by Eve Bradley
“Forgive me,” Darrian said as he kneaded her shoulders. “We shouldn’t have done this. You deserve to feel fully appreciated.”
“You know we love you more than anything, Cat,” Glend said from his pouting stance against the wall. “We’d die for you without a second thought.”
She didn’t know what to say.
“In fact,” Glend sauntered towards them. “I think we should show her just how much we love her.”
She could practically feel the sexual energy in the air. It was electrifying. Darrian and Glend unsheathed their bodies from their clothing and hopped into the pool. She lazed back against Darrian again, and the other men worked her flesh, unraveling the bundled muscles.
Valryn raised her leg from the water. Droplets glistened on her naturally golden flesh. He worked his fingers into her calf muscle, and his face showed only duty and severity. Glend wrapped his fingers around her forearms and squeezed gently as well, a tilt of a smirk lifting the corner of his mouth.
Their willingness to focus so decidedly upon her shocked her. It was intense, and she didn't feel that she deserved it. But these were her men. Perhaps they could each take turns being pampered. She enjoyed the thought of this, and tilted her head back and sighed, nearly guttural as she did so. Fuck. Imagining working her fingers into their thick muscles sent excitement into her belly.
Darrian's broad arms cloaked her in comfort and strength. He was the support for her floating body. Their hands were careful and hit all of the tangled stress knots that her body had accumulated during their travels.
"We want you to remember that you're our priority. We're yours to command. We will do anything for you, my Peacequeen," Valryn spoke low, and when his gray eyes lifted to meet hers beyond a shank of dark tendrils, she felt her heart stutter.
"These people think I'm so much more than I am," she practically gasped the words. "I want you to help me be worthy of this."
Valryn moved his hands higher up her leg, and tingles flooded her pelvis. The warmth of the water on her naked body heightened sensation. Glend caressed her arms and then her neck and drew his fingers distractingly around the sides of her chest, avoiding her breasts. She wanted him to do more. Wanted them all to feel the intense passion gliding through her stomach and causing her skin to be painfully sensitive.
She smelled it in the air. The desire, the lust, the want. So much craving and wishing. It was an interlude of sensual depth that went beyond just the rutting of sex. It was longing and hoping, the pleasant strain of pleasure bursting under their skin. She wondered...who would break first?
The hot clean wind from the outdoors wafted in overhead, circulating a floral scent through the air. She let out a gasp that had been pent up, and the men snapped to look at her.
Darrian kissed the side of her head and held her close.
"Whatever you want..." he whispered. "I want this with all of you," she spoke softly. "I do..." Still, she swept aside the fears that bubbled at the back of her mind. She had more important things to focus on. Like sexual urgency.
Valryn began to kiss at her thigh, lips generous and soft. With every kiss, it sent stings of pleasure snaking across her skin. Glend immediately began to allow his fingertips to brush the surface of her breasts gently. His thumbs tumbled over her pink nipples and swirled a bit.
She felt Darrian's manhood rising against her backside and leaned her head back onto his shoulder. He massaged her temples as Valryn kissed her thighs, drawing one up over his shoulder while Glend tended to her aching nipples.
Each man was a sight of glistening muscle and lean intensity hell-bent on pleasing her. She found that her breath was coming sharply. Glend leaned down to kiss her and then swirled a tongue around her taut nipple.
She let out yet another moan of pleasure, enjoying herself thoroughly. This gave him the motivation to move to the next and flit between the two. Valryn then lowered her leg into the water again and went to his knees before her. Darrian moved his hand to her cleft and just touched slowly without moving much. Without hesitation, Valryn submerged himself in the water and moved towards her pussy. Darrian used two fingers to spread her lips, and she wrapped one arm around Glend's shoulders as Valryn tasted her in the water, licking, and suckling at her as Darrian held her folds open.
She gasped, writhing as if the sensations might undo her. Valryn clung to her thighs with his fingers and continued to lick her in lovely strokes. Glend began to tweak her nipples, and she clung to him with Darrian at her back and Valryn under the water before her.
"How long do you think he can stay under there?" she struggled to get the words out with her pleasure debilitating her.
"Don't worry about him," Glend pinched at her nipples again, and then leaned in to kiss her mouth sweetly. "This is about you."
Valryn came up for breath, and she wrapped her arms around him. Something about this cold, severe, honor-bound man had captured her heart. She kissed him, and water streamed from his hair onto their faces and between their lips. Their tongues clashed, and then Glend went under the water as well, offering his mouth to her. He moved expertly, taunting her sex to explode.
She couldn’t maintain the kiss with Valryn and fought for breath as she felt her orgasm rising. Darrian kissed and bit at her neck while Valryn focused his mouth upon her breasts again. When he wasn’t kissing one, he was tweaking the other. Glend’s face and hair were sopping when he rose from beneath the water, a grin on his pretty face. She kissed him too, and he took Darrian’s place behind her. Each of their cocks were hard, but she was going to take this time for herself before moving to them.
“My turn,” Darrian said.
He found her clit and pampered it, sucked her lips, and then used his tongue to rub up and down over her most sensitive place, which was on the verge of erupting. She moved her sex against his face as the sensations climbed higher and higher, and eventually, she reached the precipice, and shockwaves of pleasure clamored through her belly and down her legs. Her face screwed, and she moaned as Darrian made sure that she took every ounce of her orgasm.
Just as she took her pleasure and the men were taking in heavy breaths, there was a knock at the door.
They hurried out of the bath, covering their throbbing erections.
Catryn flew to clothe herself in the silk robe that had been set aside for her.
A lovely maid entered the room weighted with translucent, lacy, and shiny silk dress options. She smiled at Cat and bowed. Catryn smirked and shivered with the afterglow of sex, and the men fought against their amusement.
“I am honored to be serving the Peacequeen. The one whose birth is sacred and shall deliver us from the evils that come to take our bountiful lands!”
Cat raised her brows and smiled awkwardly. Whore queen. It would never get old. Still, she was curious about what this prophecy entailed, and why she was supposed to save them from a race of demonic Djinn’s who’d suddenly been released. So many questions threatened to tumble out of her. What were they? How did they come to exist again? And why was she the only one capable of subduing them?
“Thank you,” Cat said.
The woman draped the clothing across the pillows in gleaming saffron, crimson, violet, and turquoise swaths. Each one intricate and fine, crafted to drape and hug a woman’s figure in the most flattering ways.
“You’d look good in the yellow,” Valryn commented, observing the dresses from her side.
“She’d look good in shit,” Glend said, and the woman looked down as if she’d heard something she shouldn’t have.
“I appreciate the advice,” Catryn glanced back at Glend with a smirk before drawing up a gown the color of a sunset with a low cut and slits along the legs. She wasted no time and dressed in the buttery fabric, her wet hair moistening the silk in places. The dress felt cold on her skin, but incredibly refreshing.
The woman's eyes glazed, her arms going slack. Something about the way she dozed off while standing, frame going rigid, turned Catryn's insides. T
hen she heard the whispers — deep archaic ramblings fringing on her consciousness.
"Are you all right?" Val strode towards the woman, reaching out a hand for the woman's shoulder.
Her face snapped to his, and Catryn could see that the entire orb of her eyes was liquid black. It looked like there was nothing there, and that you could peer straight into her skull.
"Val," Cat warned.
The woman's lips parted, and saliva dripped from between the snarl. A small foamy substance dribbled out. Then her mouth began to widen further, unnaturally wide, and Valryn became fixated on the image, horror straining his features.
“The dark draught has begun...”
Catryn lunged forward and wrapped her fingers around the woman's neck. The power she exerted astounded her. There was no way she could have prepared herself for what she was doing. She did it without thinking. As if she were feral. Her fingers closed around the woman's throat, and she pinned her to the wall.
The woman arched and wriggled the being inside her, making a squalling, shrieking noise.
Each man raced for their weapons, but before anyone could do anything, a trail of smoke poured from the woman's mouth. Smoke of black and red. Like fire and coals clouding the air.
"What the fuck?" Darrian cursed.
Catryn's fingers were around the woman's throat, but above them was a being with a slender body of smoke and fire, hollow eyes, and a mouth that continued to shriek in pain.
The smoke creature glided out the window.
Cat released the woman, who crumpled to the floor and coughed to gain back her breath.
"I'm so sorry," Catryn leaned down to help the woman up.
"One guess as to what that was," Glend offered. "A djinn. And not the friendly 'grant you three wishes sort.'"
As Catryn leaned over the woman, she saw bruising on her neck. She'd not realized how much force she'd used. If only she could heal. Maru would have been best to assist in this situation.
Guards came rushing into the room, curved blades raised and prepared to hack.
"Could have used you a bit sooner, but...well, at least you're here," Darrian said, exchanging a dark look with Valryn.
"Seems the Djinn have already infiltrated your palace," Valryn told them, pointing to the woman. "No one warned us that they were able to possess."
The guards looked confused and furtive — all dark, glancing eyes and silence. Catryn fumed and helped the woman to a stand.
"You'll be well soon," she whispered to the woman. "Guards. Take her to the healer."
It did not take long for two to step forward and collect the woman. They escorted her away, and Catryn felt her heart sink. She looked out the window and sighed angrily.
"The Peacequeen is the only one able to fight or resist a Djinn," a man said, peering up at her awkwardly. "You are the prophesied. The queen the gods designed to save us from evil."
Catryn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. The situation was madness. She could still feel the power rippling in her fingers. There was an urge to squeeze the life out of the dark being that had taken up as host in the woman's body.
She had a massive amount of questions. Her heart beat madly in her chest, and she swallowed.
"Take me to your Sultan,” she said, at war with the panic inside her.
Strength. She had to find it and latch onto it with everything within her. Something told her that this was more than what it appeared to be, and she’d have to discover the truth.
Darrian
Jurdu Palace, Yamar
Darrian Romi rubbed a hand into the muscle of his shoulder as they walked through light hallways, led by an escort of guards. Birds trilled from the open windows. The massive white stone structure was glorious. The beams that held up the floors above them were gilt, and teal, red, and purple curtains swayed between the rooms, acting as doors.
An exotic-sounding stringed instrument was being plucked as they entered the vast audience hall. The marble floors gleamed, showing their austere reflections.
Catryn headed their group, head held high as if she were the noble she pretended to be.
Darrian felt guilty when he patted for the letter his father had sent him that had stayed secret in his pockets. His father had disowned him, claiming that he was a disgrace to all Malavash because he'd chosen to serve a woman. His father had thought Darrian would get what he wanted and leave. It didn't matter if she were Peacequeen; his father had ignoble opinions of the entire female kind.
Darrian was raised in a home where his mother and sisters were treated like slaves. His father would then make use of countless whores in front of his mother. Darrian loved his mother, and the only reason he couldn't slip the letter into a flame to be rid of its weight was that it had reminded him of how wrong things were there. He didn't want his mother to suffer under his father's dominant heel forever. The letter’s presence was a pressuring reminder.
At the top of the stairs was the sprawling gold throne, and in it, Sultan Hajj Farhali. He wasn't especially intimidating, but he had a commanding presence. He sat at the edge of his seat, fingers gripping the arms of his chair until his knuckles were white.
"I see," the Sultan rose from his seat, and locked his hands behind his waist as he appraised Catryn.
Darrian saw Kalif standing at the Sultan’s side, staring down at them in the same curious, yet detached way. There was something about the man that rubbed him the wrong way, but that was most likely because he’d caught him looking at Catryn lustfully. Yes, she was a beautiful woman, but did that mean a man deserved to even look at her body in such a selfish way?
Darrian was disgusted with himself. He was Kalif. He was every man who’d ever used a whore. He hated who he was and where he’d come from. Even before he’d hated the idea of using whores, but still did so because it was the usual thing. The thing about men was that they were all selfish pricks. He recognized that in himself and everyone else.
So when the Sultan glowered down at Cat, Darrian felt a riotous urge to protect her. It wasn’t an angry glower; it was more one of intense scrutiny. As if he wanted to pick her apart and examine every inch of her flesh and bone. Valryn went to stand beside Catryn as they all waited for the Sultan to speak again.
“You’re a bountiful creature of beauty and yet...I sense that within you there is a beast of magic,” his voice was sonorous. “My guards told me that you were able to subdue the Djinn acting as host in the woman’s body. How did you get it to flee?”
Catryn’s brows raised.
“I- I pinned the woman against the wall,” she explained, finding determination at the end of her sentence.
The Sultan seemed impressed and came slowly down the steps towards her. His boots hit the marble in slick pats, and Darrian moved to stand just behind her as well. He noticed that Valryn and Glend exchanged a strange look, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary for them. They had their whole attraction thing going on, and that was fine with him. To each their own. He enjoyed women, but he’d seen many men favor male ass. He still could tell that it was awkward between the two. What mattered the most was pleasing Catryn and making sure she was safe.
“As predicted, the Peacequeen is the only human alive who can defend us from the Djinns,” he said, and snapped his fingers, and a man in purple robes and a painted face rushed forward.
“My eunuch Majmal will attend to you,” Sultan Hajj told her. “He’s also quite magically adept. Kalif tells me you’ve only recently gotten in touch with your Faerus...is this true?”
Catryn inclined her head, confused as to where he was going.
“Kalif seems to think you have a magical block placed upon you. In fact, he firmly believes this. If you do have one, or anything wrong with you, Majmal will locate it and expel it from your body.”
Darrian watched Catryn’s dark eyes flit to where Kalif stood, always in alert attention to what the Sultan was saying. Darrian sighed.
“I don’t want some random...person, putting magic on me,”
Catryn told the Sultan. “My powers are coming. I’ve read about those before me...not all of them get their magic overnight. Some had to unlock the magic through combat or meditation.”
“Both of which you will do,” the Sultan interrupted her, losing his awestruck expression.
“You will discover each of the elemental magicks within you if you want to stop the Djinn. We count upon you alone. If you resist, acting like a stubborn child might, we’ll all be dead before the summer’s peak.”
Darrian wanted to maul the Sultan, irritated by his tone. But Catryn held her head higher. Perhaps she was inexperienced, yes. But she was no stubborn child. Maru was more of a child. Annoying, bull-headed, and somewhat vapid. The list went on. But there could only be so much intelligence in one body. She had a world’s worth of herbs, medicines, and poisons in her mind. There wasn’t room for much else.
“The Peacequeen will undertake the training you offer her,” Valryn declared. “And we’ll be happy to have Majmal attend to her.”
Catryn blinked slowly, showing her annoyance.
“The true problem is that I don’t know what I’m dealing with,” she stated, stepping forward. “I need more information. I will learn, yes. I don’t think that will be the hard part. Why this is happening? This I don’t understand.”
The Sultan bowed his head as if that were a reasonable question.
“We will speak about this at the banquet tonight if it suits your tastes, my queen,” he said, a bit more gently then. “In the meantime, I ask that you make yourself comfortable. Relax. Enjoy the many entertainments offered here. Glend!”
He barked the man’s name, and Glend smiled awkwardly behind them all. He raised a hand and grinned as if he hadn’t expected the call-out.
“You did your duty, didn’t you?” the Sultan’s grim lips twisted into what could be taken for a dry smile. “I commend you. Your loyalty knows no bounds.”
Darrian knew that Catryn was fighting herself hard not to say something rude and snickered under his breath. Glend was a bastard. A funny one at that. He’d gotten over the lack of communication on Glend’s part, but knew that Cat was still furious over the lies by omission.