Keely didn't take any offense at her words. Deanna's face was sincere as she stared up at her, her wide eyes filled with curiosity. Compared to Deanna's voluptuous bust and hips, her figured looked nearly boyish. “Back on earth, food is scarce. It has been for years. There is a worldwide famine, and it seems like nobody ever has enough.”
“Ah,” Deanna replied, her face sympathetic. “I started to fear that you were ill, but this is nothing that can't be corrected with regular meals. Although most of our population drinks blood, that doesn't mean we don't have plenty of food for our mortal members. Here, our air is pure, and our animals are plump and healthy. Believe it or not, we also have our own fruits and vegetables. You'll never have to worry about going hungry again.”
Deanna's hands were nearly clinical as she quickly washed the area between her legs and her backside. Keely had a sensitivity there she'd never had before. Even the water felt different, now that she was completely bare. “What about illness and the plague?” She forced out, in an attempt to think of anything besides Deanna's touch. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was unsettling.
Much to her relief, Deanna indicated for her to lower her full body back into the warm, swirling water. “Vampires are immune to any type of mortal illness,” she told her as she started pouring water over her hair. “The mortals here are healthy, as well. Occasionally, one of them might get a cold, but even that is rare. Our doctors are the best. You'll be inoculated against all types of illnesses, once you are mated.”
“Why wait?” Keely snorted bitterly. “Why not do it now?”
“It's a mate's duty to see to your health and care,” Deanna gently informed her. “The most important thing is getting you mated. After that, everything else will fall into place.”
Would it? Keely's thoughts turned bleak as the events of the past twenty-four hours started to catch up with her. In such a short time so much had changed. She'd been removed from her life, her very planet, and brought to a new one with the expectation that she would pick one of their males and breed with him.
Had she been somewhere in her own world, she would have never stopped until she escaped. But here on Legionnaire she was effectively trapped, with little control over her own life. But how could she willingly commit herself to anyone for the rest of her natural life?
It was a hopeless situation and with those thoughts in mind, Keely remained silent for the rest of her bath.
Chapter 3
Sleep was impossible, although there would have been nothing Keely would have liked better than to slip into oblivion. Deanna had escorted her back to her room before patting her hand reassuringly and closing the door behind her. It had taken all Keely had not to beg her to stay.
The silence of the room had been unbearable. Everything about herself felt foreign, from the long curls and soft skin to the sheer sexiness of the outfit she was wearing. What little bit of shirt she had on ended right beneath her breasts, the gauzy material thin enough to reveal what was underneath. The bottoms were styled exactly like Deanna's had been, although hers were pink instead of red. A pair of thin gold sandals with a heel completed her outfit. Keely felt attractive and even sexual in a way she'd never felt before, but she hated it.
Zander was the one that came to collect her for the market. He knocked once before throwing the door wide open and coming to a screeching halt in the doorway as his eyes took her in. From his expression, it was clear he'd expected her to be asleep... But she wasn't, and from the heat in his eyes, he liked what he saw.
Keely stood in the middle of the sitting area, a low fire burning in the fireplace behind her. Otherwise the room was mostly shadowed. She hadn't cared enough to turn on one of the lamps while she'd paced back and forth. What did light matter, when you were about to submit to a total stranger?
She didn't give him the chance to speak. Instead Keely just asked him one simple thing. “Why?”
His bright green eyes narrowed at her question, but he didn't immediately answer. Zander was so tall, so strong, and so controlled. Keely hadn't known him long, but she liked what she had seen. Maybe even enough that she could have accepted Zander as mate.
The thought surprised her. Was he already mated? If not, would he participate in the market? Her lips parted at her thoughts as she stared at him in a new light.
He sensed the change in her. Keely didn't know how or why, but suddenly everything changed. The angles of his face appeared to grow sharper, his body stiffening as his hands clenched together at his sides. The air felt charged with energy. “Why, what?” he growled out, his voice thick as if speech was difficult.
Keely stared at him, her thoughts growing fuzzy. Her breath felt as if it were sucked out of her lungs as she realized just how much she did want him. He was simply the sexiest man she'd ever seen.
His explanation no longer mattered, and neither did anything else. There was no escaping her immediate future, but she still had control over the present. She only had one gift to give, and it would damn sure be to a man of her choosing.
Zander watched her with his muscled chest heaving. Innocent as she might be, there was no disguising the large bulge in the front of his fitted black pants. Her nipples hardened in excitement. Zander was large, even there. And God help her, but she wanted to feel every inch of that hardened flesh inside of her, regardless of the consequences.
Keely walked over to him, her eyes locked to his. There was a wildness within them that hadn't been there before. It only excited her more.
She stopped a foot in front of him and issued a challenge. “I want you, and I can see you want me. What are you doing to do about it?”
* * * * *
Her words washed over Zander as he nearly burst into flames. Keely stood before him, the curves of her lush body tantalizing him in a way he'd never experienced before. The need to ejaculate was overwhelming, he could feel the build up in his balls. The thought of missing out on the chance to slide his cock in her hot folds tormented him, mind, body, and soul, and in that moment, Zander was lost.
He reached out and grabbed her, his eyes devouring her alluring face. Keely was wide-eyed, her hair swinging away from her body like a satiny curtain as she stared up at him boldly. He could read the desire in her face and scent the need between her legs. The musk of her saturated pussy was like an aphrodisiac. He couldn't explain the attraction between them, but he was too far gone to need one.
“I'm going to give you what you want,” Zander rasped out, his hand sliding over her breast. Her nipple was turgid against the palm of his hand. He watched and waited for her reaction as he told her, “There will never be more than this, though. I'm promised to another.”
His voice sounded controlled, much to his relief. Inside he was anything but. He had to make her understand, though, that there could never be a future between them. Regret washed over him. Somehow he knew that one time would never be enough for him, but he had no choice and neither did she.
Her green eyes flashed with something Zander couldn't define. It might have been regret, but she carefully covered it up. He prayed that she would walk away so he couldn't hurt her, but he prayed even harder that she'd stay. “Do you love her?” Her voice was husky, arousing him even further.
“Not at all,” he growled in response, his lust thickening his tone. “But it doesn't matter, I never walk away from my duties... And I never will.” He held his breath as he awaited her decision.
Keely remained silent for several seconds as she stared up at him. Suddenly, her eyes filled with determination as she said, “So be it.” She slowly stepped forward until her body brushed against his. “Now I want you to show me how a vampire makes love.”
“Do you now?” he repeated, his hands resting on the tops of her shoulders before slowly sliding down the gauzy material. With his keen vision, he watched the goosebumps pop up on her pale skin from the contact. Underneath his palms, she trembled in arousal.
The quicker he got her in bed, the better.
He easily
swept her up in his arms before taking her to the one place he really wanted her. “Are you sure about this?” Zander forced himself to ask as he carefully laid her down. Maybe it was just his pride, but he wanted their time together forever etched in her memory. For that to happen, she'd have to want him as much as he wanted her.
Keely didn't immediately respond. Instead she slowly pulled up her half-shirt as she revealed her bare breasts to him. Large and rounded, her dusky-rose nipples were as hard as pebbles. “Does this answer your question?”
His hands found the edge of his own shirt as he quickly pulled it off with a growl.
* * * * *
Keely stared at the width of his large shoulders before slowly working their way down. Her body felt hot, her core simmering with wet need. Zander's chest and abdomen wasn't flat, it was ridged from the large muscles underneath. She held her breath as he undid his pants and then groaned when she saw he was nude underneath. Apparently, vampires didn't wear underwear.
A quick glance up showed Zander watching her heatedly, with a pleased expression on his face, but her eyes didn't remain there. Instead they slid back down. Her hands clenched and so did the area between her legs as she studied his erection.
Zander's cock was big. It was much bigger than she'd imagined it to be. For a moment, she felt apprehensive. How could something that large ever fit inside of her?
“It'll fit,” he told her in a rough, gravelly voice. Keely gasped, her eyes flickering back up to his face. He winked at her as he finished undressing, stepping out of his pants easily. “No, I didn't read your mind,” he reassured her, accurately reading her expression of disbelief. “Once I get a hold of that sweet pussy, and get it all nice and wet, I'll be able to slide right on in.”
His words stirred the heat that was already simmering inside of her. It bubbled up and boiled over, burning her inhibitions away. Suddenly, the gauzy pants she wore seemed too restrictive. Her hands slid eagerly to her waistband as she quickly slipped them off.
This time, Zander was the one to groan. Like a ship drawn to a lighthouse, he slid down on the bed on his knees, his eyes never leaving her slit. “Our time together is short,” he rasped out, sliding a finger along the bare skin of one of her nether lips. “But a pussy this sweet should never be left untasted.”
With that, Zander lowered his face between her legs. At the contact, Keely's head rolled back in pleasure. Zander had moved in straight for the kill, and she'd been an easy target. As his tongue raked back and forth across the nub hidden between her lips, her body tightened and then exploded.
Her words were incoherent, the pleasure indescribable, but she didn't feel satiated. If anything, it only made her desire him more. He gave her one last swipe with his tongue, her body trembling violently at the contact, before lifting his head and shooting her a sexy smile that was almost feral in nature.
He rolled her over onto her knees, his hands urging her to spread her thighs wide. There was a sense of urgency in his actions, but Keely wasn't complaining. It was as if her mind had stopped working and her body had taken over. Her nerve endings ached with need. Words weren't needed.
Zander probed at the entrance of her wet slit. It was bliss. Out of instinct, her hips arched in an erotic invitation. Zander wrapped his long fingers around her waist as he lifted and thrust deeply. Pleasure exploded into pain as he muttered a curse behind her, but he made no move to pull back out. Instead his curse turned into a sexy groan as his shaft seemed to expand and pulsate inside of her.
“Virgin,” he muttered hoarsely from behind her. “Mine.” He flexed his hips again, his thickened shaft stretching her in a way she'd never been stretched before. The pain was over, quickly replaced with a pleasure so great that she thought she'd pass out from it.
Keely didn't question his possessiveness because he was correct. Nothing in life had prepared her for this. She was his. She was lost and one time would never be enough, not with him. It was impossible for her to hold onto the thought, though, as he continued to delve deeper within. Her body trembled as the pressure built up within her.
He grunted behind her, his thrusts alternating between short and quick to long and deep. His cock head rubbed against something deep inside and simultaneously her core shattered and exploded. “Oh, my God,” she groaned into the bed. The pleasure was indescribable. It was so powerful, she felt as if her body wasn't big enough to contain it. Keely was powerless to do anything more than ride it out as wave after wave of rapture passed over her.
“So tight,” Zander bit out. He sounded as if his words were being forced out from somewhere deep within. “You're so small, I can't hold out.” His body emphasized his words as his shaft pulsated and twitched. He groaned as he gripped her hips even tighter. “I'm going to fill this tight little cunt to the brim.”
He grunted with the next three thrusts, and then he stilled so completely that Keely wondered if something was wrong. In the next second, though, she felt the first gush of his hot semen inside of her. She groaned, her body responding again. Feeling his release was more erotic than anything she'd ever imagined. In Zander's arms, she'd been well and truly taken.
Chapter 4
“Here on Legionnaire, our world is divided into four sections.” Zander explained as he led her down the hallway. They'd just left the room, and Keely was still a bit shell-shocked by the fantastic sex they'd had. “They are called Eeiyad for the east, Weiyad for the west, Seiyad for the south, and Neiyad for the north. Here we are in the north, so we're known as Neiyadians by the others on our planet.”
Keely didn't look at him, but she nodded to show her understanding of his words. After they'd made love, Zander had got up and redressed while she'd done the same. He hadn't been unkind, but the lover like male had been replaced with an expressionless face and a neutral voice. It was hard to believe he was the same man that had just made love to her with such skill and passion, but he was, and her body wasn't going to let her forget it so easily.
Having sex with Zander had been a bold move. She hadn't expected how devastatingly good it could be, or the landslide of emotion that would follow, at least for her. The pleasure she'd found in his arms had now turned into brutal emotional pain. Her lust had changed from just that to something more, but there was no possibility for a future between them.
Her thoughts turned bleak as she faced the facts. Before the night was over, she was going to find herself mated to some nameless vampire and expected to try to breed for him. And if that weren't bad enough, the events would be shadowed by her pain from Zander's rejection.
Oh, he'd been honest and told her he was promised to another before they'd made love but even then it had hurt. But that pain was nothing compared to what she felt now. After having him in her bed, she wanted more, but clearly the feeling wasn't mutual. In his mind they'd had their fun, but it was time to move on. Although he was being kind, his position was clear. He wouldn't be changing his carefully laid plans for her, not that she'd really expected him to anyhow.
Zander noticed her silence as they stopped in front of a door. “Keely,” he said softly, his hand on the doorknob. He waited until she looked up before continuing, “I'm sorry. If things were different -” At that he stopped and turned away from her, without saying another word.
His words were simple, but they nearly made her cry. Was he apologizing for the time they'd spent together, or was he, too, filled with a deep regret that there wouldn't, couldn't, be a future between them? She looked away, too, as she bit her lip and nodded.
Zander opened the door and led her outside. The temperature was pleasant, the three moons illuminating the flowers and trees with their gentle glow. There was more than enough light for her to see, but it wasn't like the stark brightness of the sun. Keely was jet lagged and out of sorts, her body unused to twenty-four hours of night. Would she ever adapt to living in a world without any sun? It felt unnatural.
He led her down a brick walkway and through a courtyard before stepping out onto Legion
naire’s version of a street. In many ways it was similar to the ones she was used to, but it was also completely different. Legionnaire was quiet, without any cars in sight, and it showed in the freshness of the air. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the heady fragrance from the flowers and trees. It felt good. The air back home was thick with pollutions and toxins making it thick and hard to breathe. She couldn't remember a time when it hadn't been.
They were quiet as they walked, each of them lost in their own thoughts. The vampire's town was old-world in its style, although there was nothing lacking about it. At one time, society back on Earth must have looked similar to this, in days long past. She might have been taken unwillingly, but Keely had no complaints about her accommodations. Being forced to choose a mate was a different story, though.
The sidewalks weren't empty, and Keely was the center of attention. She blushed when she became aware of their stares. Although there were a few women, it was mostly men and none of them seemed friendly.
The women wore long dresses in elaborate styles, while the men were dressed in button down shirts and pants. Some of them even wore tuxedos and top hats. It was bizarre. The women snickered behind their gloved hands as they whispered amongst themselves. Keely's lips tightened into a thin line as she ignored them. Screw them, and their snide remarks. Her chin elevated several inches, her shoulders locked in place as she held her head high.
Taken: The Vampire's Concubine: Part One Page 3