Vampire Enslavement (Lords of Bondage)

by Corinne Balfour

  Modez knew that many of his fellow warriors were reluctant to put females to the sword. If the ban was lifted, they would be allowed to take captives. They wouldn’t all be killed. There would be no guarantee they would be treated well, but at least some would have a chance at life. A lucky few would even find themselves in a better situation than the one they endured prior to captivity.

  He had doubts that he could manipulate Diermont well enough to convince him to lift the ban, but he was willing to give it a try. Whining about the lack of bed servants could work if he was persistent with the nagging. Unfortunately, it was likely going to saddle him with a bedmate he didn’t want. None of Snotti’s ladies were the least bit appealing, neither for a mate or a mistress. They were shallow creatures who would sell their souls if they thought it would elevate their status. He hated the way they looked at him, like he was a trophy they could win. Kiera was the only one who didn’t look at him that way, but that was because she despised him. The others coveted his bite because being his mate would guarantee inclusion to all social events of the Season. Since they couldn’t be with the king, they wanted to be with someone who was close to the king. They wanted his rooms at the palace more than they wanted him. None were like Elsa, his favorite bed servant at the palace and the only one he had cared to visit for the past year. The dronusfly swarms could not have come at a worse time. He could not open a portal to the palace, which meant he couldn’t see Elsa.

  His walk had cleared his mind and relaxed him. The ladies had APS but he was on a mission of his own, which was ridding the villa of interfering females.

  Snotti and her ladies were camped out by one of the gardens. It wasn’t wise for them to be outdoors, but apparently Diermont had given permission for them to engage in some bird watching. At least they were close to the safety of the villa, but he didn’t trust them not to venture past the safe zone. He almost wished one of them would break the rules so he would have a reason to send them home. His eyes lingered on Kiera even though he tried to focus on the princess. The lady was a distraction, creeping into his thoughts and invading his dreams.

  Modez approached the ladies so he could play the blue-balled-in-danger-of-dying-male. He was ready to do pretty much anything to drive those annoying ladies away from the villa. His clothing was damp from an earlier swim in a nearby lake. He knew the ladies would find his dress, or lack of, offensive. At court, a male would never approach a lady without his formal tunic embroidered with the symbols of his hereditary house, linen trousers, and outer cloak fastened with an elaborate brooch. But they were not at court. He bowed his head in front of Snotti to give her the proper respect, even though he felt nothing but abhorrence for her. The princess was fond of him and it felt awkward that he couldn’t reciprocate her feelings. “Ladies. Which one will service me tonight? My balls are so heavy with seed that I can hardly move.” He hunched over and winced as if in pain, and when he walked forward, his movements were awkward with a laborious pace. “I fear I may fall in battle now that I lack my usual speed and dexterity.” He shook his head, spraying droplets of water into the air. “My concentration is shot to hell because all I can think about is how to rid myself of my engorged appendage.” He gestured to his sodden breeches and pumped his hips in a deliberately lewd manner. “I need relief from this affliction.”

  Snotti laughed in a nervous fashion. “Lord Halloran, you should have agreed to partake in the mating tests. Lady Prudencia was most willing to accommodate you.”

  “I want the fucking without the mating. I don’t want to chance one of my bites taking hold and trapping myself to one of these females.”

  “What you need is a whore,” Snotti said with disapproval in her voice. “You cannot use my ladies for such. Your request is insulting. To myself and my ladies.”

  “Forgive me. My brain fails to function when I’m sexually preoccupied.” His smile was cunning and sly. “I’m not the only one with this affliction. Many of my brethren have been voicing similar complaints.”

  Snotti’s eyes were full of suspicion. “If you are that desperate for a female, join the mating tests. The odds are in your favor that you’ll remain a free man when it is over. You’ll get intercourse from the deal.”

  “I’ve tried that, done that. Never again.” He gestured toward his midsection. The thin, dampened linen clung to his body and outlined every detail of his fully engorged shaft. Imagining what he could do to the irritating mongrel should he assert his power over her had given him the most amazing cockstand. “Witness my miserable state. The unrelenting hardness. When a man goes into battle, he only needs one sword. The one strapped to his back. A pole between the legs only gets in his way.”

  The other ladies looked at him with jaws gaping, their expressions aghast. Except for Kiera, who rolled her eyes and muttered some comments that were less than complimentary. “This is a serious matter,” he said while spearing Kiera a look of annoyance. “If something isn’t done, I may stop acting like a gentleman. I may grab the first wench I see and have my way with her.”

  “Please do something,” Prudencia said to Snotti with anxiety lacing her features. “I’m promised to the Lord of Turloch. If another touches me, my test will be cancelled.”

  Snotti sniffed. “Restrain yourself, Lord Halloran.”

  “I am losing that battle. And so are many of my friends. Your ladies are not safe. Perhaps it is time for the fair gender to depart this barbarian city.”

  “No, my lord.” Snotti shook her head and nearly dislodged her jeweled crown. “Our duties have barely begun. I have a mission and it involves APS.”

  He bowed his head and tried to assume a mournful expression. “Then please beg the prince to lift the ban on human relations. A few human slaves would solve this problem and protect the virtue of our ladies.”

  Snotti crossed her pole thin legs in a prim manner. “No, that is an impossibility.”

  Modez hadn’t really thought she’d cave. He hoped to convince the princess to leave, however. Their APS agenda was in opposition to his own. He sauntered over to one of the females and grabbed her arm. “What about this one? Can I take her? Use her for about twenty minutes?”

  The lady he had grabbed at random shrieked and tried to pull away from him.

  Modez jerked her toward him and forced her body to collide with his. “Are you greased up with that jelly? You know you won’t be ready for me without it.”

  He was surprised when the lady started bawling. He guessed she wasn’t used to crude speech and behavior.

  Snotti stood from her seat and glared at him. “Release Lady Selma at once. She’s not for you. She is promised to another and will never deign to be your whore.”

  “I apologize. I’m in such pain from carrying this load around that I’ve become confused.” He gestured to his midsection. A quick glance made him hesitate. Damn, the white linen of his breeches became nearly transparent when wet and he was giving the ladies quite a show. It was more than he had intended. “I was thinking with my cock. I saw a female and my cock jumped to the obvious conclusion. That she was available for a quick poke.” He released her and Selma scrambled over to the sofa as if the hounds of hell were chasing her. The other ladies clustered around her like mother hens, hugging the woman and glaring at him. That was the reaction he had hoped for. This was war, not a damn debutant’s ball where males had to behave within a narrow margin of decorum.

  His eyes lit on Kiera. The woman stared at his body with heavy lidded eyes, shamelessly focusing on his most masculine areas. She licked her lips and he could have sworn her fangs were lengthening. It was a most unladylike reaction. The salacious look on her face indicated she was in a certain mood and it was similar to his own. He wanted to lay her on the wet grass, push up her skirts, and sink into her warmth.

  He stalked toward her, grabbed her by her elbow, and hauled her to Snotti’s side. “Is this what I’ll have to make use of? She’s not my usual type. She’s rather…tall. And round,” he said while placing his
hands on either side of Kiera’s hips and stepping behind her. He rocked her against him so she could feel his hardness against her fleshy bottom. Kiera made a strangled sound and it pleased him to rile her. “Must be the bad blood in her. My usual ladies are shaped in the current fashion. Stick-thin. I’m not sure I can figure out what to do with this one.”

  Kiera leapt out of his grasp and shot him a look that could kill, should she have the ability to slay him with her eyes. She didn’t react to his insults in her usual fashion, which must have cost her. Kiera tried to put distance between them, but he crept up behind her once more. He slid his hand from her hip to her rear, cupping her delectable bottom through her gown. She flinched and shot him a glare, yet she said nothing. She tried unsuccessfully to sidle out of his hold.

  “I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.” He slid an arm around her waist and pressed her body against his, hoping to spark a reaction. Normally she would have caused a scene by now. She was too restrained, probably trying to earn her right to join the mating tests. That wasn’t going to happen for her. Exotic pussy was banned, and as far as he was concerned, that included mongrels like Kiera. “I’ll try her out, but if she doesn’t do the job for me, I’ll need one of the real ladies. They are more to my usual tastes.” He heard Kiera’s indrawn breath. He meant to frighten the ladies and convince them to leave. She would hate him for insulting her, but she would recover. She was an easy, safe target. Directing his crudeness toward one of the highborn ladies would draw too much censure from Snotti.

  As predicted, Snotti was appalled and disgusted by his antics. “No, you cannot have Kiera. Not without Diermont’s permission.”

  Lasair, his cousin, turned a bright shade of pink. “Oh, Modez, do let the poor girl go.” When he shook his head in response, she turned to Snotti and said, “Remind our lords that they are gentlemen.”

  “You will watch where your hands wander, my lord. A lady must be treated with courtesy and respect.” Snotti looked down her long nose at Kiera and said, “I see you haven’t lost all sense since you chose to accost my lowliest servant. You have made your point, Lord Halloran.” She sighed in her typical dramatic fashion and fingered the twin serpents engraved upon the golden torc around her throat. “I will discuss your needs with the prince and I’m certain a solution can be found that will be acceptable to all involved.”

  “I don’t think you understand. I’m not playing games. I want to tear this cloth from her body with my teeth and fangs. I’ll shred it and leave her naked. Then I’ll puncture her here,” he said while fingering her neck. He pressed his hand between her thighs. “And here.” He bared his fangs and growled deep in his throat. “I’ll leave her covered with bite marks and stains, so well used that she’ll be too exhausted to move from the ground. She’ll remain on the grass, a perfect offering, and when I find her lying there, I’ll take her again. And again. Eventually she’ll crawl back to the villa and most likely hide from me. But I will track her by scent. I will punish her for running and she will learn to keep her legs spread.” He had been play-acting but the images he had painted in his mind were starting to turn him on. “That is what we do to the bed servants that service us on our campaigns.” He was grossly exaggerating, of course, but it sounded good to him right now. He wrapped an arm around Kiera’s throat, like he was doing a choke-hold. His other hand remained locked at the apex of her thighs. She was damp there. It had to be the heat of the summer. If it was something else, he was in big trouble because he couldn’t resist an aroused female. “That is what I’d do to your lowliest servant. A higher grade of female would provoke a much stronger response in me, I’m afraid.”

  Snotti appeared flustered. “I’m not sure I comprehended the situation fully,” she said to Lasair. “I thought our warriors had more control over their behavior, but now I wonder whether it is time-limited. I must consult with Diermont about this.”

  He released her neck and slid that arm around her waist. Between her thighs the material of her gown was so wet that it clung to every part of her sex and provided no protection of her modesty. Her woman’s mound wasn’t smooth and he suspected it was furred, although he couldn’t be certain. He could feel her outer lips and her clitoris through the wet fabric of her gown. When he pressed her there, another surge of moisture drenched the cloth and dampened his hand. It sure as hell wasn’t sweat. The aroma of aroused woman assaulted his senses and drove him wild. Her response was like a human, not a hybrid. The mongrel was more human-like than he had expected, and within her thighs she possessed the perfect lure to trap and ultimately control a man. She was dangerous to him, but he found himself reluctant to let her go.

  “There’s too much violence in this place called Rome,” he said to Snotti. “We lose blood. We thirst for more and it heightens our other needs. You shouldn’t be around us when we’re in this sorry state. None of you should.”

  “I cannot leave.” Snotti’s eyes were full of zeal. “APS is my priority right now. My ladies are dedicated to my cause and are willing to make sacrifices if necessary to aid it.”

  That damn APS was getting in his way. Again. They needed to change the game plan because Seamus’ strategy wasn’t working. “A few human females would meet the needs of our warriors and there would be no need for sacrifices.” Snotti was chafed and he knew that woman would do anything to maintain the human-hybrid ban on sexual relations. They had all underestimated Snotti and thought it would be easy to convince her to leave. It looked like ridding themselves of those irritating ladies would be impossible.

  “I hope you don’t mind being sacrificed,” he said for Kiera’s ears only. “You know you’re the expendable one.”

  “It won’t come to that,” she said in a low tone. “And besides, I am beneath your consideration and glad for it.”

  She wasn’t safe from him, not at all. He wasn’t sure he could continue to resist her. “I have a weakness for wet pussy.” If they were alone, he’d have succumbed to that weakness already.

  “You have a dirty mouth, Lord Halloran,” she gasped. “Please remove your hands from my person.”

  He wasn’t sure how she could speak so primly and politely with his hand between her legs. The lady was trying too hard to win her way back into Snotti’s good graces. He wasn’t going to make it easy for her. He brought her hips to his and pressed his rock hard cock against the softness of her bottom, making her gasp. “I removed my hands. Sord of.”

  He chuckled as she tried to escape his arms. Snotti and the other ladies ignored Kiera and treated her like a peasant, making it clear he had full license to accost her. As long as he didn’t penetrate her, that was okay.

  “Lord Halloran, please.” Her eyes pleaded with Snotti to intervene, but the princess watched with an impassive expression and made no move to rescue her.

  “You’re not safe at all. Consider this a warning of what will come if you remain here. You were summoned to Rome to be used and plenty are willing to use you.” If she didn’t wish to be a whore, she could leave. But he knew she wouldn’t. He knew her type. Lowborn, beautiful, and ambitious. Such females easily fell prey to the lavish lifestyle at court and became accustomed to living in luxury and wealth. They took, took, took and wanted more—eventually aiming for a king instead of a mere lord.

  She said in a low, petulant tone, “I am here to serve the princess.”

  “Yeah, and we’ll see how long that lasts. You should cut your losses and leave now. But you won’t do the sensible thing.” He gave Kiera’s rear another squeeze before he departed. “For such a tiny thing, you have a nice ass. I like something to hold onto when I’m pumping into a woman.” He liked the way she fit in his arms too much. She was ultra feminine, with a smaller frame than the other females whose shoulders were as broad as his own. Small, but curvy. He bit down onto her earlobe, causing her to yelp. He tasted a drop of her blood and it was sweet. Much sweeter than expected.

  Chapter 9

  Modez had treated her like a whore and his condesce
nding attitude toward her could not be overlooked. Kiera couldn’t believe he had touched her, and on the ass, no less. She didn’t want to think about the other place he had touched and the embarrassing wetness it had caused. He had called her out on it, too. A gentleman wouldn’t have made mention of it. She wasn’t sure why her body had responded to him that way. He had looked stunning and his wet clothes had clung to him like a second skin, making him appear almost naked. Of course she had stared. What woman would not? But she didn’t like him. She knew he didn’t care for her, so his behavior on the lawn confused her. My, she had come close to ruin out there. He had done so to rile Snotti, but the princess apparently didn’t care so long as her highborn ladies weren’t groped. He had used her as a pawn in some battle with Snotti that she couldn’t quite understand. He had bitten her and drawn blood—she really couldn’t understand his motivation for doing that. Whatever his reasons, she would avenge herself this night. He would be the one to be used.

  Darkness had fallen many hours ago and there were virtually no sounds of activity. Nearly everyone was in bed except for a few people on guard duty. Gaining access to his room would not be easy since he had blocked portal access by enacting shields. That meant she would have to walk to his door, somehow evade the guards stationed in the hallway, and attempt to get inside by using the master key she had found in the previous owner’s office. She had to remain undetected and the easiest way to do that would be to render herself invisible.

  The ability to appear invisible was a hybrid skill that few possessed. It wasn’t the most practical skill to possess, as the invisibility did not affect her clothing. That meant she would have to go naked. It wasn’t something she generally did because it made her feel vulnerable. She couldn’t be seen, but she could be felt.