“Kyron? Ky, can you hear me? Gods above and below, what has been done to your back?”
Something cool and wet splashed his face and dribbled into his mouth. A warm, feminine scent filled his nose. Ky coughed and licked his lips, seeking more moisture.
“Here—I will help you as I did last time.”
His head was supported, his cheek rested on a firm but giving surface. Someone put a cup to his lips and cool water ran down his throat.
Ky drank thirstily as his savior supported his head. After a moment, he became aware that it was Dani. Once more she was resting his head against her breast as she gave him water. Her slim arm around his neck and the feel of her soft flesh against his own was wonderful—it gave him strength to open his eyes and look up at her.
“Dani,” he croaked. “Hoped…you’d come back.”
“What did they do to you?” Her large, dark eyes were filled with pain. “Your back is in ribbons!”
“Whipped me.” Ky coughed and took another sip of the life-giving water. “And then poured salt solution on my wounds.” He shrugged, wincing. “Guess I should be grateful for that—it fucking burned like fire but probably killed any infection that might have started otherwise.”
“They whipped you? Why?” Dani demanded.
He shrugged painfully, wincing as it pulled the torn skin of his shoulders.
“Don’t know. They said…said it was the will of the Monarch.”
“What? Oh, no!” Dani’s big eyes filled with sudden tears. “Oh Ky, this is all my fault! I tried to talk to my father about you this morning and he got angry with me. He must…must have taken it out on you.” She put a hand to her eyes, as though she couldn’t bear to look at him, couldn’t bear to see what had been done to him. “All my fault,” she mourned.
Ky cursed himself for a fool. He never should have let her know the guards had been acting under orders from her father. Never should have put that guilt on her.
“Hey, little girl, don’t cry,” he murmured, nudging her with his cheek. “It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not!” Dani looked at him with wet eyes. Her long black lashes were matted with tears, making her eyes shine like black diamonds. “When I came in here and saw you hanging there all bloody I thought…I thought you were…d-dead,” she got out at last. “It’s not all right that my father had his guards treat you this way! I don’t understand—he’s never been a cruel man before.”
Maybe not to you, Ky thought. But in his experience, any male who was willing to order the torture of another creature probably wasn’t innocent of cruelty in his past.
“It’s all right,” he repeated again. “I’m better now that you’re here.”
“No, you’re not! There’s a kit for small wound treatment in my father’s bathing chambers. I will go and get it if you’re strong enough to sit up.”
Ky would have liked to stay the way they were, with his cheek pressed to her soft breast forever. Feeling her near him, her lush body close to his, seemed to give him strength and comfort. He wanted to be near her more than he wanted food or water or first aid. But he realized they probably had a limited amount of time.
Reluctantly, he nodded. “Yeah. I think I’ll be okay, little girl.”
“All right.” She released his head gently and somehow Ky found the strength to straighten up, although it pulled at the wounds in his back to do so. “I’ll be right back,” Dani promised.
She ran lightly through the corridor that connected his cell to her father’s bed chamber and in a moment she was back with a small silver basket containing a variety of tubes and sprays and bandages.
“My father is old and his skin is easily torn,” she explained, setting the basket down beside Ky. “He prefers to treat the wounds himself rather than always having the Royal Physician bothering him.”
Ky kept his mouth shut. Better to say nothing at all about her father, the male who had ordered him whipped until he bled. It was clear Dani loved him, despite what he had done. He would only alienate her if he spoke badly of the Monarch.
“Now, let’s see,” she was musing as she picked through the basket. “Some disinfectant spray first, I think. And then some wound heal ointment and bandages…”
“You can’t bandage me up, little girl,” Ky objected. “If you do, the guards will know somebody has been in here.”
“Oh, right…” Dani wrinkled her brow in obvious frustration. “Well, the spray and the ointment won’t be so obvious. But it’s going to be interesting trying to reach you.”
She was standing close to him, bending over his shoulder to see his back as she spoke. Her soft body pressed against his, clad only in the see-through dark green dress she was wearing. Being so close to her was making Ky’s shaft rise despite the pain of his wounds.
“You could let me go—free my hands, I mean,” he suggested quietly. “Just long enough to treat my back.”
Dani pulled away, her lush lower lip caught between her even white teeth.
“Kyron…”
“It’s all right,” he said quickly. “I understand. You still don’t know me well enough to be sure I wouldn’t try to get away…although I do hope you know I’d never hurt you.”
“I…I know,” she whispered. “And I’m sorry…so sorry…” She shook her head. “It’s not that I don’t want to let you go. I don’t want this to happen to you again, but I’m afraid—”
“Don’t be sorry or afraid little girl,” Ky murmured. “Just do what you can. Look, I’ll lean forward as much as possible so you can reach me.”
Dani ended up standing on the stone bench he was sitting on and bending over to reach all of him in order to treat his entire back. This put the V of her legs quite close to his face and Ky couldn’t help inhaling her sweet feminine musk and eyeing the neatly trimmed triangle of curls at her center.
Gods, how had these people decided that females should wear transparent garments with no underclothes beneath them? Dani was completely bare under her gauzy gown. She didn’t even wear a breast-band to hide her nipples or a pair of panties to obscure the soft little slit of her pussy. And the fabric of her dress was so thin and silky it was barely there at all. Ky was certain if he was to lean forward a little more and place a kiss on her pussy lips she would feel it as though there was nothing between them at all…
Feel it and then perhaps spread her legs a little more, opening herself for him, parting her pussy lips for his tongue. Gods, he could just imagine licking her through the thin, silky fabric…feeling the wet heat of her inner folds against his mouth as she moaned and tugged at his hair, begging for more…
Such fantasies kept him from minding the pain as Dani treated his wounded back, first with a stinging disinfectant spray and then with healing ointment. The ointment was the worst—it felt like lines of liquid fire when she first applied it, but eased the ache in his back considerably as it settled in and started to knit the flesh together.
“There,” she said at last, stepping down and wiping the ointment from her fingers with one of the unused white bandages still in the kit. “Your skin should heal quickly and cleanly now. But I don’t think the guards will be able to tell anything has been done—for all they know Kindred are just fast healers.”
“I thank you,” Ky said formally. “And as a matter of fact, we are fast healers. I feel better already.”
He didn’t tell her that being so close to her had made him feel better than either the spray or the bandages.
Dani bit her lip and let one small hand drift up to his bare shoulder.
“I’ve never seen a male whose skin wasn’t blue before,” she murmured. “But your blood is as red as ours.” Her eyes lifted to meet his. “I suppose…suppose that my skin color is as strange to you as yours is to me.”
“Actually, no,” Ky told her. “On Earth, the planet we Kindred of the Mother Ship are currently protecting, there are lots of females with skin tones like yours. In fact, Earth girls come in many different shades—but all of them are lovely.”
“Oh?” Dani’s breath seemed to catch in her throat for a moment. “And these girls, the ones with skin the color of mine…do you find them beautiful?”
“Very beautiful,” Ky growled softly. “So exotic and lovely it makes me ache to look at them.” As he spoke, he kept his eyes locked with hers, letting her know how gorgeous she was…how much he wanted her.
“I see.” Dani’s creamy brown cheeks grew rosy with a blush. “You know, I never thought I could find a male with tan skin attractive but, well…you are very well made, although you are so big.”
She gestured at his bare chest and arms which were on display since the guards had ripped off his shirt, and her blush got even darker.
“You’re well made yourself, little girl,” Ky growled softly. “So full and lush. Back on Earth they would call you ‘full-figured’ or ‘plus-sized.’ But I just call it gorgeous.”
Gods, he wished she would come over and press against him again. Those minutes while she was treating his back had been some of the best of his life.
As though reading his thoughts, Dani frowned and said, “Oh, I think I missed a spot on your shoulder.”
She came forward, stepped between his spread thighs, and leaned over him, getting as close as possible.
This time, since her feet were on the floor, it was her breasts that were pressed close to him—right against his face, in fact. Ky could feel her right nipple rubbing at the corner of his mouth and wondered if it was deliberate.
Experimentally, he opened his lips and breathed on her, sending a puff of hot air against her tender peak. He felt Dani stiffen against him and for the briefest of moments she glanced down.
She must have seen his open mouth but she said nothing, only looked up again quickly and continued rubbing healing salve into his shoulder.
“Dear me,” she said, her voice soft and breathless. “I really missed a large cut here. How very careless of me!”
As she spoke, she shifted position ever so slightly until the tight point of her berry-dark nipple was pressing between Ky’s open lips. Still he didn’t dare to do what he longed to do so badly. Did she realize what she was doing—where her nipple was?
She must, but just to be certain, he breathed on her again, letting his hot breath bathe her tender nipple. She shivered slightly but didn’t withdraw. In fact, she pressed against him a little harder, pushing the tight peak even further between his lips.
Experimentally, Ky allowed his tongue to swipe, just once, against the delicate flesh. Another shiver ran through Dani and she gave a little gasp but still she didn’t pull away.
At last Ky was certain she wanted this as badly as he did. With a low groan, he sucked her deep into his mouth. Laving the tender bud with his tongue, he circled her peak over and over and drew hard on her nipple until he heard her moan with pleasure.
“Ky,” she whispered and pressed against him, her lush body rubbing against his bare chest. As he had thought, the flimsy material of her dress presented no barrier at all—he could barely feel it. It was as though he was sucking her bare nipple into his mouth with nothing but a silky cobweb between them.
After a long moment, Dani pulled back. Ky let her nipple slip reluctantly from between his lips, afraid he’d offended her.
She’s either going to get upset and say I never should have done it…or ask me to suck the other one, he thought, eyeing the wet patch on her dress where the thin fabric of her dress now molded beautifully to her erect peak.
But Dani surprised him by doing neither. Instead she said in a soft, breathy voice.
“Well would you look at that? I…I seem to have missed a spot on your other shoulder as well. Let me tend that for you.”
“All right, little girl—come tend me,” Ky growled hoarsely. And I’ll tend you too, he thought.
So she wanted to pretend what they were doing wasn’t really happening? It worked for him. Any way he could get close to her, any way he could touch her and taste her and give her pleasure was just fine as far as Ky was concerned.
Dani leaned over him and this time there was no hesitation on her part. She pressed her left nipple boldly to his lips as she pretended to tend his shoulder.
Ky didn’t hesitate either—he sucked the ripe peak between his lips, taking as much as he could of her full breast into his mouth at once. Goddess, she tasted good! He loved the feel of her body trembling against his as he pleasured her with his tongue. He lapped and sucked freely, pausing every once in a while to nip the little bud playfully before laving it with his tongue to soothe away the sexual hurt he had caused.
And all the while, though Dani moaned and pressed hard against him, she didn’t say anything about what was happening. Even when she switched so he could suck her right nipple again, she just pretended to be looking at his other shoulder.
Ky was beginning to wonder how long they could go on like this—his cock was throbbing like a second heartbeat in his flight leathers and he wanted her so badly he thought he might burst—when she finally pulled away, panting.
“Th-there,” she said, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. “I…I think I got it all now.”
Think I did too…still not nearly enough, though, Ky thought but didn’t say aloud. If she wanted to stop and pretend nothing had happened, that was her choice, although he wished to the Goddess she would stand up on the stone bench again and press her pussy to his face as she pretended to treat a whip mark on his lower back.
Should he tell her he thought she had missed a spot there and see if she would take the hint? But no, he told himself, the choice to receive such an intimate kiss had to be hers to make. He couldn’t rush her into anything…
As he was debating, Dani said something which surprised him.
“Ky, tell me again about your Touch sense.”
* * * * *
She couldn’t believe what she was asking him. She ought to try to forget about his witch-like powers, not bring them up. But she was feeling overheated and breathless after having his mouth on her nipples for so long. The hot feeling of his lips drawing on her sensitive peaks and the soft little growls of pleasure he’d made as he sucked and lapped and nipped her had made her heart pound and her knees shake.
If he was not chained up, I believe I would be in danger of letting him change the color of my eyes, she thought and shivered with a mixture of shame and need. Just the thought of that—the thought of kneeling in the Breeding Position and opening herself to take the big Kindred deep inside herself—made her channel quiver and pull, as though it longed to be filled.
No, I mustn’t think such things—mustn’t wish such things! she told herself. I must not—
“My Touch sense, hmm?” Ky said, cutting into her frantic thoughts. “What do you want to know, little girl?”
“I…I…” Dani attempted to clear her head of forbidden images, tried to think of what she wanted to ask. “You said it was not for hurting or killing,” she said at last.
“No, never that.” He shook his head. “I took a vow to never use it for anything but the pleasure of a female—my female.” His piercing green eyes roamed over her possessively, making Dani feel hot and shaky all over again.
“And you say…you say you can make it feel just like fingers…or a mouth?” she asked. Gods above and below, she shouldn’t be asking these things, shouldn’t be doing these things. But she felt drawn to the big Kindred as she had never felt drawn to any male before. She wanted him so badly it was difficult to breathe, let alone think enough to control herself.
“I can,” he growled softly. “In fact, I can use my whisper lips and whisper fingers so delicately I bet you couldn’t tell the difference between them and my real lips and fingers.”
“You…you can?” Dani asked breathlessly. “I mean, no you can’t—that must be impossible.”
He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Want to find out? Or are you going to hold a knife on me again for being a witch?”
Dani licked her lips and shook her head.
“No, I…I don’t believe you’re a sha-gra now. A sha-gra gives only pain and you…” She stopped short of saying he had given her pleasure—that would be admitting what they had just done. “How…how would we do that? How would I find out they felt the same?” She asked instead, her heart drumming against her ribs.
“Well, I can’t exactly use my hands.” He motioned at the manacles which held them above his head. “But you could come over here and look at my shoulder some more.”
Dani bit her lip, knowing what he was suggesting. Before she’d been pretending as hard as she could that she wasn’t allowing him to suck her nipples on purpose—that it was all some kind of a mistake. Now Ky was asking her to take some ownership of that moment and admit she knew what he was doing…and that she liked it.
I do like it, she thought. I want it.
She couldn’t help that wanting—and she couldn’t fight it.
“All right,” she said, coming to stand in front of him. “Now what?”
“Now, close your eyes, little girl,” he said softly. “And let yourself feel…then you can guess for yourself which is my real mouth and which is my whisper mouth.”
“All right,” Dani said again. Obediently, she closed her eyes and waited. Her heart was beating in her chest so hard she thought it might break out from behind her ribs and go skittering away. She leaned forward, thrusting her breasts out, giving the big Kindred easy access to her flesh…
Suddenly two hot, wet mouths were sucking and lapping at her nipples. Two tongues were swirling around her tight peaks, making her moan with surprised pleasure. Two sets of lips were drawing her deeper, kissing her intimately and making her want more…more…
And then it stopped.
“Wh…what?” Dani looked down, nearly panting from the intense pleasure.
Ky was looking at her, his eyes half-lidded with desire.
“Well, little girl,” he growled. “Could you tell the difference?”
“I…no. No, I couldn’t,” Dani admitted breathlessly. “It felt…felt so real.”
“It was real,” Ky murmured, holding her eyes with his. “When you feel my whisper fingers and whisper lips, you’re feeling a part of me—my Touch sense.”
“And…your whisper fingers feel as real as your actual ones too?” Dani asked.
“Can I show you, little girl?” Ky raised an eyebrow at her.
Dani nodded hesitantly. “I…I guess so. Since I know now you have no evil intent. But…where will you touch me?”
“Where do you want me to touch you?” Ky murmured.
Suddenly soft fingers stroked her cheek and trailed down the sensitive side of her neck, making Dani shiver.
“Here?” he asked softly. And then the fingers moved lower. Two large, strong, invisible hands cupped her breasts and thumbed her nipples idly, making Dani moan.
“Or here?” Ky asked, his eyes still heavy with desire. Clearly he was getting as much pleasure from touching her as Dani was getting from being touched.
Fingers tugged lightly at her stiff peaks, sending a shower of sparks straight down to the V between her legs before the hands slid down to cup her hips.
“Here…?” Ky said in a low voice. “Or…”
The hands moved lower and stroked her inner thighs delicately. Dani knew what they were asking—what Ky wanted—and she wanted to give it to him.
With a little moan, she spread her legs, allowing his whisper hands easier access.
“Here…” His deep voice was a rumble so soft she felt it more than heard it. One of the strong, invisible hands cupped her mound and then whisper fingers were spreading the swollen outer lips of her pussy.
Dani bit back a moan and had to put her hand to one of the Kindred’s broad shoulders for balance when his whisper fingers glided inside her. They moved so delicately…so deliberately. First circling her aching pleasure button, they soon slid down her inner folds and found the entrance to her channel.
“Tell me, little girl,” Ky rumbled as his whisper fingers teased her, slipping just a little way inside her pussy before pulling out again. “Are you a virgin? Should I stop right here to avoid breaking your maiden barrier?”
“You…you probably should,” Dani moaned, though part of her didn’t want him to stop. “For I am a virgin—can’t you tell by my eyes?”
“Your eyes?” His fingers had moved up again, circling lazily around and around her tender, aching button. “What about them?”
“They’re still dark,” Dani told him. “They will not change color until a male claims me as his own and…” She could feel her cheeks heating in a blush. “Until he breeds me. Then and only then will my eyes find their true color.”
“Really?” The big Kindred looked intrigued. “I know of another people—the females of Tranq Prime—who have the same kind of deal. The color of their eyes changes when they first make love.”
“Eyes with color make it immediately apparent that a female has allowed a male to take her.” The thought made Dani feel anxious and for the first time she wanted to draw back. “There are…severe consequences for a female who is not married when that happens.”
“Don’t worry, little girl—I won’t change the color of your eyes if you don’t want me to.” Ky’s deep voice was soothing. “Let me just give you pleasure—I promise to be careful.”
“All right,” Dani whispered. She knew she ought to tell him to stop but she didn’t want to. She had a feeling like a wire was pulling taut in her lower belly. The wire was winding itself tighter and tighter and soon it would snap. When it finally snapped, she wasn’t sure what would occur but she wanted it to happen—wanted it more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
“Tell me this, little girl,” Ky murmured, his eyes roving over her body. “I know you’re a virgin but have you ever had an orgasm?”
“An…a what?” Dani asked, frowning.
“Have you ever come? Reached the peak of pleasure?” Ky asked. When Dani frowned at him, thoroughly confused, he murmured, “I guess not.”
“A female is supposed to remain innocent of…of sexual matters until marriage,” Dani explained, half embarrassed and half defiant about her ignorance.
“That’s all right, little girl—I’m more than happy to explain. You see, when a female gets enough pleasure she can reach a kind of peak.” As he spoke, his whisper fingers continued to tease between her legs and now she felt more fingers plucking her right nipple while a hot, wet mouth encircled her left.
“Can…can she?” Dani asked, nearly panting now. She held tight to his shoulders, making sure she wasn’t touching any of his whip marks as she tried to keep her balance.
Slowly, he nodded.
“She can. A male can too.” He gave her a lazy grin. “But it’s more fun for me to do it to you.”
“You…you like touching me?” Dani whispered.
“Of course I do. Just wish I could give you the Deep Touch, little girl,” he murmured. “But we can’t do that…not without changing the color of your eyes.”
Dani wanted to ask him what the “Deep Touch” was but at that moment the fingers circling her pleasure button began to speed up and the mouth lapping her nipples began sucking harder and much more insistently.
“Oh!” she gasped, swaying on her feet. “Oh, Ky—what are you doing?”
“Bringing you to that peak we talked about, little girl,” he growled. “Gods, I wish I was sucking your nipples and feeling your pussy with my real mouth and fingers. It feels good like this but direct contact is even better.”
“You can…can suck me with your mouth if…if you want,” Dani told him breathlessly. Giving up all pretense of propriety, she pressed her breasts against his face as she had done earlier and moaned as he sucked her right nipple into his mouth.
At the same time the invisible fingers sped up even more, flicking lightly but firmly over her throbbing button…bringing her to the edge and beyond.
Suddenly the wire Dani had felt twisting in her lower belly snapped and a cascade of pleasure drenched her like warm water. It rushed through all her limbs, making her shake and cry out, making her clutch at Ky and press against him, trying to get closer still.
The orgasm was a revelation. She’d always scrupulously avoided touching herself before—wanting to avoid even the semblance of sexual impropriety. A princess of the Blood must be circumspect, above all. But now she welcomed the big Kindred’s touch, welcomed the pleasure it brought her…the way it forced helpless sounds of need and longing from her throat and made her knees so weak she could hardly stand.
“Oh,” she moaned breathlessly. “Oh, Ky!’
“Is it good, little girl?” he growled softly, his eyes drinking in her trembling reaction. “Does it feel good to let me Touch you? You like it when I suck your sweet nipples and spread your soft little pussy open to stroke inside you?”
His forbidden words seemed to drive her pleasure higher until Dani felt for a moment like she really might explode.
“Ky!’ she gasped. “Please, no more! I feel…I’ve never felt like this before.”
At once the sensations of the mouth and fingers on her gentled.
“It’s all right, little girl,” Ky murmured softly, though his eyes were still blazing and there was a rigid lump in the crotch of his black leather trousers where his shaft must be. “Just come down and let yourself relax. The first time can be intense.”
“Very intense,” Dani agreed and laughed shakily. “Now I know you’re truly not a shag-ra,” she told Ky, smiling at him. “No sha-gra could or would give such intense pleasure.”
“I’m glad it felt good for you, little girl.” His eyes were filled with need as he looked at her. “Gods, you’re beautiful when you come.”
“Thank you,” Dani whispered, feeling her cheeks heat. Gods, she couldn’t believe she’d let the big Kindred touch her like that—so intimately in a way no female should ever be touched except by the male who owned her.
And yet, she argued with herself. It’s not like he really touched me—not down below, at least. That was all the power of his mind—he never laid a hand on me.
The thought staved off any guilt she was temped to feel and she was able to smile again and stroke his hair and the short black whiskers which were growing on his strong jaw. When he’d first been taken his cheeks had been smooth but now they were rough—rough and silky at the same time. Dani enjoyed their texture greatly. In fact, she felt like she never wanted to stop touching the big Kindred.
And for his part, Ky seemed more than willing to be touched. He leaned into her hands, clearly relishing her small fingers on his skin and turned his head to place soft, hot kisses on her palms and wrists which made Dani’s heart start to pound all over again.
A low rumbling growl from the big Kindred’s stomach drew Dani back from the dream-like state of satiated pleasure she’d somehow fallen into.
“Oh no!” she exclaimed. “We’ve been together all this time and I haven’t even fed you yet!”
“I don’t mind,” Ky murmured. “I’d rather be Touching you than doing anything else.”
“Still, we have to keep your strength up.” Feeling in her pocket, Dani found the meat rolls she brought. She still had the wine too and she spent the last half hour it was safe to be in the cell with him feeding the big Kindred and slaking his thirst.
At last, however, she knew the banquet would be ending. It was time to go.
Dani cleaned up, making sure to pick up everything she’d brought with her in order to leave no trace of her presence behind. Still, she felt reluctant to go. If only she could stay with Ky and talk to him some more! The pleasure he had given her made her feel curiously close to him—so close she almost couldn’t bear to leave him.
“You’d better go now, little girl,” he said gently as she lingered around the doorway to the hidden corridor. “My guards will be back soon.”
Dani felt her stomach turn over. What if the guards whipped him again? What if they did something worse? Beat him or blinded him or broke his bones? She couldn’t stand that, she told herself. She would rather let them break her own bones than know that Ky had been harmed.
For a moment she considered turning off the shielded magnetic field which held his manacles to the ferromagnetic plate on the wall but one thought stopped her: there was no way Ky could get out of the palace by himself.
The mirrored halls were too bright and open and he was so big he would be extremely visible. So big she doubted he would fit into the small, dark passages Dani herself used for getting around the palace.
She couldn’t bear the thought of him being killed—of the guards converging on him and stabbing him over and over with their pain-spears as they surely would if they thought he had escaped on his own. Such an escape would be considered an act of witchcraft, for how else would he get free of the magno-shackles which held him so securely? They would label him a sha-gra and kill him on sight.
No, she couldn’t bear the idea! At least locked up here in her father’s private cell he was alive and she didn’t have to fear him being killed.
So she kept her mouth shut and simply told him goodnight and promised to try and come again soon—very soon. She prayed to all the gods above and below as she left that the guards would leave Ky alone and not whip him again. She wished she was a male so that she could fight them, or order them not to touch him. But as an inconsequential female, she could do nothing. Even a princess could not order a male around.
With a sigh and a feeling of anxious worry in the pit of her stomach, she stroked Ky’s thick brown hair and scratchy cheek once more and reluctantly left him.