Chapter Six
Echo wrapped her hands around the chains attached to her cuffs and concentrated on her breathing. Varrik’s tongue pushed between her lips. She repressed the resulting tingle and narrowed her focus. Already her body ripened, melted, and readied itself for him. He was the enemy! She could not allow herself to surrender so easily.
If her father managed to rescue her before the five days elapsed, so much the better. If not, this was a small price to pay to ensure her and E’Lanna’s freedom.
As Varrik’s lips wandered from her mouth to her temple, she turned her attention inward and gathered energy. She’d only done this once before, but Mistress Gowan had commended her on the placement and the effectiveness of her reproductive shield. She constructed a dense barrier and placed it over the mouth of her womb. He could take her as often as he liked, and no child would result from their joining.
“Tell me about your sister,” he whispered above her ear. His fingers pushed up under her breast, his thumb teasing the fullness, while the nipple ached.
“My…sister?”
“You said she’s sleeping with her bodyguard. Don’t your parents suspect?”
She stared up at the ceiling, trying to ignore the gentle brush of his fingers and the heated stir of his breath. He wanted her to relax, to succumb to his carnal spell. She’d focus on E’Lanna, fill her mind with innocent childhood images.
“E’Lanna is oldest. She has always been responsible and obedient. Our brothers can do no wrong, so that left me to challenge our parents.”
Propping his elbow on the bed, he rested his head on his hand and stared down at her. “Go on. How did you challenge your parents?” His fingers danced across her skin, touching, teasing, without ever lingering in one place for long.
“I know what you’re doing.” She tightened her grip on the chains and pressed her thighs together. A slow, persistent throb erupted in her core, accenting her emptiness, anticipating his entry.
“I’m treating you like a person, learning a little about you. Would you rather I stop?”
“I’d rather have this over with for tonight.”
He chuckled and passed his thumb over her neglected nipple. “Sweetheart, there’s a lot more to this than shoving my cock inside you. I’m going to teach you how to enjoy being a woman.” He circled her nipple with his fingertip, then rolled it, increasing the pressure until she gasped. “Did you enjoy having my mouth on you? Your nipples are wonderfully responsive.” He bent to her breast and closed his lips around her nipple. “Does this feel better than my fingers?”
“Yes.” He was going to explore every inch of her body, test and tease until she lost her mind. No, until she lost her inhibitions. His mouth drew on her with firm suction. The pulling sensation spiraled down through her torso and lodged between her thighs. Pressing her legs together only made the aching worse.
His warm chest pressed against her breasts and she felt the chain tighten. She hadn’t even realized the tether was still lax until that moment. She’d held herself still for him without even needing to. Why did he affect her like this?
He moved lower, trailing his fingers across her belly. She turned her face away. He wasn’t making this easy. She didn’t want to feel anything. He was a means to an end. No, less than that. Despite his gentle hands and easy smile, he was a criminal.
Fascinated by her hairless mound, he cupped her, squeezed gently, then eased lower to explore her folds. She held her breath. This wasn’t right. She couldn’t just lie here and let him. Could she? If she didn’t, E’Lanna would be subjected to the lottery. Still, she should kick, put up some sort of a fight.
“You’re so soft.”
“Varrik, please, I can’t do this.” Her legs trembled, tension rippling through her thighs.
He scooted off the end of the bed and reached for something she couldn’t see. “Are you asking to be released from your vow, or would these help?” He pulled cuffs up from the foot of the bed and waited for her answer. Staring into his eyes, she spread her legs and placed her ankles in the cuffs.
She had no choice but to feel, no option but surrender. He activated the restraints and placed a cushion under each knee, then adjusting the tension on the chains, he locked her into place. She was completely subdued, spread before him like a pagan sacrifice. So, why did she feel…liberated?
The pressure banding Varrik’s chest grew so painful, he had to look away from Echo’s naked body. He’d restrained his lovers before. None of this was new, so why was he reacting like a boy fresh out of sexuality training? Granted, she was young and beautiful, but he’d mounted beautiful women before.
Mounted. Why did he recoil from the term? It had never bothered him before. Echo was innocent, pure, vulnerable, utterly dependent on him for her pleasure. He swallowed hard. His cock bucked, more than ready to initiate her. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to crawl between her legs and thrust inside. She deserved better. She deserved a lover who would cherish her. He could never be that lover, but he could make this good for her.
She was positioned perfectly for his pleasure, for their pleasure. He placed one knee on the bed and watched her face. She licked her lips and clutched her chains. Was she frightened?
“Echo.” It took a long time before she met his gaze. “I need to see your eyes. Don’t close them or look away.”
She nodded, her lips parted and moist. He raised his other knee to the bed and knelt between her thighs. Her folds gleamed, and her nipples had gathered into tight, crimson points. This wasn’t simple anticipation. Being bound excited her. He’d suspected as much the night before.
He slid his hands down her inner thighs together, his thumbs brushing over her folds at exactly the same time. She made a strangled sound in the back of her throat, and her eyes clouded with desire. Hot and wet, her slit beckoned his touch, his kiss.
Her thighs trembled and her belly quivered as she unconsciously pulled against the cuffs. He’d seen this before. She wasn’t struggling against the restraints; she was testing the security of their embrace, needing the confinement. Mesmerized by her reaction, he rubbed his fingers against her mound, savoring the silky-smooth texture and indirectly massaging her clit.
“Oh.” She gasped. “How are you… I’m going to…” Her bottom clenched and her back arched as an orgasm tore through her.
Before the sensations receded, he parted her folds and swiped his tongue from her opening to her clit. He wanted to coax responses from her, to seduce her senses if not her mind. She was so receptive, so passionate. Already she’d yielded to the pleasure, accepted more than he’d dare hope. Tracing her slit with his middle finger, he circled her entrance several times before pushing inside. Mara help him, she was tight. Her inner muscles gripped him, and he moaned. Hot, wet, his. It was all he could do not to take her fast and hard.
He tongued her clit, circling and flicking the sensitive bud until her core flooded with a fresh rush of cream. He rotated his wrist, working his finger deeper. She was so damn tight, but he hadn’t encountered a hymen. Her virginity had been an unwanted obstacle. It was to his advantage if she felt only pleasure. Keeping his tongue busy over her clit, he moved his finger in and out. She gasped with each penetration and sighed as he pulled back. Only after he could move easily did he introduce a second finger.
Excitement zinged through him, sparking sensations and heat. Her smell intoxicated him and her taste made him ravenous for more. He felt dizzy and anxious and restless all at once. He had to feel her come, had to hear her scream with the intensity of her release. Pushing his fingers in as far as he could reach, he fastened his lips around her clit and sucked. She cried out, her inner muscles pulsed as her orgasm neared. He released her clit and drilled her with his fingers, building the pressure, pushing her higher.
Taking her to the edge with relentless care, he had her trembling with need before he withdrew his fingers and pressed his mouth against her folds. He held her open with the pressure of his lips while his tongue
aroused her further. Flicking her clit and stabbing into her core, he savored her essence and relished her cries.
She arched into his torrid kiss, pushing herself onto his tongue. Gripping her hips more firmly than he’d intended, he leaned into her, swirling and thrusting, his nose rubbing her clit. She screamed, and the rhythmic spasms of her passage nearly pushed him over the edge. He would not, could not come until he was buried deep inside her.
Gasping for breath, he reluctantly lifted his mouth and looked into her eyes. Her entire body was flushed and trembling with little aftershocks. She stared at him in dazed wonder, her gaze luminous. Her taste was addictive, her body snug and hot. She responded with uninhibited passion. How in Mara’s name would he ever give her up?
Echo couldn’t think, could scarcely breathe. Nothing in her limited experience had prepared her for this. Varrik had touched her with almost reverent care, then gradually increased the intensity until he claimed her with his tongue. His tongue! He’d worked her to orgasm with his tongue. And she had reveled in every minute of it.
The blue rings in his eyes glowed with possessive desire. Her nipples tingled and sensations rippled through her abdomen. The savage demand in his gaze frightened and thrilled her. If his kiss had become so aggressive, how would she survive the rest?
She turned her face away, trying to catch her breath. He grasped her chin and turned her head back around. Her protest died with the first thrust of his tongue. He smelled like passion, tasted like her shameless response to his claiming. With a whimper, she stroked her tongue against his, accepting the unfamiliar taste, acknowledging her surrender.
Something blunt and warm pressed against her opening. She trembled beneath him. He wouldn’t hurt her. She’d had sex before, yet it had been nothing like this. Kiel had been tender and sweet. Varrik conquered, ravished with passionate skill.
“Relax. You’re more than ready, I made sure of it.”
He drove inward. Her body opened, surrounding him, accepting him. He pulled almost out, then thrust hard. She gasped, and a violent shudder racked her body. He drove in farther and farther, not stopping until their bodies were flush. She felt incredibly full, stretched just short of pain.
“Am I hurting you?” he whispered into her damp hair.
Unable to form the word, she managed to shake her head.
He slipped his hands beneath her bottom and rocked back onto his knees. Keeping his length buried inside her, he bent to her breasts, nuzzling first one and then the other. He sucked and licked while she marveled at the persistent fullness of his thick shaft. How did he restrain himself when he was obviously desperate for release?
With infinite care, he pulled back, until only the flared head remained inside her. He eased his hand between their bodies and circled her clit as he steadily filled her again. His first thrust had been hard and sudden. Each stroke that followed seemed incredibly long and deep. He stretched her, filling her more completely than she’d ever imagined.
He kept his movements slow and smooth until her body welcomed him with liquid heat. “Oh, yes,” he murmured. Shifting both hands to her hips, he thrust faster. Her breasts quivered, and each firm drive pulled against the cuffs. She canted her hips, relishing the pressure around her wrists and ankles. His pace turned frantic, self-control at last exhausted. His hands returned to her ass, squeezing and lifting as he took her with his powerful body and burning eyes. Pleasure soared, sweeping rational thought aside.
Heat swirled through her, cascading along her spine and erupting in her core. He thrust deep one last time. Tension corded his neck and his chest heaved. Gritting his teeth, he threw back his head and shuddered violently. His shaft bucked inside her, his seed exploding in forceful streams. Pleasure rolled through her, each tingling wave more intense than the last. She cried out and tightened her inner muscles, holding him the only way her position allowed.
Varrik shifted to his knees, and Echo whimpered. “Please.” The plaintive word escaped before she realized how much it revealed. She didn’t want to lose the fullness of their joining, but admitting the weakness was foolish, dangerous.
“I’m not going anywhere.” His passion-bright eyes burned into hers as they basked in the afterglow. “I should be angry with you, but this felt so good I won’t hold your lie against you.”
The Mystic barrier she’d created to block her womb wasn’t a lie, exactly, more like a deception. “I never lied to you.”
“You weren’t a virgin.”
“I never said I was.” Protected by the truth, she boldly met his gaze. “You overheard E’Lanna’s telepathic plea, and I told you I wasn’t as innocent as my sister believed.”
“So you did.” Reaching backward, he deactivated her ankle cuffs and drew her legs up along his chest until her heels rested on his shoulders. He pushed the cushions beneath her bottom and began to arouse her all over again. “You seemed to enjoy having my mouth on you. Have you ever pleasured a lover with your mouth?” She shivered, her inner muscles rippling around him. He chuckled at her reaction. “Does that mean you did and you enjoyed it, or you wanted to and—”
“I haven’t pestered you with questions about your lovers. What gives you the right to know all my secrets?”
“For the next five days, I’m your master. I have a right to anything that pleases me.” He bent her knees and spread her legs wide, thrusting deep. She gasped, bracing herself for the onslaught promised in his unyielding expression. His gaze narrowed, and his lips pressed into a furious line. He shifted his hips, his expression turning thoughtful. “What have you done?”
This time she knew exactly what he was asking.
“You know I can sense Mystic energy. Why did you believe I wouldn’t feel this?” He pulled out and crawled off the bed, his erection ebbing as his anger grew.
“I told you I would resist you with my dying breath,” she stated quietly. “You expect me to give up my child.”
He clenched his hands into fists, the blue rings in his eyes glowing brighter than they’d ever burned before. “You call this honor?” He gestured toward the apex of her thighs. “When I give my word, I keep it. I stayed true to my vow, even when my body—” Someone pounded on the privacy panel, interrupting his tirade. “Not now!”
The door slid open, and Echo tugged frantically at the wrist cuffs. Having Varrik see her like this was one thing. She would not be put on display!
Uncaring of his own nakedness, Varrik spun toward the door. “I said— Can this please wait, sir? I’m punishing my female.”
The abrupt change in Varrik’s demeanor sent a chill down Echo’s spine.
“So I see.” The panel slid closed behind the stranger, and he approached the bed.
Echo bent her knee and angled one leg over the other in a futile attempt at modesty. The man carried himself with the calm assurance that came only with great authority. Varrik had called him sir. This couldn’t be good. What was he doing here?
His dark eyes were ringed with blue, just like Varrik’s, but there was no resemblance in their features. Where Varrik’s were sculpted with unforgiving angles and high cheekbones, this man’s face was rounded and somewhat blunt. She looked back into his blue-ringed gaze and shivered. How many of the Shadow Assassins had Rodytes in their linage? She glanced between the two men, helplessness chewing at her gut.
“What can I do for you?” Though Varrik’s words were correct, his tone was tight and angry.
“Who is this woman?” the stranger demanded.
“I claimed her and her sister when I ventured to the world above.” The utter lack of expression in his features was telling in itself. “You gave me permission to hunt, sir. Is there a problem?”
Instead of reiterating his question, the stranger looked at Echo. “What’s your name, child?”
She hesitated. Would her situation go from bad to worse? At least she understood what Varrik wanted and why. She knew nothing about his superior. “Why do you want to know?”
One of his dark
eyebrows arched, and his gaze swept over her naked body. “Are you content with your situation?”
“How do you intend to better my situation?”
To her utter mortification, he ran two fingers in between her thighs and raised the shiny digits toward his nose. “I won’t chain you to my bed and cover you with my seed.”
“My claim is valid. It was pre-approved and—”
“Did you snatch her from Mystic Valley?”
Varrik moved closer, insinuating himself between the bed and the other man. “She is not a Mystic. Ask her if she is allowed inside the Conservatory.” His broad back partially obscured her view of the intruder.
“Are you a Mystic?” His angry gaze darted toward Echo, then returned to Varrik’s face.
Technically, she wasn’t a Mystic. Her abilities were scattered and unpredictable. She’d never bothered applying to the Conservatory. The Mystics tended to be passive and politically neutral. Early on, she’d chosen a different path.
He will barter you to the Rodytes. You must trust me in this. He is—
The man backhanded Varrik so hard his head snapped to the side and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “It is rude to talk behind an elder’s back, and you know it.” Shoving Varrik to the side, he faced Echo, his dark eyes narrowed. “Are you a Mystic?”
“No.”
“Then what were you doing in Mystic Valley?”
“My…cousin was getting married.” She suspected he knew her identity. If she lied now, it would only cast doubt on anything she told him.
“Why would a shapeshifter not be accepted by the Conservatory?” His tone snapped with demand.
“I can only hold a shift for a second or two. Though unusual, the ability is of no real use.”
“Except scanning open doors,” Varrik muttered.
“Did you know who she was when you targeted her?” the man asked Varrik.
Varrik took a moment to answer. He didn’t so much as glance at Echo. With his hands clasped behind his back and his gaze fixed on the older man’s face, he stated his case in a calm, precise tone. “When you gave me permission to hunt, you told me to choose carefully, to find a strong, healthy female, full of passion and energy.”
“I didn’t mean Mystic energy!”
“The Customs only precludes Mystics, sir,” Varrik insisted. “I know the law. She is not a Mystic. I am within my rights.”
The men stared at each other in strained silence, Varrik’s expression inscrutable, the elder’s filled with hostility. Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Echo reached out for E’Lanna.
“I will confer with the other elders and get back with you.” He turned on the ball of his foot and left the room.
Echo barely heard his departure over the rushing of blood through her ears. E’Lanna didn’t respond to her seeker pulse. Echo felt no shield, no telepathic trail, nothing. “She’s gone.” Echo twisted against her restraints, trying in vain to sit up. “I can’t sense her. E’Lanna is gone!”
Royal Obsession (Shadow Assassins 1) Page 14