Deceived

by Evangeline Anderson

  “All right.” She nodded. “Then you can do it. You can…can spread me open and heal me inside.”

  “Thank you, baby,” he murmured and then he was parting her outer lips carefully with his thumbs and leaning closer to taste her delicate, inner folds.

  There was a lot of bruising here and some tearing as well. Dark felt the essence welling faster from his fangs as he saw, up close, the extent of her injuries. He used his tongue to spread it carefully over her wounded flesh, paying special attention to her sacred entrance.

  He knew he was successful when he felt her pain ebbing through his gift. Anna sighed and relaxed against the pillows as some of the tension leaked from her body. Her fingers, which had tightened in his hair, loosed their grip and she caressed his cheek.

  “Oh, Dark, that feels really nice,” she whispered.

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” He looked up and gave her a slow smile. “Because I am too.”

  “Don’t stop, then,” she urged him. The need in her voice sent a surge of lust straight to his shaft but Dark continued to take his time with her.

  “I’ll lick you as long as you want me to—as long as you’ll let me,” he murmured, kissing her gently.

  Bending his head, he continued to lick her, using the flat of his tongue to lap from the beginning of her entrance all the way up over the sensitive button of her clit. Goddess, she tasted so damn good!

  Now that much of her pain had been eliminated, he concentrated on bringing her pleasure—which brought him pleasure too. Beneath the skin-shield her wore, his cock was at full attention, throbbing and aching with need as he lapped and tasted her. Dark wished he could take himself in hand but he couldn’t of course. Besides, he was still completely focused on pleasuring Anna.

  He lapped her long after she was healed, circling the sensitive bud of her clit with the tip of his tongue and then thrusting very gently into her newly healed entrance. Her pussy honey had started to flow in response to his actions and he took great pleasure in tasting it as she began to get hot and creamy for him.

  “Mmm…” Anna shifted in pleasure and her hips bucked up, just a little, to meet his gentle caresses. “Oh, Dark, thank you,” she whispered, running her hands restlessly through his hair. “That feels so much better. In fact, it feels even…even better than I thought it could.”

  “Do you mean when I do this?” Looking up, he gave her a lazy smile as he bathed her clit with his tongue once more, sweeping gently over the aching bud.

  “Ah!” Anna’s back arched. “Yes,” she whispered breathlessly. “When you…when you do that. Thank you for healing me.”

  “I’m not done yet,” he murmured, looking up at her. “I need to taste inside you too—to spread my essence all the way inside your pussy to heal you every place that damn thing hurt you.”

  “A spreader—they’re called spreaders,” she said and shuddered. “But can you, uh, reach all the way inside me with your tongue?”

  He frowned. “Maybe not. Will you allow me to use a single finger to help spread my essence? I know you probably don’t want anything in you right now but—”

  “No, it’s all right.” Her voice was slightly breathless and her eyes were dilated with pleasure. “As long as it’s you, I don’t mind. I wouldn’t trust anyone else—wouldn’t want anyone else to do what you’re doing. But somehow when you touch me…” She shook her head. “I can’t explain it, but I feel better all over. Not just physically but mentally and emotionally too. It’s almost like you’re able to erase what Gorn did to me, just by touching me.”

  “Let’s not mention him—not while I’m healing and pleasuring you. It makes me too angry,” Dark said, frowning. “We’ll talk about how to deal with him later. For now, just relax and let me heal inside you.” He kissed her open pussy softly again, kissing her as though he was kissing her mouth before looking up again. “Do you think you could come for me, baby? Or would it hurt too much when you clench up from the orgasm?”

  She bit her lip.

  “Maybe…maybe if you heal me inside first, I could. I do still feel kind of, uh, raw in there.”

  “Of course.” Leaning forward, Dark used his tongue first, reaching as far inside her as he could—which was a considerable way. Anna moaned again and bucked against him, helping him get deeper into her. But there was still a long way to go and he couldn’t reach the end of her channel.

  Pulling back and lapping up the honey his licking had caused to flow, Dark put a finger into his mouth and gathered some of the essence his fangs were still producing freely.

  “All right, baby—going to touch inside you now,” he told Anna. He waited until she nodded and then slipped his index finger deeply inside her, spreading the essence where it was most needed.

  “Oh!” Anna moaned as he did it several more times, continuing to lap her clit while he did to give her pleasure while he took away the pain. “Oh, Dark! That feels so good.”

  His fangs, which had been producing so much essence all this time, were long and sharp and his shaft was throbbing in his trousers. He wanted badly to make her come and he also wanted to bite her—to claim her—even though he knew he couldn’t actually do it with his shaft.

  “Anna,” he said hoarsely. “There’s one way to be certain you’re healed completely but I want to ask you before I do it.”

  “What is it?” her eyes were hazy with pleasure. “What is it, Dark?”

  “I could bite you and inject my essence directly into your bloodstream,” Dark told her. “It would only hurt for a bare instant,” he continued. “And then you would feel nothing but pleasure as my essence flowed into you.”

  He saw her eyes widen and then go half-lidded with pleasure.

  “All right,” she whispered. “Go ahead—do it. I want you to. I trust you, Dark.”

  Her soft admission of trust seemed to squeeze his heart but the need to bite was very strong too. The need to mark his female as his own—to claim her in the only way he could.

  “All right, baby,” he murmured. “Spread wide for me—I’m going to bite you now.”

  Her thighs fell open even wider, showing her soft, sweet, pink pussy that was fully healed now. But Dark wasn’t planning to bite her there—her inner thigh was a much better place because there was enough flesh to inject his essence. He kissed her softly first, then bared his fangs and sank them deep into her soft inner thigh.

  Mine, he thought as he bit. Mine and I’m never letting you go, Anna!

  * * * * *

  Anna gasped as the split second of sharp pain turned into a dizzying rush of pleasure.

  She felt like they had been building up to this for ages. How long had Dark been between her thighs, lapping and tasting her open pussy? It seemed like hours and despite all the intense stimulation, she still hadn’t reached the peak.

  Now, she reached it, however. As his essence rushed into her, she felt an orgasm overtake her, washing over her body like a warm, drenching wave of pleasure. Her hands tightened in his hair and her hips moved on their own, bucking helplessly as her toes curled and her back arched.

  In that moment, it was as though all the awful things she’d endured at Gorn’s hands somehow melted away like snow. The pleasure Dark gave her superseded everything else and she couldn’t think of anything except how hot he made her—and how good it felt to have his mouth on her.

  “Dark! Dark!” She cried his name as the pleasure rushed through her, loving the feel of his fangs buried deep in her flesh. He made her feel so good—made her feel whole again after what seemed like months of shame and brokenness. She wished it would never end.

  At last, however, he withdrew and the pleasure ebbed slowly to be replaced by a sweet ache.

  “Oh,” Anna whispered, running her hands through his hair. “That was amazing. Thank you, Dark.”

  “You’re welcome, baby,” he murmured. “It was my pleasure to heal you.”

  “I’m not just thanking you for healing me,” she said. “Thank yo
u for kissing me and tasting me—for making me feel beautiful. Feel like…like I’m worth something. I know it’s just part of your programming but it’s wonderful. I’ve never had a guy make me feel like you do before, Dark,” she finished and then looked down at her hands, blushing. What had made her talk that way? What had made her admit her feelings to the big Replicant so honestly?

  “Anna…” He looked at her intently. “You are beautiful,” he murmured, looking intently into her eyes. “And worthy of love and devotion and protection and everything a male can and should provide to his mate. You are perfect, just the way you are.”

  “Oh, Dark…” She wiped away a tear that had somehow slipped out at his sweet words. “Thank you,” she whispered again. “And you can bite me any time. I loved it.”

  “Don’t tempt me.” His eyes were half-lidded with lust and his fangs were still long and sharp. “Blood Kindred love biting their females—love injecting our essence because it’s only one step away from actually claiming them.”

  “Claiming them? You mean by…breeding them?”

  He shook his head, frowning. “Don’t think of it like that—it’s nothing like what that bastard Gorn wanted. When a Kindred claims his female, the lovemaking is mutual and pleasurable for both of them.”

  Anna bit her lip. “I’m sure it is but you couldn’t do that anyway, right? I mean, you don’t have the equipment. And besides, even if you could, I don’t think I want anything shaped like a shaft anywhere near me anytime soon.”

  “Completely understandable.” He gave her one last soft kiss on her open pussy and then rose to sit on the bed beside her. “You’ve been treated badly, Anna—horribly abused. I’m so sorry I didn’t see it earlier and try to stop it.”

  “I didn’t want you to see it—didn’t want you to know,” she confessed. “I was so ashamed—humiliated that Gorn always made me wear those awful spreaders.” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when he comes home and sees that I’ve taken that last one out. He’s going to be so angry.”

  “Let him,” Dark said, frowning. “We’re not going to be here when he gets home.”

  “We’re not? But where will we go? And how? How will you break your loyalty conditioning?”

  Dark took a deep breath.

  “I don’t have any loyalty conditioning.”

  Anna’s breath seemed to stop in her chest and her body went cold.

  “Dark, what are you saying?” she whispered. “What are you telling me? That you’re not a Replicant after all?”

  If he lied to me…lied just like Lazlo, what else might he be concealing? She thought of the way she’d trusted him so absolutely—the things she’d let him see and do to her that she would never have trusted a real man to see and do. Oh please, she thought, please don’t let it be true!

  A look of frustration passed over Dark’s sharp features and then was gone.

  “I never said that,” he told her. “But I’m not really here to serve Gorn. There was a reason I was planted at the Replicant brothel to begin with. I have another loyalty that supersedes everything else.”

  “You do?” Anna shook her head. “I don’t understand—why are you here?”

  “I must take the Shannom-rah,” Dark told her. “It’s the shiny rainbow crystal that Gorn has displayed in his trophy room,” he added. “I was supposed to wait for a replacement crystal so that Gorn wouldn’t even know it was gone. But now that I know what he’s done to you—and what he plans to try and do in the future—I can’t wait any longer. We’re going to break into the trophy room and get it now. Then we’ll steal one of Gorn’s extra ships and get the Seven Hells out of here.”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  But the trophy room resisted any and all attempts to break into it.

  Dark threw down the diamond-bit drill he’d been trying to use on the hidden hinges and made a noise of disgust.

  “Damn it, we’ve been at it for hours and not a scratch on the fucking thing!” he muttered, looking at the vast expanse of shiny, silver metal which didn’t even look as though anything had happened to it, though he had attacked it with every tool he could find in the kitchen and the house.

  “Gorn is always bragging about how it’s impregnable,” Anna said in a low voice. “He swears it would survive a bomb or even a neutron blast. He says the only way to open it is with the key.”

  “Which he currently has with him.” Dark frowned. “Do you know if he has a spare one anywhere?”

  Anna shook her head.

  “I heard him talking to Yark back when the two of them were still “drewgs.” He said he has the one and only key to the room—there was another but he destroyed it once the door was finished. He keeps that key with him at all times—on a chain around the left head’s neck.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen it.” Dark sighed. Should he take Anna and get out of here anyway, even without the Shannom-rah? Abandoning his mission didn’t sit well with him, but he wanted to keep her safe more than anything else. She’d been through so much already—he didn’t want her to be hurt any more. He—

  Just then a rapping sound intruded onto his thoughts. He jerked his head up.

  “What’s that?”

  “Sounds like the delivery door—in the back,” Anna said.

  “My order isn’t due until later, though.” Dark frowned. “I’d better go check it out.”

  “Be careful.” Anna looked worried.

  “I’ll be fine,” Dark assured her. “You’d better hide these tools, though—just in case.” He nodded at the various implements he’d used to try and get into the trophy room. He doubted if one of Gorn’s drewgs would be knocking at the service and delivery door but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “Got it.” Anna started to gather everything up at once as Dark went to the door to see who was there and what they wanted.

  What he saw when he slid open the security panel surprised him. Standing there, dressed in a non-descript olive-drab delivery outfit was a deliveryman who was unmistakably a Beast Kindred.

  “Good afternoon,” he said gruffly, holding up a small package. I have a delivery here for the head chef.” He squinted at the package. “Looks like…Tonga Root extract. And it says— Warning: Toxic if unwrapped in an unventilated area.” He looked up, his golden eyes glowing as he looked through the security panel. “Anybody here order Tonga Root extract?”

  “Yes.” Dark slid the panel shut and opened the door. “I did,” he said, accepting the package from the Beast Kindred “deliveryman.” “But now…” He weighed the small, rectangular box in his hand, frowning. “Well, now I’m not sure about using it,” he said in a low voice.

  The Beast Kindred frowned. “Why? What’s wrong?” When Dark hesitated, he added. “I’m Baird—Head Chancellor Sylvan’s second brother—what the humans call a half-brother. You can trust me to take your words straight to him and no one else.”

  Reassured by his words, Dark explained.

  “There’s a female here—a human woman who was bought by Gorn as a ‘breeder.’ Meaning—”

  “Meaning he expects her to have his fucking heir,” Baird growled. He leaned forward urgently. “Listen, is she already pregnant? Because that would be bad—really fucking bad.”

  His vehemence surprised and worried Dark.

  “No. No, she’s not,” he said. “Why?”

  “Thank the Goddess.” Baird looked relieved. “Because Sylvan has been studying up on Trollox biology—he’s a healer too, you know—likes to know what he’s dealing with. Anyway, the Trollox have a weird way of reproducing. They can pick the sex of their child—males are preferred—but the birth of a male ruins a female Trollox’s womb.”

  “What? Why?” Dark demanded.

  “Because the male babies fucking chew their way out.” Baird made a face. “That’s why most of the wealthy Trollox chose to have their babies carried by a female of another species. Trouble is, there’s no other species that can survive that kind of tra
uma. Which means getting pregnant with a Trollox male heir is a fucking death sentence.”

  “Gods!” Dark felt sick when he thought of what a narrow escape Anna had had. What if Gorn had decided to breed her right away last night, instead of putting the largest spreader in her? She might have been pregnant right now with a malicious thing that would kill her!

  “So I have to tell you, Brother, it’s a damn good thing your female isn’t pregnant by that big bastard.” Baird cocked his head to one side. “Am I right in calling her ‘your’ female?”

  Dark nodded. “I hope she will be, yes. “I have grown…very attached to her. Though there are some…complications.” Such as the fact that Anna still thought he was a Replicant. But he told himself he would deal with that later.

  Baird barked a laugh. “Complications? Aren’t there fucking always? But if the Goddess has put the two of you together, you’ll be all right in the end.”

  “I’d like to believe you’re right,” Dark said. “But I have to say, everything you’re telling me about Trollox reproduction makes me feel like I need to get her to safety more than ever.”

  “Look—tell me about it. Maybe we can figure it out together,” Baird said.

  Dark outlined the situation—Gorn’s week-long absence, which would be an ideal time to leave, the fact that the Shannom-rah was locked away and only the big Trollox had the key, and his ominous promise to breed Anna as soon as he got home.

  “I can’t risk her safety,” he told Baird. “I’d send her with you right now but I don’t think she’d go. She has an intense distrust of males—she still thinks I’m a fucking Replicant.” He shook his head. “Not sure what to do about that. Every time I get close to telling her the truth about myself, she nearly has a panic attack. She feels like she can’t trust a real male and I can’t say that I blame her after what’s been done to her.”

  “Hmm, that is a problem,” Baird agreed, frowning. “But I think I can help. Inside that box, along with the, uh, Tornga Root, is a sleeping potion potent enough to put down a vranna.”