She did exactly as he instructed but his mind was set on the worst punishment he could imagine. He dropped his pants and stroked himself until he was hard. With no lube and no preparation he forced himself into her ass. The feeling of her tearing and the blood welling inside made him feel good until he realized the bitch was enjoying it. That was taking much of the joy out of the punishment. She was panting and moaning.
“Spank me,” she ordered. Who the hell did she think she was? This was done by his rules not hers and it was supposed to be a fucking punishment.
“Hell, no,” he replied. He slammed in to her a few times until he climaxed and he didn’t give a shit that she hadn’t cum. This wasn’t a treat, it was a lesson. He went to the bowl of water and washed himself off while she sat in the chair trying to please herself.
This was probably the first time he had felt less than satisfied with Jezbel. He dressed, he had plans to make and people to see. Calling a few of his guards to him, he was ready to go to the nearest bar. It was a dilapidated place that drew in the scum of the area and that’s exactly who he wanted to see. He’d been careful to dress well, but not in his usual finery. Hoping he’d pass for a messenger and not the lord he was. His guards were well versed in the type of mercenary he preferred and they brought one to him in no time. The man’s muscles were well defined, but he suspected he didn’t exercise his brain much.
“My name is Lazli and your man here says ya might have some work for me?” the man spoke with an odd accent that Knorris couldn’t quite place.
He examined him noting he wasn’t as dirty as the average customer in this rat hole. His clothes weren’t fresh but they weren’t filthy either and his boots showed only a little wear. His hair was a dirty blond and worn well past his shoulders, not a common thing around here. A foreign mercenary was even better for him. The man looked him in the eyes, something he didn’t like. If he was being himself he would have him whipped for the affront, but he was here as a servant not a lord. The ice blue eyes were sharper than he expected and seemed not to miss a thing.
“I might if you’ve a talent for making problems go away,” he whispered.
“It wouldn’t be the first time nor will it be the last that I’ve helped someone in such a way,” he admitted. “Is the pay good?”
“It’s better than most jobs will get you,” he offered.
“The target?” he asked.
“The local lord has a guest going on a trip in the morning. You’ll have to watch to see when he leaves. There’ll be a group but the leader will be obvious. You’ll need to follow close, but not so close that you’ll be seen. Don’t take him out until they get where they’re going. An arrow from a distance would be best. I’ll give you a small pouch of gold now. A larger one when it’s done. A man will meet you here to pay you.”
“It sounds like a sweet job. I’m in need of the pay so I’ll take it,” Lasli said.
Knorris tossed him the small pouch. It’s a gamble whether or not he’ll do the job or just take the pouch and run. He has no choice but to take the gamble and hope for the best. He gathered his men and they leave looking for the next den of iniquity so he can find another man willing to do the same.
This place is even worse than the first. It has a stench that hovers over it and turns even Knorris’ stomach. The table they sit at is filthy with the day’s leavings and no one seems in a hurry to clean a thing. Most of the customers smell as bad as the dive they’re in. Their clothes is filthy and the smell of unwashed bodies wafts over to him as people walk by. It’s a sad existence most of these people live, but it’s all they have. He hears his name cursed as the men discuss their inability to provide for their families. Maybe if they’d stay out of the bars they’d do better.
His guards drag a man over and throw him down into the seat opposite Knorris. The guy looks like he is suffering from some disease. He’s not the healthy well-muscled mercenary the other man was but he was desperate and it showed in his eyes. This man would do just fine. Staring at the emaciated man, Knorris waited until he spoke.
“I-I am not-t sure what you need, but I need the money so I’ll do it,” he stuttered.
Knorris felt powerful whenever he could reduce someone to a nervous mess. His lips curved into a cold, cruel smile. “You know where the army of the East is housed?” Knorris asked.
The man just nodded probably not trusting himself to speak without the stutter. “Do you know who the general is?” Again he nodded. “I need you to shoot an arrow at him. Don’t worry, I don’t want you to kill him. It’s funny really because I’m a friend of his and I’ve tried to get him to be more careful and I want someone to pretend that they want to kill him so he’ll be more careful. Just shoot about five feet away and get out of there. You’re doing us all a favor to get him to be more cautiousl. Just wait until he settles in wherever he’s going then do it right away and run. Make sure you don’t get caught or it won’t be any good. I’ve got half a small pouch of gold now and half after you complete the task.”
The man looked at him with his mouth open and closing like a damn fish out of water. It was almost funny the way he looked, except it made Knorris wonder if the man was daft. Knorris asked slowly, “Do you understand?”
“Yes, it just seems odd. I can do it though, no problem,” he said and he held out his hand for the bag which Knorris tossed to him. Knorris looked at him knowingly. The man believed his stupid story because he wanted to. He needed the money and he wanted to believe he’d cause no one any harm. He probably told himself the upper classes were just so different that people like him didn’t understand them.
He had someone to attack the king and someone to pretend they were attacking Jorge. If either of them did what he was paying them to do, his plan would move forward even if they missed. The king would see that someone knew that the talks were taking place and he would suspect the general of telling someone while Jorge would believe it was the king. Confusion would reign and chaos would follow. Peace would be the victim. Knorris loved it when a plan came together. Now he could leave this nasty sty and go back home to his clean room and his ungrateful mistress.
He motioned to his men and all of them seemed more than happy to be leaving the rank and dirty bar. Knorris felt satisfied with the arrangements he’d made and hopeful that he would be moving even closer to his goal. The king needed to go because once he was gone, the others would be defenseless. Fucking with Jorge, that was just icing on the cake. Once he was king, he would deal with Jorge and then he would take the witch back just to punish her. Roxen was just one more disappointment in a life where others had often disappointed him. He was adding Jezbel to the list although she might learn from her mistakes and redeem herself.
They walked to the other side of town and passed by the bar they’d gone to first. It wasn’t far now to his home and he’d slip in carefully because he preferred that no one besides his guard would know that he’d left. It wasn’t like he couldn’t come up with a good lie of they were caught, but it was just best if they weren’t. They entered the side door then walked through the kitchen. It was empty this time of night and the hall was empty
He made it to his room and Jezbel was waiting on his bed naked. Walking to the bed, he dropped his pants and her hand snaked out to grab his cock. She knew just what she was doing and he was tempted to forgive her. Leaning forward, her tongue slid out and rolled around the head of his cock. Her hands grabbed his balls and massaged them while her mouth covered his cockhead and she slid down all the way. It was hard to stay angry at her when she did things like this for him. Sliding his hands in her hair, he took over by slamming his cock in and out of her mouth.
She didn’t seem to mind and he knew she could handle anything he dished out. He could feel his balls drawing up and his back tingling. He felt her throat closing around him as she swallowed and he knew he was about to dump his load.
“Aw, fuck, Jezbel!” he yelled as he pumped into her mouth until there was nothing left to give. He�
�d forgive her this time since she’d given him such a wonderful finish to what had turned out to be a good day after all.
Chapter Four
Love hurts
Jorge was pacing around the room wondering when the needed items for Roxen would come. Adame was a good procurer but they would leave in the morning and nothing was here yet. Waiting until the last minute for supplies didn’t sit well with him. It was important for the negotiations that everything seemed as it should be. Roxen needed to look the part of his woman, which she was, sort of. The general found himself wishing for more from a woman for the first time in his life.
They had developed an intimate, if limited, relationship. It was his wish to remove those limitations, but he feared her response. That was another first since he normally could care less about a woman’s feelings. He was so screwed and he knew it. The intimacy they had shared had meant more to him than any he had had with other women. The more time he spent with her, the more he felt she was the only one for him.
“There’s no need to pace. Adame will bring the needed items as soon as they arrive,” Roxen assured.
He knew that was true but he was just so nervous. “I’m sure he will but I feel like a caged beast right now,” he admitted.
“It’s no surprise with all the pressure of the talks resting on your shoulders at this point.”
It was true that he felt the burden of the responsibility to get things going, but it was a weight he would soon be able to pass to his brother. His task was to determine if they were genuine in their desire to come to an agreement and find out what their terms might be. The negotiations would move up to the next level of authority and approval would rest with the final level, the emperor. He’d never been envious of the positions of his brother or his cousin and now he was downright relieved not to be in their place.
Just the worry of getting things started was weighing on him and causing uncharacteristic behavior that he didn’t like. Some of it might be attributed to his new found relationship but it was the combination of both that were killing him. The relief once this was done would be undeniable. If things would just fall into place, a few days of meetings and his part would be complete.
“I can handle it, my sweet. Your presence will make everything so much easier,” he said. It was the truth too even if she thought he was just flattering her. She eased his mind and pleasured his body. They hadn’t been together long, but already he was finding it hard to do without her.
Jorge was thrilled a short while later when there was a knock at the door. “Enter.”
It was Adame and a couple young boys carrying the needed items. Adame carried a bunch of dresses. The one on top was white and there were no straps to hold it up. It had a slit in the front and a generous amount of material in the skirt. Jorge worried how it would stay up but Adame assured him the tailor was the best in the area. The next dress was purple and would cover her body better. Jorge found he liked the idea of less of her delicious body on display around other men.
“Thank you, Adame. I can always count on you,” Jorge said.
“I can tell you were sweating it. I’ll admit I was worried too,” Adame explained.
Opening the door, he turned to give them a look that seemed to see far too much. He knew the general better than anyone and he was perceptive. Jorge thought his friend knew what was blossoming between him and his witch. Adame left closing the door behind him.
There were several dresses and he would let Roxen put her things up and decide what she would wear. He planned to leave to give her time to go through the purchases and to put them away.
“Come here,” he growled and surprisingly she moved to him. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. “I will go so that you can go through Adame’s purchases but when I come back, I will want to enjoy you.” She blushed beguilingly and he forced himself to go before he bent her over and just took her in the way he had promised he wouldn’t.
He headed to his office where he would make last minute plans but only he and Adame would know exactly what was happening tomorrow morning and where it would occur. That was one man he trusted with his life, Adame would never let him down. It was to be hoped that the king knew who he could trust and who not to. A sigh broke out of him as he contemplated the situation with Knorris. It was a lose, lose scenario.
He could tell the king that his brother-in-law was an evil, soulless bastard; he was certain he wouldn’t believe it and he might even refuse to go forward with the peace talks. The other choice, the one he would probably continue with, was to ignore Knorris and not even mention him at all. The consequences of that might be that the king would confide in him and they’d all die except the witch who Knorris probably still wanted back. Another possibility was that Knorris would try to undercut the general and tell the king lies to diminish him in the king’s estimation.
It was something Knorris may have already done and if so, there was nothing to be done about it now. Thinking about all these things that could go wrong was enough to give a man a headache. It wasn’t as if he could change anything at this late point. He would just have to make decisions as the circumstances changed. Right now he would get together with the six men that would be coming along as guards.
Appleton and Baker, two of the six guards, were already waiting for him. Both soldiers had outstanding service records and they were the first two that he had chosen partly because they had requested being added to the team. He sat down and invited them to sit across from him. He asked questions about their families and why they had enlisted while they waited for the others to join them. Carpenter, Mason, and Hill entered next and Blade was last but he was still on time. He had researched to find out everything about all of them.
His private guard had been upset that he had chosen strangers to go with him but they had been slightly mollified when he explained that he needed his best men to patrol a special area where something of great importance was about to happen. He was tempted to just tell them everything, but he had given the king his word and his word meant something. His guards had been patrolling that area for two days now looking for any suspicious activity and getting to know the locals as customers rather than soldiers. In some ways it was like a vacation. Adame had given each of them spending money and they took turns dining, drinking, visiting the local whore house, and all the time listening for gossip or information of any kind.
The men around him had been meeting with him for the last two mornings going over various scenarios and guidelines. Tomorrow, it would be for real, but they had no way to know that. “Anyone have any questions about something we’ve not covered?” he asked.
“I don’t mean to be thickheaded, but is this thing going to happen any time soon?” Appleton asked.
“It will happen sooner or later,” Jorge teased and Appleton moaned.
These men were soldiers and their skills had been forged on the bloody battlefield. They had the most difficult time with inaction, and that was what they were doing now. Their patience was tested, but they were damn good soldier and they wouldn't fail the test. His heart swelled with pride when he thought of his army. With the exception of a few officers with bought commissions that had no brains, ability, or sense of loyalty, he had an amazing army full of the best men on the planet.
“Okay, all joking aside, what are your questions?” Jorge asked.
“Will we be interacting with the king’s security?” Baker asked.
“That’s actually an important question. You need to cooperate with his men unless it all goes to hell in which case two of you will escort the witch back here and the rest will remain with me to hunt down whoever caused the trouble. If it’s an attack and run, two of you will follow the assailant and bring him back preferably alive,” he instructed.
They finished their meeting hours later and he was excited when he could return to his witch. He walked down the hall his stride full of purpose. Need streamed through him and his energy was high. Smiling, he stopped in fr
ont of the door to the room they shared. There were few places she could go so he just knew she’d be there waiting for him and he had plans for her.
He turned the handle and pushed the door open. There she was, sleeping soundly. Should he wake her or should he let her get some rest? Those were the only two choices and he was torn. Tomorrow would be a big day for her. She would meet a foreign king and queen, she would be outside for the first time in a long time, and she would be in a situation that might become dangerous. On the other hand, he could bring her pleasure, relax her, and prevent her from waking up hours before they were ready to leave which would leave her bored until the time they headed out.
The second choice would also give him a great deal of pleasure which was also a consideration. So maybe the choice was really was there any way he could resist waking her? His hot gaze ran over his woman, no he might as well just give in now. He moved closer, grabbing her shoulder to shake her lightly. She sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes and smiling once she realized it was him. He would be happy to have her greet him this way every day for the rest of his life.
He leaned in and the smell of ripe woman hit him hard. Maybe it was because she moved the blanket that had trapped her heat and that allowed it to escape along with her scent. It didn’t matter why because the immediate result was a painful hard on that insisted on relief now. He leaned in and kissed her, biting her lower lip as he pulled back. Her cheeks pinked and her eyes were shiny. Dare he hope she was as ready as he was? The blanket no longer covered her and she wore little more than a long thin shirt. He’d bet there was nothing under it.
His hand skimmed under the blanket and down her side. It reached her thigh and he moved it under the shirt to find he was correct. The shirt was all she wore. That was little to interfere with what he had in mind. He stepped back and began to methodically strip bare. He saw her eyes were following every move he made and he like it. She wasn’t as shy as she’d been and while he missed aspects of her slowly disappearing innocence, he loved the strong confident woman who was emerging.
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 233
