Mastering Their Human Read online

  “And yet you repaired the damage,” Kellan muttered. “Does that mean you’re as powerful as she?”

  “Not even close. But it’s likely she knows what I’m capable of doing. It really is best if we try to work with her, not against her.”

  “I guess nothing is lost by learning more about the dragon.” She glanced at Kellan, feeling a spike in his anxiety. This empathy thing was a lot less exact than she’d imagined. Even when she could identify a specific emotion, she had to guess at the cause and the context. She turned her face up toward Sean and said, “Scan me.”

  * * *

  Sean was trying to be gallant, trying to show Kellan how a gentleman behaved. But all he really wanted to do was to press Brianna down into the pillows and force her legs apart with his knees. He wanted to strip her naked and continue the exploration they’d begun in the castle. One night with this delectable princess had only whetted his appetite for more, a whole lot more of the same.

  Knowing she could sense his rising ardor only made it that much harder to control. Was she titillated by how much he wanted her? She hadn’t crawled off his lap and his cock had hardened moments after they sat down.

  “I’ll go slowly. You can stop me at any time.” His shaft twitched against her ass and she smiled.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Her voice was soft and breathless. Were they still talking about scanning? Her nipples had formed distinct peaks in the front of her tunic. Gods preserve him, how was he going to concentrate well enough to pinpoint a memory?

  She licked her lips and he shivered. The temptation to suck her tongue into his mouth was nearly overwhelming and he refused to remember how it felt to have her tongue swirling around the head of his cock, poking into the slit, lapping up his… He cleared his throat. “Would you be more comfortable if you lay back?”

  One of her brows arched and her eyes heated. Undeniable awareness arced between them, crackling in the air all around them. “Would you be more comfortable if I lay back?”

  “Probably not, but you need to relax and I need to concentrate.” On something other than fucking her again.

  Suddenly Kellan was beside him. He sat against the embankment, leaving a small gap between them. “Let go.”

  Sean wasn’t sure if the order was directed at him or her, but they both obeyed. He moved his arm out of the way and Kellan swung her legs around. Her round little ass rotated on his cock and Sean bit back a moan. Damn, that felt good. Before he could analyze the sensation too closely, Kellan drew her forward, spreading her out on the pillows between them.

  Her legs arched over Kellan’s thighs and her head rested in Sean’s lap, her eyes wide and luminous. Kellan gathered her hands and placed them on her belly, one on top of the other. She allowed him to position her, seemed completely relaxed.

  There was no way he could deny it, and no sense trying to resist it, things just felt more natural, more balanced when Kellan was in control. Was he comfortable enough with who he was to accept the dynamic?

  She caught her lower lip between her teeth and closed her eyes. Go on. I’m ready.

  Her telepathic touch was a bit uncertain but easily understood. Burying his fingers in her hair, he flowed across the tactile bridge and into her mind. The touch wasn’t necessary for him, but it made his penetration less intrusive. At least he hoped it did.

  There was no resistance, no shielding of any kind. That was the first order of business as soon as he figured out what the spirit wanted him to see. Brianna needed to learn how to protect herself, to shield her thoughts.

  Focusing on the task at hand, he found the memory center of her brain. Present energy burned more brightly than past or future energy. He pushed through thoughts and feelings without experiencing them. The future stretched off in one direction, fading from medium gray to purest white while the past followed an opposite gradient, passing from gray to black in an ever-darkening shade.

  He waded into the gray, immersing himself in memories, filtering them with skill gained through years of practice. If the image had nothing to do with what he was looking for, he didn’t linger but moved immediately to the next situation.

  He spotted Brianna in chains, naked and terrified. Anger spiked through him and he dragged the memory to the surface. When was this? Who did this to you?

  You’re too far back. That was before.

  Was this your inquisitor? He pushed Tanner’s image into her mind. Planning all the ways he would make the man pay.

  I have no intention of reliving all that—unpleasantness. Find the right image and get out.

  Sorry. Allowing him in had been hard for her. He needed to respect her privacy and show himself worthy of her trust. He slowed the memory stream as they neared the night in question.

  He watched Kellan touch her in the shower and watched her respond. Kellan hadn’t exaggerated. Their attraction had been combustible even before the spirit took control. She knelt before the overlord naked, legs spread, eyes filled with desire as Kellan stroked himself to completion.

  Fuck! No wonder Kellan wasn’t willing to release her.

  And it wasn’t just Kellan. Sean was no longer sure he could let her go. Her eyes had been heavy-lidded and smoldering for him just before she took his cock in her mouth. Kellan had spent more time with her, but she’d made it clear she wanted both of them, would be satisfied with nothing less.

  Focus! He had to analyze the images without being swept up in them.

  She raised her arms above her head and asked Kellan to bind her. Sean tried not to react to the scene, but it was impossible. She’d been so open, so needful in that moment. The look resonated through his soul. He understood how she felt. It wasn’t just that he wanted her to want him. Sean wanted Kellan the same way.

  Desire twisted through him, dark and elemental. The temptation had been there for years, but watching Brianna surrender to Kellan had reawakened a need he thought dead within him. He wanted Kellan.

  He watched Kellan bind her then fuck her with his fingers. He’d had no idea they’d shared so much, but he should have realized. In the castle Kellan had anticipated her desires and understood her needs.

  After a brief argument, Kellan draped her legs over his shoulders and aggressively ate her pussy. This is what Sean had pictured, what he’d expected from the brutish overlord. It was the tenderness, the patience that came as a surprise.

  His balls ached with his need to come. This was stimulating on so many levels. She rocked against Kellan’s mouth, grinding her folds against his lips. Forcing aside his own discomfort, Sean focused on her mind, waiting for the intrusion.

  Old. The energy pulsed with centuries of existence.

  Sean dove directly into the energy stream, saturating himself with the foreign resonance. Echoes of echoes, faint and distorted. He knew this rhythm, had sensed something similar before.

  Brianna began to struggle and the intruder’s stream intensified, widening and deepening. Where had he sensed this rhythm before? Why did it seem familiar?

  He opened his receptors wider, risking contamination and damage. An image flashed through his mind for an instant. Just a blip and then it was gone. But Sean captured it, surrounding it protectively as he withdrew from the memory stream.

  It made no sense.

  Releasing Brianna’s mind, he rested his head against the embankment and closed his eyes. He raised his shields, closing himself off from everyone before he accessed the image.

  The face meant nothing to him, but the clothing and the elaborate tattoo stretching from his ankle to his thigh was unmistakable. Ceddrik, or the person now known as Ceddrik, was a Faundi defender just like Fane. Everyone believed Fane’s people were extinct. Even Fane believed he was the lone survivor of a doomed race. He wasn’t sure how Fane would react to the news, but one thing was certain. Fane alone must decide what to do with the information.

  Brianna touched his face, drawing his attention back to reality. “Are you all right?
”

  He smiled. “I think I’m supposed to ask you that. Was that too upsetting? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “You know you didn’t.” She sat up, her hand buried in the pillows on the far side of his hip. “Was it worth it? Did you learn anything useful?”

  Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her against his chest. “Kellan’s not going to like it, but I need to take you to the Underground.”

  “Not a chance.”

  She pushed against his chest and faced Kellan. “I’m not your prisoner anymore. Remember? It’s my decision, not yours.”

  “You can go anywhere you want without him, but he can’t take you without my permission and I do not give my permission for him to take you anywhere.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Sean knows what I’m talking about.”

  Sean wanted to strangle the son of a bitch. He’d almost forgotten about that fucking vow! “You can’t stand the thought of someone else being in control. Can you?”

  “This isn’t about control.”

  “Like hell it’s not.”

  She swung her legs off Kellan’s lap and knelt between them. “If Sean can’t do anything without your permission, I might as well be your prisoner. No one else here is going to lift a finger without your say.” She paused as the full measure of his manipulation sank in. “You disingenuous bastard! You had no intention of letting me go.” With a furious snarl, she threw a pillow at him.

  He easily batted it aside, his expression inscrutable. “Where do you want to go so badly?”

  “Anywhere away from you!”

  Pushing away from the embankment, he planted his fists on his hips and stared her down. “I allowed you your own room. You can lock yourself inside and sulk as soon as we land.”

  “I don’t want to sulk. I want to fuck. I’m restless as hell, if you haven’t noticed.” With rebellion flashing in her eyes, she crawled astride Sean’s lap and took his face between her hands. “Just ignore him. I certainly intend to.”

  “Brianna, you don’t want to—” Apparently she did. Her mouth sealed over his and her tongue traced the seam between his lips. Cursing himself for a fool, Sean opened for her. She was using him just as surely as Kellan was using him, but it felt a whole hell of a lot better when she did it.

  Her hands moved to his shoulders as he took control of the kiss. She was playing with fire. They both were. He glanced at Kellan, knowing what he’d find. Lust, fury, and—pain? Why pain?

  Sean tried to settle her down, to slow the kiss and contain the tsunami barreling toward them. Despite the pleasure pit, this wasn’t a fantasy realm. This was hard, cold reality where hurtful words left lasting impressions and… She pulled her tunic off over her head and guided his hand to her breast.

  Her hands were suddenly jerked away from his body and she gasped, momentarily breaking the kiss.

  “Don’t stop on my account,” Kellan whispered, hooking her elbows with one arm while he caressed her breasts with his other hand.

  “Stop it!” She twisted, inadvertently rubbing her lower body against Sean’s aching erection as she tried to avoid the overlord’s touch.

  “Why? You knew damn good and well I wouldn’t just stand there and watch this. Why are you provoking me?” He pinched her nipple and she whimpered, her breath escaping with a moan. “Do you want me to punish you like I punished you before? Does fucking feel better when your adorable little ass is nice and hot?”

  “You’re disgusting.” She twisted away when he reached for her nipple.

  “Shall Sean hold you still while I fuck you with my tongue?”

  It was Sean’s turn to moan, unable to suppress the needful sound or the vivid image that burst to life within his mind.

  Kellan chuckled. “Did you enjoy watching me eat her pussy? Is that why it took you so long to scan her memory?”

  “She’s right, you’re a bastard.”

  “And you both love me for it.” Kellan moved to Sean’s side, dragging Brianna with him. She arched and twisted, kicking wildly as he positioned her face down over his lap. Then his dark gaze collided with Sean’s and he commanded, “Take off her pants and spank her ass.”

  “Fuck you.” Sean glared, heart pounding.

  “We’ll get to that, but she needs discipline first.” He nodded toward her squirming body, holding her down with relative ease. “Do it now or I’ll punish you.”

  Sean’s cock bucked and his mind froze as a vivid image flashed through his mind. He saw himself kneeling naked and aroused as Kellan whipped his upturned ass with a belt. Vivid welts striped his entire ass and still Kellan swung the belt. “No.”

  Kellan’s brows arched, then he chuckled. “I never repeat an order, which means you’ve made your choice.” He moved one hand to the middle of her back and unfastened her pants with the other. “I’ll deal with Sean in a minute. One disrespectful lover at a time.” With his eyes still stabbing into Sean’s, Kellan dragged her pants down around her knees.

  “Look at this smooth white ass.” He caressed her cheeks, his thumb tracing her crack, which made her wiggle harder. “It’s even prettier when it’s nice and pink.” He spanked her firmly, once on either side.

  The unmistakable crack of flesh against flesh jarred through Sean, heating his blood and reigniting his imagination. He saw himself in her place, laid out flat across Kellan’s strong thighs as his large hand firmly spanked his ass.

  “Why am I spanking you?” He delivered two swats to each side then paused, waiting for her answer.

  Silence.

  He sped his pace, spanking her fast and hard. Sean watched her pale skin pinken and couldn’t help wondering how it felt, not only to be spanked, but to spank. He wanted both.

  Knowing he risked further punishment, he knelt beside Kellan’s legs and asked, “May I?”

  “Yes, but you’ll still be punished for refusing me.”

  “I understand.”

  Brianna turned her head, looking up at him through her hair. She didn’t say anything, but her face was flushed, her eyes tear-bright.

  Before her distress could change his mind, he brought his hand down on her already red behind. She gasped and stilled. He wasn’t sure why.

  “Harder,” Kellan told him. “She needs a nice firm hand.”

  Sean spanked her again, harder, then harder still. Her cry was clearly pleasure, so he spanked her some more.

  Suddenly, Kellan grabbed his wrist. “Enough.” He pulled her up and turned her to face Sean, then he pushed his hand between her thighs, cupping her mound. “We’re both hard enough to pound nails and she’s so wet her pants are soggy. How much longer are we going to pretend this is the result of some magic spell?” His hand moved and her body jerked. “Stop lying to yourself and I’ll let you come.”

  “I hate you,” she sneered, yet her eyes burned with passion.

  “Of course you do.” His voice was even, almost amused. “The princess is supposed to hate the overlord. But that doesn’t stop her from wanting him. She unlocks the door so he can fuck her senseless all through the night. Hate me if you must. Just admit that you want me.” He touched her again and again, making her tremble.

  “I want Sean!”

  “Sean can’t fuck you unless I fuck you. Don’t you remember the rules?”

  “Stop it.” There was far less vehemence in her voice this time. “This isn’t a fantasy realm. You’re really touching me.”

  “Yes, I am. And you’re melting all over my fingers. Take off her pants, Sean. Give me room to move.”

  How did he do this? One minute they were rubbing his face in the fact he was an asshole and the next he had them wrapped around his finger. Right where they’d wanted to be all along.

  Sean tugged off her pants and bent her knees. Her sleek thighs framed Kellan’s hand, his long fingers gently massaging.

  “Let me do it.” Was that tight, urgent voice actually his?

/>   “Let you do what?”

  “Let me lick her pussy. I want to feel her come around my tongue.”

  Kellan paused, his gaze boring into Sean’s. “You can lick her pussy while she sucks my cock, but that’s not how this will end. After you’re swimming in her taste and you get down to business between her thighs, I’m going to kneel behind you. I’m going to spread those tight round cheeks and work you with my fingers. I’m going to lube you up good and push my cock deep into your ass. Then, and only then, I’ll come deep inside you while you spill your seed inside our mate. Does that sound like a plan?”

  Lust, scalding and raw washed over Sean. He clenched his fists, barely able to breathe. He could almost feel the fullness, the overwhelming heat of Kellan’s cock pushing into his body. His lips pressed together, fighting back the words. But somehow they still slipped free. “Yes, Master.”

  Chapter Nine

  Nehalem Bryson sat in the back corner of the seedy bar, loath to touch anything. She didn’t dare return to any of the nicer mutant bars—if there was such a thing—for fear that her husband would learn she hadn’t left the planet. Yes, her husband and Chancellor Howyn were both in custody, but men with their kind of power were never without resources.

  She’d wanted to leave the planet, had booked passage on a luxury liner bound for a leisure colony in a distant galaxy when the cravings surfaced. Her body had become accustomed to the continual influx of mutant energy she had force-fed it during her excursions with her husband and now, like a junkie, her body demanded regular feedings. If she didn’t absorb mutant energy on a regular basis, she became violently and excruciatingly ill. Unfortunately the particular mutant energy she needed existed nowhere but on Protaria.

  Suspecting that the Chrysalis nanites would make these cravings unbearable, she had opted not to use them. The nanites amplified mutant energy, making everything about it more potent. There was a tiny chance the nanites would allow her to satisfy her cravings with a smaller amount of energy, while it made more sense that everything about her condition would be made that much worse. No. The nanites were staying in suspension until she found another host.