“The restraint is designed by our own Lady Marquet from the Canadian provinces,” Belizar explained. “It is available for order through her servant if you like it. There are those who of course choose to make our water girl stand her ground while they drink, testing her fortitude and trust as they cut off her air. Others prefer to bring her very close and allow her hands to wander as they will.”
The masked slave had brown eyes and carefully trimmed nails. A birthmark on her right breast. A gasp swept through the crowd as Jacob drew the knife he carried beneath the back waistband of his slacks. The torchlight flashed off the blade as he sliced through the garrote strap. With anger, he noted the deep marks on her throat caused by those who’d done as Belizar described.
Feel her pussy, Jacob. Lyssa’s voice echoed in his head. Obey me. Reach between her legs and feel her.
Reluctantly, he did. The girl watched him with heavy-lidded eyes that suggested prolonged exposure to inhaling the libation beneath her nose might be as effective as drinking it. She was soaked. At his faintest touch she shuddered, parting her lips.
“Your servant is still young enough to be affected by puritanical qualms, Lady Lyssa.” While Belizar’s voice suggested he was simply amused by Jacob’s reaction, the hard look in his eyes when Jacob turned his attention to him did not.
“But there is a pleasure in that as well,” Lady Helga, another Council member, pointed out. “It’s intriguing to watch them learn and lose such inhibitions.”
Jacob decided that all that was missing was a set of bars dividing the humans from the vampires. And one of those gumball machines which, for a quarter, would provide a small handful of food to feed the zoo animals, or in this case, the zoo humans.
With vicious satisfaction, Jacob tipped the bowl, watched the red fluid rush down the girl’s stomach, over her shaved mons and down her thighs to her bare feet. Turning away, he bowed deeply to Lyssa. “I need no such aid,” he said. “Just the pleasure of my lady’s attention and command will keep me hard more than long enough.”
At the appreciative reaction from his audience, Belizar’s jaw tightened. But he inclined his head. “Very well. Choose the woman you desire, Irishman.”
He’d been a showman most of his adult life. He’d learned enough about vampires to know what they appreciated, though it was a dangerous line to walk. Jacob raised a brow and pivoted more fully toward Lyssa, giving her a deliberate look. A smatter of amusement and applause passed through the group.
“Every man’s choice,” Lord Uthe called out. “But not an option, servant. Choose from the flower.”
Others from outside the canopy had gathered to watch the entertainment, reminding him of his time in the circus, though the performancesoffered had been nothing like this. Jacob suspected Carnal was out there, but he didn’t look for him. He really didn’t want to know if the bastard would be watching this.
My lady, would you choose?
She shook her head and surprised him by speaking. “I want to see your choice.”
Quelling an uneasy feeling at the lightness of her response, the faint smile on her lips that seemed stiff to him, he began a slow walk around the outer perimeter of the “petals.” As he considered each one, he kept in mind the entertainment of his audience. He paused, considered, moved on, increasing tension and speculation. There were some bets being placed.
All the women were beautiful. Their raised haunches had been oiled to a high polish, same as the bodies of the dark- skinned men behind them who had set their fingers against the white flesh of the hips, preparing to drive deep. Either these men were specifically selected for their equipment or the ste reotype about black men was exponentially true. It was not going to be an easy entry for most of the women.
Even worse, Belizar was now explaining that the men would be fucking the asses of the women displayed before them. Because of that, each woman selected was a virgin to anal sex, which would add a dose of pain and some anticipatory fear to the mix.
Part of him abhorred it. Part of him was grudgingly fascinated. He himself had been repeatedly aroused by all the games vampires devised to plumb the depths of human sensuality. He couldn’t deny the mores of a lifetime had been challenged considerably in his lady’s service. Seanna had stated it as much less than a day ago. “It makes you hot, doesn’t it?”
What he was being commanded to do was an empty, purely physical performance of his cock. It couldn’t compare with the deep fulfillment, the perfect solitude of being deep inside his lady while next to the fire blazing in her bedroom or lying in her bed together. But even as he thought it, he knew he couldn’t rationalize this moment to the purely physical. Being commanded to perform for his lady’s pleasure did have an emotional component to it. It roused a primal fury and lust in him he was incapable of explaining. With her eyes on him, he could get erect, could perform almost any sexual act required of him in public. Lord knew she’d tested him enough to know that.
The most recent memory of it was less than two weeks ago. She’d been at home, for it was daylight, but it was getting near twilight. He’d taken Bran with him on errands and had given him a break in a public park. They’d been running. Stripping off his T-shirt to play tug-of-war with the garment, Jacob had tussled with the dog. When he finally stopped, collapsing onto the grass in a shady group of trees on the edge of the mowed green, he’d felt her wake, reaching out with a mental touch to confirm awareness of his whereabouts.
There’d been a pair of women nearby, having a picnic. He hadn’t really noticed them until Lyssa saw them through his eyes. She registered what he had been oblivious to, their surreptitious, appreciative glances. His Mistress had commanded him to lie back on the grass. He’d been covered by distance and the shadow of the tree’s canopy so that no one else could see him but them. She’d commanded him to open his jeans, under which he wore nothing, lie there with one hand behind his head and stroke himself with the other as if he thought no one was watching.
Despite his discomfort, his lady had made it a command, her purring voice spurring him on, telling him how wet he was making those avidly watching women who were pretending not to notice so he wouldn’t stop. In the end, they were openly staring, and he was staring back, watching all the subtle, lovely signs of arousal. Peaked nipples, hands absently pressing to their throats, touching their own lips. The shift of their bodies, the tightening of thighs.
When he told his lady later he’d expected them to run screaming for the cops about a man exposing himself in the park, Lyssa had merely smiled. “Timing and presentation are everything to a woman, Sir Vagabond. And to vampires.”
So now as he strolled with apparent casualness along the diameter of the circle, he let his fingertips graze the bare backs of his petals, his touch whispering along their napes, catching the actual petals scattered there. They were on a slightly raised platform as well to put them at a better angle for being fucked by the waiting black men, so they were right at the level of his hand. Round and round the merry-go-round, slowly. Blond hair, silky brown, deep black. He paused once more by a redhead, then kept going.
Now as he walked, he unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it loose. Stripped off his belt as he removed his trousers and shoes, letting the strap swing from his hand. As he shrugged off the shirt, he held on to it, along with the belt.
When he reached Debra, he was naked. Bending, he took her hands. With his heightened third-mark senses, he knew she was cold, though mainly from nerves. So he brought her to her feet before him and threaded her arms through the sleeves. He looped the belt around her wrists, knotted it so he could place his hand on the joining point to walk through the space she’d just vacated and use the offered shoulder of the man behind her to step onto the dais. By the time they’d done that, another woman took her place as a petal to close the circle again.
The shirt came down to Debra’s bare thighs, the open front making a delectable display of the crescents of her breasts, her shaved and oiled mons. He heard some murmuring, sens
ed the vampires’ surprise at his choice to restrain her hands, play Dominant to her.
It was all for show. You intended to choose her all along.
Yes. He answered his lady, picked up on something dark in her thoughts, but couldn’t investigate it further as Belizar’s voice cut through the silent conversation.
“I’m certain Lord Brian will appreciate your interest in increasing his servant’s experience, since he has so little time to do so.”
Get on with it, you old bastard, Jacob thought.
So eager, are we?
He glanced toward Lyssa when he heard his lady’s acid thought, but she was not looking at him. She was studying Debra intently, somewhat like a cat examining a quivering mouse. She seemed particularly absorbed in the way his shirt hem grazed her thighs.
Debra wasn’t cut out for this, and no matter what Seanna said, no amount of training was going to do it. His precognitive ability told him she was one step away from a full- scale panic attack. She would shame her Master, and that terrified her even more. Her hands were shaking under his.
Maybe this was part and parcel of learning to be a servant in the vampire world, but he wasn’t sure if he could have done any of it from the beginning if his lady’s mind wasn’t inside his own, helping him get through it…
She is not going to be harmed, Jacob. She’s just learning to overcome her inhibitions to serve the pleasure of her Master. What about you, in that park, doing what you thought you couldn’t do? You got hard and came solely because of my voice in your mind. Goaded by those women’s eyes on your cock, the way they stayed glued to the way your hand was rubbing yourself.
Exactly. I could do that because you were there. It makes a difference. And Debra was a woman. Where the hell was Lord Brian to help steady her? Protect her.
She has a different type of Master. One I’m sure that makes her appreciate you all the more.
My lady?
Tend to your task and stop whining. You’re irritating me.
Frowning, he nevertheless had to do as she bid, for Belizar chose to add another element to the mix.
“Over the course of a century or two, Lady Lyssa has taught us all manner of ways to get along with one another, how to mend fences.” Belizar flashed Lyssa a smile that made Jacob want to roll his eyes. “There is some animosity between our two servants as a result of their conflict, Lady Lyssa. To get them to shake hands and be in accord again, Malachi will join your servant on the dais. While the lovely Debra takes your servant in her mouth, Malachi will take the other end. As it is obvious she needs some tutelage to understand total surrender, he will apply his sizeable cock to her far too tightly clenched ass. A virgin hole because our esteemed Lord Brian wishes only to fondle the sphincter of his microscope.”
More laughter from the Council members. From what Jacob had seen of Brian, he suspected the man would have stood up well to the razzing, perhaps even expected it. Debra, however, was another matter. Her shaking was growing by leaps and bounds.
Jacob managed to keep his reaction passive even as he suppressed the desire to snarl. When Lord Belizar gestured, Malachi moved from his side. The platform started to rise again, taking them up several more feet to increase the sense of being on a stage before the entire courtyard gathering. What little color remained in Debra’s cheeks drained out. Her eyes, fastened with intent desperation on Jacob’s chest, were getting glassy. He tightened his hold on her.
“Don’t you dare faint,” he ordered gruffly.
As Malachi came toward the dais, her head began to turn toward him. Jacob took a firmer grip on her bound hands, placing the other hand behind her neck to bring her up against the warmth of his body. Roughly he covered her mouth, demanding the kiss. He put all the seductive charm he had into it, coaxing her lips apart, moving his tongue inside, his fingers playing over the pulse on her wrists. He knew she was a true submissive, because most of the female servants were. So he used that knowledge, administering romantic, tiny caresses of her nape with his fingers, overwhelming her with the sweep of his tongue in her mouth, nibbling on her lips with his teeth. His thumb passed over the place on her throat he suspected was Brian’s preferred area because of the faint depressions there. Pressing her body against him, he gave her his heat, let her hear his heartbeat.
“Easy,” he murmured onto her lips. “Obey me as you obey your Master and it will be all right. I’ll take care of you.”
Her eyes sought his, no longer reflecting the self-possession of the scholar but the fear of the woman, grasping at his reassurance.
“Lie down,” he said with quiet authority, guiding her so she was on her stomach, lying on the body of the sculpture. Reaching between her thighs, he dragged his fingers through her pussy lips to find her wet despite herself. She rocked against his hand, a soft gasp coming from her. He guided her onto the sculpted erect cock, easing her down onto it as she gave a moan. It stirred the crowd, for Jacob felt the collective energy rising with her arousal. When fully seated on it, her hips were tilted up. The sculpture’s knee was bent, splitting the seam of her legs so they had to be braced on either side, positioning her for a perfect anal penetration and allowing her no way to resist the invasion. The statue had a raised hand. Into its palm, he guided her chin so she could take his cock in her mouth at a straight angle. Her breasts hung down, just the tips of her nipples grazing the face of the sculpture, stimulating her further.
The scent from her cunt was getting stronger, even as nervous tears started to trickle down her face. Reluctantly, it reminded him of Seanna’s words. She could be tearful and aroused at once, the situation stoking her need to be dominated. She’d allowed Jacob to step into the surrogate role, obviously realizing she needed something to anchor her so she didn’t embarrass Brian.
As Malachi was given a hand onto the dais, Jacob spoke in a mutter. “You hurt her, and I swear I will shove that spear up your ass.”
Malachi’s teeth bared in answer. Jacob noted his nose was almost healed, revealing how long he’d been a third-mark servant. The Mediterranean man’s hands immediately went to Debra’s buttocks, opening her up and using his thumbs to prod at his destination. He leaned down, putting his lips to her spine as she quivered.
To distract her, Jacob caught his hand in her hair, easing his length between her parted lips. She suckled him instantly, almost too roughly as Malachi apparently probed with his fingers and earned a jerk of response. He sent Jacob an unrepentant grin when Jacob flinched. Amusement swept through the watching vampires.
“An oral bit, if you please,” Belizar called out.
“No. She doesn’t—”
Jacob’s protest was overwhelmed by the supporting calls of the crowd. One of the black men was handed the metal contraption. He gestured Jacob back and Jacob reluctantly complied, forced to watch as the large dark fingers put it around Debra’s head, easily quelling her attempts to pull back. The circular metal ring was inserted past the upper and lower bridge of her teeth and buckled to her head so her mouth was kept open wide, allowing a man to slide himself in and out as rapidly and deeply as he wished.
Malachi raised the fingers of his other hand, which he’d swept over her cunt lips, taking them away glistening. “Her tears may be protesting, but her pussy’s not,” he observed loudly. “New slaves are the sweetest. So afraid of their own responses, so overwhelmed by them. Feed her your cock, Jacob. Let’s make her scream together. I want to feel her ripple around me, even as she gags on your big dick.”
Jacob registered the shuddering of her body, the quick jerks of her hips. While he abhorred the man’s attitude about it, Debra was powerfully stimulated. By the time she leaves here, she’ll have been brought to climax so many times, she’ll start internalizing the intense pleasure of being a submissive. Now he hoped Seanna was right, because he couldn’t deny his own response to the situation. He was hard as granite.
He slid his cock back in, felt her lips strain to close over him around the bit. The ease of going unencumbered p
ast her teeth was too tempting. He slid along the wet flat edge of her tongue where it rubbed against the underside of his cock with perfect friction in its restrained state.
He knew the moment Malachi began to enter even without looking, for Debra tensed.
“Tight little dry ass,” Belizar’s servant said silkily. His voice dropped down low, ensuring his words, like the sudden malevolence in his eyes, were only registered by Jacob. “I’m going to ram you hard, tear that virgin hole so you never forget my cock, never forget that a woman was made to submit. Think you’re so smart…Well you’re not so smart about this, are you?”
Damn the niceties, Jacob was going to tie the man’s dick in a knot, after he broke his fucking neck. Debra’s voice vibrated against his cock, a sound of pain and fear. He wasn’t going to stand by and see a woman brutally raped. No matter his conflicting feelings about the games of Domination and submission and the wavering lines they painted between consent and force, he knew where the line was at this moment. Clear and dark in the sand.
“A pause to the game, please.” Lyssa spoke abruptly, halting Malachi’s forward progress and Jacob’s murderous intentions. “Lord Belizar, I believe you offered me a wild card on this little game of yours.”
“I did, Lady Lyssa. What would you suggest to enhance our pleasure?”
“A fourth participant. Of my choosing.”
When Belizar inclined his head, Lyssa crooked her finger to someone outside the Council circle, nodding as a silent question was apparently asked and answered. She made the gesture more imperious. The murmuring intensified as Devlin stepped to her side.
“Strip and join Jacob on the dais,” she ordered. “He’ll tell you what he wishes you to do. Then you all may proceed with Lord Belizar’s desire.”
VQ 02 - The Mark of the Vampire Queen Page 27