Found Read online

  “I never thought you were so bad,” Lauren said softly.

  “That is because you don’t know what is in my heart,” he said grimly.

  “I want to, though. I want to know it all.” Scooping the wriggling puppy out of his arms, she set Little One down in the small patch of fenced in grass that served the condo as a front yard. “Stay,” she told the puppy. Then she motioned to Xairn. “Come in?”

  “I shouldn’t.” He tried to look anywhere but at her beautiful body. “I…I only came to say goodbye.”

  Lauren took a deep breath and he had the feeling she was fighting back tears. Then she lifted her chin. “You can’t say goodbye without talking to me one last time and I can’t keep standing out here like this.” She indicated the sheer red costume. “If the neighbors see me—”

  “All right.” Reluctantly, Xairn went with her into the condo and shut the door behind them. He could hear Little One whining fretfully on the other side of the door but he knew the puppy would be safe in the tiny front yard. “Let’s talk.”

  “Fine.” Lauren led the way into the kitchen and put a strange piece of fruit she’d been holding down on a plate. Then she turned to face him. “So you came just to say goodbye? You’re leaving because you don’t…don’t love me anymore?” Her voice trembled slightly but she kept her head high and looked him in the eyes as she spoke.

  Xairn sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “You know that isn’t true. I still love you as much as I ever did—more. That is why I feel compelled to leave.”

  “Because you’re afraid you’ll hurt me.”

  “Because I know I’ll hurt you,” he corrected. He shifted, his secondary shaft throbbing behind his tight flight pants. “Even now seeing you as you are makes me long to throw you down and fuck you.”

  “Do it then.” Boldly, she stepped forward, throwing out her chest. “I’m not afraid of a little pain, Xairn.”

  At her motion, a flash of silver caught his gaze. “Not afraid of…Gods!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and studied her full breasts beneath the gauzy red top intently. “What have you done to yourself?”

  “I had my nipples pierced.” She pulled the top down, baring her breasts completely so that he could see better. “It’s one of the Scourge marks of possession, isn’t it?”

  Xairn tightened his grip on her shoulders and swallowed hard. Somehow he couldn’t tear his eyes from the erotic sight of her full, creamy brown breasts, naked and on display, with the lovely silver hoops piercing her tight nipples. “Yes,” he said at last, having difficulty forcing the words out. “It is.”

  “I had them done soon after you left. They don’t hurt anymore. See?” Reaching up, she took his right hand and brought it down to cup one of her breasts. “Go on,” she murmured breathlessly. “Touch it. Touch me.”

  Xairn couldn’t help himself. Gently he cupped the full undercurve of her breast and thumbed the nipple pierced with the slender silver hoop. Lauren moaned softly and pressed her breast more fully into his hand. The soft sound went straight to his cock, making him harder than ever.

  “Do you know why we—why the Scourge—pierce our females’ nipples?” he asked, his voice low and harsh.

  She shook her head, her breath coming short as he continued to stroke her tight little nub. “I thought it was just something you did. Is there a…a practical application?”

  He nodded. “We do it so we can run a fine gold or sliver chain through the rings. Here and here.” Xairn cupped her other breast and tugged on both of the silver hoops gently, making her moan again. “Using the chain, we tether the female to the bed on her hands and knees. By tightening the chain and tugging on her nipples, we can force her to come further down. This raises her ass high in the air and gives the male better access to her pussy.”

  “God.” Lauren whispered. “I…I didn’t know.”

  “Now you do.” He looked up at her face at last. “You should not have done this just for me.”

  “How could I not?” Lauren asked softly. “After all you’ve done for me.” Slowly she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open to expose the brand that spelled her name. “You were marked for me,” she murmured. “You let them write my name on your heart. I thought…I hope it’s still there.”

  Xairn knew she was talking about more than just the brand that marked his skin. “You know it is,” he said roughly, dropping his hands from her bare breasts. “But it changes nothing.”

  “Nothing at all?” She traced her name on his chest and her touch was at once cool and inflammatory. Xairn felt like he was being burned all over again, as though her slender finger was tipped with fire.

  “Stop it,” he said, shaking his head. “I still have to leave. I only hope…hope that you didn’t take it upon yourself to incur any of the other marks of possession.”

  Lauren raised an eyebrow. “As a matter of fact, I did. Would you like to know which I chose to have done?”

  Xairn let his eyes rove over her body, drinking in her beauty. “You’re not wearing a collar so you must have had yourself pierced below or branded with my name. I can’t tell which.”

  “Then maybe you should examine me and find out.” Her voice was light and teasing but there was a deep, unspoken need running beneath the soft banter. Xairn heard it and it made his secondary shaft throb with need. But he repressed his hunger for her fiercely.

  “I cannot,” he said, stepping away. “I…should not.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “Can you really walk away from me that easily? Can you leave without knowing? You’ll wonder all your life if you don’t at least look just once.”

  Xairn felt a force rising within him—a desire that threatened to burn his self control to ashes, to demolish the cage he’d built around his true nature and let it out like a ravening beast seeking to devour. I must not let that happen! he told himself sternly. And yet…could it really hurt just to look? Lauren was right—he would wonder all his life what other mark she had taken if he didn’t find out.

  “Fine,” he heard himself saying. “Go over to the bed and lay on your back with your calves hanging over the side and your arms over your head.”

  Lauren went to the bed at once and arranged herself exactly as he had demanded. It gave him a strange thrill to see how willingly she obeyed but Xairn forced himself not to think about it.

  “Good,” he said. Walking over, he knelt on the floor in front of her. “Now spread your legs for me.”

  “All right.” She was shivering a little—with fear or excitement, he couldn’t tell which—but again she didn’t hesitate. Spreading her legs, she opened herself to him, mutely offering to give him whatever he wanted.

  “Good.” Xairn heard the harsh tone of command in his voice but he couldn’t control it. He placed his hands on her knees. “Now hold still while I look at you. No matter what I say or do, you’re not to move. Do you understand?”

  Her breath hissed out from between her teeth and she trembled under his touch but she spoke only one word. “Yes.”

  “Yes, Master,” Xairn corrected her sternly.

  “Yes, Master,” she repeated and as she spoke the word, he felt her shiver even more violently. At the same moment, the warm, feminine scent of her arousal hit him. Could it be that this was turning her on? That submitting to him was actually making her aroused? Xairn didn’t know if he could let himself believe it. Instead of trying to decipher her thoughts, he concentrated on her body.

  Gods, but she smelled so damn good. Looking at her soft pussy, barely visible behind the silky red material, he could see that her little cunt lips were swollen and wet. Clearly she was aching with desire. Just as he was.

  But I can’t give in. I’ll just look at her, just see what other marking she’s taken, and then I’ll leave, he told himself sternly. Slowly he untied the silk cord at her waist and slid the gauzy red pants down her long, smooth legs. Lauren moaned softly as he bared her, but made no move to cover herself or close her legs. Her unquestioning obedienc