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Alaric

W hat the fuck am I doing, kneeling naked on a pillow and waiting for Sylvanna? I ought to be forcing my way upstairs to see her “collection” as she calls it. What if The Heart of the Eclipse is there after all—what if she’s lying to me?

But somehow I can’t bring myself to doubt her.

So far she’s spoken only the truth to me.

And besides, I want to know what comes next.

I tell myself that’s the only reason I’m willing to kneel this way and wait for her.

I try to ignore the way my cock is leaking precum and my balls are aching.

Why does obeying her affect me this way?

I read the oath she wrote in the air several times to be sure I have it right.

I can’t believe I’m going to say this! It’s too fucking much…

and yet, I’m not leaving. I tell myself this is the only way to get to The Heart of the Eclipse.

I have to go through this in order to get there.

It’s all part of my quest. It’s not like I’m here because I want to be.

After a while, Sylvanna returns. She’s carrying a velvet pillow with two blackened silver circlets laid upon it.

The larger one bears a ruby as big as my thumb.

The smaller one has a gem as well, but I can’t tell what it is.

She lays the pillow carefully on the altar at the back of the room and turns to face me.

Her beauty takes my breath away all over again.

Her full curves are barely covered in the black lace robe I helped her into.

I can see her tight nipples pressing against the thin fabric and the curls on her mound as well.

Her long dark hair, still damp from our shared bath, falls to her hips and her glowing eyes are resting on me as I take her in.

I feel like I could look at her forever.

“Have you learned your oath, Paladin?” she asks me.

I nod.

“Yes, my Lady.”

“Very good. Then we can begin.” She waves, dissipating the magical letters.

She picks up the dagger again and for a moment I wonder if she’s going to stab me.

Instead, she thrusts the dagger, point down, into the silver chalice etched with runes.

She draws it out and I see that it’s dripping with some thick, viscous liquid as dark as blood but the scent in the room isn’t coppery—it’s spicy like myrrh and cinnamon.

“By the powers of Dark and Light

But the veil ‘twixt Day and Night

I Bind thee in my Circle Tight

I summon thee to serve my Might.”

As she chants, she draws a circle with the tip of the dagger on the flagstone floor. It encompasses both of us and I begin to feel her power building. The Shadow Power that held me in check so effortlessly is here in this room, forming a barrier around us.

The small hairs on the backs of my arms and at the nape of my neck stand up as they do sometimes when lightning is about to strike.

For the first time, I feel apprehension—whatever the fuck this ritual is, there’s real power behind it.

I have a feeling it won’t be easy to break the oath I’m about to take—not that I would.

I am no oath-breaker. If I bind myself to Sylvanna, I will be well and truly bound with no escape.

Part of me wants to get up and run—to get as far away from her tower as I can. But I remind myself again that this is the only way to reach The Heart and I can’t go home without it.

Besides, maybe there’s a part of me—a small, secret part—that wants to be bound to her, that wants to submit.

I try not to look at that part of myself—I try to keep it buried.

But somehow Sylvanna has a way of bringing it forward, into the light, which is fucking ironic since she’s a wielder of Shadow Magic.

When the circle is drawn, she puts the dagger back on the altar and opens her robe. I suck in a breath as I see her full breasts and soft little pussy revealed. Gods, I’ll never get used to that sight—she’s so fucking beautiful and her body calls to mine. My cock aches as I watch her work.

Lifting a small, silver pot, she dips a kind of brush in it.

When she withdraws the brush, I see that it’s dripping with a clear, deep purple, viscous liquid.

Using the brush, she paints circles around both tight nipples and then she dips the brush again.

As I watch, she uses the fingers of one hand to part her outer lips, revealing her inner folds.

I catch a glimpse of her pleasure pearl—the part of a woman I’ve always wanted to taste.

My cock surges as I watch her paint the sticky liquid over and around it.

I can see by her face that this gives her pleasure—the same way I want to give her pleasure.

Gods help me, I can barely make myself hold still I want her so fucking much!

At last, she puts the pot and brush back down on the altar and faces me.

“This is Binding Honey, Paladin,” she says to me. “It will bind you to me and seal your oath when you lick it from my flesh. But first you must wear my collar and my ring.”

At this point, I would do fucking anything to taste her soft, curvy body.

“Put them on me,” I say, and my voice is hoarse. “Do it now.”

“Such things cannot be rushed,” she cautions me. “First, the collar.”

She lifts the blackened silver collar with the thumb-sized ruby from the velvet cushion and brings it over to me. I lift my hair so she can fit it around my neck and as she does, she chants again.

“I bid you wear my Band

I bind you with my Hand

Your Magic you will Yield

Your Fate to mine is Sealed.”

Sylvanna uses a golden key to lock the collar.

I feel the cool metal around my neck and expect it to be hard and unyielding.

To my surprise, it at once begins to mold itself to my throat.

I don’t feel choked or strangled by it at all—instead, it almost feels like the metal has become velvet or soft, supple leather.

“Oh—it doesn’t hurt,” I say, though I’m probably not supposed to be talking.

“Of course not—I rule my Blood-servants with love, not fear or pain,” she assures me and runs her fingers through my hair. Her eyes darken for a moment. “My mother…she ruled with agony and terror. I could never follow in her footsteps.”

I feel a surge of pity for her, which surprises me.

I barely remember my own mother, but what memories I do have are of her doting on me.

Well, that and burning herself on my skin as I got older.

That was painful but through it all, she loved me.

It sounds like my new Mistress didn’t have that from her own mother.

“No, she gave me precious little love or tenderness. You’re sweet to worry, but I’m fine,” she murmurs and I see the green jewel pulse at her temple.

“How does this collar work?” I ask belatedly. “Am I now subject to your every whim, my Lady?”

“No, not at all.” She shakes her head. “This Collar of Control will simply help you channel your magic. When you wear it, it’s safe for you to let your ‘Celestial Fire’ as you call it, build to the breaking point.

The collar will absorb and store any magical overflow.

Which means it’s safe for you to pleasure me or yourself without causing a catastrophe. ”

“I do not pleasure myself,” I say stiffly. “Self-abuse is blasphemy.”

Her delicate eyebrows lift.

“Is that what you call it in Solaris? That’s not how we think of it here. Self-pleasure is self-care. It’s relaxing and it builds magical power. In fact, I pleasure myself every night before bed—which is a duty I’ll expect you to take over in time.”

My heart feels like it stutters in my chest.

“You’ll want me to service you every night?”

“And during the day as well. But not yet. First, we must fit you with this…”

She lifts the smaller metal circle from the velvet cushion and motions to me.

“Rise so I can reach you.”

I stand and watch as she fits the circlet of metal around the base of my cock. Should I really let her do this? But before I can consider the question, the ring molds itself around my shaft just like the collar did around my throat.

“What the fuck does this one do?” I growl, feeling put on the defensive.

“This gives me control over your pleasure, my Paladin.” She takes my hard cock in her small, soft hand, drawing a groan from my lips.

“You see, while you wear this ring, you won’t be able to come unless I allow you to.

Oh, you can touch yourself as much as you want, but you won’t be able to reach a release unless you’ve earned it. ”

“How do I earn it?” I ask, feeling my balls tighten. I could almost come right now, just from having her stroke me.

“Various ways,” she says, still caressing my cock. “You must prove your obedience, my Paladin.”

The fire inside me is building along with the pleasure.

I feel like she’s been teasing me for fucking hours!

But just as I begin to feel the seed boiling up from my sac, the ring around the base of my shaft tightens and I find my pleasure denied.

At the same time, the fire that was building inside me goes… somewhere else. Maybe into the collar?

“Fuck!” I groan. “That’s fucking torture, Mistress!”

She gives me a wicked smile.

“Yes, I know. It should make you eager to obey me, don’t you think?”

I don’t just think—I know . She’s got me by the balls with this fucking magical cockring. And yet somehow I find pleasure in it. Why? I don’t know. Is there some twisted part inside me that longs to be treated like this? That wants to bend my will to the whims of the Sorceress?

“It is not weakness to submit, Alaric,” she murmurs to me. “To long to give control of yourself to another—to be vulnerable. That takes strength that most men do not have within them.”

“You make it sound like a virtue,” I say through gritted teeth.

“It is,” she says lightly. “Now back to the ritual. Kneel again, if you please.”