by Nick Freo
“They could also gain entrance through my balcony, should they be apt climbers or have some means of flight,” I pointed out. “A trap there would be fitting. I should rather like to wake up one morning and walk outside to find a dead invader or two waiting to greet me.”
Lust laughed and tossed her hair. “You are a wicked one, my lord. I can set that up for you. I’m pretty sure Cyborg can get me everything we need.”
“Let us not stop at a few simple traps,” I said. “I have thought long on the defenses possessed by the nuclear power plant. I should like to see us outfitted with some of their measures, as well as the spying glass for the front door. The security camera. If anyone comes or goes, I wish to know about it. If anyone even tries to come or go, I wish to know about it. Is that too much to ask?”
“Not at all, my lord.” Lust gave a slight bow. “It will be my pleasure to make the arrangements. Cyborg will still be my first stop. He won’t have everything we need, but he’ll have the best connections for getting the products he lacks.”
“Perhaps he could arrange for us to have some more guns, and ammunition as well,” I mused, pulling the empty Desert Eagle from the back of my belt and setting it on the dresser. “I believe they are worthy of further investigation as a form of combat. And I should learn more about those damnable bullet priests as well.”
“Why don’t we ask our armless accomplice for more guns?” Lust pointed out. “He seemed to have almost limitless resources, and I’m sure he’d be ah... happy to help in any way he can.”
“The demon Krish?” I said, glancing upwards in thought. “Yes, he did command an impressive arsenal.” I felt a warming sensation wash through me as I gazed at the former vampire, now the second of my Viceguard. My Lust. “Very well. Your task shall be to fetch guns and ammunition from the demon, then to place an order with Cyborg for all that we require. Tell him the price is no object, but we require all materials at speed. But first... it is time.”
She cocked her head to one side, looking at me quizzically. “Time for what, my lord?”
I enjoyed the way she said that. The title still sounded new and strange on her tongue, and thinking of her pink little tongue sent my mind further down the path I had begun to wander. I unbuckled my breastplate with a groan and handed it to Pride, who wore a large, knowing smile.
“Time to complete the Viceguard ritual,” I said as I removed my bracers and passed them to Pride as well. “Come, Lust. Help your lord disrobe.”
She seemed shocked at first, almost stunned into stillness. But Pride took her pale hand and guided it to my side, and once she touched me, she found the means to move again. She dropped to her knees and unbuckled my cuirass and greaves, leaving them in a haphazard pile on the floor in her haste. Pride chuckled and collected all of my armor as it came off, stacking it neatly in the corner before sitting down on a chair to watch.
Lust looked exactly like I wanted, her petite face framed by dark hair as she looked up from where she knelt on the floor. After she finished with my greaves, she slid her hands up and down my shins a few times, before realizing my boots were still on. She held them still while I stepped out of them, then arranged them neatly by the foot of the bed.
“Would my lord care to catch me undressed?” she asked demurely as her hands roved up my thighs.
“Stay where you are,” I replied, “but take off your shirt.”
She kept looking up at me, wide-eyed, as she slid the dark garment up and over her head. It mussed her hair and left her looking like she had just woken up in the morning. She did not wear or need a brassiere; her small pert breasts stood taut on their own, nipples stiffly at attention. I reached out with both hands, cupping her head and sliding two fingers between her lips. She swirled her tongue around and between them, tempting and tantalizing me. Once they were moistened, I retracted my fingers and reached down to smear saliva over one rigid nipple. She quivered and gasped when I kneaded it. I performed the same ministrations on her other breast and then cupped her chin in my hand.
“I can see you begging with your eyes,” I said, “but I want to hear you do it with your words.”
“Please my lord,” she said obediently. “I want you so badly. I... don’t know where I belong anymore, unless I belong to you. Make me yours.” Her hands quested for my belt but I caught her wrists and pulled her to her feet. I spun her around and threw her across the bed, pinning her down forcefully. With my chest pressed against her bare back, I tore open her belt and yanked her pants off, drawing an excited squeak from her throat. My right hand clenched a fistful of her hair while my left darted between her legs and spread the lips of her womanhood.
“How long have you wanted this?” I demanded, my voice strong in her ear. She practically purred her response.
“Since I first saw you, my lord. I didn’t need to show myself off to you. I could have just beckoned. But even then, I secretly wanted you to take me.”
I struck her bare ass hard, then climbed off the bed and lifted the hem of my shirt.
“Arch your back,” I commanded. By the time I had lifted the garment over my head, she had positioned herself perfectly, ass framed by her slender hips and held open invitingly. I let a feeling of controlled relaxation wash over me as I unbuckled my belt and slid my pants off. I climbed back onto the bed, behind her and between her legs, and pressed my bare body up against hers.
“Mmm,” she murmured. “My lord... let me feel you inside of me. Take me, my lord...”
I was as hard as an oak, ready to push between her glistening lips and enjoy her until I was spent. But I liked making her wait. I wanted her to know in her soul that she would do anything for me. She was quaking, trembling beneath my touch, barely able to support herself on her hands and knees.
“You desire me?” I whispered, and then wrapped a hand around her throat. “Tell me!”
“Oh, I want you badly,” she groaned. “Take me, take me. I don’t know who I am without you, my lord. I don’t know what I’m do—“
She gasped as I thrust my hips forward and slid my rigid cock halfway into her soaking cunt. The warm, wet walls ushered me further in, but I held back, forcing her to grind her hips backward to take me all the way. She groaned and planted her face in the blankets, hips bucking slightly as she eased forward and back along my length.
“How does it feel?” I asked her, then slapped her rear hard enough to leave a palm print when she did not respond. “I asked you a question, Lust. How does it feel to take your lord for the first time?”
“So good,” she gasped, flicking her hair back as she looked over her shoulder at me. “You fill me up perfectly, just the way I want it. Just the way I need it. Fuck me harder, my lord. Take whatever you please from my body. Just let me be your pleasure. Your toy. Your Lust.”
I ground my hips forward, rubbing my pelvis against her luscious cheeks as I buried myself inside of her. I licked her from shoulder to ear, then bit the soft skin of her neck. I used her, slowly at first, but building to all the force and speed she could desire. She moaned and pressed back against me at first, timing my thrusts for maximum penetration, but before long the power of my hips forced her flat against the mattress. She yielded to me like a yew in a windstorm, taking all that I could offer and savoring every moment of it. Her hands curled and uncurled, gripping handfuls of the blankets until she had almost pulled the sheet from the mattress.
I glanced across the room at Pride, who was watching in serene satisfaction, one hand draped idly between her open legs. She cocked an eyebrow when she saw me looking, wondering if it was an invitation, but I shook my head. Not this time, first of my Viceguard, I thought. I prefer to complete the ritual alone.
I pulled out of Lust and flipped her over and spun her like a top, so she ended up lying on her back with her head pointed toward me. I loomed over her, my dripping cock inches from her face.
“Well?” I asked. “Are you going to clean your juices off of me?”
“Is that part of my
duties as a Viceguard?” she inquired smoothly.
“It is now,” I replied, “and your ass will be reddened much worse if your duties go unfulfilled.”
She appeared to be considering the proposition with some interest, but then shrugged, an odd action while lying down, and opened her mouth. Her pale pink tongue made contact with my wet tip. Then she engulfed the head and swallowed half of my length as easily as drawing a breath.
I inhaled sharply at the sudden pleasurable pressure. Her tongue and lips were so articulate, so exquisite. They found all the most sensitive spots and caressed them lovingly, longingly. I could see from Lust’s eyes that she was enjoying herself. She liked the taste of my flavor mingled with her own, but she wanted me back inside her. She wanted me to use her until I came to my fall, and I would give that to her. Just not yet.
“Use your hands now,” I commanded, and she began working my shaft with both of her tiny hands while lapping at me below with her dainty tongue. I groaned and moved my hips in time with her ministrations, giving over entirely to the feeling. I would not let her finish me, not like this and not yet. But I could let her goad me closer, letting her pleasure me as well as she could.
When I could take it no longer, I seized her around the waist and flipped her over again, drawing a startled squeak from her lips. I pressed her into the mattress, taking her from behind once more like a lion with its mate. She growled and thrashed in the throes of pleasure, pushing back against me. I wrapped my arms around her and clutched her petite breasts, enjoying their soft suppleness and the way their stimulation made her moan.
“Oh, my lord,” she gasped as a new wave of ecstasy all but overwhelmed her. “I can’t wait... I need to... please, may I come?” I kept thrusting in and out of her without responding, turning her moans into whimpers.
“Have you earned the right?” I asked at last, the question a mere whisper from my lips to her ears. She was either too breathless or too afraid to answer, so I gathered her hair and made her arch her back. I slammed myself deep inside of her again to the screeching cries of Lust’s pleasure.
Chapter 23
Where in the hell did this damn door come from?
I stood amidst the wreckage of the Pridehold, staring at the seal of a serpent swallowing its own tail. Sweat flecked my neck and clung to my clothing. I had attempted to open the strange portal again, straining against it with all of my strength. Just as my energy had flagged, it moved a fraction of an inch, a barely perceptible shift. Or was it my imagination?
I turned and moved across the chamber to the one corner that had remained mostly untouched by the hard-fought battle. There was a gold enameled standing mirror there, and I examined my reflection in it, enjoying as always the way the Pridehelm looked upon my head. I sighed. I was not looking forward to what would come next, but it was necessary. This was my domain, after all, and I wanted to keep it proper.
I found a broom and dustpan among the mess and set to sweeping up the smaller bits of glass, stone, and wood that littered the floor, dumping the loaded dustpan at odd intervals into an ornate waste bin I had taken off some former king or other. I set my jaw and continued cleaning as I remembered that I was a sort of former king myself.
After clearing the worst of the small debris I set to stacking the larger pieces. Several benches had been fully destroyed, and large bites had been taken from the masonry of the pillars and walls. Miraculously, most of the stained glass windows had survived, though a breeze did filter in where one had been blown out by a hail of bullets. I took the time to board it up, using carpentry skills I had almost forgotten I possessed, and then finished tidying the space as best I could. At some point, I would need to cart the broken remnants away and make more repairs. Then my Viceguard and I would begin rebuilding my store of wealth and beauty. All the riches taken from the vampire king still remained, but my formerly wondrous little fortress now looked bruised and battered.
I had left the largest item for last—the screen that I had toppled toward the bullet priest in order to distract him. When I stood it up, I saw a sea of dust and broken glass hiding beneath, so I fetched the broom and pan again. As I dumped the trash into the bin, I realized that much of what I had swept up were the bullets and buckshot conjured by the bullet priest. They were much smaller than they seemed when they were speeding towards my face. I pocketed one of the bullets for safekeeping and dumped the rest.
I took a slow walk through the space, enjoying what luxury remained to me and recalling the battle with the priest. He had been a worthy opponent, and not only because of his arcane abilities. He had been well trained in some modern brand of martial combat. It had roots in the fighting systems I knew, but his style had been different, a little flashier and showier in some cases, while a little more rudimentary and direct in others. So these people had not done everything wrong, even if the average human seemed as helpless as a small child with no legs. Still, my victory should have been swifter. My strength was not full, my mind and senses dulled. The effects of my long slumber lingered.
My path had carried me back to the weapon rack, where I had replaced the greatsword the priest had attempted to use against me. I reached out and touched its pommel, ready for a brief bout of training. But Lust’s voice hailed me from the world I had once conquered.
My lord. I liked the sound of her voice, whether spoken or in my mind. I have news that you should hear directly from my lips. And sooner would be better than later. Not to rush you. I know that you and Pride are in your... special place. The fact that she had never visited the Pridehold except in the form of the Lustblade did not elude my new Viceguard. Even though she was no longer truly a vampire, that ever present hunger still blazed in her eyes, and not just for blood.
I closed my eyes and stepped out of the Pridehold, reappearing in my chambers in the cathedral. Lust was lying on the bed like a lioness on a sunny rock. She grinned and cracked her neck when she saw me, spinning around to sit up on the edge of the mattress.
“My lord,” she said, bobbing her head neatly. She had changed significantly since we had first met, and not only because of her transformation from vampire to Viceguard. Rather than the short skirt and tattered top she had previously preferred, she now wore pressed pants and a neat blouse in the same dark tones. She had allowed her hair to grow out even more and no longer arranged it in such a way that it fell in her eyes, at least not quite as often.
“Lust,” I said as I sent my other Viceguard back to her true form. “What is so important it could not be communicated to me in the Pridehold?”
Pride took shape, still every inch the former warrior queen with her golden braid and strong, slender physique. She crossed her arms and tilted her hip, adopting a stance that she seemed to have learned from Lust. Was she upset at having our time alone together interrupted?
Lust got to her feet and moved toward us with a swagger in her step. “If I told you, I’m afraid you might not believe me. It would be easier to show you. Are you up for a little field trip?”
Pride and I exchanged a confused glance, and Lust threw up her hands.
“I mean, will you take a walk with me? It’s not far, and honestly, this is worth seeing. And you really probably wouldn’t believe me, anyway.”
“Very well,” I said. “We will travel lightly, by foot, under Pride’s illusion to make us unrecognizable. Meet me at the front doors as soon as you are ready.”
We met at the front of the cathedral and slipped out into the night, setting a trap as we left so that anyone who attempted to cross the threshold would be met with a face full of buckshot. Cyborg had been more than happy with his payment and had assisted Lust in arming and outfitting our base of operations. With the trap on the front door established, there was no longer any safe way into the building. Even roof access had been blockaded by a pressure plate triggered trap, although Lust had assured me that an attack from the sky would be unlikely.
We walked down the long flights of stone steps, along the sidewalk
, and through pools of electric lamplight, following Lust’s lead. She took us toward the more disheveled part of the city, where a higher percentage of the buildings were abandoned and, in places, ruined. It felt like an appropriate neighborhood to visit by night. By the light of day it would look dirty and broken down, but beneath darkness it had a certain mystique. Lust led us to what appeared to have once been a small schoolhouse. According to the sign out front it was for sale, but the windows and doors were boarded up.
Upon closer inspection it turned out that the doors did, in fact, have boards nailed over them, but they were not sealed or even locked in any way. Lust held the door for us while Pride and I strode inside.
The initial hallway was made of darkened concrete, with murals painted on the wall depicting scenes of peace and love. I recognized a rendering of a sporting game in one large portrait, but as with the children I had seen playing in the street, I could not discern the purpose of the event. The people of this world seemed to love these games. Despite such pastimes, they had found other ways to advance and hold the dominant position on their world. My world. This damned world.
We followed the winding corridor until it led to a wide right-hand turn, which was guarded by two burly male vampires. They carried CAR-15s and items that I recognized as talking devices similar to Lust’s phone. Radios. They looked like they could have made trouble for most others, but they stepped out of our way as soon as they saw Lust, bowing their heads deferentially. I raised my eyebrows at Pride, who returned the expression. We were both impressed.
The turnoff led to a large set of double doors, which opened into a sprawling gymnasium. It was clearly designed for childish sports but had been outfitted as a vampiric den and warrior training ground. There was a section of hardwood floor covered by thin mats where a group was working at ground fighting, and another area where more would-be warriors practiced with weapons. There was even a small firing range equipped with guns and ammunition, but no one was using it at the moment. Lust led us toward a broad stage at the far end of the massive chamber, climbing the stairs that led to an elegant throne-like chair. It had been decorated with sheer black drapes to match Lust’s tastes, so I was not surprised at all when she sat down in it.
