Stolen Desire (Outlawed Realm) (10 page)

She regarded Zekin as well, held by him, stirred beyond anything she’d known, unable and unwilling to turn away.

Chapter Seven

Eeete had no real concept of time. Her keepers had never explained nor shown her the distinction between one day and the next. A notion that had no meaning in the Pleasure Palace where she served when ordered, her sleep and meals interrupted by the rulers or the guards’ carnal appetites. Until she came to these pods, Eeete had never seen anything of the world outside, not realizing it existed.

She’d been bred to consider nothing except the pleasure she could bring to the men or man who’d used her.

Zekin had remained within her for hours, filling her cunt, mouth and anus, taking her as he willed until his body demanded rest. He lay at her side now, one arm behind his head, his features untroubled as he slept.

So different from how he’d looked earlier. She’d seen his reflection in the glass wall as he’d taken her repeatedly, his expression more telling than any actions or words. He’d been watching Paige, longing for her.

Eeete’s throat tightened on an emotion she couldn’t identify. It wasn’t fear. That, she’d known for as long as she could recall, experiencing hunger that made her belly ache and the lick of a strap on her buttocks and thighs that set her skin on fire, punishments meted out when she hadn’t obeyed quickly enough or because the guards had tired of tormenting another slave and had focused on her.

Nor did she experience jealousy at Zekin hungering for Paige. Eeete accepted that she’d been created as a pleasure slave, not a free woman. She had no right to envy.

She had no right to love.

With the lightest touch, she trailed her fingers down Zekin’s torso to his navel, circling the small depression and the short dark hairs surrounding it. He stirred briefly, stretching his legs, spreading his long toes.

She ached to kiss them, to touch each part of him, honor his body, male power and presence as she’d never done with a ruler in the Palace. There, she hadn’t experienced what she felt now. Adoration mingled with something else. Once more, the feeling bubbled within her. She blinked repeatedly, but her eyes still grew moist, her tears stinging them.

Why?

Without warning, images filled her mind of Zekin mounting her as his attention drifted to Paige. His longing and need reminded her of a starving slave who’d witnessed the rulers eating their fill while he was denied even a crumb.

Because a slave didn’t matter. They were tools, nothing more. Discarded when they no longer satisfied.

Would Zekin do that to her too? Was he ready to leave her to be with Paige?

Eeete forced down a swallow and ordered herself not to consider such a thing. Even if—or when—it happened, she couldn’t do anything to stop it. There would never be a time when she had that privilege. She’d have to endure sorrow then, as she did now, an emotion she finally recognized, putting a name to what poured through her.

Fighting it and overwhelming fatigue, she dried her eyes and focused again on Zekin. Waiting for him to wake up and take her yet again. To honor her with his touch as none of the others had done in the Palace. They’d been relentlessly cruel. He’d shown her nothing but kindness.

For that alone, she’d always adore him and would see to his comfort and male lust until the day she died.

Or he turned her away.

It wasn’t until Eeete finally surrendered to sleep that Zekin left the bed, his sleek muscles bathed in the glow of the sea and lava. Like a voyeur, Paige watched, wondering what he would do. Where he might go.

Naked, he padded from the pod until he was out of sight.

In the next moment, he stood at the entrance to Paige’s room, his powerful frame silhouetted in the persistent light, his male heat and scent permeating the small space. Paige’s mouth went dry; her body thrummed with desire even as she wondered how he’d arrived so quickly. Why hadn’t she seen him walking through the halls and the other pods?

Was she dreaming?

Not asking, Paige left her bed. She leaned into him, her mouth on his neck, her tongue sweeping his bristly stubble. He tasted clean yet slightly salty. Appreciative sounds gurgled in her throat at his warmth and fragrance. He smelled of desire and sex.

She couldn’t snuggle close enough.

He allowed her passion for only a moment, then captured her wrist and led her to the clear wall. There, he placed her palms on the coolish surface, her arms extended to each side. He pressed his foot against the insides of her ankles, spreading her legs.

In his pod, Eeete had awakened. She sat on the edge of the bed, taking in Paige’s nudity. With her were several male slaves and the two men who so closely resembled Zekin.

He kissed Paige’s shoulder and neck, his lips deliciously smooth, his beard-roughened cheeks a wonderful contradiction that scoured her skin. She exhaled softly at his utter masculinity, how safe he made her feel despite the transparent wall that displayed her to the others.

Shameless lust transformed the features of the men who watched. Their expressions grew feral, starved for a female. Eeete’s nipples peaked beneath the touch of a male slave. He fondled her roughly, pulling on the tips, making them even harder as he aroused her. She rested the back of her head on his shoulder but didn’t close her eyes.

She continued to observe, as though waiting to see what Zekin would do to Paige.

The men with her seemed to know. Their shafts thickened even more, becoming so erect the skin on their crowns appeared shiny, stretched and reddened to the point of pain. They needed relief.

So did Zekin.

He settled behind Paige, his fleshy cock silken and hot against the inside of her thigh, his hairy groin pressed against her buttocks.

Trapped, she yielded, spreading her legs even more, inviting him to enter her, to ease her pussy’s mounting tension. A pulse beat deep within her sheath, driving more moisture to her puffy lips. Zekin touched her slick folds, his fingers exploring the most intimate part of her.

Wanting sounds slipped from Paige. She gasped when he roughly stroked her rigid clit. She curled her fingers on the glass, foolishly attempting to grasp it, needing something to hold on to.

Zekin slipped his arm around her waist, denying her as much movement as he could, and used her as he saw fit, expertly working her tiny nub.

Delicious and unbearable tension swelled in her cunt, achy for completion. He wouldn’t allow it, toying with her instead, bringing her close but not quite over the edge.

Crap.

Her whimpers sounded pitiful. Perspiration dampened her body. She clawed the glass, not caring what the others thought or saw. Paige had stopped watching them minutes earlier. On Zekin’s next stroke, she squeezed her lids, forcing herself to concentrate, hungering for climax.

He slipped two fingers inside her, tunneling them deep. With his thumb, he rubbed her clit.

Imprisoned by his touch, used so well and wantonly by him, Paige came, crying out, then panting wildly. Hair stuck to her moist temples. Her body shuddered one last time from the force of her climax, leaving her breathless and weak. On a weary sigh, she rested her forehead against the glass.

Zekin kissed the nape of her neck. He cupped her breasts and squeezed them.

That’s it, baby.

A smile tugged at the corners of Paige’s mouth. Summoning the last of her strength, she glanced over and gasped. In Zekin’s place was a guard, his expression lewd and pleased. His thick fingers curled around his rigid cock. He lifted it to her—

No.

Paige awoke with a start, a scream caught in her throat, shoulders to her ears. She pushed to a sitting position and gaped at Eeete.

The young woman stood in the room’s entrance just as Zekin had in Paige’s dream. One she suddenly recalled having. Paige tried to recover the images. They remained elusive, her body weakened with a curious combination of terror and yearning. She snatched back her hand before she touched her pussy, checking if it was damp with desire…not wanting Eeete to see her doing that.

Paige swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I need to see Zekin.” She glanced at his pod. He wasn’t there. How much time had passed? How long had she been asleep?

Eeete padded into the room. “First, you must prepare.”

Paige shook her head and stood. “Prepare?”

“To make yourself ready to see Zekin.”

Longing and caution flooded Paige in equal measure. She crossed her arms over her chest and squeezed, attempting to stop both emotions. How in the world was she supposed to prepare herself? Did he expect her to be as naked as the pleasure slaves before she saw him again? Was that some kind of rule here? Would the others regard her nudity the same as Zekin?

Paige wasn’t about to find out. Neither were they. She frowned. “Why can’t I see him as I am now?”

“You haven’t been to the place of bathing. We all go there after we wake.”

“You want me to take a shower?”

Eeete’s brows drew together slightly. Not a true frown. Paige sensed the young woman would never allow herself such a subversive act.

“I don’t understand the word,” Eeete said.

“Where is this place where you bathe?”

“Please follow me.”

Paige smoothed down her hair and adjusted her shirt as she padded after Eeete. The other pods were deserted. Outside them, the earth made rumbling sounds—that didn’t shake this colony at all—the ground splitting open with the lava’s force, some of it spurting out, followed by great eruptions of steam. Various creatures darted away from the boiling water, their bodies nearly colliding with the pods. The activity didn’t bother or deter the sucking creatures adhered to the glass. Several of them had bits of whitish flesh stuck between their teeth, clearly from their last meal.

Fighting nausea, Paige decided to watch Eeete instead. The ends of the young woman’s hair swayed merrily above her plush ass. Those plump, firm cheeks bounced with each of her steps, the dimples at the top as flawless as the rest of her. Paige figured if she looked that good from behind, she wouldn’t mind being nude either.

Eeete turned down a hall Zekin had bypassed yesterday when he’d been carrying Paige. The air was more humid in this part of the colony, small pearls of condensation clinging to the pod’s walls. Distant splashing sounds indicated the flow of water or activity within it. Hard to tell which, given the foggy glass.

Until they finally reached the room.

Paige halted just inside the doorway. The area was the size of twenty sleeping pods. Water misted from countless nozzles attached to metal arches, the moisture collecting on various parts of the floor, creating small puddles splashed by too many feet.

Paige counted six males, seven females bathing—or rather washing each other. All of them pleasure slaves, their hair and eyes a rainbow of tints, their complexions covering the full spectrum of skin shades, their bodies toned and simply gorgeous.

Without meaning to, Paige moved closer.

Two females tended to one male in the back. His hair was shoulder length, the color of café au lait, his body muscular and bronzed. One of the young women was on her knees, bathing his cock with nothing more than her hands and the water. As far as Paige could see, they didn’t use any kind of soap. The other female stood behind him, washing his back and ass. Eyes closed, he lifted his face to the ceiling. The prominent ridge in his throat bobbed with his frequent swallows. He inhaled sharply as the young woman at his knees stroked his balls, cleansing them within the filmy vapor. It beaded on her hair, ran in delicate rivulets between her breasts and dripped from her nipples.

Heat stung Paige’s cheeks, making this room seem even warmer. A thread of desire mingled with her embarrassment. Not for them, for herself. Paige didn’t think she could strip and wash with the rest of them as if it were the most natural thing in the—

“Whoa,” she said to Eeete, pushing the young woman’s hands away from her shirt. “What are you doing?”

Eeete kept her hands raised, prepared to continue. “Undressing you.”

“I can bathe later, after everyone here finishes.” A redheaded man and two females with varying shades of blonde hair padded through puddles to an exit on the left.

At the same time, three males entered the area from still another hall. Two of them began washing each other, while the third went to the female who’d been tending to the redheaded man.

“More will come,” Eeete explained.

Another pair of men entered, one with tawny skin, the other exceedingly pale, his coloring and features reminding Paige of an English aristocrat from the eighteen hundreds.

Her shoulders sagged. She felt grubby, soiled from all she’d been through these last hours. Or had it been days? A bath, even in here, sounded kind of good. “I’ll undress myself,” she said to Eeete.

Her hands trembled as she pulled off her shirt and pitched it into the hall. The mist had already soaked her panties and bra, making the delicate fabric clingy and uncomfortable. Paige regarded the others before she unhooked her bra. No one watched her or even acknowledged her presence.

They remained attentive to their duty, bathing breasts, cunts, asses, cocks. A few of the men appeared aroused, their complexions darkened with passion, their rods stiffened with lust. However, they didn’t stare outwardly at the women bathing them. Nor did the females meet their gazes. Their glances were furtive and brief. As in the dining area, no one in here talked.