Marked 2: Marked for Desire

by Jennifer Leeland

  Disappointment slithered through Sera. This man didn’t know anything. “How many others?”

  Shaun blinked. “What?”

  “How many other Nyral male assassins are there?”

  The killer’s lips tightened. “At least two others. Both of them have loved ones being held and tortured by the Brotherhood.”

  Damn it. Sera stared at the boy. It made sense. Nyral males, dominant, efficient, and protective of their families, would be perfect victims. Sera thought about Leo, how he’d gone crazy when Shaun had ambushed her. Nyral men would do anything to protect their families.

  “They tortured and raped my sister in front of me. I couldn’t do anything. I hate them. But if I defy them, if I fail, they’ll kill her.” An expression crossed his face. Something old and bitter rested in his eyes. “Every time I make a mistake, they rape her. If I don’t come back, they’ll kill her. We’d both be better off dead.”

  “Don’t think that,” Sera said softly. She slid over beside him and touched his hand. “Shaun—”

  “Princess.” Leo’s sharp tone made her jerk away from Shaun’s hand. Her mate’s face was hard, and his muscles bunched. Uh-oh. “What did I tell you?” The reddish glint appeared in his eyes.

  She cleared her throat. “You told me not to touch another man.” She stood up and brushed off her ass. “I’m not going to stop providing comfort on your say-so.” Proud of the fact her voice didn’t shake, she tipped her chin higher.

  “I also told you what would happen if you defied me in front of another dominant.” His eyes glowed. Oh shit, she’d blown it. And why did part of her get a thrill from that? Yeah, it made her hot to push Leo to the edge. Her heart pounded, and her blood burned in her veins. She should have been frightened, but her fear was swamped by excitement and need. She licked her lips, nervous, and reveled at the way his gaze focused on her mouth.

  He stalked toward her.

  She slid along the wall and shot a glance at Shaun. His gaze was also on her. It was like being under the regard of two panthers, one blond, one dark. A growl sounded from Leo, and he glared at Shaun. She had to distract him before he killed the assassin. “What did the council say?” Wasn’t that what he’d gone to the com room to do? Call the council? Her breath clogged in her throat. The tension in the room thickened, and she didn’t know why.

  “Shaun Fenway. Son of Roberto and Lyla Fenway. He disappeared along with his sister, Mira, two years ago.” Leo’s gaze focused on Shaun. “She was kidnapped?”

  Shaun swallowed. “Yes.”

  Sera added, “They threatened to kill her if he doesn’t come back and they rape her to torment him.”

  Leo raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” Sera heard the skepticism in his voice.

  “It’s all true,” Shaun protested.

  “The council will still punish you unless—” Leo glanced at her. She shivered. Whatever he had in mind, it was dangerous, erotic. The mark on her arm sizzled, and she clutched her hand over its surface, shards of pleasure cascading over her.

  “Unless?” Shaun asked him.

  “Unless you submit to me.” Leo stepped closer to her. “And her.”

  “No!” Shaun struggled to his feet and glared at Leo.

  What the hell was going on? Sera blinked. She didn’t understand. But Shaun did, and he didn’t like it.

  “Yes.” Leo moved and had Shaun shoved against the wall before she knew what he intended, his hand on the assassin’s throat. “Yield.”

  “There must be another way,” Shaun said desperately.

  Leo shook his head. “It’s submission. To whom, is the question.”

  Shaun’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean—”

  “Yes.”

  The assassin’s nostrils flared, and he nodded sharply. Leo released him from the restraints and forced him down to the polished floor.

  “I don’t understand,” Sera said, forcing the words from her suddenly dry mouth.

  Her mate’s blue eyes glittered. “I’m going to mark Shaun. It’s an alternate form of punishment in our culture, a way to bind a man. To burn my mark into his skin, I must be connected to my mate. You and I will create the heat to burn him, to mark him.”

  “You mean we have to—” She coughed and blinked. Did he mean to fuck her in front of this man?

  Leo lifted his lips in a sexy smile. “Yes, Princess. We have to mate to create the heat that will mark him.”

  His words were mesmerizing. “What kind of mark?”

  “Like a brand,” Leo said, and he glared at Shaun. “In fact, it’s much like branding with hot iron.”

  “What will he”—her gaze flicked over Shaun’s kneeling form—“be doing while we’re…” She didn’t seem to be able to finish a sentence. Heat swept through her. Visions of being fucked by her mate while the other man watched didn’t repel her at all. In fact, her pussy dampened, and she shifted restlessly.

  “Oh, he’s going to be dominated in accordance to our planet’s custom.” Leo narrowed his eyes. “He’ll surrender or suffer the consequences.”

  What was happening? Sera had been the one in charge, even when she played the submissive. Since Leo had marked her, she seemed to belong to him, connected in ways she couldn’t comprehend. This scene was no game. She would be his submissive here.

  Shaun’s face twisted in a vicious scowl. Leo raised his gaze to her. “Strip, Princess.” His voice was mean, hard. She didn’t want to listen to him. But the mate mark seared her skin, already burning, desperate for his attention, his cock, his touch.

  With hesitant fingers, she unbuttoned her flight suit and let it fall to the ground. Her underwear was next, tossed in a pile. It was both exhilarating and nerve-racking to stand naked in front of these two men, both staring at her, devouring her with their eyes. Shaun’s gaze was appreciative, but it was the desire in Leo’s that caused heat to spread over her skin. Whatever he demanded, she wanted to give him. Even though the unknown frightened her, it also thrilled her.

  “You defied me in front of another dominant, Princess. And this dominant needs to be punished for betraying the Nyral way of life.” Leo’s grip tightened on the back of Shaun’s neck. “I’m the one in charge here. You will both obey me.”

  Shaun jerked against Leo’s hold, but something in the way her mate held him contained him. It was so hot to see all that power restrained, controlled. Always, Sera had been the object of Leo’s domination. It fascinated her to watch him dominate another. Leo gripped the man’s coveralls. “Take them off.”

  A feral noise rumbled from Shaun. He glared at Leo but struggled out of the coveralls until he was naked. Leo wasn’t finished with him. “Now me.”

  Shaun’s gaze shot to Leo’s face. The assassin’s nostrils flared, and a muscle moved in his cheek. Leo gave him no room for argument. “Do it!”

  Sera couldn’t look away as Shaun flicked the buttons of her mate’s flight suit and yanked them down. It was stunning, brutal, fascinating. Her mate’s mark on his hip glowed bright, and his cock sprang free. The evidence of his desire made her breath catch.

  “Princess, lie down on your clothes, propped up on your elbows, legs apart.” Leo’s blue eyes glittered. “Your punishment is you can’t close your eyes. If you do, I’ll get you hot and never let you come.”

  She laid her coveralls on the stone floor, obeying his commands. Shaun strained against Leo’s hold, but her mate held him down. The assassin was on his knees just beyond her, facing her naked body, her legs open for him to see.

  Leo pressed his cock into Shaun’s back. “You’re going to suck her cunt. But it’s my cunt, Shaun. Mine. This will be your only chance to taste it, smell it. It’s all mine. You’re going to lick it for me.” His voice, insistent and dark, made Sera shudder. Yes, he would let Shaun touch her, but it would be Leo’s command. “While you’re sucking my cunt, traitor, I’ll be taking your ass.” Sera’s heart jumped. Leo’s words painted an erotic picture that caused her head to spin. Just the thought of Leo fucking Shau
n made her pussy wet.

  Shaun growled and reared back, his teeth snapping at Leo’s arm. Leo’s other hand gripped Shaun’s hair, then jerked the kneeling man’s head to face him. “Would you rather take the council’s punishment? They’ll give you to the Mistresses, who will use a strap-on dildo over and over until you’re begging for it, submissive to their needs. They’ll rob you of your dominance. But if I tell them I punished you, if I tell them your slate is clean, they’ll allow you to go free.”

  That made the man stop struggling. He stared up at Leo’s face. Leo nodded. “But to go free, you must submit to me. And to her.” Leo’s hand clenched in Shaun’s hair. “She is beyond you forever. When you see her, when your eyes catch a glimpse of her, you will remember that she is your mistress. She is over you. You will lick her like a servant licks a master’s boots. And you’d better make her come, Shaun.”

  Throughout the entire exchange, Sera’s pulse pounded. Her pussy heated, and she started to pant. Her mate was weaving words, fantasies, that made her hot, made her want him. Leo released Shaun’s hair and pressed him forward until the assassin’s mouth hovered over her clit.

  Shaun’s ass was in the air, and Leo met her gaze while his fingers rimmed the man’s tight hole. Propped up on her elbows, she stared at the way Shaun’s skin changed color, a heated flush spreading over his face. His breath was hot on her slit. She resisted the urge to arch into his mouth.

  Leo stared at her, only her. “Play with your tits, Princess. Make those beautiful nipples hard. God, you smell so good.”

  To follow his command, she had to lie back. She moaned. Leo’s voice, his stare, his erect cock all flooded her senses. She plucked at her nipples, rolled them between her fingers, molten lava careening through her veins. But she obeyed him and kept her eyes open. And what a feast Leo had laid before her. Two gorgeous, dominant men, worshiping her, fucking her.

  Leo’s blue eyes glowed. “Push his face into my cunt, Princess.” She reached up and gripped Shaun’s hair, pressing his head down into her pussy lips.

  The first scrape of Shaun’s tongue made her groan and shift restlessly. She kept the grip on Shaun’s head, grinding into his mouth, demanding his service, his tongue. Higher, hotter, needier, she kept her gaze on her mate’s face as the waves of pleasure hit her. She was close. So close.

  “Stop!” Leo commanded, and his fingers slid out of Shaun’s ass. Both she and Shaun groaned in protest. Shaun was panting, his hazel eyes clouded, focused on her pussy. Leo’s gaze, hard and controlled, met hers. “Watch me. Watch us, Princess. Watch what you started by denying you’ve become a Nyral mate. He is submissive to you, so you’d better master him. The rage of my possession of him was caused by you. It’s time you understood what it means to be mine.”

  Fascinated, she was riveted. Leo jammed his dick inside Shaun’s ass, stretching him. Shaun made a keening sound, his breath hot on her clit. Suddenly he raised his face, now contorted, but Sera couldn’t tell if he was in pain or in the throes of pleasure. Leo began to move inside him, hard and fast. “Princess, we’re going to fuck Shaun together. First, he’s going to make you come with his mouth. Then you’re going to fuck him with that sweet pussy of yours.”

  Shaun’s eyes were wild, his nostrils flared, his skin hot. Taken. She knew how that felt. It was amazing and frightening.

  Leo slammed hard into Shaun’s ass, which shoved the man’s face into her pussy. She arched, so damn close that it only took one suck, one moment of Shaun’s mouth clamped on her clit to send her into oblivion. She screamed, her arm burning, her back arched, her muscles strained while the pleasure ripped through her. “Leo!” she shouted.

  Both men growled, one with his face between her legs.

  “Don’t you dare come, Shaun.” Leo’s voice was harsh.

  Shaun thrashed beneath Leo, his tongue still lashing her clit, bringing her closer to the brink again. Leo gripped Shaun’s hair and yanked his head back. Then Leo bent over him and grabbed Sera’s calf. Her mate’s insistent fingers dug into her skin, and he pulled her closer to him, closer.

  Shaun froze.

  It was Leo who positioned her, Shaun’s dick right at the entrance of her pussy. Leo flexed his hips and drove into Shaun, pushing him into Sera. Shaun speared her, driven deep by Leo’s powerful thrusts. The sight of her mate buried inside Shaun only increased her tension, her muscles clenching. She arched upward, Shaun’s hot breath on her breasts, her gaze locked with Leo’s hot, passionate one.

  “Do you want to come again, Princess?” Leo’s tone was gritty.

  “Yes yes yes,” she said in time with his thrusts.

  “My pussy. Say it.”

  “It’s your pussy,” she said breathlessly.

  “Come for me. Now.”

  When Leo reached out and gripped her marked arm and yanked it to his mouth, she exploded, her pussy clenching around Shaun’s dick. Her hips were out of control, the waves washing her away, floating, needing an anchor. “Leo.” His name escaping from her lips made him groan against her arm, causing another earthquake to shatter through her.

  Leo tore his mouth away from her arm and made an animalistic sound that thrilled her. He pounded into Shaun’s ass, sending the man’s dick deeper into her pussy. Deeper. Harder. It was all in Leo’s control. She shattered into a million pieces like a new star born, hot, explosive, bright. She kept her gaze on Leo and watched his face contort with pleasure as he shot cum into Shaun’s ass. “Come, Shaun, now!” he commanded.

  Shaun shouted as he came inside her, his knees buckling, and he collapsed on top of her. Another wave of intense pleasure swamped her. Her mate mark sizzled, the burning almost unbearable. She rolled into pleasure, dark edges around her vision. Her breath stopped; her body bent like a bow. It was too much, too intense. Desire. Possession. Need.

  Leo had mastered her, her planet, and this assassin.

  “Leo,” she whispered as her body shuddered. And when she said it she meant Master.

  He’d said she would call him “Master.” In every way that mattered, she had.

  Chapter Nine

  To have them both submit beneath him was intoxicating, and Leo had to catch his breath. The dragon burned still, even after being pressed against Shaun’s skin. He wanted to hold his mate, to reassure her. She had participated in something very few outside of his culture experienced and had submitted to his every command. His first instinct was to touch her, give her some tenderness, but he had to deal with the man he’d just dominated. On shaky legs, he stood and pulled Shaun to his knees. “We are bonded as Dominant and submissive. You will be submissive to me and to my mate until we die.”

  “Yes, Master,” the man whispered.

  “Now, get up!” The sharp command worked, and Shaun scrambled to his feet. Leo turned him and inspected the man’s ass. Sure enough, a faint impression of the dragon had burned onto one of his taut cheeks. “You wear my mark, Shaun Fenway. Your slate is clean.”

  The man didn’t turn around, didn’t move, his head bent. When his princess moved toward Shaun, her hand outstretched, he shook his head sharply. Leo knew Shaun would have to come to terms with his new status. He was still a Nyral dominant, but he would be Leo’s submissive always, forever. It was better than the psychological scars the Mistresses left. Shaun could still dominate. The Mistresses took that from a man.

  Shaun took a deep breath and turned around, his hazel eyes dark. His mouth was a tight line. “I accept your mark, Master.”

  Leo stepped closer and placed his hand on Shaun’s shoulder. Surprisingly, Shaun allowed the touch. “You do not have to call me ‘Master’ again. I will never speak of this, and neither will the princess.”

  Shaun’s nostrils flared, and he nodded once. “What now?”

  “We try and save your sister.”

  * * *

  It was going to be tricky. Leo paced the com room. Once Shaun contacted the Brotherhood, they would definitely have company.

  Shaun pressed the channel to send the
vid call. Leo and the princess stayed out of range, out of sight. A moment later, a masked figure answered.

  “Shaun Fenway, we are aware of your situation. Please hold for Father Pestori.”

  Leo noted Shaun’s face lost all color. Whoever this Father Pestori might be, he scared Shaun shitless.

  The screen blanked for a moment, and then a robed and hooded man appeared, holding in front of him a woman, young, with dark hair and wide, frightened brown eyes. “Mira,” Shaun said in a low tone.

  The woman’s lips shook, her helpless fear communicating through the vid stream. Leo’s hands clenched. His princess put an arm around his waist, her warmth comforting him. There wasn’t much to see on the screen. Darkness shrouded the background behind the two figures, and yet Leo had no doubt several men surrounded the leader and the helpless woman.

  “Shaun Fenway, you have failed in your assignment.” The figure’s voice was distorted. Even with their own men, the leaders of the Brotherhood wouldn’t show themselves. Leo ground his teeth together. The cowards.

  “No, Father. I am stranded, but I can complete my assignment.” Shaun’s voice sounded two octaves higher.

  “We know all. You are captured. Do you think we don’t know what you’ve done?”

  Shaun’s hands shook by his sides. “Father—”

  “The cause is in jeopardy because you have failed to kill the princess. What price should you pay?”

  “Take my life, please, Father. My sister is innocent.” Shaun’s jaw clenched when his sister’s eyes closed briefly.

  “Punishment is swift.” The figure tore the clothes from the helpless woman in his arms. “Mira Fenway will service the Brotherhood until you return with the blood of the princess.”

  “No, Father, please!”

  Leo had no doubt they were all going to have to watch as Mira was raped on the vid stream. But Mira acted before Shaun could fall to his knees and beg. She twisted in the priest’s grip, and the flash of a knife appeared. With a bloodcurdling scream, she plunged the knife into his chest over and over. Shouts sounded, and explosions from blasters crackled over the com.