Page 4 of The Emperor’s Concubine (The Thibian Chronicles #1)

CHAPTER 4

“ O h, King Blaze, your cock feels soooo good. Fuck me faster! Harder!” Casiela squealed as she bounced up and down on his cock.

Her generous blue green breasts bounced with each motion. The feel of her scales rubbing against his skin created an erotic friction that normally drove him wild. Her juicy cunt was warm and wet, just as he knew it would be. He grasped her generous hips guiding her over his length, gritting his teeth, trying hard to come.

What the hell was wrong with him? This was the fifth night in a row this had happened. He thought if anyone could really get him going it would be Casiela. The Reptialarn women had little hairs inside their pussies that created the most sensational feeling, making a cock ultra-sensitive. Tonight however, Blaze had a hard time just staying erect.

Burying his face in his concubine’s neck, he closed his eyes and an image of a dark human beauty popped into his mind. It was all Calliope’s fault! She’d brought him to this point, and he couldn’t take it anymore. Just as she’d requested, he instructed Tuk to remove her from his harem and give her the hardest and most laborious tasks. Most of the tough jobs were done by Cetarians and robots, but according to Tuk, she’d found plenty for Calliope to do.

Blaze hoped that a day of hard labor would show her how easy she had it as a member of his harem, but five days had passed and the stubborn wench had not given in.

Five whole miserable days!

Fine!

Let her scrub the floors, if that is what she wished. What did he care? There were plenty of other women in his harem, eager to fulfill his every wish. What was one stubborn Earthling? Let her suffer and think about what she’d passed up.

He rammed his cock further up Casiela’s cunt, all while wondering what it would be like to be inside Calliope. How wet would her pussy get? Would that lush ass jiggle if he took her from behind? Would she scream his name, or would she softly moan?

Just thinking about it gave him the extra push he needed to take his peak as he shot his seed into his concubine’s thirsty cunt. It took him a moment to catch his breath. When he did, Blaze tried to push the clinging concubine off, but she clung like a limpet.

“Enough.”

Caseila pouted. “Am I being punished?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Usually, we go all night. Have I done something to offend you?” she asked. Her liquid brown eyes watered with unshed tears.

He pushed a stray lock of red hair from her face and gently cupped her cheek. “You could never offend me. As always, you’ve pleased me. I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

“Perhaps if you let me suck your cock, I can get you ready again?” she asked hopefully.

The offer sounded tempting, but he didn’t think he’d be able to get it up again even if he wanted to. Normally the offer of her forked tongue wrapped lovingly around his shaft was enough to make him hard, but he just couldn’t drum up enough enthusiasm.

Giving her a kiss on the cheek, he gently disentangled himself from her grip. “As alluring as that sounds, I’ll have to pass. Now get off so I can call Tuk to fetch you.”

She looked like she wanted to cry but wisely didn’t press. He felt bad for hurting her feelings, but he didn’t need the pressure of her persistence either. After calling for his servant, he threw on a pair of pants and paced the room, ignoring the softly weeping concubine. His temper grew with each passing second, not at Caseila but the situation.

The disastrous night with Calliope had only been the beginning. He thought some time with Nihira, one of his favorite women, would erase the human female from his mind. Blaze, however, found that he was wrong. Terribly wrong. His cock barely stayed hard enough to fuck her. It had been humiliating, and it put him in a foul temper.

The next night was Jaet, a Thibian like himself. Her beautiful golden looks usually stirred him beyond reason. Again, nothing. Tatal, Falen, and Mariya the subsequent nights failed just as miserably in bringing him to a satisfying ending. He’d even tried two at once, but that didn’t excite him either.

Did he dare try any of the other women? No. Nothing would do. The truth of the matter was that he wanted Calliope, and her rejection cut him to the quick. He’d been so sure though that she felt the same way.

When Tuk entered the room, she gave him the customary salute and hooked the chain around Caseila’s collar. “You may wait out in the hall for me while I speak to the King,” she instructed the still weeping concubine. “Sire, could you please tell me what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I had no further need for her,” he said, trying to hold on to his last droplet of temper.

“But something has been going on these past few days. Have the girls not pleased you as they should?”

“It’s not them!” he roared louder than he should have. “Just do as I ask, and don’t question me again. Perhaps you should do a better job at picking members for my harem.” This comment seemed to take his usually unflappable servant by surprise. She turned a deep shade of red. The minute the words were out of his mouth, he knew he’d gone too far.

His servants worked very hard to please him and see to his every need. That he would yell at Tuk, one of his most faithful workers, shamed him. “I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. The damage had already been done however. Curse that woman for driving him to this.

Bowing her head, Tuk turned abruptly. Just as she was walking out, Radien walked in and stopped her. “Are you all right, Tuk?”

She nodded, but didn’t speak.

“Hmm, it seems that the King is in rare form again today. I’ll find out what the problem is. Don’t worry,” Radien assured her.

Tuk merely nodded before scurrying off.

“What do you want?” Blaze glared at his friend, not willing to listen to yet another lecture.

“To see if everything is all right with you. I could hear you yelling at poor Tuk from down the hall. What is wrong with you? You’ve been in a foul mood for days. The servants tiptoe around you, and you snap at everyone without provocation. Hell, at dinner tonight you barely said two civil words before you got up to leave.”

“If the way I’ve been acting bothers you, then why are you here now? I didn’t ask for your company.”

“Don’t play the mighty King with me. We grew up together, and I think I’ve earned the right to speak freely to you. You’re being an ass. Whatever it is that’s upsetting you, fix it. The servants don’t deserve it. Your concubines don’t deserve it, and neither do I.”

Clenching his fists at his side, Blaze reined in his temper. Radien had a point. It wasn’t the servants’ fault that he was frustrated, and furthermore, he had to stop acting like a child who couldn’t get what they wanted.

Releasing a heavy sigh, he looked at his friend. “You’re right. I have been unbearable lately. I can hardly stand it myself.”

“What’s wrong? You can tell me anything.”

“I… do you remember that concubine? The human one?”

Radien frowned. “I’d wondered what had happened to her when she didn’t appear to entertain us with the rest of the harem. I thought perhaps she’d displeased you in some way, but…”

“But what?”

“I thought it was rather odd that she’d be cast aside so soon, especially when I don’t ever remember you looking at any woman like that before. Don’t get me wrong, I realize you enjoy all kinds of women, but for some reason, I thought this one was different.”

“She is, although she told me she’d rather scrub floors than be my concubine.” Blaze wished he’d have handled things differently.

At first, Radien looked as though he didn’t know what to say, but then he broke into loud, guttural laugher.

“What’s so damned funny?” Blaze demanded.

“Are you trying to tell me that the great King Blaze was rejected by a woman in his own harem? This is too much!” Radien laughed even harder, holding his sides. He was so caught up in his mirth that he didn’t see the fist shoot out.

Radien hit the floor. This stopped the laughter. Rubbing his jaw, he slowly got to his feet, eyeing Blaze warily. “King or not, that’s your one time to strike me like that without retaliation. I’ll put it down to your frustration, but don’t let it happen again.”

“You shouldn’t have laughed,” Blaze muttered stubbornly.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have, but keep your damned hands to yourself next time. So this concubine has rejected you? She’s your property. You can do whatever you want to her, and there’s nothing she can do about it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. She may belong to me, but I refuse to take a woman who doesn’t want me. If I were to take advantage of a person less powerful than me, what kind of man would I be? And what kind of King would I be? I’m supposed to lead by example. Bending people to my will outside of war is not the kind of ruler I want to be.”

He took pride in the fact that in most circumstances he was approachable to his people, seeing to their needs and welfare. Even those who served him he treated with respect because, from an early age, he’d been taught by his own Sire that to get respect, you had to give it. “I have more pride and dignity than that. Besides, there are plenty of women begging to be in her position.”

“Yet you don’t want any of those other women,” Radien aptly pointed out.

Damn his eyes for being so right. “Yes, that’s true. I want her like mad, but she’s not interested. I’ve never been in this situation before, and I really don’t know how to handle it. She’s like no other woman I’ve been with.”

“But have you actually been with her?”

“I’m not talking about being with her in that sense. Stop thinking with your cock, damn it. What I meant was, when she was near, her spirit calls to me.”

“You’re getting very poetic here. Are you telling me you have feelings for one of your harem girls? Have you even had a conversation with her beyond trying to get her into your bed? Perhaps you may be thinking of making her more than just a concubine?”

“Well, no, but do you really have to talk to someone to know you really want them? I’m not saying I’m in love with her. When I take a Queen, I can’t allow matters of the heart to influence my decision. I’ll choose my mate based on their breeding and ability to handle the people.”

“Don’t let what happened to your father harden you. I don’t know much about matters of the heart, but I know that you shouldn’t live your life based on what happened to someone else.”

Blaze’s lips tightened as he thought of King Tayler and Queen Maige, his parents. He’d loved them both very much, but theirs had been a self-absorbed kind of love that had excluded all others. They were good parents and loved him the best they could, but when the two of them were together, they gave the impression that no one else existed.

During the Great Thorzak Lunar War, a chemical agent had been dropped on their planet and poisoned several thousand inhabitants, his mother included. It had saddened him when she died, but it had destroyed his father. Day by day, Blaze took on more of the royal duties while his father pined away for his lost mate. King Tayler slept very little and ate even less until he wasted away to nothing. Some people said it was the effects of the chemicals, but Blaze knew his father had died of a broken heart. He couldn’t subject himself to that for the sake of a woman.

It wasn’t as though he had a problem with the fairer sex, but he couldn’t let anyone make him feel an emotion so strong that it could kill. No, he preferred his harem. When he chose his Queen, he’d get rid of them out of respect for her, but he wouldn’t let his heart become involved.

“I won’t let that happen to me,” he finally said.

“Sometimes those things sneak up on you before you know it. When the time comes, it might not be your choice.”

“As if you’d know.”

Radien shrugged. “Perhaps I’m no expert, but I do have eyes. I warn you, my friend, you’d better get your act together and do something about this reluctant concubine of yours because if you don’t, you’ll have a full-fledged rebellion on your hands. I’ll leave you alone while I go calm down Tuk.”

Blaze only nodded as he watched his friend exit the room. He knew what Radien had said made sense. He had to do something about Calliope, but he couldn’t beg her. How would that look, having to beg for a night with a member of his own harem? Damn, but she was frustrating. What if she never came to him willingly? Could he deal with this? Something told him he’d have a rough time trying.

Callie wiped beads of sweat from her forehead. It had to be at least a hundred degrees in this oven they called a kitchen. Scrubbing pots, however, was preferable to spending a night with the King. It wasn’t that she found him repulsive. On the contrary, she found herself drawn to him, and therein lay the problem. She didn’t want to be attracted to her ‘owner.’

God, she hated that word. The thought of someone owning another person as if they were cattle didn’t sit very well with her. Yet the way he’d looked at her sent shivers down her spine. When he’d touched her, she nearly burst into flames. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Callie took another swipe at her brow and pulled the sack-like dress she’d been given to wear. In the past five days, she’d lost weight. She was given meals like the rest of the servants, but Tuk worked her so hard, she’d been too exhausted to think of food.

The best thing about living in the servants’ quarters was seeing more of London. Each morning before she was put to work, she visited her daughter’s room where she slept with a kindly older maid who treated London like a much loved granddaughter.

Those were the only moments she could escape without Tuk breathing down her neck. That woman had it out for her in the worst way, making Callie scrub floors, walls, windows, even if they were already clean. She suspected that the King’s servant was trying to break her, but she’d be damned if she let that woman see her crumble.

Putting away the final pot to dry, she breathed a sigh of relief to be finished.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, human. Those pots are still dirty,” Tuk’s voice said behind her, making Callie jump.

The woman had the most unsettling ability to sneak up on her without making a sound. “I finished them all.”

“I said they are still dirty.”

Callie picked up one of the pots she’d just scoured. It gleamed against the light, spotless. She was quite sure that one of the worker robots couldn’t have done a better job. “This looks fine to me.”

To her surprise, Tuk grabbed it from her hands and tossed it on the floor. Then she slid her arms along the counter and dumped all of Callie’s hard work back on the floor. “This is what you get for your impertinence. Now pick that up!” the woman screamed, rage turning her face bright red.

Callie was two seconds away from whuppin’ that bitch’s ass, her fist balled and ready to strike, and then she saw the malicious gleam in Tuk’s pale green eyes. She stopped herself. Striking her tormenter would only harm her in the end. She lived for her time spent with London. She wasn’t about to give her tormenter a reason to take that particular privilege away.

Instead of doing what she really wanted, Callie bent over and picked up the mess Tuk had made.

“It’s all your fault!” the woman screamed.

Callie chose to ignore this statement, instead concentrating on the task at hand.

The other woman would not be ignored however. Grabbing one of her long dreadlocks, Tuk yanked, forcing Callie to look up at her. “You think you’re something special, don’t you?”

What had she done this time to earn such rage? “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’d appreciate it if you let go of my hair.”

“You have no idea what you’ve caused do you?”

“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve done everything you asked me to do, without complaint, I might add. I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve this.”

“Oh, you’re a cool one, aren’t you? You’ve failed to do the one thing you were brought here for in the first place.”

“Everything you’ve thrown my way I’ve done,” she argued.

“Except please the King.”

Laughing nervously probably wasn’t the best reaction, but Callie couldn’t help it. “I’m just one woman. The King has a harem of women eager to please him.”

Tuk’s eyes narrowed to an angry glare. “I don’t know why, but the King has his heart set on you.”

This took her by surprise. She would have thought she’d been all but forgotten by now. After all, with thirteen women constantly vying for his attention, he surely would have moved on. Now why the hell did that bother her?

She shrugged, trying to project a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “I still fail to see what I can do about that since I’m no longer in his harem.”

“If you’re telling the truth, which I suspect you aren’t, then you’re a bigger fool than I thought. Have you no idea the honor it was to be chosen on your first night dancing for him? There were women far more experienced than you performing the Dance of Seduction, some of them much more attractive than you, in my opinion, yet our good King chose you. Then you threw that honor back in his face as though you were above him. You! A lowly slave.”

Callie’s mouth opened and then closed. What did the woman expect her to do? It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t want to be used as a convenient bed warmer. “Tuk, I’m not really sure what this angry diatribe of yours was for, but I have a lot to do.” She looked pointedly at all the pans she now had to redo.

Again the other woman glared. “I’d slap you if I didn’t think it would leave a mark. Instead, I’ll give you a little word of warning. If you don’t come to your senses soon, the little one will suffer.”

Callie gasped. “Leave my baby alone. She’s innocent in all of this.”

“I will gladly leave her alone if you do what you’re supposed to. We could always resell her, you know. She is the King’s property after all, and he has no use for her.”

“You can’t do that!”

“One word from me and she’s gone,” Tuk finished with a satisfied smirk.

Callie believed her too. What wouldn’t these crazy zealots do to please their ruler? She grabbed the other woman’s arm, gripping it in a vise. “I can’t let you do that.”

Tuk smiled humorlessly. “Then I guess you know what you’ll have to do.”

Callie didn’t have to ask for specifics to know what was implied. As much as she hated the prospect of pleasuring that arrogant king, she knew she had to. Or she’d lose London.

“Why do you look so smug, Tuk?” Darus asked leaning casually against the wall in the servants’ hall.

“I have single handedly solved our dilemma.”

“You’ve convinced the human to rejoin our Sire’s harem?”“

“Yes, and not only that, she’ll make sure he’s satisfied for as long as he wants her.”

Darus’s forehead scrunched together as though in deep contemplation. “How did you manage that? The stubborn woman has been unbending, even when you’ve given her the most demeaning of tasks.”

“We had the means all along to control her. The child you so adamantly wanted to leave with the Adieaens is the key.”

“Aw yes, the little one. Your soft heart wouldn’t allow a mother to be separated from her child. You do know we weren’t authorized to bring her back with us.”

“But she came as part of the deal. As long as we keep her out of King Blaze’s way, there should be no problem.”

“I suppose, but I want you to know that if he does come down on us, I’ll tell him how it came to pass. Now tell me what exactly you said to the human.”

“I implied that we could sell the child if she doesn’t rejoin the harem.”

A look of comprehension crossed Darus’s face. “Aw, now I understand. Would you actually follow through, or would your conscience do you in again?”

“Despite the way I feel about the mother, the little one is starting to grow on me. She’s been a delight to have around.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Do you or do you not plan on sending her back to the Adieaens to sell?”

“I really don’t know, and I don’t think it matters as long as the human thinks we will.”

“You don’t like her very much, do you?”

“Do you?” Tuk challenged.

“I can’t say I’m happy with the way she’s put our King in such ill humor, but I reserve judgment.”

“Well I, for one, hate her for what she’s done to him. He goes around the palace snapping at everyone without the slightest provocation. And did you see that bruise on the side of Lord Radien’s face? It was unseemly. I’ve never seen the king lose his temper this way before, and it’s all her fault.”

It was true. Tuk knew from the moment she spotted her on the auction block the woman would be trouble, but Darus thought the human would make a good match for their king. Tuk thought of her king as more than just a ruler, but like a surrogate son. It was she who had seen to most of his needs after his parents died. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him, even if it meant resorting to a little blackmail.

“I see your point. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to show her that we’re the ones in control.”

“Exactly. I do feel a little guilty about threatening her child, but she’s the one who drove me to it.”

“What did the King decide to call her?” Darus asked after a long pause.

“Calliope, but I won’t call her by a name until she’s earned the privilege,” Tuk said adamantly.

“So after tonight we’ll have no more problems from the human?”

“None at all. She’s been incredibly stubborn up until now, but I know she cares deeply for the child. If she feels the little one is at risk, she’ll do what we say.” A slow smile touched her lips. “And you were the one who said it would be pointless to bring the child along.”

“I stand corrected.”

Tuk laughed manically.