The Captive Flesh (29 page)

He smiled. Leyla had done exactly as he wished. It had been no hardship certainly, for he knew that she desired Marietta almost as much as he did. He knew now that a woman of Marietta's sensual temperament responded best to being soothed; by being brought to a sexual climax. If only he had realised that earlier, so much might have been avoided. Now Marietta lay sated in Leyla's arms. She would awake, renewed, refreshed, and ready to face anything. He wanted her mind to be clear by the time she was brought to his bedchamber, unshadowed by what she had suffered on the punishment block.

Though what he was about to do pained him, he was set on his course. After a final glance at the figures curved together in sleep, he slid noiselessly through the garden and made for the stables.

Gabriel got up slowly from the stable floor, where a few moments ago he had lain spreadeagled at Sita's command. He waited on all fours until she commanded him.

It had been her pleasure to have him lie down
unbound to receive his regular beating. He moved stiffly, the hot pain in his thighs and buttocks jarring right through him. The circle of female guards watching, laughed and jeered as he crawled on hands and knees to where Sita now stood waiting.

Sita had loosened the belt of her leather trousers and let them fall. Her muscular legs were parted, wreathed at the ankles by crumpled fabric. She had her hands on her hips and was watching Gabriel approach, a hard gleam in her narrow eyes.

‘Not such a pretty boy now, are you?' Sita jeered. ‘You look like the peasant you are with straw in your hair and your arms and legs all scratched from cleaning the stables. You can still use your tongue, though. Get over here and pleasure me.'

Gabriel knelt before Sita. He reached up and grasped her narrow hips, leaning towards the thickly furred sex. Sita pushed his hands down, then fetched him a stinging slap across the face.

‘Did I tell you to touch me? Use your tongue alone. And if you do not please me, you'll feel the bite of the lash again.'

Obediently Gabriel let his hands fall. He pressed his face to Sita's sex and reached out his tongue, questing through the musky-scented hair to the flesh-lips beyond. Sita's pubic hair was very thick and curly and extended to the crease of her groin, a few strands curling around the tops of her thighs. Sita tasted of musk and salt, with a trace of herbal-scented soap. One of the other guards flicked his sore buttocks as he probed the soft inner flesh of the sex. Gabriel grunted at the sudden flare of pain and his buttocks tightened as he arched his back.

Sita laughed at his discomfort and sank towards him a little, rubbing herself crudely over his face. She
grasped his hair and pulled him close so that his mouth and chin were buried in her. Gabriel gasped with pain as she twisted her hand in his hair. Sita laughed again, commenting on the hot rush of his breath. She closed her eyes, opening her thighs a little wider, as Gabriel began licking upwards towards the joining of her flesh-lips.

As she pulled his head back and forth, his tousled blond hair brushed her thighs and stomach and Sita's face softened with pleasure. Her muscular belly and thighs grew taut as she strained towards her climax. She was unaware of a sudden tension amongst the other guards. Their feet rustled in the straw as they stood back to let someone through.

‘Well, well, Sita,' Kasim said, ‘I see that you are carrying out my orders to the letter.'

Sita's eyes snapped open. She yanked Gabriel's head away and motioned to the other guards. While she rearranged her clothing they dragged Gabriel to his feet. Sita, her narrow face flushed scarlet, stood to attention. ‘My lord!'

Kasim smiled. ‘And Gabriel, have you learned obedience yet? No matter. It is time you returned to me.' He put a hand to his nose fastidiously. ‘You and you throw that bucket of water over him, then secure him. I'll take him with me.'

Sita watched, almost regretfully, as Gabriel shivered under the freezing deluge. ‘Shame you have to leave,' she hissed under her breath. ‘I had such plans for you.'

Gabriel let her see his disdain. ‘I pity you,' he whispered. ‘A woman without warmth is an enemy to herself.'

Sita's narrow lips tightened. She did not answer, but she jerked the bonds tight until they cut into his wrists and ankles. Gabriel did not react. He looked at her
coldly as she handed him over to Kasim. Without a backward glance, and without a word, Gabriel was led away.

Kasim was tempted to take Gabriel straight to his bedchamber. He found him most attractive in his dishevelled state. The water had washed off the muck of the stables, but straw was still flecked amidst the strands of his sweat-darkened hair. The scene he had come upon had aroused him. And, despite his obvious hatred of Sita, Gabriel too was aroused.

He was glorious in his nakedness. Water dripped down his shoulders and trailed in runnels to his groin, disappearing in the thick blond thatch. His sex stuck out straight in front of him. Kasim paused, grasped the erect shaft, and stroked it absently.

Gabriel's expression amused him. He still thinks he has a choice about whom he pleasures, he thought. Then he saw the well-shaped mouth set in resignation. The grey eyes flared with renewed desire. Gabriel was a volatile animal; it was a shame not to use him once more. Why not, Kasim thought. There was time before what he planned. He would take his pleasure with Gabriel one last time.

In the bedchamber he pressed Gabriel to the red velvet bedcover, not bothering to loosen his bonds. He reached for a pot of scented oil and began to apply it. His fingers worked into Gabriel's crevice, probing into his anus without gentleness. Gabriel gasped at Kasim's roughness.

‘Spread those buttocks. I care nothing for your pleasure. See that you work your opening for me. This is my reward. Are you not grateful that I released you from the stables?'

He took Gabriel without preamble, feeling the tight opening slide with scratchy heat along his shaft.
Gabriel's groans, caged behind gritted teeth, spurred him on. He thrust deeply, digging his fingers into the sore and heated bottom-flesh, while Gabriel buried his face in the red velvet, his groans turning to sobs.

Images of Gabriel and Marietta together flashed through Kasim's mind. His jealousy and rage was a white-hot presence, seeming to spread spiky fingers down into his belly and into the pulsing shaft of his cock. His testicles shrank to a hard tight bag. The fear, the risk he was going to take – soon, so soon – added an extra note to his pleasure. It took only a few moments for his climax to swamp him.

The thrusting within Gabriel ceased. The pleasure was so intense that it blotted out all thought, all sensation, except for the sweetly tearing pulsing that went on and on. Kasim's breath left him in a harsh sobbing groan. Under him Gabriel bucked and writhed, rubbing his erect penis against the velvet cover, straining for his own release. His face was turned to one side, his eyes squeezed tight shut. Tears streaked his anguished face. His bound hands flexed, wrists straining against the tough bonds. But his pleasure eluded him.

Kasim withdrew and cleansed himself with the oil. He left Gabriel lying on the bed, breathing hard, uncaring that he rolled over on to his side, his eyes pleading for Kasim to relieve his torment. Gabriel's shaft was standing up straight. The swollen head was free of the skin. It looked moist and inviting.

Kasim flicked it with a sort of sorrowful disdain. There was no time to pleasure Gabriel. ‘Get up,' he ordered. ‘Stand over there. I am about to do you an honour. Your future depends on what happens in this chamber in the next few minutes. You will observe and not say a word until I call for you. Do you understand?'

Gabriel did not, but he nodded and went to stand behind the carved wooden screen that Kasim had indicated. His body was a riot of pain and sensation. The tumescence at his groin was a torture to him. He craved Kasim's touch, even while he hated to admit to it, but the last few sentences Kasim had uttered chilled him. Something momentous was about to happen. And he sensed that it concerned Marietta.

That joining, just now, had had a contained frenzy about it. There seemed a desperation in Kasim, as if he were strung as tight as a bow. But to what purpose? Gabriel was puzzled. He had been dumbfounded when Kasim came to the stables to fetch him. That Kasim was still furious with him was plain. But he sensed that there was more to it. What was Kasim planning? No one could guess what went on in the dark convolutions of his mind.

Then the door to the bedchamber opened and Marietta walked into the room. Gabriel's heart leapt at the sight of her. So Kasim had also brought her back from the punishment block. They had both been rescued. But were they forgiven? Surely it could not be that simple.

Marietta crossed the room and stood waiting for Kasim to speak. He was reclining on the wide bed, one hand propping up his chin.

‘Ah, Marietta. I trust you are rested and refreshed. Leyla's attentions, while stimulating, are also soothing, are they not? You looked quite beautiful when I saw you together.'

She gave a little start of surprise, but he was smiling. She nodded uneasily. Was there anything that escaped his notice? He looked relaxed, even indolent. But she knew that his attitude was a mask. Kasim was at his most dangerous when he appeared that way. His dark
eyes were watchful, shadowed by that keen intelligence of his.

‘Come closer to me. I wish to look at you. In the short time you were gone I found my eyes lonely for you. Display yourself.'

There had been no word of blame, nor yet of forgiveness. She was sure he was testing her. First there was the hint of his affection for her, then the order to submit. She did not know how to react. She could only follow her instincts. As she took off the outer garment of gold tissue, she felt a sort of willing gladness flood her soul. Only now did she realise that she had been afraid that he would reject her completely. She had a strong urge to throw herself at his feet, beg him to forgive her, stammer out her thanks – but she controlled the impulse.

Kasim watched her. Did he sense her inner struggle? Though he remained stern, even cold, something had changed between them. She dared to think that it might be for the better.

Her white silk tunic, split down the front, fell at her feet. Under it she wore a breast halter made of tiny jewelled chains. A deep belt of gold leather cinched her waist. More chains were secured to the centre of the belt; they trailed over, but did not obscure her fleece – displayed prominently as always. Loose, open-fronted trousers of white silk clothed her legs and were drawn in tightly at each ankle. Leyla had dressed her with special care for this meeting. She knew she looked her sensual best.

Marietta saw Kasim's eyes widen slightly as she sank gracefully into the posture of submission. Without his prompting she arranged herself as beguilingly as possible. She straightened her shoulders, pushing her breasts up and forward, the action making the delicate
chains part so that her rouged nipples protruded invitingly. Clasping her hands in the small of her back, she parted her knees widely, feeling her flesh-lips open and the heart of her sex present itself to his view. The chains hung down between her legs, swaying gently. She felt their delicious coolness tickle her open sex and thighs.

Kasim's eyes raked her face, searching. He looked as if he wanted to speak but dared not. She knew that the proper thing to do was to lower her eyes and chin, but she looked straight at Kasim and let him see her utter compliance. Then she lowered her eyelids and said one word.

‘Master.'

Kasim made a sound deep in his throat. Slowly he got off the bed and came to her. He walked around her sedately, a look of wonder on his face. Still not speaking he stroked her tumble of silver curls, cupped her chin and turned her face up to him. He ran one hand over her breasts, squeezing the nipples gently, rolling them so that shards of sensation pooled in her stomach. Marietta parted her lips and smiled up at him.

Some of the tension seemed to go out of Kasim. He sat on the edge of the bed. ‘The moment has come for you to make a choice. Perhaps I need not ask you this – you seem to have decided. Yet I must be sure.'

She looked at him, a puzzled frown gathering between her pale brows.

‘I demand complete obedience from those I … regard highly. You know this. But the submission I wish for from my favourites must, ultimately, be given freely. Do you understand?'

She nodded.

‘I think you do not. Not fully. I kept you here against your will because there was no other way to show you
what I am. And what you are. For, make no mistake, I choose only those in whom I see my own reflection. I knew the moment I set eyes on you that we were alike.'

He spoke the truth. Marietta had felt this all along. That was why it had been so hard to resist. Deep inside her she knew that she craved Kasim's coldness, his domination. Because it was not coldness at all – it was an expression of love. Oh, yes. A departure from the conventional understanding of it, but love nonetheless – the kind that struck a note of resonance deep within her soul.

‘I have made my choice,' she said, her voice husky with emotion.

A dark flame kindled in Kasim's eyes. ‘I see that you have, my treasure. But there is more to this. You make your choice blindly, for you are not aware that there is an alternative to staying here with me. You and I must face this. And then there will never be any barriers between us.'

Marietta looked puzzled. ‘My lord?'

For answer, Kasim walked over to a screen she had not noticed and spoke to someone. She heard the sound of a muffled conversation, then Kasim reappeared. A figure emerged after him.

‘Gabriel!' Marietta breathed. ‘You are safe!'

Gabriel smiled at her, his eyes kindling as they took in her posture, the charms so openly displayed. ‘As you are, my heart. How I ache when I look on your beauty.'

Marietta flashed a worried look towards Kasim. Surely he would punish Gabriel for his outspokenness. But Kasim merely ignored his words.