The Breaker's Concubine (9 page)

took a deep breath of the air and detected the musk of two unfamiliar, healthy males. The small

room gave no hint as to why he was here. A sturdy bench holding a pitcher of water and three

ceramic cups stood against the far wall.

The servant that had led him to the room would give him no indication of what was inside.

Everyone here seemed fiercely loyal to their Mistress and unwilling to talk to him. The only time

he had ever gotten a reaction was when he had called Melania a bitch in front of his groomer.

The man had been massaging his back at the time, and he gripped Devnar’s nerves into a cruel

pinch and informed Devnar that if he ever wanted to walk without pain, he would mind his

tongue about the Mistress.

Anticipation curled through his stomach and fired his muscles into movement. Melania had

mentioned something about a fight. While he didn’t imagine she would enter an arena with him

and attempt to kick his ass, he was still intrigued. A good tussle would go a long way toward

soothing his boredom. Going from training every day to being forced to lounge around had taken

its toll on him mentally and physically.

He rocked back on his heels and glanced down at the thin, gold silk pants that covered his

legs. He might as well be naked for as much protection as they provided. At least the boots

they’d given him were serviceable. Once again the servants of this place proved to be no help in

escape; they treated him more like an object than a person. Not like Melania. She seemed

fascinated by him.

His thoughts took a bitter turn as he ran over their time in the garden together. So she

seemed interested in his clan symbol; she didn’t know that by admiring it, she had stroked his

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pride. What aroused him even more was knowing he clearly affected her as much as she did him.

There was a vulnerability about her that intrigued him and tugged at his heart.

The door behind him opened, and Melania entered the room with two men being led on

leashes. Instead of the gown from earlier, she wore the same leathers as when he first saw her.

Tight and shiny, they fit every subtle curve of her slender body. On her right stood a muscular

blond man with arrogant blue eyes; on her left stood a taller and leaner man with short sable hair

and deep brown skin. A goatee framed the most sensual lips he had ever seen on a man. Each

wore a silver version of the same pants he did. They studied him, and the blond smirked while

crossing his lean, muscled arms over his bare chest.

Territorial anger demanded he pound their handsome faces into the ground. Before he

could move, his collar buzzed a warning. That drew his attention to Melania, and she casually

stroked her hand down the back of the man with the goatee. Jealousy and hatred made him surge

toward the other man, but pain dropped him to the ground before he made it to the man’s throat.

The men’s deep laughter twisted his stomach as one of them said, “Oh, he wants you

badly, Mistress.”

Mistress? Did these men belong to her? Were they warming her bed while she toyed with

him in the garden? The thought of them mounting her, being given the gift of her orgasm that he

was denied, had him pushing off the floor past the pain in order to glare at her.

“Hush,” she said in her husky whisper as she minutely flinched beneath his glower. Both

men immediately complied, and she crouched before him. The warmth of her body brushed over

him, and he relaxed against his will. “Be easy, my pet.” She stroked his cheek, and her touch

soothed his body even as his mind rebelled.

“Don’t touch me,” he spat out and jerked his head away as the pain eased. With more

effort than he would like to admit, he pulled himself to his feet and grimaced as the cuffs on his

wrists pulled together and secured his hands in front of him with a metallic
snick
.

Completely ignoring him, Melania unclipped the leashes from the collars of the two men,

and they walked around him in a wide circle, examining him. The blond gave him a derisive

snort, and the brunet studied him with interest. He kept his gaze focused on Melania and curled

his lip in a show of defiance.

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47

“Attend,” she snapped, and each man froze in place, then dropped to their knees with their

hands clasped behind their back. The blond glanced at him with a disgusted expression, while the

man with dark skin kept his eyes on the floor.

“Devnar, attend,” she said in a low voice. His collar buzzed, and he knelt, hating her for

making him submit before her. The fact that the men on either side of her were also kneeling did

nothing for his anger. A hint of her arousal perfumed the air, and he found her watching him with

hungry eyes. The realization that her body didn’t warm until she was around him helped ease his

jealousy enough to think.

“We are going to play a game.” His eyes widened in interest, and her full pink lips quirked

in a little smile. “Behind those three doors is a maze. The rules of this game are simple. You will

each enter through your own door, and the first man to find me will enjoy the pleasure of my

company.”

Next to him, the other men shifted, and he saw their cocks grow as hard as his. No way he

was going to let that blond bastard reach her first. He wasn’t threatened by the dark-skinned

man; something about him was soft and submissive. A low growl trickled out of his throat as the

blond met his gaze and sneered.

“Attend,” she said in a warning tone, and each man winced at the jolt of pain from their

collar. “Gury, I brought you here to teach my pet about obedience. If you cannot set a better

example, I will send you back to your trainer with a full report on your inability to please. I

would have thought your week in labor would have cured you of your attitude.”

The blond flushed, and the tendons in his forearms stood out in sharp relief as he nodded.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Any questions?”

The dark-skinned man said in a soft voice, “What if there is a tie?”

Melania laughed and stroked his head. He turned his cheek into her palm and smiled at her

in a peaceful manner that made Devnar growl again. “If there is a tie, Khilam, you will pleasure

each other. Whoever has his release first loses. When the chime sounds, choose your door and

run.” Her mismatched gaze settled on him, and she added, “Be aware there are traps and puzzles

in the maze that will disqualify the foolish.”

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Khilam looked at Devnar through lowered lashes and nodded. Devnar was thrown off his

stride by the man’s obvious desire for him. While he had no aversion toward laying with another

man, he couldn’t understand how Khilam could even notice anyone else when Melania was

touching him. Didn’t he see how beautiful she was? How much passion and warmth lay beyond

that harsh exterior she worked so hard to project?

After giving them one last look, she left through the same door that she had entered. A

trace of her musk remained, and Devnar took a deep breath, drinking her in.

“I’m going to fuck her and fill up every inch of that hot pussy with my seed,” Gury said in

a low voice and crossed his arms over his chest. “Even if she does look like an ugly boy, I’ll still

enjoy every minute of mounting her while you watch. Obviously you need to learn how a real

man fucks.”

When that didn’t throw Devnar into a rage, Gury changed tactics. “I don’t even know why

you’re here. A worker should never get the chance to touch a servant. Look at you; your nose is

big and has been broken numerous times. Your face has no symmetry, and a scar twists your

lower lip. I bet even your cock is ugly. Why royalty would want to sully their gene pool with

yours is beyond me.”

Devnar never had any use for idle chatter on the battlefield, and he didn’t have any use for

it here. The other two men were physically perfect, and he had a moment of doubt when he

thought of his own battered body next to theirs. Compared to them, he looked like an ugly

mongrel standing next to two purebred hunting dogs.

Khilam spoke up in a surprisingly deep voice. “They would choose him for the same

reason they choose all their concubines. Too much inbreeding among the royal houses results in

sterility and weak children. By breeding with their concubines, strong children are born and the

perfection of our world continues.” He gave Devnar an appreciative glance, the heat in his gaze

obvious as it rested on his erection. “Sometimes a Master will choose a special person from the

worker class as their concubine. They believe the flaws make their beauty and talents stand out

even more.”

Gury made a sound of disgust and stretched his arms over his head, turning his attention to

the closed doors. “My Master would never accept anything but perfection for his breeding.”

“You breed with men?” Devnar asked in a shocked voice.

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49

The other men laughed, and Khilam said, “No. But some royal couples share a single

concubine. We are there to provide the love and missing link that is essential for keeping the

royal couple together.” His gaze grew soft and distant. “To be the center of that much adoration

is more than any man could ever hope for.”

Gury snorted and paced before the three closed doors. “You can speak of love all you

want. I can’t wait until I become a real concubine so I can be free of this damn collar. I just know

the perfect Mistress will choose me. A tall woman with lush curves and a soft body, fertile and

round. Not some skinny little thing that’s more male than I am.”

Khilam shook his head and smiled at Gury. “With that attitude, you’ll never get out of your

training collar.”

Devnar leaned against the wall and studied Khilam. “You really want that, don’t you? To

be a concubine?”

Khilam blinked his wide, dark eyes in confusion. “Of course.”

“But why? Why would you want to be a slave to another’s wishes?” Devnar shook his

head and rolled his shoulders. “How could you stand losing your freedom?” He fought against

the warmth that filled him at the thought of being with Melania for the rest of his life. Blaming

his bonding hormones for his irrational feelings was becoming harder and harder to do.

“Stupid worker,” Gury spat out and positioned himself in front of a door. “You’re as

ignorant as an off-worlder.”

“I am—” His response was cut off by a piercing chime, and Gury sprinted through his

door.

After giving Devnar a suspicious look, Khilam ran toward the door of his choice and

disappeared into the darkness beyond.

Devnar tried to focus his scattered thoughts on the task ahead. Somewhere in that darkness,

Melania waited for him. And he would be damned if it was Gury’s seed that was going to fill

her. He was going to make sure his little breaker came screaming his name as he pounded into

her and showed her who she belonged to.

* * *

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Ann Mayburn

“Who are those novices you sent me?” Melania said into her communicator as she tried to

control her anger. She paced the small room at the center of the maze, careful to avoid the traps

around the bed. One misplaced step and she would find herself plunged into a pit.

Pimina sounded bored as she said, “What’s wrong with them? You said you needed two

men for a little game you were playing with the prince. Gury’s a bit of a handful, but nothing you

can’t deal with. And Wental fought his way through the challenge ring to make it into Training. I

thought he would be a perfect challenge for the prince.”

Melania felt the floor drop from beneath her, and she had to glance down to make sure she

was still standing and hadn’t fallen into a trap. “There is no novice here by the name of Wental.”

“What?” Pimina squawked loud enough that Melania had to pull the communicator away

from her ear.

The chime of the bell sounded in the distance, and she glanced at the door leading to her

room at the end of the maze. “There was some man named Khilam there instead. Goatee,

dark—”

“Skin,” Pimina finished with a growl. “That tricky bastard.”

Sitting on the edge of the massive black silk-covered bed, Melania rubbed her face. “I take

it you know him.”

“Oh yes. I trained him myself two hundred years ago. He’s in the service of Lord Mithrik.”

“Shit,” Melania whispered. Her pulse raced as she wet her dry lips. “Why is the servant of

the Spymaster himself here?”

“Probably spying.” Pimina ignored Melania’s strangled laugh and continued. “Word of

Lady Grenba’s potential gift to the empress must have reached his ears. As loyal as he is to her,

I’m not surprised he would inspect every potential concubine. He’s actually being rather

complimentary by sending in someone we would recognize.”

“I mean, I knew that we would be the subject of much curiosity, but I expected some