Uncertainly, Lissa waved back. But when her eyes dropped from Lady Hake’bean’s face, she saw something truly disconcerting.
Their hostess was still covered in bright pink body paint and wearing ridiculously high heels that caused her to strut when she walked, but now she had added an accessory to her “outfit.” At first Lissa wasn’t sure of what she was seeing, but when Lady Hake’bean turned to the side, it was clear that the purple rubber rod their hostess had shown them earlier was sticking out from between her thighs. Half of it was, anyway. The other half…
Oh my Goddess, it’s inside her! And the black straps around her hips are holding it in place!
Lissa’s eyes grew wide as the implications hit her. Saber had accused her of being too innocent to understand earlier and she supposed that was true. Everything Lady Hake’bean and Lady Sha’rak had been discussing in their previous conversation had gone right over her head but now it all came back to her.
“It fits inside.”
“You don’t mind the penetration?”
“Mind it? I love it!”
“Oh my Goddess,” she whispered as she watched Lady Hake’bean thrust her pelvis in the air, causing the thick, knobbled end of the rod she wore to dance and jiggle in the blue-white light. Earlier she had thought that it reminded her of something and now she realized what. With its thick shaft and the flared knob at the end, the rod closely resembled a male member—a huge one.
“Is…is she going to do to him what I think she’s going to do?” Lissa asked in a low voice.
Saber gave her a sober look. “I’m afraid so.”
“So that’s what they mean by giving a slave the rod.” Lissa shook her head. “I never…I guess I couldn’t even imagine…”
“Of course you couldn’t,” he muttered. “It’s not something that would ever occur to someone like you, amalla.”
“But I don’t—”
“Observe,” Lady Hake’bean cried, walking around the stage, the purple rod swaying jauntily from between her thighs. “I have here my latest acquisition, a new slave I’m still breaking in. Up until now I’ve been taking it easy on him—giving him the smallest possible rod to get him used to taking his punishment.” She held one finger in the air, as though illustrating the size she was talking about, and the crowd responded with uneasy laughter.
“Tonight, however,” Lady Hake’bean continued. “I’m going to up the ante.” She cupped the purple rod between her legs and stroked it provocatively. “Tonight my Beast will be filled to the core—dominated by his mistress completely, in a way he has never felt before.”
The Beast threw back his head and howled again, his huge body positively quaking with rage. The ladies in the crowd exchanged disturbed glances and some in the front row began to scoot back but Lady Hake’bean only laughed.
“Beast!” she commanded, turning to her huge slave. “Assume the position.”
Every line of the massive body seemed to scream protest but as they watched, the Beast turned and got onto his hands and knees, presenting his bare, muscular ass to the crowd.
“Very good,” Lady Hake’bean proclaimed. “And now, prepare to take your punishment.”
She produced a small tube and proceeded to squirt something from it onto her fingers. Walking up to the still-trembling Beast, she thrust her hands between his legs. With one hand she stroked the truly massive shaft that hung down between his thighs and with the other she pressed her fingers deep into his nether entrance.
“What…what is she doing?” Lissa had never witnessed anything like this before—had never wanted to witness anything like it. Her mind was still struggling to process exactly what it was Lady Hake’bean intended to do to her slave.
“She’s preparing him,” Saber murmured back. There was a grim look on his face as he contemplated the scene before them. “Getting him ready to take her rod.”
“I can see that,” Lissa whispered back. “I mean, it’s obvious she’s using some kind of…of lubricant. But why is she touching him at the same time?” She watched in fascination as Lady Hake’bean stroked her slave’s thick shaft, bringing him erect even as she probed and stretched his entrance.
“To force pleasure from him.” Saber shook his head. “She’s forcing him to respond to her even though you can tell he doesn’t want to.”
The growling and snarling from behind the mask was getting more and more intense and menacing but Lady Hake’bean paid no attention. At last, when the Beast’s cock was fully erect, she slapped his ass and laughed.
“Stop complaining, lover. You know you want it. You love every minute of it—just look how hard you are!” She gave his shaft a last, long stroke, then stepped back and lined up the head of the purple rod with his newly opened nether entrance.
“Goddess, I can’t watch,” Lissa murmured, horrified. And yet she couldn’t seem to look away as the thick purple shaft breached the Beast’s opening and slowly began to fill him.
Saber, still crouched between her and the stage, was tense and silent as they both watched the massive slave being filled.
“That’s right, my Beast. Take it. Take it all.” Lady Hake’bean was panting hard and Lissa remembered what she had told them about the vibe located in the rod, at just the right place to stimulate her clit. From the way she was grinding her hips, pressing the rod deeper and still deeper into her slave, she must be enjoying its effects right now.
“That’s right, I’m in you now—can you feel me?” she crooned to her slave. “In you so deep, fucking that sweet ass and loving every minute of it. You love it too, don’t you? Don’t you, lover? Tell me all about it.”
The Beast howled and trembled, his massive body shaking beneath his petite mistress’s onslaught. He looked to Lissa like a statue that was coming to life, like a man fighting to be free once and for all of the chains that bound him. She watched numbly, still struggling to take in the awful sight that seemed to go on and on without end.
Pulling back, Lady Hake’bean withdrew the rod until only the flaring crown remained inside the howling Beast and then rammed it back in again with a grunt. At the same time, she reached around him and began to stroke his cock again, which was rigidly hard.
Lissa couldn’t understand his erection. “How can he be like that—be hard for her if he hates it so much?” she asked Saber in a whisper.
“He can’t help it. She’s stimulating a part inside him—a part that makes it impossible not to respond.” Saber looked sick. “Poor bastard. I don’t care how many people he murdered, no one deserves this.”
“She…she’s raping him.” Lissa felt sick herself as the scene finally hit home. “Right out in public—in front of everyone. This is awful! He must be in so much pain!”
Saber shook his head. “It’s not just the pain. Think of the abject humiliation—his pride will never recover. She might as well cut off his balls and feed them to him right now.”
As he spoke, Lady Hake’bean gave a mighty thrust and stroked her slave hard at the same time. The Beast roared and trembled as his cock began to spurt hot cum into his mistress’s hand.
“That’s right, Beast,” she crooned, still pumping him. “Come for me. Come and let me know how much you love it when I take you. When I punish your sweet ass.”
Pity and horror surged up inside Lissa, making her want to cry or be sick. “We can’t just sit here,” she whispered to Saber. “We have to say something—do something!”
“Do what?” he asked grimly. “It’s over now.”
Lady Hake’bean’s orgasmic gasps of triumph, mingling with her slaves enraged roars seemed to prove his point.
“Still,” Lissa insisted. “We have to—”
And then everything happened at once.
With another earsplitting bellow, the Beast gave a convulsive movement and suddenly rose, shaking off his mistress like a massive animal shaking off a tiny, annoying fly.
Lady Hake’bean stumbled backward, almost falling off the stage. It would have been bet
ter for her if she had.
The Beast turned on her, ripping off his mask to reveal a face straight out of a nightmare. Tiny red eyes gleamed with a murderous light from under thick, shaggy black brows and two short, sharp horns grew from his temples. His mouth, when he opened it, yawned like a cavern, revealing row after row of jagged white teeth all as long as Lissa’s forefinger and razor sharp.
Goddess, she thought numbly, watching as the Beast roared. I’ve seen a mouth like that before—where…? Suddenly it came to her. She had been watching a nature documentary about creatures from Earth with Kat and one of them had been called a shark. That was what the Beast’s gaping maw looked like—only worse. Much worse.
But though the ladies in the crowd were beginning to panic and the Beast was lumbering toward her, Lady Hake’bean clearly wasn’t ready to run. She had scrambled to her feet and stood facing the raging monster, her feet planted apart and a look of irritation on her face.
“Beast, heel!” she shouted, putting a hand on her hip and pointing a finger at him. “Get down right now and—”
The Beast leaned over and bit off the finger she was pointing at him. Then he spat it to one side and reached for her, his gigantic hands hooked into claws.
Lady Hake’bean looked numbly at the bloody stump where her finger had been. “No,” she gasped and Lissa saw the horror finally dawning in her eyes. At last she was realizing the danger she was in—but it was too late. “No,” she said again. “No, you can’t. I bought you. I own you. I—”
The Beast cut her off. “You…fucking…bitch!” His voice was like thunder and Lissa felt frozen to her seat as she watched him grab the petite Lady Hake’bean and shake her until her multicolored hair whipped around her face. “You want to fuck the Beast?” he snarled, his eyes narrowed with hate. “Fine, my lady, but you’ll pay the fucking price.”
With a savage growl, he sank three rows of knife-like teeth into her shoulder and ripped off her arm like it was a chicken wing. Lady Hake’bean screamed, the stump at her shoulder spouting crimson jets into the air. The Beast laughed—a bone chilling sound that made Lissa’s stomach feel like it was filled with ice. He shook his former mistress one last time, then tossed her bleeding body to one side, as though she was nothing more than a broken doll.
“Oh my Goddess,” screamed the woman beside Lissa, startling her from the trance-like state she had somehow fallen into. “He killed her! She’s dead—Lady Hake’bean is dead!”
Her piercing shriek seemed to draw the Beast's attention. His tiny red eyes tracked downward and settled on Lissa.
“Fucking bitches—all of you!” he roared. Mouth stained with blood, he jumped from the stage, the impact shaking the floor when he landed with a dull thud. He reached for Lissa with arms that seemed miles long.
“Lissa, run!” Saber was suddenly between them, rising from the protective crouch he’d assumed to ram full-speed into the charging Beast.
“Saber!” Lissa’s paralysis broke and she jumped to her feet, intending on saving the man she loved.
“Go—get to safety!” Saber commanded, still grappling with the enormous foe. The Beast was a full head taller than him and much more massive but he seemed to be holding his own, until the other male lowered his head to bite again.
“No, I won’t leave you!” Looking for a weapon, Lissa grabbed one of the plush pink chairs by the back. It was a substantial piece of furniture but fear for Saber gripped her and it felt almost light in her hands. Running around behind them, she swung the chair with all her might, slamming the solid wooden legs hard against the Beast’s skull.
She’d been hoping to knock him out but the Beast was little more than momentarily stunned. He shook his head and turned, his eyes fastening on her face again.
“What’s wrong, little mistress?” His thick voice gurgled in his throat, as though he’d been gargling with blood. “You want your turn? You want to be next in line to fuck the Beast?”
Pushing Saber away, he lumbered toward her, his jaws gaping wide to expose three slavering rows of bloody dagger-like teeth.
Lissa screamed and stumbled backward. She still had the chair in her hands—indeed, her fingers had tightened on the plush pink back and refused to let go. Lifting it with arms that suddenly felt like lead, she poked it at the Beast, trying to keep it between them, trying to warn him off.
“No,” she gasped. “No, please…”
Suddenly Saber was there again. He jumped the Beast from behind and locked one muscular arm around the convict’s thick neck. “Run, Lissa!” he panted, squeezing tight. “Run, now!”
This time Lissa tried to obey orders but somehow she couldn’t. Her body refused to listen to her and her fingers still wouldn’t unclench themselves from the back of the plush chair. The Beast charged toward her with Saber clinging to his back. As she stumbled backward his arms reached for her, his hands hooked into claws. Lissa felt a terrified shriek rising in her throat…
And then the narrow red eyes rolled up in the Beast’s head and the vast form slowly crumpled to the ground before her.
Saber rode the other male down to the floor, keeping an arm locked around the Beast’s thick throat. He stayed there for a full minute after they landed and then, when it was clear the Beast was truly unconscious, he took the huge block-like head in both hands.
Lissa felt sick. “Saber?” she whispered. “Saber, what—?"
Saber ignored her and looked at the enormous head between his hands. “I’m sorry, Brother,” Lissa heard him mutter to the bloody face. “I don’t blame you for what you did. But it’s better this way. They’ll only torture you more if I let you live.”
He gave a sharp, sideways twist and there was a sickening crunching sound. When Saber released it, the Beast’s head flopped to one side, his thick neck bent at an unnatural angle.
“Oh!” Lissa sobbed, half hysterical with horror and sorrow. “Oh no…oh my Goddess…”
“I’m sorry, Lissa.” Saber left the gigantic body and came to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry but I had to do it. He’s better off dead than living like this—being taken for sport in front of a crowd of gawkers. That’s no way for any male to live. Better to die free than exist in such vile bondage.”
“I know…I guess you’re right.” Lissa hid her face in his chest, not wanting to see the blood and carnage left behind. “But oh, Saber…that was awful.”
“It was,” he said grimly. “All of it. But it’s over now, amalla. And I swear if I can help it you’ll never have to see anything so ugly ever again.”
Lissa closed her eyes but all she could see was the savage display the Beast had put on when he broke his chemical bonds—all she could hear was his enraged roars as his mistress thrust into him again and again—stripping away his dignity and pride, taking him as no one—male or female—should be taken by another.
A cold chill came over her when she remembered Lady Sha’rak telling her she should give Saber the rod, to keep him in line, to punish him. Never, she vowed to herself as she hugged him tight. I’d never do that to him! No matter what they say or do to us while we’re here, nothing could make me hurt the man I love like that. Nothing!
* * * * *
Saber couldn’t stay still on the ride home. He felt restless, filled with adrenaline, his muscles twitching with tension and his mind replaying the violence over and over until it was nothing but a meaningless wash of gore. But one thing kept repeating in his mind again and again, an endless loop he couldn’t turn off.
I almost lost her. If I’d been a fraction of a second too slow the Beast would have gotten her—he would have killed her as he did his mistress. Oh Goddess, amalla, no…no, no, no…
Lady Sha’rak and Llewelyn were both subdued and there was no conversation at all, which suited him well. He felt words brewing inside him, emotions building that he had vowed to hide and never act on. But now he couldn’t help himself—it was all he could do to keep his feelings in check until they reached Lady S
ha’rak’s residence and went to their suite.
The minute the heavy door was shut behind them and he was sure they were alone, Saber could hold the words in no longer.
“Lissa,” he said, taking her hands. “I’m sorry, but I have to say this. I love you.”
“Saber?” She looked at him uncertainly, her eyes widening. Plainly he had caught her off guard but Saber couldn’t stop.
“I love you,” he repeated. “With my whole heart—with everything that’s in me. I love you and I can’t stand the thought of losing you, of being parted forever.”
“I love you too,” Lissa whispered.
“I know you vowed never to have me and I don’t blame you for taking that vow,” he continued on, determined to get the words out before his courage failed. “But I can’t stand this anymore. I…” Then her words sank in and he stared at her, wide-eyed. “What did you say?”
“I said I love you too!” Lissa’s voice trembled and her eyes filled with tears but she blinked them away. “Goddess, Saber, I know it’s wrong but I still love you so much. I…I never really stopped.”
“Really?” He looked at her uncertainly, his heart filling with hope.
“It’s true.” She wiped her eyes and nodded, a miserable but determined look on her face. “I can’t deny it anymore,” she said in a low voice. “Not to you and not to myself either. I know we can never be together but I can’t pretend not to feel what I feel.”
“Oh Lissa…amalla…” Saber cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes. “Why can’t we be together?”
“Be-because.” She sniffed and swiped at her eyes again. “You know why, Saber. The Clan would hate me—they would never accept me as your mate. And I can’t ask you to give up your future just to be with me.”
“I thought the same thing about you,” he said softly. “I thought I couldn’t ask you to give up being the High Priestess to be my bride. But amalla…” He stroked her cheek gently, looking into her eyes. “I can’t think like that anymore. After what almost happened tonight I realize I can’t live without you—can’t bear to lose you. I know it’s selfish to ask it, but will you give up your life on First World to bond with me?”