Page 21 of Kept

He ran his hand down my throat…and then kept going until he cupped my breast. He dragged his thumb back and forth over my taut nipple, his sword-callused skin sending sparks shooting through my chest. He was gentle. Careful. Back and forth, he stroked my puckered flesh, teasing me with the lightest contact. Soon, the ache in my pussy spread to my nipple. Every maddening stroke echoed in my clit.

The swat cracked in my ears before I felt it between my legs. He struck harder this time, catching me over my swollen clit. I gave a strangled cry and lifted up, my body trying to escape him before I even realized what I was doing. That earned me another swat, followed by a firm hand on my hip pulling me back down.

He rubbed two fingers over my clit, stroking in firm circles. “Second rule. You don’t touch my pussy without my permission. That includes keeping it bare. You ask first.”

I couldn’t believe I was in trouble for this! But it was hard to concentrate on my anger when his fingers were soothing the spot he’d just punished. I clutched at his shoulders and thrust my hips because I couldn’t stop myself. “How many rules are there?”

“As many as he wants,” Laurent said in my ear. He must have knelt behind me, because his bare chest met my back, and his hands came around my body. He captured both breasts and squeezed.

Heat blistered through me. Laurent tugged me backward, and I let him, bowing my spine and resting my head on his shoulder as I writhed in Varick’s lap, doing my best to ride his fingers. Laurent buried his face in my neck and sucked at my skin.

“Don’t bite,” I gasped even as my eyes slid shut. “You can’t feed from me.”

My husband spoke against my damp neck. “Our princess still thinks she gives the orders around here, General.” He licked my skin as he caressed my breasts, his long fingers skimming the undersides before sweeping up to my tingling nipples. He pinched both peaks hard. “Perhaps she needs a lesson in paying attention.”

The smack landed before he finished speaking. My eyes flew open as I jumped and tried in vain to close my legs again. Arched as I was, my pussy was at the perfect angle for Varick to punish.

And he did, delivering hard, rapid-fire swats that ripped pained squeals from my throat and made my eyes water. He didn’t stop at one this time. He kept going, his heavy palm striking my vulnerable clit over and over. His eyes gleamed palest yellow as he watched me gasp and jerk. The burn between my legs intensified, sliding between pain and pleasure and back again. I squirmed between him and Laurent, gasping and whimpering and flinching with every vicious crack against my denuded mound and swollen clit. Every time I thought Varick would stop, he simply continued. And then continued some more.

All the while, Laurent tormented me from behind, stroking my breasts and plucking at my nipples. He dragged his fang over my pulse as if daring me to speak up again.

But I was beyond speech. My mouth opened on a moan and stayed that way, my breath coming in hoarse cries that followed every brutal slap. To my mortification, the sound of the swats grew thicker, amplified by my wetness. And Varick was hitting me so hard! Desperate, I thrust a hand over my pussy.

“No,” Laurent scolded, quickly seizing my wrist and pulling it away.

Smack, smack, smack. Varick’s eyes glowed as he watched me writhe and cry out.

My eyes streamed. It was too much. I couldn’t take anymore. The word stop hovered in my mind like a bright, shiny beacon. If I reached for it, I knew Varick would keep his word. But he’d also keep my release from me. That would be my punishment. The general didn’t give during sex. Not even a little bit.

My cries grew louder. My hips lifted, my body straining. Seeking. I thrust up and up, and then I sought the burn. I wanted the pain, which had suddenly become nothing but pleasure. It rushed through me, fire spreading everywhere.

And I combusted. Ecstasy flooded me, bowing my spine harder as I screamed and flew apart. I thrashed, vaguely aware of Varick’s swats turning into sweet circles around my clit. He stroked me until I stopped bucking, and then he pulled me up, threaded a hand through my hair, and kissed me.

Gasping and boneless, I let him in, as helpless to stop this onslaught as I’d been to stop the first. And, once again, I didn’t want to. I clung to him, my arms around his neck and my legs spread around him as he plundered my mouth. My hips rolled as aftershocks shuddered through me, making me whimper against his lips. His beard brushed my face, and his damp palm spread over my back.

Something brushed my lower back. Laurent. I’d forgotten about my husband.

Varick ended the kiss. “Stop fucking around and get on the bed.”

In the split-second it took me to realize he wasn’t speaking to me, Laurent’s soft laughter caressed my hip. I looked over my shoulder as he stood and backed up, his silver eyes dancing with heat and mischief. He’d removed his jacket and shirt, and his pants were loose and riding low on his hips. His rippling abs formed a V-shape that never failed to make my mouth water. He walked backward until his legs hit the bed. Then he let himself fall, landing in a graceful heap that made his pants sink lower.

Varick rose, picking me up like I weighed nothing and depositing me in the chair he’d just vacated. He hooked a finger under my chin and forced my gaze to his. “Legs wide, halfling. You sit and watch for a minute. And if I catch your fingers anywhere near your clit, I’ll put you over my knee and spank your ass the same way I just spanked your pussy.”

I suppressed a whimper as my cheeks flamed. My buttocks clenched as if anticipating what that might feel like. The chair under me was hard. His hand would be a lot harder.

Shivering, I spread my legs.

“Wider.”

The whimper escaped as I obeyed, gripping the edges of the chair’s seat and spreading my legs as wide as they would go without hurting. My stomach quivered. Below it, my mound was a bright, angry pink from Varick’s hand.

“Good girl,” he said, and went to the stand with the pitcher and goblets. He poured himself blood-wine and drank, his eyes on me above the goblet’s rim. The sight of his thick throat working as he swallowed was surprisingly alluring, and I knew I’d never be able to watch him eat or drink again without thinking of this moment. From now on, my mind would forever link the simple act of him swallowing blood-wine with him spanking my pussy and then making me sit nude and splayed open for his pleasure.

“He’s bare because I keep him that way,” he’d said of Laurent. “It reminds him that he belongs to me.”

I had a growing certainty that no one Varick claimed as his own ever forgot it.

Laurent lay on his back on the bed, one hand behind his head and the other rubbing lazy circles on his stomach. He turned his head as Varick set down the goblet, and he watched with rapt eyes as Varick prowled to the bed.

---