behave?’
‘No,’ she answered honestly.
‘Then we will continue,’ he said calmly, and Allura was spanked into submission; in a matter of minutes he had her begging to be able to obey him and do his will, even to free Saraveeta from slavery.
‘Get up,’ he told her at last, and the princess stood, legs shaking, her bottom throbbing and her cheeks glistening with tears. ‘That is how a female is handled,’ he told her. ‘Whether she be crown princess or a lowly whore, all respond alike to discipline. All need it, as well.’
Allura made no response.
‘Now, call Saraveeta,’ he ordered, and she did.
‘Do not kneel,’ said Tesotoro to the slave, his eyes moving sternly to Allura. ‘The princess has something to say to you.’
Allura lowered her eyes, feeling like a chastised child. ‘I was wrong to enslave you, Saraveeta,’ she said, so quietly the other two in the room barely heard her, ‘and I give you back your freedom.’
Saraveeta’s eyes widened in shock. ‘It is true,’ confirmed Tesotoro. ‘The princess has had a change of heart. She has seen the wickedness of her ways.’
‘Mistress?’ Saraveeta enquired, looking for final confirmation.
‘Get out of here, damn it,’ Allura snapped. ‘Do you want to gloat forever? Don’t you think this is hard enough for me already?’
‘Sorry mistress,’ the girl babbled excitedly, and then left hurriedly.
‘You are a spoilt little girl,’ Tesotoro said when they were alone. ‘But fortunately for you most men find that attractive to a point. Gives them more control in the end. And now,’ he rose to his feet, ‘I’ll be going.’
‘But you said you came for me.’ Suddenly Allura did not want him to go. ‘Isn’t that what you told my uncle?’
‘I merely said the god delivered me to see you.’ He shrugged. ‘And I have done that, for the purpose of freeing Saraveeta.’
‘Why?’ she asked. ‘What’s so special about her?’
‘She is to be the next priestess,’ said Tesotoro. ‘I am to escort her back to the temple, and there she will live the remainder of her days.’
Allura’s knees almost buckled. ‘The dream,’ she whispered.
‘The dream?’ he echoed. ‘What dream?’
‘Nothing,’ she shook her head, ‘it is nothing.’
The warrior left her without so much as a goodbye, and for a long time she stood there, trying to absorb what was happening. Pieces of her nightmare were coming true – the appearance of the blond barbarian, and the part about Saraveeta being elevated to the rank of priestess. Was there more in store for her?
Her thoughts turned to fleeing, but where would she go? She knew no one outside the castle. It was tempting to run to her uncle, but he was an old man and could no longer give her the protection she needed.
If only her father were alive. He would have handled things and none of this would have happened. There were the gods to pray to, but she had a growing suspicion that prayers had already gotten her in a good deal more trouble than she could handle. What if Zuranos were playing with her mind?
Tesotoro. She must go to him. He could explain things. He came from her dream, but he lived here and now. Besides, Allura was flushed and very aroused and she needed to know how a mere commoner could do that to her, and without showing any finesse or gentleness.
She found him in a guest room provided by the vizier. His plan was to rest for the day, taking Saraveeta back to the temple the next morning. He was in only his breeches, chest bared, lying upon the narrow bed. ‘Yes?’ he said impatiently, not having bothered to get up to answer her timid knock at the door.
‘Tesotoro,’ she demanded, ‘who are you really?’
He regarded her, unperturbed. ‘I am the first man to spank you. It has an effect, doesn’t it?’
‘Not a pleasant one,’ she sulked. ‘Especially not when the man in question has come to life from a dream.’
‘Yes,’ he admitted, ‘and I have dreamed of you, too.’
‘Y-you have?’ she gasped, her cheeks coloring.
‘Indeed, princess.’ His eyes smoldered. ‘I have dreamed of you naked in my bed, obeying my commands, serving my every whim.’
She swallowed hard. ‘That would be impossible.’
‘Not really,’ he shrugged. ‘I could break you in one night. It is only that I do not care to.’
‘And why is that?’ she probed, trying not to sound interested.
‘Because then I will have to marry you, and I don’t want the responsibilities of rule on my shoulders.’
Allura ran a hand softly over her tingling stomach. ‘You could always denounce me for harlotry, instead,’ she offered, her voice a breathless whisper.
‘I suppose I could,’ he considered, ‘but I doubt you would enjoy life with me much.’
‘Why not, Tesotoro?’
‘Because I am used to whores and slaves,’ he told her frankly. ‘I have no patience for ladies.’
‘Maybe I don’t want to be a lady.’ The princess lifted her dress over her head.
‘Beware,’ said Tesotoro, ‘you are only reacting to your spanking. Quite soon the passion will wear off and you will hate me.’
She pulled off her undergarments, baring herself. ‘But that moment is not now.’
‘You are a virgin,’ he stated.
‘Perhaps not for much longer.’
‘I might be tired,’ he teased.
‘Perhaps I can revive you,’ she countered mischievously.
‘Leave me.’ He rolled to one side, his back to her, but Allura crept onto the bed like a tigress.
‘Must I beg you?’ she asked, and he allowed her to briefly nibble his earlobe.
‘Woman, this is your last chance,’ he said.
‘Last chance at what?’ she asked playfully, and when her hand crept around to his crotch he finally moved into action.
‘All right,’ he grumbled, ‘you’ve asked for it now,’ and Allura quickly found herself beneath him, pressed beneath toned muscle and smooth skin, the scent of the male filling the air.
‘Will you be gentle?’ she asked softly.
‘I will be as a man. No more, no less.’ She sighed, melting beneath him. ‘I won’t let you go,’ he breathed against her throat. ‘Not after this.’
‘No,’ she clutched his shoulders, ‘please don’t.’
‘It will be forever.’
‘I’ll count on it,’ she hooked her legs around his firm buttocks, ‘I am yours.’
‘Consider yourself taken.’
Indeed, she did. Taken, and given, and redeemed. The only question that remained was where her dream had come from and what role the god had played.
‘Maybe this world is the dream,’ teased an inner voice, ‘and the other was real.’
‘Does it matter?’ she replied, as she and Tesotoro melted together.
‘No,’ said the voice of Zuranos, voice of creation and of every spirit and every possibility, ‘it does not… so long as I get my share of you.’
Allura shivered, thinking of the many nights ahead. With Tesotoro and the god both. In a way she was lucky; it wasn’t every woman who got to cheat on her husband with the lord of the universe.
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Possessing Allura Page 20
