by Ivy Barrett
Inventory took Petra a matter of moments, leaving only the strange woman and the surly man. She’d dismissed Drey Fon as unimportant, so her gaze focused on the woman.
“Do you have a name?”
“She doesn’t speak your language,” Drey Fon said.
“You may call me Ratauni, though that is not my name.”
Petra shot Drey Fon a challenging glance as the woman approached. Thick blue-black hair fell in a silken sheet to her hips. She could make a fortune as a Pleasure Mistress with that commanding voice and those high, firm breasts. Ratauni took Petra’s hand and guided it to her breast. Snatching her hand away, Petra released a nervous laugh.
“You have a beautiful body. I might enjoy looking at you, but I don’t want to touch.”
“You lie.” Blue fire flashed for an instant in the depths of her dark eyes.
“Ratauni, leave her alone. See if her friend is interested.”
Ebon’s eyes widened as Ratauni turned toward him. “I have seen Petra’s face before, but you are unknown to me.”
What the hell did that mean? Petra started to protest then shut her mouth. More than sexual awareness crackled in this room. She sensed…evil. Looking around with new interest, she noted the contents of the simple shelves and the crude instruments arranged on the worktable. Drey Fon was a sorcerer!
“Thanks for your hospitality. We’re going to stay in the village.” Petra took a step toward the door and Drey Fon slammed it closed with the wave of his hand.
Ebon lunged for him and Drey Fon flung him against the far wall before her guard could even draw his weapon. A low groan escaped Ebon as he crumbled to the dirt floor.
“Ratauni, what do you know of this female?” Drey Fon asked.
“While the golden man licked Serena’s pussy, he saw this one’s image.” Her smile turned cruel as her gaze returned to Petra. “He felt only fury and loathing until he banished you from his mind.”
Drey Fon approached Petra so suddenly she didn’t see him move. His hand grasped the back of her hair and she cried out. “I haven’t hurt you—yet. Are you looking for someone?”
“Yes. A man with sun-streaked brown hair. Some might call it golden.” His hold was firm. It only hurt if she tugged against him.
“Why do you seek this man?”
“He took something that belongs to me.”
“She lies,” Ratauni sneered. “She wants to fuck him so badly she trembles at the thought. This one is lusty. I like her.”
“Show her the golden man. See if it is the same man she seeks.”
Ratauni reached out her hand and Petra twisted, shrinking away from the impending touch. “What does she mean to do? What is she?”
“Aren’t you curious? You’ve come all this way.”
He held her steady while Ratauni entered her mind. Petra cried out, battling the invasion with everything she had. She sensed Ratauni’s power and her demonic nature, and was repulsed by her evil.
“Stop fighting,” Drey Fon insisted. “It won’t hurt if you just let her.”
Revolted as much by her helplessness as by the demon’s taint, Petra felt bile rise into the back of her throat.
“Watch,” Ratauni whispered. “This is the golden man.”
All she saw at first was the woman’s slim body arching and twisting as the man feasted between her thighs. One of her legs draped his shoulder and her black hair fanned out around her like spilled ink. She looked like Ratauni, and yet she did not. She…
“The man,” Ratauni reminded her, “look at the man.”
The woman cried out, her body shaking with a powerful orgasm. He let her leg slide down his arm, but he continued to lick her pussy. His lips gleamed with her cream and passion burned in his dark eyes. Just as she’d thought! It was Iram. At least that’s what he’d called himself when he introduced himself in Matthias’ lab.
“Yes, that’s the man I’m searching for.” She shoved the demon back and turned on Drey Fon. “Why don’t you tell me why your pet looks just like that woman! Could it be we want the same thing?”
“Ratauni, wake up Ebon and have him feed you. Petra and I need to talk.”
The she-demon sashayed across the lodge and knelt beside Ebon.
“Will it harm him if he fucks her? I presume that’s how she feeds.”
“Why would that be your first presumption?” He watched her closely. “I saw recognition in your eyes. Could it be you’ve dabbled in the dark arts yourself?”
“I’ve dabbled in many things. Now tell me about the woman.”
Ratauni unfastened Ebon’s shorts and woke him with her mouth. After a shocked gasp, he closed his eyes and accepted her eager attention.
“I have a better idea.” Drey Fon slipped his arm around Petra’s shoulders, refusing to release her as she twisted and arched. “Tell me everything you know about Ratauni’s golden man and I might command her to stop before she literally sucks the life out of your companion.”
Chapter Nine
Matthias stood paralyzed in the doorway, damning himself for a fool as his heart shattered for the second time. Petra grasped one of her lover’s hips, taking him deep into her mouth as the other fucked her hard and fast from behind. Matthias had known she was growing restless, had sensed her emotional reserve. Why had he ever allowed himself to imagine he could satisfy her when so many others had tried and failed?
“Shit!” The man enjoying her mouth jerked backward and reached for his discarded pants.
The one fucking her pussy didn’t pause. His forceful gyrations jostled her breasts and filled the room with the unmistakable slap of damp flesh against damp flesh.
Did she know these men, or had she picked them up on the training floor of the Dark Star? She looked to the side and saw him standing in the doorway. Her brow creased and regret clouded her gaze.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured an instant before Matthias slammed the door.
He ran, fleeing the anger, trying to outdistance his own stupidity. A frustrated yell tore from his throat as hands shook him. A distant voice called his name. But it wasn’t his name, not really…
“Matt, wake up,” Serena urged. “You’re dreaming again.”
Blinking away the past, he sat up in bed. Sweat trickled down his back while his heartbeat echoed in his ears.
“Are you all right?”
“A dream? It was just a dream.” He panted. “What is wrong with me?”
“It’s not entirely unexpected.” She smoothed his hair back from his face and drew his gaze to hers. “As we break down your defenses, the stronger emotions will rebound.”
Moonlight streamed in through the window, gleaming off her hair and shining in her eyes. His heart leapt within his chest as her beauty caressed him. How had she come to mean so much to him in such a short time?
He pulled her into his arms, arranging her astride his lap. Her scent soothed him and her warmth enticed. He wanted her taste in his mouth and her shape imprinted on his body. Pressing her against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and waited for the urgency to pass. It was adrenaline, a side effect of the nightmare.
So why did she feel perfect in his arms?
“Better?” she whispered.
“It took me a lifetime to accumulate these…demons. I guess I can’t expect them to disappear overnight.”
She eased back, gazing into his eyes. The tenderness he saw there was humbling. He’d done nothing to deserve her affection.
“You’re doing very well. Each time I summon your soul strands they’re brighter and flow more smoothly.”
He ran his index finger from her temple to her chin. “And you freely express your sexuality each time we touch. I guess Miranda knew what she was doing.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
The hesitation in her tone sent dread rippling through his being. “You can always ask.”
She smiled. “But you’re not obligated to answer?”
“What do you want to know?”
> “When I study soul strands, I’m able to absorb what the person is feeling and see images if they are especially strong.”
“You read minds as well as auras?” he teased, wanting to lighten the conversation.
“I suppose that description fits as well as any.” She squirmed restlessly, her expression suddenly guarded.
“Did you see my dream?” It didn’t take a lot to imagine why she was fidgeting.
“Yes, but I don’t understand what I saw.”
“I walked in on my former lover with two other men. What’s confusing about that?”
“I was able to see the woman.” She cupped the side of his face as her gaze searched his features. “I was also able to see you. This is not your natural appearance, is it?”
He’d known this moment would come. He’d done everything he could to prepare her for the final revelation. If she thought of him as an assignment, what he was about to say wouldn’t matter. But if her feelings had deepened, she had a right to know the truth—all of it.
His feelings had transcended mutual desire the first time he sensed her moving through his mind. She was vibrant and intelligent, caring, yet powerful. Falling in love with her had been the most natural thing in the world—building a future together might well be the most difficult.
“How do I explain this to you?” Necessity strengthened his resolve. He had to make her understand.
“I’ve seen other images. I might be closer to understanding than you realize.”
“Other nightmares?” She nodded. “What did you see?”
“One scene has reoccurred several times. The man before me now wrestles with the man I saw watching his unfaithful lover. You strangle the other man and tell him you can’t live until he dies.” She licked her lips and glanced away before asking, “Did you…take over another man’s body?”
“In a way. I’d been working on my most sophisticated cyborg ever when I found out I was dying. I know my epiphany wasn’t unique. Most people who face death reassess their lives. The difference was I had the ability to give myself a second chance. When my body died, I transferred my memory, my personality and…my soul into my latest invention.”
Following the contour of his face with her fingers, she descended along his neck, then down his arms. He held his breath, waiting for her reaction.
“You’re not…real?” she whispered.
He exhaled a shaky breath. “You can see me, touch me, smell me. Of course I’m real.”
“But you’re not human?”
“Would this have been less upsetting if I had transferred my being into someone else’s body?”
She crawled off his lap, moving to the foot of the bed. He’d expected the retreat and still his heart ached… He didn’t have a heart. He had a pulmonary pump and a simulated heartbeat. Shaking away the momentary gloom, he gave himself a firm mental shake. How could he help her see beyond his biomechanical housing if he fixated on it himself?
“Nothing has changed, Serena. I’m the same person I was—”
“Are you a person or a machine?”
“I think. I experience emotions. For God’s sake, I have nightmares. Everything that made me Matthias is still present in Matt.”
After covering her breasts with her hair, she drew the blanket across her lap. “This is why your soul strands are so faint.”
Her comment had been quiet and thoughtful, but his mind latched on to the concept. “But I have soul strands. Does a machine have a soul?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Yes you do. You’ve touched my mind, melded with my spirit. Am I just a machine?”
“I don’t know!” Swinging her feet to the floor, she hurried across the room and snatched her robe off its peg. “All my life I’ve been taught that technology is an outward sign of man’s ambition and twisted priorities.”
“Do you believe that?”
“Not really. Technology doesn’t make people evil, and those who shun technology can be even more twisted than…” Her lips trembled and tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. We were brought together for a reason. I have no doubt about that. But…”
“Nothing has changed.” He scooted to the edge of the bed, longing to embrace her yet knowing she wasn’t ready for his touch.
“I need to think.”
“You need to feel. All the answers are there in your heart.” There was nothing more to say until she’d had time to analyze her emotions. He donned his soratti and slipped from the cottage, standing guard outside the door.
* * * * *
Petra wrapped her arms around her torso and rocked back and forth, lost in sexual frenzy. After she told Drey Fon a fragmented version of the truth, he joined the other two on the makeshift bed. Ebon lay on his back, arms raised above his head while the she-demon rode him vigorously.
Security feeds at the Dark Star continually inundated Petra with sex acts and she seldom felt more than a fleeting tingle. Hunger pulsed around her now, savage and raw. Helpless against the compulsion, she unfastened the front of her shorts and slipped her hand inside, leaning against the rustic table.
“Take them off,” Drey Fon ordered. “I won’t force you to participate, but I want to see what you’re doing.” He straddled Ebon’s chest and pushed his cock into Ratauni’s mouth as he waited for Petra to obey.
The demon grabbed Drey Fon’s hips, effortlessly controlling both men with her slender body. She impaled herself on Ebon and swallowed Drey Fon with alternating turns. Tossed by her violent rocking, her hair whipped and swirled around her naked torso.
Petra pushed her shorts past her hips then kicked them aside. Drey Fon watched her closely. She unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse then pulled it off over her head.
Beneath her sensible hiking gear, she wore a cupless bra and silk thong. Seeing the provocative underwear, Drey Fon pulled out of Ratauni’s mouth and returned to Petra’s side.
“What sort of garments are these?” His erection bobbed, still wet from the demon’s mouth.
“You’ve never seen lingerie before?”
He caught one of her nipples and pressed until she gasped. “A woman would only wear such garments if she expected a lover to see them. You said Matt was not your lover.”
“He isn’t. He stole money from my business partner. I explained this to you.”
“Then who are these garments meant to entice?” Grasping her other nipple, he pinched both, the sensation rolling from pleasure to pain and back.
“Can’t you guess?” She nodded toward Ebon. “He ensures my satisfaction as well as my safety.”
“Does he now?” He spun her around and bent her over the table. She expected him to part her thighs and thrust into her pussy. God knew, she was wet enough to take him. Instead, he examined her thong. He traced each side then hooked his finger beneath the middle strap and followed it into the crack between her ass cheeks. “You’re soaking wet.” His breath stirred her hair as he whispered the words into her ear. He snapped one side and then the other, dragging the scrap of material across her folds as he discarded the ruined thong. “Move your legs apart.”
What would he do if she refused? He’d said he wouldn’t force her—until he saw her fuck-me underwear. She ached, needing his fingers, or better yet, his cock moving fast and hard inside her. With a defeated whimper, she made room for him between her thighs.
He traced her crease and teased her anus, building her arousal without pushing inside. She rocked her hips and shimmied in silent invitation. His free hand grasped the back of her neck, holding her in place, while his fingers parted her folds.
“Do you want my fingers or my cock?”
“Who said I wanted either?” She felt obliged to offer some objection.
In a flash, his hand released her and slapped her ass cheek hard. She cried out then moaned. Heat suffused the sting, driving the sensation deeper. She shivered and her core rippled. God, that felt good!
“Dishon
esty is punished. Your cunt is so wet it’s running down your thighs. You want me inside you. You can’t deny it.”
He slapped her other ass cheek, pausing while her body registered the full range of pleasure-pain. Her fingers curled over the far side of the table and she moved her legs farther apart.
“Does your body respond to pain as well as pleasure?”
The second slap had just about made her come. Denial was rather pointless. “Yes.”
“Oh good. Ratauni won’t allow me to hurt her.” He paused for a moment then returned with a slim, flexible reed.
Petra quaked, anticipation nearly unbearable. Did he know what he was doing? Could he control himself well enough to prevent real damage? Fear curled through her, every bit as stimulating as lust.
The reed whistled as he brought it down across her ass. She screamed, the pain far more intense than she’d expected. He paused. “Too hard?”
Her clit throbbed and the table abraded her nipples. “Almost.” She was shocked that he cared enough to ask. He expertly landed the second blow in the delicate crease where her ass met her thighs. “Yes, oh God, yes!”
Ebon cried out sharply, the sound of his climax unmistakable.
Petra’s core clenched, needful and empty. Drey Fon found her clit and pulled on the nub, accentuating the throb deep inside her.
“Ratauni, don’t let him rest. Use your mouth to make him hard again. I want to watch Petra fuck him.” He accented the comment with the reed.
Lust spiraled through Petra. Her need was so demanding, she didn’t care who filled her as long as she was filled. Even the pain had been a tease. Drey Fon circled her vaginal opening with his fingers, gathering cream to lubricate her ass. She trembled as he pushed past her sphincter. Just a few strokes against her clit and she’d burst into flames.
“Please,” she cried.
His fingers slid in and out, in and out, mocking her with his leisurely speed. “Doesn’t that feel good? You’re tight, but not too tight. You’ve obviously done this before.”
“I need to come.”
“I know you do.” He pulled his fingers out and drew her away from the table. “That’s good, Ratauni. Now move out of the way. Petra has need of that cock.”