Dark Empress: The Onic Empire, Book 5

by Anitra Lynn McLeod

  “What’s wrong with her?” Gabriyel asked right before he slumped to his knees. With the last bit of his strength, he peered up and demanded, “What did you do to us?”

  Arms bound behind his back, Gabriyel crumpled to the floor. He was as unresponsive as Farjika. Between him and Errion, they got her down and settled her on the floor next to Gabriyel.

  “I’ve never seen this happen.” Errion shrugged, but his casual gesture belied the anxiety in his eyes.

  Lorren had never seen reactions like this either. Usually, after being bound for so long, the subject was a bit numb, but always coherent, sometime even remarkably so. Those who were bound had told him that once they were freed, it was a curious kind of rebirth, as if everything that weighed them down was cut away with the fens.

  Lorren moved to unbind Farjika, but Errion stopped him.

  “I’ve got to show the knots to another master to make sure I didn’t inadvertently cause this.” Swiftly he called forth the commbot, contacted his Fentaru master, and relayed the evening’s events. He spoke rapidly and turned away as if he didn’t want Lorren listening in, not that it would matter. Lorren only knew he liked to watch the art of Fentaru; he knew nothing about it other than it was visually arousing.

  As Errion spoke with the woman who had trained him, and angled the commbot over the sleeping pair to show her the knots, Lorren examined Gabriyel and Farjika. They were flushed and sweaty, breathing rapidly, almost as if they continued to feel sexual torment. Gabriyel was still rock hard, and Farjika’s sex was wet with need. Confused, Lorren shook his head. He’d seen and heard both of them find release. Of that, he had no doubt, because when they’d climaxed, he’d reached his own long-awaited orgasm.

  Errion finished his conversation and dismissed the commbot. When he knelt to cut Farjika free, he didn’t meet Lorren’s gaze.

  “What happened?” Lorren grabbed another knife and worked on freeing Gabriyel. Inadvertently he jiggled his cock, which set the poor man moaning in agony. Blinking and confused, Gabriyel rolled toward Farjika, his hands seeking out her body with a desperation that bordered on the pathetic.

  “Hold him back,” Errion admonished as he forcefully dragged Farjika away. “They can’t touch each other until we’ve completed the tentulo.”

  Gabriyel was weak and easily restrained. However, he continued to try to reach for Farjika as he babbled in his native tongue.

  “What’s wrong with them?” Lorren knelt by Gabriyel’s side, cradling him into his lap. He did his best to comfort him, but all the man wanted was more of Farjika.

  “I made a mistake.” Errion looked into his eyes, then away very fast. “A very big mistake, and I’m going to need your help.”

  “We can fix this?” Lorren asked hopefully, but the way Errion avoided his gaze wasn’t the answer he needed.

  With the help of a robot, they carried Gabriyel down to the prison. After carefully washing Farjika, he and Errion placed her in Lorren’s bed. The maid rapidly returned the parlor to rights, and the butler gave him a fortifying drink with his usual blank face. As Lorren gulped the brandy down, he envied his robots. They did whatever he said without shame or repercussions. He could have a hundred men bang the butler’s butt, and he’d just kneel there and take it. The maid would do nothing in the same situation. Only humans felt shame for the lusts they expressed. Only humans could have regrets. In that moment, standing there as he polished off his drink, Lorren despaired that he was human. If he were a true beast, a true master of his own art, he would feel nothing for what he’d done. He realized he was not a master when the weight of responsibility crushed down on his shoulders.

  According to Errion’s Fentaru master, the next spin was a critical time for Gabriyel and Farjika. They couldn’t be allowed near each other until they’d undergone tentulo, or energy milking. Unfamiliar with the term, Errion had filled him in as they rapidly washed their bodies and changed their clothes.

  At first blush, tentulo sounded like erotic fun; once Errion described the exacting nature of what they would do, Lorren realized performing tentulo on Farjika would cost him dearly. However, he was determined to follow through. He owed her this along with a huge apology, which, judging by the repercussions, she wouldn’t likely grant. Farjika was never, ever going to forgive him for what he’d done to her. Saying that he’d ruined her life wasn’t an exaggeration. Lorren had singlehandedly altered the very course of her existence.

  Feverish, Farjika shivered as she rolled in the sheets, the needs of her body pulling her back to awareness.

  Searing pain in her gaze hit him like an accusation.

  She spoke in her native tongue. He didn’t know what she said, but judging by the tone, she was issuing orders, or perhaps berating him for his foolishness. Either way, she wasn’t happy with him. He didn’t blame her. What he had done was unforgivable. Her pain destroyed his longings. Almost as if he knew, the beast willingly retreated to the corner and hung his head in shame. For a moment of bliss, Lorren had ruined two lives and permanently put Farjika out of his reach. He had no one to blame but himself.

  Cupping her body close, he murmured soothing words as he carefully parted her legs. Her scent galvanized him. He wanted to bury his cock in her and replace Gabriyel’s lingering essence with his own. If he did that, he would only make an impossible situation worse. Spreading his fingers across her mound, he opened her lips, exposing her clit. As he brushed his thumb across it, she moaned and arched her back, spreading her legs wider. Within a few strokes she came hard, clamping her legs together, trapping his hand as she rocked violently against his cupped fingers. Eventually she relaxed her hold on him. He withdrew his hand but didn’t leave her side. Here he would stay until he’d released the remaining energy. Below, Errion performed the same services for Gabriyel. Errion wanted to stay with Farjika, as he didn’t trust Lorren, but there was no way Lorren could soothe Gabriyel, not when they each wanted the same thing: Farjika. Besides, Lorren didn’t trust Errion with Farjika, not after what they’d done while shopping.

  As Lorren waited for the next wave to hit Farjika, he berated himself for what he’d let happen tonight. All of this was his fault. Errion had made a mistake with one of the forms, but Lorren was the one who pushed Farjika far beyond what even a dedicated Fentaru practitioner could endure. He was the one who cut only the center line. So much energy had built up that Gabriyel couldn’t equalize the power that surged within her body. He’d taken as much as he could, but by keeping the remaining forms on her body as they mated, more energy gathered, energy that wasn’t simply sexual. The more Gabriyel slaved to release her, the more he left an indelible mark upon her soul.

  Tonight should have been erotic fun and games, but now everything was serious and deadly dangerous. Through his ignorance, Lorren had inadvertently enslaved Gabriyel to Farjika for the rest of their lives. Gabriyel would kill any man who tried to take her from him. Instinctively, Gabriyel had planted his seed deep, and he would die to protect her and the life she carried. Errion’s mistake had been with the knot above her belly button. It could stimulate a need to mate, which was perfect for building energy, but by tormenting her for so long, Lorren had turned her need to mate into a need to procreate. According to the other Fentaru master, Farjika was undoubtedly pregnant. Even if she used protection, the powerful forces that built up in her body would have obliterated any and every obstacle. The only thing Lorren could do for her now was help her release the remaining sexual energy as Errion did the same for Gabriyel. If the two of them came together again, they would only exacerbate matters, as Gabriyel couldn’t siphon off any more energy.

  Errion explained the power would come to the surface in bursts over the next spin. Each time she awoke, Lorren pleasured her, releasing another portion of the energy. There was no way of telling how long the tentulo would take. Lorren’s job was to masturbate her every time she stirred. Errion had been adamant that he not tease her in any way, and that he use only his hands to bring her to climax.
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br />   “No matter what she says or does, don’t use your lips. The taste of her will compel you to mate with her.”

  “And what if I did?” Lorren meticulously washed his cock, thinking that he certainly could manage at least one more rousing climax tonight.

  Errion slammed him into the shower wall, shocking him silent as he commanded his full attention. “If you do, you are going to make a gigantic mess even bigger.” While shaking the shit out of him, Errion had admonished him to stay precisely within the confines of their duty. Breaking with the exacting nature of tentulo would have terrible repercussions. “It’s not a joke, Lorren. If we don’t do this right, we could seriously injure both of these people.” His eyes had darkened considerably. “Look at what we’ve done to two innocent people for no reason other than our pathetic desire to get off.”

  Errion had let him go at that point, apologizing as he confessed what he’d done to get Farjika to agree to let him bind her. “I held those images over her head because I wanted to bring her down in your estimation and make her grovel before I sent her away from you, but then”—he sighed as if internally berating himself—“I ended up wanting her for myself.” Errion shook his head, flinging suds as he did so. “I’m going to fix this mess, and then we are going to let them go.”

  Lorren had nodded his agreement, but in the back of his mind, he rebelled. He did not want to let Farjika go. Even now, with the scent of another man infusing her skin, he wanted her. He wanted to push her back on the bed, part her legs and eradicate Gabriyel from her mind and body. Errion’s warnings filled his head, and he’d taken heed. He’d even gone so far as to dress himself from head to toe in the thickest fabrics he could.

  Farjika stirred. “Lorren?”

  “I’m here.”

  Moaning, she undulated her body along his, rubbing his straining cock against her belly. Despite the armor of his clothing, he felt the plush, welcoming softness of her flesh.

  “What’s wrong with me? I’m burning inside.” Plaintively she tilted her head up, capturing his gaze with the power of hers. “I thought you said Gabriyel would release the energy.” Frowning delicately, she grasped his shoulders. “I can feel so much power swirling in me, seeking an outlet.”

  Confession hung on his lips. If he explained, he could soothe her and clarify what they must do to rectify her situation. The words stuck in his throat. Selfishly, he didn’t want to let her go. If there was a way to entangle her with Gabriyel, there had to be a way to untangle them as well.

  Lorren cupped her chin, lifted her face and kissed her softly. Her lips parted automatically, welcoming him within. She tasted of ambrosia, sweet and compelling. Her whimpering little groans only hardened him more. When he took a deep breath to steady himself, all he did was draw her scent fully into his lungs. When she lifted her leg, wrapping her calf around his thighs to pull him closer, her wicked musk filled his nose and mouth. Literally, he drooled. Licking his lips, he pushed her back, ready to bury his head between her legs.

  Welcoming his aggression, she submitted to him. Fastening her dreamy eyes on him, she parted her legs. “Please, Lorren. I need you.”

  Errion’s cautions were still foremost in his mind, but he pushed them away. He wasn’t going to do anything foolish. A little taste of her lips hadn’t hurt him. Lowering his head to her breast, he captured her nipple between his teeth. Instantly hard, her sweet bud grew firmer as he laved her flesh, taking her luscious scent and taste fully into his mouth. A bitter note pushed at his soul, needling him, and he realized it was Gabriyel’s flavor. Lorren’s beast may have retreated, but the dominant part of his manhood hadn’t. He wanted to eradicate Gabriyel’s essence and place his own mark upon her.

  Lorren felt her squirm below him, her moans seductive and needy. He wanted to ease her pain and lowered his hand to the dripping need of her sex. Without thought he moved his lips to her other nipple, and the explosion of flavor rocked him back.

  Smiling smartly, Farjika lifted her brows as she cooed, “What’s wrong, Lorren? Don’t you like the taste of my sweet little cunny?” Deliberately she swirled her fingers against her sex, then smeared the glistening liquid over her nipple. “Gabriyel seemed to revel in the taste.”

  Throwing his name up in Lorren’s face had the desired effect; jealousy consumed him. He tried to reason with himself, as he was a thinking man, but his intelligence evaporated until all that was left was the basest part of himself. The animal that made him do things he later regretted.

  “Who?” he asked. Climbing between her legs, he rose up over her supine form. With her nude, her caramel skin blended into the rich brown of the glittering sheets. He felt enormous above her.

  “Gabriyel.” She said his name slowly, clearly, deliberately trying to provoke him.

  “I’ll make you forget him.”

  Blinking slowly, she shook her head slowly side to side. “What can you do with all those clothes on?”

  Button by button, he opened his shirt, watching her writhe below him as she hungered to feel him pressed against her. Unable to wait, she yanked at his trousers, wrenched them open, exposing his cock. Her hands were hot as she gripped him, forcing him down, making him kneel between her legs.

  Lorren didn’t hesitate. As soon as he was down with her legs around his hips, he rammed his cock into her slick sex. Blissfully tight, she enfolded him, nestling him, her hot little cunny feeling beyond perfect.

  This was not slow and sweet and seductive. What he did to her was hot and dirty and nasty. He didn’t even bother to take off the rest of his clothing. Below him Farjika rocked, the strength in her body amazing him as she not only kept his pace but also increased the rhythm until they were howling and gripping each other in carnal abandon.

  Errion’s warnings thundered in his mind. Lorren valiantly tried to extricate himself from her, but when he lifted up, she chuckled.

  “What’s wrong, Lorren? You can’t perform if Errion isn’t watching?”

  As if she’d reached inside and pushed the perfect button to make him do exactly what she wanted, Lorren grasped her hips and thrust into her so violently her head went back. Rolling up, she met his snarl with a purr of satisfaction.

  “That’s what I want. Show me your beast.”

  Lorren startled.

  “Errion said every man has a beast within. He said it was the most base and animal part of a man. That is what you all try so diligently to hide behind your civility.” She sighed as she cupped her breasts and twisted her nipples. “Women hide ours with simpering smiles and wide, innocent eyes.” She pursed her lips and batted her lashes at him. “But just like you, we hide what we really are.” The faux naivety was gone. Now Farjika considered him like a conniving beast that knew exactly what she wanted and would stop at nothing to get it. “I want to see your beast again.” Lifting her hands above her head in mock surrender, she whispered, “If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”

  Whatever resistance he had fled from him then. Pouncing on her, he grasped her hands and held them over her head as he poured his prick to her. Lorren met her struggles with snarls and snaps, biting her neck hard enough to leave marks. She matched him, her teeth tearing at the collar of his shirt to expose his neck. Once she bared his skin, she clamped down hard enough to snap his head back. Lowering his face to hers, he kissed her roughly, tongues dueling as her sex clamped down on him so tightly he had to drop his hands to her hips to hold her steady for his thrusts.

  Never had he let loose like this. Wild and free, he gave her everything within as he took the power that had saturated her body. She fed the energy to him slowly. Each rock of his hips gave him a bit more, making him comfortable and certain that he could handle the next blast. Again, Errion’s cautions filled his mind, trying desperately to get him to stop, but in his arrogance, he pushed them away. The power in her wasn’t strong enough to do what Errion claimed it would.

  Lorren felt wonderful as his orgasm rolled up, tightening his entire body. He lifted up to see he
r, to connect with her. Her smile of triumph was radiant. As he climaxed, she pushed a wall of energy into him. Each spurt of his cock opened a gateway that she forced power through with a brutality that shook him. As she came, she clamped around him, holding him steady for more surges of raw energy. After the longest time, she was finished with him, and pushed him off her, rolling him to his back.

  Utterly limp, Lorren blinked up at the ceiling, trying to make sense of the pattern above his bed. Intellectually he knew it was a painting, but for the life of him, he couldn’t make heads or tails of what the depiction represented. Into his field of vision, Farjika came.

  So beautiful. Her eyes were luminous as she considered him. A connection to her flowed over him, demanding of him things he swore he would never give to anyone.

  “Don’t fight it, Lorren.” Compassionately she smoothed back the sweaty hair from his forehead. “You never had a chance.”

  He wanted to touch her, but his arm was too heavy to lift. “What did you do to me?”

  In mimic of that innocent woman, she batted her lashes and pursed her lips. “Me?” She laughed, dropping all pretense as she fingered the edges of his shirt. “I made you mine forever.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Errion had never seen anyone in such pain. Gabriyel struggled against the bed, his limbs flailing as if he fought a host of unseen enemies. Anticipating the next flash of energy, Errion came close to his bedside.

  Muttering something in his native tongue, Gabriyel looked up at Errion, his blue eyes compelling Errion’s most protective instincts. Silly, really, to feel protective of a man who could break him in half. Shushing him, Errion wrapped his hand around his cock and stroked. The man was simply huge. Once Errion got going, Gabriyel stopped struggling. He laid back, rubbing his hands through the short strands of hair along his head then down his neck to his nipples. When he twisted them, his hips rose, forcing his cock into Errion’s waiting fist. Unfortunately, one fist wasn’t enough.