Page 32 of Shadowbound

“What? Why the fuck do you want to spank me?” he growls, glaring down at me. “I’m not some naughty little boy you can whip when you feel like it.”

I frown up at him.

“I’ll whip you if I feel you need it, Paladin. But for now, we’re going to place your very first tail.”

“My what?” he asks but just below the surface defensiveness and obstinacy, I can sense his desire to submit.

“You’ll have to wear a tail in my colors to pass as my Blood-servant when we go to the City,” I say patiently. “It’s best if you start getting used to having one in you now. Do you want to go bend over the bench and spread your legs for me? Or would you rather go back to Solaris without The Heart of the Eclipse?”

He scowls and I can feel him fighting with himself. He wants to submit but he hates to admit it.

I reach up and cup his cheek, which is already getting bristly with whiskers again, though I shaved him just last night.

“It’s all right, Alaric,” I tell him. “It’s all right to want to give yourself to me—to submit. I swear what happens here will stay between us.”

Something inside him seems to crumble then—some inner wall he’s been holding up through sheer strength of will.

“As you wish, Mistress,” he says at last. “How do you want me?”

“Take off your trousers. Then bend over and rest your elbows on the bench,” I tell him. “Spread your thighs for me, as you did in the bath last night.”

Wordlessly, he goes and does as I say. His shaggy golden-brown mane falls around his face like a curtain but I want to see his face—I need to gauge his reactions to be certain he’s all right. Of course, the Jewel of Knowing helps, but I want to see his reactions for myself, not just hear them through the Jewel.

I take a bit of twine and reach up on my tiptoes to tie his hair back in a rough tail at the back of his neck. Alaric says nothing about it but he nuzzles my hand when I stroke his cheek. I can feel his inner confusion—he’s still wondering why he wants to submit to me. Have I put some kind of spell on him?

“No, my Paladin,” I say, answering his unspoken questions. “There’s no spell. Think back on your early life at the Citadel—you were made to submit often. Is it really so surprising that you came to enjoy it—even to crave it?”

I see Sister Beatrice in his thoughts again and know he understands. He still says nothing but he spreads his thighs a little wider in mute supplication.

His unspoken submission touches me and I spend some time rubbing his back and shoulders and letting my nails skate down his spine, almost to the cleft of his buttocks. I know how starved he is for touch—every time I put a hand on him I feel him yearning for more.

At last, however, I retract my nails to make them short and neat—a useful bit of magic I learned when training my first Blood-servant. Then I choose the smallest tail in my collection—barely bigger than the two fingers I used on him the night before—and find a pot of Opening ointment.

I dip my fingers in the ointment—which is light blue and smells faintly of beesome flowers—and then slide my fingertips inward, seeking for his rosebud.

As he did the night before, I feel him shiver at my intimate touch. He’s thinking that he can’t believe he’s allowing this—that he’s bent over the bench, opening himself for me. It’s confusing and a little frightening…but his shaft is so hard it aches. He doesn’t want me to stop.

“That’s good, my Paladin,” I soothe him as my fingers slip inside him. The ointment helps him open and he groans softly as I reach deep inside to rub his special spot. His cock is weeping freely now, precum flowing like a river. This is going to be a very frustrating time for him, since I intend to honor my promise and keep him wanting all day. Maybe I’ll let him come tonight…but maybe I won’t.

Then it’s time for the tail. It’s a smooth, tapered piece of crystal—the same kind my pleasure wand is made of, actually. It’s a glossy deep purple and it glows with an inner light, just like my wand. There is no horsehair attached, but it has a flared base for safety.

I murmur a warming spell over the chilly crystal and cover the blunt, tapered head in ointment. Then I slide it between his cheeks and begin to press it into his rosebud.

“Mistress…Gods!” he groans as I slide it into him. “What the fuck are you doing to me?”

“Opening you, my Paladin,” I tell him. “Owning you.”

His answer is another groan and I can feel him wanting to clench around the invading tail.

“Relax, Alaric,” I tell him, stroking his back with my free hand. “It’s almost in.”

I press a little harder and the bulb at the bottom of the tail finds its way inside leaving just the flared base outside to hold it in place. My Paladin clenches his jaw on a cry that’s part pain but mostly pleasure. He shifts his hips, trying to get used to the thick invader, trying to get used to being filled.

I can’t help admiring the sight of him. This big, strong, muscular man submitting to me, groaning with pleasure as he does his best to get used to having the tail inside him. I have to admit, it makes me wet.

“How do you feel?” I ask him. “Pull up your breeches and walk around some.”

He does as I tell him and takes a few tentative steps.

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