After several of these shots, I shifted my attention to the bound man. He stood in front of a post and his leather-bound wrists were looped over a hook above his head, lifting him so he was on tiptoe. His cock was in a metal cage much too small — so tiny even a Rabbit would have trouble fitting into it. His balls had a rope wound around them and tied to the ground, so when he went on tiptoe he pulled them painfully. I noted his nipple clamps were attached to the hook over his head, and realized he’d have to choose whether to hurt his balls or nipples.
Neither looked like a grandparent. In the human realm, most would have assumed them to be in their early to mid-thirties, as Rabbits live for around one hundred and fifty to two hundred years and we age slower. Luckily, Bears have a similar lifespan.
“They’re both wearing a large butt plug,” The Winter Queen informed us, “and I don’t believe you can see your grandmother’s nipple clamps from here, but rest assured she’s aware of them.”
I stared at Her Majesty’s feet because I knew I’d get us all in trouble if I glared at her right now.
“You may speak with them one at a time,” Her Majesty continued, “but your Grizzly Bear will have to take the place of the one you’re speaking to.”
Now, I looked her in the eyes and said, “They can burn in hell before I let you do that to my husband.”
Instead of looking pissed, she seemed intrigued. “What would you let me do to him?”
I sighed. “He has to be in control during sex. If you can have normal vanilla sex with him, and if he wants to have sex with you, you both have my blessing. It has to be his decision, though.”
She tapped her long, glossy black nails on the arm of her throne and muttered, “Vanilla sex with a Grizzly Bear. Could be interesting.”
She stood and held her arms out to the side, and her outfit transformed from a dress befitting an evil Queen to a black corset, long black silky sleeves that magically stayed in place, and high-heeled black thigh-high boots. She walked down the steps with purpose, and I suddenly wished I was the one about to have sex with her. She glanced at me and grinned. “We can work something out later, little bunny. Go speak with my slaves. You have until your Grizzly Bear and I are finished.
I looked at Horse. “If you don’t want to, just say the word. You don’t have to do this.”
He grinned. “Sex with The Winter Queen? I’m in, Gabs.” He turned to the Queen. “I have a few stipulations, Your Majesty. We don’t leave this field, and you do nothing to shield us from Gabby, Aaron, or Nathan — or vice versa. Also, if I ask you to stop doing something, it stops, and you don’t block me from being able to ask you to stop.”
She waved her arm and a bed appeared on the other side of her throne, and Nathan reached for my hand to walk me to my grandparents as Horse walked the other direction with Her Majesty.
I stood in front of my grandparents and asked, “Do you know who I am?”
The man with the whip struck as I asked the question, and I looked to him and asked, “Can you stop doing that while we talk?’
“I have my orders, ma’am. Sorry.”
Aaron raised his voice a little to say, “My Lady?”
The Winter Queen spoke from the other side of the throne. She didn’t speak loudly, and yet I heard her as if she were standing beside us. “Whip her if she doesn’t answer truthfully, or if she refuses to answer, or takes too long to answer. Otherwise, let your arm take a break.”
The man dropped his hand to his side and looked at us with a nod.
I asked the woman again, “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes. You’re my Dwight’s daughter.”
“Did you know about me before today?”
She didn’t answer, and without Horse’s arm around me for comfort, I jumped as the whip struck her from behind.
“Yes! Yes! I did!” she shouted through her pain. She closed her eyes to try to get on top of it, and then opened them and let me see her sincerity as she added, “I’m sorry for what you had to go through.”
“When did you find out about me?”
“Your mother and her parents wrote letters to each other, and I had someone intercept their correspondence so I could read them before they were delivered. When the letters stopped, her parents tried to find out why, but as slaves they had no way to leave to check on her, or to hire someone to do so on their behalf. I made sure their owner kept them on a tight leash, as we didn’t want them to find out your mother was dead, because we feared Dwight had killed her.”
“Did you investigate? Did you know he’d killed her? Did you knowingly leave your granddaughter to be raised by someone who kills and rapes without remorse?”
She nodded but didn’t say anything, and I let Nathan put his arm around me for support as I saw the whip fly through the air once again. These strikes seemed to be a great deal more painful than the ones the whipmaster had given her when the trio had first appeared, and she screamed in agony and her knees gave way, but she quickly got her feet back under her before she choked herself any worse on the wooden stock.
My grandfather gave me the answer I’d already known, deep in my heart. “We believe your mother grew into a young woman and he didn’t want her anymore, so he killed her. We were told he was close to you and didn’t represent a threat to you.” I nodded and looked to the ground as I took in his confirmation. The girls Dwight had raped had looked like my mother when she was twelve, not like the young woman she’d been growing into.
“I liked your mother,” my grandmother told me. “She was too good for our son. Too sweet, too pure. I knew he’d sully her.”
“She thought you didn’t think she was good enough because she was a slave.”
“Well what were we supposed to say? Our son wasn’t good enough for a slave? The Royal Family can’t say that. Our only explanation had to be that she wasn’t good enough for him. Didn’t matter it was the other way around.”
“Couldn’t you have invited them back, once you saw they were going to get married even without your permission? Once you realized he’d take her away where no one could protect her from his evil?”
“Don’t you think we did?” my grandfather practically spat. “Once he was there, he decided he liked it there.”
“And when I found out I had a granddaughter I’d never meet, my heart broke,” my grandmother said. She looked a whole lot like my aunt, and I could see my dad’s eyes in hers.
For the first time, I looked towards the bed, and saw The Winter Queen riding my husband. I smiled as I heard his moans of pleasure, and looked back to my grandparents.
“When did you first know something wasn’t right with my father?”
My grandfather winced as he shifted off his toes so he was nearly flat on his feet. His balls weren’t pulled down as far now, but his nipples were stretched farther up. I hurt for him but knew better than to try to release him. His eyes looked old and tired as he said, “When he was three or four, I caught him tearing the wings off a wind sprite. Poor little thing — I carried her home because there’s no way she’d have made it without being able to fly. She cried the whole way and my heart broke for her.”
“What did you do to your son?”
“He was seven before we realized he liked watching his whipping boy have to pay for his crimes. We didn’t know it wasn’t a deterrent, yet. We tore the hell out of his whipping boy’s back, until it looked like the wind sprite’s had, and Dwight cried as if it hurt him, but… we didn’t know.” He looked at me again, his eyes forlorn. “We didn’t know. I’m so sorry. We didn’t know.”
I looked at my grandmother. “You knew.”
She shook her head and the whip struck her again. She shook her head again and said, “There was no way I could’ve known, either!”
The whip struck her twice with even more force, and she burst into tears, “Okay, I wondered! I didn’t know for sure, but his tears seemed off! I couldn’t believe my little boy could enjoy watching something so awful, so I ignored what my gut
told me! I’m sorry!”
I looked at the man with the whip. “How do you know when they’re lying?”
He shrugged. “It’s my gift. I’m valuable to Her Majesty.’
Yeah. I bet. And somehow, things had been arranged so I’d know for sure if they were telling the truth. I owed Aaron in ways I’d never be able to repay him.
“You both know I was born in human form?”
My grandfather’s look told me he hadn’t known and he wasn’t pleased, but my grandmother nodded, her eyes soulful. “Please don’t hurt my brother.”
“How do you know I could hurt him?”
“The legends say you can, and how else could you have the political pull you’ve amassed? You’re standing between the Dragon and Lion Kings, and you’ve convinced The Winter Queen to let you question us with benefit of the Lie Detector.” She said his title as if it were his name, and I glanced at him again, wondering what his story was. I didn’t have time to worry about him, though, so I looked back to her. “Why didn’t you tell your husband I was born human?”
She shook her head and the whip hit her twice before my grandfather practically yelled, “Because it would have fallen to me to report it to the King so you’d have been killed, had I known!”
I leaned against Nathan a few seconds and then stepped away from him as I drew in the energy of Faerie and ordered, “Explain!”
“I had to take an oath before I married into the family,” my grandfather told me, his eyes so tired, so sad. “Part of the oath stated if any Rabbit in any realm was born in human form, I had to see to it he or she was killed as soon as possible. If I weren’t in a position to do it myself, I was obligated to report my findings to the King. The legends say a human-born Rabbit will someday overthrow the Lepori line, so it had been decided no Rabbit would ever have the chance.”
“If you were free right now, would you try to kill me?”
He shook his head. “I would report you to the King to keep from being foresworn. I don’t have it in me to do the deed myself.”
I wondered how many men had taken this oath, and whether my life would be in danger if the circumstances of my birth became widely known. I’d talk to Aaron about it later, but for now I had other questions for my grandparents.
“I was born with the Lepori name. How could I be responsible for overthrowing the Crown? It would still be held by a member of the family, yes?”
No one answered and the whip struck my grandmother’s ass twice in a row, and she finally sobbed, “They don’t consider you family, my dear. They don’t think you’re one of us.”
“Aunt Bea was ready to adopt me. Does she know I should’ve been killed as a child? And how about King Neville? He knew who I was, and how I was born, and he let me live!”
“He let you live, and he knew?” My grandfather didn’t appear to believe me, and Aaron told him, “I don’t believe he took the oaths the other Kings have taken. His ascendancy to the Crown happened a few days before his sixteenth birthday, and was rapid and unexpected.”
“Would Aunt Bea have known?” I asked.
My grandmother tried to shrug from inside the stocks, and winced. “The women in line to the Crown take an oath to follow through if they’re Queen, but they aren’t obligated to take action unless they hold the Crown. The men who marry into the family take the oath, because it’s assumed women would have more trouble killing a newborn.” She tried to look sideways to her husband, and looked back to me. “I knew about his oath because I’m in line for the Crown. So, I didn’t tell him.” She seemed to be considering something a moment, and finally said, “You’re right. If Bea were to adopt you, then even though you might overthrow the sitting King, the Crown would still be held by a Lepori. Letting her adopt you would remove you from the legends.”
Aaron shook his head beside me. “Because she spent the majority of her life not considered a true Lepori, I believe the legend would still apply to her. Also, if she takes over the Crown by force, she’ll do so without taking all of the oaths the Lepori must currently agree to before they’re put into the line of succession. King Neville took all but two oaths at twelve — this one is reserved for the ceremonies on the sixteenth birthday.”
“Can we ask you a few questions, little Avye?” my grandmother asked.
“I’m Gabby now. I changed my name after I found out what my father had done because I don’t want to be known as his daughter. Only a few people know my true identity, and I trust you’ll keep it quiet.” I looked up to the man with the whip. “You too, please?”
He tilted his head. “I’m loyal to My Queen. I would only tell if she asked me to. Otherwise, to tell might deprive her of a political chess piece, and she would be most displeased.”
I sighed with the knowledge The Winter Queen might one day use the information against me or a loved one, and nodded to my grandmother. “What would you like to ask?”
“You’re married to the Grizzly Bear? And I’m assuming by his familiarity with you that the Amakhosi is one of your lovers? I want to know about your life. I want to know who you are. Have you had a good life?”
The question seemed genuine, so I told her, “I loved my mother very much and I missed her terribly when she was gone. I don’t remember things being bad with my father until I started to fill out and blossom, and even then, as long as I wore a sports bra and clothes that didn’t show my shape, he loved me and did right by me.” I looked towards the bed on the other side of the throne, saw Horse on top now, pounding the Queen something fierce, and I smiled. “I love my husband more than I thought was possible. The depth of my feelings for him are unfathomable. Yes, Nathan is one of my lovers, and my husband and I both consider him a dear friend. I’m going to school so I can one day be one of the people who finds serial killers.” I realized she wasn’t familiar with the term, so I said, “People who kill a whole lot of people, one after another. The ones who get away with it for a long time are almost always geniuses, and hard to catch. I want to help figure out who they are, so they can be captured and put behind bars.”
“You aren’t to blame for what he did.” My grandfather hadn’t said much, but when he spoke he seemed to consider every word carefully.
I gave him the same respect with my answer. “No, I’m not, but I was raised by one of the most famous serial killers ever. That will have to give me some kind of upper hand in finding others. I know how he thought, I know what he did in his free time, and I know his opinions on women.”
I looked towards the bed again and then to Aaron, “Any idea how long they’ll be?”
He grinned and shook his head. “I’m surprised it’s lasted this long, with her having to keep it to vanilla. Your Grizzly must know what he’s doing.”
Chapter Thirty
Horse
I’ve lived a life of sexual indulgence, but never had I indulged quite like this.
Gabby sometimes nibbles on my nipples. It isn’t painful, but the sensation can kick me into overdrive when I’m already close. Sometimes, she uses teeth on the head of my cock and it’s the same thing — not exactly painful, though right on the edge of it, and when I’m already horny it works for me.
The Winter Queen started out with the things Gabby does, and then she pushed it farther. I was fucking the living daylights out of her while she pinched and twisted my nipples, and I both wanted her to stop and I didn’t want her to stop. The latter was currently winning, because all I had to do was ask her to stop, and I hadn’t asked.
When it finally got to be too much I rose over her and pushed her legs so her knees were close to her shoulder, and pounded harder and faster. I was probably out of line, but she wanted sex with a Grizzly so I figured she wanted my kind of sex. I held her gaze as I found the sweet spot deep inside, and when her eyes rolled back in her head I stayed at it, rubbing over and over it as I jackhammered. No human could’ve survived this, but she was inches from an orgasm and I gave her an order.
I gave The Winter Queen an order.
/> “Come, Your Majesty. Come around my cock.” Her body tensed and relaxed around me and I didn’t back off with my near growling. “That’s it, let me feel you, come on.” I kept at it until she’d given herself over and I knew she’d become the orgasm and was no longer thinking like a Queen. And that’s when I gave another dozen pumps and came deep inside her.
She got more of me than I got of her, and I’d been wrong — even this far into bliss she was still in total control, but I saw parts of her I’m not sure many see.
And she saw way more of me than I intended.
When it was over we lay in each other’s arms a few moments before she rose over me and patted my cheek. “I don’t do vanilla very often, so it was nice you didn’t make it terrible.”
“You’re friends with Sophia?” I asked. I’d seen their friendship in the little bit I’d gotten from her.
She grinned and didn’t deny it. “Yes, and Sophia had a talk with me about her friend Gabby the other day.”
From what I’d seen, Sophia is quite special to this woman, which possibly explained why Aaron was assuring Gabby before we left that everything would be okay, while a week ago he was warning her he might not be able to protect her.
“Can I help you with anything, Your Majesty? I’d love to cuddle, but I also want to check on Gabby.”
“I’m not a cuddler. Get dressed and go. I’ll give you a few moments to meet her grandparents and then I’ll need to stow them away in their cell until their next assignment. I’ll probably pull them out and play with them a few times in the coming days, since I’m probably about to lose them.”
I’d been heavily coached to not thank anyone while in Faerie, so I said, “It’s been a pleasure, Your Majesty.”
I quickly dressed, and was still buckling my belt as I rounded the throne. Gabby was leaned into Nathan, his arm around her waist, and Aaron was standing at her other side. I walked up behind her, and she leaned back against me as Nathan removed his arm and I wrapped mine around her tiny body. I wanted to thank Nathan for taking care of her but it would have to wait until we were home. For now, I told him, “Glad you were here for her.”
Horse (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 6) Page 16