Page 31

thirty

The sound of the door of the cage opening pulled me awake. I sat up, heart already galloping in my chest, to find two incubi coming toward me to possibly to drag me out.

Behind them, I could see Rogue standing near Rune and another incubus.

Rune who was looking at me as calmly as ever.

“What…what…”

“Come, Wildcat. Lorei insists we join his party.”

His voice pierced through the air and shocked my brain awake all the way. I was on my feet before the incubi, both smiling at me while they licked their lips, came close.

“Don’t touch me,” I whispered, still a little disoriented.

“Leave her, boys,” said Rogue from outside the cage, and the men didn’t argue. They stepped to the side to let me through, but to my horror, while I passed, they sniffed the air.

They sniffed the air like they could smell something on me, and then one of them moaned. The other growled.

Memories rushed back to me—holy shit, I’d touched myself in that cage.

I’d touched myself while Rune had watched.

My cheeks all but melted. Everything around me became blurry.

“Can’t we have her for a little bit? Can’t you ask Lorei?” one of them asked from behind me.

“She smells so delicious… ” the other.

I practically ran all the way out of the cage and to Rune, and I couldn’t even look him in the eye.

My God, what the hell had I done— again ? What the fuck was wrong with me? Had I really dry humped the armrest of that couch and then spread my legs and stuck my fingers inside myself while I called out his name?!

Knowing he was watching.

Hoping he was watching.

How in the world was I ever going to look at him again?

“He already gave the order,” Rogue said as the other two closed the cage door.

“Come on—just for a?—”

“Ask again and I will kill you.” Rune’s voice was calm, barely there, just a whisper, yet the entire room heard it.

My eyes closed. Everybody stopped talking for a good moment.

I thought for sure they were going to attack him, and I was going to fight them with my teeth and with my nails, whichever way I could. But then…

“Like I said, Lorei gave his order. Let’s go,” Rogue said.

Nobody attacked anybody. Rune walked beside me while I kept my arms underneath the cloak, so ashamed I could hardly breathe properly. When they took us outside the doors of the basement, I barely asked to use the bathroom, certain they’d tell me no, but I needed to clean up before I fucking threw up.

And I needed to find a way to travel back in time so I could smack myself in the head asap.

But Rogue actually agreed to take me to the bathrooms, which were a horror all on their own. He first made sure that nobody was in there before he let me through, and I still didn’t look at Rune—way too embarrassed. I just slipped inside the door and closed it behind me, then convinced myself that nothing good was going to come out of me slapping myself right now.

The bathroom was small and smelly, with paper towels all over the tiled floor, and two separate basins with pitchers to the sides. Three stalls across from them, and they smelled horrible, too, but my bladder needed emptying, and the water in the pitchers was cold but clean, so I didn’t complain. I used up all of it to clean myself up as well as I could, my hands and my face and my pussy, too. I even took off my underwear, but since I wasn’t going to wear them wet, I didn’t bother washing them at all. I just put them in one of the inner pockets of the cloak to discard later when we were out of here.

Finally, I walked out, feeling a tiny bit better about myself. And a bit calmer.

Which ended up not serving me at all because the moment we stepped out of the dark hallway and into the giant open room where everybody was fucking everybody, I remembered exactly what had happened to get me to do what I did in that cage.

I remembered the exact reason why I’d lost control, had been so desperate that my own body had turned against me, searching for release. It was in the air, going down my throat. The sight, the moans, the music—all of it was designed to turn me against my own self, and now my knees were getting weak again. I was wet between my legs the moment I laid eyes on the fae woman riding am incubus slowly, while another was behind her, moving in and out of her other hole at the same pace.

Impossible. The whole situation was impossible.

And Lorei was no longer at the head of the room, but he was sitting with two gorgeous incubi on one of the leather couches near the end of the room where it connected with the yard outside.

Was it just me or were there more people now than there had been before?

And how much time had passed since they’d locked us in those cages? How long had I slept? Because it couldn’t have been more than a couple hours.

“Forgive my men for taking you to the basement, my friends,” said Lorei when he saw us approaching. “They said you were trying to run away, but I’m sure you were only looking to take a walk.”

Rune didn’t hesitate. “Of course we were.”

He laughed, the man, and eyed Rune in a way that made me incredibly uncomfortable. His green eyes glistened with lust.

“Please, join me. I can’t stay long tonight, and the sun is only a couple of hours away, but we always have tomorrow. And I foresee I will be in a very generous mood all week following my latest business deal.”

He waved for us to sit with him on the same couch. Rune moved first. He went and sat as far away from Lorei as he could, then patted the seat on his other side to tell me to join him.

Now I had no trouble looking at him. Now that I’d remembered how much power these people really had, I had no trouble sitting next to him and even talking to him again.

“Are you comfortable? Do you need food?”

As if on cue, my stomach growled. Fuck, I hadn’t eaten in a long time.

“Yes, actually. So long as it comes free,” Rune said. His calm was to be envied. We sat close, our legs just slightly touching, yet I could have been sitting on needles instead of a couch.

“Of course, of course,” Lorei said, and the moment he waved his hand, the incubus with the short blonde hair stood up.

The other who had eyes as dark as the night, leaned into Lorei’s side and said, “May we have the slave to play with while you talk, Lorei?”

My God, how in the world was I still not passing out? Seriously, it surprised me, that fact.

Lorei turned to Rune. “I suppose we shall ask her owner. What do you say, Orian? And may I call you Orian?”

“Of course,” said Rune. “And no. She stays with me—for now.” He slowly put a hand over my knee.

Even in the situation we were in, anger reared its head in my mind and demanded I say something— how dare you assume I’m a slave, you arrogant twat?! And to Rune, too. How dare he play along and speak for me?

But I breathed in deeply, reminded myself why this was important, reminded myself that the only reason why we were alive was because this guy didn’t know who I was. He thought I was a slave— good. I would not only accept it, but I would behave like a slave, too, until we were out of here because this was all my fault. I was the reason we were here— me. Always me.

“For now, for now!” Lorei sang, raising his glass to the sky while he unbuttoned his peach-colored shirt to the middle of his chest, revealing smooth skin with not a single hair in sight.

I swallowed hard as my arousal grew and grew—there was no way to stop it, especially when the woman with the dark eyes winked at me.

“Let me tell you the story of my friends Cer and Lilith, Orian. You will be delighted,” Lorei said, and he put a hand over Rune’s shoulder while the other incubus brought us food. A large tray that should have tipped over but didn’t, full of plates of fruits and cheese and meat and drinks.

My stomach growled again, and while I looked at the food, Rune leaned in to grab a piece of cheese. He whispered in my ear, “Eat. It’s safe.”

Shivers erupted all over me—God, his whisper was something else. It took a lot to focus on the food, to tell myself to eat because if it came to it, if we needed to run to get away, I wouldn’t have any strength to get far. I needed energy, and so I reached for the purple grape that looked like it was made for me, and I popped one in my mouth.

Better than anything I had ever tasted, and the best part was that nothing happened. I ate another, and another, and grabbed an apple slice, too, but all I felt was fuller and satisfied.

So, while Lorei kept telling whatever story to Rune in whispers, I ate until I couldn’t have another bite without throwing up.

Then I had no choice but to look about me.

More people—somehow there were always more. I looked at Rune, who seemed really focused on whatever Lorei was telling him, and outside where the sky was dark. If the sun would come up in just a couple of hours, it meant I’d slept in the basement for three or four.

It occurred to me that Betty would have a blast in this place, and she’d tell me to get in trouble, to pick a fight—to raise hell. God, how I missed her. How she would have made everything better if she were with me.

But I was glad she wasn’t because we really were nothing compared to these creatures. The power they had, the magic, the way it melted in the air and controlled you without them having to even try…

I lost track of time looking around and trying not to get too aroused by all the pleasure I saw and heard. It was a little easier this time around because I’d already had my release, but fuck, I wanted more. And I was already at a point where thinking about the memory of touching myself in front of Rune was hot, not terrifying. Sexy, not embarrassing.

I actually wanted to do it again.

He was close to me, so close I felt the heat of his body. I saw these people having sex and jerking each other off, and I wanted to do all of it with him. So many ideas and positions—I wanted to make a list and try everything with Rune.

Until…

“What about now? Shall we let the girls have fun with your slave now?”

My heart came to a halt. I turned to Lorei and found the incubus with those dark eyes on me hanging on his shoulder, possibly after having whispered in his ear. And Lorei looked at Rune again, but Rune wasn’t fazed. He played his part so well that to look at him, you would never in a million years guess he was Rune.

Right now he was Orian, and he’d merged himself into whatever character Orian was supposed to be. And he said, “No. What’s mine is mine. She stays with me.”

Yes, yours, that voice in my head said. That was something I wanted to be so badly…

Lorei’s smile faltered.

Drinking the last of his wine, he leaned back and looked at Rune with bloodshot eyes for a beat, then said, “Well, I’m afraid I must go now. There’s business to attend to. And tomorrow, you and I will make our deal, won’t we?” he said, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “But before I go, if you’re not going to let us have a taste of her, I want to see you do it.”

Every hair on my body stood at attention.

“Come on, let me see it. I do so love a master-slave dynamic. Show me how you use her.”

I burned. I froze. I melted.

“I don’t like others to see what’s mine,” Rune said, and now he wasn’t as composed as a moment ago.

“But we’re all friends here, are we not? And besides—I haven’t really looked into your name or even asked where you come from with that mark. The least you can do is prove to me you are who you say you are.”

His eyes. The devil’s fucking eyes, and they moved slowly from Rune to me and back again.

My heart was in my throat. If Rune attacked right now, we could never fight or outrun all of these people. There must have been almost a hundred in the open room alone, and a lot more outside. So many incubi—and other species, too. Most of the people sitting around us had their eyes on us, and I realized we were screwed for real.

“Understand that this is not the way I usually do business, Orian. Now, I’ll admit I could put a noxin that is under proper control to good use—they are notoriously difficult with people who are not sincere. And in my line of work there simply isn’t much space for honesty!” He laughed, and it was so fake it hurt my fucking ears, but he didn’t let anybody comment before he continued.

“That is why I have extended you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m afraid I must see you in action with my own eyes.”

Lorei batted his lashes at us. Actually batted his lashes.

A moment later, Rune said, “If you so insist, my friend.” Then he tapped his lap. “Dance for me, Wildcat, in honor of our host.”

His eyes burned me.

Lorei laughed again, clapped his hands, and others joined. A second later, everyone sitting near us within earshot was applauding, and I could barely get my legs to work.

This is it. I was going to have to actually do this.

Part of me thought I would never be able to make myself—it was too absurd, too humiliating, and I was not going to get on Rune’s lap!

But then…the thought of sitting on Rune’s lap.

Rune with that face, with that pleading in his eyes, like he was both begging me to do it, and to not do it. Like he was as torn apart as me.

I found myself standing up, putting my knees on either side of his legs, and sitting on his thighs.

Feel free to judge me—I judged myself, too. But this place had already gotten the best of me once, and it was undoubtedly going to do it again and again.

For a moment, I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. When I opened them, Rune didn’t look torn anymore. Instead, the corner of his lips had turned up.

My, my, Mr. Moody. You are a sight to see…

Then he slid farther down on the couch until I was almost sitting right over his cock.

Shivers broke down my back. The others were there still, and they were saying something. They were talking, clapping, cheering—I couldn’t really make out a single word they said.

“Move, Wildcat.”

Rune, I mouthed, afraid to make a sound. But he reached out his hands for me, put my hair behind my ears, then pulled the hood of the cloak over my head gently.

“Dance for me.”

My eyes closed. I was at war with myself, separated into two different people. The part of me that wanted me to stand up and run and to hell with all these people—so what if they kill me? —was so damn loud, but I forced myself to focus on the other me. On the Nilah that was so turned on, that burned everywhere her legs touched Rune’s, the Nilah that wanted to feel every inch of him again like I did when we were wrapped up in that darkness.

That Nilah was going to help us make it out of this alive because I wasn’t the only one in danger here. Rune was, too, and I’d already fucked this up by bringing us here. It was up to me to make sure we made it out.

So, I moved.

The hood was over my head. I moved my hips on his thighs slowly, forward and back. Light burned in his hands that he kept on the couch on his sides—and shadows slipped out of his fingers. Shadows that were slowly coming to spin around me like a tornado, taking away the people, the lights, making the entire room disappear from my view.

But I still heard them. I heard their screams and calls, and I heard their clapping, too.

“The music,” Rune whispered. “Focus on the music. Let it guide you.” And his hands that were still burning with light moved to my hips. He pulled me toward him until I felt his cock against my center.

He was hard. His eyes were bloodshot. His heart that I felt when I fell forward with my hands on his chest was beating as fast as mine.

That was all it took for me to forget where we were and what was happening, and to move for real.

Focus on the music— that’s exactly what I did. I closed my eyes, and I followed the rhythm that that man played on his weird instrument just outside. I followed it with my hips and with my hands, with my very heartbeat. I rubbed myself on his legs and on his cock that was so deliciously hard the feel of it poured lava over me every single time.

It was easy. So fucking easy that I didn’t need to think at all. My body knew what to do, when to slow down and when to thrust my hips against his harder. My hands were on his chest, moving up and down, and then my fingers were in his hair, playing with it, grabbing and tugging whichever way I liked.

My eyes finally opened, the need to see his face too great. Darkness covered us on all sides, blocking the world out there, blocking everything but sound. I saw him half sitting, half lying underneath me, lips parted and eyes red, watching me like he was fucking possessed.

I put my hands on the back of the couch and leaned closer until my nose touched his, then stuck my tongue out and licked his bottom lip.

Rune squeezed his eyes shut and moaned.

Anything that had been holding me back until that moment faded away into nothing. I became wild, moving faster by the second, grabbing his face in my hands, kissing him furiously until I forgot I needed air to live. He kissed me back, and with his hands on my hips he moved me forward and back, raising his hips to meet my thrust—and fuck, I was so close. It was my pussy rubbing against his pants, and I didn’t have any underwear on, but right now I couldn’t care less. I just wanted him—I wanted all of him. I wanted this pent-up energy in my body to be released like before—I needed it to be.

“Please, Rune,” I whispered, pulling him up higher by the shirt, my lips on his, my kisses desperate.

“Please, what?” he said because he must have wanted to torture me.

But what he didn’t know was that I liked to be tortured right now. As long as he remained under me and didn’t move away, I didn’t mind whatever he had for me.

So, I said, “Please fuck me, please .” I’d get on my knees if I had to. Just like that incubus I’d seen earlier, I’d get on my knees and please him for as long as he liked.

At the thought of it I bit my lip and moaned because I knew he would taste delicious against my tongue, but…

“No,” Rune said.

My eyes opened a little wider, and I was surprised.

“Don’t you want me?” I whispered and made a point to stop right over his cock. It was hard—I felt it. He’d been teasing me with it since I climbed on his lap.

“I want you to come on my lap like you did on that couch,” he told me, his voice so dark, so delicious. “I want you to call out my name like you did on that couch.” He suddenly sat up and his hands were on my face, and he held my lips right over his. “Make a mess out of me, beautiful. And don’t stop until I say so.”

Slowly, I licked his lips again. “Yes, daddy,” I whispered, and Rune growled.

He sat back on the couch and spread his arms to the sides, half sitting and half lying like before, and he watched me intently, his eyes never blinking. He watched me move on his lap, rub my pussy over the length of his cock, touch him first, and then myself.

While I grabbed my boobs, he undid two buttons of the dress until they were naked for him to see. He didn’t touch me, he only watched, but I didn’t last long. I was too high on his scent, the look of him, the feel of him. I was too high on the air here to be able to hold myself back.

I came with his name on my lips, dancing on his lap, rubbing against him until every inch of my body convulsed with the wave of pleasure that crashed onto me.

I fell forward with my forehead on his shoulder, and his hands were finally on me over the dress, on my thighs, then my hips, until he gripped my ass.

“That’s the only name you’ll scream for the rest of your life,” he whispered in my ear, then pulled me closer until his cock was underneath my pulsating center again, turning me on like I hadn’t come in ages, just like that.

Fuck.