He frowned. “You and I will be leaving as soon as Flame and Rufus are finished with their sweep.”
“Why?”
“We need to go see your father.”
She paled, her breath caught. “My father? Has something happened to him?”
“No, not yet, but we may need to find a safe place for him until this is over.”
“They found him, didn’t they?” She bit her bottom lip with worry. “In the general vicinity but I’ve had someone doing surveillance to keep me informed.”
She squeezed his hand. “Thank you for that.”
He gave her a curt nod. “We need to go.”
“Okay, let me grab my purse and say goodbye to everyone.”
As she started to walk away, he said, “Tell Joe to keep his distance. My patience is wearing thin.”
She opened her mouth to reply to that command but closed it and spun around, hugging each one. Even Chloe hugged her before Reese left them and joined him again.
Flame and Rufus came in.
“All set.” Flame nodded to Reese. “Hi again.”
“Hi.” She smiled brightly.
Dagan shifted his stance and glared at his friend. Flame glared back.
“Are you coming with us, Flame?”
“No, I have my own duties. I’ll get back to them.” He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Don’t fear, my lady, I’ll be but a phone call away.” A low rumble had him lifting his head and grinning before he disappeared, leaving small sparkles of light.
Rufus was shooting glances Chloestra’s way. “Um, I think I’ll stay here and help with the research.” He laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. “I’m a wizard with a computer after all and have vast knowledge and experience where Kur is concerned.” He winked at Reese and left to join the others at one of the multitude of laptops set up in the cramped space.
“Come.” Dagan hurried her out the door around the corner to her car.
She hesitated.
“Don’t worry. We checked it out. It hasn’t been tampered with.”
She breathed a sigh, unlocked the doors and got in. He slid into the passenger seat.
Kur roared his frustration and anger through Divinity. The servants scurried out of his way and the soldiers tried to meld with the marble walls in an attempt to escape his wrath.
“How can an entire squad of
galla
be defeated by one time walker and a bunch of humans? The
tregorians
are supposed to be relentless. They should have had Reese Whittaker.”
Feral rolled the gold coin
across his fingers. “Fleck said having another time walker show up, and the
doghume
there proved to be a daunting show of force. Even the gangly fleshies were fighting well enough to hold their own.”
Kur picked up a Ming vase from its stand near the door and hurtled it to the wall, shattering the priceless piece of art into tiny pieces. “I do not want to hear excuses, Captain. I want results.”
“What are your orders?”
“I must think on it a while.” Kur walked over and sat on his throne. “Do we have any humans left in the holding tank?”
“Two vagrants and we picked up a lawyer earlier this evening.”
Kur sneered. “Bring me the lawyer. Let the homeless have a few more hours of life.”
Feral bowed. “As you wish, my king.”
“And have the
galla
bring my wife to me after I’ve finished with the human.”
Feral left to carry out his orders.
The
tregorians
were known to be excellent trackers. This line of
galla
was slightly different because when assigned a target, they belonged to only that target. They would do everything it took to acquire it. Perhaps he had underestimated Dagan’s resolve, which was interesting. This human female obviously held some special meaning for Dagan.
Moments later, two soldiers dragged the lawyer into the throne room.
He begged and pleaded, offered money, information, even free legal representation before becoming a mass of blubbering flesh. Kur’s temper boiled. The hunger reared in him. He stalked over, grabbed the human by the neck and lifted him six inches off the floor.
The human quit his wallowing and pissed his pants. Kur lowered him to eye level and stared into his eyes. He felt his gaze go crimson and watched the male’s skin wither as he inhaled the life force. White bolts of energy flowed from the human’s body to his, filling him with renewed vigor. When the transfer was complete, Kur flung the now empty shell to the floor.
“To coin a human phrase, ‘Damn what a rush’.” His body shook like a dog after a thorough bath. Already his cock pulsed and a renewed conviction to have his enemy’s progeny flared.
The
galla
brought in his wife. Her hands were still in manacles. He’d made sure there were cloths wrapped around her wrists so as not to mark her skin. He took the chains from the servant.
“Take that with you.” He pointed to the dead body. “Do not disturb me until I call.”
The shadow creatures didn’t respond. They picked up the body and closed the massive doors when they left.
“Come, wife. I need some comfort from you this night.”
The gag still filled her mouth but she watched him carefully.
He pulled her along to a wall on the opposite side of the room from the throne. He pushed a small panel and an enormous door swooshed aside. The bed took up much of the room. A bed fit for a king, Kur thought. Someday soon his wife would reside here with him, willingly.
Moving them toward the bed, he felt the resistance on the chains. She began to retract her arms and try to reverse her steps.
“Now, now, Ereshkigal, I need you to be with me tonight.”
She vigorously shook her head and started making keening sounds. Her eyes widened with fear. This made him angry. His wife should want to be with him, to comfort him.
He needed to calm himself. “I wish to remove the gag from your mouth and feed you. Would you like that?”
She dropped her hands and stopped retreating. He knew she hadn’t eaten in days. He regulated everything having to do with his wife. She would come to depend on him for her very life and he wanted it that way.
“Do you want me to feed you, wife?”
The debate waged clear on her face and hunger must have won out because she nodded and came toward him. Kur looked down into her bronzed, beautiful, tear-drenched face. Her amber eyes studied his every move.
He had her bathed every day to be fresh whenever he felt the need to see her. Reaching up, he grasped a chestnut lock of hair, rubbing it between his fingers and imagining how it would feel to have her above him, looking down with adoring eyes and this soft hair caressing his body.
Those images caused his cock to swell. Maybe tonight he would be able to make sweet love to his wife and bring them both pleasure.
“Stand still,” he said, and reached behind her head to untie the gag.
When he pulled it free from her mouth, she coughed a couple of times and rolled her tongue around her lips.
“Come over here.” He moved toward a large black stone table in the far corner. “There is wine and food.”
He smiled when he heard soft footfalls trailing him.
When she reached for some food, he lightly slapped her hand. “No. I will feed you.”
Her hands fell limply to her sides, the chains clanging with the motion.
He picked up the goblet filled with a sweet mixture. Taking the first sip into his mouth, he moaned with bliss and felt the power of the wine and human blood, which always gave him a buzz. Slowly and with careful precision, he lowered the goblet to her lips. She drank greedily, but he didn’t mind.
“Enough,” he said and pulled the cup away. “We don’t want you getting sick.” He set the wine down and picked up a ripe strawberry. Smiling, he dangled the fruit in front her mouth, which she opened. He watched hungrily as she opened wider, and fantasized about stuffing his cock into that hole and how good it would feel.
She made small noises, impatient to have the food. “Wait,” he ordered. “Close your mouth.”
She complied but narrowed her eyes at him.
He bit the tip of the berry off and chewed. “Ummmmm.” Then, he took the juicy portion and rubbed it across her lips over and over. Leaning in, he kissed her, licking the juice from her lips. “So sweet,” he murmured.
He kissed her five more times as he fed her food. Ereshkigal did not fight or retreat during the whole time. This pleased him and his temper abated.
“Well, now that we’ve had something to eat, wife, let’s see what you can do for me.”
Kur picked up the chains which he had dropped during their meal and led her toward the bed.
“No.” Her voice sounded raspy and not quite whole.
“What, wife?”
“No,” she said again and began to pull away.
Keeping a smile pasted on his face, he tugged the chains harder causing her to stumble against him. “You will do as you are told.” He crushed his lips on hers, punishing. When he ended the kiss and leaned away, she spit in his face.
Anger ripped through his body. He wiped the spittle from his cheek. How dare she spit on him, the king?
Grabbing the manacles, Kur threw the chains through the rings in the ceiling and secured them to the wall.
“Let me go,” she screamed.
He stormed over to the armoire in the corner and flung open the door.
Ereshkigal cried out. “Release me, release me.” Yanking on her chains caused them to tighten and the cloth around her right wrist broke loose, exposing her skin to the rusted metal on the cuff. It rubbed a raw spot that began to bleed.
“Now look what you have done,” Kur growled as he spun around, holding a riding whip. “I’ll have to heal your wrist as well.”
He pulled tight on the chains and hooked them a second time so her arms were held high above her head. “You will have to be taught how to properly act, wife,” he sneered. “You will do as you are told and pleasure me when I demand it.”
“Although you performed the ceremony, I am not your wife,” she spat. “I am not.”
The energy he absorbed from the human still had him riding high. He walked behind her, grabbed the top of her shift and ripped it off her body, leaving her naked back to him. The riding whip had tassels at the end and he brushed those across his hand.
“Some day you will acknowledge your position as my wife and queen of this kingdom. Then, you will cherish your place at my side. You are mine and will remain so.”
The first lash stopped her struggles for a moment, but she resumed screaming insults and tearing the skin off her wrists. He brought the whip down harder. When one of the welts broke open, he frowned. He did not want to mar her skin that way. Walking over to the cabinet that held his tools, he pulled out a long wood plank. Returning to his position, he began to swat her bare ass. Once, twice, three times. Her naked flesh turned a stinging red. She had stopped struggling and her screaming turned to whimpers.
“You shouldn’t make me angry,” he told her. “I do not wish to punish you so. If you would only accept what is.”
He placed the paddle on the shelf and lifted out a large golden dish adorned in expensive jewels containing a creamy salve. Releasing the chains, he pulled them down from the ceiling. “Go lay across the bed, on your stomach, with your arms stretched out in front of you.”
She hiccupped and softly cried, but complied with his order.
When she had positioned herself the way he wanted, he dropped the chains to the floor. The weight of them kept her arms in place. The massive bed supported her entire body so that only a portion of her legs hung off the other side and he stepped between them.
Digging his fingers into the jar, he scooped the silky smooth salve and rubbed it in both palms before placing his hands on his wife’s ass and massaging the balm into her heated skin.
Her crying renewed. He stared at her soft, hot skin. The welt that had bled would clear up quickly. They always did.
The blooming red color made him think of the human’s blood and the rush he’d received from sucking the life out of him. He unzipped and dropped his pants, releasing his cock, which jerked out away from his body. Dipping his fingers into the creamy substance again, he took one coated hand and wrapped it around his aching cock. He moved closer to the bed and used the other hand to knead her ass.
“I want you to squirm for me, wife. Buck your ass in the air up and down like you are riding me.”
She didn’t move.
“Do it,” he yelled. When she began to buck her pelvis so her ass advanced into his hand and then retreated, he stroked his cock in time with her movements until he exploded and ejaculated all over her back.
Smiling he said, “Soon, you will have all of this…” he rubbed his cock in the crease of her ass, “…here.” He took two fingers and pushed them gently through her folds.
Soon, he would consume the life force of Enki’s descendants and with the power would consummate his marriage to the Goddess and make his mark not only on Earth, but in Dilmun as well.
Chapter Twelve