Authors: Justine Elyot
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Romantic, #Romance, #Fantasy, #Sci-Fi/ BDSM
It took a few moments for her to realise he had stopped. Her bottom and thighs continued to pulse with urgent heat and she had writhed herself into exhausted passivity. She wondered why her face was wet then realised she had been crying.
She hung, loose and infinitely relaxed in her bonds, finally understanding the meaning of the word
catharsis.
Paul’s hand landed on her shoulder, light and reassuring.
“Did I go too far?” he asked abruptly, beginning to untie her.
“No,” she gasped. “No.
Oh no.”
Once
untethered
, she collapsed into his arms, seeking a comfort he seemed to provide instinctively, holding her close and burying his face in her hair, letting the tears flow until the sobs subsided and she lay, quiet and peaceful, in his embrace.
“I think I got a bit carried away,” he said with a rueful little catch in his voice. “I’m sorry if I—”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry. I know what I’ve been missing now.
Something amazing.
I’m so grateful to you. So grateful, and I’ll never forget it.”
“
Shh
,” he soothed, tightening his hold on her. “It’s me who should be thanking you. I’m the one who should be grateful.”
“Hmm?”
She looked up at him, daring to hope this hadn’t all been a little treat for her sole benefit.
“We’re mirror images of each other,
Suka
, when it comes to these practices. Do you think I didn’t enjoy that—more than I legally should? Eh?” He smiled indulgently, and a little fearfully. “What you like to receive, I like to give. Always have. Urge-repression will never change that.”
“Really?
You’re a, you know, what they used to call a…
dom
?”
His apparent embarrassment was so endearing to
Suka
she felt a rush of emotion for the man she had cursed and reviled for the past months.
“I can’t deny it,” he said. “When they finally perfect time-travel, I’ll be first in the queue at the dungeons.”
Suka
giggled. “You’d have to hold me back.”
“Believe me, it would be a pleasure.”
They maintained wry eye-contact, glowing at each other, neither quite ready to say the thing they were both thinking.
“So, have you done that before?”
Suka
asked.
“Not on a human person,” he admitted. “Not outside my imagination.”
“You seemed quite the expert.”
“I’ve studied widely.” He patted her bottom. “How does it feel?”
“Very sore.”
She sighed contentedly.
“Gorgeously so.
It…” She held herself back. Even given the powerful emotional experience they had just shared, she was not about to tell her commanding officer that his whipping her had made her insanely horny.
“What?”
“Nothing.
Just…it was nice. I wish we could do it again. I mean, I could do it again.” She corrected herself swiftly, but Paul had stiffened and released her from his embrace.
He shrugged. “If only,” he said neutrally.
Shit, now he thinks I’ve got a crush on him
, thought
Suka
, cross at herself.
But I have. Oh, stars. I really have. The way he did that…the way he whipped me…oh, I want him. I really want him. Oh, this is awful. I wish I’d never come down now.
“Well,” said Paul briskly, putting the whip in his belt beside the landing pack. “That’s one way of introducing yourself to the local customs. Shall we look further?”
Chapter Two
Suka
dusted herself down, still
naggingly
aware of the tug of need for Paul at her crotch, but determined to ignore it. Difficult when your arse was hotter than Mercury and every step caused friction between the unforgiving fabric of your trousers and the smouldering surface of your behind, but it had to be done.
“Right,” she said. “What is that building over there? Is it a temple of some kind?
A religious edifice?”
“Let’s see, shall we?”
He strode a few paces ahead of her, so she could not help feasting her eyes on the broad shoulders, the strong back, the long booted legs and the perfectly-shaped behind in front of her. The head of close-cropped hair made her want to reach up and run her fingers across its prickling fuzz. Everything about him seemed designed to torment her with
unassuageable
lust. The universe hated her—it was official.
She concentrated on shaking herself free of these inconvenient longings by taking a keen interest in her unusual surroundings.
The building they were entering was made of something a little like marble but with a glow about it. Before Paul and
Suka
reached the top of the steps,
Suka
was stopped in her tracks by a
feeling.
When Paul turned around to look at her,
Suka
knew he felt it too.
“This is…
what’s this
then?” she asked helplessly. She had a violent urge to drape herself around Paul’s neck and cling on to him.
“This must be the coupling place,” said Paul, visibly struggling to keep control of
himself
. “One of the little tricks the
Paladians
had—infusing building materials with emotion traces. Their cultural signature, if you like.
Or one of them, at least.”
“When you enter this building you feel—”
“Love.
Erotic love.
Romantic love.”
Suka
had not noticed herself doing it, but she had managed to wrap herself up in the crook of one of Paul’s powerful arms. Her head rested against his chest as she lifted her eyes to his.
“It’s like a spell,” she murmured.
“I know,” he said, bending his head lower until his lips were close, so close. But he tore them away in time. “We can’t do anything about it until we leave. Perhaps we shouldn’t go inside.”
“Oh, we should,” gasped
Suka
, putting a hand to Paul’s cheek, the physical connection of skin on skin almost knocking her off her feet.
“It’s not your call,
Suka
,” he said, but his voice was a croon now, low and deep, his chest vibrating against her ear. He was losing this fight.
“Think of the book I could write,” she marvelled.
He gave in and pulled her into the vast chamber with its jewelled ceiling and fragrance of musk.
“This was where
Paladians
would have their weddings,” said
Suka
, her arms around Paul’s neck now, their foreheads bumping.
“Yes.” His breath warmed her ear and neck. “
All the
congregation would come together in the spirit of love and passion, to celebrate the joining of the couple.”
“Come together…literally?”
Suka’s
hand had found its way to Paul’s backside. Paul grabbed one of her thighs and lifted it so her leg was hooked around his and a convenient resting place for his hardening cock was provided.
“Yes. The
Paladian
concept of a good wedding party was an orgy.”
“I kind of love these people. I wish they hadn’t died out.”
“I might have settled here.” Paul’s words poured directly into
Suka’s
ear now, hot and savage with lust. “I might have brought you with me.”
“Oh lord.”
Suka
sighed blissfully, though the tiny part of her that retained its rationality wondered with unease whether it was just the erotically-charged stone speaking. “I would have come.”
“You most definitely would,” he agreed, and his hands stroked down the curve of
Suka’s
back until they met the swell of her bottom, still burning sorely from the whipping, so that she winced when his palms rested there.
“So.”
Suka
shuddered, feeling she should probably look up from Paul’s chest and take in her surroundings, but somehow unable to do so. “Talk me through the
Paladian
coupling ritual.”
“
Mmm
, okay,” he said. With an effort of will, he unwound
Suka
from his body and led her to the raised dais at the centre of the chamber. “Let’s say we’re the happy couple. We come up here, where the crowds can see us properly.”
They climbed the steps and stood in front of a piece of furniture resembling an altar, but with padding, all covered in richly coloured, water-resistant fabrics, reminiscent of earthly silks.
“Now, the form of service depends on the type of bond,” Paul explained, his hand coming again to rest on
Suka’s
bottom while she drank him in, longing for him with every fibre of her being. “The type of bond I think you’d be most interested in is the subjection bond.”
“What is that?”
“It’s the pledge of a man or woman to offer full and lifelong submission to their
bondmate
.” Paul’s free hand cupped
Suka’s
chin, his thumb pressing into her cheek, forcing her to hear and absorb every word. “Do you think that would appeal to you?”
“Oh…my,” was all she could say.
“Let’s re-enact the process, then, shall we? I don’t know all the words of the service, so I’ll give it my best guess. First of all, you have to kneel at my feet.”
Suka
dropped to her knees as if shot, bending her forehead so it touched Paul’s glossy black boots.
“Exactly like that,” he approved. “Then some vows are spoken. You would say something about giving yourself to me unconditionally and obeying my every word. I would say something about cherishing and protecting you and not sparing the rod.”
Suka
gulped and kissed his feet. She was soaking wet between her legs and almost twitching with need for him.
“That’s nice. I’m not sure it’s part of the service. But this is.”
He pulled her to her feet and she fell with infinite gratitude into the heat and fury of his kiss. Their lips smashed together and their tongues curled around each other, greedy and insatiable. For
Suka
, the intensity of the passion was almost like anger, causing her to crush her body up against his and take rough fistfuls of his flesh. He moved her round and round on the spot, ravaging her mouth until it was dry and her lips throbbed, swollen and spent.
“Now you get your clothes off,” he panted hoarsely, tugging at her top. “I have to display my new acquisition to the crowds.”
“Acquisition?”
“A wealthy
Paladian
could have up to five bond subjects. Of course, if it was me, I’d stick with one. One is enough.”
Suka
, beyond argument or reason now, pulled off her boots and peeled down her tight trousers until she stood naked on the dais in front of Paul, who turned her around to better inspect the state he had made of her arse.
“Gorgeous,” he muttered, cupping the welted flesh. “I’d keep you like that.”
“
Ohhh
,”
sighed
Suka
.
“I
will
keep you like that.
When you’re mine.”
This cathedral stone was strong stuff,
Suka
mused. It sounded as if he really wanted her, seriously, long term. But that was the illusion, wasn’t it?
“Now,” he said, wheeling her around roughly so her nude front view faced the vast emptiness and the patterned windows beyond. He planted his hands on her hips, standing behind her,
then
bestowed a long, hard suck on her neck, marking her in a place that would only just be concealed by the high collar of her uniform top when she dressed again. “Here is my subject,
Suka
,” he declaimed to his imaginary audience. “All of this is now mine.
The expanse of her flesh.
The sweetness of her lips.
This curving neck and these soft breasts.”
His hands were on the bare mounds, squeezing them together to give the audience the optimal view. He stroked and caressed the nipples, letting the blood swarm into them and
harden
them into stiff little buttons.
Suka
threw her head back, nuzzling her crown against Paul’s still-clothed chest.
“No, you have to look out at the audience.” He
tutted
, twisting the nipples now, making her gasp and squeak at the leaping pleasure-pain. “You must have your subjection witnessed, and you must witness it yourself. That’s in the rules of service.”
“When…did you read that?”
“Oh, years ago.
As a student.
Stuck in my mind somehow.”
“I’ll…bet…ooh.”
He slid the tormenting hands down her sides, flipping her around by the hips to display her whipped bottom.
“This bottom will be kept tender by my disciplinary attentions,” he promised his invisible witnesses. “It will be used in any way I see fit.” Fingertips travelled slowly, whisper-lightly, down the crack, opening the cheeks to expose the secret within to the audience. “I will train her to accept what I have to give.”
“Train?”
Suka
swallowed, imagining some kind of anal sex boot camp. Not that that prospect was without its allure.
“Slowly,” soothed Commander Paul.
“Gently.
But firmly.
And relentlessly.
I will give your most private place my very special attention. You will undertake to keep it ready and prepared for me at all times. Won’t you?
Hmm?”
He encouraged her assent with a thumb on her lower lip and a narrowing of eyes.
Suka
could only nod.
Then she was facing the front again, her feet nudged wide apart while Paul’s capable hands pulled her sex lips open to reveal the glossy red fruits within to his eager supporters.
“And this.
This is mine.
These lips, this clit, this opening.
This, as well, will always be kept in readiness for me. You will work on maintaining its tightness and wetness, and this will be subject to testing at any time.”