Twisted: Brides of the Kindred 23 Read online

  Could the way he felt about her survive what she was about to do to him? No—what they were about to do together, Malik amended to himself. For the first time, he was going to be a willing participant in this act. He thought it could—he knew how he felt about Nicole and he didn’t believe opening himself for her would change that. But he needed to remember who she was and remind himself she wasn’t Mistress Hellenix. He needed to fix her in his mind like a sailor fixed on a bright star in the darkest night to guide himself home. He had to—

  His thoughts broke off as he suddenly realized that things weren’t going very well between Nicole and the head vendor. Janda was motioning at the phallus again but Nicole was shaking her head.

  “I really don’t think I want to do this,” she was saying.

  Janda was frowning. “But you specifically asked for this model! You told me to bring it—there aren’t any others!”

  “But it’s too big,” Nicole protested. “I just don’t feel like—”

  “Mistress, a word if you please,” Malik murmured in her ear, taking a step closer.

  “What?” Nicole turned to face him and he could see the misery in her lovely dark eyes both so alike and so unlike his old Mistress’s.

  Malik drew her a little way away from the fuming vendor and leaned down, making certain they were close enough that the invisible privacy bubble kept their words completely private.

  “Nicole,” he murmured, “What’s wrong? I thought we agreed that this was a necessary part of your duties at the banquet tonight.”

  “No, you agreed!” she shot back. “I never agreed to hurt you like this! Especially knowing what you’ve been though in the past. I won’t do it, Malik—I won’t rape you! I won’t.”

  Tears were making her eyes shiny and she blinked angrily, swiping at her cheeks with her fingertips. In that moment, Malik felt that last piece of his heart give way and he knew that for better or worse, he loved her.

  She doesn’t want to hurt me—doesn’t want it so much it’s tearing her up inside, he realized. It was so different from the sadistic ways of his old Mistress that it nearly took his breath away. Truly, though they looked exactly alike, they could not be more opposite on the inside.

  “Nicole,” he said gently. “You’re not going to hurt me. I’ve had this done to me before, remember? And it won’t be rape—I’m willing to do this, willing to open myself to you. It will be all right.”

  “It’s not all right.” She sniffed and swiped at her eyes again. “Just because you’ve been abused in the past doesn’t mean it’s all right for me to abuse you now!”

  “It’s not abuse,” Malik objected. “It was in the past but with you it will be different.”

  “How?” she demanded. “How can it possibly be different?”

  “Because it’s you.” Malik cupped her face in his hands and leaned down to kiss away the tears from her long, wet lashes. Gods, she was beautiful even when she was crying. Maybe even especially when she was crying since he had never seen his old Mistress—who had a heart made of stone and ice—shed a single tear.

  “I don’t want to do it,” she whispered when he finished kissing her.

  “You have to,” he murmured back. “If you refuse, every Mistress out there who knows the real Hellenix will know you’re not her. Remember, the penalty for impersonating a Yonnite Mistress is death, Nicole. You have to do this.”

  “But I don’t want to bring back bad memories for you. I…” She bit her lip and looked up at him. “I know this sounds kind of crazy, considering we’ve only known each other for a few days but, well…I really care about you, Malik—a lot. And I would never want to do anything to make you hate me like you hate the real Mistress Hellenix.”

  “I could never hate you. And I care for you too, Nicole.” The words, I love you trembled on his lips but he couldn’t let himself say them—not when he knew they could never be together in the long run.

  “Then…you really want me to do this?” She looked at him uncertainly, her eyes still wide and wounded.

  He nodded firmly, though he couldn’t deny the fist of tension still clenched in his belly.

  “Yes. You have to and I want you to. I want you to be safe and I also need you to be with me to get into Uriel Two,” he reminded her. “You’re not just doing this to save your own life, you know—you’re doing it to help me save my entire planet.”

  This seemed to make Nicole feel better. She sniffed again and blotted her eyes with the back of her hand.

  “All right but I warn you, I’ve never done this kind of thing before.”

  “They key is plenty of lube,” Malik told her. “That was one thing Mistress Hellenix always did for me—mainly because I was a valuable slave and she didn’t want to damage me, I think,” he added wryly. “But it’s important not to go in dry.”

  “I don’t think that will be a problem,” Nicole murmured. “The, uh, rod the head vendor has been showing me is self-lubing—so it keeps on secreting more lube as you, uh, penetrate your slave.”

  “So much the better.” Malik nodded. “Then we shouldn’t have a problem.”

  “But—can you give me any other pro tips?” Nicole asked, looking a little desperate. “I’ve been the penetrate-ee plenty of times in my life—not a lot recently since Gary lost interest—but plenty in the past, you know? But I’ve never been the, uh, penetrator. And I really, really don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Communication is key,” Malik told her. “Go in slowly and if I need you to stop I’ll tell you to. Once I’m comfortable with the rod’s placement and I let you know, you can fuck me harder and faster.”

  “But why would I want to, uh, fuck you hard?” Nicole protested.

  “You have to make me come,” Malik reminded her. He felt the fist of tension in his belly again but tried to ignore it. “It’s the finale of the show. And in order to do that, you’ll need to stimulate me—both from without and within.”

  “You mean you want me to stroke you—stroke your cock—while I, uh, stroke inside you?” Nicole’s eyes were wide.

  He nodded. “If you can manage it, yes.” He cupped her cheek gently. “Feeling your soft little hand on me will go a long way to helping me release my seed for you, sweetheart,” he murmured.

  “I’ll do anything I can to help you,” Nicole promised. “Anything else?”

  “Just one thing,” Malik told her. “If you’re going to make me come, you’ll need to remove the stay-hard band from around the base of my shaft. And that’s all I can think of for now.”

  “All right.” Reaching down between them, she carefully felt for the release on the stretchy black band at the base of his oiled shaft. Just the brush of her soft little fingers sent a tremor of need through Malik’s entire body and he had to take a deep breath and close his eyes for a moment while she fumbled with the band and then finally released it.

  “Okay?” Nicole asked him when he looked at her again.

  Malik nodded. “Fine, Mistress. Come—I think Janda is getting worried. We’d better go tell her you’re ready to make your speech and do the demonstration.”

  “Oh God—I almost forgot about the speech. Thank goodness I memorized it!” She took a deep breath and seemed to gather herself. Then she lifted her chin and threw back her shoulders. “Okay—here goes. Let’s do this.”

  “Is everything all right, Mistress Hellenix?” Janda asked, as they approached her. “In regard to your concerns about the rod prototype—”

  “No, no—it’s fine,” Nicole cut her off, just as the real Mistress Hellenix would have. “Just a simple misunderstanding. I’m ready to put on the rod and give my speech now.”

  “You might need to lift your skirt a bit to get the straps around your thighs seated correctly,” Janda said carefully. “Would you like me to help you?”

  “Not necessary—my slave can help,” Nicole said. “And you say it will make plenty of lube as I er…” she paused for a moment, her cheeks going pink. “When I penetrate my sla