by Ophelia Bell
His fingertips loosened at the back of her neck as slowly as his cock softened in her mouth and slipped out. Belah licked her lips and blinked drunkenly up at him. His thighs began to quiver in front of her and a second later he sank to his knees, head bowed and chest heaving.
“Good girl,” he said, touching her chin lightly with his fingertips. “Would you like a reward for pleasing me so well?”
Belah smiled, her soul rejoicing over how well this man seemed to understand her, how willing he was to please her exactly as she wished to be pleased.
“Yes, master,” she said, and let him push her back down onto the stone.
She stared up at the night sky, the bright disc of the moon reflecting the fullness of need between her thighs. The stars flickered with each lap of his tongue between her legs. The rush of the Nile to the east mirrored the current of pleasure through her body, and the sudden gusts of wind blowing through the trees masked her breathy cries into the night when he brought her to her climax, over and over, until nothing existed but the scent and feel of his body when he moved up beside her and held her in his arms.
Chapter Seven
The days that followed made her wonder if she were living in a dream. During her days, she behaved as always, being pampered by her servants, dressed in her finest tunics and gold and jewels to hold court. She would sit on her throne with Nikhil seated among her advisers. Always she could feel his eyes on her throughout the day, and it drove her mad with need. The wait to have him back in her chambers where their roles would reverse made her dizzy some days.
The nagging thought that she should mark him lingered, but she rejected it. She loved the idea that he wasn’t really hers, and yet he stayed. Her siblings would probably castigate her for allowing a mortal—even if he was Blessed—to see her true form without marking him.
With Nikhil, she awoke with a pleasant thrill that the day ahead was filled with the unknown. She hadn’t felt this way in countless years.
Every day he kept her guessing, and at the end of every day, he managed to satisfy her.
Each morning before he left her bed to return to his own quarters, he would whisper a command in her ear. Some secret thing he wished her to do for him, and only him that day.
The weeks he spent with his troops were the loneliest times, but he always returned, their reunions some of the most memorable moments.
One morning after such a reunion, he stayed with her for breakfast and allowed her servants to dress him while she was dressed for her day. After the servants left, he rifled through all her things, exuberant with some secret surprise. Finally, he pulled out a pair of large, bronze scarabs from her jewelry box and examined them. They were ear clips, joined by a long chain that was meant to hang down over her chest, linked to a matching golden breast-piece.
She thought he was going to clip them to her ears, but instead, he pushed the vee of her gown aside to bare her breasts and clipped each ornament to a nipple.
Belah gasped at the sudden, sharp sensation. She’d worn them on her earlobes many times without discomfort, but to have them attached to a part of her so much more sensitive made her instantly wet.
“Nik, I have to go out there and be the queen.”
He grinned deviously. “Yes, and whatever you do they will love. You go bare-breasted all the time. In fact, that’s one of the reasons your army is so loyal. Why I am so loyal.”
A steady thrum of sensation ran from her nipples to her groin and she closed her eyes.
He left for a moment and returned with a heavy golden collar, that he secured around her shoulders. It draped coldly over her chest, curving just above her bare breasts and warmed quickly to her temperature. In the center of it was another scarab that matched the ornaments attached to the tips of her breasts.
“See?” he said. “You look resplendent.”
He turned her toward the mirror she rarely ever looked into. Before her, she saw a beautiful woman who was every bit as regal as Nikhil believed. Her shoulders were squared beneath the arc of golden scales that shone on her chest. Fine, blue linen draped over her shoulders, hanging down to her hips where it was gathered beneath her navel with a gold belt slung low enough to display her flat, bronze belly. And the two scarab ornaments gleamed on the tips of her full breasts like a pair of tiny, suckling infants.
He stood behind her with his mischievous smirk and kissed her neck.
“Don’t you agree?” he asked.
She smiled back at him in the mirror. “I do.”
“Good,” he said. He cupped her breasts and removed the clips, teased her nipples with delicate circles of his thumbs. The sensation made her gasp at how sensitive they’d become and an even heavier warmth flooded between her thighs.
As quickly as he removed them, he replaced the clips again and spoke low into her ear. “You will think of me every time they vex you today. You will think of what I plan to do to you when we’re alone again tonight. I promise I will be good during the day, as long as I know I have a leash on you, so don’t disappoint me.”
***
By the end of the day, Belah’s nipples were entirely numb, but the presence of those scarabs during had enhanced her awareness of her own body to the point every inch of her itched to return to her chambers and to whatever he might have in store for her.
When she walked through the door, she was ready to rip off her clothes and let him have his way with her, but something made her wait. She had already spent the entire day holding dominion over her kingdom. Alone in his presence, she was no longer the master, but the pet. She expected her pets to be ready to obey her commands, so shouldn’t she behave for him as she would want one of her own to behave for her?
A pang of guilt shot through her at the thought of her pets who had been neglected ever since Nikhil had arrived. She should remedy that soon—perhaps share them with him on occasion—though she was loath to witness him with any other.
When she made her way out onto the sunset-gilded balcony, she let out a soft gasp. Before her was laid a sumptuous feast with Nikhil standing across the table from her, backlit by the setting orange globe of the sun over the rippling waters of the sea on the horizon and the lush foliage of the Nile Delta on the opposite side. He gestured to the seat across from him.
“Please eat, my little beast. You will need your strength for tonight.”
Belah’s insides quivered and she nearly groaned in frustration. “You are intent on tormenting me for as long as possible, aren’t you? You must have figured out by now that it isn’t food I gain my strength from. At least, not where my true power is concerned.”
Nikhil came around the table and pulled her chair out for her to sit. She obeyed, but the closeness of his large body and spicy scent made her grip the sides of her chair hard to suppress the urge to overpower him. Tonight she would let him command every aspect of their coupling. She had a feeling that given free rein, he wouldn’t disappoint her. At the back of her neck, the light brush of his fingertips startled her, until she realized he was unfastening the clasp of the heavy, gold collar that still weighed down her shoulders. It came away, leaving her suddenly weightless, and she let out a sigh of relief at the loss of that burden. He disappeared for a moment, then returned and bent his head to her ear.
“Did you think of me at all today?” he asked, brushing his warm palms down her shoulders and arms to her hands, where he twined his coarse fingers between her more delicate ones. He squeezed, lifting her hands and placing them flat on the surface of the table in front of her. “Your eyes kept moving to the side of the room all day. It could have been the sun casting a glare, I suppose… Yet you never quite looked at me.”
Belah’s nostrils flared at his closeness. She’d craved this for the entire day—craved his touch, his smell, and knew if she had dared to glance his way for very long, she would have called a halt to everything and ordered everyone out, th
en ordered him to fuck her on her throne. That wasn’t how this was supposed to work. She wanted him to give the orders where it concerned her pleasure, not the other way around.
“I feared I would never look away again if I did,” she said.
“Hmm, is that all you feared?” He ran his hands back up her arms and paused at the tops, letting his knuckles brush against the sides of her aching breasts with the scarab jewelry still tightly attached to each nipple.
Her breath came out in soft pants and she tilted her head back against his shoulder before answering him.
“I wanted to command them all to leave and order you to fuck me right there. I may have even ordered you to take me with the entire room still filled and let them all watch. They could all have seen what a magnificent man you are. Then all the men could have had a turn after you were done, just to understand what it’s like to be so privileged that you get to fuck a goddess every night.”
His fingers made slow circles around the ornaments attached to her breasts. With each circuit closer, the scarabs grew heavier and her nipples throbbed painfully.
“Every night?” he asked in a low voice. “Is that what you are offering? To be my toy every night? And what will I be to you?”
He cupped her breasts in both large palms and jiggled the scarabs. Belah let out an involuntary whimper at the painful tug that so exquisitely sent fresh jolts of agony through her body.
Catching her breath, she said, “By day, you will be my general, whose secret desires I fulfill by simply thinking of you. And by night—every night—you will be my master. A god for me to bow before until you have answered my prayers. You wished to die and become a god by my brother’s side. I can make you one in my bed, and you never need fear death again.”
The low rumble Nikhil emitted vibrated against her and he gently prised the scarabs off her breasts. Belah gasped as sensation rushed back into her abused nipples. She dug her fingernails into the table in an effort not to move—to only do what he commanded. She wanted to massage the soreness from them, but relished the feeling just the same. The pain pulsed as acutely in each hard nub as the pleasure pulsed between her thighs.
Nikhil’s hands returned to her breasts, delicately touching. She turned just enough to see his face, mouth turned down in a slight frown. When she glanced down at her breasts, she understood why. Both nipples were bruised around her areolas, with an alarming purple pattern from the clips on her jewelry. Each soft brush of his thumbs over them made her hiss from the pain. He glanced at her, and she realized from his dark gaze that as concerned as he may be, he was intensely aroused.
“What are your prayers tonight, my little beast?” he said, pinching both nipples between thumb and forefinger. He squeezed gently, as though testing her, and a burning rush of fire shot through her.
She gritted her teeth, wishing for more. “I pray you take your pleasure from me however you wish.”
“I’m no fool, ‘Iilahatan, your pleasure is every bit as important to me as mine is to you. This kind of pain would be counterproductive, if I had to endure it. Don’t lie to me.”
Belah smiled and arched her chest into his touch. “Is my own pain counterproductive to your pleasure? Don’t lie to me.” She spread her legs wide enough for the slit in her skirt to fall open, baring her knees and a swath of bronze thigh visible almost to her groin. “Because my pain is half of my pleasure. They will heal by morning, trust me. The other ache won’t subside so easily without your attention.”
One large hand clutched harder at her breast, fingertips digging in with bruising ferocity. The other dipped down between her legs and spread her open, sliding between her hot folds. He thrust two fingers into her roughly and she let out a cry at the sudden, though welcome, invasion. Her hips involuntarily bucked. Still, she craned her head around just enough to meet his gaze. The devious glint in his eyes was even more thrilling than his rough handling of her body. His mouth crashed against hers, claiming her while his hands kept her pinned to her seat, squirming for more. One hand pressed against her chest, toying with her breast, the other tight against her hips with his fingers spearing her.
He seemed more inclined to torment her, pulling away a moment later leaving her breathless while he sauntered back to his seat. He sat with an insouciant slouch and dug into his food, only offering her a casual glance every now and again. Belah remained still and erect, both hands resting on either side of her plate where he’d placed them, waiting.
After a few minutes, he gestured with a piece of bread to her plate. “Eat, little beast. I meant it when I said you would need your energy.”
She scooted forward in her chair to reach her food, only too conscious of the slick, swollen flesh between her thighs and the lingering sensation of his touch on her skin. None of the delicious dishes before her held any flavor when all she wanted was him. Every so often she glanced at him, increasingly irritated by his casual smirk. Beyond that cocksure attitude, she could easily see the very aroused pulse of his aura and sense the wicked glee that accompanied whatever he had planned for her after he ate.
After sating his apparently considerable appetite for food, he sat back and regarded her from over the lip of his wine glass. He took a sip and set it down, his gaze narrowing.
“Did you really wish to be fucked on your throne today?”
Belah frowned, wondering if she should be worried that she’d shared that little secret. The truth was that she knew better than to do such a thing, but the very idea of the helpless humiliation was what caused the image to pop into her head around mid-day. She simply wanted him inside her and had let her mind wander to how it might happen in that very moment.
Nikhil sat up straighter and grinned. “You truly did, didn’t you? You are a naughty beast. I had no idea.”
“No!” Belah blurted, sitting forward abruptly and wincing when her breasts brushed against the bowl that still sat in front of her.
A look of concern flashed across his face, but he sat back and listened. “Explain yourself, then.”
“I don’t gain power from fucking only you. My harem serves a greater purpose that you are only beginning to fulfill for me. I haven’t visited my pets since you arrived, and it’s taken its toll. That little fantasy I shared with you was merely how my mind wandered today. I pictured you taking me first, and since we were surrounded by all the others…” She trailed off, remembering looking into the faces of each of her other advisers and all the noblemen and petitioners arranged around the huge room, and wondering what their reactions might be if she actually did something like that. In another life, it wouldn’t have been unthinkable. In this life, she had a bigger image to maintain.
“Ah,” he said, tilting his head back and gazing up at the sky. “You gain sustenance from fucking, and you were hungry today. So you were fantasizing about a forbidden snack, is that it?”
She shrugged and smiled, pleased that he seemed to grasp her needs so easily. “More or less. I don’t need to fuck to gain sustenance from it, either. You have seen as much.”
A slow smile spread across his face and he shifted in his seat. His aura brightened, obviously responding to the memory of having his cock shoved down her throat the first night they’d been together. “But don’t your… pets… miss you? Who is seeing to their needs while you’re preoccupied? I would feel terrible if I knew I were depriving them of their queen without good cause. How long has it been?”
The earlier guilt returned and she frowned. “They are well-trained and do just fine when left to their own devices. But I should see them soon. What I’ve given you, they will need soon too. They become unruly when I’m gone so long.”
His eyebrows raised. “What you’ve given me? Do you mean that rush of… something… that leaves me feeling like the most powerful man in the world? That I could conquer the world, if you ordered me to? The power that makes me feel exactly like the god you would have me be in
your presence? Why do your lowly pets need something like that?”
“I don’t offer it to them often. But just as small, infrequent doses of herbal remedies can improve their health, so does my gift. If I gave them too much of it, then they would expect to be the ones sharing my bed every night.” She felt her cheeks warm after the confession and its implication. Nikhil’s smug look would have been irritating if it weren’t for the flash of eagerness that he quickly hid.
Instead he looked away, lips pursed and brow drawn together as he considered some deep thought. She couldn’t read his precise thoughts without feeding him her breath, but she still sensed a deepening excitement over whatever new idea he’d come up with. He didn’t seem inclined to share. Turning back to her, he gestured.
“Stand and remove the rest of your clothes.” He spoke evenly, his deep voice enveloping her with a caress as soft yet as commanding as the wind urging her to stretch her wings and glide on its currents. Just as effortlessly, she stood and stripped.
“Go to the doorway and raise your arms and spread your legs.”
Belah suppressed a smile at that command. He was going to bind her in the same spot as she’d bound him that first night. She went placidly and did as she was told.
He stood and came to her then, his body flexing with a cat’s grace as he walked. His pale shirt fell open to reveal his strong, bronze chest. When he reached her, he stood so close she could feel the pulsing of his aura against her skin and his warm breath in her ear. He gazed into her eyes while he slid his hands up one arm and secured her wrist to the binding at the top. Each limb was bound the same way, with his hands a slow caress over her skin until the silken ropes were tightened just enough that she couldn’t escape.
