Passions of New Pompeii (12 page)

She shifted beneath him, rubbing her back
against his chest. Her clit was starting to echo the persistent
pull on her nipples. She wanted his mouth on her breasts, licking
and sucking while his fingers moved on to her sensitive nub.

“Are you growing wet?”

“Yes, oh yes.”

One of his hands trailed across her belly
then pushed between her thighs. He squeezed her mound first,
rubbing her clit against her pelvic bone. Heat spiraled up through
her core and she groaned in the back of her throat. Could she come
just grinding against his palm?

He wouldn’t let her find out. His hand pulled
back and he traced her slit with the tip of one finger. “Very wet
indeed.” Using an agonizingly light touch, he circled her clit then
abandoned her entirely.

She trembled, clenching the rail with all her
might. Her orgasms were stronger when she let the pleasure build,
but she was still learning to control her body’s responses. And
Theos was so damn sexy just about anything he did turned her
on.

Something cool and liquid hit the small of
her back. She gasped and shivered. The substance rolled down her
spine and then he spread it across her back with long, even
strokes. A faint spicy scent reached her nose and the smooth glide
of his palm told her he’d found massage oil.

“Your skin is amazing on its own, but this
oil makes it gleam like polished ivory.” He worked it into her
shoulders and down her arms, and the scent grew stronger. “And your
ass.” After a short pause, likely to pour more oil into his palm,
he applied a liberal coating to her ass cheeks. “I have been
dreaming of all the outrageous things I could do to this delectable
ass.”

His long fingers eased into the crease
between the two halves, skimming over her anus and delving into her
pussy. She tossed her head restlessly, suspecting his sensual play
had just begun. She’d opened the door to anal pleasure when she’d
used her finger on him. It only seemed fair that he return the
favor.

He slid his oily fingers in and out of her
core a few times then returned to her ass cheeks. “There is a set
of six ivory phalluses in that drawer. This first one is hardly
larger than my finger, but the last one is larger than any cock
I’ve ever seen.” As she feared, something cool and smooth touched
her anus, circling slowly as he went on. “If I fuck you with the
first three, you should be able to take my cock without pain.”

“You want to fuck my ass?” Just saying it out
loud sent lust spiraling through her body. Proper ladies never
thought of such things, much less allowed them to happen.

“Only if you find pleasure in the rebellion.
I will never hurt you.” His hand stroked up and down her spine
while the ivory dildo pressed against her anus, waiting for her
decision.

“Do it. I want to give you something no one
else has had.”

His hand slipped beneath her and pressed over
her heart. “You already have.”

There was no boastfulness in his words, just
a calm statement of fact. She loved him and he knew it. The
knowledge rocked her to the core, thrilling and terrifying her. She
had sworn she would be careful, that she would never allow herself
to be dependent on a man for happiness.

“I don’t love you,” she whispered.

He chuckled, not bothering to refute her
denial. Eased by the oil, the dildo slid into her back passage, but
it quickly encountered a tight barrier. He maneuvered the phallus
gently, tapped against the barrier with several shallow thrusts,
and her body responded as if by magic. The barrier relaxed and the
dildo slid deeper, the fullness undeniably erotic.

Leaving the toy lodged deep inside her, he
caressed her from shoulders to knees. His hands were warm and
gentle, caring—loving. “You might not believe in the gods,” he
whispered in her ear as his fingers settled over her clit, “but
some guiding force brought you to me.”

She didn’t fight the concept or his touch. It
was like swimming against the tide. She relaxed into the current
and let the sensations sweep her along. The dildo slid in and out,
the outstroke even more wonderful than the inward thrust. His
fingers glided over and around her clit, building the tension
inside her, lifting her, supporting her as she flew ever
higher.

“Come for me. Let me feel you pulse against
my fingers.” The dark growl in his voice rasped across her sense
and detonated her release. She shook, her muscles working the
slender dildo as pleasure erupted in shocking bursts.

He pulled the dildo out, turning a pleasant
aftershock into another spasm. Her helpless groan ended in a
whimper. “You’re going to do that two more times before you
actually fuck me?”

Something hot and hard brushed against her
side. “At least you get to come.”

“Fuck me now. I don’t care if it hurts.”

“Well, I do.”

She smiled in what she hoped was his
direction. “It hurt when Vito took my other virginity. Isn’t it
right that I offer you the same sacrifice? I want you inside me,
Theos, not some cold piece of ivory.”

Theos was lost as soon as she spoke his name.
If he used lots of oil and went really slowly, he could minimize
the discomfort. “Are you sure? We can save this for another night
and—”

“No. I need this. I need you.”

He understood her rebellion. This was
symbolic. She was rejecting her old life and forging a new path
under her own terms. His hands shook as he took the oil and coated
his cock from tip to stem. Then he drizzled a stream of oil into
her crack and smoothed it around and into her tiny opening. The
little star was a bit more accommodating after the ivory phallus,
but she was still incredibly tight.

Using two well-oiled fingers, he stretched
and relaxed her inner muscles. She held perfectly still to begin
with then slowly matched his gliding motion with the rise and fall
of her hips. Her sleek, white body aroused him to the marrow of his
bones. He had never dreamed that another person could be so
engrossing. He was fascinated by her scent and her texture and her
taste.

He slowly pulled his fingers out and guided
his cock into position. Possessive desire demanded that he thrust
home and claim what was his, but his passionate heart restrained
his primitive urges and tempered his lust with tenderness.

Her clit twitched beneath his fingers as he
steadied her with his other hand. He brushed back and forth,
bringing her right to the edge of orgasm before starting his entry.
She tossed her head and he pushed inward. Her rippled anus opened
around him, swallowing the head of his cock. Her hot flesh gripped
him so hard he closed his eyes against the pleasure.

“Push back against me,” he urged. “Take as
much of me as you find pleasurable.” To his astonishment, she
rocked back, driving him steadily deeper until the majority of his
shaft disappeared inside her. He circled her clit, determined to
make her come, knowing she must be in pain.

“It’s wonderful!” She panted. “The sting is
gone and all I feel is you.”

He wasn’t sure he believed her, so he kept
his fingers circling her clit. “I want you to come again before I
move. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

Her cream soaked his fingers and dripped into
his palm. He couldn’t wait to lap it off her folds and silken
thighs. “You are so wet.” He grasped her clit and carefully pulled
on the swollen nub. She bucked against him, taking him so deep his
groin pressed against her ass cheeks. Her inner muscles clinched as
her body shook with wave after wave of pleasure. He waited for her
to relax beneath him and then he drew nearly out of her rear
passage.

She gasped as he thrust back in, but his cock
slid smoothly, his way eased by the oil and her extreme excitement.
He grasped her hips and found a moderate rhythm. Her ass grasped
him firmly yet the pleasure felt distant, somehow incomplete. He
needed to see her face, gaze into her eyes as he drove into her
body.

“Let go of the rail and take off your
blindfold. I need to see your face.”

“You said you’d punish me if I let go.”

“I am telling you to let go. That is
different than just letting go.”

“All right.” She let loose of the rail and
slipped the blindfold off her face, but she couldn’t look into his
eyes without straining her neck.

“Damn it.” He reluctantly pulled out and
flipped her onto her back. She stared up at him with wide, cautious
eyes. “I need to see you.” He placed her feet on his shoulders and
bent her knees, raising her hips until he could reach her back
entrance. “Relax and this will not hurt.”

She raised her arms over her head and stared
into his eyes, her expression open and welcoming. He trembled as he
pushed back into her tight heat. It was so much more intimate
face-to-face. The pressure was exquisite, but the warmth of her
gaze sank right into his heart.

When his entire length filled her again, he
shifted one of her legs to his waist and pressed his hand against
the side of her face. “I do not know where this journey is taking
us, but I know we are meant to travel together.”

Her lips trembled so he paused to kiss her
before he resumed his steady strokes. She kept her arms over her
head, fingers tangled in the sheet. Her eyes were luminous pools of
tenderness. He savored each gasp and groan, memorizing every nuance
of her pleasure.

He wanted to make it last for the rest of the
night, to move in her until exhaustion swept him into
unconsciousness. But she felt too damn good. Her breasts jostled
with each firm stroke and her soft cries fueled his arousal.

She arched beneath him suddenly, her passage
squeezing him with tight, rhythmic spasms. His grand intentions
were abolished in an instant. Fire rolled up from his balls and
barreled down his cock. His seed spewed forth in scalding jets as
he clutched her to him, shuddering again and again.

Then he carefully withdrew from her body and
spread her legs wide. She didn’t protest or question his actions as
he lowered himself between her thighs. He inhaled her scent and
licked her cream just as he’d imagined. He sucked on her folds and
thrust his tongue deep into her core, wanting to drown in her
scent. It was primal and savage, and suppressing the urge might
well have destroyed his sanity.

“Do I get to return the favor?” she asked
after a very long time.

He gently sucked on her clit before he looked
into her eyes. “Have we not been outrageous enough for one
night?”

She licked her lips and shook her head. “I
suspect with us outrageous will be the name of the game.”

He couldn’t argue with her conclusion. “After
we shower, my body is yours.”

Her laugh was warm and wicked. “If we make it
out of the shower.”

Elaina paused to wipe the sweat out of her
eyes for the third time. How did anyone survive in this heat? Theos
seemed impervious to the cloud of humidity that had hovered over
the city all day. But then he had never experienced
air-conditioning, had no idea that people didn’t have to live like
this.

“The concept of traipsing all over New
Pompeii was a lot more fun than actually doing it,” she muttered.
“This whole thing is starting to feel futile. Either no one knows
anything or no one is willing to talk to me.” They had been at it
since dawn with zero results.

“Why does this surprise you? If the House of
Morpheus is doing the things you fear, your brother is doubtlessly
involved. Why would these people confide in the sister of their
oppressor?” He strode along at her side, golden skin glowing in the
afternoon sun.

She stopped and glared at him, fists planted
on her hips. “This is an opinion that would have been helpful about
four hours ago.”

“You did not ask for my opinion. You told me
what you intended for the day and we set off.”

“I always want to know what you think about
things. The question is implied.”

He smiled, obviously unaffected by her
temper. “Now that I understand your expectations I will freely
offer advice. I think you should get out of the sun before you pass
out.”

Without argument, she followed him to a shady
corner of the market and collapsed onto a stone bench. Even through
her tired eyes the scene had a provincial charm. Vendors called out
to the passersby from behind their stalls with a mixture of humor
and bravado that required no translation. She wondered how many of
the people were inhabitants and how many were guests. The
noninterference clause made it difficult to tell one from the
other.

“Naloni is investigating this on the Fedoran
side of the barrier, but we’re counting on someone knowing
something here.” She sighed.

“We might need a less direct route.”

“Naloni is going to follow the money, figure
out who can afford the fees.”

“That is a sound strategy,” Theos agreed. “We
need to adopt something similar.”

“What do you suggest?” She punctuated the
question with a tight smile, wishing they had had this conversation
with breakfast.

“If people are being hurt, even murdered,
someone has to miss them. There must be family or friends who have
reported their disappearance.”

“Unless they are careful to use people no one
will miss.”

He thought about this for a moment then shook
his head. “Even brothels have madams. Everyone is known to
someone.”

“Well, let’s talk to some of the madams. Find
out if any of their girls have gone missing in the last few
weeks.”

Their second strategy proved far more useful
than random interviews of the general population. By nightfall they
had compiled a list of sixteen names, all young, attractive females
who were “new to the life”.

They were walking back to Elaina’s house when
a young woman dressed in temple robes called out to Theos. At her
side was a girl, sobbing and clinging to the priestess’ side.