“No!” Daagiis shrieked.
Raven turned and was knocked flat by his shambling rush. The Paatiin had shifted into a female version of himself, apparently mitigating most, though not all, of the pain she’d dealt him.
Daagiis fell on Raven, managing to pin her to the floor. His/her furious face hovered over hers. Caught in the paroxysm of terrible anger, he shifted back and forth, now male, now female, now something in between.
Spittle showered Raven’s face as he screamed, “Do you know how nearly impossible it is to get that amount of antidote?”
Raven knew Daagiis could easily tear her throat out right now and that he was possibly mad enough to do just that. Strangely enough, she felt only calm as she tried to reason with the livid face-changer. “You knew I would protect him. Don’t pretend you didn’t. Besides, if you really wanted to put Vendeen on his knees, you would have ordered my tag to freeze me.”
Daagiis’ anger held for a few seconds more before agony chased it away from his expression. He sagged over her, his shaking body covering hers. Raven felt sympathy wash through her at her beloved’s plight.
His grip on her loosened, she was able to wrap her arms around him and stroke his hair. “We’re in the same boat, remember? I know it’s not easy being his. At least you are only enslaved to him. I’ve got you both, and you’re no picnic either.”
Daagiis said nothing. He simply lay on top of her, trembling from too much emotion.
Raven to comfort him as best she could. “In the end, you love him too much to destroy what makes him Vendeen. You should realize something else, Daagiis; in the ability to put love over freedom, you are the stronger one.”
He stopped shaking. Moving slowly, as if he wore the weight of the universe, he propped himself up on his elbows and stared down at her.
He’d turned all male once more, again her Daagiis as she’d first seen him back on Earth. Even anguished as he was, he was still the handsomest man Raven had ever looked upon.
Daagiis swallowed. “When I was master, Vendeen fought me with everything he had. Since our roles reversed, I have often found the pleasure he could not in serving.”
“I feel that as well. Making the two of you happy gives me a feeling of wholeness.” Raven admitted it without hesitation.
Daagiis shook his head. “Most see it as a weakness. That is why it means death on Paatuun. My people cannot countenance being known as less than the most fierce sentients in the universe.”
“Saazeer didn’t see it as such. Why else would he have let us leave?”
The face-changer seemed startled for an instant. Slowly he said, “There is that. Everyone knows a love who has been turned away usually becomes one’s bitterest enemy. Saazeer should have wanted me dead.”
Raven smiled up at him. “I’ll make a deal with you. When Vendeen is fully recovered and you can fight on equal terms, I won’t stand in the way. If you win, fine. But I witnessed your promise for this mission, Daagiis. For now I insist you remain his.”
He looked at the broken glass on the floor nearby, its contents in a puddle on the floor. “You’ve left me no choice on that account.”
“Is it really so terrible when you love him?”
Daagiis glared at her through narrowed eyes. “Almost as terrible as it would be for him to concede were our situation reversed. You are right though; I can live with as things stand for now.” His expression suddenly eased, and he looked at her with an adoration that shook Raven to the core. “Ah, my poor darling. I can only imagine how hard things will be for you, to watch the two you love and who love you battling for supremacy all their lives.”
Raven grimaced. “You always have me to boss around. Maybe that can soothe your dominant needs.”
His grin was pure threat, making her insides squirm. “For now, at least. You may rise and strip.”
Daagiis stood in one smooth motion, letting her up. She scrambled to her feet and began peeling her camosuit off.
As she did so, Daagiis cleaned up the remains of the bottle, wiping away his chance at freedom and discarding it into the waste bin. Raven waited naked as he finished up, shivering in the coolness of the ship.
Sighing, she said, “Let me guess. I’m about to be punished for destroying your antidote?”
He smirked. “And you are fine with that?”
“You’re in charge.”
Daagiis looked at her for a few moments. Instead of going steely with the threat Raven expected, he shook his head and smiled. “If the circumstances were different, I would punish you. However, you are already injured. More importantly, you saved Vendeen. That cancels out a beating this time. Come over here and let me treat you.”
Scarcely believing he would let her off so easily, Raven approached him cautiously. However, Daagiis was true to his word: he cleansed her wounds and dressed the worst of them. Then he made her lay down next to Vendeen. He tucked the pair of them in.
“Sleep, my darling,” he whispered. “Sleep knowing you and he are more precious to me than freedom.”
“I love you, Daagiis,” Raven said.
The face-changer smiled. “For now, that keeps me content. I love you too, Raven. It’s not a nice love, but it’s real.”
Raven traced his jaw. “That’s okay. The love I feel isn’t made up of cupids and valentines either.”
No, there was nothing pretty about their love for each other and Vendeen. It was a wild, ravening beast, fierce and painful in its intensity and demonstration. That was all right though. For them, it was perfect. It felt stronger than anything she’d shared with anyone. It made her feel alive. Somehow it even made her feel safe.
Because I know that just as I’d fight – have fought – for them, they would do the same for me. They would risk everything to make sure I’m okay.
The sudden realization brought tears to her eyes. They loved her as much as each other, with a fierceness she’d never imagined possible. Impossibly, she’d been abducted to another dimension and enslaved … and yet she had come home.
Chapter 22
They reached the mother ship without incident. Once there, Vendeen was taken straight to the sick bay where his wounds were treated. Raven’s shoulders were also patched and made good as new.
By the time the ship rendezvoused with the space station several days later, Vendeen had completely recovered. Right away he dove back into work, sitting on his bench in court two days after he had returned. As he presided over a cases involving robbery, assault, and murder, Daagiis and Raven flanked him, guarding against would-be attackers.
They’d been home for a week, getting back into the swing of things when Vendeen took a day off. That gave Raven and Daagiis time to sit in the shared office and review new protection protocols along with debating the situation as far as it related to Hanos.
The Corporation had put into place an interim chairman in Hanos’ place. The most foreboding news was their explanation: that Hanos was taking a sabbatical. There was no news of his death.
Mikroe had been in contact with them, letting them know what his undercover connections said. “Bodies were found in the rubble of Hanos’ stronghold, but none were identified as his. No one knows for certain if Hanos still lives or not, not even his business associates. For now the board members of the Corporation are cooling their heels, waiting to see if anyone gets word.”
Vendeen’s expression had betrayed nothing at this news, but his black eyes had gone fathomless. Raven had determined she would double her own vigilance, just in case Hanos thought they might become complacent in their confidence he had died.
Now would be the perfect time for him to strike. No one needed to tell her that.
Daagiis had other duties to perform after her meeting with him, so Raven went back to the living quarters the three shared. Vendeen sat comfortably in an armchair as she walked in. He looked up from the correspondence he reviewed and smiled at her. A delicious shiver rippled up her spine. He was so damned handsome when he did that.
&n
bsp; He said, “Hello, my dear protector.”
She nodded to him. “My master.”
Despite not having Hanos’ body to crow over, it felt good to be getting into a routine. Raven immediately pulled off her duty uniform. She was to be naked at home, ready to serve Vendeen and Daagiis at all times.
Vendeen put down his tablet and stretched his long legs with a contented yawn. “Your latest blood tests are back. You are irrevocably addicted to my pheromones.”
“Is that supposed to be bad news?” She grinned, perfectly happy to be his. To underscore the feeling, she knelt at Vendeen’s feet rather than taking the chair on the other side of the small table.
Vendeen stroked her curls. “It means we can remove the collar now. I don’t need it to keep you at my side anymore.”
Raven touched the collar at her throat. Take it off? She liked the familiar weight of it and the outward sign to all others that she belonged to Vendeen. His, his, all his … as well as being Daagiis’ darling.
She told the Gilothean, “You haven’t needed it to hold onto me for some time now. I’d prefer to keep wearing it, if that’s all right with you.”
Vendeen raised a brow at her. His voice soft, he asked, “Why?”
“For one thing, it would have helped me track you down when Hanos got to you. I don’t want to have to rely on others to find you again. For another … it’s your collar.”
Vendeen’s smile didn’t grow any bigger, but somehow she sensed how pleased he was with her answer. She glowed under his regard.
He said, “Practical and sentimental all at once. That’s you, my dear Raven. Though I lack mightily in the sentimental part myself, I need to ask; you do know I love you, don’t you?”
Raven laid her cheek on his thigh. “It means everything to hear you say it.”
His hand buried deep in her hair. She nearly moaned to be petted. She rubbed her face against his leg.
He said, “Very well, it is yours to keep. Not just accepting but asking for my collar will be taken into account when I punish you today.”
“Punish me?”
“For not telling me about Daagiis almost taking the antidote.”
Raven stopped rubbing. Her head came up and she stared at Vendeen in shock. “How did you know about that?”
Vendeen snorted. “Daagiis being near other Paatiin who kept Gilotheans as pets meant he would have every opportunity to turn the tables on me. A substantial supply of antidote was there for the taking. Of course Daagiis was going to make that attempt.”
Raven scowled. “So you not only put yourself in danger by going after Hanos, but by giving Daagiis the opportunity to enslave you. You’re the one who needs discipline, Vendeen.”
Vendeen snickered. “I had faith in you to keep them both from doing lasting harm.”
“So you knew all along that Daagiis would try to take us back to Paatuun despite his vow not to.”
“Promise or not, our relationship is not one based on much trust. We don’t play nice.”
Raven sighed. “So I’ve noted. So what is my punishment?”
Vendeen’s smile was pure evil. “You’ll find out after I’ve taken Daagiis’ treachery out on his hide. Which, by the way, you will assist me with.”
Raven didn’t have any time to think about the threat. Her heart sped up as the door opened and Daagiis walked into the room.
The face-changer stopped short as the door shut behind him. His golden eyes narrowed as he met their gazes.
“Now what?” he asked suspiciously.
Vendeen’s mocking half-smile appeared. “Strip.”
Daagiis opened his mouth, protest written on his face. It was gone in an instant, and his jaw snapped shut.
“I wondered what was taking you so long to get to it,” he said, his tone surprisingly mild. He yanked his shoes off before peeling off the armored one-piece uniform.
Vendeen folded his arms over his chest. “The agony of anticipation is almost as bad as the punishment itself.”
Daagiis nodded. He hung his clothing neatly in the closet. “You are a sadistic bastard. Your disciplines torment the mind as well as the body.”
“We know which hurts more.” Vendeen went to the table holding his correspondence and opened the drawer. He took something out and tossed it to Raven, who caught the object. She grimaced on Daagiis’ behalf when she realized it was a cockring.
Vendeen told her, “Masturbate him until he’s hard and put it on him.”
Raven approached Daagiis, wondering if he’d resist. He did not, going as far as to clasp his hands at the small of his back to show his compliance. She licked her palm and took his cock in her grip, sliding up and down. She enjoyed feeling the soft flesh growing rigid in her grasp.
Daagiis groaned as he engorged with pleasure. “Do I want to know how long I’ll be wearing that cockring?”
Vendeen came over to watch Raven work his flesh. “A couple of days.”
“Damn.”
Vendeen stroked his hair. “Don’t look so unhappy. Raven is going to enjoy herself to distraction with you.”
Raven licked her lips. She felt sorry for Daagiis, having to be aroused with no release for two days. However, she couldn’t deny she looked forward to using him. Knowing Vendeen, she’d get ample opportunity for selfish pleasure in the next two days.
Daagiis’ length was fevered and rigid from her teasing. Vendeen squirted lubricant on her palm for her to make him slick as well. She eased the cockring over the Paatiin’s prick, sliding it to the base. Daagiis groaned again.
He told Vendeen, “I don’t know how you expect me to do my job like this.”
Vendeen’s brow rose. “I expect you to do it well. Come over here.”
The Gilothean walked over to the draperies that lined the wall next to the bed. He pushed them aside. Raven gasped. Pillars like the ones she’d found Vendeen suspended from in Hanos’ house were revealed. Would he really place Daagiis in the same position he’d been tortured in only days before?
Apparently so. Vendeen pulled a whip from the beating instruments hanging on the wall beyond the pillars. With a sigh, Daagiis walked over and spread his arms and legs wide. As reconciled as the Paatiin seemed to his fate, Raven saw the minute trembling running through his body.
Vendeen smiled at him, as if they were doing nothing more unpleasant than having a conversation to pass the time. “We’ll start with your beating. I appreciate you assuming the position without being told, but don’t expect any mercy for doing so.”
“The possibility never crossed my mind.”
Vendeen punched some of the buttons on one pillar. Daagiis elevated a few inches, leaving him suspended in mid-air. Raven swallowed. It reminded her too much of how she’d discovered Vendeen, bloody and beaten until he could barely maintain consciousness. She didn’t know how she was supposed to stand Daagiis being treated with similar brutality.
Their master turned his fathomless black eyes on her. “Kneel before him, my dear. You will torture him with pleasure while I torture him with pain.”
Raven knew balking would only make her own punishment, when it came, that much worse. Still, her stomach churned too much to simply obey with a protest. “Vendeen—”
From his floating perch, Daagiis interrupted her. “Do it, Raven. I knew what the consequences were when I tried to convince you to turn against him.”
She blew out a breath. Vendeen loved Daagiis. He’d given himself a few days to get over the anger of the Paatiin’s attempt at mutiny. He’d waited to make sure his emotions were under complete control before meting out the expected punishment. Vendeen would hurt Daagiis, perhaps even make him scream, but he wouldn’t do lasting damage. This was simply an exercise to assume supremacy over the face-changer once more. To remind Daagiis who was firmly in charge, at least for now.
Raven nodded and stepped in front of Daagiis. She knelt down, finding his beautifully engorged cock was at the perfect level. With a sigh of contentment, she sheathed him with her mo
uth. He moaned in a mixture of agony and delight.
Vendeen sighed. “Good. I want you screaming not only under my lash but because you want to come and can’t.” He caressed Daagiis’ ass with the touch of the adoring lover. “I think twenty strikes should be adequate.”
Daagiis shuddered. His words came as he gasped, already breathless from Raven’s mouthings. “As you will.”
“Ten more lashes unless you say it properly,” Vendeen warned, his tone going steely.
“As you will, my master.”
Vendeen smiled and stepped back. The hand holding the whip raised.
Raven concentrated on Daagiis’ prick. As wrong as he’d been to try to convince her to hand over Vendeen to his control, she did not want to see the actual blows. She worked to deliver a different agony, one that might distract him from the pain even though it was every bit as cruel.
The whip whickered through the air, landing against Daagiis’ broad back, rounded ass, and muscular thighs in a thudding rhythm. He stiffened and cried out with every strike. Meanwhile, Raven stroked his cock with her tongue, sucking hard and taking him deep, delivering her own torment to the helpless Paatiin. His yelps were interspersed with sobbing moans as she gave him mounting pleasure he could not hope to relieve.
Raven thought of herself in his place, her pussy made to heat and throb with arousal that would not be allowed climax. She imagined it was her body held vulnerable to the blasts of pain being delivered by Vendeen. Incredibly, her pussy gushed and her belly heated at the thought of it. She experienced a surge of arousal when she realized that someday she probably would end up in that very position.
Probably? Make that definitely. Vendeen was no doubt waiting for the opportunity to punish her just like this with eagerness … an eagerness her body shared.
Raven decided she wasn’t going to try to dissect the urges that made no sense to her mind. She craved to surrender to Vendeen and Daagiis in all things because she was theirs. Perhaps that was all she needed to know. She belonged to them in every way, and it felt right.
Raven also realized that Daagiis was going to remember how much she tormented him right now, storing it up for when her turn came so he could pay her back in kind. She doubled her efforts. He screamed as much from denied climax as from Vendeen’s beating.
Ravenous Virtue Page 29
