Flame of the Alpha (10 page)

She barely had time to react before his tongue slipped its way past her defenses to sweep against hers. A moment later, he withdrew and placed her back on her feet. The world tilted and the room spun around her as she gasped for breath. The feel of his mouth on hers made her lips tingle, and she pressed her fingertips against the spot.

“What about you, Priestess?” Dante asked, his crooked smile stealing the breath from her lungs. “Can I give you what you crave?”

She shook her head, though not in answer. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

Sophia stepped over the threshold and into the cloister. Rays of early afternoon sunshine beamed down through the latticed roof. The scent of blossoming orchids filled the air. Unlike the synthetic, year-round blooming plants that grew outside the Academy walls, the flora in the garden and the inner cloister
was
as real as it came.

Sophia drew in a deep breath, but instead of orchid, another scent dominated her senses. The musk of aroused male blended with the spice of sweat. Far from being unpleasant, it caused a trickle of cream to drip along her inner folds.

She drew in a sharp breath as they rounded a corner, remembering the way Dante had looked when he’d hovered on the precipice of climax. Her hand shot out and she gripped his wrist, stopping him in mid-stride. “You can’t come.”

Dante raised an eyebrow. “You want to take my place?”

“No. I mean, you can’t
come
.
Climax.
Orgasm.
Shoot your load.”

He looked at her as though she’d lost her mind.
“Jealous, Priestess?”

“No!” Aggravation pooled in the pit of her stomach until she was ready to stomp her foot in annoyance. “You can’t control your inner beast. Not when you’re that close. If you let yourself come, he’ll know what you are, even without the use of his fancy DNA scanning tools.”

Dante looked skeptical, his mouth quirking upward in a smile. “I can control myself when I have to, Sophia. I hate to break it to you, but I’ve come before.
With humans, no less.
None have ever been the wiser as to my true form.”

That admission gave her pause. A sliver of something akin to true jealousy settled low in her belly. She pushed it aside, focusing on Dante’s words instead. “That can’t be true. I saw you in the garden when you were watching me. I could tell you were close. You were…”
Beautiful
.
“Changing.”

“I was not,” he said, almost defiantly. “I know how various races across the galaxy treat those like me. Some are kind, others are indifferent, but there are those who’d wipe me out in an instant just because of the DNA that flows through my bloodstream. Trust me. I know what’s at stake.”

Sophia swallowed hard. “I don’t think you do.”

Before she could change her mind, she let her fingers slide from Dante’s wrist to his palm and wrapped them around his hand. If he was surprised, he didn’t show it.

She turned right, away from the training rooms where Captain
Jolen
waited and led them through a large archway that gave way to a narrow passage. To his credit, Dante didn’t ask questions. He let her pull him through a series of double doors, each requiring a more significant security
check
than the one before it.

She paused in front of the last door. Unlike the other doors in the temple, which were mostly wood etched with elaborate carvings depicting Saint Valentine in various states of
debauchery,
this one was made of pure metal alloy.
Impenetrable,
and shielded from
Terran
officials’ heat scans. For all intents and purposes, the room didn’t exist.

“Can I trust you, Dante?” Sophia whispered as she pressed her palm to the security panel and leaned in for a retina scan.

“You know you can.”

She swallowed hard. A breeze of filtered air blew from an overhead vent, tousling her bangs. “Not good enough. I need to hear you say it.”

“You can trust me, Sophia.”

She closed her eyes, analyzing every nuance of his voice. She had no way to know for certain whether he was telling the truth. Not really. But she hoped she’d judged him well enough to risk…
everything
.

The door slid open with a dull hiss.

“Sophia!”

Saints, there was no sweeter sound than the voices of half a dozen children hollering her name in unison. She made it as far as the middle of the room before the youngsters leapt upon her, hugging her and squealing happily as they wrapped their small arms around her waist.

She ruffled the hair of a blond, blue-eyed boy named Michael. “Children, I’d like you to meet a friend.” She glanced up and met Dante’s stunned gaze. “This is Dante. He’ll be staying with us for a while.”

“Hi, Dante!”

The cheerful chorus drew a genuine smile from Dante. There was nothing cocky about this grin. Instead, it showed surprise and pleasure, widening when the kids abandoned Sophia to attack him, instead.

They leapt upon him with big, exuberant hugs. Astonishment flared across Dante’s face for only an instant, before the kids knocked him to the ground. His laugh echoed through the cavernous room and bounced off the metal walls.

Sophia’s hands shook as she walked to stand beside him, so she folded her arms across her breasts to keep him from noticing. Looking down, she met his questioning gaze.

“You wanted to know what a Flame is. As I told you earlier, a Flame is someone who takes part in the most important ceremony conducted at the Academy in worship of Saint Valentine. What I didn’t mention is that a Flame is the only one who can claim a Head Priestess. He’s a supplicant.
An
inamorato
.”
She smiled at the sight of the children tumbling on top of Dante. “And if the Saint grants it, he’s also a father.”

Chapter Six

The filthy whores were ignoring him. No, not just ignoring him. They’d
locked
him inside a training room like a common slave!

Neo paced the length of the cavernous chamber, hands balled into fists at his sides. How dare they treat him worse than a common patron? Didn’t they know how much pull he had with the Central Command authorities? How he could have them storm into this place and tear it down brick by brick if he as much as suspected the priestesses were harboring
Terran
enemies or Alpha carriers?

A low growl escaped his gritted teeth. He’d been in this room for almost three hours. Three fucking
hours!
With the door fused shut from the outside. Someone had to pay for this gross insult. At the moment, he didn’t care who.

Draining the remaining contents of champagne from a two-toned goblet, he tossed the glass against the wall. It shattered instantly, spraying the marble floor with shards of crystal. For a moment, he allowed himself to picture the High Priestess on her knees, the glass slicing her flawless skin as she sucked him off.

His cock hardened, pulsing sleek and hot against his bare stomach. He’d discarded his armored uniform, along with his concealed weapon, long ago. He wouldn’t need either for what he had in mind.

Neo trailed his palms along the lush breasts of a bronze sculpture as he grew harder
It
was a woman’s life-sized nude form, delicately sculpted to showcase high breasts dangling like two perfect pendulums as she bent over. Behind her, a man -- presumably Saint Valentine himself -- thrust a thick spiral dildo into her. With one hand, he held her wrists firmly behind her back, which only caused her breasts to jut out further as she bent over. The woman’s face had been carved with exquisite care. Her eyes had rolled back into her head and her mouth formed a perfect “O” at the level of
Neo’s
crotch.

If only that luscious mouth hadn’t been made of bronze…

Not that he was desperate enough to thrust his cock into a statue, no matter how life-like it seemed, but he needed
something
wrapped around his dick. Anger boiled in his veins, making him even harder. Adrenaline surged through him, pouring the ire into his balls, stiffening his rod until it seemed to be made of the same solid material as the sculpture.

The hiss of the door opening alerted Neo to someone’s presence. Aggravation flared anew as he spun around, ready to rail at whatever minor servant they’d sent in with food or drink this time.

But it was the High Priestess herself who strode through the door, followed closely by Dante.

Her face was flushed, her eyes fever-bright. The smile that tilted her lips looked anything but genuine. “I apologize for keeping you waiting. We were…needed elsewhere.”

Neo waited until the door slid closed before replying. When he spoke, the words came out gritty and hoarse. “I don’t enjoy being caged like a wild animal. And any excuse you utter for Dante’s absence is irrelevant. The only reason he’d be kept away from me would be if he had a prior engagement. I will not tolerate anyone else touching my servant. My deposit makes him mine exclusively. Or have you forgotten?”

“No one’s touched him except for the purposes of training, I assure you.” Long eyelashes shrouded the High Priestess’s eyes as she spoke, making it impossible for Neo to gauge the truth of her words.

Could she be stupid enough to lie to him? She was brazen and bold, confident in her patron Saint’s protection, but would she take her brash assuredness so far as to blatantly violate the Academy’s contract with him?

Neo forced himself to take a deep breath. He was getting too worked up over this. No doubt the High Priestess wanted him agitated. It would throw him off and make him careless. She still had the right to refuse his bid for Dante, if she thought Neo was capable of harming the servant in any way. Patrons owned their pleasure slaves in every sense of the word, yet there were rules that governed proper behavior. The
Terran
government didn’t tolerate abuse.

It simply wasn’t profitable.

He swallowed past the irritation lodged in his throat and flexed his fingers, relaxing his tense muscles. He didn’t want to hurt Dante, anyway. At least, not in any way that would cause the man permanent harm.

He wanted to push this unusual servant past his boundaries, to shove him hard through the point of no return. A slow smile replaced the scowl that had been straining
Neo’s
features.

He’d do just that.
Starting now.

“Take off those pants,” he instructed. “They’re ridiculous.”

Dante’s eyes were hooded against the crimson light flickering from overhead neon lights. The illumination in the room had been toned down to a shimmering, dull level, just strong enough to add an eerie atmosphere to a chamber whose name translated directly to “bloody.”

Perhaps it had been named for the condition of the servants as they exited the room. Judging by the instruments of pain and pleasure sprinkled liberally among the statues depicting various BDSM techniques, Neo didn’t doubt that the room’s designation had been chosen in direct correlation to its purpose.

While abuse wasn’t tolerated by either the Academy or the government, playful bondage and the liberal application of pain for the purpose of pleasure wasn’t just abided, it was encouraged.

There was a fine line between abuse and playfulness, one the Academy’s patrons often straddled. As long as no complaints were issued, though, no one seemed to care in which direction a patron leaned.

When Dante made no move to obey, Neo stalked around him like a predator assessing its prey. His gaze took in the fine details of muscle and sinew stretched taut over a broad chest and strong, massive arms. Despite Dante’s size, the man held himself with a fluidity born of self-assuredness. Even when exposed to
Neo’s
obvious displeasure, he didn’t flinch or tense. He simply stood there, as though what Neo wanted or didn’t want was of no concern to him.

“You didn’t train him too well, now, did you?” Neo growled between clenched teeth, directing his question to Sophia, who stood in front of Dante like a human shield. One almost a foot shorter than the man she sought to protect. The image would have been amusing if she hadn’t been standing in
Neo’s
way.

“I told you he wasn’t ready,” Sophia shot back, her black eyes glimmering with barely disguised hostility. “You’re welcome to leave, and return in a couple of weeks. He’ll be much better prepared by then, I assure you.”

Neo clasped his hand around Sophia’s throat so quickly that she barely had time to react. Her eyes widened and a small cry escaped her throat. Her skin felt warm beneath his fingertips, echoing the sensation of raw heat stirring in his groin.

“Don’t play with me, Priestess. You won’t like the results.”

From the corner of his eye, Neo saw Dante tense. The man’s eyes narrowed and veins stood out sharply along his biceps. Neo didn’t have to glance down to know his hands were clenched into fists.

Ah. So
this
got a reaction from the otherwise stoic pleasure servant.
Interesting.
He filed that away, knowing he might be able to use Dante’s obvious attachment to Sophia in some way when an opportunity presented itself.

For now, though, the Priestess wasn’t the one who interested him. Dante was different from all the other pleasure servants trained at the Academy.
Perhaps different enough to warrant being entrusted with the Academy’s secrets.

Since Sophia would never willingly reveal what she and her kin were hiding, Neo knew he had to find other means to extract the information. At the moment, Dante was his best bet.

Abruptly, Neo released Sophia. She stumbled backward a step, her hand going to her throat.

“Leave us,” Neo commanded. “I need some time alone to get to know my servant.”

He watched as Sophia darted a glance at Dante, her hand rubbing distractedly at the flesh reddened by
Neo’s
ruthless grip. Their eyes met.
Held.

Sophia broke the connection first. She straightened her spine and leveled Neo with a firm gaze. “He’s not your possession yet, Captain. I’m staying.”

Neo opened his mouth to protest then thought better of it. A slow smile spread across his features. So the Priestess wanted to watch, did she? A shiver of anticipation ran down
Neo’s
spine. Saints, this was even better than he’d hoped. With any luck, he’d get everything he wanted right in this very room.

The Academy’s secrets.
A natural Dom.

Everything.
Right here.
Right now
.

Fighting to keep his enthusiasm in check, Neo crossed his arms over his chest. He looked from Dante to Sophia, then back again.
“Strip.
Both of you.”

Sophia’s jaw inched up a notch. “I’m a High Priestess of the Order of Saint Valentine. You can’t command me. I’m simply here to observe and ensure you’re treating your servant-to-be in accordance to the pre-purchase contract.”

Neo moved slowly, deliberately, until he stood directly behind Sophia and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “No deal, Priestess. I know the
contract as well as you do
. Better, perhaps, since I’ve been studying my copy all night.”

He hadn’t been able to sleep more than an hour or two all night because his thoughts had continued to stray to Dante. The man had so much promise. Even the way his mouth had wrapped around
Neo’s
cock to suck him with such untrained precision had been a testament to his natural dominant abilities. He could submit, but not willingly, and certainly not out of his own desire to do so.

When images of Dante’s ass flexing and reddening as
Neo’s
blows carved delicate stripes across the pale flesh had become too much to bear, he’d resorted to reading the eighty-page contract in the hopes that it might alleviate some of the constant need simmering in his groin.

But the Priestess didn’t need to know all that. “I’m entitled to privacy while I assess Dante, just as any other patron would be. After all, purchasing a slave is a big decision, and not one to be made lightly. But since I’m such a nice guy, I’ll allow you to stay.
For a price.”

Though
Neo’s
cheek was pressed to Sophia’s hair, he was able to see Dante shift from foot to foot. Neo knew Dante couldn’t hear what he was saying, and it had to be driving him mad. For a disconcerting moment, Neo wondered if the man was considering lunging at him and bashing his skull in with his bare hands.

Hell, Dante certainly had the ability to do him harm. At least a head taller, he also possessed the kind of feral strength Neo had never encountered in a
Terran
citizen. Men were usually bred for purpose and efficiency. Even military men like
himself
depended on technology rather than sheer brawn alone to get them through a fight.

Still, there was something about Dante that reminded Neo a lot of
himself
. Sure, they looked different. Dante’s head of blond curls was a direct contrast to
Neo’s
long black locks. And while Neo took pride in the taut firmness of his body’s lean lines, he knew Dante’s rippling muscles were better defined than his own. As for his cock…well, Neo held no illusions that they were a match in that department, either.

They’d clearly been created in separate laboratories, for particular purposes. But there was something in the man’s steady resolve and the way he refused to take orders with a grateful smile that tugged at
Neo’s
self-control.

He had to have this man. Had to possess him, to make him his.
In every possible way.

Saints, could he finally, after years of searching, have found a servant worthy of receiving his unique brand of training? A man who could wield a whip as thought it was an extension of his hand? One who could attach nipple clamps without whimpering and thrust an anal toy in a back passage with the rough determination of a born Dominant?

Excitement surged through him, making his cock throb. He couldn’t wait to find out.

“I won’t submit to you,” Sophia said, jerking Neo out of his reverie. This close, he could make out the slight tremor in the Priestess’s voice, though he knew she’d tried for a calm, authoritative tone.

A low, rumbling laugh erupted from
Neo’s
chest. He pressed his cock against the base of her spine, letting her feel his intoxicating need. His head reeled with lust and fervent, unfettered hope.

“It’s not me you’ll be submitting to, Priestess.” He raised a hand and pointed past her to the doorway, where Dante looked ready to put those sleek muscles to use. “It’s him.”

“Strip.”

Until that very moment, Sophia hadn’t known one word could elicit such a maelstrom of emotions in her.
Such a simple word.
The captain’s word -- his command.

Spoken by Dante.

That
made all the difference. She could resist the arrogant Captain -- Master --
Jolen
. Sure, he had the ability to order half the Central Command officials to storm into her Academy, but he wouldn’t do it without at least a shred of solid proof.
And that, she wasn’t willing to give him.

Dante, on the other hand… Her gaze raked over his body, settling on the firm bulge between his powerful thighs. After meeting the children, he’d agreed to do everything in his power to remain aware of his inner impulse to shift at all times. She still didn’t think he believed her assertion about being unable to control
himself
, but there was too much at stake to ignore the possibility that losing control could cost them everything that mattered.

Everything she’d worked so hard to keep safe.

Her hand went to the sash draped across her waist. She tugged at one end and it unraveled, baring a strip of skin down her middle. Dante’s gaze darted over the newly uncovered flesh to linger on her pussy.