Vampire Enslavement (Lords of Bondage) (27 page)

Modez felt the weight around his neck and remembered what the female had done to him. She had collared him with one of Lucine’s slave collars. He tried to pry the thing apart, but he couldn’t free himself without assistance. Everyone in the villa would know he had been bested by an intruder. It was a humiliation he could not ignore. The invisible bitch would pay dearly for making a fool of him.

He opened the door and hollered for Seamus. A few minutes later his friend entered.

Seamus yawned and rubbed his eyes. “What’s up?”

“This.” Modez pointed to the slave collar around his neck. “The invisible bitch struck again. Sucked my blood and fucked my mind out. When I woke, this was around my throat.”

“Fucking hell, she’s real.” Seamus touched the collar around Modez’s throat with morbid fascination. “That’s one of Lucine’s slave collars. This came from her office, which was locked. Diermont has the only key.” Seamus whistled. “Suki got you good.”

“Suki’s days are numbered.” He scowled. A noble warrior wore elaborate, costly torcs made of gold and silver. Not friggin slave collars. “I want this thing removed immediately.”

“And you say she fucked you when she drained you.” Seamus probed for the details.

“She took me by surprise. I had meant to capture her, then she sheathed me and I lost my head.” He had slept with his shackles at the ready, having a feeling she would visit him again.

“You lost your head.” What went unsaid: Did you forget you are a male of experience and not a virgin with your first female? “Do you like this woman?”

“Of course not. She’s a thief and a…molester. And a cock-tease.” She had made a laughingstock of him. Seamus was getting a good laugh out of this, that was for sure. And what did he get? A massive case of blue-balls and severe blood loss. She had left him as weak and helpless as an infant. Without a blood donor, he could actually die.

Seamus examined the collar and sighed. “This one has a lock, but I doubt we’ll find the key. We’ll probably have to have the metal cut with one of the laser guns. We will have to hope their aim is true.”

“Fuck no. I don’t want my head incinerated.” If Seamus was still joking with him, it wasn’t funny. “Use a blow torch if you must. I don’t know. But get this thing off me. I feel weak and it’s draining my strength. And I need a blood donor. The female nearly drained me dry.”

Seamus pushed Modez back onto the bed. “You look deathly ill, my friend. I’m going to get the healers.”

Modez waited only a few minutes before the druids arrived. Diermont accompanied them. He felt his face flame with embarrassment as he relayed his past two encounters with the mystery female.

Diermont’s expression was thoughtful. “She must be a hybrid warrior of unnatural strength if she overpowered one of our best warriors. And her mastery of
Ass
is exceptional. I cannot remember the last time I encountered a female who could render herself unseen. She will need to be punished for her crimes, but not killed unless it can be determined that she is infertile. We cannot destroy a breeder, especially one possessing an abundance of
Ass
.”

“The lady was all over me. Surely she left a scent trail.” The druids had examined his bed sheets and brushed his body for samples.

The druids frowned. Visant looked at him thoughtfully and said, “Her scent is familiar, but I cannot determine the source. It is masked by peach jelly and musk.”

“What do you mean?”

“The female appears to be fertile. But that is impossible. She must have masked her scent with the musk of a fertile animal, like the unicorn.”

No wonder her scent seemed both exotic and familiar. Females emitted a honeysuckle scent when reaching their fertile cycles. “Could unicorn musk pass for a hybrid’s mating scent? And where would she find a unicorn anyway?”

“There are some in the wilds of Asstrumnia. But I have to assume the scent was manufactured since no hybrid females are in heat and won’t be for a number of years.”

Seamus scratched his jaw. “Do you think a hybrid female was brought into heat through artificial means? They’re researching that very prospect in Ravenwood, I hear.”

“Their research hasn’t progressed that far,” Visant answered. “There has been some success with humans in the breeding camps, but this female was definitely hybrid.”

“Of course she was,” Modez said. “She drained my blood. She had very long, very sharp fangs.”

“Did the female mate with you, Lord Halloran? If she was fertile, she may carry your litter in her belly.”

“We had sex but I passed out before finishing.” He glared at the hybrids who snickered at him. He had been with this woman twice and each time she had left him with aching balls full of unreleased seed. It wasn’t a laughing matter. “It wasn’t my fault for passing out. She drained my blood, you understand.”

“So the chances of conception are remote.” The druid frowned. “I had hoped you would not have endured your ordeal for naught. You have yet to breed heirs.”

“I’m in no hurry to beget progeny. That can wait.” The blood drinking and the collaring were the actions that concerned him, not the missed opportunity for breeding. “Do not forget the female violated me. A litter of young wouldn’t make up for what she has done.”

“Well, it would be nice for
someone
to have a litter,” Diermont said. “No new Halloran’s have been spawned in several decades. And we could take the spawn and throw her in a dungeon cell.”

“I don’t care. Just get this collar off me.”

“That will take time. I’m sorry.” Visant shook his head and sighed. “We’ll use our minds to melt the metal, but it will take days. Our druids will need to rest between treatments.”

“So I have to walk around with this blasted collar. Every warrior here and all of Snotti’s ladies will know I’ve been assaulted by a female.” He would appear weak in front of Kiera, and for some reason that bothered him.

“It is best to tell the truth,” Seamus said. “We all need to be watching for this predator. Catching her is our first priority. Your pride will repair itself in time.”

Modez felt humiliated knowing that he would bear the mark of his shame on his throat for days. He should have overpowered the female before she latched the collar around his neck. His natural strength should have allowed him to gain control of the female even when collared. But he had allowed her to escape. And he couldn’t comprehend it.

“You will need bed rest for a few days,” the druid said. “And a blood donor is indicated.”

“Snotti will donate her blood to you. She loves you like no other.”

Modez nodded. “I would be grateful for her sacrifice.” Although he would rather have Kiera tend to him. He wanted some easement while he drank, but unfortunately, no blood flowed to his cock. “And you don’t have to worry that I’ll get randy from it. I’ve been completely disabled. In all ways.”

“No doubt. The female has emasculated you.” Diermont frowned in distaste at Modez’s flaccid flesh. “But once she is caught, you will take your revenge.”

“I look forward to nothing else.” He wanted to strap her to the dungeon’s walls. She wouldn’t like it once her invisibility wore off. She wouldn’t feel so comfortable in her naked skin then. And she wouldn’t like being his slave.

* * *

“What are you doing?” Cassia couldn’t understand why Cabrian was rifling through Kiera’s possessions. He was sniffing her undergarments, for goodness sakes. She felt threatened by the hybrid female. The woman was beautiful and slept next to Cabrian every night. He was
her
male. If the hybrid female became receptive to him, would his attraction to his human slave wane?

“I’m searching for something.”

“What do you think you’ll find?”

“Evidence.” Cabrian dropped the silk tunic onto a pile of discarded clothing. “The female’s up to something. She leaves the room every night.”

“You asked her to do that.” He had basically threatened the hybrid female and forced her to give him alone time with her. Cassia had made use of that hour, running her hands freely over Cabrian’s body while he touched her. Except for his cock. That was off limits and she ached to feel his naked skin once more. Cabrian was too afraid to risk it, but she knew his patience was wearing thin. She suspected he would take her body again, despite the ban on intercourse. He had threatened Kiera and she had promised to keep her mouth shut should anything happen in the bed.

“I need to know whether I can trust her before I put your life into her hands. She has been acting uncharacteristic of late.” He picked up a cloth bag and put it to his nose and sniffed. “Herbs.” He pulled some green leaves out of the bag. “Wormwort. Now what would she be doing with that?”

“I don’t know. Some people make tea from it, but it doesn’t taste very good.”

“Our kind have only one purpose for wormwort. It can delay a female from going into heat.”

Cassia put the herb bag up to her nose and inhaled. Wormwort smelled much like earthworms, hence the name. Sometimes Lucine had brewed wormwort tea as it was felt to be good for the lungs. Cassia had tried it on two occasions and found it to be nasty as shit. “Why would any woman wish to do that? I thought that was the only time a hybrid female could have sex.”

“It is the only time a hybrid female desires sex. There is a difference. It is also the only time a female is fertile. But it only happens once a decade and now isn’t the time for it.” He pushed the leaves back inside the bag and set it on the floor of the closet. “Not all hybrid females look forward to breeding. Especially once they have birthed enough litters.”

“Why would Kiera take wormwort? Is she going into heat?”

“I’ve suspected it. Now that I’ve seen the wormwort, I’m certain of it. We heard what happened to Modez. He was attacked by a fertile female last night. I know that Kiera left for an hour. When she returned, she smelled of Modez. She denied it, of course. I assumed they had some sort of physical relationship. I thought it was mutual, but it looks like it was one sided. She was after his blood.”

“I’m sure she has a reason.” Cassia felt the need to defend Kiera. She identified with her since it seemed they were both slaves in their own way.

“She said she hates Modez. I suppose she did it on purpose. She placed a slave collar around his neck and he’ll be stuck wearing it for days. Unless I can find the key.”

“You would turn her in?” Cassia had seen the way he treated her. “He’s a jackass. He deserves the abuse.”

“Modez is an angel compared to Diermont.” He worried his lower lip while he mulled his thoughts in his head. “I could use this knowledge to control her. I’ll blackmail her ass.”

Cassia didn’t understand why the other hybrids treated Kiera like dirt. “What will happen if she goes into heat?”

“She will be forced to breed with whomever Diermont selects for her. Technically she belongs to the king’s fine, so Modez has as much right to her as Diermont. It would be within Modez’s rights to breed her himself.” He glanced at the sack of herbs on the floor. “I can see why she would delay the heat, knowing how she feels about the Halloran’s. She lacks the freedom to leave. Her mother is a serf, and as the child of a serf, she isn’t a true lady.”

“I thought she was related to the princess.”

“Distantly, but her mother’s union wasn’t sanctioned. Diermont treated her as a lady when she served Snotti, but now she has fallen in status. Diermont has the power to make and break a person.” He lifted an elaborately engraved torque to admire its intricate design of golden entwined vines before carefully placing it back into its original position underneath a pile of gowns. “And do not forget Sulian’s prediction. The girl is barren.”

“He didn’t use those exact words. Kiera’s trying to stop herself from going into heat. That suggests fertility.”

“A barren female still goes into heat on occasion. By law, she has to submit to breeding, but that doesn’t mean anything will come from it.”

These males and their obsession with reproduction—it annoyed the crap out of her. “I want to help her. No woman should be under the control of that crazy prince.”

“I’m more concerned with your safety. That female can protect herself.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Cassia had seen the vulnerability in that female. The hopelessness. The desperation. She could sympathize.

“She drank from Modez without his consent. It’s a form of rape. We don’t share our blood with just anyone. Quite a bit of intimacy is involved in the act.”

Cassia couldn’t help but wonder if he would miss that aspect of a relationship. She wasn’t a hybrid and couldn’t feed from him. “Do you like being bitten?”

“Usually the male does the biting. In battle, the male tends to rip the other male’s throat out and take the blood in gulps. It strengthens us and frightens the enemy.” He picked up a thin white garment, peered at it as if he couldn’t discern its purpose, and discarded it on a pile of gowns. “We sip from the females on occasion. Usually during sex.”

“The female doesn’t drink during sex?”

“Sometimes she will drink from her mate. A female in heat will do this.”

Perhaps it aided reproduction. “That must be the reason Kiera drank from Modez. It was the effect of the heat.”

“No, it wasn’t and she has no excuse for violating Modez. I get the feeling she’s been doing this for years. How else would she have pulled it off so easily?”

A repeat offender? Cassia couldn’t imagine the hybrid female being capable of that. “Maybe the heat is driving her to do it this time.”

“She’s in the pre-heat stage. I would be able to scent it if she was in full-blown heat.” He opened another pouch to examine its contents. Discovering it empty, he turned his attention to Cassia. “When that time comes, her behavior will become unmanageable and uncontrollable. She’s nowhere near that point. You will see the difference when she is no longer taking the herbs.”

He meant to confiscate the wormwort. “Please don’t do this to Kiera. It’s wrong to force this on her.”

“It’s a merciful punishment compared to the alternatives. Modez won’t kill her if she’s in heat, nor will he turn her over to Diermont. He’ll deal with her privately.”