Illicit Desire: Outlawed Realm, Book 2 (23 page)

In time, he pulled back, freeing his cock, damp from her mouth and still erect. Lifting it to expose his balls, he positioned them close to her nose.

Arez whimpered at their male fragrance, a scent that enhanced her femininity and confined her more completely than any shackles. She traced their contours with the tip of her tongue, delighting in the wrinkled skin, the fine dusting of hair. Wanting more, she eased one of his balls inside her mouth, sucking it painstakingly.

Vibrant and unrestrained sounds poured from Lukan. He dug his fingers into her scalp, keeping her at the task.

She lingered on this tasty part of him, investigating it with her lips and tongue before moving to the one that remained.

Given his prolonged groan, this testicle proved more sensitive than the first. However, Lukan didn’t allow himself to climax again.

“Stop,” he panted. “Release me.”

Defiant, Arez suckled him deeper and continued flicking her tongue over his flesh.

The rulers closest to the bed murmured their disapproval. One offered to use his strap on her, forcing Arez to obey.

Never. Only Lukan’s strong hand could do that. She craved his domination in their carnal acts as much as she did his tenderness and love.

At last, he seemed to understand her intent. Freeing himself, he moved to her side, his hand firmly on the small of her back, pressing into it.

Still breathing hard, he ordered, “Lift your ass. Now.”

With her cheek resting against the mattress, she obeyed.

Though not as quickly as Lukan would have liked. “You’ll pay for that, Arez.”

Her lips parted at his quietly stated threat, his fingers skimming the groove between her cheeks, circling her anus, travelling to her cleft.

Touch it.

He stroked the insides of her thighs instead. He ran his fingers through the dark curls between her legs. He waited until his gentleness had lulled her, then brought his hand down hard on her buttocks. The crack of his blow rang out seconds before she experienced the resultant sting.

Before she could manage a cry of surprise or arousal, he punished her, his discipline measured and authoritative. A ruler chastising a slave. A man asserting his power over a woman who’d given him that right.

Her moans and whimpers didn’t soften his stance or buy her any time to pull herself together. When he was through, he positioned himself between her legs, this time touching her damp slit, bathing his fingers in her soft, swollen folds.

Arez’s belief that he’d mount her there died quickly as he swirled her moisture around and inside her anus. His finger felt huge within the narrow space. She wiggled.

He warned, “Don’t move. Understand?”

She nodded to tell him she did, and that she would obey.

Once he’d lubricated her tightest opening, Lukan spread her cheeks as though to give himself and the store’s rulers a better view of what he’d soon have.

“Mount her,” one of them shouted.

Another hollered, “Do her fast and hard. Make her take all of you inside.”

“She will,” Lukan promised.

The men cheered. Arez dug her fingers into the blanket, prepared for Lukan’s intimate assault.

Once more, he made her wait.

He kissed her spine and her shoulder. He squeezed her spanked ass. His cock brushed her leg, its heat and rigidity remarkable.

“I’m going to take you as forcefully as I want,” he murmured, his promise both thrilling and daunting. “You’re going to submit without a word. Say anything and you’ll risk more punishment. Do you understand?”

Arez could barely think. Her body was so needy of him, her thoughts so tense with anticipation she made a sound of female assent, telling Lukan he could do whatever he willed. She’d endure and would beg for more.

He entered her swiftly, just as the store’s rulers had suggested and he’d warned.

The overwhelming pressure from his hardness and size was nearly more than Arez could bear. But bear it she did, yielding further, relaxing her muscles so he’d have less difficulty burrowing inside.

For minutes, Lukan worked her, gliding in and out, unmindful of her panting or the men’s crude comments, driving himself deeper each time until he’d buried himself fully. Even with her opening stretched to its limits around him, Lukan flexed his cock, filling and spreading her a bit more.

Subjugating her will to his.

Gladly, Arez submitted, and Lukan rewarded her. During his relentless pumps, he ran his fingers over her clit, pulling her attention to it and the ensuing heaviness in her cunt. The strain of containing him anally was now a secondary consideration.

She wanted to come.

The men advised against it.

“Delay her release,” one advised.

“Deny it,” another said.

“Please,” she begged, not caring that she’d broken Lukan’s rule not to speak and now risked punishment. A whipping was worth what she sought…unless Lukan intended to discipline her by not allowing her to climax.

As though he’d heard her thoughts, his hand stalled on her cunt. The precious sensations his stroking had generated lingered for a moment, then began to fade.

No.

Oh. Lukan drove two fingers inside her sheath, then thumbed her clit in time with his next thrusts.

Arez babbled incoherently, her ability to speak lost with the riot of pleasure sluicing through her.

Lukan bellowed his release. The rulers hailed him.

One shrieked.

Startled, Arez jerked awake, surprised she’d fallen asleep. A dream she’d had edged close, but when she tried to recall details, they remained just out of reach, except for one. Someone screaming.

Lukan?

His arms remained wrapped around her, his chin on her shoulder, his faint breathing telling Arez he slept. If he was dreaming, whatever his mind saw didn’t trouble him.

Had the screech been in a nightmare she’d had or was it the sound that had awakened her?

Cautiously, she studied the vegetation just beyond the cave, those monstrous leaves still dipping beneath the steady rain. The area was lighter than before, as though the sun Lukan had talked about was beginning to rise again. The added illumination revealed the bones he’d set up near the entrance, some bloody from the subhuman’s wounds.

Not far from where she and Lukan sat, Arez saw a pile of skulls she hadn’t noticed before.

Making a face, she concentrated again on the jungle. The glittering insects were gone. Had the shriek come from one of the birds as it swooped down and gobbled them up?

That had to be it. She’d heard a harmless bird, nothing more.

Drawing Lukan’s arms more tightly around her waist, Arez relaxed, hoping sleep would return.

Another scream shattered her calm. This an animal howl of pain.

Arez’s heart lurched. Lukan flinched with the noise. In an instant, he was awake, pushing her to the ground, protecting her with his body as he reached for the stun gun. His fingers closed around it as the leaves rustled violently. A subhuman burst from them, his right forearm gone, his eyes wild with pain.

He let out another piercing cry and staggered to the opening of the cave, seeking refuge within it.

Arez fought against Lukan, wanting them to flee. Using his size, he kept her beneath him, his weight pressing down hard, not allowing her to make a sound.

Helplessly, she stared as the subhuman shuffled inside, its large feet inches from the protruding bones.

Step on them. Fall. Die.

It gasped as something tore through the jungle, leaping into the air, landing on its back. The subhuman spun in a lopsided circle, its remaining hand clawing at the animal attacking it. Brown fur covered the thing’s entire body, even its pointed ears and long snout. Its black lips curled back, revealing its teeth. Two on the top were longer than the others. Pointed. Deadly.

The subhuman slammed its body into the cave’s rock, trying to knock the animal off.

It held tight, its tail swishing, scattering raindrops as it sank its teeth into its victim neck, tearing the flesh away.

Both creatures fell to the ground. The subhuman’s limbs trembled uncontrollably.

Gurgling noises poured from its throat. The animal attacking it bit through the remaining arm, snapping the bones. Crunching noises followed as it chewed.

Arez wiggled beneath Lukan, still wanting them to run away from here.

Again, he pressed his weight into her, his hand on her mouth to keep her from making any noise.

The steady drumming of rain mingled with the crackling of bones as the animal fed. It seemed to take hours. Only the subhuman’s head and one foot remained before its killer was sated. Running its tongue over its bloody lips and snout, the thing stood on its hind legs…like a man.

Lukan drew the stun gun closer.

Panting heavily, the animal surveyed the jungle, its paws held up, claws exposed. In the distance, a faint howl rang out. The thing turned in that direction, its bloody teeth bared. Another howl followed the first. With its head thrown back, it made the same sound, the noise terrifying.

And then it changed.

How, Arez couldn’t imagine, but its fur transformed to skin not unlike hers and Lukan’s. Where there had once been a snout, now the thing had a nose. Hands and feet replaced paws. Stubble covered its upper lips, chin and cheeks. Its flaccid cock and heavy balls hung between its muscular legs.

Human intelligence, not animal instinct, burned in its clear gray eyes. Not cloudy or opaque like the other beings here.

With a questioning look, it studied the rows of bones Lukan had set up, then peered into the cave. Although she and Lukan were in the shadows, Arez wasn’t certain if the darkness hid them completely.

The man-creature sniffed the air, then frowned as if confused or disturbed by what it smelled. In the available light, its eyes seemed to glow and touch hers.

She froze, expecting it to leap forward and attack her and Lukan as it had the subhuman.

It stepped forward and paused, then took another step.

Above her, Lukan tensed. In her peripheral vision, she saw his fingers tightening around the stun gun.

A new howl, prolonged and louder, cut through the jungle. The creature turned with the sound, scanning the area behind it.

Were more of them coming? Would they overpower Lukan? Would they kill him?

A cry of horror rose in Arez’s throat. She gritted her teeth to keep from letting it out.

From the left, golden beams cut through the leaves and the veil of rain, dousing the creature in light, accentuating its male and human beauty, reminding Arez of the Palace slaves. Had this thing once served there and survived Vakar’s and the other rulers’ hunt? Had it somehow evolved into a combination of man and animal to protect itself?

A new call came from the jungle, either from another male or its mate.

This time, the creature heeded the sound, bolting into the vegetation, disappearing from view.

Lukan pushed to his feet. Arez stopped him before he went to the mouth of the cave. Holding on to his arm, she whispered, “What was that?”

He continued to scan the entrance. “A werewolf.”

“How could it change from animal to human?”

“I don’t know. Are you all right?” He ran his hand down her arm.

Still shaky, she clung to him, her arms around his neck. “Will it return?”

“No.” He kissed her cheek. “Meelo and Damir told me they hunt just before dawn breaks. They prefer darkness to light. That’s why it ran away. We’re safe from them for hours.”

“But not Vakar’s men.” She held him as tightly as she could. “Now that it’s getting light, they’ll start their search. What if Nikoli hasn’t reached us by the time they come here? Where will we go? Should we run outside?”

Lukan knew that wasn’t an option. In the jungle, they faced too many predators for him to protect Arez. While in here…

Beyond where he’d set up the blanket, the bowels of the cave were so black he had no idea what might be waiting for them. Nor did he know if Nikoli would even be able to locate them there. Perhaps his device couldn’t penetrate stone so thick. If they moved from this spot, they might be assuring their death, spending their last days and hours in complete darkness, starving and afraid.

Arez trembled as if she understood his fear and indecision.

It didn’t last. There was only one choice for Lukan to make now. During the day, Vakar and his men might come here searching for them. If he and Arez survived that, tonight the subhumans would surely return, behaving more boldly this time, determined to investigate this area. He couldn’t drive bones into the ground forever to keep them out. Even if that were possible, the werewolf would come back. It had sensed their presence. It smelled them.

“We have to go deeper into the cave,” he said.

Arez dug her fingers into his back. “It’s so dark, we won’t be able to see. What if there are other creatures there?”

It was a chance they had to take. They had to hide themselves until Nikoli opened the portal for them.