Chapter Four
She was taken back to the bathing chamber and allowed to bathe before being led to another chamber with several beds. The other two women were already asleep. Whimsy fell gratefully into one of the beds. She was so tired. She felt physically and emotionally drained. So much had happened in such a short time. She fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Whimsy woke to the sound of whispers. She took time for a leisurely stretch. It was no telling how long it would be before she would enjoy the comforts of a real bed again. If Editha had her way, she’d be spending her nights on the dingy floor of a dungeon.
“Hi. You’re up,” said Ms. C15. “My name is Maga and this,” she said gesturing at the silvery blonde, “is Ama. What’s your name?”
“My name is Whimsy.” She sat up and immediately suffered a moment of embarrassment, realizing that the last time she’d seen these women they were naked and being carried out of a stranger’s bedroom. She’d heard their cries of pleasure as a stranger claimed them. They had been forced to endure, while she’d been spared. Guilt made tears spring to her eyes.
Ama was immediately at her side. “Don’t cry. Everything will be all right.”
Whimsy shook her head. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t help either of you.”
Maga scoffed. “Help me what? Help me miss the best sex of my life?”
Whimsy stared. “You’re kidding.”
Maga grinned. “Nope. I have never begged a man to take me before. With him, I couldn’t stop.” She fanned herself. “In the end, it was just too much. I passed out.”
“I thought…” Whimsy broke off and blushed, recalling how naïve she had been. She had yet to begin her formal education on the duties of a wife’s more intimate duties, but she had been given the basics. She was told that it would be pleasurable to share her body with her husband, but she had been given no idea as to how pleasurable.
“What?” Maga asked.
Ama smiled. “She thought he was hurting you when you first started screaming. She was ready to march in there and do battle. I was a little on edge myself, or I would have laughed my head off.”
Maga’s eyes widened and then narrowed shrewdly. “Where are you from?”
“C7.”
“You were a virgin,” Maga exclaimed.
“How do you know that?” Ama asked.
“All the women on C7 are virgins. The only women who aren’t virgins are claimed by husbands. They never leave the colony once they’re claimed. I know the Gogath would never venture that deep into civilization so that means they nabbed her somewhere else.”
Whimsy grumbled as Maga stared at her as though she was some sort of mythical creature. “I am a virgin. It was a near thing,” she said recalling the brief moment when he’d begun to penetrate her, “but he let me go. And for your information, there are women on C7 who are neither claimed nor virgins.”
Maga rolled her eyes. “Yes, the social pariahs. I visited C7. You come from a judgmental, pseudo-pious, hypocritical lot. Next to C15, it’s the worse colony in the system.”
Whimsy’s mouth dropped open in indignation. “How can you say that? Just because we have morals and values…“
Maga snorted. “Morals and values. How about compassion and decency? I visited C7 once. Your people treated me worse than dirt once they found out that I wasn’t a virgin nor claimed. I couldn’t wait to leave.”
Whimsy lowered her gaze, knowing that Maga had a point. C7 was high on morality, but unforgiving of those who strayed from the path. She’d come so close last night. Shivers of shock racked her. She buried her face in her hands. She reminded herself that she still had her hymen. She could go home.
Ama wrapped an arm around her. “You can tell us. You don’t have to be embarrassed.”
“Tell you what?”
“How it was if he took you. We won’t judge.”
Whimsy shook her head. She realized Ama was trying to give her an out in case she was lying about still being a virgin. There would be no point in proclaiming her virginity if it weren’t true. Once she returned to C7, she would be sent to a med center to verify her continued chastity after such an extended un-chaperoned absence. “No. He didn’t. H-he was on top of me, about to, but I pleaded with him to let me go.”
“I thought that’s what I would do. But when I was there in his arms, all I could do was beg him not to stop. If he hadn’t taken me, I probably would have tried to rape him.” Ama grinned.
“Do you think we were drugged?” Whimsy could not help but ask.
Maga sat down on the end of the bed. “If we were, they need to market it.” She shook her head. “No, I think he just has that kind of magnetism.”
Whimsy frowned, her mind abuzz with questions. None of this made any sense. “Then why are they buying women for him? And why release us after only one night?”
Maga shrugged. “I wish I could answer your questions, but like you, I don’t know where we are. The farther you get out into the colonies, the less communicative the society. On C15, they don’t like any outsiders because they don’t want people to know what goes on there. Wherever we are, they aren’t advertising for tourists.”
The lock on their doors turned. The three women turned as one as the doors opened and Editha entered with two guards following in her wake. Editha’s gaze settled on Whimsy, her expression one of satisfaction.
Chapter Five
Four hours. That is all he had been able to sleep last night. Four hours last night, and six the night before. Months since he’d slept more than that. He could almost deal with the sleep deprivation if not for the damned heat and the need that never ended.
Gaedrian closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He lay prone on his bed, much as he had all night, willing himself to sleep. After the last woman had fled, he had bathed again and climbed into bed wet, hoping the moisture would cool his skin, cool his arousal. That was marginally successful for all too brief a time.
He needed to fuck. Even more than that, he needed to come. The pain in his cock was driving him insane. His entire world for the last month was centered around his cock and fucking. Gaedrian clenched his teeth in mental and physical anguish.
There were times when he accepted this as his fate as the ruler of C21, but others when he railed against his mother for giving him the chemical injection to begin the mating heat without his knowledge.
All rulers of C21 for the last two centuries were administered the chemical injection commonly known as fate in their seventeenth year. Fate caused a hormonal change that made the body secrete sex pheromones. In men, it also caused hyper-sexuality, but without the benefit of release. Sexual release could only be achieved when the body found the perfect matching pheromones. Thus, the theory was that fate helped a ruler to find his perfect mate. In a colony continually troubled by civil unrest, stability within the ruling house was a must.
There was no antidote to fate. The body worked it out of the system naturally when a mate was found. The longer fate remained in the system, the stronger the effects.
Due to fighting amongst the colonies during his seventeenth year, Gaedrian had not been given the injection. He had been off fighting with his father. It seemed that he was a natural born fighter and leader. Men followed him without question, knowing that he would not ask more of them than he would of himself. When his father was killed in battle, his succession to the thrown was smooth, though he’d been barely out of his teens at the time. Keeping C21 from tearing itself apart and keeping other colonies at bay had comprised his early years as a ruler. Many had thought them vulnerable because of his tender years. They had found they were wrong.
As time passed, Gaedrian forgot about fate on some level. His mother would occasionally mention it, but there were always other duties, other responsibilities. He was the only single ruler C21 had ever recorded.
And then one night seven months ago, he had gone to bed exhausted but could not sleep. He had felt more aroused than was normal. He had never allowed his
body to approach that point of need. He had mistresses to guarantee that. Since he had gone to bed alone, he struggled through the night, finally snoozing with some difficulty, thinking to contact one of his mistresses for the next night. Gaedrian had done that and the next night he had given the lusty Kativa a fuck marathon to end all marathons. By the end of it, she was begging him to stop, crying out and climaxing at the same time. He finally did stop when she passed out. At the end of it, his cock was as hard as ever. He had not climaxed once all night. Frustrated, he had slept from his physical exertions alone.
Through the course of the following weeks, he had fucked his way through all his mistresses before his mother finally confessed to what she had done. She had convinced his doctor to give him an injection of fate at his last physical. She had somehow convinced the man that it was what Gaedrian wanted. Any other woman and Gaedrian might have thought she felt guilty. After all, his pheromones were not just taking a toll on him, but affected every woman he came into contact with. Within minutes of his walking into a room, every woman there began to sweat. If he lingered, they began to twist in their seats, pressing their thighs together, suppressing moans. Breasts grew firm and nipples hardened. During dinner with an advisor, the man’s daughter had actually climaxed at the table. Gaedrian could see she had fought it, had seen her biting her lip and twisting in discomfort. He had tried to rush the dinner along, but her father had been particularly verbose that night, regaling him with tales of his days as his father’s advisor. The poor girl had eventually had an orgasm with a muffled scream over dessert. Grabbing the table and panting, she had thrown Gaedrian such a hungry look, he was afraid she was going to attempt to mount him right there at the table. After that incident, his mother had had no choice but to confess what she had done and Gaedrian had made the decision to confine himself to his chambers.
But his mother had not wasted time on remorse. In one breath she was confessing and in the next she was ordering him around, arranging his life. Editha was tired of his wasting time. She had long wanted heirs to ensure their family’s continued rule. She had wanted to begin the mating hunt immediately.
It was quite a risk she had taken. No one knew for sure what the affects of taking fate were for a man at his age. Prior to his injection, it had only been used on teens. He was now nearing his thirtieth year. There was no certainty it would have worked at all.
Editha was lucky. It had worked like a charm. Gaedrian was in heat. But at first, he had refused to participate in the hunt. He was annoyed that his mother had gone behind his back when all she had needed to do was voice her concerns to him. He ignored the fact that she had spoken to him about heirs time and time again. But he had not known that she was this serious, this concerned about the future. When they had brought the first of the volunteers to his chambers, he had intended to reject her. They had locked her in with him, making it impossible for him to resist. She had pleaded with him until he had taken her, as much for her sake as his own. He could not recall what the girl looked like now. He did remember her screams though, as orgasm after orgasm rolled over her. She had been in shock. He had been in shock, too. He literally could not stop himself from ramming into her. After she blacked out, he had barely managed to force himself to stop.
Month after month, it had gotten worse. He had gone from bedding one woman a night to two, and then to three. It was the only way to ensure that he would not overuse them. Gaedrian wondered how they managed to keep finding volunteers. Traditionally, it was considered an honor to be accepted as a volunteer. He knew the women would all be rewarded and would be forever after treated as minor royalty. He felt like he had fucked every woman on C21, though he hoped that was not true. He had long since buried the guilt at the excess. Damned pheromones. He wished they would pick someone already.
No one had ever suffered the effects of fate as long as he. It was not intended for the mating hunt to continue this long. He could no longer perform his duties.
Gaedrian wrapped his fingers around his cock and squeezed. He groaned and arched his hips. Desperately, he tried to make himself come. He had tried before. And failed. He swore softly under his breath as he pumped his fist up and down over his swollen flesh.
He thought back over last night’s volunteers. They were all lovely, as usual. The first was blatantly sexy. He had done nothing more than look at her and she had been ready. The second had seemed timid initially, but had ended up begging him.
The third had smelled and tasted so good, he could have eaten her for hours, but he had wanted to be inside her when she climaxed. That she’d changed her mind about volunteering surprised him. After all, it was an admirable duty. That she’d been able to change her mind in the midst of all the pheromones flooding his system and clogging the air around them amazed him. In all the months since this began, no woman had denied him.
Mentally she had backed out, but physically, he knew she wanted him. Gaedrian groaned at the remembered taste of her. Her pubic hair had been permanently removed, as was tradition, and when he’d looked at her, he had seen her moisture. He ran his thumb over the moist head of his cock and shuddered. The clasp of her pussy had been so tight. His cock had only gotten a taste of her and it wanted more.
But he had looked into her dark eyes and seen the fear that he would not stop. He felt on edge. Not taking her, ripping himself from her warm aroused body, had been the hardest part of this so far.
A shudder of longing racked his body as he thought of her, of her smell, of her full lips. He moved his hand at a frantic pace. Months ago, he would have considered it beneath him to try to relieve himself this way. Now, he knew no shame. He arched his hips, imaging that he was plunging into her tight pussy. He groaned. He was so close. He could feel the impending explosion working its way up his spine.
The sudden knock at the door had him swearing. He was tempted to ignore it, roll over, and pump himself into the fresh linens the servants had dressed the bed with last night for Dessert. Her fragrance lingered. Perhaps that was the reason he could not stop thinking about her. He would order the sheets changed again to maintain his sanity.
At a second knock, this one sounding slightly impatient, Gaedrian sighed and climbed out of bed. He found his robe and slid into it before opening the door.
“Chaldor.” He greeted his friend with a nod and backed up to allow him entrance. “How are you?”
“Fine. How are you? Did you sleep well?”
Gaedrian ignored his friend’s probing glance. “As well as can be expected.”
“How many hours?”
Gaedrian gritted his teeth. “Chaldor, you grow worse than Mother.” They were beginning to make him feel like a child. It was bad enough that he could not perform any of his duties, but the two of them constantly monitoring him made him feel as though he were a science experiment.
“How many?” he persisted.
“Four.”
“Only four? But you had three women last night.”
Gaedrian could see the concerned look on his friend’s face. Chaldor thought his condition was worsening. The less he slept, the more women they brought him. “Actually, I only had the first two. I let the last one go.”
“What? You cannot do that.” Chaldor shoved his hands in his hair in agitation.
He ignored the fact that his friend was ordering him around. “Chaldor, she changed her mind. I know it goes against tradition and that to let people believe that she had given herself for the good of her home would be a deception…“
His friend had begun pacing, pausing only to glare back at him. “Gaedrian, suppose she is the one? Tradition states you must—“
“I know, believe me, I know. I am to fuck every woman who volunteers herself up as some noble sacrifice until I find my one true companion. Mother has drilled the honor and duty spiel into my head every day. Somehow it is supposed to make this better and fix what she did to me.”
“Have you thought of the girl? What of her? She is no doubt still suffering the eff
ects of being in your presence.”
Gaedrian clenched his jaw. “She can find satisfaction anywhere, whereas I can find none,” he stated coldly. But it angered him to think of another claiming the sweet pussy that he had tasted and almost fucked.
“You are not thinking reasonably.” Chaldor touched the communications link in his ear. “Number 3 must be returned immediately.”
Gaedrian knew he spoke with someone in charge of the women’s care. He heaved a great sigh and sat down on the edge of his bed. He recalled a time when his word had commanded respect. Now they did nothing but ignore him. His wishes and thoughts on the matter would be ignored. Still he recalled the look on Dessert’s face. He could not take her last night and he doubted that he ever could as long as she resisted. “Chaldor, leave it be, I beg you. She changed her mind.”
“She cannot change her mind, just as you…“ He broke off as he received a message through his link. He swore. “They have been released.” He touched his link again. “Get her back here. If you have to turn the ship around, I want her back here now!”
“Ship? Why would she be on a ship?”
Chaldor would not meet his eyes. “It is nothing. Do not concern yourself. I should be going.”
Gaedrian’s spine stiffened. It was not like Chaldor to be evasive. “Damnation, Chaldor, tell me, what is going on? Is it not bad enough that I am the only ruler in our history to have to hand over his responsibilities to another due to uncontrollable lust? Must you and Mother treat me like I am a child as well?”
Chaldor looked thoroughly ashamed and apprehensive. “I am sorry.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “We were short on volunteers. Many of the people do not know that you are still under the influences of fate. They await your choice of mate any day now.”
“That does not explain––“
“Try to understand. We could not bear for you to suffer through the night without some relief. So we made a trip to one of the Gogath’s flesh bazaars.”
Whimsy Page 3
