by Raven Dark
I returned his smile. “Why is that?”
“Because, Petal, no one in the world is like you. You two can shoot the scholarly shit once we’re there, it’s time to go.” Steel pulled me to him as Doc walked back to his motorbike, laughing.
“I swear, you two are like a couple of old men.” Steel kissed my nose and squeezed my bottom. “You’re going to ride in with me. Once inside the estate, don’t leave my side. I don’t think all the other guests have arrived yet, but there will be a lot of people roaming around the grounds, and we don’t need any more headaches.”
My stomach dropped in dread, overwhelming me for a minute. “Are you sure the J’nai won’t be there? Or Talek’s old allies?”
My panic must have showed in my eyes, because Steel lifted my chin. “Hey, nothing’s going to happen here. You’re safe. We just need to make sure you’re with us at all times. Lord Falnar’s place is like a fucking city, it’s so big, and I for one want nothing but to enjoy myself while I’m here. So that means you stay close.”
I let out a deep breath, then offered him a sultry smile. “You want me at your beck and call, Master?”
Even though I teased him, I couldn’t help the rush of warmth that made its way to my center at the thought of doing just that, a pleasure slave, waiting and willing to service my masters.
Maker, what had they turned me into?
“Easy there, Petal. Don’t tease unless you plan on following through.” He growled low into in my ear and nipped my neck.
“Come one, you two,” Sheriff called from astride his bike.
“Yeah, yeah. We’re coming.” Steel gave me a wink, and we walked back to the road, over to his ride.
Since leaving the Grotto, my body had become accustomed to wearing leather, so sitting astride the back of Steel’s bike dolled up like a princess almost felt wrong. Pretty Boy had picked out one of the finest cadris I owned; a rich apricot with lavender stitching across the velvet bodice and hems with tiny pearls woven in every few stitches. It was soft and sensual, and I knew without looking into a mirror that the color complimented my up-swept lavender hair.
“All right, listen up, Brothers,” Sheriff began over the din of engines. “From here on out, we’re the Dark Legion. Everyone has their roles to play this week, so keep your eyes and ears open. I don’t foresee anything coming of it, but we’re still on the hunt for those bastards who stole our gems. Make quiet inquiries with that goal in mind. You never know where or when a piece of information may be useful. You’re to report to me every morning after breakfast.”
The men all replied in assent, and Diamond and Emmy just waited patiently on the backs of their rider’s bikes.
“Crash, you and T-Man are in charge of watching the women—" Sheriff nodded toward the girls in question as if he’d read my thoughts. “—keeping them in line. If we need to leave unexpectedly, you’re to gather everything as fast as you can and have everything ready to go. Got it?”
“Yes, General,” both men answered.
“Setora will be with us Four, and Doc has his own things to do at the estate.” Sheriff didn’t elaborate further. “Now, let’s go have a good time.”
And with that, he led the formation on the path toward Lord Fulnar’s estate.
* * *
“Sheriff, my friend. Good to see you again,” greeted the booming voice of whom I assumed was Lord Falnar. With a full head of white hair, both on top and on his face, he was the most expressive man I’d ever come across. I liked him instantly.
While he greeted the others, I couldn’t help looking around the opulent surroundings of the lord’s front hall. I had barely gotten a glimpse of its size and style when we entered the estate before a servant had called upon us, leaving us to wait for Falnar for no more than a minute or two.
Now standing in the foyer, I took in the full beauty of the place. Where Damien’s displays of wealth and privilege were ostentatious, Lord Falnar’s tastes and style ran more toward elegance and warmth. The polished wooden mosaic floor highlighted grains of wood I’d never seen before. The walls were textured and sturdy, painted a warm buttery color that made one feel instantly at ease. Flowers in large marble urns sat on rich mahogany side tables every few feet against the walls, their fragrance welcoming guests.
Taking in my lavish surroundings, I couldn’t help but think of the way Damien had raised me. I’d been brought up as a slave meant to live in a manor like this, to behave in the refined way Lord Falnar’s Violets would behave.
A golden frame caught my eye, and I gazed upon the canvas that hung on the wall above the entryway. The pale colors of a seaside were haunting and captured my attention enough to want to get a closer look. Before I could, I felt a familiar buzzing.
A Violet.
Schooling my features, I turned, looking around for the source. While Lord Falnar was in full animated discussion with Sheriff and Hawk, behind them a woman descended the duel spiral staircase. My breath felt like it had been stolen away from me.
Mother.
Her long lavender hair was piled loosely on top of her head, a braid circling around the elaborate up-do. Eyes less bright than my own, but nonetheless the tell of a Violet shone with an ageless beauty. No one looking at her would think she was a year over thirty, but I knew at once that the woman was much older than my mother. The resemblance was uncanny, but not as striking as when I first saw her.
“My Lord, I apologize for my lateness. I—” The Violet’s words cut off as she stopped on the last step. She shook her head as if clearing it, then looked right at me.
“Hello, welcome to Castle Montreve!” She snaked a satin-gloved arm into Lord Falnar’s and smiled brightly at me.
Almost too brightly.
The buzzing in my head quieted, and for some reason, I didn’t feel that she was a threat the way I had with Madi’san.
I shuddered. Thinking about the dead woman wasn’t something that I wanted to turn my thoughts to.
“Ah, Serena. The Dark Legion have arrived,” Lord Falnar told her with a pat on her arm. He turned to our party. “Gentlemen, I trust you’ll find your regular rooms upstairs the same as when you were here last.”
Serena laughed at her master’s words. “So many rooms, you see.” She directed her words at me with a wink.
My training kicking in, I returned her smile and demurred, bowing my head slightly in the customary slave greeting expected of women of my lower rank. My status here may be as a favorite slave to my masters, but going by her place on Lord Falnar’s arm, in this house Serena was First Slave. I had no desire to give any hint of offense. Maker knew we didn’t want any more issues cropping up because of me.
Serena bowed her head in return.
Just then, a servant came and showed us to our rooms. Our hosts dismissed us, saying they’d see us at dinner in a few hours. Relief filled me, along with an overwhelming wave of exhaustion. A hot bath and a bed were all I could think about.
We were staying in the east wing, the servant told us. I wondered which master I’d share a bed with tonight. It occurred to me that I never really had a preference with my Four. As long as one of my masters was with me, I was a happy woman.
“Princess, Steel, let’s take this room. It’s the second biggest. We’ll give Lord Sheriff his suite.” Pretty Boy grinned.
I laughed out loud, but quickly smothered it when I caught Sheriff’s dark look. When he only shook his head and opened to door to his room, I knew he was amused.
Doc, Hawk, and T-Man went into their rooms, the latter coming right back out to head down stairs to get the rest of our things. The motorbikes had been taken to the guest garages when we’d arrived. The camping gear and extra supplies we didn’t need were kept in the bike compartments, leaving us with little to take to our rooms. Emmy and Diamond would sleep in the slave quarters.
Once I was assured that Lord Falnar’s slaves were treated nicely, I didn’t worry as much as I had when Steel told me we’d be without the women unless they
were called. I hoped I’d see them after dinner when most slaves entertained their masters. This was the environment that I was trained for. It was strange that I didn’t miss it, that I longed for the Grotto and its more relaxed ways, missing Cherry especially.
Pretty Boy picked me up at the threshold of the room, Steel barreling in and headed for the bed.
“Maker’s bloody tits, this bed is soft.” Steel flopped across the mattress.
“Master, please, may we have a bath now?” Giggling, I tried to squirm out of Pretty Boy’s tight hold.
“What do you think, Steel? Think our princess deserves a bath?”
I made puppy dog eyes at Steel, maybe added a slight pout to my bottom lip.
“Ah fuck, Petal. Not the lip.” He threw an arm over his face.
Pretty Boy changed directions and headed to the corner of the room where a doorway lead to a small bathing area. Steam filled the small room, letting me know that preparations had already been made for us ahead of time.
“Maker, bless Lord Falnar,” I moaned.
Pretty Boy laughed. “Hey, now. You better save those moans for me. I’m the one who ordered the bath.” He lowered his head and kissed me soundly, his mouth warm and rich, making me wet before I even had a chance to get into the water.
“Thank you, Master.”
“Now, let’s get washed. We only have a few hours till we need to go down to dinner.”
* * *
Dressed in a soft baby-blue cadris inlaid with tiny opals on the cuffs and neck, I followed my masters out into the massive dining hall.
Comfortable laughter and gentle conversation surrounded me as we made our way to the table. Training culled my desire to ogle at the room, keeping my eyes downcast, but the temptation was almost hard to ignore. From the decadent scents of perfume, expensive pipe smoke, and candle wax, I knew that the room was occupied by the wealthy and worldly.
“Setora, you will sit beside me,” Sheriff whispered in my ear. He smelled of some exotic soap that made my insides melt, and I unconsciously leaned my body into his. The action didn’t go unnoticed.
“Is that right?” Sheriff laughed softly and cupped my bottom. “Later, Little Spy.”
I held back the smile that threatened to appear—not to mention the eye-roll at his arrogance—and followed the others until we reached our seats. Sheriff pulled out a chair for me, and I sat down on the embroidered cushion, folding my hands on my lap.
With Sheriff on my right, Hawk on my left, and Pretty Boy and Steel on Hawk’s other side in order of rank, I stole a covert look around the table.
Lord Falnar sat at the head of the table, his Violet seated to his left, facing me. On his other side—from what I could make out—was another likely prominent lord. His white cuffs were ruffled and dangled precariously close to his plate. Directly across from me sat a handsome darkly tan-skinned man with thick locks of hair the color of cranberries. He looked to be about thirty years of age. His eyes were a jade green, striking in contrast with the shade of his hair. He gave me a smile and a nod when he saw me notice him. I quickly looked back down at my empty plate.
“Sheriff, it is good to see you again, man.” His voice was velvet and held a note of the exotic.
“Reaper, are you still hanging around with this riff-raff?” Sheriff nodded with a teasing smile to the two men sitting to the green-eyed man’s left. The two guests looked like identical twins, except that one had dimples in his cheeks, and the other didn’t.
Reaper gave one of the most beautiful, guttural laughs I’d ever heard and took a gulp of his water.
The man with the dimples looked at his twin, questioning. His brother made a strange series of gestures, and Dimples’ shoulders shook with laughter.
“Hey,” Steel looked up at the twins and addressed the one without the dimples. “Sinister, where’s The Beast? Didn’t he come with you guys this year?”
Sinister nodded, taking a swig of wine. “He’s upstairs.” His dusty blond brows knitted with worry. “He’s having one of his moments. You probably won’t see him for a few days while we’re here. Crowds. You know how he gets.”
“T-Man thought you guys would be here again this year,” Sheriff said. “How’s life over in the Devil’s Breath?” He grabbed his goblet of iced water and drank it down.
“Not bad.” Sinister looked at his twin and Reaper, then back to Sheriff. “We’ve been dealing with a few gangs nearby, though. Been causing some problems with security, and being short so many men, it’s not been easy.”
“Oh yeah?” Steel spoke up. “Maybe we can send a few men up that way, Sheriff.”
“Wouldn’t be a problem at all. Are they local gangs?” Sheriff leaned to the side to let a servant pour wine into our glasses.
“Are you speaking of gangs?” Lord Falnar’s booming voice carried over to us. “Sheriff, you mentioned that your crew encountered some on the way here.”
I sipped my wine and took the opportunity to look around at the rest of the table. There had to be at least twenty diners, all in various dress denoting the far-reaches of the world. Some were pale skinned, some dark. I recognized someone who looked Cretian and two who looked Southern, like where the Yantu Masters’ Guild presided. With their shiny raven hair and tawny skin, their resemblance to Hawk was apparent.
“The Dregs, eh? I thought we drowned them out last winter?” Lord Falnar asked, responding to something I’d missed.
“If you did, they swam back up and multiplied,” Pretty Boy said from beside Hawk.
I sneaked a peek at Lord Falnar, gauging his reaction to this news. I still wasn’t sure how far of a reach these people had or whether they enforced any action taken when it came to something like the Dregs, but remembering that Sheriff had said the Dark Legion helped small towns like Salvage, my brain started making connections. Could this summit of powerful lords and generals be something more than what I thought?
When the food arrived, the topic of conversation changed until several were going on around me. I heard the merits of the quick-as-lighting Ababra horses versus Tailians. The dam in Zone 9 that was in need of attention, and that if it wasn’t fixed by year’s end, the surrounding towns would flood. Sheriff and Pretty Boy spoke about the rate of diamonds, while a Lord Chanol offered speculation about a newly discovered mineral called Lamsonite.
Finally, the diners were invited to a drawing room for cigars, port, and chocolates. I was dragging my feet and had no desire to socialize, even if I got to sit on one of my masters’ laps. Luckily, Pretty Boy announced that he and Steel would be retiring early. Or as he said it, “Going to go pass out upstairs.”
“Fuck, that was exhausting.” Steel led the way up the stairs to our rooms.
Pretty Boy clapped him on the shoulder while leading me by the hand into our suite. “Well, see, this is the great thing about Delta. Lazy-ass men like you can sleep all day tomorrow before the real fun starts.”
“Sounds good to me.” Steel flopped across the bed width-wise and closed his eyes. He did look tired, as if he’d been up for days.
I went immediately to him, knelt and started taking his boots off while Pretty Boy closed the double doors to the room and started lighting the gas lamps.
“If you two want to go right to sleep,” I said, throwing a look over my shoulder at Pretty Boy, “I can just curl up over in that chair and read for—”
“Not a chance in hell.” I barely got Steel’s second boot off before he pulled me up on top of him. He grabbed my face in his big hands. “Come here, Petal.”
Steel crushed my lips to his. I groaned, lust chasing away my fatigue. I was about to straddle him and help him undress, but he rolled me onto my back.
Losing myself in the kiss, I slid my arm around his neck, but Steel seized my wrist, pinning it above my head. One of his knees slid between mine.
Maker, I loved the feel of his body overpowering mine, loved the way such raw strength easily crushed my much smaller frame into the bed, making me feel wonderful
ly helpless.
“I thought you were tired, Master?” I panted when Steel lifted his head.
But his eyes burned with anything but fatigue. His lips worked their way along my neck, his hand jerking my knee up to his hip. I tilted my head back over the side of the bed, and Steel nipped the hollow of my throat.
“You don’t waste any time, do you?” Pretty Boy chuckled.
I lifted my head in time to see him ambling across the room behind Steel, taking off his cut. He slid the well-worn leather from his muscled shoulders, letting it fall to the floor.
I reached my hand toward him in mock-helplessness. “Master, help me, please. He’s an animal.”
Steel rumbled with delight into my neck.
Pretty Boy snorted and knee-walked onto the bed. “I’d rather help him, Princess.”
I pretended to look aghast. “How could you do this to me, you’re supposed to protect me, Master!”
But I was anything but recalcitrant. In the days after Steel and Pretty Boy had first taken me from Damien, they’d always sated themselves with me together, one never having me without the other taking part, even if Steel sometimes only watched. The two of them hadn’t teamed up on me in weeks. At the thought of them doing so now, my core hummed in anticipation. Things always turned a little dirtier with the two of them, creating an intense sexual energy unlike any I’d ever felt. I missed that about them.
Steel’s other hand shoved my free one into the mattress while his mouth found and trapped mine in a devouring kiss.
Someone knocked on the door, and Pretty Boy jumped off the bed. “Steel, why don’t you get our little slave’s clothes off while I go talk to whoever that is about their timing.” He winked at me.
Steel smiled against my lips and he released one of my wrists, his fingers making quick work of the front of my cadris.
Hearing Pretty Boy head for the door, heat spread across my cheeks. Whomever it was would plainly be able to see me pinned under Steel while my giant of a master had his way with me. Desire moistened my sex, but self-consciousness won out.
