“Please don’t do this to her…”
“You do this to her, jarriah. By your repeated failure. You are responsible.” His fingers closed around her jaw, turned her back to look. “Open your eyes.”
She did as he said, not because she was afraid for herself, but because it was the only thing she could do to help Hana. “Take me instead. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Hana whimpered as the guard continued to maul her. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled.
“Whatever I want?” Zayd asked with interest.
“Y-yes.”
Zayd didn’t answer. And as the seconds ticked by with nothing but the sound of the guards’ heavy breaths and Hana’s muffled sobs, Kavin was afraid to wonder what he was planning next.
Finally, he said, “You’ll stop fighting the sahad. Tonight.”
“Yes,” she whispered. He didn’t need to know she didn’t have to fight Nasir. Unlike Zayd, Nasir would never lay a hand on her in anger. But sickness brewed in her belly at the knowledge that after Nasir did take her, she’d be right back here where Zayd could do anything he wanted to her.
“Stop.”
Relief whipped through Kavin as the guards dropped their hands from Hana’s body. The girl fell to her knees on the floor, her body shaking, her face flushed and lined with tears.
This will be me…
“You’ll let him fuck you tonight, jarriah, or I’ll give this girl to the guards permanently.”
Hana whimpered, but Kavin couldn’t read her expression because Zayd’s fingers tightened until pain shot through her jaw. She twisted his way to alleviate the pressure, until his enraged face and eyes brimming with retribution filled her vision and nearly stopped her heart.
“And you, jarriah,” he said in that menacing, vile voice. “If you fail me again, I’ll toss you into the arena with the other sahads and let them gang rape you.”
Hana gasped, and terror raced down Kavin’s spine as she swallowed hard beneath his hand. He’d do it. She didn’t doubt that for one minute. He’d find the most perverse and humiliating way to punish her, and he’d get off not only by ordering it but by watching too.
“After, that is…” He eased his grip and brushed his knuckles against her sore and aching jaw. “I’ve had my fill of you.”
He leaned close to her ear. So close she couldn’t see him anymore. But she felt him. Everywhere. And her heart rate skyrocketed at the promise she heard in his voice when he whispered, “And when they’re done desecrating your body, then I’ll kill you myself, just for the fun of it.”
Chapter Eleven
Nasir paced the confines of his cell.
Yesterday, the new room had felt airy and light, and a thousand times bigger than the dank cage he’d been locked in before. But today, it was too small, too tight and—he paused and looked up at the fading rays of sunlight filtering through the barred window high on the wall—too empty.
Where the hell was she?
He scrubbed his hands through his hair, tried to stay calm. Failed miserably. When he’d left Kavin to begin the days’ training, she’d been with the slave girl. The one who’d come to check her each morning. Hours had passed since then. He’d expected her to be here when he returned. Wanted to tell her what was happening tomorrow. Needed to start working on developing their gifts as Malik had done. It was their only hope of breaking free of this place once and for all.
But if the highborn took her already…
His feet stilled. And a trail of fury burned straight through his gut. But it was quickly doused with reality. No, she was still a virgin. She hadn’t completed her “test.” Highborns were nothing if not predictable. They followed their own twisted rules and rarely shied from them. She had at least two more days before her time was up—two more nights. Which meant she’d been taken somewhere else. By someone else.
A wave of unease swept through him as his gaze snapped to the door, and he thought of the guards on the other side. Two new guards who hadn’t stood watch over him before.
He hadn’t seen the guard who’d attacked Kavin last night. Didn’t know where he’d gone or if he was coming back. But if he’d touched her again… If he’d so much as looked at her—
The heavy door swung open. And a wave of red hair and black silk filled the space. Relief was swift and consuming. So overwhelming he didn’t even care that someone had pushed her into the room, that she was stumbling forward. Instinctively, he caught her around the waist, dragged her close as the cell door clanged closed behind her. Drew in her sweet scent as if it were his last breath.
“Rouhi…”
She trembled. Gripped his arms. Then turned her face into his bare chest and held on tight.
He closed his eyes and reveled in the softness of her skin, the silkiness of her hair, and the warmth of her body, reminding him he was alive. Even in hell. But when warm wetness trickled across his chest, he realized she was crying.
“Rouhi?” He pushed her back so he could see her face. Tear tracks lined her cheeks, sending his anxiety up all over again. “What happened?”
“No-nothing. I’m f-fine.”
She wasn’t fine. She was scared to death. He ground his teeth to keep from frightening her more. But if that guard had come back and touched her… “What did they do?”
“Nothing. They didn’t do anything…to me.” Her eyes welled with tears, then she collapsed against him in a fit of sobs that squeezed his chest like a vise. “Oh, Nasir.”
Questions revolved in his brain. Emotions closed his throat. Without knowing what had happened, how could he help her? He didn’t know what to say, what to do. Only knew…this was the first time in his entire life he’d ever felt utterly and completely helpless.
His eyes slid closed. He held her tight. He couldn’t lose her. Not her too…
When her trembling eased, he swallowed hard. He was afraid to hear the answer but knew he had to ask. “Tell me what happened.”
She sniffled, drew in a deep breath. Seemed to gather herself as she eased back and looked up. Her green eyes sparkled with unshed tears when she said, “The servant girl—Hana. She saw my bruises…from that guard. She must have thought you’d…” She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “I’m sure Zayd told her if there was any sign I’d been hurt to bring me back. So she did. Took me to the harem. To him.”
Rage welled inside Nasir, the bitter urge to decimate that had kept him alive in the pits this long, but he forced it back and waited, knowing he needed to give her time to tell him. That he couldn’t force it out of her. But his stomach pitched and rolled at the thought of the highborn looking at her. Touching her. And when she pushed out of his arms as if she couldn’t stand the thought of him holding her while she relayed the horror, he knew that was exactly what the son of a bitch had done.
“He was elated by my bruises. But when he found out I was still a virgin, well, let’s just say he was not happy. Irate, actually.”
She brushed the hair back from her face, and he caught sight of the purplish marks against the soft skin of her throat. Marks that asshole took pride in.
“I thought he was going to hurt me. When I saw his eyes, I thought he was going to kill me. But he didn’t. He knows my weaknesses better than I do.”
She looked up, and in her eyes there was pain…and a whole lot of anger he hadn’t seen from her before. “So he had his guards hurt Hana.”
“The slave girl?”
“I tried to stop them, but he wouldn’t let me. They ripped off her dress, then put their hands on her. And she was so scared.” Her voice hitched, and a soul-deep sadness replaced the anger. “I tried to look away, but he—Zayd—he made me watch.”
He caught her just as another sob racked through her. One he felt through every cell in his body. Holy Allah… He’d known the highborn was depraved, but this…
“I…I couldn’t let them rape her.”
A chill spread over his spine. “What did you do?”
“I…I promis
ed him…” She rested her cheek against his chest, drew in a breath, let it out as her fingers splayed across his pec. “That by tomorrow I’d have completed my test.”
Tomorrow…
Shock rippled through Nasir’s body. No, tomorrow wouldn’t work. It didn’t give him enough time to teach her to harness what few powers the highborns hadn’t bound. It didn’t give them time to plan an escape. It was too soon. He needed more time. Needed more of her warming and bringing him back to life in a way no one ever had.
“No.” He swallowed the growing lump in his throat. Forced back the panic. “No,” he said louder. “You have two more days. Two more nights. The rule with the test is five days. Malik said its tradition. That it doesn’t change.”
She pulled back and looked up. “Don’t you see? If I hadn’t agreed, he wouldn’t have let me come back to you. He’d have broken the rules and sent me to another sahad, or worse, he’d have taken me himself. I read it in his eyes. He doesn’t care if I live or die anymore. He just wants to humiliate and use me however he can, and hurting Hana was simply part of that.”
Her lashes dropped as she looked back down at his chest. “At least this way we get to say good-bye. At least this way, I can always remember—for however short the rest of my life may be—that you were the first.” She looked up again and whispered, “The only one I’ve ever wanted. If, that is, you still want me too.”
Emotions stole through him, overwhelmed him, consumed every part of him. Then pushed out all rational thought until there was only need. And heat. And a desire like nothing he’d ever felt before.
He lowered his head and took her lips, then groaned when she opened instantly to let him in. Her mouth was wet and inviting, her skin dewy and so damn soft. Her arms circled around his neck. And her body—her lush, curvy, incredible body—pressed up against his, igniting an arousal he couldn’t fight back. Not anymore.
“Rouhi.” He changed the angle of the kiss, cupped her jaw, and slid his tongue over hers again and again and again until her taste made him light-headed. “I want you. Allah, I’ve wanted you since the first moment I laid eyes on you. So much I can barely breathe from the need.”
She groaned, and her lips turned greedy against his. Hard, tight nipples covered by the thin fabric of her dress abraded his skin. And the heat from her pelvis so close to his sent stars firing off behind his eyelids.
“Nasir…” She threaded her fingers into his hair, continued to drive him mad with her mouth. “Please… Please… I need you…inside me.”
Yes. Yes. Yes… Why had they waited? That was what he wanted too.
He growled his agreement, trailed his hands down her slim back, and cupped her ass, lifting her easily. Her legs slid around his waist, her arms more fully around his shoulders. And her mouth, her soft and succulent mouth, never left his as he turned and carried her toward the bed.
This wasn’t about fulfilling some command or doing what either of them had been ordered. It was about need—primal, voracious, all-consuming erotic need. The kind that couldn’t be denied. Not anymore.
He lowered her to the bed, braced a hand against the blanket, and swallowed her moan of excitement when he eased on top of her. She kissed him deeper, spread her legs, lifted them around his hips. Arched into him so he could rub against her.
Oh, but the sounds she made…
It was all he could do not to lift her skirt, free himself, and thrust deep inside her. But he didn’t want that for her this first time. He wanted to tease her. To arouse her to never before known heights of pleasure. To make her remember this wherever she went from here.
Emotions tightened his throat, but he pushed them aside, focused on her. He licked into her mouth, nipped at her bottom lip, then trailed kisses across her jaw to her ear, where he blew hot, then nibbled at the tender flesh until she groaned.
She shivered, sifted her fingers into his hair. “Nasir…”
He loved the sound of her voice. Loved when she said his name. As he sucked at the sweet column of her throat, she arched into him. The hard nubs of her nipples grazed his naked chest. Amped his need higher still. Pushing the strap of her dress down, he kissed her shoulder, repeated with the other, then tugged at the garment until her beautiful breasts were finally freed.
“By Allah,” he whispered, easing back and looking down. The tips of her nipples were pink, like sweet, rich cherries, ready to be picked. Enjoyed. Devoured. “You are so beautiful.” He slid down her body, cupped her left breast with his palm, lowered and laved his tongue across the nub until she groaned. “I want to make love to your breasts with my mouth. With my cock…”
Her brows drew together, her gorgeous face flushed with her arousal, her breaths shallow and excited as she watched him. “Can you do that?”
He cupped her other breast, squeezed them together so he could lick first one nipple, then the other, and groaned at the thought of pressing his cock between the two succulent globes. Of her tongue flicking out to lick the tip. Of his seed spraying over her creamy skin as he came.
“Oh, yes, rouhi. I can.”
“Does it…feel good?”
His lips curled. He took her entire areola into his mouth and suckled until she dropped her head back and moaned, then released it to lave the pink tip with the flat of his tongue. “Yes. It feels extremely good.”
She lifted her head, blinked twice. “Okay. Do it.”
“What?”
“Make love to my breasts.”
He froze. He’d only been teasing. Easing back up her body, he kissed her lips. “Not now. This is about pleasuring you.”
She gripped his pants at the hips, preventing him from moving. “Then pleasure my breasts. I want to do everything with you, Nasir. I don’t want someone else to be the first at anything.”
His eyes held hers. And in the silence, he realized she was serious. And that she’d accepted what she would become after tonight.
* * *
Kavin held her breath and waited.
Had she said the wrong thing? Was she asking too much? Did he not want her that way?
Unease stole through her, turned her pulse to a roar in her ears. She searched Nasir’s chiseled features for any sign to his thoughts but came up empty. As the seconds dragged out, she knew only one thing. She wanted Nasir in every way imaginable. With a fierceness that had no bounds. Wanted this night to be the one thing she’d carry with her into the afterlife.
“Kavin,” he whispered just before lowering and taking her mouth.
Relief pulsed in her veins as she opened for him, as she tasted him again and gripped his shoulders to hold him tight. His weight pressed into hers, his body so hard and muscular and covered with a thin sheen of sweat that only excited her more.
How could she have ever been afraid of him? How could she have thought him a monster? She’d been so blinded by perception, she’d wasted precious days with him—precious hours—when they could have been doing this instead of ignoring each other in the tight confines of his cell.
She groaned as he kissed her deeper, as his tongue swept along her teeth, her tongue, her lips. He nibbled at her bottom lip, pressed his erection against her hips, moved his hand from her breast down her waist to her thigh, where he tugged up her skirt until she felt cool air brush her sex.
Nerves and excitement swirled together in her belly. His mouth moved to her jaw, her ear, her throat. She shivered, loving every rasp of his teeth, anticipating every press of his flesh against hers. But she wanted what he’d described earlier. Wanted everything. “Nasir…”
“Time for that later,” he mumbled against her throat, working his way down to her breasts again, pushing her dress up higher. “Need to taste you.”
She closed her eyes, let her head fall back, and ran her fingers through his shoulder-length hair as he laved her nipples, then moved down her belly. And groaned when his bristly cheek brushed her belly button.
Memories of his mouth, of his tongue, of his fingers pleasuring her whipped thr
ough her mind, sent a tremor through her body. Who was she to argue if he wanted to taste her first? Who was she to—
Her whole body vibrated when his tongue raked her clit, sent blinding pleasure all through her limbs. Words died on her lips as she shifted her legs wider, as she lifted her hips and groaned when he did it again. A tidal wave of desire swept over her, a craving that grew with every expert flick of his tongue and brush of his fingertips. One that built like a growing fire until it exploded through every cell in her body, turning her vision a blinding, glaring white.
“That’s it, rouhi,” he whispered against her overheated flesh. “Come for me.”
Her orgasm stole her breath, shook her body, robbed her of every thought. As the aftershocks rocked through her and she slowly started to come down the other side, she felt Nasir’s lips pressing whisper-soft kisses against her belly and hips, felt his thumb against her clit, sending delicious shivers through her all over again.
She blinked, stared up at the water-stained ceiling. Slowly recognized her surroundings. But words wouldn’t come. Gently, Nasir moved back up her body, but his fingers continued to stroke her, to tease her slowly, to drive her wild all over again.
“Allah,” he whispered as he kissed the corner of her mouth, her cheek, her chin and nose. “You are so gorgeous when you come. The way you give yourself over to me so easily. No one’s ever done that.”
“No one?”
“Not the way you do.” He slid his fingers lower, against her opening, rubbed gently. “You’re so wet. I want to make you come again. I want to feel you all around me.”
She ran her arms up his shoulders. Oh, she wanted that too. Wanted him taking her. Claiming her. Finally making her his.
She lifted her mouth to his. “I want you inside me.”
He groaned and wrapped his arms around her while he stroked his tongue over hers again and again. Her hands streaked down to his hips, and she gripped his ass, pulling him in while she lifted, rubbing her sex against his rock-hard erection.
Slave To Passion (Firebrand Series) Page 11