Surrendered Read online

  “I will submit to your vengeance,” Neh’sa said, breaking into his frantic thoughts. “As long as it is enacted by Thorn and no other.”

  “What?” Thorn looked at her, his mouth suddenly dry. “Neh’sa—”

  “You’ll submit, you say?” the Krine demanded, glaring at her. “Even to penetration?”

  “Yes.” Neh’sa hung her head. “Even to that. Not only because you want vengeance but because…” She swallowed and looked up at Thorn. “Because I deserve it. For the things I’ve done. For the boundaries I’ve broken and the lines I’ve crossed. I will submit.”

  Thorn at last found his voice.

  “I never asked that of you,” he told Neh’sa hoarsely. “I never blamed you—”

  “Maybe I blame myself.” She looked up at him, her eyes flashing. “Maybe this is what I deserve. Just as you think you deserve pain for your own past—maybe the Goddess brought us here on purpose that I might atone for my sins.”

  “Neh’sa, I don’t think—”

  “Will you do it or not, Warrior?” the Krine interrupted, glaring at him. “I would think you’d be glad of a chance to get your own vengeance. Isn’t that why you came after this Mistress of yours in the first place? Because she took you as no female should take a male? Because she branded you?” He motioned at Thorn’s back. “Isn’t that why you challenged to become the instrument of my vengeance? If you wish to relinquish the place you won, I have many other warriors besides Judoth who wouldn’t mind taking turns penetrating this female and making her pay for her crimes against males.”

  Thorn realized he was stuck. They couldn’t leave this place without the Krine’s say-so. And until the aggrieved Berroff leader got what he perceived to be his “vengeance” he wasn’t going to let them go. Worse, if Thorn refused to hurt and use Neh’sa, some other, much larger and rougher male or males would be appointed to do it.

  There was no way they were getting out of the Krine’s palace without a very serious encounter. He looked at Neh’sa who was looking up at him.

  “Thorn,” she murmured and there was a depth of pleading in her lovely dark eyes that he’d never seen before. “Thorn, please…”

  “I don’t want to do this to you. Don’t want to hurt you like this,” he protested in a low voice.

  “Better you than anyone else. Please.” Her eyes were intense—fearful.

  He couldn’t deny her, though he badly wished he could. Couldn’t say no because if he refused to do this—refused to hurt and humiliate and take her, he would be leaving her to the tender mercies of the huge Berroff warriors.

  There was nothing else he could do.

  Looking up at the Krine, he spoke.

  “And if we do this for you—if I do all the things to Neh’sa which were done to your kin to your satisfaction—then you’ll let us go?”

  “When my vengeance has been had, I will at last be able to rest,” the Krine growled.

  Which wasn’t exactly the specific promise that they would be allowed to leave that Thorn was looking for, but it seemed to be the best they were going to get.

  “All right,” he said heavily. “I’ll do as you ask. Goddess help me, I’ll do it.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  The Krine must have been planning his vengeance for some time, was Neh’sa’s first thought on entering the smaller room which had been set up like a dungeon. It had some of the best equipment she’d ever seen and all of it looked unused.

  There was an agony cross, an array of floggers, whips and canes, plenty of rope for bondage, collars and leashes, and a flat, padded table with a cage built in underneath. The walls were draped with red velvet curtains, all except for a shadowy alcove with a chair which very much resembled the stone throne in the circular throne room.

  It was on this chair that the Krine seated himself, placed so far back in the shadows that only his three eyes could be seen, gleaming in the darkness. Apparently they were going to give a command performance for one.

  Neh’sa knew what she had to do. She could feel the dread coming from Thorn in waves. He didn’t want to do this—didn’t want to hurt her. But nothing less than her full submission to a male would please the angry Krine.

  It’s a good thing I’m dressed for the part.

  She was wearing a formal gown—the same one she’d put on what seemed like hours ago for the ceremony at the Library of All Knowledge. It was black lace with a high neck that opened to a wide diamond of bare flesh which showed the inner curves of her breasts. Her nipples were barely hidden below the thin, stretchy material. It was slit high to show her panties, also black lace, and she had on delicate black strappy heels that wound around her ankles to match it.

  It was the perfect outfit for allowing a slave to kiss her panties—it was also perfect for what they had to do here today.

  Neh’sa felt her heart skip a beat as she turned to face the big Kindred. Though the circumstances were different, this scenario reminded her of the games she’d played with her first love so many years ago.

  Admit it, whispered a voice in her head. You’ve been wanting to play those same games—the switch game—with Thorn almost from the moment you bought him.

  It was true and she couldn’t deny it. She loved being in charge—loved mastering a slave and dominating him sexually.

  But she also, on occasion, loved being dominated.

  Her nipples tingled with anticipation and her pussy felt wet and swollen beneath the thin panel of her panties.

  “Kneel to your Master,” the voice from the shadowy alcove commanded. Apparently the Krine wanted to direct the action. “Kneel in the way a female should kneel to her male—as they do here on Berroff Prime.”

  Slowly, she sank to her knees before the big Kindred.

  “Master,” she said clearly, looking up at him. “I am yours…do what you will with me. Punish me for my sins.”

  “Neh’sa!” Thorn looked like he didn’t know whether to be shocked, upset…or turned on.

  For far back in those mismatched eyes, Neh’sa thought she could see the shadow of desire—the dark need to dominate which she also had inside herself.

  It surprised her not at all. She had always known that Thorn was an Alpha—a Dominant by nature. What had surprised her was how he had allowed himself to be dominated in turn.

  No—that was all an act. He didn’t really want it, she reminded herself bitterly. But she didn’t want to think about that now—couldn’t think about it if they were going to put on a convincing show and win their freedom.

  And anyway, she knew that this at least, Thorn wouldn’t have to fake. He could dominate her quite well if only he would allow himself to rise up and embrace the dark need inside him.

  “Neh’sa…” he said, frowning down at her. “You don’t have to—”

  “Yes, I do,” she insisted in a low voice, meant for his ears alone. “This is the only thing that will satisfy him, Thorn—you know it is. You have to take me as I have taken you—you have to make me pay for my sins.”

  A hard look came into his eyes and he gave a short, sharp nod of his head.

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “It’s what I need,” Neh’sa whispered, and she wasn’t lying. Sometimes the need to submit was as strong as the need to dominate and it had been so long, so very, very long since she had given in to her submissive side.

  “Suck him!” the Krine commanded from his alcove. “Suck your Master’s cock and show him how sorry you are for your crimes.”

  Thorn didn’t speak. He simply opened the tight black flight leathers he was wearing, exposing his long, hard cock. Lady Wraith’neck must have removed the non-contact bracelets at the same time she removed Neh’sa’s collar because he handled himself with ease.

  Neh’sa had touched him and handled him also, many times—but always on her own terms. Now she knelt before the big Kindred and opened her mouth for him submissively, ready to take whatever he chose to give her.

  “Take it,” Thor