“Now you must learn to do the exact opposite,” the Dramok said, his lips pursing in contemplation. “You will learn to speak of your needs. You will learn to say what you want to say.”
Iris hunched. “I don’t know that I can.” Momentary anger flared, and she gave Ospar a defiant stare. “Why should I have to, anyway?”
His eyebrow cocked. He considered several moments before answering. “Partly because I won’t have you feeling afraid of anything. Partly because you should reclaim your sexual freedom in its entirety. But mostly because I say so.”
Iris gaped. “You – you arrogant jerk! Who are you to tell me what to do?”
He shrugged. “I’m the Dramok.”
She could only stare at him. Ospar looked at her, amusement dancing in his eyes. He was ready to laugh at her, and it made her mad.
“Is there something you want to say to me, Iris?” he invited. “Or shall I just assume you agree that I know what’s best for you and my word is law?”
Her fists clenched at her sides. “In your dreams, you self-important, egotistical bastard. Where do you get off acting superior? You don’t know enough about me to order me around!”
“But I’m the governor of this rock pile. You’re just a colonist who has to do my bidding. You have to kiss my ass, so to speak. Right? So finish getting naked, lay down, and spread your legs for me so I can fuck some Earther pussy, as is my due.”
He said it as if he truly believed it was his right. Iris was outraged. She spluttered in shocked fury, and the words left her mouth before she could think to censor them. “Fuck you, you conceited asshole!”
Ospar’s grin bloomed. Before Iris could react, he framed her face in his hands and kissed her soundly. “Now those were wonderful words. I bet you never told your husband that.”
Jol and Rivek chuckled as she gaped at Ospar. She blinked. “Oh. No, I never dared. That level of defiance and the language—”
“Here, they are just words. I know I keep saying that over and over, but I’ll continue to until you believe it.” Ospar kissed Iris again, making her warm all over. “I’ll keep telling you until you live it.”
“Okay.” Iris snickered. “I guess if you make me mad enough, I’ll say anything.”
“It’s good to see you take a stand on your own behalf,” Rivek told her. “I’m sure you would without thought for Thomas, but you need to be ready to assert yourself for yourself too.”
Jol stroked her hair. “You are certainly worth it.”
Iris glowed under their care. They wanted to take care of her, yet they also wanted her to be strong, to be able stand up for herself when she needed to. What they offered was a gift she hadn’t known she’d always wished for.
“What do you want to do right now, Iris?” Ospar asked. “Tell me exactly what you’d like.”
She looked at each of their patient, waiting faces. They wouldn’t hurt her. They wouldn’t put her in her proper place. She could say what she wanted, and it would be all right.
“I’d like you to fuck me.”
The three men looked as proud as if Iris had discovered gravity. It made her giggle at the ridiculousness of it all. But it did feel like a breakthrough.
Profanity will set you free. Iris kept snickering.
Ospar gave her butt a couple of light spanks. “Take those panties off, silly girl,” he said.
She did, still feeling vulnerable but safe as well. She didn’t question the strange dichotomy of the situation.
“Now for the next limit,” Jol said.
“Bring it on,” Iris challenged him. Giddy, she felt like she could accomplish anything.
He took something off his belt and held it before her face. The linked circles of copper-colored metal swung from his fingers. “Give me your wrists,” he said.
It took Iris a moment to realize what the bands were, and she very nearly held her hands out to the Nobek before she figured out what he was about to do. “Cuffs?” she asked, pulling back.
Jol nodded, watching her face carefully. “Hovercuffs. I also have a set for your ankles,” he told her. “They will keep you immobilized. Helpless.”
Iris stared. Rivek had held her down the day before when she’d had her first sexual encounter with the clan. She’d been nervous and excited by the power exerted over her. Ospar had told her anxiety made things feel more intense and he’d been right. Still, hovercuffs were much more extreme.
“I know you want me to trust you enough not to question—” she started.
“But you haven’t quite reached that point yet,” Ospar finished. “Still, we’d like you to try.”
Iris bit her lip. Her instincts were to go along with what the men asked of her. In fact, it was almost frightening how easily she’d nearly obeyed Jol without thought. It was that sense of rightness that kept knocking her defenses down, defenses she’d erected during eleven years of marriage to Conrad.
A part of her already trusted them with everything. Trauma was holding her back. Even after death, Conrad was still controlling her with the fear he’d instilled. She didn’t want to be her dead husband’s victim anymore.
Iris slowly turned to face Jol. Her arms crept outward, offering herself to be captured. To be made truly helpless to the Kalquorians.
The Nobek’s gaze never left her face as he slipped first one, then the other cuff over her wrists. Ospar and Rivek each placed a hand on her shoulders. Despite the gentle assurance their touches offered, Iris shuddered to feel the cool metal close over her skin, drawing tight enough so that she couldn’t slip them back off.
“Are you all right?” Jol asked.
Iris tried on a brave smile. “So far, so good,” she said in a voice that trembled only a little.
He knelt at her feet. Again, he kept his eyes on her face as he put a larger set of cuffs around her ankles. When she didn’t flinch or protest, he nodded his approval.
“Very good, Iris.”
She felt pathetically happy that she’d pleased him and frowned at herself. Why was it so important to satisfy these men?
Jol stood up and stroked her face. He said something in his own language.
Iris’ arms lifted, splaying outward as the cuffs obeyed whatever the Nobek’s order had been. She couldn’t help the whimper that escaped her lips as she rose into the air, her feet leaving the ground and moving apart so she was spread open.
She floated slightly higher than the men’s heads. She attempted a weak joke. “So this is how it feels to not be the shortest person in the room.”
They obliged her with chuckles. Their hands were on her again, stroking bare skin to make her shiver in reaction.
“How do you feel about being held helpless like this?” Rivek asked.
Iris thought about it. “Scared,” she admitted. She looked down at the floor before adding in a small voice, “Aroused.”
“Excellent,” Ospar said. “You do remember that you can say stop at any point, and everything halts, correct?”
Iris nodded. “Yes, Ospar.”
“You are safe,” Rivek soothed. “It may not always feel like it because we want to push you, but you have nothing to fear from us.”
She gave him a smile. “I believe you.”
“Good,” Ospar said. “Here is your next challenge.”
With that, he slipped a blindfold over her eyes, tying it carefully behind her head. All was darkness behind that soft binding. “Too tight?” he asked.
“No.” Iris was amused. “This is a challenge?”
“Absolutely. You can’t see what we’re going to do to you. You’ll have no warning at all before it happens.”
“Oh.” The smile fell off Iris’ face. He was right. She would have no idea what the men were up to until they did it. Her nervousness went up several notches.
Their hands were all over her, stroking her body and making her respond despite the anxiety brought on by being cuffed and blindfolded. After a few minutes of this, Iris was moaning and writhing. Her breasts were
fondled by mouths and hands. Her sex received gentle caresses, her clit the occasional tug that made her insides clench. Lost in the darkness, every touch was magnified.
“That’s a good start,” Ospar said after they had her nearly dripping with need. “Our little lovely is quite aroused, I think. Are you eager for more, Iris?”
“Yes,” she groaned. “Please.”
As if her affirmation was a signal, the touching abruptly stopped. There was the sense that the three men had stepped back, though she didn’t hear any steps. Utter silence descended over the room.
Iris waited for a few moments, wondering what was going on. Her insides were churning with want, and she thought that at any moment the sensual assault would resume. The seconds ticked by, however, and nothing happened.
“Um, guys?”
No answer. Heavens, had they left the room, leaving her hanging in midair with no clothes on?
“Ospar?”
“Yes?”
Iris breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn’t left her. Good.
She asked, “What’s going on?”
“Why do you ask?”
Iris’ brows knit together beneath the blindfold. “Well, it’s kind of odd to be suspended here with nothing happening.”
“But it’s what we want.”
She was more confused than ever. “You want me like this? Why?”
“For you, it doesn’t matter. All you need to be concerned about is that this is how we want you and this is how you’ll stay until we decide otherwise.”
Iris tried to figure out what was going on. The more she puzzled over it, the more baffled she became.
Trying to figure out what they wanted from her, she said, “Do you want me to use profanity again?”
“Do you wish to use profanity?”
“No, I wish to know what you’re waiting for me to do.”
“Nothing. We just want you to hang there like you are.”
Iris was utterly mystified. None of this situation was making sense. Didn’t they want to have sex? “I don’t understand.”
This time it was Rivek who spoke. “You have a lot of responsibility, Iris. From taking care of Thomas to making sure there is food, clothing, and shelter for the two of you. Do you remember me asking you when was the last time you had a moment for yourself?”
“Yes.”
“And you told me, you couldn’t remember the last time.”
Jol said, “That is too much sitting on your shoulders, with no way to alleviate the pressure. Eventually, it will crush you.”
Iris still wasn’t getting it. “What does that have to do with sticking me in the air and not doing anything?”
Ospar responded. “Your problems don’t end with not being able to express your needs and speaking your mind, Iris. You are also struggling with letting others take care of you. It’s time for you to let go of some of that control, to hand over some of the pressures.”
Rivek’s voice came next. “With us, when we are together in an intimate situation, your only responsibility is to do whatever we tell you. You have no choices to make, nothing to worry over. That’s what this lesson is about.”
“So, what? I’m just supposed to stay up here until you decide to do something with me?”
“Exactly.”
“This is crazy,” Iris said. “I thought we were going to make love.”
Ospar again. “We will, but on my terms. Jol’s terms. Rivek’s terms. Not yours. Your only concern is to surrender to whatever we wish of you. For now, we wish you to hang there while we enjoy looking.”
Iris couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But we will eventually do something, right?” Her tone was thick with sarcasm.
“Maybe. If I don’t like your attitude, maybe not. It could be we’ll just walk out and leave you here for the night.”
There was no compromise in Ospar’s voice. He was deadly serious, as hard as it was for Iris to comprehend the clan might actually leave her naked and blindfolded and unable to move.
“Ospar...” her voice came out pleading.
“Surrender, Iris. That’s all we want from you. Just be and let us make all the decisions about tonight. All you have to do is obey.”
She licked her lips. Just surrender. Like that was easy. Like she handed control over to men anymore.
But it was only for a few minutes at the most, right? Surely they wouldn’t make her hang here all night? But now she wondered. Ospar had sounded pretty peeved at her a moment ago when he’d threatened to do just that.
Controlling Kalquorian. He’d warned her he could be overbearing, and he was more than proving it right now. And what of the others? Rivek would probably see this as a great spiritual exercise. Jol, with his predatory Nobek nature, was most likely enjoying seeing her helpless like prey. He’d put her in the cuffs after all.
Damn. She really was stuck, unless she told them to stop. They’d said that would end everything immediately. Her mind shied away from that option, however. If she called a halt, then they wouldn’t touch her anymore. They wouldn’t make love to her.
Iris really, really wanted to be held by the three men, even if it meant waiting all night.
It wasn’t much easier to concede to the Kalquorians than it was to tell them to stop. But she managed to do it. “All right,” she whispered. “If you want me to hang here, I will. Whatever you want.”
There was no answer. Silence stretched endless seconds that felt like hours. Iris found herself listening for a breath, a rustle, a shuffle, anything. The Kalquorians made no sound. It was eerie. Uncomfortable. Not seeing or hearing them made her uneasy. Her senses heightened, trying desperately to discover any sign of their presence.
Nothing. There was nothing at all except the weight of knowing they were watching her. Waiting to see if she would endure this bizarre situation, that she would indeed allow them to have control over her. With the minutes spinning out into forever, it was getting harder and harder to simply remain quiet and accepting.
They’re playing with my head. They know it’s driving me crazy. Why am I letting this happen? Why should I give them have this kind of power over me? Because I like sex with them? This is crazy. This is bona fide nutcase material.
At the same time, stubborn pride was making her remain silent and still. They had challenged her, and some perverse streak in her being insisted Iris could outlast them. That she would show them she could handle whatever they threw at her. She was strong. She’d survived Conrad and Armageddon. She was making a life for herself and Thomas, scratching it out from the stubborn earth of Haven. She just had to wait it out for however long they wanted to torment her this way.
But it was hard.
When fingers suddenly trailed lightly down Iris’ right breast, she jerked in shock and uttered a little cry. The sensation was profound, coming from the silence and darkness that had become her entire world. The hand retreated, leaving her alone again. Her skin tingled where she’d been touched, and she writhed a little, incapable of not encouraging whichever man it had been. She was desperate for contact of any sort, any escape from the void the Kalquorians had placed her in.
Another soft touch, this time to one buttock. Again, it was gone as fast as it came, leaving heat in its wake. Iris’ gasps were loud to her own ears, the sounds eager and hopeful.
Then there was another stretch of inactivity. Iris seemed to have been left alone with only her pounding heart for company. She ached for another bit of fleeting contact. She wanted it so badly that tears stung her closed eyes.
Minutes dragged by. At last, the rough pads of fingertip and thumb closed over one nipple and tugged gently. Searing delight speared straight from the tip of her breast down to her clit. Never had such a light touch given so much pleasure. Iris’ head fell back and she groaned, thrusting her chest out for more.
The touch disappeared, and this time she did sob. The hitching of her chest was abruptly cut off when the other nipple was grasped and tugged like the first. Another
burst of lightning arousal bolted through her body. Iris stiffened in her bonds and cried out.
The fingers released her, leaving her squirming as arousal burned in her loins. Her breaths ended in whimpers as she tried to compose herself for another stretch of aloneness.
Instead, a hand cupped her mound, the fingertips brushing the cleft of her sex. Iris shoved into the warm palm with a groan. Her pussy gushed, turning the hand holding her slick.
The fingers searched her folds, finding the entrance to her womanhood. They traced around it, bringing aching desire to the fore before retreating to leave her in agony.
Iris thrust her hips forward. “Please,” she moaned.
Hands on her breasts again, this time rubbing and squeezing just shy of pain. Any contact now was a gorgeous experience, and Iris did not protest the rougher handling. In fact, she welcomed it, welcomed all of it. Every touch was a blessing after being left alone in the silent dark.
Now slick fingers returned, perhaps the same ones that had tantalized her sex only moments before. This time they traced around her anus, providing delicious sensations in that forbidden area. Iris moved her hips back this time, encouraging exploration. She was obliged by one of the fingers entering to stroke in and out.
A wet mouth joined the hands on her breasts. Iris warbled a wordless welcome to the raspy tongue swirling around one areola. Her body was a riot of delight and growing need; every touch feeding her arousal. She felt the soft hair of one of the men beneath her chin as he sucked hard on her breast.
There was a warm waft of air over her spread and hairless sex. Iris’ breath caught. She hadn’t noticed feeling that before. Could it be...
Something wet and a bit coarse traced over her slit, and Iris shouted. One of the men was licking her. Sweet craving suffused her nether parts as the tongue moved forward from her entrance to her clit, where it paused to flick the sensitive button before starting over again.
A second finger pressed into her anus, stretching her carefully. The man mouthing her breast switched to the other one. The tongue continued to stroke its path over her eager sex. Ticklish delight swirled from each and every touch, making Iris moan almost continuously. With her sight shut out, her limbs unable to move, and the men still not making any noise, she had only the sweet-spicy scent coming off them and their lascivious handling to concentrate on.
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