by Kenna Bardot
"And who said he wants you to have clothes at all?" He mocked, exchanging a glance with Tate. The two who loved to read me, know what I wanted, and toy with those emotions to torment me oh so efficiently.
I swallowed, closing my eyes to prevent the humiliating tears that threatened to fall. "Relax, Mireyah," Tate soothed, stepping up behind me and sweeping my hair over one shoulder to press those perfect lips against the sensitive skin there. "He's having the final touches put on your outfit."
"Cutting it close, isn't he?" I tugged away from Tate's Gods damned sinful mouth.
"He's had other priorities, but wanted to make sure it's just right," Shephard took the time to say that as that tense, cruel mouth of his tilting up in amusement.
"He asked us to take care of you. To give you something for good luck. It's tradition," Char grinned down at me, all dark edges and malicious white eyes.
"It's only fair, since we didn't get to take part when you paid for that orgasm before," Tate grinned. "I've been dying to get my hands on your pretty little pussy."
I shook my head, wincing when Char lifted the hem of my dress up my thighs. "No. The entire point of that was that I didn't have to have sex with any of you."
Char's white eyes burned as he stared down at me, as if daring me to continue defying him. "And you won't, but if you don't let us give you something for good luck, you'll be stuck going to the Challenge naked." I glared up at him but didn't stop him when the dress tugged up again. My hands rose, letting him pull it over my head and toss it to the side. Tate's hands undid my bra deftly, and I shrugged it off.
I tried not to care. Tried not to let it bother me I was naked when Charolais shoved my panties down my legs. It shouldn't have bothered me. They'd seen it before, but somehow that they never took their clothes off seemed to only highlight the differences between us.
"Get on the bed," Char ordered, and I intensified my glare.
"Shouldn't you be tending to Annalee? Surely she needs a good luck fucking?" I hissed.
He smirked at me, interpreting my reminder as jealousy. "She's being tended to," he laughed. I didn't want to think about it. Couldn't consider that Hollis and Ryle might really tend to her while Char and Hollis swapped us like it was a game.
"Your jealousy is adorable," Shephard inserted, lifting me around the waist and depositing me on the bed when I made it clear I didn't intend to move. His hands slid from my waist to my ass, kneading the flesh there with a firm grip as he groaned. "Ryle and Hollis are truly dealing with your clothing. It's customary to let others give humans their blessing on the morning of the Challenge."
"So, you lend us out like whores," I accused on a hiss, wincing when he forced my legs to spread and inserted his hips between them to lay his body of defined muscle over mine. I wiggled away from the press of his pants against my core, drawing a moan from his lips at the friction the motion provided.
"That's what humans are," he returned. "Whores. Toys. Playthings." I glared up at him, hating the way those stunning violet eyes sparkled as they softened momentarily. "You can blame us all you want. Hate us for the way we treat humans, but do you see them protesting? They throw themselves at our feet and practically beg to be used. It's a symbiotic relationship. We used each other."
"And what of me?" I hissed, my eyes darting to where Tate climbed into the bed by my head. Char followed suit on the other side.
"You will be dead soon, if you don't learn to curb your hatred. You cannot hate everyone in this world, Snow. You need friends. Allies," he murmured, leaning forward to press lips to the hollow of my throat.
"Why do you call me that?" I asked, and he stared at me.
"Your skin is as white as snow," he shrugged. "And you're so cold, sometimes people forget that ice can burn as severely as fire." His tense mouth crushed mine, capturing my lips in a kiss that shocked me. Kissing seemed so intimate, aside from the kiss Hollis had given me and the one time Char had kissed Annalee, I'd never seen a Descendant kiss a human.
It just wasn't done.
But when Shep's tongue thrust into my mouth in a frenzy, I knew it was exactly how he would one day fuck me.
Conquering.
Tumultuous.
He ate at my mouth like a starving man, taking it away just as suddenly as he'd given it. Those lips moved to my neck, licking and sucking the skin until I was certain there would be marks. Tate grinned down at me when I squirmed under all the pressure of Shep's lips worshiping my skin. Tate pressed his own lips to mine, coaxing me into a soft kiss that had me arching my spine on the bed. "We can be your allies, Mireyah," Char whispered, his voice a whisper of torment.
Tate released my mouth, staring down at me intently with his face only a breath from mine. His silver eyes glinted as Shep released my neck in favor of trailing harsh kisses down over my collarbone and sucking a nipple into his mouth. "Shep," I gasped, surprising even myself.
"Use us. You know we'll use you. Part of being allies is knowing exactly what to expect from each other." I couldn't focus on his words, couldn't understand if what he offered was an intelligent decision or not. Not with how Shephard worshiped my breasts and ground the bulge in his pants against my core - offering the friction I so desperately needed.
And then he was gone.
No more friction, no more heat from his mouth. My eyes flew open, watching as he and Tate switched places. Shep withdrew himself from his pants, stroking his massive length in front of my face like the sweetest torment. He knew it would be a temptation, knew I'd want it no matter how much I claimed I didn't.
I died a little inside, hating myself more and more every time I caved and trembled under their masterful touch. "This is what you were born for, Mireyah," Char encouraged me. "Pleasing us."
"Open," Shephard ordered, and Tate used the distraction to grasp me behind the knees and shove my legs up and spread them obscenely wide. I felt his eyes on me, turning to watch him stare at my pussy with hard silver eyes and a coy grin on his face. Like he knew some secret I didn't.
Char tangled a hand in my hair, turning me back to Shep who dragged his head over my lips. My tongue darted out to taste him, and he used the opportunity to glide inside slowly with a groan.
"This has to be the tiniest pussy I've ever seen," Tate mused, bending down and dragging his tongue through it from entrance to clit. I moaned around Shep, hating the reaction. "We'll destroy you, and you'll love every second, won't you?"
Char's cruel fingers darted down to pinch my nipple as Shep thrust in and out of my mouth slowly, but all I could focus on was the way Tate devoured me.
I knew theoretically that there were men who went down on women to return the favor of blowjobs. I knew theoretically there were men who ate pussy because they loved it.
Tate was in the latter camp. Laid out flat on his stomach like a sniper going in for the kill, he used every muscle in his lips and tongue to eat me like a starving man. His lips and tongue explored every part of me, thrusting inside and licking me from the inside out.
Char chuckled, a deep sound that coated my skin like snow in a winter breeze. "You realize you can't crawl inside her, right?" he teased Tate, who released one of my legs long enough to flip him off. Chuckling again, Char freed himself from his pants and grabbed one of my hands to wrap around the shaft he freed. I groaned, questioning my sanity when I instantly felt even more turned on when my skin touched his hard length. Char released my hair, letting me have some freedom to move into Shep's thrusts.
"Fuck," he groaned, and that groan turned to a growl when I withdrew and let him pop out of my mouth. Turning to Char, I drew him in deep, pleased with the look of surprise that passed over his face briefly when I took him willingly. That surprise faded to give way to triumph, a look that communicated he was one step closer to winning the war.
I knew I was his opposition, one of the few things that dared to even try to challenge the elite of a school of students destined to be Gods. I didn't think most saw him as the ringleader of the five mal
es, not with how quiet he remained in most situations. Always content to watch, observe. But I'd watched them enough to know that any decision, any move they made, came from him. They ran the school, but Char ran them.
I knew it. I saw it. But Char hadn't realized I'd paid enough attention until that moment. The smile he gave me when he realized it, looking down at me with his cock in my mouth, was breathtaking. A King finding an equal. A King finding something worth his time in a sea of people who all blended, who believed whatever lies and deceptions he put in front of their faces.
I was different. I saw the real monster that lurked underneath.
And for some stupid reason, I invited him to play his games. He buried a hand in my hair again, pulling sharply until I whimpered in pain. White eyes smiled down at me, the Descendant responsible for numbness and pain taking pleasure in what pain he caused.
"Do it again," Tate murmured, sliding two fingers inside me while he worked my clit. "She fucking loved it."
I whimpered again when Char's hand tightened, and Shep ducked down to draw a nipple into his mouth and sank his teeth into it harshly. My gasp of pain turned into a moan, and Tate used the opportunity to plunge his fingers in and out of me sharply.
Char used my mouth, giving sharp snaps of his hips that made him punch against the back of my throat with each one. He was relentless, bruising, and never giving me time to adjust to the feeling of him inside my throat before he retreated and did it all over again. When he stilled and came down my throat, I stared up at him like he hadn't battered my very being.
As soon as he pulled free, Shep pulled me back and slid into my mouth again, not caring in the slightest that my throat was probably coated in Char's release when he plunged deep. I swallowed around him, feeling his groan vibrate through his entire body. I couldn't breathe, suffocating slowly as he used my throat with little pulses of his hips. He wrapped his hand around my throat, completely unnecessary given the restricted airway on the inside, but the pressure of his hand there was somehow hot. Forbidden.
My orgasm loomed, and Tate moaned into my clit. Those fingers curled inside me as I tensed around him. "Fucking come," he ordered against my skin, and I did. I shattered around him, feeling my wetness all over me. When I came down, he knelt between my legs, releasing his cock.
Shep finally released my throat, slipping out to give me time to breathe. My vision was hazy, close to passing out. When Tate's cock dragged through my pussy, I flinched away. "Relax. Not today."
He leaned forward, rubbing himself against me in slow grinds that bumped my clit. Shep took my mouth again, thrusting more shallowly but rapidly as he stroked himself to an orgasm. Tate didn't seem to care that Shephard's dick was in his face as he used my pussy to get himself off. "Open," Shep ordered, and I narrowed my eyes on him but did as I was told. He thrust into my open mouth a few times, then pulled out and jerked himself off until cum landed on my tongue. I flinched, feeling filthy as the liquid gathered there and Tate watched as if it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. "Swallow," Shep ordered gruffly, staring at my tongue proudly. My mouth closed, swallowing visibly and then Shep was back inside, using my mouth to clean off any residue he might have gotten on himself.
Tate groaned, thrusting against me harder, faster, and stroked himself to climax. Hot streams of his release landed against my clit, tormenting me with the warmth that made me want another orgasm. He pulled back, staring at the mess between my thighs. Then his hand reached out, touching his own cum and collecting it. He slid those cum soaked fingers inside me, shoving his release inside me, while I stared at him in shock.
"Perfect," he whispered reverently. The moment snapped taut between the four of us as reality crashed back down.
There was a chance I'd be dead in a few hours, so I wouldn't let myself think about the consequences of the mess I'd just made.
Chapter 14
Mireyah
I didn't understand what happened.
I had no idea why all the other contestants in the Challenge looked at me like I'd grown a second head when I entered the room. Until my eyes took in the nine plain black suits made from the same materials as mine. Stretchy ebony fabric wrapped over our torsos and legs like a second skin even on the males, armored plating protected our chests to the throat, but our arms were bare. That was all the same.
But the others had a simple band of color woven into the armor, a delicate sheen of the Descendant who sponsored them. Annalee's eyes glittered dangerously when my eyes fell on her white dipped chest. I glanced down at mine uncertainly, where the sun sparkled against the black. The center was red, but the rays were woven in white and gold and violet and silver like a starburst. They'd given me all their colors and marked me with Hollis' House symbol.
I had no idea what to make of that but ignored it for the moment. Why take the time to mark someone so thoroughly if you expected them to die? It made no sense, and I could not focus my thoughts on it when I was about to fight for my life.
"What the fuck?" Annalee hissed, when I took my place between her and Ryder. He stood tall next to me, looming larger than normal with the additional mass the armor gave him.
He glared down at me, seeming to concur with Annalee's words. Something in her expression seemed sharper than normal, more malicious, so I ignored her. "Who gave you your blessing?" she hissed. I didn't answer, fixating on the front of the room. "Answer me!"
"Who gave you yours?" I raised my eyebrow, feigning an interest I didn't feel. For whatever reason, I trusted that it hadn't been Hollis and Ryle. No matter what I thought about them, they'd never lied to me. There was no reason to.
"Ashric Tovenaar," she hissed. "I expected it to be Hollis. They should have given you to the Tovenaar brute. He wanted you."
I grinned at her. The catty part of me thoroughly enjoyed knowing that I'd had what she wanted. That she'd taken my place and felt less than desired because of me. With how willing she was to threaten me, it seemed a fitting punishment. "I was with Char, Tate, and Shephard."
She gaped at me. "They all gave you their blessing?" Ryder asked behind me.
"What is the blessing?" I questioned. Because really, I had no idea.
"Did you take their essence inside you?" he asked.
"You mean their jizz?" It was my turn to gape. I rolled my eyes, breaking out into uncomfortable giggles. Because that was ridiculous. "Well, apparently they thought I would need all the help in this Challenge." I scoffed at the ridiculous thought. They'd put my name in hoping I'd die and entertain them on my way out. It was just an excuse to degrade me, wear me down before the Challenge even started. But all it did was make me more determined to prove them wrong.
"Why wouldn't they give me their blessing?" Annalee whispered, something close to hurt in her tone.
"Maybe they don't think you're quite as impressive as you seem to think you are." I smiled, watching her pretty face transform into an ugly sneer that showed just how much she hated me.
Hands clapped together at the front of the room, drawing our attention to the front of the room. Jacob Mann stood at the front, looking solemn and stern as he stared us down. His face twisted into a frown when his eyes connected with mine. "Outside these walls, Gods, Descendants and humans alike have gathered to bear witness to your First Challenge. The obstacle course that waits for you is dangerous, and will require a combination of speed, intelligence, and strength to emerge on the other side alive." As he spoke, another human male I recognized from around the Academy distributed weapons. "Your sponsors have chosen the weapons they feel suit you best or would assist you the most."
Next to Ryder, Layla received a bow and arrow that she smiled at happily. I eyed it warily, feeling the target on my back grow with every little thing that set me apart. The sun on my chest felt like a bullseye.
Ryder readily accepted the pack of smaller blades and the axe he slung over his shoulder. I swallowed, eyeing the servant warily as he stepped up to me with a contraption of straps. He helped me into
, securing it around my waist finally and sliding two short swords into the holsters so they crossed over my back. Strapping a pack around my thigh, I found a shorter dagger affixed to the outside, a pocket filled with desert sand, and a lightweight mortar and pestle. Five gifts. Five Descendants.
It didn't feel insignificant.
Annalee eyed me in distaste, accepting her two curved daggers and wrapping them in her hands tightly. The servant continued down the line until we were all armed. I should have taken comfort that they armed me well.
The problem was, I only knew how to use the mortar and pestle. I'd avoided training with the others, knowing I was far more likely to get a knife in the back than learn any valuable skills. The doors opened, and one by one the others filed out through the door to meet their fates. The sound of the crowds cheering caught my attention, and I paused long enough to be the last one through the doors.
I looked to the front row of the elevated seats, my eyes connecting with the Majele God who had set me on this course. He eyed me slowly, a grin forming over his face.
And then his laughter echoed throughout the space as the crowd quieted to listen to the sound of the God's laughter. "Hello, Mireyah Bolstad. I am very pleased to see you here." Whispers broke out through the crowd while my lips parted in shock. While he'd changed the course of my life without thought or concern for my own wishes, I hadn't expected to be memorable.
Not enough to remember my name.
Disgust slithered through me as something else tickled down my spine in warning. I glared back at him, turning my head away when his smile only grew the longer, I glared at him.
"Do me a favor, sweetheart. Don't die," he laughed. "I'd still very much like to see you in Sylfeshire."
Annalee spun around, her mouth wide, and brow furrowed. My eyes connected with Shephard, sitting a few rows back from the Gods with the others. His jaw was clenched, his nostrils flaring like he was pissed. He stared at the blue-haired God like an enemy until his eyes returned to me. He brought a hand up to his mouth, blowing me a mocking kiss. I flipped him off, ignoring any of the other reactions.