And even if he wanted to I don’t know if we could, she thought wonderingly, looking down at his massive erection. I don’t know if I could fit all this inside me!
Shad groaned again as she stroked him up and down. Her fingers wouldn’t meet around his girth but she greatly enjoyed his warmth and the silky, petal-soft skin of his shaft.
A bead of shiny clear precum had gathered at the slit on the broad head of his cock, Harper saw. She slipped her thumb over it, collecting the slippery stuff and using it as she worked her hand up and down his length. She loved the feeling of power it gave her to hold Shad so intimately in her hand—to know that he was at her mercy and he had to stand there and take whatever she dished out.
“Empress,” he growled for a third time.
In answer, Harper let her other hand drift down to cup his heavy balls. She rolled them gently in her fingers, liking the feeling of his vulnerability cupped right in the palm of her hand.
She looked up to see that Shad’s eyes were closed, as though he was trying to control the emotions she was raising in him.
“No, Shad,” she murmured, just as he had. “No, open your eyes. I want you to look at me while I do this…while I touch you.”
“I can’t,” he growled but his eyes opened anyway, their strange opalescent depths blazing into hers. “If I do—if I watch you touching me—I’ll come. I want you too fucking badly. Having your hands on me like this is…”
“Torture?” Harper asked sweetly. “Maybe like the same torture you put me through when you went back to being distant and aloof after the sex-milk incident?”
“That was no ‘incident’,” he snarled softly. “I drank of you, Harper. Drained your sweet breasts and made you come on my fingers with your ripe nipples tight between my lips.”
His words made her catch her breath and Harper felt her nipples tingle and her pussy pulse with lust. Only the fact that she was still wearing the rainbow cloak of thorns and knowing it would bite the big Kindred if she got any closer kept her from pressing her body against his to feel his skin caressing her own. If only…
“Excuse me, Empress, but if you’re done jerking off your bodyguard there, maybe we could move on to the pleasure room?”
The bored voice of Lady Marlbussen brought Harper back to reality.
“Oh!” she exclaimed and pulled her hand away from Shad’s long, throbbing shaft. For a time there, it had seemed like they were the only two people in the room. She’d forgotten about the bathing attendant and Lady Marlbussen and even the other sexual attendant males who were still standing in a row.
For a moment, Harper was chagrinned. How could she have done such a private thing in such a public place? But then the feeling of empowerment came back. Lady Marlbussen had done similar things to the other male attendants as she looked them over and made her choice. Even now she was only impatient to get to the pleasure room.
And who knows what might happen there? Harper thought as she reluctantly stepped away from the big Kindred.
She had a feeling she was about to find out.
Chapter Fourteen
Gods, she was killing him with her teasing!
Shad wished he could convey to Harper how close to the edge he was—how little it would take to push him over at this point. Her soft, small hand on his aching shaft had made him burn to take her—every instinct he had was demanding that he push her to the ground and have her right here and now. But he knew he couldn’t.
Have to resist these impulses—these urges, he told himself sternly. But it was an easier order to give than to follow, especially when he remembered her wet tongue tracing his nipples and the feeling of her stroking his cock…
How was he going to control himself in the pleasure room when he felt ready to burst with unfulfilled desire?
Shad had no idea but he resolved grimly to try.
* * * * *
“Now, the pleasure room is set up with all kinds of toys as you can see,” Lady Marlbussen remarked as they walked into another large room—this one padded on the walls and floors with some kind of shiny deep blue material which glowed in the dim golden light.
Harper’s eyes went wide as she looked around. Toys there were indeed—toys aplenty. Some of them were obvious—dildos of all shapes and sizes as well as long feather wands, a few whips and paddles, and some other things she didn’t even know the name of.
However, the room didn’t give the impression of a BDSM sex dungeon so much as an elaborate pleasure area with accoutrements to accommodate even the most exotic tastes. It seemed to be more about sensuality than domination.
“I love the selection of personal pleasure devices here,” Lady Marlbussen remarked, going to stand by a wall of implements which might have been vibrators. “I picked most of them out myself when we were stocking this place. But I find that the best toys of all are the males you chose as your attendants.”
She walked to a high bench covered in plush blue velvet and perched herself on it like a queen. Then she let down the top of her fish-scale gown, baring two large breasts tipped with grayish-pink nipples.
“Come here, boys,” she purred to the two males who had followed her. “Suck my nipples.”
At once the two attendants moved to do her bidding, standing on either side of her and leaning down to take her nipples in their mouths eagerly.
Lady Marlbussen moaned appreciatively and stroked their broad backs, running her fingers through their hair. She looked over their heads at Harper challengingly.
“Well? What are you waiting for, Empress? You asked me to show you how it’s done—just follow my lead and you’ll be fine.”
“Oh, I…” Harper took a deep breath and lifted her chin. “All right,” she said feeling a flutter of butterflies in her stomach. Turning to Shad she spoke imperiously, using her best Empress voice. “Shadow, suck my nipples.”
The look he gave her was pure, dangerous lust—his pale eyes blazing, his hands fisted at his sides. It made her breath catch in her throat and she almost took back the order. But she reminded herself she was playing a part here—they both were. She had to remain the strong and demanding Empress to be believable. Besides, she liked being in charge and she wanted Shad to know it.
“Well?” she demanded, when he just stood there.
“I will be pleased to do my lady’s bidding,” he said, his voice low and grating. “If she will be pleased to first remove the cloak of thorns. I don’t believe it will allow intimacies.”
“Oh, uh…” Harper cleared her throat. “No, I guess you’re right. It probably won’t.”
She took off the rainbow cloak, which whimpered a little in protest, and hung it on a peg which also held some kind of leather studded paddle. Then, feeling more exposed than ever in her long, green fringe gown, she turned back to Shad.
“Do it now,” she commanded.
With a low growl, he was on her. His big hands slipped between the fringes of the gown and caressed her body with hard, sure strokes not just exploring her but marking her—owning her.
Harper made a little noise of surprise as his long fingers slid up to squeeze her breasts and then down to grip her ass. He pulled her to him and she gasped and took a stumbling step toward him, her breasts thrusting fully out from between the silky fringes.
Her jutting nipples felt tender and hot as he sucked one hungrily into his mouth and drew on it hard. Then he pulled back and nipped her sharply, just as she had done to him. Before she could do more than give a little cry, he was sucking again, more tenderly this time—rolling his tongue around her throbbing tip as though to ease the ache he’d created.
“Shad!” she moaned and threaded her fingers through his thick, black hair. Pressing her chest up and out, she offered him more—wanting to give him easier access to her body.
“Well, well,” Lady Marlbussen remarked as Shad turned his attention to her other nipple and began sucking hard. “I can see that your attendant is certainly determined to do his job correctly.”
“Do you see that boys?” Lady Marlbussen exclaimed, tapping both her attendants on the head. “You’re going to have to do a damn site better if you want to keep up with the Empress and her bodyguard over there.” She pushed the two of them petulantly away and shimmied out of her dress completely. Then she lay down on the blue velvet bench. “I want you to lick me,” she told her attendants. “Give me a tongue bath.”
At once, her two attendants started licking—the smaller one beginning at her neck and making his way down while the larger attendant started at her ankles and made his way up. Lady Marlbussen hummed contentedly and stretched luxuriously, apparently enjoying the erotic attention to the hilt.
Harper stared at the sight in front of her in consternation. Why had she agreed to follow Lady Marlbussen’s lead? And what was she going to do now?
“Well, my Empress?” Shad growled hoarsely, looking up at her from his position between her breasts. “How may I pleasure you now?”
It was a dare and Harper knew it. The sardonic look on his face proved as much.
He doesn’t think I’ll do it—doesn’t think I’ll be brave enough to go further, Harper realized. She frowned. I’ll show him!
“What are you waiting for, Shadow?” she demanded, “lick me!”
“Thought you’d never ask.” There was a hunger in his opalescent eyes as he rose suddenly and scooped her into his arms.
“Shad!” she gasped in protest but he didn’t put her down.
“Can’t do this right unless I have you on your back,” he growled. Carrying her over to a black velvet-lined bench much like the one Lady Marlbussen was lying on, he laid her down carefully and raised her hands over her head.
“What…what are you doing?” Harper exclaimed. The supine position made her feel intensely vulnerable. She tried to lower her hands but Shad wouldn’t let her. He held her wrists above her head with one big hand and looked into her eyes.
“No. Open yourself to me, Harper,” he said in a low voice. “Open yourself and let me taste you.”
It was then that Harper knew he wasn’t just intending to lick all over her body the way Lady Marlbussen had ordered her own attendants to do.
Dear God, he’s going to go down on me—right here in public. Well, if not exactly in public, at least they weren’t alone. Of course, Lady M and her two attendants were enthusiastically engaged with each other at the opposite end of the room and presumably not paying attention to her and Shad. But still…
“Shad,” she tried to protest as he pulled her towards the end of the bench so that her ass was at the padded velvet end of it. “You know I don’t want…don’t like…”
“Did you know that Kindred males need to taste their females?” he interrupted as he settled on the floor in front of her with his big hands on her knees. “It’s not just a preference like it is for Earth males. It’s an actual, biological need that develops when a male gets close to a female he wants to claim.”
“But I can’t…we shouldn’t…” Harper protested feebly.
“We’ve gone past can’t and shouldn’t,” Shad growled, looking at her intensely. “You’ve pushed me to the edge, Harper. Either let me taste your pussy or I’m going to fill you with my cock.”
A shiver ran though Harper’s body at his low, intense growl.
“But…but I thought you didn’t want to do that,” she protested breathlessly.
“Oh, I fucking want to, sweetheart,” he snarled softly. “I know if I do it’ll end badly. But I want to. I have from the first moment I saw you.”
“We…we shouldn’t,” she whispered.
“No, we fucking well shouldn’t,” he agreed. “Because even if we make it to the end of the loop—even if we manage to keep you alive and get you altered so the Hive can’t use you—I’ll still lose you.”
“What? How?” Harper asked, blinking up at him uncertainly.
“Because you’ll go back to where you were on the beach and time will reset itself, flowing on a different path—the path of what might have been. You’ll forget all this…” He waved a hand to indicate all they’d been through. “You’ll forget me—I’ll just be a stranger. Then I’ll go back to my time and you’ll stay in yours. We’ll never meet again.”
“We…we won’t?” Harper didn’t know why the idea of never seeing the big Kindred again hurt her heart but it did—it throbbed painfully in her chest and for some reason she had to blink back tears that stung her eyes.
“Never,” Shad said grimly. “We’re twenty years apart—I’m less than ten cycles old during your time.”
“Which means I would be way too old for you when I finally got to your time, I guess,” Harper murmured.
Suddenly she was beginning to understand why Shad had been so standoffish, why he didn’t want to risk bonding with her or making a commitment. No matter what happened—whether they failed or succeeded in their quest this time, he would still lose her and she would still forget him.
She cleared her throat. “So… if we somehow formed a bond, even though you’re pretty sure you can’t…”
“It would kill me to lose you if I was bonded to you,” he growled softly. “Which is why you need to spread your legs right now and let me in. I need to taste you Harper—I’m going Goddess-damned crazy not being able to have you.” He glared at her. “And you haven’t been making it any easier strutting around in that “dress” and stroking me with your soft little hands.”
Harper felt her cheeks get hot and her breath come short as she remembered the way she’d teased and touched him. But damn it, she had only been trying to get a little of her own back—trying to get revenge for the way he’d treated her the past week. Now she felt ashamed, knowing why he’d been acting the way he had. But she hadn’t had any idea before. How was she supposed to know?
“Shad—” she began.
“I’ll be gentle,” he murmured, holding her eyes with his own. “I swear to the Goddess, Harper—just let me in and I swear I’ll start out gentle.”
“Just ‘start out' gentle?” she asked hesitantly. “What about after that?”
He gave her a wolfish grin.
“After I kiss you and get you all warmed up I’m going to tongue-fuck your sweet pussy until you come all over my face.”
“Shad!” she exclaimed but he already had his big hands on her knees and was urging them apart.
“Let me in,” he growled insistently. “I need to taste you, Harper. “Need to taste your juices for myself.”
Harper couldn’t seem to help herself—Empress persona or no, it seemed she had lost all control of the situation. With a helpless little cry, she felt her thighs part. Then the Kindred’s broad shoulders were forcing her knees wide and her pussy was exposed, naked and open and trembling, just for him, it seemed.
Shad gave a growl of pure hunger and thrust his face between her spread legs.
Harper was certain he was going to dive right in, his promise to be gentle forgotten. Mentally she was bracing herself for the feeling of his hot tongue invading her pussy lips.
But Shad surprised her by leading with his cheek instead of his mouth.
He pressed against her, rubbing first one scratchy cheek and then the other against the tender outer folds of her pussy—bathing in her scent like a cat rolling in catnip.
Harper made a sound that was half moan, half cry and he looked up at her, his white eyes blazing.
“Gods, I’ve missed your scent, Kallana. You always smell so fucking good every time I taste you.”
Harper experienced a strange sensation—almost a deja-vu feeling, hearing him talk like this, recalling that he’d done this many times before on different time paths, even though she couldn’t remember it.
“So sweet,” he groaned again and this time he did kiss her—laying a swee
t, sucking kiss on the outside of her pussy as he drew her outer lips into his mouth and then released them slowly, as though he relished every moment of it.
“Oh!” Harper breathed as he did it again and then again. He had yet to lick or taste the inside of her pussy but the feeling of his hot breath on her thighs and the sucking, teasing sensation of his wet mouth on her outer lips was driving her crazy. Her legs were over his broad shoulders now and she squeezed them together, loving the feel of his scratchy cheeks against her tender inner thighs.
Shad looked up for a moment.
“That’s right, sweetheart—enjoy yourself. Let yourself go and fly—I swear I’ll catch you.”
“Shad…” she whispered and reached down to stroke his silky-coarse hair. It felt like black feathers between her fingers and his eyes were pure mother of pearl, shifting rainbows, and need.
“So fucking gorgeous when you let me taste you,” he growled softly. “Open yourself now, Harper. Let me taste you inside.”
“I…I’ll try,” she whispered breathlessly. This wasn’t anything like the other disastrous experiences she’d had when a guy wanted to go down. There was no hesitation with Shad—no feeling that he was doing her a favor or that he didn’t really want to be here. This was a need for him—he’d told her so. A hunger only she could satisfy and the only way to satisfy it was to spread her pussy wide and let him taste her and lap away her juices.
Slowly, she parted her legs.
“Good sweetheart—just spread a little wider,” he commanded and ran his big hands down her inner thighs, urging them apart.
Biting her lip, Harper complied, opening her thighs completely. Her pussy opened too, with the movement, her inner folds glistening with moisture, her outer lips tender and engorged with desire.
“Ah, Gods—I’ve wanted to do this again for so long. Missed tasting you so much, baby,” Shad growled softly. He seemed to be drinking her in with his eyes. Then he spread her pussy carefully with his thumbs and ducked down again.
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