Vampire Enslavement (Lords of Bondage) (17 page)

Sulian returned his gaze to Kiera and frowned. “I am sorry. You will have no tattoos or marks upon your neck during the next set of mating tests.”

He implied she would fail multiple mating tests in the future, which wasn’t news she wished to hear. “Maybe I will be marked some place other than my neck.”

Sulian shook his head. “I see no marks. Kiera, I didn’t see any signs of a successful Mating Period, either. I didn’t check other periods of time…”

“I know what you’re saying. I will be left unmated for at least four years. You will not look further than that because you don’t want to give me even worse news.”

His face was full of sorrow. “I am sorry, Kiera. I know it wasn’t what you wanted to hear.”

“Maybe your vision is wrong.”

“I wish I was mistaken. I am disappointed as well. I had hoped you would be the one…”

Panic gripped her. It was all slipping away. All of her dreams. Gone. “I could still be yours. We don’t really know the future.”

“I trust my visions. I am sorry.”

“You will not stay, will you?”

Sulian studied the grass at their feet, clearly uncomfortable with the turn of events. “It would be pointless to proceed with a mating ceremony when it is doomed to fail. I won’t take advantage of you that way.”

Her future loomed before her, frightening her. Years upon years of failure. It was intolerable. She had been too long on the shelf and it was only a matter of time before she lost her eligibility status. She wouldn’t be able to acquire a mate if that happened. “I understand,” she said to Sulian. She wouldn’t resort to begging. Deep down, she knew Sulian was making the wisest decision. It wasn’t going to happen. Not for her. She was destined to be alone.

It looked like things were not going to work out as she would have liked. So why stay? She couldn’t return to that dark one-roomed hovel she called a home. It was so far from civilization that she only had insects and other wildlife as company. It was so depressing to see her mother slaving away in the fields all day with hardly a break. At night in the farmhouse, she worked her fingers to the bone. She wanted to save her mother and younger sister from a life of drudgery, but it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. At least not through a mating union.

She would find another way, she thought with determination as her mind raced. Her mother’s Roman family was rich. She knew those stories were true because she remembered seeing her grandmother when she was a young girl. The woman had always been dressed in lavish clothes and covered in jewels. She had owned a chariot that was made of real gold and it had been pulled by pure white stallions. She had always wondered what had become of her grandmother. All she knew was that her grandparents had gone on a trip to Rome and neither had returned. Perhaps now that she was in Rome she would find answers. Even better, if she could manage to recover some of her grandmother’s property, she would not have to depend on a mate to support herself and her mother. She needed to pay a visit to her grandmother’s family home. And she needed to do it soon.

* * *

Cassia was envious of the hybrid females dressed in their finery. They would be mated tonight, which she understood to be the hybrid equivalent to marriage. Their matings would be temporary and only made permanent if a mating bond could be established. It all came down to a bite. Cassia wondered when Cabrian would bite her. Not any time soon, especially if Diermont had his way.

Cassia was self-conscious of her unclothed state. She was short and softly rounded, with a body the complete opposite of her athletic stepsister, Lavinia, who had been a gladiatrix. Even before her captivity, she had not had the confidence to wear the low cut gowns that other ladies of her class wore to social events. Now she had to go about nude. She could feel the stares of the hybrid females. They were curious about humans, but some of the looks she was getting were downright malicious. She tried to ignore them.

Diermont approached. He took the end of her leash from Cabrian’s hands and led her to a sofa whereupon a richly dressed hybrid female rested. Princess Snotti. Diermont tugged on the leash. “Allow me to present to you Cassia Maximus, daughter of Lucine Maximus. Now a slave.” Diermont put his hands on top of Cassia’s head and gave her a shove. “Bow before my mate and give her the proper respect.”

Cassia fell to her knees and Snotti snickered at her. She fixed her eyes to the ground since the lady would be offended if she looked her in the eye.

“A great Roman lady. Look at her now!” Snotti fingered a lock of Cassia’s golden hair. “Interesting coloring for an animal. And she has the same color hair down below. How odd.”

“Yes. Humans are furry creatures. They have hair everywhere. Even under their armpits when unshaven.”

“How like an animal she is,” Snotti said while patting the top of Cassia’s head. “It is good that she is collared and leashed. I want to see her crawl with her ass in the air.”

“Very well. The pet will do as you bid. I believe it is trainable.”

“The pet is a runt. I want a closer look at it.”

“Arise, slave.” Diermont tugged on her collar and Cassia had to raise herself upright to prevent herself from being choked. “This female was a slave owner and a milkmaid. I could have killed her along with the rest, but I wanted her to suffer for her crimes. Her enslavement is what she deserves for holding our own captive. And like the hybrids she held captive, she will be denied the dignity of clothing. And she will not remain unmolested.”

Snotti smiled and showed her razor-like fangs. “I see your wisdom in letting one of the Romans live. Death would have been too easy for that one.”

“I knew you would understand once you saw her.” Diermont yanked Cassia by the collar and forced her to walk beside him. The leather leash dangled loosely while she walked, brushing against the tip of her right breast and making it feel sensitive. He led her through a cluster of hybrid males to a table. Cabrian sat on the other end and he looked livid, but she could tell he was trying to hide it.

Diermont lifted her on the table and pushed her on her hands and knees. “Now crawl to your owner.”

When Cassia didn’t move quickly enough for him, Diermont tugged on the leash to force her to comply. The other hybrids seated at the table whistled at her and made suggestive remarks as she passed. Some unknown person slapped her on the behind. She couldn’t look to see who had dared accost her because Diermont was pulling her so hard that she was in danger of choking. She wondered if it was worth it being with Cabrian when she had to endure this humiliation. Sometimes she felt peeved at Cabrian when he didn’t intervene on her behalf. He allowed her to be mistreated. She understood that he couldn’t go against Diermont’s orders without being killed for it, but sometimes the situation made her question her relationship with him. Diermont tossed the leash to Cabrian when she reached him.

“My pet returns.” Cabrian pulled her across his lap and captured her bare breasts in his hands.

“It is not too late to join the mating tests, Lord Ross,” Diermont said. “A male has needs that must be met.”

“I’m done with the tests. But thank you for the offer.” His hand stroked between her legs to brush against her cleft.

Cassia couldn’t escape his fingers as they rubbed against her nub, making her whimper. She lifted herself from his lap in an attempt to dislodge his fingers, but he yanked her back to him with the leash.

“Very good, Lord Ross. Do not let your pet get away.” Diermont stood and watched until Cassia stopped resisting. “There you go, slave. Spread your legs a bit more and let your master stroke you. Be a sweet little pet and maybe your master will feed you.”

Cassia’s eyes widened, thinking the prince meant something else entirely until Cabrian whispered, “He means food, literally. They’ve prepared a feast for the mating ceremonies.”

Cassia closed her eyes, not wanting to know who watched her. She was grateful when she heard the prince move away from them. “Must you do this here?”

“You are fortunate this is the worst of it. At least you are only being touched. Diermont’s going to watch those hybrids bed their ladies during the mating tests.”

Cassia was shocked. And the hybrids accused the Romans of being depraved. She relaxed against him, realizing most of the attention wasn’t on them any longer. Diermont was announcing the pairings. The hybrid females paired with the hybrid males and bowed before the prince while he blessed the unions. Cassia noticed one of the hybrid males was chained to a post in the ground. She recognized him as one of Lucine’s former captives. “Why is that one chained?”

Cabrian glanced at the male and frowned. “That’s Tylan Donovan, one of the hybrids from Ravenwood. He’s from a rival clan. He tried to claim your stepsister and Diermont imprisoned him for refusing to follow his orders.”

Cassia remembered him now. Tylan was the one who wanted Lavinia but he had lost that fight. “What will they do with him?”

“He should be freed. Diermont wants to use him as a hostage for a future trade, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth to keep him in chains.”

As Diermont finished announcing the pairings, a voice yelled out in outrage, “It seems all the females have been divvied up and I’ve been left with nothing. Have you nothing to offer me, great leader?”

Cassia trembled when the seven foot tall hybrid raised his fist in the air. The heavily tattooed warrior had been the most devastating gladiator in the arena at one time. Known as Bloodfanger, he sent chills down her spine. She couldn’t imagine him with a female. Apparently, neither could Diermont or Snotti.

“All of the ladies here have been spoken for, I must say. I had to give priority to my own clansmen.”

“The hell you say. You told me I’d be treated as one of your own. So where’s my temporary mate, the one I’ll get to screw for a month?”

Diermont’s hand shook and there was tension in his face that he hadn’t managed to hide. “We’re a few females short. I apologize, Bloodfanger. As you can see, not all of my males participated. Lord Halloran did not receive a mate, nor did Lord Ross.”

“Lord Ross is already getting pussy. And Lord Halloran is probably gay.”

“You insult my most esteemed nobles, Bloodfanger,” Diermont said with a reddened face that showed his anger. “I have no deviants here.”

“So you say. But I know that male,” Bloodfanger said while pointing to Cabrian, “is fucking that human and that other one,” he said while pointing to Modez, “is paler than I am and I am from the North. I am supposed to be white of skin, but he is not. That lord of yours lacks the blood to make his penis stand up enough to penetrate a female. He’s weak and sickly. That’s why he didn’t get a mate handed to him. But I’m healthy enough to fill a thousand wenches. You denied me the opportunity because you are prejudiced against the hybrids from the North.”

“That’s not true.” Diermont stomped his foot and wagged his finger in Bloodfanger’s face. “I am the prince and you’ll not question me, Northerner. You are not entitled to my females. You are here to assist in this war. The bounty you have been given is equal to anyone else’s and I’ll not hear otherwise. If you don’t like how I run things, you can take your lily white ass out of here and go back to whence you came.”

“Fucking prince. I’m a god of the arena and I deserve respect. I’m not putting up with this bullshit,” Bloodfanger said as he stormed out of the garden area.

“Well that was interesting,” Cabrian said as the ex-gladiator vanished from sight. “I wonder which poor lady he had his eyes on. I didn’t know he had an inclination toward the fairer sex.”

“I bet Lord Halloran didn’t like having his sexual preferences questioned in front of his peers.” Cassia had seen the look of humiliation on Modez’s face and she found it interesting that he was bothered by another hybrid’s perception of him. Modez did appear pale and ill. “Do hybrids get illnesses? I thought they rarely got sick. But Lord Halloran doesn’t look right.”

“Our bodies generally heal themselves and we’re naturally immune to nearly all diseases and viruses. I’m not sure what is going on with Modez.”

“I hope it doesn’t spread, whatever it is. Well, I hope it is nothing that would spread to you. I’m not so concerned for the others.”

“I don’t want to think about them. I’d rather focus on you.”

Her sex clenched when Cabrian inserted a finger inside her. She felt the hard press of his erection against her ass, where she sat on him. She wished they could disappear, that he could find some way to take her body. The sex ban was starting to aggravate her.

“You’re so wet and I want you so bad.” His breathing was harsh and he sounded more aroused than usual. “I’ll find a way to get inside you again. This is killing me.”

Cassia gripped him outside his trousers. “This is the only way right now.” She hoped to take the edge off. It didn’t take long before he found his release. Hers came a moment later.

Cabrian set her away from his body and let out an agitated breath. “You shouldn’t have done that here. I hope no one saw.”

“That? But that was nothing.” Cassia hadn’t even touched bare flesh.

“Diermont hasn’t given permission for me to take any pleasure from you, Cassia. We must be careful.”

Cassia scanned the courtyard. Many of the lords and ladies had left. The ones that remained weren’t paying any attention to them. She supposed the novelty of the naked slave girl routine was wearing off. They were more interested in the hybrid matings. “I don’t think anyone saw us.” At least she hoped not. She didn’t want to risk either of them getting in trouble.

Chapter 13

Kiera looked toward the exit, trying to judge how soon she could disappear. The couples had given their vows and would be departing to the bedchambers.

“Kiera,” Diermont said. “I am disappointed in you. Again.”

She looked into the prince’s frowning face and the coldness in his tone made her tremble. “I’m sorry.”

“Snotti was highly upset that she had the druid come here for nothing. Sulian told me that he will not be returning. He is unwilling to wait for you, but he should not have had to wait. A true lady is ready at all times.”