Twisted: Brides of the Kindred 23 Read online

  “Oh,” Nikki whispered. “You’re right, of course. I’m sorry, Malik. I’m just not used to being so…so exposed.”

  “Your breasts are beautiful,” Malik murmured. “There is no need for you to feel shame in exposing them.”

  “Thank you but it’s not just body issues keeping me from walking around topless all day,” Nikki said, feeling slightly exasperated. “It’s just not done in my society. I mean, except for some nude beaches in Europe but with the boys always needing clothes and shoes and braces there’s no way I’m going to ever get a vacation to the south of France so the chances of me running around with my boobs on display are basically nil.”

  “Of course, I understand. Your nipples will be covered at least,” Malik said, clearly trying to comfort her.

  “They will be?” Nikki asked hopefully. “Oh, are there some kind of pasties I can wear?” Which wouldn’t be much coverage but at this point, she was willing to take whatever she could get.

  “I’m afraid I don’t know what ‘pasties’ are,” Malik said, frowning. “What I was referring to are the punishment and relief dust you will be wearing on your nipples—the fire and the ice as they are sometimes called.”

  “What kind of powders, now?” Nikki stared at him blankly.

  “These.” Crossing to the big black chest of drawers, Malik pulled open the top drawer and reached inside it. What he held out to her were the three little vials Nikki had seen the day before when she’d been snooping in Mistress Hellenix’s things. One was filled with red and gold granules, the second was filled with blue and silver, and the third had some kind of clear liquid in it and a tiny brush attached to it that looked a little like a fingernail polish brush.

  “What are those for?” she asked, shaking her head. “Am I supposed to put them on my nipples?”

  “No, I will,” Malik said authoritatively. “I must make sure your sensitive nipples are well covered by the protective undercoat. Otherwise you might get the dust on your bare skin and you’ll feel like one of your nipples is freezing all night while the other burns.”

  “What?” Nikki took a quick step back. “I don’t want to put anything on my nipples that freezes or burns! Why would anyone wear that dust stuff in the first place?” she demanded, nodding at the small vials, still cupped in his large hand.

  “To punish your slave, of course,” Malik said, as though it was the most normal thing in the world. “If he is disobedient in any way, you instruct him to suckle the nipples dipped in the fire dust.” He raised the vial with red and gold granules. “And to cool his pain, when you feel he has been punished enough, you order him to suck the nipple coated in ice dust—which is also sweet,” he added, raising the vial filled with blue and silver dust.

  “But I’m not going to use those on you, of course,” Nikki protested, shaking her head. “I mean, I don’t want you to feel like your mouth is on fire!”

  Malik frowned. “I am afraid you must use them at least once—to keep up the illusion that you truly are Mistress Hellenix. My old Mistress always punished me with the dust at least once at any social gathering.”

  “But Malik, I don’t want to hurt you!” Nikki exclaimed. She didn’t particularly want him sucking her nipples in public, either but since he was already going to be kissing her pussy in front of everyone at the banquet that part hardly seemed to matter.

  “Mistress…Nicole…” He put down the vials for a moment and took both her hands in his. “I know what a tender heart you have,” he murmured, ducking down to look earnestly into her eyes. “But what I want most of all is for you to not be caught in your deception. I can bear a little pain to keep you safe. Please—just promise you will use the dust at least once tonight. You must keep up the illusion that you are my old Mistress.”

  “Well…” Nikki bit her lip. But really, what choice did she have? “All right,” she said at last, nodding. “I’ll do it. But it’s going to be quick—I don’t want you sitting there feeling like your mouth is on fire for half the night.”

  “That’s fine.” Malik nodded. “I’ll do something clumsy like spilling my drink to give you a reason to punish me so you can get it over with.”

  “Did you do that for Mistress Hellenix?” Nikki asked. “Do something on purpose to give her a reason to punish you?”

  He shook his head. “She never needed a reason. It was her pleasure to punish me often and so she did.”

  “Ugh—she’s horrible! I just hope she’s not mistreating my boys!” Nikki exclaimed.

  “She won’t mistreat them but she will make them mind.” Malik sounded thoughtful. “She won’t tolerate misbehavior.”

  That was what Nikki was afraid of but she didn’t say so. She hadn’t had another “flash” of what the alien dominatrix was doing back on Earth since the last one where it appeared Mistress Hellenix was forcing Gary to kneel so it was difficult to know exactly what was going on back home.

  Well, I’ll be back there soon, she told herself. We just have the banquet tonight and then straight to Uriel Two and after that, Earth. The three destinations were far apart but luckily, Malik had told her they were able to use wormholes to travel vast distances in an instant. So Nikki was pretty sure she wouldn’t be stuck in her evil twin’s life much longer.

  Not that there won’t be some things I miss, she thought, looking longingly at Malik. Though she had only known the big Kindred for a few days, he had somehow found a place in her heart. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he made her feel uncompromisingly beautiful and desirable—or maybe it had to do with the fact that he seemed so attuned to her body he was able to bring her effortlessly to orgasm in a way that had always eluded her ex-husband.

  I’ve had the best sex of my life with him, Nikki realized, looking up into his silver eyes. And we haven’t even had actual sex!

  Well, other than oral sex, that was. But they’d had plenty of that, with Malik making her come over and over as they “practiced” the night before. Afterwards, he had curled her into the curve of his big body and they had slept spooned on the vast bed with its crimson mattress. Though there were no sheets or blankets, Nikki had been kept warm by his body heat and had woken up cocooned in comfort and wrapped in his arms. His warm, spicy scent seemed even stronger in the morning somehow and she lay there breathing him in and wishing so much that things were different, that she could let herself feel what she wanted to feel…

  “What are you thinking, Mistress?” Malik rumbled and she realized she’d been standing there, staring at him, lost in thought.

  “How much I’m going to miss you when this is all over,” Nikki said, before she could stop herself. “Uh…” She cleared her throat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to, um—”

  “I’m going to miss you, too,” Malik said unexpectedly. He drew her close, looking down into her eyes again. “I used to dream of you, you know—or someone like you. A female as beautiful as my old Mistress but one who was kind instead of cruel—caring instead of deadly. You are everything I have ever wanted in a woman, Nicole. I wish we had met under other circumstances.”

  “Oh…” Nikki bit her lip. “I…I feel the same way. If only we could have met fifteen years ago, before I had so much baggage and three kids to raise.” She shook her head. “I’ll be a single mom for sure once the divorce is final. No man is going to be crazy enough to let himself being roped into helping raise three teenage boys at once.”

  “I would,” Malik said honestly. “I have raised boys before—remember? But my first duty must be to my home planet.”

  “Of course—of course, it has to be,” Nikki murmured, her heart pounding. God, if only she had met the big Kindred earlier in her life—like before she’d let Gary get her pregnant with Jude. But no—she loved her kids—she couldn’t regret having them. She just wished she had a better man to help her raise them. A man like Malik—but as he said, he was unavailable.

  Unavailable and yet so near. Nikki had the urge to stand on her tiptoes and taste that sensual mouth of his.