Altered: A Beyond the Brothel Walls Novel

by Ryans, Rae Z.

  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  “I… I know.”

  He leaned up on his arms before lowering himself again to brush his lips against mine. Sweet at first, the pressure of his mouth grew demanding. Dorian opened and slid his tongue along the seam of my lips. My hands tore and tugged through his wet locks, spastic thoughts ransacked his mind, and they all revolved around pleasuring me. I had to halt Dorian before either of us fell to deep. Us… we would not work, and he deserved better than the likes of me.

  “Stop,” I mumbled against his mouth, and he halted. Green eyes blinked down at me. I said, “We need to talk.”

  Beneath his beard, his lips twitched, and I resisted running my thumb over their swell.

  “Please.”

  “Talk,” he muttered.

  I nodded, and he groaned glancing between us at his bobbing member. My tongue ran over my lips at the beads glistening over his swollen tip.

  “Now?” Dorian shook his head and chuckled, but there was no amusement reflecting in his burning stare. “Fine, talk then. I’m all ears, Cain.”

  “I trust you.”

  Dorian scoffed. “Sure have a funny way of showing me.”

  Right, guess I’d been the initiating party that time. Wait, no, he had pinned me down. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t follow through. He’d taken my control away, and the surreal moment had encompassed my entire being. No second-guessing or thinking had occurred yesterday. He couldn’t expect my release or blame himself when orgasms didn’t occur. My body and mind didn’t work that way.

  Part of me still prayed that Hallo’s insights came true and my curse would end, but love wasn’t in the cards for me. He wasn’t the death I’d prayed for. After seeing Dorian, I’d allowed the fantasy to become a half-shoddy reality, but one ending in tears.

  “Maybe this is a sign, and he’s more trouble than I’d anticipated.”

  I agreed with his thoughts and was becoming more trouble than I was worth. Westcott: we were worthless scum. Tears spilled over my cheeks and his face softened. The iron key around his neck reflected light, swaying. Power vibrated from its core. My fingers itched to grasp its shiny surface. The vision was over, and the time had come to reveal truth.

  “I can trust you, now.” Yet the other words refused to come. Satan’s spawn, thief, former whore, Boric wanted me back… and the last, and the most important of them all… I was the Keeper of Keys. Only Angelica knew I had them, for she had given them to me. Even Hallowed had recognized me.

  Each of us Morningstars had different powers, courtesy of our Elioud-witch mother. Angelica felt emotion from objects and controlled storms, Lilith’s powers were unknown, but I held the ability to summon fire and create windows, crevices in space that enabled me to hide items. The energy required to summon one drained me, sometimes for days.

  Dorian blinked unsure what to do with my tears. Twice, I had broken down on him. Three, if I counted vomiting. I turned my head away, allowing them to run onto his pillow. How many lovers had cried over its surface? Such a stupid thought to have and not an answer I wanted to know. Another notch for him… that was all I could ever become.

  Dorian nudged me. “Hey, babe, c’mon.”

  I sniffled. “Don’t call me that.”

  “Why do I call him that?” he thought. “Do you prefer sweetie or handsome?”

  I peeked at a grinning Dorian, but could not muster a smile.

  “Did I move too fast?”

  My head shook, untrusting of my voice. Any speed was too fast; he had to let me go. He leaned in, and I turned away again.

  Dorian whispered, “I can’t read your mind.”

  Warm hands stroked my tearstains and over the roughness of my face. Melting into his tenderness wasn’t an option, but neither was leaving.

  “You say you trust me, but then you shut down. Which is it, Cain? Because you can trust me.”

  Chapter

  Seven

  Dorian

  The bed groaned, springs shifting beneath me. Cain’s puffy gaze met mine, and he forged a smile. I wanted to wash his pain away and hunt whoever caused it. The lies, whatever they might have been, didn’t matter in that moment. There had to be a way to open him up.

  My fingers stroked his brow and the tips tingled. Every touch, every kiss shocked inside of me until I craved the sensation rippling through my body; no one had made me feel that way before him. How many times had I thought myself in love, yet these struggles never appeared.

  Cain turned his head more, staring intently at me with his innocent, hazel eyes. My breath caught, welling in my chest. Sweet lips parted, revealing his white, straight teeth. His tongue swirled against the surface. My shoulders rolled, tired from holding myself above him. Each inch strained them further, muscles frozen, and one in particular throbbed.

  “I lied to you,” he whispered, and my brow rose.

  As a detective of sorts, I figured he’d withheld information, but couldn’t figure out what. James searched for me, but if Cain came clean, my job would be easier. I shifted onto my side, still next to him on the bed. “Go on.”

  “They enslaved Lily centuries ago, not months.” Cain didn’t look at me and his fingers fidgeted.

  I scratched my head and processed his words, pretending confusion. Guess I had nailed that one by the timeline of events.

  “They bought us both actually, but I escaped, then they moved her from Garland to Delphia.” His fingers twitched and drummed over his thigh. “You were honest with me, so I figured it was time to come clean.”

  His eyes glistened with unshed tears, but my jaw popped. The weight of his words clicked. Cain was a former slave. His behavior made sense, from his sudden timid nature in the bedroom to his seduction.

  “I didn’t know if I could trust you. Tomas said—”

  My brow rose higher. “The Duc?”

  Cain nodded.

  I chuckled. “Did he send the vampires after your sister?” Laughter spilled from my mouth, and I grasped my sides. How that flamboyant vampire had ever survived the Sundering baffled me. We were friends, but still, Tomas held the best of intentions; the man trusted too many shady people. My hand fell over my mouth, and I shook my head.

  “He had Lily, but Garland stole her back. They stormed his home, and then they went after his friend, Petre. That’s the last anyone heard.” His arms spread wide. “They had airships. I saw the massive engines and plumes of smoke.”

  Nodding, I smiled. “Wait, what? Garland has airships over the border?” I hopped from the bed and ran downstairs. Belle gasped at my nude state, but I waved her off, snatching the notebook from my desk. After retrieving the notes, I hurried up the stairs. “Shite.”

  Cain sat up. “What is it?”

  “I forgot my pen.”

  As he rummaged through the nightstand drawer, I blushed. Bottles of lube appeared, and the color and heat deepened. A bottle of scented oil emerged next.

  He lifted his eyebrow. “No pen, but I can give you a massage,” he joked.

  ”Fucking hell.” I ran down the steps again

  Belle yelled, “Warn me to shield my virgin eyes.”

  “If you’re a bloody virgin Mary, than I’m the fucking pope of Rome.”

  Cain’s laughter roared through the upstairs. By the time I returned, my skin burned into the hue of a bruised tomato, but my cock still managed to bob hard against my stomach. I paused in the doorway and caught my breath.

  He was flipping through my skin magazines. Not new by any means, but leftovers I had collected over the years. Lounging on his side and appearing more innocent than an angel, nonchalantly his hand stroked the outline of his cock, and his arousal wet my lips. Sex should have been the last thought on my mind or his.

  I willed the sight to fade and my cock to, for just once, behave, but it twitched in response and released a dribble of precum. The primal aroma of his seed thickened the air, and I tasted his equal need on my tongue. My chest tightened at the image inside of my min
d, and my breath grew ragged. Reopening my eyes, I said, “Let me give you a hand,” and blinked at my husky tone.

  Cain drew down his zipper and eased the denim from his slim hips. Slowly, his shirt flirted over rock hard abs, and he tucked the fabric behind his head. “This what you want, sweets?”

  Yes, but I wanted his truth too. My mind flittered between the airships and Cain to Boric and then back to Cain. Everything arrived at Cain until I thought of nothing else. I licked my dry lips as he stroked his head and drew back his foreskin. No. Images spun in my head and a strange sensation washed over me, not a drug, but an un-relievable ache. With boiling desire, my cods burned.

  Inviting me, he lifted his heavy sack and exposed his tight bud. Cain flipped onto his belly and thrust his ass into the air. Fluid leaked from my cockhead, my dick jumping, and I almost came on the spot. His ass wiggled. I pinched myself, but the vision remained.

  He is my cure.

  My legs stepped forward on their own accord. Kneeling on the bed behind him, I grasped his perfectly formed cheeks. “You want this, babe?”

  “Yes,” he hissed. “I need you.”

  My mouth kissed each cheek, and Cain issued a deep, throaty moan.

  “Tease.” I slapped his ass and rubbed the surface, careful not to hit too hard. His white cheek turned a pretty pink, and I afforded the left the same attention.

  Cain whispered, “Again.”

  “Move for a minute.”

  Cain rolled upright to his knees and ground his butt against me. My arms wrapped around his chest, and I pinched his hard nipples while humping his crack. “Suck me while I rim you?”

  Cain nodded.

  I trailed tender kisses along his shoulder, weaving a path along his neck and tasting his fiery flavor. “Top or bottom?”

  “Top.” He tossed his head back and exposed his neck to me.

  I released him, reached around him, and grasped some pillows to pile onto the bed. With a groan, I plopped down, wiggling the whole bed, before rolling over.

  “You sure about this?” He rubbed his hands over my hairy chest, playing in the curls.

  I leaned up on my elbows and captured his bottom lip in my mouth, suckling it gently. “With you, I’m sure,” I gruffed, positioning back against the pillows.

  Cain shrugged, turned, and swung his legs over my chest, his thighs landing on either side of my head, and his cock spread his arousal between my pecks. A moan slipped from his lips, blowing heated breath over my crotch, and my stomach fluttered.

  Reaching up, I grasped his cheeks and spread them before guiding his puckered hole toward my face. Warm lips circled my cock, and I groaned into his left cheek, biting the tender flesh. “Babe,” I whispered, and ran my tongue along his hole.

  His wet tongue teased me, flickering over my length. My head swam as the sensation built within my stomach.

  Cain squirmed, and his cry vibrated over my cock, tightening my cods.

  “Fuck.” I forced my mind elsewhere, before I blew too soon, and plunged my tongue into his hole again; he swallowed me.

  We built a rhythm, rocking and bucking. I slid a finger into his ass, working and stretching him.

  “Dorian.” He slammed his fist onto the bed. Molten seed exploded over my chest as his toes curled. “Oh shit.”

  But we both remained hard as a rock, and I was hornier than I had ever recalled.

  He inserted a wet finger into my ass, and with a long sigh, I spread my legs. Another joined the first and my hips bucked in rhythm as Cain finger-fucked me and sucked my cock. Shutting my eyes, I imagined his cock buried into my ass as he stroked me to an oblivious orgasm. His touch emptied me and filled me. The mere thought tensed my cods, and a wave of pleasure slammed through my body, my ass muscles gripping his fingers.

  “Knees. Now,” Cain ordered.

  I obeyed and flipped over onto my hands and knees.

  “You want me?” He shoved pillows under me and pressed my shoulders down. “Stay just like that, sweets.” His hand ran over my chest and collected his spent sperm. Cain rubbed his cum over my hole, heat searing me, and teased the opening with his slippery cockhead. “You want my cock in your ass?”

  “Yes,” I cried.

  Cain slapped my cheeks, as I had done to him. Surges swept through my body while he smacked me and tugged my rigid, swollen cock. He thrust his fingers into me, manipulating my prostrate.

  “Oh, fuck.” As if a ledge had appeared out of nowhere, I stepped forth and was gone. Lights flared behind my closed lids. My body tensed before my orgasm poured from my tip. I fluttered my lashes. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and my limbs crumbled under the pleasure. “Fuck,” I screamed, my hands fisting the sheets, and silently prayed Belle didn’t investigate.

  Cain removed his fingers and pressed his fat tip at my entrance. A groan roared through him as he slid inside, stretching my walls in a slow, sensual glide. Familiar ache creeped into my stomach once more.

  “C’mere.” He yanked me up until my back lay flush against his sweaty chest.

  Those perfect teeth nibbled my ear, twisting and reigniting my desire to new heights, and my cock rose. “Yes, right there.”

  “Damn it, sweets.” He grasped my cock.

  Shivering from his touch, I chuckled. “Angels…have insatiable…sex drives.” But it was Cain. No man had ever excited me, captivated me, or muddled my mind until nothing else mattered.

  “So do demons.” Cain’s hips rocked in a steady rhythm, filling and emptying me.

  I met his thrusts, slamming my ass against him. My head leaned back on his shoulder and he stroked me harder and faster.

  “Fuck,” I said, clenching my teeth and my rim around his cock. “Cain...”

  “Come all over my cock. Come for me, Dorian,” he whispered.

  And his words shoved me over the edge into another orgasm. Every nerve ending fired, as if he’d stroked me inside and out with a thousand feathers. Cain had drained me, stolen my energy and seed. He leaned back, and I rested on his lap. From behind, he held me against him and kissed me down.

  He had only the one. Puzzle pieces shifted slightly. I added up the last twenty-four hours. Shite, why hadn’t I figured his problem out sooner? It made sense. Cain wasn’t like me.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered. “Lay on your back—” I did as asked “—lift up.” He piled two pillows beneath my ass. “I want to try this my way.” He eased in and filled me with his cock, all the while maintaining a soft, tender tone. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”

  Emotion shone in his bronze gaze and warmed my heart, but I didn’t know the name of the feeling. Cain thrust slowly and grasped my neck, pulling my face closer. His lips engulfed mine, and he slid his tongue into my mouth, exploring me, as his body trembled in time with mine.

  I didn’t want him to stop, for us to end. I held his face, my thumbs stroking his rough cheek, fingers grasping his short hair.

  His kiss turned from sensual to ravenous, and the speed and pressure of his hips increased. Cain tore away. I stilled, as his cock rammed into me. I was there, an orifice, a bystander witnessing the fight he had with himself. His eyes were wide, glassy. He pressed his lips into a fine line. Determination perspired in a ruddy flush over his pale skin.

  No, this was more than a little difference. He had a problem, and I wasn’t certain I could easily cure him. But I wanted to.

  “Fuck.” He threw his head backward. His cock swelled, stretching my sore ass, and his orgasm tore through his body, pouring into me.

  I smiled wide at his face contorting with gratification, his victory. Never before had I witnessed such a beautiful release…such a beautiful man…Cain panted and grimaced out of pleasure.

  “Fuck you,” he joked, and cupped my cheek. Drunk on his release, Cain wobbled, but I caught him before he tumbled over the edge of the bed. “Oh shit.”

  I chuckled, pulling him back. “C’mon babe, let’s get cleaned up.”

  “I’m sorry.” He sighed a
nd shook his head. “I didn’t—”

  “Why are you apologizing?”

  “I distracted you again,” he whispered. “I…” His fingers trailed a path over my chest. “I did it on purpose.” They moseyed closer to the key, but halted. “I didn’t… wasn’t ready.”

  My fingers curled over his, and I rested them over my pounding heart. “First, you’re not a distraction, and even if you were, you’d be a welcome one, babe.”

  “And the second?”

  “Fuck it.” Some say to never mix business with pleasure, but Cain and I were shite out of luck on that particular notion. “You needed that. And I like that you want me on purpose.” I winked.

  I couldn’t think and doubted he could either, unless we released our attraction and desire. A sticky and bumpy road lay ahead of us, but if Father willed us to succeed, maybe there was a future for us both.

  After we had cuddled, cleaned, and kissed for a while, we stumbled downstairs. Belle tapped her foot and stared at her watch.

  “What?” I said.

  “ABDA’s been calling you for hours. James is having a fucking meltdown.” She slapped a stack of messages in my hand.

  I blushed. Cain flashed a sheepish smile, but I grasped his hand and twined us together.

  “Tomas is headed back and will see you when he arrives.” She flipped another paper into my already full hand. “ABDA faxed over a sheet of known informants. They think one of them is leaking information.”

  A frown tugged my lips. Where did the information come from? “Bullshite. None of mine would cross me.”

  She threw her hands in the air and they fell with a plop. “That’s what I told them, but James yacked on about orders until I hung up on him.”

  I laughed. “Good job standing up for yourself.”

  Cain’s brow wrinkled with confusion, and he stroked his clean-shaven chin. “You’re both agents?”

  “I’m a junior agent,” Belle said, flashing her badge hanging from her neck. “I thought Tomas told you.”