by Ramona Gray
“Aye, nor is the queen,” Quinn said.
“It is not the queen you would have to worry about,” Naveen said. “I know you can still beat Akia in combat but her fighting skills grow more advanced by the week. She is preparing to become massina. You know that, do you not?”
“Aye, I do,” Quinn said calmly as she headed for the door. “She will eventually challenge me for the position.”
Naveen trailed after her. “What will you do when she challenges you, massina?”
“Kill her,” Quinn said bluntly.
* * *
“Good night, danen,” Dacia said as she stopped in front of Quinn’s home.
“Good night, Dacia,” Silas replied. She walked away and he let himself into Quinn’s home without knocking. He supposed he should have knocked but after only two weeks Quinn’s home felt like his as well.
“Stupid and dangerous to think that way,” he muttered quietly as he slipped off his shoes.
He was a little early which suited him just fine. The more time he had to spend with Quinn, the better. Over the last few days she had begun to relax around him. He still refused to fuck her more than once a night even though the swelling on her back was gone and the bruising had faded to yellow. It left plenty of time for talking. She didn’t actually talk about herself at all but she asked plenty of questions about him. He had told her about his childhood and his job. Hell, he had even tried his best to explain how awful it was when his parents died. How afraid he was that he had failed Gage and his worry that his brother would somehow realize that a small part of him was resentful about quitting university.
He walked silently down the hall toward the kitchen. Quinn was a good listener and there was no judgment on her part when he confessed he was bitter about never finishing university. In fact, she had –
He stopped abruptly and cocked his head as the sound of Quinn’s singing floated down the hallway. She had a nice voice but it was the song she was singing that made his heart pound with excitement.
* * *
Quinn cut up more cheese before laying it on the plate next to the carrots and the pork. She popped another piece of dranina into her mouth. The purple fruit tasted vaguely of pears and was her favourite from this world. She did a little shimmy before breaking out into song again. Silas would be brought to her in half an hour or so. Despite her conversation with Naveen she was feeling happy and, she grinned wryly to herself, horny as hell. Her back was finally better and she was certain she could convince Silas to fuck her more than once tonight.
She sang the chorus of the song and did another hip shimmy. God, she couldn’t wait to –
“Big Rolling Stones fan, huh?”
She shrieked and whirled around. Silas was standing in the doorway grinning cheekily at her. She returned his grin and said, “Yeah, my mom had a huge crush on Mick Jagger. When I was a kid we listened to them all…”
She trailed off as his grin widened.
“Fuck,” she said.
“You’re from my world,” he said.
She sighed loudly and turned back to the plate of food. “I suppose it’s too late to convince you that Lloyd told me about the Rolling Stones.”
He laughed and strode forward to wrap his arms around her waist. He kissed her on the neck. “Way too late. Why didn’t you want me to know?”
“Most people in the clan believe I’m from this world. I want it to stay that way.”
“Why?”
“It’s just easier.”
“Does the queen know?”
“She knows I’m not from this world but beyond that she has no interest in where I come from.”
“You’ve been here for over a decade, right?” He asked curiously.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Jesus,” he said. “You don’t miss our world?”
“I used to,” she said. “But it’s been a long time.”
“You don’t want to try and get back?”
She turned in his arms. “Silas, there is no way to return to our world. You need to understand that. There is no guarantee that an orb would take us back to our own world.”
“It might,” Silas said. “You don’t know for certain that it wouldn’t.”
“If it didn’t?” She said. “What then? You start all over on another world? What if it was worse than this one? We have a breeder who came from a world that was being overrun with vampires. Real vampires, Silas. One came through with the breeder. It killed Patina and would have killed more of us if I hadn’t realized what it was and stuck my dagger through its heart. Would you want to live in that world?”
Her voice was rising and Silas rubbed her lower back soothingly. “Okay, Quinn. Okay. I get your point.”
She rubbed wearily at her forehead and Silas pressed a kiss against her mouth. “Eat your dinner, Quinn, and we’ll talk about our world, okay?”
“I’m no longer hungry,” she said. “I’m going to have a hot bath. Can you help me heat the water, Silas?”
He nodded and gave her a troubled look as she left the kitchen.
* * *
“Are you sure your back is good for this, Quinn?” Silas asked. He had helped Quinn heat water for her bath and at her insistence joined her in the tub. They bathed quickly before she took his hand and led him to her bedroom.
She was lying on her back on the bed and he studied her naked body as she cupped her breast and pulled lazily at one hard nipple. “Yes. Come to bed, Silas.”
She spread her thighs invitingly as he approached the bed. He smiled and kneeled between her legs before leaning over her. He kissed her deeply, tracing her tongue with his. She stroked his naked back and tried to pull him down onto her body.
“Patience, Quinn,” he said.
“I need you,” she whispered.
“Soon, honey,” he replied before tracing her collarbone with his tongue. He kissed his way to her breasts and traced each tight nipple with the tip of his tongue. She moaned loudly and clutched at his head, urging him with breathless cries to suck on them.
He sucked hard on each nipple and bit them gently before laving them with his tongue. She arched her back and dug her nails into his back. She rubbed her pussy against his erect cock. “Please fuck me, Silas.”
“Not yet.”
She glared at him. “Don’t tease me.”
He laughed. “Honey, I haven’t even started to tease you yet.”
He kissed her flat stomach before nipping at her ribs. She inhaled sharply and squeezed her thighs around his waist. “Silas, please.”
He licked a slow path to her navel and circled it with his tongue before blowing lightly. She shivered and tugged on his thick hair as goosebumps rose on her skin. He nibbled at her hipbones before sliding back and lying on his stomach between her thighs. He kissed the tender skin of her inner thigh and she moaned loudly.
He pushed on her thighs. “Wider, Quinn.”
She let her legs drop open and he stared at her glistening pussy before leaning forward and slowly licking the entire length of her pussy. She cried out, her fingers digging into his scalp. Her clit was swollen and peeking out from between her lips. He parted her lips with his thumbs and licked the swollen bud. She arched her back and he sucked experimentally at her clit. Her hands pulled painfully at his hair and he tugged them away before pinning them at her hips. She strained to free herself and he nibbled at her pussy lips until she was crying his name.
With slow deliberateness, he licked and sucked her clit until she was writhing on the bed and her thighs clamped around his broad shoulders. He lifted his head and growled, “Keep your legs open, Quinn.”
Her entire body shuddering, she spread her thighs wide and he kissed the dark curls at the top of her pussy. “I want you to come for me, honey.”
“Yes,” she moaned. “Yes, Silas.”
He smiled and buried his face into her pussy again. Less than a minute later she was arching up off the bed, her hands clenching and unclenching helplessly as her org
asm swept through her. When she collapsed on the bed he released her and straightened. His cock was painfully hard and precum dripped steadily from it. He pressed the head against her tight opening and slipped inside of her easily.
He took her wrists and lifted her arms over her head, pinning them to the bed. She stared up at him as he slid in and out of her with long, powerful strokes.
“This is what you want, isn’t it, honey?” He said.
She nodded and he leaned down to kiss her. She returned his kisses eagerly, her hips rising to meet each of his thrusts. He drove in and out, watching the way her breasts moved with every thrust. She pulled experimentally at his hands and he shook his head before tightening his grip on her wrists. Excitement and lust flickered across her face. He kissed her again, sucking hard on her tongue before nipping at her bottom lip.
“Oh God,” she moaned quietly. “Silas, oh God…”
Her pussy squeezed around him as her body shook. He slanted his mouth over hers, swallowing her loud scream of pleasure. He thrust wildly as his balls tightened and the base of his spine began to tingle. He tore his mouth from hers and made a low roar of pleasure as he climaxed. He collapsed against her body, releasing her hands and burying his face in her throat. She stroked his back soothingly and pressed kisses against the top of his head as he waited for his heartbeat to return to a normal pace.
“Heavy,” she whispered before pushing lightly at him.
He rolled off of her and she curled up on her side, resting her cheek on his chest. He stroked her dark hair and said, “Is your back okay?”
She nodded and kissed his chest. “It’s fine.”
They lay silently for a while before she sat up and smiled hesitantly at him. “Do you – can we talk about our world?”
He smiled at her. “Yes, I’d like that.”
* * *
“Facebook,” Quinn said again before popping a piece of cheese into her mouth. “Honestly, it just sounds really stupid to me.”
Silas laughed. “I know but trust me, it and Twitter are very popular.”
“Twitter,” she repeated. “That’s the program people use to insult other people in 140 characters or less, right?”
Silas laughed again. “Close enough.”
“God, so many things have changed. You really can just do a video chat with people using your cell phone?”
He nodded and she shook her head in disbelief. “Crazy.”
“Where is my cell phone and wallet, by the way?” Silas asked.
“Naveen would have given them to the queen,” Quinn said.
“What does she do with them?”
“Nothing. She has a remarkable lack of interest in the technology from other worlds.”
“Does that seem strange to you?” He asked.
“The queen is far from normal,” she said.
“What happens in two weeks?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean,” Silas said. “In two weeks the queen will take me for herself. Will you bid on me at the next claiming ceremony?”
She looked away and he cursed loudly before pushing back the covers.
“Silas, wait!” She grabbed his arm and pressed her naked body against his. “Let me explain, okay?”
“What’s there to explain?” He said. “You don’t want me as much as I want you.”
“That isn’t true,” she said.
He sat back in the bed. “Then why aren’t you going to bid on me?”
She pulled the covers around her and sat cross-legged on the bed. “When I came through the orb I wasn’t alone. There was a man with me. His name was Kevin and he – he was my husband.”
“Holy shit,” Silas said.
“We were captured by the current massina. Her name was Dahlia. She and the other members of the queen’s guard brought us back here. Kevin was taken to the breeders’ quarters and I was put to work in the kitchens. It was only a week since the last claiming ceremony so we had three weeks to try and adapt to what had happened. I pleaded on a daily basis for them to allow me to see Kevin but they refused. I caught occasional glimpses of him working in the gardens but I wasn’t allowed to speak to him.”
She studied her hands for a moment before continuing. “Kevin was a big man. Not as large as you but tall and muscular. The night of the claiming ceremony the queen chose Kevin. He refused to sleep with her and she slit his throat. He bled to death on the floor of her bedroom.”
Silas took Quinn’s hand. She was pale but dry-eyed and she squeezed his hand tightly. “I wasn’t at the claiming ceremony. I was chosen to stay in the kitchens and make the food for the ceremony. I didn’t find out that Kevin was dead until the next morning when Naveen told me. He took pity on me and let me see Kevin’s body before they buried him.”
“I’m so sorry,” Silas said quietly.
“I was devastated. Not only was I on some weird new world but the person I loved most was dead. Killed because he honoured his vows to me.”
She swallowed before whispering, “So many times I wished that I was there that night. I would have – have somehow conveyed to him that it was okay, you know? That it didn’t matter. That I knew how much he loved me and he had to do what he needed to survive.”
Silas rubbed her thigh soothingly and she stared briefly at him before lowering her gaze again. “Standing next to Kevin’s dead body, I made a vow that I would kill the queen for what she had done. I wanted revenge. Do you understand, Silas?”
He nodded and she sighed loudly. “I think I went a little crazy the first year or so. I joined the queen’s army and learned how to fight. I was terrible at it at first. I had no natural talent for it and I was afraid of dying. I shouldn’t have been. There was nothing left for me on this world and if I died, I would have been with Kevin again. But I was afraid. I was weak and afraid.”
“Being afraid doesn’t make you weak,” Silas said.
“Does it not?” She said.
“Are you still afraid?” He asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
He waited for her to elaborate but she said, “When the warkins attacked us and Dahlia panicked, I knew that was my chance. If I were to have any hope of killing the queen, I needed to be the massina. Only the massina was given unguarded access to the queen. I took control of the queen’s guard and destroyed the warkin clan that was attacking us. I even saved the queen’s life when a group of them made it into the castle. The queen is very good at fighting and is extremely dangerous but she was outnumbered. Without me there she would have been killed. The queen abhors weakness of any kind. When the fighting was over she killed Dahlia and named me the new massina.”
Silas didn’t say anything and Quinn sighed heavily. “I am not a monster, Silas. The queen would have killed Dahlia regardless of what I had done.”
“I know,” he said.
She took his hand and held it tightly. “That is why I can’t sleep with you after you’ve been with the queen. She took everything from me and I hate her. The thought of being with you after you’ve been in the queen’s bed, it…”
She trailed off and then whispered, “I’m sorry, Silas. Truly I am.”
When he didn’t reply, she squeezed his hand. “Say something, Silas. Please.”
“What do you want me to say?” He said woodenly. “You’re still in love with your dead husband, you won’t go near me again in two weeks’ time and you’re planning on murdering the queen. It all seems pretty clear and simple to me.”
She shook her head and crawled into his lap. She cupped his face and made him look at her. “I am not still in love with Kevin, Silas.”
“It’s fine,” he said bleakly. “I understand why you - ”
“I’m not!” She insisted vehemently. “I will always love and miss Kevin but he has been dead for over a decade.”
She brushed her mouth against his and then threw caution to the wind. “I could fall in love with you, Silas. Very easily. There’s something special bet
ween us, is there not? You feel it too.”
“Yes,” he said in a low voice. “I feel it too.”
She hugged him, sighing with relief when he returned her hug and pressed a kiss against her throat.
“This is why you must sleep with the queen when she takes you to her bed,” Quinn said quietly. “I – I don’t want to lose you either, Silas.”
“If I sleep with her I’ll never be with you again,” Silas said.
“But you’ll be alive,” she replied.
“Some life,” he said. “I’ll spend it having to fuck God knows how many women when the only woman I want won’t have anything to do with me.”
“Silas, I - ”
“Why haven’t you killed the queen?” He asked abruptly. “You’ve been the massina for nearly ten years.”
“At first it was because I needed to gain her trust. I will never have it fully, she has survived this long precisely because she doesn’t trust anyone, but she at least believes that I am loyal to her.”
She laughed bitterly. “Do you have any idea how difficult it has been over the years to protect a woman that I hate?”
He kissed her throat again and she stroked his thick hair. “Once she believed in my loyalty, I began to plan my revenge in earnest. I was going to murder her in her sleep. Cowardly, I know, but I needed to make it look like an assassination. If the others knew that it was me who killed her they would have killed me despite their fear and dislike of the queen.”
He rubbed her lower back as she said, “As the queen aged she grew more and more paranoid. A few years ago, she requested guards to stand outside her bedroom while she slept. I lost my chance to kill her in her sleep.”
“Why didn’t you do it before that?” He asked
“I found love again,” she said softly.
He stiffened against her. “With who?”
She cupped his face and kissed him until he relaxed. “As the massina, my job is not only to protect the queen but her child as well. Kila was almost eleven when I became the massina. She was a sweet child. Kind and loving and the exact opposite of her mother in every way. I tried to ignore her at first but she found her way into my heart. I love her like she is my own child, Silas, and she loves me. When I kill her mother that love will turn to hatred.”