Darkness Captured (20 page)

“That, too, I’m sure. She may have a very open marriage to Nergal, but she chooses not to flaunt her indiscretions.”

The steps ended, and crude torches in sconces were mounted on the wall, lighting a long passage that Guntram had to hunch his shoulders to traverse. Built to Irkalla’s height, no doubt.

Thankfully, it was a short passage and opened into a room not unlike some of the dungeons in the sex clubs Gabriella liked to frequent. Sumptuous carpeting covered the floor. The black stone walls were unrelieved except for the hundreds of candles burning to shed light around the room. Tall candelabra were situated to cast light into the shadowy center of the room. Legless sofas, little more than Persian bolster cushions, and pillows filled the center of the enormous space. A long equipment rack stretched along one wall, filled with floggers of every length and material, whips, cat-o’-nine-tails, masks and blindfolds, and ropes.

“Choose your equipment now. Those who are invited will be coming soon. Choose your space or a room along that corridor. Whatever you think will intrigue your princess.”

Guntram followed Simon’s gesture toward a row of cells with iron bars—viewing rooms for sexual performances. He passed one with chains and manacles set into the stone wall, then another with a rack. When he found a cell containing a platform with padded steps, he slowed and entered it. The platform allowed a supplicant to kneel over a padded bench, buttocks pointing toward the back wall. The player in this drama would be the center of attention while he applied whips and floggers to the supplicant’s ass. If he decided to fuck her, their faces would be viewed, but little else.

He chose this room knowing Gabriella would enjoy a sexy spanking from an anonymous master. He strode back to the main room, chose his implements from the display rack and returned. All the while, he mused at how ironic it was that his long-held wish was about to come true. He’d entered Gabriella’s fantasy world and might just get the chance to provide her the pleasure of punishment she needed to achieve sexual release. If all went according to plan, he’d reveal himself while she was still bound to the bench. Then at last, he’d take her,
cover her,
and make her his own.

First, he’d need her to be mindless with desire. But he’d had centuries of studying her, watching over her while she’d lost herself in passion with others. By the time she understood what was happening, it would be too late for her to change her mind. The deed done.

It didn’t matter that there would be no witnesses to bear the truth of their mating to the pack. If she chose to deny him later, at least he’d know the truth.

For the first time since he’d entered this damned place, Guntram was fiercely glad to be there. Tonight, the Wolfen bitch he’d longed for would at last be his.

Gabriella followed Marduk, holding her questions, her tongue stilled by the look he’d given her when his queen had finally finished her meal and risen.

Irkalla had kissed her husband’s cheek and wished him a good rest, quietly offering him his choices of entertainments to be delivered to his chambers.

After he’d left, she surveyed the hall, and all the eager faces turned her way. She’d made quick work of choosing her playmates for the evening. Everyone at the head table was invited, naturally. Then she’d chosen only the most virile and well-hung males and women whose lustful expressions portrayed a feral yet sensual bent. Then she’d swept toward the doors, leading her odd assortment of guests down a long dark stairwell.

Gabriella had followed close on Marduk’s heels, aware of Dumuzi’s presence at her back and Inanna’s malevolent presence behind him. When the party had spilled into a dungeonlike chamber, she’d breathed a sigh of relief that here was something familiar.

“Unfamiliar” would be entering this kind of place with someone she actually knew. When she’d entered clubs like this back in her own world, she’d entered as a stranger consorting with strangers. Here, Marduk’s darkening gaze held her, warning her silently that his generosity was limited.

She wished she understood exactly what he might punish her for enjoying, but shrugged. Already Irkalla hovered at his elbow, ready to lead him toward one of the many low couches. He followed, looking over his shoulder only once before turning to the queen to undress her.

The others took their cue from the pair, dropping their clothes where they stood. Gabriella, not wanting to feel any more conspicuous than she already was, untied the short linen skirt and left it in a puddle.

“Your master has abandoned you,” Dumuzi murmured, his hand still wrapped around Inanna’s black leather leash.

“He’s not my master,” Gabriella said, then wished she’d bitten her tongue.

Dumuzi’s soft laughter drifted around her, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. The last thing she wanted was to invite more attention from him.

“Marduk is very proud,” he said, “and covetous. He would disagree.”

“Well, his opinion seems to hold some sway here. You’d do well to remember that.”

“You were left to play here. Just another playmate to service the members of the queen’s court.” His intent gaze told her he meant to make use of that fact.

But she didn’t want to play with him. Her gaze locked with Inanna’s, whose expression was tight. She seemed afraid.

“I’d like to see what entertainments are offered here,” Gabriella said with a small, strained smile.

Dumuzi lifted his hand and waved to a servant carrying a silver tray filled with beakers of red liquid. He chose two drinks, offering her one and sipping at his own.

“Everyone’s so … busy,” he said softly.

Her gaze followed his. He was right. All around them there was movement, rhythmic, surging—bodies standing, lying, straddling. Only Dumuzi, Inanna, and herself stood perfectly still, untouched by the fervor slowly building inside the room.

Untouched but not unaroused, she conceded, feeling her own core melt, moisture trickling downward.

“Your master isn’t pleased that you’re talking with me,” he said slyly.

Marduk was seated on a sofa, surrounded by naked women. The queen knelt on the cushion beside him and was sliding her tongue into his ear. Hands stroked his flesh, petted his sex, but his gaze bored into hers.

Gabriella arched an eyebrow, letting him see her gaze land on every one of his companions before meeting his again—her point underlined. She was free to take her own pleasure.

His lips thinned, but Gabriella wasn’t afraid of retribution. She looked forward to it.

For now, she stood beside a monster who kept eyeing her chest. Whether he liked the shape of her bosom or was fixated on the heart lying beneath it, she didn’t care. He didn’t dare harm her.

However, he did dare to move closer, his hand sliding over her hip, then skimming over her ass to give her a squeeze. Gabriella knew she should move away immediately. Her body was already betraying her. The sounds building around her—low, heated murmurs, soft seductive laughter, moist caresses—had her nipples tightening into erect little points.

And the aromas! Lord, she couldn’t take a breath without smelling sex … yeasty, musky, sweaty …

The urge to shake out her fur and howl was nearly over-powering—and then she felt it, the inner tension that coiled ruthlessly around her womb—and she moaned.

How had she missed it? The cramping that preceded ovulation had passed unnoticed. No wonder she’d been so docile, so content to wallow in the lust her new master had induced.

Was that it? Or had something extra been in the drink Dumuzi had given her? Something to force her into season? But why would anyone bother to go to such an extreme? Sex for the thrill, for the release was always possible for a wolf, but not imperative. At least not outside those days when her body craved seed to procreate. Good Lord, and it was happening now.

She swayed on her feet, feeling the urge to fall to the floor on her hands and knees and back her ass up to the first dick willing to penetrate her.

However, she’d be left unfulfilled. Only a male of her species could provide the ultimate relief. Only their cocks could swell deep inside her and lock within her channel. She’d never done it, never allowed it. Couldn’t remain in the company of a male wolf when this blinding need hit her.

She glanced wildly around the room, ready to approach a man, any man. When she glanced back at Dumuzi, his eyes narrowed. His head canted, a faint smile tipping the corners of his mouth. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” she bit out, folding an arm across her breast as though shielding herself from his avid gaze would somehow lessen her arousal. “It stinks in here. There’s no air.”

“It’s bound to get worse for someone with such a sensitive nose. But you seem uncomfortable. Are you aroused?”

“I’m fine.”

“Perhaps you like watching others taking their pleasure. I invite you to watch me taking my conjugal rights.”

And because watching was preferable to letting the bastard touch her, she didn’t move.

He tugged on the leash he held, pulling Inanna behind him, and approached one of the hybrid creatures, one of the bullmen, whose huge head dipped as Dumuzi leaned close and whispered his instructions.

Inanna’s eyes widened and her head shook, her poise destroyed.

Dumuzi wound the leash around and around his fist, drawing her closer, then pulled his hand down, forcing her to her knees in front of him. “Remember how you took me the first time, wife?” he said silkily, his free hand sinking into her thick hair. He flexed his hips forward, his cock sliding along her cheek. “With your mouth after you slipped me your wizard’s powder. I’d like to rekindle that memory. Open to me.”

He glared into her sullen face, and slowly Inanna relented, opening her mouth.

With his hand wrapped around himself, he fed her his dick, sliding it between her lips. “No teeth,” he said, tapping her nose with a finger. “Don’t even think it.”

Her mouth widened, her lips folding around her teeth. Dumuzi’s chest rose swiftly as her mouth enclosed him.

Gabriella’s own breaths quickened along her with heartbeats. His cock was lovely—long and thick, with a slight upward curve. Her cunt tightened, softened. Slick moisture slid between her thighs.

Slowly, he fucked Inanna’s mouth, giving her shallow strokes and seeming to savor the suctioning of her lips.

For a moment, a look passed between husband and wife, something that caused a wave of prickling heat to sweep over her own chest and belly. His dark-eyed gaze never left Inanna’s; her eyes grew liquid … with remorse? Or was it a plea for mercy?

Dumuzi’s mouth firmed and curved. His strokes became sharper, driving deeper into her throat. A subtle shifting of his feet provided a signal.

The bull-man stepped behind Inanna and knelt. His human hands glided down her sides, clutched her hips and pulled her ass toward his groin. The massive red cock standing against his belly glided between Inanna’s buttocks.

The bitch queen of New Orleans was getting ready to service a bull. Gabriella should have felt satisfaction at the woman’s plight as Inanna’s desperate gaze locked with her husband’s, but instead, all Gabriella felt was jealousy.

That massive cock would fill her, stretch her inner walls, and plunge so deeply that it would pound against her cervix. His seed would be useless, but the urge to mate would be abated for at least as long as it took for her heart to slow and her body to ready herself for another partner.

Inanna’s buttocks jiggled with the strength of the beast’s thrusts. Her voice, muffled by the cock she’d swallowed, grunted harshly. Still, the woman was aroused; white, creamy streaks glazed the bull’s cock. Her skin flushed, perspiration glowing.

Dumuzi stroked into her, forcing her take him deeper and deeper, until she gurgled and choked. And yet her lips gripped him, her head bobbed, taking him, swallowing his cum down when his eyes slid closed and his hips jerked.

When he backed away from her, he stood to the side as the bull-man pushed her head to the floor and gripped her buttocks to power harder and deeper into her.

Gabriella didn’t even jump when Dumuzi stood behind her and smoothed his hand over her belly and downward, fingers slipping between her folds. “Watch him fuck her. Would you like to take her place, feel his bull’s cock crowd so thick and hard inside, you’ll think he’s going to split you in two?”

“He’d fit,” she bit out, then wish she’d sunk her teeth into her lips, because he knew how excited she was—his fingers were soaked in cream.

His thumb touched her clitoris, then fluttered on it. Not enough to do it for her, but enough to tease. She clamped her thighs closed, trying to halt his exploration, but her muscles quivered, hugging him more than stopping him.

“Bend over. I’ll make it quick.”

“You’re spent. Useless for a little while.”

“I have a fist. Broad as that cock you’re so fascinated watching.”

She whimpered, but still resisted the urge to comply with his demand.

“Once, I was a man,” he whispered in her ear. “She sent me here. Gave me to her sister, who transformed me. She murdered our son. I’ve survived ever since, living for just one goal. To see her punished. To know she’s remorseful for destroying my family.”

“Do you think I should pity you? You’ve murdered innocents to feed your appetite for beating hearts.”

“I don’t want your pity. Just your submission. I will treat you well. I have no grudge against you.”

She snorted. “No grudge? Even though I played my own part in returning you here?”

“Alex was responsible. It was inevitable. He actually did me a great service. Inanna hates living under her sister’s thumb.” His thumb stroked her clit again.

Her body vibrated, but she held firm despite the warmth of the broad chest pressing closer to her back.

The bull shuddered behind Inanna and made a low, growling moan—a sound that made Inanna wince. “If he moos I’ll kill him,” she muttered, but she sank lower to the carpet, strained whimpers gusting from her, until at last she screamed.

Dumuzi chuckled and removed his hand from between Gabriella’s legs. “The moment has passed. I’ll find you later.”