Chapter One
Fatigue warred with the need for release, and all Aaron could do was slump in Taurus’s arms. Last night the god had fucked him until Aaron was sure he’d either die or break. His body still hummed with the memory of the god’s cock in his ass.
Afterwards, Aaron slept, ate, and bathed in the hot springs. The crowd of gods was much larger than it had been yesterday, and they followed Taurus when he led Aaron into the Library. There weren’t many books on the towering stone shelves. The ones left were tattered and chewed by rodents. Taurus moved a chair to the front of the room and beckoned Aaron to come to him. He did, and the god pulled Aaron back until he was pressed against his body, with his legs spread over Taurus’s thighs. Would he fuck Aaron like this?
Would he let the crowd of gods filling the room? There were more here than there’d been at Aaron’s Awakening.
But Taurus didn’t turn Aaron over to the gods to use him. They came to Aaron, kneeled, lowered their heads and asked...ASKED...if he would serve them. They pleaded for the privilege of sucking his cock.
It upended everything Aaron understood, leaving him confused and frightened. Aaron wasn’t sure he could even get hard with a god bowing before him. Then Taurus tightened his grip and growled the command to surrender to these gods. It was then Aaron’s body responded, the urge to serve came alive, and his need turned his blood into lava.
One after the other, the gods sucked Aaron’s cock until he squirmed, panted, and lost himself, shooting his cum onto their tongues.
Hours, days, weeks? Aaron had no idea, but he hurt, his cock was raw, and the room was still crowded. Never in Aaron’s life had he rather sleep than come again. His cock had long ago withered, but it didn’t stop the gods from drawing out release after release. Drunk on ambrosia, the nectar so concentrated in his blood, he could barely lift his head. Aaron drifted on the continuous ebb and flow of pleasure as it drowned his senses.
He’d never be able to serve all these gods, he was only one Doxie. Yet, he wanted to. What made Aaron a Doxie, demanded it.
Could a Doxie die from too many orgasms? If they could, Aaron was pretty sure he would.
“Enough.” Taurus scooped Aaron up. The warmth of the god’s chest burned Aaron’s cheek. Everything swayed, and the crowd of gods parted. Their protests were barely whispers.
Taurus paused at the door. “In two days I will let you have him again.”
“You’re going to make us wait?” Whoever spoke was out of Aaron’s line of site. “Two days?”
“Some of you have waited years, two days will be nothing.”
“You promised if we obeyed—”
The growl Taurus breathed shook the room. “Two days. Aaron needs to rest. You want more ambrosia sooner, then convince the gods who also have Doxies to come to me. Convince them to pledge allegiance, and I will let their boys lay with Aaron. They will take ambrosia from him, and they will become as strong as him.”
A murmur ran through the room. The words were lost under the heavy beat of Taurus’s heart. He walked again, and the Library pulled away, replaced by the winding catacombs.
“I asked much of you today.”
Aaron petted Taurus’s chest. He was a god, he was supposed to ask a lot of him. And it was Aaron’s place to do whatever he asked.
“When they have gained their strength, when the other Doxies have been made stronger, I will not ask you to do this again.”
Taurus shouldn’t have asked now. Aaron started to sign, then remembered the god couldn’t understand the letters and words he drew with his hands. Taurus couldn’t even read. There was so much he wanted to tell the god. The most important thing: thank you. Never did Aaron think anyone other than Leo and Kaleb would want him. A broken Doxie, ruined in comparison to so many beautiful ones. It wasn’t as if the gods in Purgatory didn’t see Aaron’s scars. The tension in their faces, the raking of their gazes, even the horror at what had been done to him was written in their expressions.
But there was never disgust.
Sometimes, before they sucked Aaron, they would kiss his scars before they knelt. And those men would stay there in silence, begging with their eyes to put their mouths on him.
Glorious. The heat of so many tongues, the gentle touches, the grateful praise. Better than all that, Taurus’s deep rumbling voice echoing through Aaron’s bones even when Taurus spoke in a whisper. His commands for Aaron to come drove him to the edge faster than suction. Taurus twisting Aaron’s scarred nipple was even better.
If only the god had a plug, cage, sounds, rings to re-pierce Aaron’s nipples and the tip of his cock. Sol had taken those things, and Aaron missed the exquisite torture they could deliver.
Baskets of fruit, blankets, and salves sat in front of the door to Taurus’s quarters. He carried Aaron into the room and left him on the bed. The new blankets covering it were soft, the new mattress thick enough to make the stone slab it was on undetectable. And the pillows? Oh, those were nothing short of puffy clouds.
Taurus covered Aaron up. “Stay here, while I see what offerings have been made in your honor.”
And Taurus said it as if Aaron was the god and not him.
Aaron burrowed into the covers, but his body ached too much to fall asleep. The room’s door shut, and Taurus put the basket with the pile of others near the wall. When he returned, he carried an apple and a jar of salve.
“I will tend to you first, then you will eat.”
Aaron just wanted to sleep.
Taurus lifted Aaron’s chin. “You will eat.”
Aaron nodded.
The god moved aside the blanket and rolled Aaron over. Ambrosia perfumed the air. It wasn’t pure enough to be a flower or even Aaron’s cum. It had to be the cream. Aaron fought to keep his eyes open.
A cool glob touched the head of his cock. His skin stung, but the ambrosia smothered it before it could even make Aaron gasp. Would Taurus ever use sensitizing cream on him? The thought of having that vicious salve rubbed on his hole, then his ass stuffed with a cock had Aaron squirming.
“Be still.”
Aaron spread his legs.
Taurus chuckled. “Eager for my fingers in your ass again, even after being sucked all day.”
No, Aaron wanted the god’s cock. It hurt in the most glorious way, and the feel of his cum only added to the pleasure.
Aaron pulled his knees to his chest hoping Taurus would get the message. The god threw back his head and laughed. Aaron grinned despite his exhaustion.
“You are truly a treasure.” Taurus pulled Aaron’s right leg back down but held up his left. “I will not fuck you tonight.”
Aaron wrinkled his brow. Why not? He was here. He wanted to be used. He might not be able to come again…
Yes, he would. Taurus would make him. If Taurus wanted, he could make Aaron come just by teasing his nipples. It wasn’t any kind of skill, it was just him. Like Leo, Taurus breathed strength, and the power called to Aaron with the promise of pain, fear, and torture.
Aaron sighed, and Taurus rubbed his cheek against Aaron’s calf.
“I want you to rest. In the morning I will take you back to the hot springs and bathe you. You may even get to make some friends.”
Other Doxies? Aaron pushed up on his elbows.
“I think a few of the gods will send their boys tomorrow. You can spend time with them. Just them, no gods will ask of you. There are many who can read. I’ll find you paper and something to write with.”
Aaron could get them to tell Taurus about Wolf and Sol and—
The sudden breach of Aaron’s hole sent freezing static up his legs. He dropped against the mattress. One of Taurus’s fingers was a perfect fit, no ache, no real burn, just a subtle fullness and gentled pressure against Aaron’s prostate.
Taurus hummed. “You were so brave today. I bet you gave ambrosia to at least thirty gods.”
Aaron might have, but in that moment, he didn’t care. He had Taurus fondling his hole, thrusting, stroking, pumping… Aaron’s cock remained limp, but it didn’t stop it from leaking.
If Aaron could speak, he would have begged Taurus to do this to him all night. Until his cock hardened and his skin was on fire.
Taurus removed his finger.
No, wait, it was just getting good. Aaron looked at him.
Taurus grinned, flashing teeth. “I told you, tonight you rest.”
Aaron shrugged.
“I want to show you something, though. A gift, and if you eat all the apple, drink the cream someone brought, I promise to give it to you.”
Aaron glanced at the baskets. Taurus walked over and picked up a roll of velvet. He brought it over to Aaron and put it beside him.
“Open it.”
Aaron sat up enough to move the fabric. Ebon leather wove up the length of a stiff rod, and the end sported a large tab.
A crop.
Aaron touched it.
A crop that would leave welts.
He looked at Taurus.
“You like it.”
Aaron nodded. He handed it to Taurus.
“Not tonight.”
Aaron held his hand up and spaced his thumb and finger together.
“A little?”
Aaron smiled.
“Fine, on your knees.”
Aaron rolled over and raised his ass into the air. Taurus stood.
“Turn toward the wall.”
Aaron did, and it put his ass at the outside edge of the bed.
Taurus stepped back.
Hard. Aaron wanted it hard. Maybe Taurus wouldn’t hold back. All that strength in the god’s arms could make that crop peel the flesh from Aaron’s skin. Just the thought had him trembling.
The air whistled, and the leather snapped across Aaron’s ass. It happened so quick the burn didn’t even have a chance to rise before three more crisscrossed the first strike.
A lightning bolt of pain snatched away Aaron’s breath. Oh, more, he wanted so much more.
“That’s all boy.”
No, no, that couldn’t be all.
Taurus forced Aaron onto his back. “I said that’s all.”
Aaron was even hard. After being sucked for hours, his worn-out cock had stood from the feel of the crop.
“Rest, Aaron.” Taurus covered him up. “Rest, and tomorrow I will strike you until you can’t stand.”
Aaron closed his eyes. Morning was not going to come soon enough.
*****
Sonny hit the ground, the tread on his hiking boots failing to grip the loose rock, and he stumbled forward but was able to catch himself before he went face-first in the dirt. Four of the other students had long since passed him. There was only Jeffers and Oakly at his back, but they were catching up.
A sharp stab clawed at Sonny’s ribs and his calves burned. He concentrated on regulating his breathing, but it was almost impossible with so many targets leaping out at him.
He took the curve in the trail, and a sandbag swung right for his head. The arrow was in his hand, the bow drawn, but before he could fire it, the heavy sack knocked him in the temple. Sonny was tossed into the bushes. The incline did the rest as he went head over heels.
When the world quit spinning he lay on his back, legs dangling in the creek.
Damn it.
Sonny pushed himself up. At this rate he was going to be scrubbing the showers, the kitchen, and running five miles at three AM for the next week. He staggered to his feet. The pull in his side knotted, and he was on his knees. Every breath grains of sand seared his lungs.
He could do this. He had to do this.
Sonny stood again. At least his bow hadn’t snapped. The same couldn’t be said for the arrow. He had others in his quiver but losing one meant he might not have enough left to clear the targets.
On the trail above him, feet pounded the ground, then faded.
Great, now he was last.
Sonny made his way to the top of the hill, boots squishing with creek water. He ran, pushing himself to keep up but trying not to burn himself out. Another impossibility. With short legs and a lot less strength than the other guys, he already had to work twice as hard to keep up. Sonny pulled an arrow from his quiver.
Oakly and Jeffers came into view. Jeffers’s ankle must have been killing him, with ever limp, he left gouges in the ground.
A wooden pole shot up from the ground ahead of Oakly. The snap of splintering wood echoed through the forest when the giant godling slammed into it without slowing down.
At least that was one target Sonny wouldn’t have to worry about hitting. He leapt over the downed four-by-four. Dirt and mud splashed up over his shins. Another wood target, this one shaped like a person, popped out from behind a tree. Sonny released his arrow, and it hit the quarter sized red dot in the middle.
Hitting the targets was simple, it was the conditions killing Sonny. Running and notching arrows wasn’t easy. What kind of idiot with a bow would chase someone anyhow? Not when roosting at a high position and waiting for the person to come to you could work just as well.
The tree line shrank away. Standing at the end of the trail, everyone in Sonny’s class. He crossed the end point and promptly fell to his knees. At least he wasn’t the only one suffering. Three of them were doing some combination of trying to suck in air or puking up their guts.
Brice wasn’t even winded. But running seemed to be his thing. “Guess we know who gets to clean the toilets.” He laughed.
No one else did, they were too busy doing more important things like breathing.
Brice walked over. He nudged Sonny with his foot. “Look at the bright side, as small as you are, you should have no problem getting behind the toilets.”
Sonny glared, and Brice walked away. God, to put an arrow right in that jackass’s butt cheek would almost be worth the punishment.
Kree motioned for everyone to follow. “Hit the showers. Lights out in three hours. Watch a movie, read. Enjoy your down time while you got it, because tomorrow is going to be ugly.”
Oakly stood and offered Sonny a hand. He took it and was yanked off the ground to his feet.
“You did good.” Oakly wiped the spit from his beard.
Sonny shook his head. “Not…good…enough.”
“You worked twice as hard as anyone else. When you hit a growth spurt, you’ll be like a deer and smoke everyone in the class. Maybe even Brice.”
Sonny doubted it. Brice might as well be Flash Gordon. Not once did he trip, slip, or stumble. At least in the thirty seconds, Sonny could see him at the beginning of the trail before he disappeared.
“Come on.” Oakly patted Sonny on the back, almost knocking him off balance. He followed the crowd of students.
“Sonny, I need you to stay,” Kree said.
Great, just great. He wasn’t even going to get one night to rest before he was on his knees with a scrub brush. “Yes, sir.” Oakly gave Sonny an apologetic glance as Sonny went back to where Kree stood.
He watched the other students as they disappeared into the barracks. When the door shut, he gave his attention to Sonny. “There’s been an incident involving your brother.”
The sweat pouring down Sonny’s back turned to ice. “What kind of incident?”
Kree pressed his lips together. “I don’t know the details.”
“Is Kaleb okay?”
“Kaleb isn’t injured.” The way Kree said “injured” squeezed Sonny’s chest. “What happened to him?” The burn in his eyes had nothing to do with the sweat running down his face.
“Like I said…” Kree took a breath. “I don’t know the details, I simply know you need to go see your brother.”
Had Leo hurt Kaleb? Zen had sworn Leo would never harm him but…but…
Sonny had helped hunt the Chimera, so he was well versed with the story, except no one had actually explained why Kaleb had run into the woods after a monster.
Kree put his hand on Sonny’s shoulder. “He’s stable for now and with The Priest.”
Kree made it sound like Kaleb would die, that… The sadness in Kree’s gaze affirmed Sonny’s fears.
“No. How? Why? Can’t Alton do something, can’t—” Sonny choked.
“Alton thinks your presence might help him. There’s a guard on his way to pick you up.”
The rumble of an engine made Sonny turn. A jeep sped down the gravel road between Sanctuary and the barracks.
Sonny left his bow and quiver with Kree and jogged over to the Jeep. Once inside, the chill infecting him turned into a numbing static. The ride to Sanctuary only took a handful of minutes and getting up the stairs from the parking-deck, less. There were only a few people in the Great Hall when Sonny arrived.
Alton waited for Sonny at the double doors in the far left corner.
“Before you go in, I need your promise you will not repeat what I’m about to tell you.”
“Yes, of course.” Whatever it was. No matter how horrible it was.
Alton opened the door, and Sonny followed him into the desolate hall. “Leo is—” Alton seemed to have trouble swallowing. “Leo is dead.”
Sonny stumbled to a stop, and Alton waited.
“What?”
“He’s gone, Sonny, and Kaleb isn’t taking it well.” Alton urged Sonny to keep walking.
He did. “How?”
“The means are not important, but with Leo gone, there is a chance Kaleb could be lost too.”
Again, Sonny’s steps faltered, but Alton wouldn’t let him stop.
“I assure you I’m doing everything possible.”
Everything. What was everything? They took a right. Windows lining the corridor overlooked the garden at the heart of Sanctuary. Alton stopped and opened it. A cottage sat at the end of the raised walkway, in the midst of leafless trees.
“Just knock. The Priest is expecting you.”
Sonny tried to say thank you, but the word got stuck in his throat. He jogged across the bridge. When he got to the door, he stalled.
What if Kaleb didn’t make it? What if he was already dead? Sonny had already lost the rest of his family because of what his father did. There was no way he could lose Kaleb. The only one who ever loved him.
He had to be okay. He just had to. All Sonny needed was the strength to lift his fist and knock.
The door opened. The Priest was nothing more than a shadow wrapped in flowing red cloth. White strands of hair spilled out of the cowl and down his chest. He stepped aside.
A wood stove, a table, a couple of sitting chairs occupied the center of the room. Against the wall shelves of books. Large pillows stacked next to them seemed to be waiting for someone to plop down and read.
“He’s upstairs.” The Priest’s voice was almost a whisper, but it carried as strong as any scream. Sonny climbed the steps. The first room was open.
Kaleb sat cross-legged on the bed, staring out the window. Someone had dressed him in a gown. Anytime Sonny saw the Doxies outside the Doxie wing, they were dressed in gowns.
Sonny took a couple steps. The room was small, but neat, with a bathroom on the right and a closed door on the left. A rug covered the center of the floor. Reds and oranges warred with purples and blues across the fibers. It was the only thing with any real color.
“Kaleb?”
Kaleb clenched and unclenched his hands while he watched the scenery beyond the glass. And there wasn’t much to see but dead vines and the backside of the garden wall.
“Kaleb?” Sonny made it half-way. “They said you were…” What? He wasn’t hurt. If he was hurt, they would have taken him to the infirmary. Instead, he was here in another god’s private quarters.
Sonny closed the distance to the edge of the bed.
Red patches blotched Kaleb’s face, his eyes were swollen, and tears cut endless tracks down his cheeks. He swallowed over and over like the action hurt.
Sonny put his hand over one of Kaleb’s. “Hey. I came to visit.” Sonny sat on the edge of the mattress. Kaleb was so much taller than him, but right now he was minuscule. “Alton says you’re going to be okay.” Would Kaleb believe Sonny?
Kaleb choked on an exhale, then resumed breathing slow, shallow breaths.
Sonny gripped Kaleb’s shoulder. “Hey. I’m here. You’ve still got me.” Kaleb blinked and his hands clenched, but it was as if the action was a reflex rather than thought out.
Sonny shook Kaleb. “Look at me.”
He didn’t.
“Kaleb, look at me. I need to know you’re okay. That you’re going to be okay. That…” The pain swelling in Sonny’s throat inched into his jaw. Everything blurred until the tears fell. “Kaleb…please…please…” Sonny had been so worried Kaleb had been hurt. This, whatever it was, was far worse than any cut or broken bone.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he knows you’re here.” The Priest stood right beside Sonny, and he’d never heard him come into the room.
Sonny scooted closer to Kaleb. “What’s wrong with him.”
“He’s lost right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“He sees a vast nothing. A field with no end. He’s alone, and he’s lost. But he hears you.”
Was this guy crazy? Kaleb was right here. Right here staring at nothing. “Then why doesn’t he answer?”
“Because he doesn’t want to.”
Sonny looked at Kaleb. He held Kaleb’s face and forced him to turn his head. Kaleb didn’t fight him. He continued to stare at nothing while Sonny was right there in front of him. It was Kaleb, but at the same time, he wasn’t. Because he wasn’t there.
Sonny threw his arms around Kaleb and squeezed. “You’ll be okay.” He had to. He had to be okay. “I promise. Please, Kaleb. Please say something.” Sonny tightened his hold. When he looked at Kaleb again, he was staring out the window.
The Priest petted Kaleb’s hair. His hand was chalk against the red waves. Almost as white as Hackery’s. Pale lilac veins showed near his wrist. “If he chooses to come back he will.”
“Why wouldn’t he come back? I’m here.”
“Because there is no greater love than the love of a Doxie for the god he worships.”
“I’m his brother!” Sonny stood in front of The Priest. “He loves me. He hardly even knew Leo. And Leo was mean to him.”
“Leo was never mean to Kaleb.”
Of course, The Priest would say that, but he was a god. “I heard the stories about him. I’ve even read the books in the library about Leo.”
“The only books about Leo are kept in the Ward.”
They were. And the Ward inside the library was off limits to anyone but the gods. But at the moment, the last thing Sonny feared was punishment. “So. Locks are easy to pick.”
The Priest lifted his head just enough for his chin to show. “Walk with me.”
Sonny sat on the edge of the bed.
The Priest moved, and the new angle revealed his smile. “Zen said you had a very strong will.”
This man had yet to see just how strong Sonny’s will could be. He crossed his arms.
“Leo said you had the makings of a fine warrior and it was rare to see a god with such strength.”
Leo said that? Only thing he’d ever said to Sonny was what to do, where to sit, and to get out of his way. But they’d been hunting the god-son at the time, and no one had been in a particularly good mood. Even if Leo did say things like that, it didn’t change what Sonny had read about him: his training methods, his history, how he tortured Doxies to milk them of ambrosia. He was just as much of a monster as the Chimera living inside him.
But The Priest wasn’t the first person to say Kaleb loved Leo. The rumors had spread through the halls like wildfire. Then practically imploded after the big event held in the Banquet Hall. A Claiming. Whatever that was. Sonny had asked, but Zen’s answer had been too vague. Sonny hadn’t had a chance to research it. The Ward in the library would have the books he needed. But every time Sonny found a free moment to go there, Alton was locked behind the glass doors, reading.
What little Sonny had been able to find in the general section stated a Claiming was frowned upon. Monogamy wasn’t healthy for Doxies. As far as Sonny was concerned being with someone else besides Leo would have been welcomed. Kaleb could only be better off.
Now…now Sonny knew he’d been wrong. Whatever Kaleb felt for Leo had been strong enough to break him.
Sonny hugged his brother again. “Please come back. I love you. I love you more than anything. I don’t care if you’re a Doxie, you’ll always be my brother.” He waited, he hoped, he prayed Kaleb would hug him back, but he didn’t. When Sonny looked at Kaleb, he was still staring at nothing outside the window.