"Enough now, let's hope it doesn't come to that. I'd love to love you just because." He sighed. "But, oh well let’s just take it one small step at a time."
So would she like that sweet loving—just occasionally—but she had creeping crawly sensations over her skin. So much was going on, and she didn't think nice, easy, non-baby-making vanilla was on the agenda.
"Sleep, love. We both need sleep." He kissed her on the nose, and shut his eyes.
Livvy didn't sleep. She simply held onto him tightly, as if by doing so, she could imprint every nuance, every fiber of his being onto her memory. She knew by the way Sael's breath was even and regimented, he didn't sleep either.
It seemed too soon before he kissed her and whispered in her ear.
"Time, love."
Livvy obediently left the bed, showered, and dressed simply in jeans and a T-shirt. She noticed he did the same. She had a thought, one that had niggled her on and off for several days, one she hadn't dared, or wanted, to voice.
"How do we get to your home, Sael? I guess a 747 won't hack it, and I think the space shuttle is booked."
He laughed and kissed her until she was breathless and panting. His cock rubbed her, and she felt herself grow wet as she reached for him, to touch and tease, but he'd stopped her.
"No time. We need to go." Even his stance changed. He seemed taller, and more intimidating. Gone were the twinkling eyes and easy grin. This Sael looked harder, more serious.
He led her into the bathroom. Livvy stared. The big, ornate mirror hadn't been there before. Sael took her hand and walked toward it. The light shimmered, and the room blurred.
Livvy blinked.
"Where are we?" She looked around her, curious to see craggy rocks and a bright light that spilled through a natural arch.
"The portal," Sael said. "The mirror in your bathroom was your human end, and this cave is my Saffaul end."
"So we just flew here? No plane, just us? And I missed it, how?"
"I chose to bring you, without your conscious knowing. I felt it best."
She wasn't pleased. "Oh, and you always know what's best, do you?"
"I try to. And in this case, yes." The look on his face, one of complacency and something she daren't define—worry, maybe—kept her silent, and she let him take her hand and lead her out of the cave. She expected a beach, but they emerged into a clearing in the woods.
They walked noiselessly across soft, spongy grass toward a track in the trees. Maybe silence was best until she knew exactly what would happen and when, but it had an eerie and sinister feel to it. Livvy shivered, and Sael stroked her shoulder.
"That's my brave pet."
Livvy wasn't so sure, but kept her mouth shut. If she tried to speak it would more than likely come out as a croak.
As they entered the wood, soft, green light filtered through the leaves, and sunlight dappled their surroundings. Livvy glanced around with interest.
"It looks pretty much like Earth," she said in surprise. "Trees, grass, streams."
They walked across a log bridge. Sael hugged her. "What did you expect? Little green men and pink bushes?"
Livvy hit him gently on his arm. "No, well, I guess I didn't know what to expect. But this looks like Scotland on our one day of summer."
"Of course. I asked for it to be so. You'll see more if, well, if. Anyway, this is like Scotland. Other parts are different." He'd never spoken a truer word.
They left the wood and walked across a wide, open meadow, dotted with flowers she couldn't name. Sael seemed to withdraw into himself, walking faster, as he held onto her tightly, as if scared she'd run.
Although, just where I'd run to, I've no idea.
To Livvy's surprise, at the end of the meadow stood a house. Or what she assumed was a house. The building was like nothing she'd ever seen before. Large, tinted windows, with walls that jutted out into space, and a turret—a turret, for goodness’ sake, on something that looks like it's off one of those weird design programs on TV—and in the middle a normal, ordinary front door.
"My home," Sael said simply, as he ushered her into a tall, wood-paneled room with large windows and skylights.
"It's like living outdoors," Livvy said. "It's lovely."
He kissed her nose. "I wish we had time to stop for a while, but we don't. There's a bathroom there for you to freshen up, and the clothes you must wear are in the adjoining room."
She stared at him.
"Clothes? That's a relief. I thought we'd be naked."
"We will, but not at first. This is a concession, you understand. A courtesy to you. I explained that dozens of cocks, horns, and tails might just be a bit much for you to take in all at once."
Livvy burst out laughing at the double entendre.
"That's a given. I'm sure I can only take one in at a time."
Chapter Nine
As they stood in a beautiful meadow, brilliant blue sky overhead—it wasn't even dusk to hide her blushes—with a large, beautiful plantation house behind her, Livvy simply, silently repeated the essence of his words to her as her mantra. "I love him; I make him complete. I love him; I make him complete."
A tall, imposing man, his silver hair neatly cropped, walked out of the gathered crowd and toward them. He looked, Livvy realized, exactly as Sael would look in thirty odd years. Although dressed in the same, simple, loose, black shirt and trousers as Sael and all the other men, he still oozed authority.
"My father, our leader, Saffaul," Sael said.
Livvy had already figured out who he was.
"How come he's called after your planet?" she asked quietly.
"All rulers take the name of our world. It is our way. Now, come, it's time."
Bedside his father stood a woman dressed in the same cerise shift as Livvy, only in this woman's case, it didn't clash with her hair. She had to be Sael's mother. She had the same shape of face.
Livvy swallowed convulsively and gripped Sael's hand tightly. She bet if he bruised, there'd be a doozy on him later. Her heart beat twenty to the dozen, and perspiration collected in the corner of her eyes. Was she really going to do this? All those things they'd talked about and practiced these last few nights? With Sael and no one else, they were intimate, personal, and loving. Now, in front of what felt like hundreds, but she realized was really about thirty people, it was a different matter. It made everything seem so sordid.
She felt Sael's concern as he gave her hand a squeeze.
"Okay?" he asked softly. "There's still time to change your mind, you know. I won't hold it against you."
Livvy laughed, and it sounded harsh and forced. "You won't be able to. Because you'll be dead. And no way am I having that on my conscience. You'd probably haunt me for the rest of my life. No, Sir, let's get it over and done with. Then, can we just leave here and forget all about it?"
Not that she thought she would. It was all the stuff nightmares were made of.
The older man cleared his throat as the crowd moved closer.
"Sael De Laphouresse. You are here, thirteen moons after you released yourself as Olivia Martin's Devil Within. To show your mate-marks, your semen-stains, and your bites. To show you come together in all ways possible, bare and open?"
"I am." Sael bowed his head.
****
Saffaul turned to Livvy. Sael had never realized how icy and distant his father's eyes were. They seemed to bore into them both, cold and unrelenting.
"Olivia Martin? Do you accept and agree with all that will happen? You will do all those things decreed, here in front of our elders. Show how you open yourself to your Devil Within. Let him mount you, ride you, and fill you everywhere. Let his seed spill, let his semen mark you. Let him bite you and drink your blood. And then will you milk him, drink his seed, and leave him drained and empty?"
Sael saw Liv swallow hard. "I, er." Her voice faltered, and a sheen of perspiration covered her skin.
"Liv, you don't have to," he whispered urgently. "We can finish it all no
w. I'll understand."
"Shut up," she whispered back. "Just shut the fuck up." She cleared her throat. "I will," she said firmly.
"Then we will proceed." Saffaul smiled, his fangs bared, and sharp looking. He flicked his wrists in the same manner Sael had done. A bed, softly covered, but with no fripperies to detract from the view of what was about to happen, appeared in front of them.
"You know what you need to do and accept this diktat freely?" he asked again. "You know the consequences if you do not accede to this?"
"We do." Sael spoke for both of them. Livvy pulled at his arm.
"I can answer for myself." She looked at Saffaul and the others who now had gathered close by. "I agree. I love Sael. He makes me complete. I will do all you ask for him, so he can live."
"So be it." With a secret smile, Saffaul flicked his wrist again.
Liv gasped. There was a definite breeze.
Sael watched her look down and move to cover herself. She was very definitely bare. He could see shame in her eyes, and could have cried for her. Why couldn't she see how perfect she was?
"No. Don't do that. You're beautiful. Stand tall and rejoice in it." Sael, as naked as she, tail swishing, horns out, fangs and incisors filling his mouth, kissed her gently on the lips.
These extra teeth could be so interesting, if … well...
"This is it, Liv. This is our command performance. We'll do it, and we'll do it well." His full mouth made his speech difficult, but he saw she understood every word.
I can do this, for Sael, for my love. His life is at stake. I can do it. Forget everyone. Think of Sael, just Sael. He heard her thoughts as if she had spoken aloud.
Liv straightened, put her hands on her hips, and smiled.
"Well?" She challenged. "What first?" Sael looked at her. She glowed.
His father's eyes grew speculative, and he spoke, his voice harsh and authoritative. "Open yourself for whomever so desires to take you." His hand flicked, and each and every person was naked.
Sael's heart seemed to stop. Suddenly, the enormity of what he asked of her, his Livvy, his heart, his love, hit him. She was his and his alone; no one else should touch her. Nothing should come between them. It was as if a light bulb went off in his head. How could anyone willingly let their lover, their other heart, be given to others? He remembered all those times he had watched, and, he thought shamefully, taken part, and wanted to scream and cry how wrong it was. It might be his heritage, his culture, but it was wrong. He realized it had taken him being totally committed to Livvy, irrevocably in love with her, to understand that. Sael knew he would accept whatever punishment they meted out to him, even probable death, rather than continue this. He knew it was just mechanical in, thrust, come, and out, sex. No love. Worthless. He might not want to die—he sure as hell and Saffaul didn't want to—but for the first time in his life, he wasn't going to be selfish and put himself first. At least, not yet. He'd make sure Livvy was safe, then think of himself.
No! No, not that. No, I won't let you. Livvy is mine and mine alone. I will die rather than let this happen.
Sael stood in front of her, and shielded her from all those eyes.
"Livvy, I can't do this to you. I can't share you. You are someone precious, someone so special. In fact, I won't even sully our love by taking you here, in front of witnesses. Our love is precious, not to be defiled by doing anything that means so much to us with an audience. Love. Not lust, a quick, convenient fuck. No, our love has meaning."
He realized he shook with the intensity of his emotions. "I may have accepted this, my heritage, in times now past. To my shame, I have taken part, fucked whoever was here, and thought it was okay. Now it's my time, and I think it's all wrong."
Couldn't she see how demeaning this all was? Consenting adults were all fine and dandy, but he wasn't one of them anymore.
Sael turned and faced her, and his tail flicked, showing how aroused he was. "You're mine, Liv, mine and no one else's. I love you, as you, not for what you can do for me, but because you are you, loyal, loving, and true. I can't do this to you; I can't do it to us. I won't. What we have shouldn't be shared, never, ever. Ours and ours alone."
Tenderly, he picked up her wrist and touched that tiny tattoo to the one that matched it on his wrist. She looked as if she was about to cry, love and anguish in her eyes, mirroring all he felt. It was too much to bear.
"This is us, Liv," he said softly as he rubbed their wrists together. "When we took these, we made our vows, to be true to each other. To be as one. Well, I can't be true to you, be as one with you, if I let others taste you. In any way. So, I say, no more. Nothing. I love you; you are my completion, and I can go to whatever is chosen for me, and know we have had this perfect love. No!" He put a finger over her lips. "This is the one true thing I can do for you, so no arguments. If you love me as you say, please accept this. Please, Livvy-love."
He looked at her and waited. Predictably, she argued.
"But if I don't, we don't, then you'll die, and I'll have it on my conscience." Her voice wavered. "I can't let it happen."
Then her voice grew stronger. "I won't let it happen. Sod you all, you stupid perverts."
She shrugged his arm off, and Sael watched her turn in a slow circle, taking her time to stare at each and every person in the eye. To his amazement, several elders could not look her in the face, and some even reddened. She hadn't finished.
"This man is worth more than all of you put together. And to be honest? I agree with him. It is bloody demeaning, and goes against all I believe in. But because I love Sael, I was prepared to stand here and let myself be gang-banged. I still will, but believe me, you'll get no pleasure, and if I ever, ever get any powers of any kind, you'll all suffer. Once we've got this farce over, and Sael and I are together."
It seemed she'd conveniently forgotten she'd said once it was all over, so were they.
"So, just get on with it. Who's first?" She touched each breast in turn, and wriggled her hips in a deliberate parody of what they had talked about in previous days.
His heart swelled. His Livvy. He was so proud of her, but he wasn't going to let it happen if he could stop it.
"But if they do, then the life inside you will be touched by evil. And I couldn't live with that." Sael tried to explain to her. Did she understand? Did she realize, as he did, a new life grew inside her? "Please, my love." Sael didn't give her any more chance to argue. With one last, deep, swift kiss, and a nip on her tongue, he stood proud and turned to the silent crowd.
"Please clothe her. I'm ready. This will not happen."
Chapter Ten
Livvy watched, aghast, as Sael bowed to his father, dignified to the last, and allowed two men to take an arm each. She saw his father do that wrist flick thing again and found herself dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. If anything signified she was no longer part of what was happening, that was it. Sael was still naked.
"Please, please." Tears burned her cheeks as she watched them turn Sael away. But a moment later, her anguish turned to anger—an anger so fierce, she knew she could have committed murder if any weapon had been to hand.
"You bastards, you fucking … in every way fucking and stupid bastards. How do you ever think you'll flourish and multiply with such crappy, bloody ideas? Kill the good guys, eh? Oh yeah, that's so sensible, isn't it? You deserve to die out. You've about as much sense as my cat. And I don't even have a cat. You kill him, you kill your future. Crazy."
Some of those present murmured angrily. One man moved toward her, with his cock jutting out. Livvy looked at it and then at his angry face.
"Oh, big man," she said in a mocking tone. "Want it bitten in half? My pleasure. Not yours, because I'll make sure you never come again. Hard to take part in a gang-bang with no cock to bang with, eh?"
The man stopped and looked toward Saffaul, who she noticed, stood silently to one side, and watched her and Sael. A smile played over his face. She ignored him. As far as she was concerned he was no be
tter than any of the others.
"And no lead in that stupid pencil either it, seems." Hell, I'm on a roll now. "No backbone, no spine, no bloody mind of your own, eh? Crap, all of you, pathetic and weak. Come on, who's next, eh?"
No one moved.
"Ah, like I said. Feeble, pathetic and … ahh." She ran out of things to say. Livvy turned and walked toward Sael. It was difficult, but she ignored the two Saffaulians who held him as she put her arms around him.
"I love you so much. You are my Sir. I'm your pet. Is there no other way? I'll do it, you know, for you, for us. And we won't be affected by it." She wondered if either of them actually believed that. "So, what next?" She kissed him, uncaring that the man on his left tried to pull her back.
"You move me away from him now, and I'll bite your balls off. You owe us this." Sael might be unable to hold her, but she could hold him tight, lean into him, feel his warmth and his love. And give him hers. His body was icy, his breath cold, shallow, and harsh.
"What's happening to you?" Livvy whispered in his ear. She felt his breath warm on her throat for a second before it became frigid once more.
"It's time," he said softly. "Saffaul is harsh, and retribution is swift. I'm closing down."
"What?" Livvy stared at him. His skin was bluish and wrinkled. His eyes, once so bright, were now dull. "No. Not that. Why, for God's sake, why is it so ridiculous?"
"It's not considered ridiculous on Saffaul. It is the way, Liv. We can't change it. Look, my love, no more. Think of yourself. And what we have created. I love you. You've proved your love for me. Remember what we had with love and pleasure. Keep our love safe and strong. And also remember—" In spite of the seriousness of his situation, Sael smiled. "If it's a boy, call him Nic."
Livvy watched, tears streaming down her face, as the men led Sael away, not in chains, exactly, but very definitely in custody. She'd done everything she could, and what did he say? If it's a boy…She touched her tummy, as if it would tell her if a life grew inside. He had to live. No way could she kill the father of her child. Her love.
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