A Prisoner's Desire Read online

  "Aye," she whispered against his fingers.

  He was quiet too long. Fear set in. If he turned her down, if he told the guards and they believed him—

  "I am yours, M'Lady, if you will have me."

  "You and no other."

  "You and no other, M'Lady. There will never be another for me. Forever and always."

  * * * * *

  She found him at last, his mind searching for hers in the dreaming, like a small boy wandering lost. He was so tired. Even in the dreaming he'd fallen asleep. She bent down to kiss his forehead, cupping his chin as she supported his head, feathering her fingers through baby fine hair…

  To her surprise, Balthain pushed her away. "This is wrong. Why are you here? Leave me in peace. A man's dreams should be private."

  The voice did not belong to a child. She had forgotten how fast these mortals matured. Of course. He would be a man now. A man would not need the comfort she had offered the child. Would he send her away? Would he take from her the only hope she still clung to? "I cannot leave you," she protested. "You are mine, Balthain. You have always been mine."

  The image before her shifted and blurred until she found herself face to face with the man he had become.

  A Warrior. He was a Warrior. Tall and broad and strong enough to break her in two, and yet he trembled beneath her touch. How much did he know? How much did he understand of the dreaming? Could she actually talk to him? Could she …

  Could she touch him? Really touch him? She leaned in to kiss him, forgetting herself as she tested the limits of the dreaming. She had to know, had to feel…

  His arms tightened around her, warm and solid and real. His voice whispered against her skin, deep and seductive as she lost herself in his arms. "I'm still asleep. You are the Succubus from my dreams."

  Succubus? She almost laughed at the thought, then sobered. He was right. She stole from him in his sleep. Stole his dreams, stole his warmth, stole his comfort. Selfishly took from him while she offered nothing in return, nothing but the warmth of shared dreams…

  She felt his body tighten against her, felt his arms crush her against his hot, hungry length.

  He wanted her? Wanted her as a woman?

  There could be no doubt. She could feel his cock throbbing against her, solid evidence of his desire, hot and needy, begging for her touch.

  She had been alone so long. The love she'd felt for the boy blended with the needs of a woman now. Lust clawed at her, its fingers greedy and tenacious as she swayed against his heat. He'd never tried to touch her before.

  How could he touch her like this? How could his body feel so real? If he could penetrate the dreaming enough to reach out to her, what else could he do? Could she give him what his body asked for, here? It was little enough to ask, little enough to pay for so great a prize. She kissed him again, the kiss of a lover this time…

  His kiss felt real enough. As real as the hard length of his cock pressed against her.

  He pushed her away, holding her at arm's length. "You're real, aren't you? You exist outside of my dreams."

  He knew? He understood? Tâkuri pulled him back into her arms, desperate for his touch, wanting him now as he had her only moments before. She clung to him, dizzy with hope and fear. "You understand, now? Rat? Are you awake? Can you still hear me?"

  "I think I'm still asleep, but I can see you, hear you, as if I were awake."

  "Do not fear me, Balthain. I mean you no harm."

  He smiled at that. "Fear you, M'Lady? I might as well fear a butterfly."

  Her breath caught in her throat, a small flicker of hope. "You know what I am?"

  "You are Fey. Sidhe. And you are yet the Succubus I met in the dreaming."

  She tried to keep the desperation from her voice, not wanting him to shake himself awake with the force of her panic. "Will you remember me when you wake up?"

  "Aye, M'Lady. I always remember you."

  Perhaps that was why he could touch her. She was real to him. Real enough to touch. Real enough to possess. "Praise the gods…"

  Chapter Six

  The water lapped gently against the stone beach. In the distance a hammer pinged steadily. Occasionally sparks from the forge's vent lit up the sleep-shift like the tiny lights of the darkened sky from above. Cullaelon vowed silently that he would find a way to give her the stars. Even if no one else ever believed him. "Sandish works late at his forge this shift," was all he managed to voice of his thoughts.

  "Aye." Braunnan turned in his arms to lay her head back against his chest, a gesture he found strangely endearing. "I think I know what he works on."

  Cullaelon tilted his head to look down at her in the darkness. "What?"

  "A safer way to remove the Torcs."

  He brushed his fingers across the raw wound on his neck. "What? Why?"

  "Because the entire shift saw you without your Torc this shift and the guards did nothing. Because the world did not come to an end when yours was removed. Because your laughter over the last few weeks has made people uneasy, restless. They have started to question whether guards who cannot control one man can possibly control an entire race. Not that anyone has spoken these thoughts aloud. They're not ready yet. But they feel the change coming, Cullaelon."

  He traced the curve of her Torc with his fingertips. "The Daemoness first appeared after I had seen the sunlight. When I came back here, I was filled with wonder at the magnitude of it all. The vast outer world overwhelmed me. I tried to tell my shift-mates what I had seen, but they would not listen. I felt their thoughts for the first time then. Felt their doubt, their scorn, their anger. I brought them news of something so remarkable it would change the way we think, and they reviled me for it. Their emotions crowded in on me, until I wanted to tear my ears out, anything to shut them off. I vowed to free our people from slavery. So I attacked the guards. I wasn't thinking right, I know. Even if I'd killed these guards, more would take their place."

  "And after the guards, the Priestesses would come. And then the High Priestesses. 'Tis said that their magic is all-powerful, and we have no weapons to fight them with. Our people have lost their magic. We cannot fight them without magic. But now you have magic. And you have seen the sunlight. I think there must be a connection between the two. Perhaps the magic is not dead within us, but only asleep. Perhaps the sunlight will awaken our powers."

  He scrubbed his face thoughtfully, taking the time to dunk under the water and rinse before he answered her. "I felt different from the moment the sunlight hit me. Stronger. More powerful. The light was so strong—a hundred times stronger than the lights of work-shift—it hurt my eyes terribly. Yet once I had time to get used to the light my vision seemed clearer. I knew I couldn't stay long, or I would be missed, and my shift-mates punished. But I wanted to just stare at the colors forever. Everything is so brilliant, you cannot begin to imagine…"

  "Cullaelon?"

  He held her tightly, no longer even pretending to help her bathe, still afraid she would pull away. "Yes."

  "You do not know yet what I would ask you," she laughed.

  "It matters not. Whatever it is, if it is within my powers, I will do it. For you the answer is always yes."

  "I want to see the sunlight."

  She really believed him. Believed he'd made the journey. His breath caught in his throat. His cock jumped to attention. He had not known that just the power of her believing would make him ache for her so. "It was not an easy journey. I was lost in the tunnels for many shifts. I left after the end of work-shift directly from the mineshaft. Getting away was remarkably easy. The guards never check to see that we've left the tunnels. I thought I could go and get back during the respite-shift, at the worst I might miss a work-shift. Everyone does that now and again. The guards would never question my absence as long as the shift met quota."

  He ran his fingers absently through her hair, untangling the long, dark strands almost automatically. "I figured wrong. I did not take supplies enough for so long a journey
. I cannot say how long the trip should have taken. A shift. Perhaps two. But I wandered down many dead-end tunnels before I found the way out. And the tunnels are not empty. Foul things live there. Spiders the size of goats. I fought my way through them, back into the tunnels, but one bite poisoned me so that I was sick for several shifts. My shift-mates took me to the guards to heal. The guards blamed my hallucinations on the spider's poison at first. The creatures did not follow me back into the mines, but the wound was there, easy enough to see."

  "You were alone. You fought the spiders alone. There was no one to watch your back."

  He closed his eyes, trying to block out the fear. "The spiders live in some of the smaller side tunnels. They come out to hunt. Flame keeps them at bay, but I ran out of torches. I had prepared for three shifts at most. The journey took five. But I believe I could manage more quickly, now. The trip back was much easier. I marked the tunnels that led nowhere. Still, we would miss at least two work-shifts. Some of your shift-mates would have to know in order to cover for you."

  "You would take me? Honestly?"

  He laughed as he rubbed his hard, pulsing cock against her. "I would take you anywhere."

  "You lust like a rutting bear." Still she ran her hands over his body with a touch that had nothing to do with bathing. He felt his balls contract until they turned into one hard knot of need. "Would you really take me to see the sunlight?"

  He kissed her, his heart overflowing with the immensity of their combined emotions. "I do not want our cubs born in captivity, Braunnan. If the others will not come with us, I would seek to find a way to stay above ground with you alone. I saw signs of a city not far away, though I saw none of the inhabitants. There must be other races who live above ground. Other peoples who would help us. At least allow us to earn our keep. And if there are not, if all above ground lies barren, we could find shelter in the remains of the city. There is game everywhere. I saw small creatures scurrying about, hopping in the grass. Even if, as the Dark Ones say, all else is in ruins, we could survive."

  Braunnan shook her head. "I must try, first. I must return and try to convince our people to leave this place."

  "One or two even might escape through the tunnels with us, but if an entire shift disappeared the Dark Ones will become suspicious."

  "I believe I know a way that might work, if we could convince them to leave at all. That first sleep-shift, when I came to the cells, you made things hurl through the air. How did you do that?"

  Cullaelon flushed a bright red. "I'm sorry about that. When I heard footsteps I thought you were one of the guards."

  Braunnan shook her head. "I'm not asking for an apology. I just want to know how you were able to do what you did. No. Even that's not right. I know that somehow you moved those—you moved everything you threw with the power of your mind alone. All I really want to know is can you do it again, and how big an object can you move?"

  "I do not know," he answered, still puzzled.

  "Do you remember that large fissure in the roof of the main cavern?"

  He stared at her, blinking slowly. "You would collapse the cavern to cover our escape?"

  "Where there are two minds in harmony, there is a way…"

  He meant only to touch her. To comfort. To support. But if the harmony between their minds was a tenuous thing, one she put more faith in than he was able to, the harmony between their bodies was undeniable. His hand cupped her cheek, and she turned her head to kiss his palm, smiling up at him with the trust of her innocence shining in her eyes.

  He had not known how her simple faith would feed his hunger for her. The mating ritual was demanding. Their bodies should have demanded a respite. He knew she was tired. But he was not the only one who hungered. As he fought to contain the raw lust that shook him, waves of desire came pouring off of her, a hunger that demanded his response, bombarding his senses. He pulled her tightly against his chest, carrying her easily in his arms as he strode out of the water and across the short distance to her hut.

  He laid her down in the middle of the pile of furs, drying her with scraps of old tunics, still marveling at her beauty. She was tall, almost as tall as he was, and broad in the shoulders, strong enough to have matched him swing for swing in the mineshaft all work-shift. Yet there was nothing about her that was not feminine. Even the play of her muscles as she raised her arm to hold out her hands to him set him on fire. Still he moved slowly, deliberately setting their wet tunics aside to dry before he knelt beside her in the flickering light of the candle lantern.

  "You are a goddess," he whispered, awed and amazed once again as he reached out to touch her.

  "I thought I was a Daemoness," she chuckled.

  "Even as a Daemoness you were too beautiful for words. Although the teeth bothered me a little."

  She bared her teeth as she smiled, turning to nip at his arm. She was only half playing. The need to mate was consuming her, growing stronger each time he took her. He'd never seen the effects of a mating cycle on a woman before, though he'd heard stories. What man hadn't? Tales of women so driven to ovulate that they demanded constant attention, their lusts so powerful that one man alone could not satisfy them.

  Possessiveness washed over him. He would not share her, no matter what the tradition. He would satisfy her if it killed him. His cubs would live on in her. His cubs would see the sunlight. He alone would make her body ready.

  Braunnan hissed as he moved away from her, searching in the semi-darkness for her small box of toys. He found it, watching her eyes darken as he opened the lid. There were more toys there than those he'd already seen. He considered them slowly, grinning at her impatience. Perhaps he could use her impatience to his advantage.

  The cock ring she'd used on him before would heighten both of their pleasures. He slipped it on, watching her lick her lips in anticipation. He wasn't sure, however, quite what—the table. It was a solid affair, built from leftover mining timbers. What it lacked in grace of form it made up for in sturdiness. It was also the only thing in the hut that might work. He scooped her up with the furs and deposited her on the small table. Her eyes widened as he slipped the soft leather manacle around her wrist, kissing his way up her arm as he secured her to the table braces. He thought she would protest as he moved to the other side, but all he felt from her was anticipation as he fastened the other wrist in place. She tested the limits of her restraint as he kissed his way up to her shoulder. She could raise her head, could move her hips and her legs, but nothing more.

  Her position, spread across the table like a feast, brought her beautiful breasts into sharp relief, but he would not be distracted. Not yet. He kissed each one in passing, ignoring her moans as she thrust them at him, working his way slowly down her belly.

  "So beautiful," he murmured as he stared down at her. "You are mine."

  "Yours," she agreed.

  He picked up her legs to curl them over his shoulders as he knelt between her thighs. Her dark red-brown curls quivered in anticipation as his breath hit them. "Mine," he breathed across their surface. She arched off the table, thrusting her mons toward him. "Mine," he repeated as he slowly parted the delicious covering to reveal the perfect flower hidden within. So red and dark and already pulsing with her desire for him. The wonder of it shook him, stronger even than her lust. "Braunnan," he breathed softly, so that his warm breath made her clitoris stand up at attention. "I will not share you. Ever."

  "No," she murmured, whether in agreement or not he was not sure, but it didn't matter. He kissed her clit, but a brush of his lips, laughing softly to himself as her hips convulsed against him. He outlined her small erection with the tip of his tongue, then licked lower, probing, exploring, discovering new sensations as she surrendered fully to him.

  "Do you like that?" he whispered with a chuckle as he licked her labia clean of her juices.

  "Yes!" she fairly screamed as he prodded her channel gently with his tongue.

  "Sweet. So sweet." Her heels pulled against him, tryin
g to push him harder against her as he teased her clit, circling, blowing, but never quite touching the sensitive head itself.

  "Cullaelon!" she screamed, twisting and writhing beneath his touch as he licked her like some sweet confection. "I need—I want—"

  "Doesn't matter what you want right now, does it, my love? Slow. We're doing this slow." To prove his point he pulled away, letting the sweep of his hair fall over her, taking a handful and using the tips to brush over her skin, laughing as she moaned, her fists tightening around the table braces as if testing their strength.

  His cock bobbed hard against his belly, but he ignored it, choosing instead to spread her wider with his fingers as he lapped up her fresh flow of juices. He slipped three fingers within her, loving the feel of her muscles contracting against him as he slowly moved to suckle her clit. Her heels drew him in closer, and her head thrashed from side to side as she called his name again. Words failed her as she screamed out her release. He stood slowly, his fingers still gently massaging as the waves of pleasure washed over her.

  "Mine," he reminded her as he made his first thrust into her tight, burning sheath, pushing the cock ring against her contracting muscles. "Mine."

  "Yours," she agreed with a sob as she broke again under him. "Yours and yours alone."

  And then slow was the last thought on his mind.

  * * * * *

  She screamed in pain and fear as powerful hands yanked her out of the dreaming. "Find me!" she cried.

  The Priestess reached through her dreaming to strike at Balthain with her staff. The Priestess laughed as she wrestled Tâkuri from Balthain's arms. "You will never have her, Human. I sense your fear even now. Think you to stand against the powers of the Élandra? Fool!"

  Balthain tried to reach through the dream to secure his hands around the Dark One's neck, but Tâkuri pulled back, trying to shield him from the Dark One's anger. "Find me!" Tâkuri screamed again.

  "I will! I will if it kills me. I love you, Tâkuri. I will claim my prize."