Outlander (Borealis) (12 page)

Boreas spent a lot of time bathing his new creation and paid
special attention to her breasts, pussy and ass, though his ministrations
seemed born of respect, not lust.

When she was clean, he took her hand again. “It’s time to
meet your Dominus.”

“My Dominus,” she breathed, her eyes glazed with longing.

Boreas steered her out of the room, leaving Marcus and I
stunned. Galen was shaken too, though I think more because Boreas had allowed
mortals to witness the ritual of creation, than for the ritual itself. He had
witnessed it many times before.

Within seconds the restraints that held Galen and Marcus,
vanished. I fell into Marcus’s arms. We gave each other a tight embrace, albeit
brief. Somehow we managed to stand, stumbling towards the door. It was as if
the room itself was pushing us out with an unseen hand. Before we knew it we
were back in the palace, dazed and disoriented. We barely understood what was
happening when Galen ushered us into the healing room.

Galen paced in front of Boreas, his fists pumping at his
sides. It was bad enough that God had secretly brought a Terran to Borealis,
but now he had created in front of mortals. “What the fuck was that?”

Stretched out on his chaise, Boreas appeared relaxed and
satisfied with himself. He had not bothered to bathe or dress. “After
witnessing the Creation ritual, Claire will know that I am God and that
Borealis is her home.”

It is her home
now
, Galen thought bitterly. The deed
was done and the demigods had to scramble to ensure this Earth woman’s survival
in a planet outside her known universe.

 “First you don’t consult with any of the demigods
about bringing Claire across two universes and now this?” Galen had seen Boreas
behave recklessly countless times before. That’s not what rattled him; after
all, that was part of his nature. What worried Galen was God’s complete
obsession with the woman.

“But nothing happened. She’s fine.”

“I was able to wipe the ritual from her Dom’s memory, but I
left hers intact.” At least he hoped he had. Marcus and Claire were in such a state
of shock when they left the room, it’s a wonder they were able to make it back
to their cells. “I told Claire that Marcus wouldn’t remember any of it.”

“What did she say to that?”

“She was relieved,” Galen said, shooting daggers at him.
Poor woman was probably wracked with guilt over the entire sordid affair. “But
you didn’t have to do it like that.”

Boreas shrugged. “It was my call and I thought it went
rather splendidly.”

Galen sunk into a wingback chair, his elbows on his knees.
He had to reason with Boreas. He sensed a disaster in the making. “Don’t
perform the Goddess ritual with Claire.”

He jerked his head back as if the idea was preposterous.
Finally, he smiled and shook his head. “Of course I will do the ritual.”

“Your energy is too powerful for her. Claire can barely stay
upright when you’re near her.”

The corner of Boreas’ lips curved upwards. “Yes, I find it
very charming.”

“It’s a mistake! Bringing her here was wrong. You put her
and everyone in Borealis at risk.”

“You’re being melodramatic. Nobody outside of Borealis knows
what we’ve done.”

“Your power is consuming you and you’re making bad choices.”

His features hardened, each muscle tensed as Boreas summoned
his power to the surface. “Did I not create Borealis and all the people in it?”

Galen could only glare at him.

“Fine, maybe I had some help with Claire,” Boreas conceded,
his eyes revealing a mischievous twinkle.

“You’re out of control!” Boreas held so many lives in the
balance and instead of taking it seriously he was treating it like a game.

“You’re wrong. I’m more in control of myself and of Borealis
than ever.”

“What about Claire’s memories of Earth? Tell me what we’re
going to do about that.”

His eye twitched, revealing a small fissure in the tough
veneer. Regardless of anything else, Boreas had strong feelings for Claire.
“I’m not worried, we’ll work through it.”

“Work through it?” Galen said, incredulous. Claire
remembering her home planet put all of Borealis at risk. “It means your unholy
recreation
failed!”

“No,” he spat. “Not failed. It just didn’t go as I planned.”

“It’s my job to rein you in, keep you from straying from our
purpose. I can’t do that if you keep secrets from me.”

His expression was tight and wary. He stood and ambled
towards Galen. “After seeing Claire’s profound, visceral response to my energy,
my touch…we have to go deeper. We need to do the Goddess ritual.”

“No, I won’t allow it.”

Boreas threw up his hands. “The ritual is central to
Claire’s future as a Borealian,” he shouted. “And she won’t be doing it alone.
Her Dom will be with her the whole time as I designed it,” he said, the
resentment clear in his tone.

Galen looked away. Boreas was right. They had come too far
to stop now. A submissive that didn’t do the Goddess ritual would be unheard
of. The choices were to either send Claire back to earth—a trip that would most
likely disintegrate her—or convince her that she is Borealian.

“Come on, where is your sense of adventure?” Boreas grabbed
his friend’s shoulders and looked at him wide-eyed. “If we pull this off, we
are going to make history.”

“No other planet can know of this!”

“Maybe not today, but someday.”

“And what about Marcus? That hasn’t gone as planned either.”

“No,” he said, scratching his chin. “He may be the greatest revelation
of all. He fell in love with her instantly.”

The bond between Marcus and Claire established itself so
quickly and organically, that it had shaken him, though he recognized her link
to Marcus was the best thing for Claire, especially now. “To me, it is more
astonishing that she fell for him so quickly. Doesn’t it make you wonder?”

Boreas tried to appear nonchalant. “We wanted them to bond
and they have. What’s the problem?”

“You thought it would be an erotic bond only, but it’s more
profound than that. It’s a Borealian bond.”

He chortled and waved a dismissive hand in the air. “You
know Earth women, always getting sex and love mixed up.”

“But they haven’t had sex.”

“No,” Boreas said, smiling. “That’s reserved just for me.”

Galen studied Boreas for a moment. “You think that now that
you’ve had sex with her, she’ll lose interest in Marcus and bond with you
instead?”

At his window, Boreas gazed at the splendor outside.
Melancholy swept over his features. “Don’t be ridiculous, that is not our way.”

Galen wasn’t buying a word of it. Boreas wouldn’t stop until
Claire was completely his.

A reading of my Dom’s face, showed a calm, contented man.
There was no sign of upset or anger about the night before. Good. Galen had
successfully wiped his memory. I couldn’t handle Marcus knowing that I had not
only had sex with Boreas, but enjoyed it. And then there were the Kalies…my
neck reddened.

A guard called Marcus to the door and passed him a small
envelope.

He broke the red seal and removed a tan piece of handmade
paper. Quietly, he started reading.

“Who’s it from?” I asked.

“Our Master.”

My heart sank. Still rattled from Creation, I wondered what
God wanted from us now. My participation in the Creation ritual had shifted my
insides, leaving me overwhelmed and anxious. I wasn’t sure if I could trust my
memories of Earth anymore. I started to believe in the unimaginable.

I swallowed hard, trying to sound composed. “What does he
want?”

“Good news. We’re going outdoors.”

My mood instantly lifted. I hadn’t been outside the palace
since the road. Until now I didn’t know I missed it, but I did. I wanted to see
nature, to feel the sun on my face and the grass between my toes.

Marcus prepared for our outing by gathering food. We hadn’t
had breakfast yet. I wondered, with some anxiety, if we would have our
breakfast ritual in public.

He dropped several leather satchels inside a larger canvas
bag. His eyes stayed on me as I wrung my hands. I really need to work on hiding
my feelings.

With his brow creased, he inclined his head towards me. “You
don’t seem yourself today.”

Yeah, that’s probably because I had sex with God and was
fingered and kissed by two girls. Oh, yeah and we created a redhead.  

I shut my eyes. It was too soon for me to understand what
happened and what it meant. It would take a while for me to absorb it all. The
one thing I knew was that it changed my impression of Boreas. He had been rough
with me, but he had also brought me to ecstasy. And then there was the
tenderness and nurturing he gave his new creation. He was a complicated divine
being with the sexual prowess of a panther. But he was not my Marcus.

I wanted to know what—if anything—Marcus remembered about
the day before, but I was afraid if I pushed him, it would spark a memory.
Better not to stir anything up. “Just thinking, that’s all.”

“About?”

I ignored him. I went to our cell door and pressed my
forehead against the bars. The other residents of the Dom’s Quarters were
milling around their cells. They filled baskets and satchels with food and
water. I watched them chat jovially with each other, something I hadn’t seen
before. I guess I wasn’t the only one that needed this daytrip.

“How rare are these outings?”

Marcus came to my side. He rested his palm against the small
of my back, a gesture I had grown quite fond of. “It happens once in a while.
We are free to go outside whenever we want, but rarely as a group.”

“Why is that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

It amazed me how easily Marcus accepted the status quo. If
Boreas said to do it, he never questioned it. I thought about the imprinting
during creation and decided that would explain his blind allegiance. Then I
wondered how Boreas created Doms. And what about male subs? Was he having sex
with them too? Somehow, I doubted it. “Are we doing a ritual outside?”

He pressed his lips against my shoulder. “No rituals. But
when we have these outings, subs can speak freely to each other.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. Except for baths, I had almost no
contact with subs. Maybe it would help to talk to another submissive so I could
better understand the Goddess ritual from their point of view. “I have only
spoken to you, Galen, God and Theophanes.”

“It will be good for you. You need contact with others,
especially your own kind.”

Hand-in-hand, the pairs filed out of their cells, down the
hall and through a heavy copper door, mottled beautifully with aquamarine
patina. Like the other doors, each panel was etched with representations of the
sky, moon and stars. The knob was an exquisite emerald the size of my fist.

When the door opened, I shielded my eyes from the almost
blinding sun. During the day, Borealis appeared considerably less mysterious
than in moonlight, but it was still bursting with color. A buttery sun hung in
a cloudless sky promising warmth and joy.

Through a stone path, we stopped at a large meadow,
surrounded by trees, shrubs and flowers. Some trees wore vibrant green leaves,
while others looked like spring was upon them with pops of lavender, red,
yellow, white and orange. Flowers of all kinds were scattered around the soft
grass in patches. Orchids grew next to roses, which were edged by powder blue
hydrangea bushes. It didn’t make sense, at least not in Earth terms, where
these flowers would grow in vastly different geographies, climates and soils.

Marcus let go of my hand. “I’ll meet you back here later.”

I blinked at him. I didn’t realize I was going to mingle
with others without him.

“You’ll be fine.” He kissed my forehead and pointed toward a
knot of subs a few yards away. “Go on, talk to your own kind.”

When he walked away, I felt untethered, like a child on her
first day of kindergarten. I hugged myself, scanning my surroundings nervously.
Subs were chitchatting and laughing, gathering in small groups around the meadow.
Along with Marcus, the Doms had completely disappeared behind the tree line.

A soft voice spoke from behind me. “You’re Claire, right?”

I turned and looked straight at Kaly’s eyes. I almost fell
over as all the blood drained from my face.

With a concerned expression, Kaly put her hand on my
shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I…uh, I’m fine.”

She smiled, revealing a perfect set of white teeth and
introduced herself. “I’m Kaly, I belong to Acacius Nereus.”

“Nice to meet you.” It sounded like a question. Kaly’s
expression was guileless, just like Marcus’ had been. Galen must have wiped her
memory too. I would have to thank him for that.

“I’m new.” That sounded lame, but I wasn’t sure how to make
small talk with other subs. What do we talk about exactly?
So, how did your
Dom restrain you last night? Oh, you have six orgasms a day, I’m up to seven!

Kaly laughed and threw her glossy dark hair over her
shoulder. “No kidding.”

I smiled self-consciously. “That obvious, huh?”

“It won’t take long before you feel right at home.”

We strolled through the gardens in silence for a couple of
minutes. I had to gather enough nerve to barrage her with questions. I had
many, but there was one thing I desperately wanted to know. “Kaly, can I ask
you a question?”

“Of course. Ask away.”

“I haven’t performed the Goddess ritual yet. I’ve gone
through the training, but I want to hear it from a sub’s perspective.”

Kaly scrunched her nose, thinking as she studied me. She
gestured to a cherry tree, bright pink and white with blossoms.

We sat under it on a blanket of green grass, the blades
tickling the backs of my thighs.  

“It’s hard at first, as I’m sure you already know.”

“Yes, it scares me.”

“It should,” she said flatly.

I swallowed hard. “How long did it take you…”

“Before I enjoyed it?” Kaly grinned mischievously. She
seemed a great deal more confident and self-possessed than other subs, but
maybe that’s just because I hadn’t talked to another one before.

Appreciating her frankness, my shoulders relaxed. “Yes.”

“Hmm, let me think back. It has been a while.” She tapped
her index finger against her cheek. “Four or five rituals, I think.”

“That’s not that long, is it?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Are you kidding me? That’s
the longest any sub has been able to withstand a ritual with pain. Most subs
unite with Boreas by the second ritual and begin to feel pleasure, or at least
they are able to have little or no pain.”

“Why do you think it took you so long?”

With a shrug, she plucked a daisy from the ground. Twirling
the fragile stem with her fingers, she pursed her lips. “I’m stubborn. My
biggest problem was that I wasn’t listening to Acacius.”

“Why?”

“The more connected you are with your Dom, the easier the
Goddess ritual will be on you. I knew that. I had heard it from other subs, from
my Dom, from Theophanes.” She drew the daisy to her nose. “But I wouldn’t
listen.”

“Was it God’s energy? Did it overwhelm you?”

Because it sure as hell overwhelms me.

“No, that wasn’t it. I thought I could do it another way.”

“Which was?”

With her dark lashes batting, she looked up at me with an
impish grin. “By seducing God.”

That sounded way too risky and completely unnecessary. When
it came to sex, Boreas didn’t need encouragement. Plus, I had seen first-hand
that God did not respond well to manipulation. He must have seen right through
her scheme. “And you weren’t able to seduce him?”

Kaly crushed the daisy between her fingers. “I don’t know
about that. All I know is that the pain didn’t stop until I focused on my Dom.
Then I had God’s full attention.” She licked her lips seductively, giving me an
uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu.

I was about to ask Kaly another question, when the young gay
sub I had seen my first day at Dom’s quarters appeared. He gave me a shy smile.
“Hi.”

I smiled back at him. “Hi. I remember you.”

“Yes, sorry about that. Thaddeus is too over-protective.”

“No harm done. Why don’t you join us?” A quick glance to
Kaly revealed that she wasn’t enthused with the idea.

“Thank you.” With that he sat on the ground across from me
and Kaly. “My name is Aristides, by the way.”

“Claire,” I said extending my hand.

He stared at it like it was on fire.

Kaly explained. “Subs aren’t allowed to touch each other
unless commanded to do so.”

I withdrew my hand slowly. “Sorry.” Then it occurred to me
that Kaly had touched my shoulder earlier. Maybe that didn’t apply for
heterosexual women? I would have to ask Marcus later.

“It’s okay.  I heard there were…problems during your
creation.”

I looked down at the grass. “Yeah, something like that.”

Kaly spoke to Aristides as if it was an obligation. “Claire
was asking me about the Goddess ritual.”

“Oh?” he said, his brown eyes alert and curious. “Your first
time is coming up soon, I suppose. You must be scared.”

I took in a deep breath. “Terrified.”

Aristides nodded slowly.

“Do male subs go through the Goddess ritual too?”

“All subs do, but male subs do not get entered by God.”

“Why is that?”

“God only likes pussy.” Kaly squeezed her own as she said
the words.

Aristides gave her a harsh look before turning to me. “Our
Master does not have erotic leanings for males.”

“It sucks for you, doesn’t it?” Kaly spoke to him in a
snarky tone, insinuating he wasn’t as good as us because he was a male. That
didn’t sit well with me.

Aristides kept his composure while taking in a measured
breath. “I wouldn’t say that, Kaly. I am quite content in my life path.”

Unconvinced, Kaly rolled her eyes.

The entire ritual frightened and terrified me, but at least
I was getting answers from subs that had experienced it. I leaned into
Aristides. “Do you still get tortured?”

His eyes widened. “Oh, yes. But even in the beginning, I
felt very little pain.”

“I don’t understand. If the Goddess is only going to inhabit
a female body, then why would male subs need to be tortured at all, why would
they exist for that matter?”

Kaly wore a fake surprised expression. “What an excellent
question. Why is that Aristides?”

His patience running out, he glared at Kaly. “All of us,
male or female, Dom or sub, must suffer pain and denial. It is how we worship.
Male subs are no exception.”

“But you don’t get entered?” It was beyond awkward to ask
that, though he didn’t seem bothered by my question in the least.

“Not by God, but Theophanes serves as his surrogate. And of
course there are occasions and rituals where the demigods will enter us.”

I tried not to look as shocked as I was. I swallowed back my
panic. “Oh?”

“Didn’t you know? All demigods are bisexual.”

I didn’t care that they were bisexual. “Us? You mean the
male subs only?”

“Yes, but the demigods still have their way with female subs
as well. They’re allowed to do anything except penetration and all subs must
cater to their sexual needs during special occasions.”

I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. I couldn’t
pleasure my own Dom, but I was forced to pleasure the demigods?

Kaly whipped her mane behind her. “Still, you do not get to
be entered by our Creator and we do.”

“But I’m loved by my Dom and obey God’s teachings. That’s
all that matters.”

Appearing bored, Kaly yawned. “If you say so.”

Though she sometimes carried herself like a precocious
teenage girl, Kaly was all-woman—intelligent and shrewd. I wasn’t sure whether
I could trust her or not, but at least she had answers.

Marcus appeared from behind the tree line. My heart did a
tiny flip. He had that effect on me. Although I must admit, I was a bit
disappointed at the interruption. I still had many more questions for Kaly and
Aristides.

My Dom joined us on the grass, sitting between me and
Aristides. My fellow subs immediately straightened and cast their eyes
downward.

Marcus acknowledged their deference. “You may look at me.”

Whoa. No wonder Thaddeus was so offended when I looked him
in the eye.

“Dominus, it is nice to see you again,” Aristides said with
a tiny bow.

“You too, Aristides.” Dominus patted him warmly on the back.