Dark Lord (14 page)

“You noticed that?
Very observant of you.
We all switched masks when the ladies were in the dressing room,” Devereux said.

“That was pretty smart.
Who is wearing your mask?”

“Jul
ian
.”

She scanned the crowd and
spied
Jul
ian
being ridden by Samantha
Honeybone
.
The lady would no doubt boast that she had ridden the real Lord Langley, but she would be wrong.
“So the ladies all think you are Julian.”

“Yes, and Julian
has been
very unpopular with the ladies
until
now.”

Ever since the Countess had castigated and insulted him during public intercourse, Julian had been treated as a pariah.
With the masks, the ladies could not tell the difference.
Nefertiti should be able to
differentiate amongst them, but she did not have an eye for details.

“You should not be here, absent of wig and dressed as you are.
You are sure to be molested.”

She turned her head toward him.
“That was the general idea.
I’m being punished.”
When s
he
felt his hands slide under her robe and
settle
between her legs
, she gasped in surprise.
“What are you doing?”

“Aiding in your punishment, like the dutiful harem lord I am.
Nefertiti sent you here so that you would be molested, but it is
a dangerous game
she
plays.”

She breathed harshly when he began to stroke her feminine flesh.
“Yes, but how fortunate I was that you found me first.
I trust you’ll remain a gentleman.”

“Why would you assume that
, especially considering the fact that my hands are upon your naked flesh
?
I intend to take full advantage of you
.
The Countess will
think it is Julian who is ravishing you and she will not care, since she has lost all interest in the male.”

She sputtered and looked at him with shock.
Surely he would not do such a thing right there in the main hall.
“You will not.”

“That spot over there seems appropriate.”
He pointed to a sofa in a darkened corner of the room.

He prodded her to walk toward that empty sofa, his hand still buried between her legs.
She struggled in his arms, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.
He clutched her tighter and propelled her more rapidly toward the sofa.
She spotted Valerie and Valencia pointing toward her and giggling, enjoying her plight.
She kicked him and he grunted in surprise.
She started to run, but he caught her
in an unyielding grasp
and threw her on the sofa.
She looked at him in surprise, but his eyes were nearly unrecognizable.
He had never looked so alien to her and it made her afraid.
She
scooted backwards on the sofa
as he leaned over her.
He
grabbed her robe and
pushed the
material
apart
, revealing her exposed
womanhood
.
As she struggled, h
e grabbed her knees and spread her thighs
apart
.

He held her still while he stared at her exposed flesh.
“Why do you deny me, human?
The
Flourdan
fur trade is still in effect and my payment is past overdue.”

His words made no sense to her, and when she looked into his eyes,
they
showed no recognition.
“
Flourdan
fur trade?”

“Yes.
The original agreement between the
Flourdan
Queen and the hybrids still stands.”

She couldn’t believe that he was making statements about hybrids after he had ordered her not to discuss the issue.
“I’ve never heard of any agreement.”

He cupped her sex in his hand and leaned down to whisper close to her ear.
“The Queen who was conquered by the
hybrids so long ago bargained with the hybrid King
to spare her sons.
She offered the daughters of
Flourda
in exchange for the life of her sons, and for a hundred years, the hybrids performed a
mass
culling of the
Flourdan
furs once a decade.
After the hundred years was up, the contract was renegotiated.
The Langley Queen offered her very own daughters
and the daughters of her fellow noblewomen
to the hybrids in
lieu
of the decade
mass
cullings
.
Per the agreement, o
ne
fur
i
s to be offered
to the hybrids
annually, hence the fur trade.
The fur is delivered by boat to the Isle of Anubis during the New Moon Festival.
The Queen kept the agreement until recently.
No deliveries have been made in three years, but the payments must be made in full or the mass
cullings
will begin anew.
”

She had never heard anything about
cullings
, agreements, or festival offerings.
“How do you know these things?”

“I was there.”

“That’s not possible.
You’re not that old, Dev.
What do you mean by that?”

He smiled at her.
“Hybrid brains are more advanced than the brains of humans.
Our brains can access collective knowledge of the
Asstrum
race, and when necessary, our minds can be utilized to meet the needs of the collective.
Even Devereux’s brain is advanced enough to do this.”

This was entirely too weird.
“I wish to speak with Devereux, not the collective hybrid mind.”

“You talk to us both, but the time for talking has passed.
The
Flourdans
have forgotten they are our subjects and we are their masters.
Submit to me.
Take me into your body so that your people will see and remember what it is like to be conquered.”

She struggled to get free as he held her against the sofa.
“Let’s not do this here,” she pleaded.

He knelt between her thighs and his eyes flashed.
“
Human, you must s
ubmit.”

She felt him tugging at her mind, telling her to give into him.
Humans were there to serve their hybrid masters
.
One look in his eyes and she realized that he was lost to her.
It was like Devereux had been replaced with another being.
“You forget yourself.
You are
Flourdan
.”
He spoke in her mind.
I am hybrid.
You are my slave
.
I will fuck you until you breed a hundred hybrids
.
You must submit
or I will bring more hybrids here to subdue the entirety of
Flourda
.
You must honor the agreement.
She stilled as she absorbed his threats.
Could he actually do such a thing?
He had once told her that he knew no hybrids and would never betray
Flourda
.

Valerie approached with Valencia trailing behind her and stopped at the sofa.
“Halt, my amorous lord.
You have mistaken this lady for a woman of low birth.
My niece very foolishly chose to forgo her wig.
I did
tell her that it would only result in her ravishment, and it looks as if I was correct.
You must release her at once.”

Devereux did not look at the ladies.
“No, I will not.”

Briella
spied the look of shock on her aunt’s face as she contemplated what to do.
She tried once more to wriggle out of his hold, but his grip was too strong.
“Let go of me.”

“No.
You are mine,” he responded.

Her aunt rolled her eyes and produced a needle filled with liquid.
“If only Markus could be so moved to rut with you, I would be so happy.
But no, the only one who wants you is one of Nefertiti’s least favored lords.
I must say his manners are vile.
No wonder she tires of him.”
Valerie thrust the needle into
Dev’s
upper arm and in moments, he collapsed against her in a heap.
“Eunuchs, take this male to the harem and let him rest undisturbed.”

Briella
squirmed underneath Devereux’s heavy weight.
He had collapsed between her thighs and his head was resting against her chest.
She could feel the hard press of his erection against her
center
, even though
he remained fully clothed.
She wondered how he managed to collapse on top of her in such a crucial spot.
She tried to shift underneath him, but it only resulted in added contact.
She started to rub herself against him and it shamed her when she realized what she was doing.
He was only harmless now because he was unconscious, but when he revived, he would once again be a threat.
She couldn’t seek pleasure from his body, not when he wanted to make her his slave
.
He was dangerous and she needed to rid the harem of his presence.