As the conversation continued, Raven peeked around, trying to see as much of this fearsome Paatiin as she could, as well as the rest of the room. It wasn’t easy to get a good look at everything. Her hair hung in the way, and they were still surrounded by guards.
A gap in her curls did allow a decent look at Saazeer, who lounged on a long, richly upholstered chaise. It was all Raven could do to not gasp. The man was gorgeous. He went far beyond beauty. This creature was drop dead, astoundingly beautiful.
His hair was a sheet of silver, copper, and gold strands that lay nearly to his waist. Saazeer’s features were masculine but daintily so. A circlet of iridescent black crowned his thin brow. His delicate nose was straight and pointed. His eyes were the gray of stormy seas, and just as unfathomably deep. The slightly smiling lips were lush, and Raven had the sudden vision of him using them on her trembling body. He wore many layers of robes as the rest of the Paatiin did, but there was no missing the lithe but powerful body beneath them.
Raven had to look away. Gazing at Saazeer made it difficult to breathe. She knew as a face-changer he could assume any visage he wished and that he had probably put this one on to disarm Daagiis. The stunning appearance was only window dressing, she tried to remind herself.
It was damned fine window dressing, though.
Only after she reluctantly dragged her entranced gaze from Saazeer did she notice the two slaves kneeling at his bare feet. They too were naked as she and Vendeen were. They had the metallic-like sheened bronze skin of Vendeen’s race and slanted black eyes. Raven thought they might be around her own age, though it was hard to be sure.
The female’s hair was even the same color, texture, and length as Vendeen’s. The male’s was a blatant, eye-popping red. Raven wondered if it was dyed that color, though she wasn’t sure if the race produced hair of such an amazing hue. It was impossible to match the drapes to the carpet, since the male was shaved clean on the rest of his body, just as the female was.
Both Gilothean slaves were muscular and would be tall if they stood, much as Vendeen was. Now that she thought about it, Raven realized Mikroe had also been a daunting if slender specimen. Perhaps Vendeen’s people were all Goliaths and Amazons.
The pair were adorned with jewelry both decorative and painful looking. Dainty golden chains depended from nipple piercings. The female also had a labia piercing and the top of the male’s cock had a line of round gold metal stubs dotting from base to where the cockhead flared. Raven’s eyes widened to see that. She bet the man had screamed like a girl when those had been embedded in his flesh.
While Raven took in these amazing creatures, Saazeer and Daagiis carried on their conversation. Saazeer said, “I am enjoying the properties you forfeited to me, Daagiis. They are very lovely. So which of these beauties did you give all that up to me for?”
Daagiis slowly straightened from his bow to fix Saazeer with a warning look. “The one who stole my senses is gone. These are new, as Laaruu will confirm.”
Laaruu said reluctantly, “They are recently tagged, Esteemed One.”
The female slave at Saazeer’s feet giggled. Raven was startled to see the woman eyeing her and not Vendeen with obvious lust. The male looked at her too, and Raven fought to not squirm under their evaluating stares.
Saazeer ignored the slaves. “Is that so? How interesting. Of course you know I could challenge that, Daagiis. At least where the male is concerned since I know it was a Gilothean man you abdicated everything for.”
Daagiis’ tone was unconcerned. “It is within your rights.”
“He would be a nice addition to my Kelsyn and Mersta. I see you have him muzzled, though. Is he such a problem?”
“Nothing but trouble so far, esteemed Saazeer. I don’t think you’d enjoy taming such as this one. Your time is much too precious.”
Raven peeked to see Saazeer’s eyes narrow. “That may be. But if testing found you are addicted to him and have been for some time, the Alt-Earth female would be an acceptable substitute.”
“I will not give either up.”
Daagiis’ voice had gone cold, dangerous, and absolute. Next to him, Laaruu put his hands beneath his rainbow-hued robes. Raven knew the security head had laid hold of weapons. She tensed, ready to spring and claim the blades from Daagiis’ belt. She sensed Vendeen stiffen as well. Saazeer’s slaves exchanged a look with each other and edged closer to their master.
Of them all, only Saazeer seemed unaffected. He gave Daagiis a puzzled, mild smile. “You are such a strange person, Daagiis. You fell in love with some slave before to the point that you surrendered all you possessed. Now you are in love with these?”
Raven started. It was with only the greatest control that she kept from looking up to see Daagiis’ expression.
He was in love with her as well as Vendeen?
Still using that ruthless, deadly tone, Daagiis said, “I will only repeat, I will give neither of these two up to you. They are mine alone.”
Saazeer regarded Daagiis with an emotion that Raven couldn’t quite read. Disappointment? Hurt? Amusement? Perhaps it was all three.
He said, “I have no wish to deepen our quarrel, Daagiis. I still remember better times we shared, and in that spirit, I will bargain with you. I will not challenge that you possessed either of these before you broke our contract … if you allow me to test them as I see fit and they pass my tests.”
Daagiis expressed the worry Raven felt at his words. “What test?”
Saazeer’s lips curled in a malicious smile. “Pleasure through pain, of course. I wish to see if your slaves are worthy of you. You are precious to me despite your many shortcomings.”
Daagiis was silent for a few seconds as he digested the offer. Finally he said, “No permanent injuries or scars. And no intercourse. I am the only one who has the pleasure of entering or being entered by these two.”
Saazeer shook his head, as if he dealt with a recalcitrant child. “Selfish as always. Which is why I am not convinced this one—” he looked at Vendeen “—is not the one you rejected me for. You would never let go of someone you had given everything up for.”
Daagiis made no effort to affirm or deny the allegation. “Is our bargain made, esteemed one?”
Saazeer sighed. “Done, damn you.”
“Very well. Abnet and Raven, you will obey all demands put to you. You will offer no resistance or you become the property of the esteemed Saazeer.” Daagiis stepped back until he stood behind Raven and Vendeen, out of their sight. “They are yours for the trials, esteemed Saazeer.”
Raven concentrated on breathing steadily, trying to not lose herself in the sudden spike of fear that drove through her heart. She knew Daagiis had done his best to keep her and Vendeen safe. Still, much had been left open for suffering pain and humiliation. What horrors would they suffer at the hands of this Saazeer?
Daagiis’ former intended looked at the muzzled Vendeen for a moment, then his attention focused on Raven. She quickly looked down at the floor, fearing he would see her blue eyes peering at him through her hair. For several long moments she felt the weight of his stare on her. Then he shifted.
“The male, first. Bind him to the pillars.”
Two of Saazeer’s security hauled Vendeen to his feet and dragged him to two pillars Raven hadn’t noticed standing to one side of the lounge Saazeer relaxed on. She rolled her eyes to one side to watch them fasten Vendeen’s ankles and wrists to manacles chained to the alabaster columns.
Vendeen hung there helplessly, his body spread in an ‘x’. Then Laaruu approached him with a flogger.
Raven’s body tensed as she readied to jump up and defend her true master. No way she would continue to kneel at Daagiis’ feet while Vendeen had his skin peeled from him. Her need to protect him overrode everything, including their mission. Her head came up from its subservient bow. A snarl pulled her lips back from her teeth.
“Your indulgence, esteemed Saazeer,” Daagiis said from just behind her. He spoke in his l
anguage.
An instant later, a hum went through Raven’s entire body, starting from the base of her spine. Except for her eyes, she discovered she was frozen in place, unable to even twitch. She rolled her gaze back to glare at Daagiis. The fucking tag had overridden her abilities to move, much less fight.
Daagiis frowned at her severely. “You are in enough trouble,” he whispered. “Do not make things worse for him or yourself.”
Saazeer’s chuckle rang through the air. “They are loyal to one another?”
Daagiis continued to glare at Raven. “Greatly, and to their mutual detriment.”
“Interesting.” Saazeer dismissed the moment of drama by regarding his own slaves. The pair, seeing they had his attention, immediately moved closer to him, rubbing their cheeks against his robed thighs, making sounds of entreaty as they gazed up adoringly at their master.
Saazeer stroked the female’s head, but it was the male he nodded to. “Kelsyn will deliver the pleasure.” His smoke-gray eyes flicked up to the security head. “Laaruu, you may begin when ready.”
Laaruu’s grin spread over his face. He patted Vendeen’s ass with his palm. “I will enjoy seeing my stripes on such a lovely specimen. I think he might enjoy wearing them.”
The Paatiin gripped his flogger and stepped back. Raven expected him to swing hard, but instead, Laaruu only flicked his wrist. The tails of the flogger whipped forward in a practiced arc and splashed against Vendeen’s backside with a sound much like the patter of rain.
Vendeen winced, every muscle tensing in reaction. Laaruu chuckled. “Yes, a light tease to begin with. Something to wake you up before the real pain begins.”
A movement caught Raven’s eye. The male slave Kelsyn crawled towards Vendeen, his muscles undulating like that of a mountain lion stalking prey. Vendeen’s eyes widened at the approach. Distracted by the closing slave, Laaruu’s next strike caught him by surprise. Vendeen moaned.
“That’s it,” Laaruu breathed. Raven could hear his breathing now, growing heavy. The Paatiin was getting excited, apparently. The flogger whipped forward with more force than before. Vendeen jerked hard against his bonds. His gasp rang out.
Kelsyn reached him and looked up the length of Vendeen’s straining body. His hands ran up the prisoner’s muscled calves, around to stroke over his knees, then up the corded thighs. Kelsyn rose up on his knees, putting his face on level with Vendeen’s still soft cock.
Saazeer snickered. “Someone does not like being dominated,” he observed. “But Kelsyn will cure your slave of his reluctance, Daagiis. I’ve never known him to fail.”
Kelsyn’s hands continued to travel up until they framed Vendeen’s cock and balls. He leaned close, breathing on the muzzled man’s privates. Raven thought she saw Vendeen’s prick twitch.
The flogger fell on Vendeen’s back, ass, and thighs harder and faster. The captured Gilothean jerked against the strengthening blows, writhing helplessly as Laaruu took him to task. The Paatiin’s pleased gasps were as loud as Vendeen’s pained ones. “That’s it, slave. Dance for me. Dance under my punishment.”
Kelsyn took Vendeen in his mouth. Since Vendeen was still soft, the other man had little trouble enclosing the whole of him. A groan fell from Vendeen’s covered lips. This time when he jerked, it was not from Laaruu’s lash.
“Now we have him,” Saazeer breathed. “I knew he would not be able to continue resisting.”
Kelsyn cupped Vendeen’s ballsack in one palm, his other hand skimming over the bound man’s abdomen. Vendeen hissed when the flogger hit him again, but his eyes had become unfocused. His hips swayed back and forth, helping Kelsyn fellate him. Laaruu’s strikes altered rhythm; the many tails of the punishment device swung to meet Vendeen’s ass and thighs when they moved towards his tormentor.
Raven stared. Vendeen’s cock emerged from Kelsyn’s mouth thicker and semi-erect. The slave’s head bobbed back and forth on him, making him hard with arousal. Vendeen’s groans quickly became equal parts pain and pleasure as Kelsyn and Laaruu both worked his flesh with harmonious intent.
Raven no longer tried to break Daagiis’ command over her. She knew she could if her programming believed Vendeen to be in real danger. Apparently, he wasn’t.
In the back of her mind dwelt the niggling worry that she would be subjected to a similar test. For right now, however, her senses were rapt on watching Vendeen strain between lash and clever mouth and hands. He was beautiful as he moved between the two men commanding his chiseled body, making it writhe for their pleasure. Raven thought she’d never seen anything so magnificent as her master muzzled and bound, forced to endure what looked to be the highest sensual delights.
Vendeen screamed when he climaxed, his cum spurting hard into Kelsyn’s face. Laaruu swung the flogger viciously against him then, seeming only to add to Vendeen’s eruption. His entire body galvanized, his muscles standing out in stark relief, as mighty as any Roman god sculpture. The orgasm lasted for longer than any man’s Raven had ever seen.
At last Vendeen sagged limp in his bonds. Laaruu stepped back, the tales of his flogger drooping down as he rested his arm. His robes were loose, but they did not hide his arousal.
Kelsyn crawled back to Saazeer, who had a cloth ready to wipe his face clean. The slave had left his own spend in a puddle at Vendeen’s feet.
Everywhere Raven looked, the Paatiin were flushed, their eyes wide and dilated. Her own thighs were wet with excitement. Vendeen’s display had been astounding.
In the understatement of the day, Saazeer sighed with great enjoyment. “A most delicious demonstration. You may release him and return him to his master.”
As the Paatiin guards took Vendeen out of the manacles binding his wrists and ankles, Saazeer’s turquoise gaze turned to Raven, sending a thrill of anticipatory dread through her veins. “Now, how shall we test this one?”
Raven’s heart went into overdrive under Saazeer’s amused but pitiless scrutiny. What Vendeen had gone through had no doubt humiliated him. She could only imagine what Daagiis’ once-intended mate would do to her.
The female slave made a pleading noise, her eyes rolled up towards Saazeer beseeching. The gorgeous Paatiin smiled down at her and stroked her hair. “You like her, Mersta? I think it would be nice for you to show how much you like her. Laaruu?”
Raven’s heart tried to freeze in her chest at the sound of the security head’s name. Even the fact his flogger had disappeared did not quiet her terror.
Laaruu bowed deeply to Saazeer. “Thank you, Esteemed One.” He looked over the rest of his security team, the ones not dragging a still-shaky Vendeen back to Daagiis’ feet. He pointed to a few in turn. “You. You. And you.”
Then he turned to Daagiis, who petted the trembling Vendeen, now kneeling. Laaruu told him, “You may release her.”
Daagiis nodded, a slight smile curling his lips. At that moment, any tender feelings Raven had held for him disappeared. She hated him. Had she been able to, she would have leapt on him and punched until he begged for mercy.
Laaruu and the three Paatiin he’d chosen closed in on Raven. It was all she could do to not snarl at them, but she didn’t want to end up muzzled like Vendeen. She was supposed to be Daagiis’ docile slave so they could get at Taambaa and Hanos. Still, the effort it took to remain quiet was herculean.
Daagiis spoke in his language, and she suddenly felt the release of his control. She was free. However, she had no chance to enjoy this state of affairs as Laaruu and his men grabbed her.
Raven’s intention to play her part evaporated the moment she felt those strong grips on her arms and legs. She couldn’t help but struggle against the Paatiin, though she did manage to make no attempt to hurt them. She simply tried to escape their holds, jerking and flailing, twisting herself in many contortions in the effort to flee.
The four laughed as if it was all a game. For their part, they avoided harming Raven, simply pinning her by the wrists and ankles, making her spread-eagle on the soft purity of the
white carpeted floor. Their cologne fragrances spilled over her, making her think of Daagiis, which made her pussy unrepentantly wet. Even angry at him, she couldn’t help but respond to his allure.
The Paatiin’s faces were rapt, the eagerness of their male-oriented bodies obvious as they crouched around her, holding her down. Raven whimpered, but she was at their mercy. Knowing Saazeer had agreed to Daagiis’ stipulation that no actual intercourse would happen was the only thing that made her go quiet under their power.
Saazeer’s chuckle put goosebumps all over her body. “Oh, this one will be so much fun. She is yours, Mersta. Enjoy her to your heart’s content.”
This female Gilothean crawled towards Raven much the way Kelsyn had approached Vendeen. Intent made Mersta’s face primitive with eagerness, driving a spike of terror through Raven. Whatever Mersta had planned, Raven didn’t like it.
The slave was not Paatiin, and Daagiis had said nothing of threat displays made towards other slaves. Raven bared her teeth at the muscular woman, straining against those holding her down as if she’d spring on Mersta and tear her throat out.
Mersta drew back for a moment, her expression shocked. She blinked at Raven, and sympathy crossed her features. Raven’s anger stuttered to see the pity. Mersta felt sorry for her?
A soft cooing sound came from Saazeer’s slave. She leaned forward towards Raven, her hand reaching. She stroked the top of Raven’s thigh, as if petting a cringing dog. Raven realized Mersta thought she was afraid and attempted to calm her.
Confusion reigned. Raven didn’t know how she was supposed to respond to Mersta’s gentleness. As she puzzled over this unexpected turn of events, Saazeer’s slave moved forward, closing the distance between them until she knelt between Raven’s spread thighs.
With a sweet, almost caring smile, Mersta moved so that she crouched over Raven. She stroked through the cascade of black curls that spilled like ink over the white carpet. Then she smoothed her thumb over Raven’s cheek. Mersta bent down and kissed where she’d touched with lips as delicate as hummingbird wings.
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