A thousand emotions swirled inside him with the energy of a wild vortex. All the anger, all the despair, all the hatred that he had kept under tight control for the past two centuries pulsed through his muscles, urging him to reclaim her throat and squeeze it until her blood christened his arms and her lifeless flesh sagged to the earthen floor of the Unseelie chamber.
He stepped back reining in his temper. The queen was right—he had waited too long for it to be over so soon.
“Saule?” he said softly.
She swept her gaze over him as if she was sizing him up, contemplating him like doctor examined a wound. Her gaze bored into his and for a split second he could have sworn he saw something akin to regret in her face. A moment later the emotion vanished, and he found himself once again looking at a deity in mortal skin, haughty and distanced. She straightened her spine until she stood at a full five foot ten.
“You know who I am, Aldric,” she said evenly.
He searched her face for some sign of fear or panic. Even hatred would have been expected. But she just stared at him, cold and seemingly detached from her surroundings. She managed more dignity, nude and spread out in chains, than some people did in full battle armor. His hands curled into fists. He didn’t want her calm. He wanted to see panic before he tamed her. He wanted her to feel the anger and desperation he’d felt when she betrayed him.
“You remember my name.”
“Of course. It has been many years since I’ve seen your face, centuries since you turned away from the light to live in eternal darkness, but I do not forget my people.”
Hot anger exploded inside him like lava from the depths of a volcano. He surged forward and grabbed her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. A little sound of pain escaped her throat, reminding him in the nick of time to ease his grip lest he break her jaw. He dragged his hand away from her face, struggling to control his temper.
“You gave up the right to call them your people when you left them to die at the Russians’ hands,” he hissed.
“Still blaming me for that, are you, Aldric? You were my priest for so long. Have you forgotten that I am forbidden from interfering in the fates of humans?”
“You are a warrior goddess,” he shouted, fury bubbling up his throat and spilling from his lips. “It is your job to fight for us!”
“It is my job to fight against the forces that threaten you from beyond the veil,” Saule reminded him gently. “I fight your immortal enemies for you, not your mortal enemies.” She shook her head sadly. “I wish I could have protected you, Aldric. I wish I could have intervened when you called for me.”
“Do not pretend to be so helpless,” Aldric seethed, struggling to speak past the hatred choking him. The sounds of the long ago war echoed in his ears, filling his head with gunshots and screams of terror. “You could have stopped the Russians if you’d wanted to.”
“Why was that day any different from all the other horrible days marked by one people’s invasion of another?” Saule demanded. “Do you know how many pleas I hear, Aldric? How many of my people beg me to save their village? The Russians have goddesses too. If I joined human wars, what is to keep the other deities from joining as well?” She shook her head, her face firmly set despite the sadness in her eyes. “The world would be devastated by such battles until there was no one left to pray.”
She stared into his eyes and a lump formed in Aldric’s throat. Her words did nothing to ease his pain, nothing to stem his need for revenge. He was still drowning in the emotions of that day, a priest standing on a hill begging for a goddess who wouldn’t come.
“You are still angry with me, Aldric. Please, tell me--why should that day have been so different?”
“Because I loved you!”
The words flew from his mouth before he could stop them. His eyes widened and a fierce embarrassment tightened his face even as his anger rushed to mute it.
“All of my people love me. And I love all of them, but the problem remains, I cannot fight in human wars. No deity can.”
“All of my people love me.”
Her words echoed in Aldric’s head, each syllable humiliating him a little more. He was nothing to her. He was just one among millions, one more pathetic voice begging for attention. Nothing special.
No more words escaped his lips, but his face must have given his thoughts away because suddenly Saule’s eyes widened. Her surprise only adding to the shame of his unwilling confession.
“Aldric, I--”
“Ah, now you see then, do you?” He laughed, a harsh mirthless sound, his eyes drilling holes in her. “Go ahead, oh radiant goddess. Take a moment to mock the priest foolish enough to fall in love with his goddess.”
“I didn’t know.”
The smile on his face became physically painful as he continued to look at her. The heart that had not beat for hundreds of years seemed to wither a little further. “Of course you didn’t know. You are a goddess and I was merely a human. Just one more adoring face among your shining horde.”
“I am so sorry, Aldric,” she whispered.
Rage bubbled inside him like a living thing. He wanted to strangle her, to strike her—anything to wipe that condescending look of empathy from her pale yellow features. Like an answer to an unspoken prayer, a memory sprang to his mind. Dark pleasure softened his fury and soothed the pain of his frustration as he turned it over and over in his mind. An evil smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He knew how to wipe that infuriating expression from Saule’s face.
“An apology?” Hysteria edged his voice as he laughed at the pathetic offering of the sun goddess. “Is that what you offered Valkyrine when she cried out for you and you didn’t come? Did you tell her you were sorry?”
The beginnings of hot anger flickered in Saule’s eyes. The sight warmed Aldric’s frozen heart, gave him the first taste of the vengeance he’d waited so long for.
“Did raping my daughter ease your pain, Aldric?” she ground out. “Did her cries for mercy ease your loss?”
“I did not rape her,” Aldric corrected her, forcing his voice to come out even. “Valkyrine wanted what I gave her.” He smiled and leaned closer to Saule’s face, bathing in the warm scent of her skin. “She begged for it,” he whispered.
“Liar.”
The revenge fantasy he’d played over and over again in his mind over the past centuries erupted in glorious color before his mind’s eye. He could not have asked for a more perfect opening to reveal it to the woman who was to receive the full brunt of his vengeance.
“Words cannot describe the ecstasy that comes from letting down your guard and succumbing to the pleasure to be had at the hands of one who holds you completely in his power.” He stroked her face, delighting in the way her jaw tensed under his fingers. “When you are begging me to take you, then you will understand how willing your daughter truly was.”
“Your brutality is exceeded only by your arrogance,” Saule hissed. “You took advantage of my daughter’s youth and vulnerability. You brainwashed her with captivity and lascivious attentions. Because of you she has become twisted, a creature of darkness as much as light.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “You have turned my precious meita into a vieschtitsa.”
“She has more power now than she ever would have had as a meita,” Aldric shrugged, reveling in pleasure at her rage. “As a meita she did little more than make flowers grow and inspire humans to poetry and music. As a vieschtitsa, she will have not only the gifts that are hers by birth as a meita, but the ability to change her form to suit her needs, and a strength she would only have dreamed of as one of your little sun maidens.”
“She will be a sexual vampire—a succubus!” Saule hissed. “You have made her a danger to those she inspires!”
“Is that what finally made you come down from your lofty heaven?” Aldric mocked her. “Did you come down here to stop your little daughter from harming ‘your people?’”
“You knew I would have to come after what you
did to her. It is my job to look after my daughter and train her in the ways of the sun.”
Aldric smirked. “Well done.”
Saule threw back her head and screamed, the sound echoing off the stone walls of the chamber. The pain and frustration thick in the sound soothed Aldric’s spirit and calmed him in a way her soft pleas had not. Finally, he had reached her. Finally, he had some evidence that she felt a fraction of the pain he’d felt when he’d lost his home.
“Two centuries ago when you turned your back on my people, it was a vampire who offered me an alternative,” Adlric said calmly. “It was she who opened her arms to me, she who soothed my pain. She showed me how futile it was to rely on others, how the only way to be truly safe is to gain the power you need to defend yourself. She helped me to become strong, strong enough that I no longer need to rely on duplicitous deities whose attentions cannot be relied on. That is what she did for me and what I did for your daughter.” He stepped closer to Saule, reaching out with gentle hands to brush her golden hair back from her face as his cock prodded her belly. “It is what I am going to do for you.”
“That is your plan for revenge?” Saule ground out. “You raped my daughter and now you are going to rape me?”
Aldric smiled, unfazed by her attempts to push him back to anger. “Your daughter is the one person on this earth that you truly care for.” He leaned in, putting his mouth next to her ear. “She is a vieschtitsa now. You can see her, speak with her, but you cannot take her back to the heavens with you.” He laid a gentle kiss on her neck, pleased at the way she tensed in apparent fury. “She is earthbound here with me.”
“Bastard,” Saule sobbed.
“And now that you hate me,” Aldric continued, reveling in her angry tears, “it will be all the more painful for you to look back on this night and remember how you submitted to me. How you begged me—”
“Never!”
Aldric smiled and drew a hand up the side of her body, his fingers playing over her smooth skin. Her calm façade had cracked and the glimpses he got of her temper delighted him, promising a passionate encounter worthy of his vengeance.
He spoke with his lips against her ear. “Before I sheath my cock in your wet folds, you will beg me to take you. I will bring you such pleasure, your skin will glow like the sun and light this cavern like a hearthfire.” Desire burned in his veins, his blood rushing to his cock until he strained hard and aching against the flesh of her stomach. “I am going to make you shine.”
“What are you waiting for?” Saule hissed through clenched teeth. “If you think you can make me glow, I would love to see you try.”
Aldric smiled. “Ah,” he said softly. “There it was.”
Saule frowned, confusion momentarily marring her features. “There’s what?”
“The invitation I was waiting for.”
With a few quick gestures, he silently told two of his guards to hold their posts while beckoning the other two. Anton and Kurt stepped forward, their eyes taking on an eager light as they eyed the woman before them.
Aldric stepped behind Saule, molding his body against her. Heat swirled through her veins and standing this close to her, he could feel it almost as if that heat flowed through his own vessels. He leaned closer, relishing her warmth and drawing in the scent of her hair. She smelled of flowers.
“I would like you to meet Kurt and Anton,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he brushed his cheek against her hair. “Do not be surprised if their faces are etched into your beautiful brain after this night.”
“And what have I done to them that they must take part in my humiliation?”
The frost in her voice sent a thrill through his loins, stirring his flesh. He would break her icy exterior. Somewhere under that chilly façade was a radiant sun, just begging to be released. A chill ran down Aldric’s arms and he clenched his hands into fists. He wanted to feel that warmth. He had a right to it.
“Anton and Kurt have served me loyally for centuries. You are merely a reward for their services.”
Her body tensed even further and Aldric smiled. So much anger. She would be the sweetest of his conquests.
Anton and Kurt waited patiently for a sign. Aldric’s gaze wandered over the swell of the sun goddess’ breasts, noting the soft puckering of her pale brown nipples. They tightened under his scrutiny and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He nodded to Anton and Kurt.
They needed no further encouragement. Eyes shining with anticipation, they crept closer to Saule. Aldric studied her face as the two men smoothed their hands over her breasts, each giving their prize their undivided attention. She stared straight ahead, not looking at them, not reacting.
“Don’t you want to see what they’re going to do?” Aldric whispered, nuzzling her ear ever so gently.
Her jaw tightened, but her eyes remained focused straight ahead. Moving in tandem, Anton and Kurt each massaged a breast, leaning in to run their tongues around the nipple. Careful to avoid the sensitive peaks, they alternated soft kisses and slow licks, giving every inch the same loving care. The only part they avoided was the sensitive tip, which tightened until they looked almost painful.
“Anton and Kurt have taken many women to bed, sharing their bodies between them,” Aldric said softly. “They move almost as one, do they not?”
Still, Saule refused to look down, though the tightening around her eyes revealed her struggle. Aldric trailed his fingers up the sides of her body, keeping his touch feather light on her silken flesh. Just before he got to her breasts, he trailed his fingers down again, dancing over the smooth taunt skin of her belly.
Over and over again, he stroked her while Anton and Kurt lavished attention on her breasts. His palms buzzed with the sensation of her skin sliding against them, gentle waves of pleasure rolling over his body.
For awhile Saule remained as a statue, hard and unmoving. Aldric couldn’t help but admire her restraint, despite his ire. She had the haughty will of a deity to be sure. He smiled as his fingers dug into her flesh. He would make her beg.
Finally she began to squirm. As if against her will, she arched her back, straining to force her nipples into the wandering mouths kneeling at her feet. Two pairs of eyes rolled up to meet Aldric’s knowing gaze, silently seeking permission. He nodded.
Like wolves falling on a wounded deer, they grasped her breasts in their hands and brought their mouths crashing down on her nipples. Aldric grabbed her hips as she thrashed in her chains, her mouth falling open as the guards sucked hard and fast at her nipples. Aldric watched pleasure dance over her face as she moved in time to their ministrations, moaning as they alternated careful little bites with firm strokes of their tongues.
The blood in his veins warmed as it flowed to his cock, teased by the sight of the beautiful woman writhing in ecstasy. He stared at her skin. It remained as pale and beautiful as before, but still it did not glow.
Ducking his head to her shoulder, Aldric laid a soft kiss on her flesh. His right hand trailed over the flat planes of her stomach, drifting slowly down to the apex at her thighs. She groaned as he trailed a finger between the lips of her pussy, a thrill of satisfaction tightening his groin as he found her hot and wet.
“Such heat dripping out of you,” Aldric said hoarsely. He banded his left arm around her waist, holding on as a surge of pleasure rose in his body. He pressed his mouth to her ear. “I could warm myself in your body. Take your heat into me. Can the fire of a sun goddess warm the cold of the grave?”
“Only the fires of a death forge can warm your decaying flesh,” she choked, the sting of her insult mitigated by the breathy quality of her voice. Her hips jerked against his hand as he flicked his thumb over her clit and he relished the wave of satisfaction at her reaction.
His cock ached with need and he pressed that painful stiffness against her backside. A whimper flew from her throat and for just a second, she pressed back against him.
The sounds of Anton and Kurt still worshipping her b
reasts filled the air as Aldric pulled his hands away from Saule’s writhing form. He stroked himself as he brushed the heavy mass of her hair out of his way, gritting his teeth as his cock throbbed in his hand.
In seconds he was pressed against her back, his cock sliding forward to part the slick lips of her pussy without entering her. She cried out as he stroked back and forth between her legs, coating his length in her juices. Her body rocked with him, adding her own insistent strokes to the brush of their bodies.
The pleasure of her hot liquid pouring onto his cock sent a wave of heat to his head. The room seemed to swim around him until he had to grab her hips just to anchor himself to reality.
“Do you want me inside you?” he choked, straining to keep his voice from breaking. The sharp contrast of her soft wet body against the steel of his own aching flesh nearly undid him and he clenched his teeth to keep his strokes smooth and even.
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