Dark Empress: The Onic Empire, Book 5 Read online

  Just as she neared the crest, her orgasm rising up from the tips of her toes, charging to the center of her core, someone pounded on the door. She didn’t have to see through the wood to know the fist belonged to one of her overprotective guards. From the power of the pounding, she guessed Gabriyel, the captain of her men. Damn him to the nothingness, but Gabriyel was the most vigilant killjoy ever. Farjika was convinced her father had chosen him to ensure she didn’t have one moment of fun. Worse, Gabriyel seemed to think any form of pleasure was shameful and beneath her elevated self. To her maid, Farjika had snarked that Gabriyel probably had no genitals of his own, so he refused to let anyone else have fun with what he didn’t have.

  All the glorious pleasure washed away in panic at the thought of Gabriyel discovering her sprawled out with a man between her trembling thighs. Just as swiftly, fury filled her with the righteous indignation of a goddess. She had a right to privacy. She had a right to have one moment to herself without him interfering and protecting her from something she didn’t need protecting from!

  Farjika screamed a command at him, telling him that if he or anyone else dared to open the door, she would have them put to the stone. After her outburst, the silence seemed deafening. To her horror, she realized she’d just made a terrible impression on the man she was hoping to bring back to her bed. What man wanted a demanding, bellowing shrew of a woman?

  “Did you just threaten to kill him with one blow of your mighty sword?” Lorren’s voice was silky soft, his question whispered against the tenderest part of her inner thigh.

  Laughter erupted, dissipating her fury. “No,” she whispered playfully, placing her hand on the top of his head, subtly pushing him down, “but that is what I will do to you if you stop.”

  For a moment, she thought he would resist, because clearly he was a man who liked to take charge. However, he smiled against her thigh as he moved his face back toward her hungry sex. Nuzzling his nose against her frantic clit, he murmured, “Beautiful goddess, I obey your command with pleasure.”

  One benefit to having her guards at the door was that they would not let anyone else enter this room. Even the master of the house would be compelled to wait on her leisure. Never before had Farjika used her position in such a way, but if ever she should, this situation demanded such arrogance. Then she realized she was treating Lorren as if he were a slave.

  “Lorren, I’m—”

  Before she could finish her apology, he silenced her with a deliberate twirl of his fingers and tongue, causing her breath to catch in her throat.

  “One man?”

  “What?”

  Keeping his face close, he slid his finger in and out, maintaining her arousal but not letting her climb any higher.

  “You’ve only ever been with one man? And that was at the behest of a ritual?”

  She nodded, then realized he could not see her in the dark. “Yes. Only one man. The Harvester. Does it matter?” Farjika had heard of cultures where men demanded virginity in their mates. Confused because she wanted only to fornicate with Lorren, not take him as a consort, she tried to pull her legs together.

  “Don’t.” Gripping her inner thighs, he pushed her legs apart. “You said you felt nothing?”

  “I was numbed by oil, as was he.” Such was the nature of the Harvest ritual.

  “So, in a way, I would be your first.”

  She considered the odd question, baffled as to why it would matter. However, her answer ceased to concern her when Lorren increased the pace of his torment. His finger slid easily in and out of her lust-slicked passage as his tongue swirled around her clit, his lips drawing the bit of flesh into his mouth.

  Higher she went, her body growing taut, her muscles straining, and then she hit the peak, but he kept on going, pushing her higher still. Just when she thought she could take no more, a stunning, breath-stealing climax washed through her.

  Lights flashed behind her closed lids, dazzling her, blinding her in the darkness. Slowly, so slowly, she returned to the couch, the room and the magical man between her legs. Now that she’d touched the land of the gods, she knew she would do anything to return.

  Cupping his chin, she pulled him up as she leaned down, hungry to taste herself on him, desperate to feel his cock take the place of his talented finger. All her frenetic maneuvering was wasted as he easily held her from manipulating his body in the direction she wanted.

  “No, Farjika.” He kissed her softly but held himself back from further contact. “I cannot claim you here.” Tenderly, he pulled her to her feet, holding her firmly when her legs wobbled on her heels. “I want to take you to a place fit for the goddess you are.” He sighed as he pulled her into his arms. “Indulge me, please. I want your first time to be special, not a frantic coupling.” He took a very slow, deep breath, then whispered, “I simply cannot merge with a woman like you in my father’s back study.”

  With that simple, genuine declaration, Lorren stole her heart. All her life she’d waited, longing for the moment when she would feel the magical spark that would tell her she had found the man who would become her first consort. What he’d said earlier was prophetic—Lorren would be her first.

  If she had her way, he would be her only.

  Chapter Four

  “Isn’t that just like a goddess.” Errion peered down at the bulge in Lorren’s lap. “She gets hers but leaves you wanting.”

  Lorren glanced down at his still painfully hard erection, then turned his gaze out the carriage window. As they rolled along the bumpy road, he watched the thatched roofed houses go by, illuminated only by the light of the quarter moon. They would have been home much faster had they taken advantage of the proffered aircar, but Errion insisted on taking a horse-drawn carriage.

  Repeatedly, Errion had tried to pull him into conversation, but Lorren didn’t feel like talking. Oddly, he felt content. His demanding body was in need, but he ignored the clamoring almost effortlessly. Waiting for the perfect moment with Farjika was a pleasant torment.

  “So, what was she like?” Errion had swiped a bottle of liquor during the chaos. He sat taking swigs, his mood darkening with each swallow. “Does your goddess have a tight little slit?”

  Frowning at his unnecessary vulgarity, Lorren yanked the bottle from his grip. He almost laughed as he read the label. “Opvver double-distilled brandy.” The same thing they’d drunk that day during the prototype testing. Lorren took a swig, loving the way the liquid warmed him all the way to his belly. That Errion had stolen it from his father simply added to his enjoyment.

  “Why did you take her to that room?” Errion took the bottle back, his expression sullen.

  Lorren shrugged. He wasn’t sure why he’d taken Farjika there. The study was just the first place that came to mind. “It was close.”

  “And you couldn’t wait.”

  “No.”

  Gritting his teeth, Errion drained the last of the bottle, then tossed the empty on the floorboard. Each time the carriage bounced, the bottle skittered along the carpet. Absently, Lorren tucked it under the seat with his foot. Errion mumbled something under his breath, something crude and demeaning about sluts in red dresses.

  “What is your problem?” Lorren considered him in the semi-dark. The shadows elongated Errion’s face. His formerly perfectly pulled-back hair was now in tangled disarray around his hooded eyes. His shirt was undone, revealing a deep V of tanned chest. At any other time, Lorren would have teased him right out of his nasty mood, but he didn’t feel up to the task. Tonight, he wanted a peaceful ride home, then a night of fanciful dreams filled with claiming the lovely Farjika, daughter of the Crimson House and heir to the throne of Diola.

  Just thinking of her tormented him anew. He’d been subtly licking his lips, taking her taste into his mouth, loving her flavor, longing to have her spread open before him again. The shock of her shaved sex had been almost too much for him to bear. He’d never known a woman to be hairless there. Finding her so had been a delightful disco
very that offered up such sensitive skin for his lustful ministrations. Farjika writhed and panted at the softest stroke. Lorren barely managed to hold himself back from climax each time he imagined sliding his cock against that slick smoothness. Even now, with just the scent of her on him and the thought in his mind, his cock twitched. He tugged at his trousers, trying to loosen them, as they suddenly felt far too confining.

  “Why didn’t you include me?”

  The thought had never crossed Lorren’s mind. Over the years, they’d shared a handful of women, but they’d had their singular trysts as well. Their bed partners had never been an issue. Until now.

  “You were rude to her without reason,” Lorren explained. “I thought you weren’t interested.” That sounded like a good excuse, but it wasn’t actually true. Lorren hadn’t asked because he hadn’t wanted to. He wanted Farjika all to himself. He’d never been a selfish man, but with her, he couldn’t imagine magnanimously sharing her with anyone, not even his best friend. Just the thought of her in another man’s arms inflamed him. His heart pounded, his palms grew sweaty and his muscles tensed as if ready for a fight. In that moment, he realized she was what he’d been missing. The overwhelming sense of waiting was gone now that he’d found his target. However, a new tension overcame him—a burning need to protect what he considered his.

  “You don’t know anything about her.” Errion slumped in the corner between the back of the bench seat and the wall of the covered carriage. “Whatever she told you was probably a lie.”

  Taking the opposite corner, Lorren met the challenge in Errion’s eyes. “Why do you care?” Not that he thought anything she’d said tonight had been a lie. They hadn’t exchanged that much information, and there was such sweet honesty in the depths of her mysterious black eyes. Farjika seemed too young to be jaded or deliberately obtuse about anything.

  Errion turned away, hiding his face in the shadows, using his hair to obscure his gaze. “I don’t care.”

  “You do.” Lorren leaned forward, peering intently at his friend. “Ever since we were children, we’ve shared our highs, our lows and everything between. Suddenly, you’re beyond angry with me.” Lorren paused, his brows lowering ominously. “You want her for yourself.”

  Errion released a grunt of annoyance but refused to face him directly. He shook his head as if denying the accusation to himself, but he couldn’t quite manage to deny it to Lorren.

  “If you go near her, I’ll—”

  He never finished the threat. Before he knew it, Errion was on top of him, pinning him into the corner and locking his arms at his sides. His breath was hot and heavy with the scent of brandy, his body hard, coiled with tension.

  “I don’t want her—I want you.” Errion kissed him hard, his mouth possessive as his hands yanked him down flat on the wide bench seat. “I want you to look at me the way you looked at her.” Struggling to keep him on his back by using the weight of his upper body, Errion simultaneously worked at freeing him from his trousers. His hands were rough, bumping into Lorren’s aching cock with his frantic fumbling. “I want you to make those same sounds that she made for you.”

  “I knew you were the one who sicced her guards on us.” There was no other way they could have found them out of the hundred rooms in the manor.

  Errion tossed his hair out of his eyes triumphantly. “So what if I did? I got my punishment. I had to sit outside that door listening to you pleasuring that harlot. All her guards were there too, their cocks bulging below those odd little skirts as they heard her greedy whimpers. I wonder how many of them she’s spread for?”

  Lorren knew Errion flung the rude words to goad him into a fight, but there was something else there too, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. All he knew was that Errion was thoroughly, frantically livid. More so than Lorren had ever seen him. Worse, he didn’t seem to want to hear anything that Lorren had to say, because every time he opened his mouth, Errion slanted his lips over his, kissing him silent. He hadn’t been this unrelenting in ages. Lorren felt overwhelmed between a longing to give in to his friend and a new need to suffer erotic torment for Farjika.

  Voice harsh against his lips, Errion swore, “By the time I’m through with you tonight, you won’t even remember her name.”

  Lorren struggled but only halfheartedly. He understood now that Errion was afraid there was no room for him in Lorren’s life now that he’d set his sights on Farjika. That wasn’t true. Lorren couldn’t imagine an existence without Errion. But now he wanted Farjika too. And he didn’t want those lines to cross. Conflicted by the need to have two people, separate and apart, Lorren surrendered to Errion’s angry kisses, which only spurred him on. Powerful in the grip of his righteous indignation, Errion tugged at the edges of Lorren’s trousers, ripping the buttons away as he freed his cock.

  Once he had him bare, Errion leaned up, his gaze riveted to the pulsing tool he’d exposed.

  “You want me?” Lorren challenged, reaching down between their bodies. Cool night air rushed over his skin but did nothing to dampen his need. “You don’t want me, you want this.” Lorren grasped the base of his cock. “You can’t wait to wrap your lips around my prick.”

  Growling, Errion lunged for him, pushing his hand away as he took his throbbing cock into his mouth without hesitation.

  Jerking up from the bench at the shock of heat, Lorren grabbed the back of Errion’s head, forcing himself deeper, loving the feel of his throat closing around his shaft.

  Digging his fingers into Lorren’s ass, Errion lifted him up, rocking him into his hungry mouth.

  In public, they presented themselves as the perfect gentlemen, civilized, urbane and droll, but behind closed doors, they were dirty animals. Violent in their needs, wanton in their lusts. Aggressive words poured from Lorren’s lips as Errion’s tugged at his cock. Vulgar and vicious, he egged him on, demanding more, ordering him to suck his prick like the eager little cocksucker he was.

  “You wanted to taste her on me, but she isn’t there. I didn’t mount her.”

  Lifting up, Errion snarled, “I tasted her on your lips.”

  “She’s practically a virgin.” One corner of Lorren’s mouth lifted in a smirk. “I’m saving that special moment. I’m going to go so slowly into her she’ll be thrashing and screaming for completion.” In his mind’s eye, he could picture Farjika with her carefully smoothed black hair a tangle as she thrashed below him in begging need.

  Yanking his pants down, falling back as he pulled them off and the carriage hit a large bump that sent him into the edge of the opposite bench, Errion rose up, his own pants loose around his hips, his cock thrusting proudly out from his body. From his pocket, he withdrew a small tube of slicker and took his time coating his cock.

  “Don’t think you’ll get the same consideration from me.” Forcing Lorren’s legs apart, Errion planted his tip against Lorren’s ass. Without pause, he slid deep, ramming himself all the way to the hilt.

  Lorren arched up, meeting his thrust, hissing a breath through clenched teeth. The pressing fullness felt so good he wanted to howl. The last time they’d fornicated with this raw frenzy was six turns ago when they’d returned from stealing the maid and butler robots. They’d taken turns penetrating each other, trying to outdo each other with ever more creative positions and raunchier talk. In the end, they both won. A satisfied body was the only prize they’d been competing for.

  Insatiable and frantic, Errion pounded against him as he gripped Lorren’s hips, pulling his body down to meet his upward thrusts. There was an undeniable violence to his possession, something that pleased Lorren’s pride. That he could still send his friend into such crazed need after all these turns was exhilarating.

  As the carriage bumped along over the road, Errion used each jostle to his advantage, working his cock deeper, until Lorren could take no more. Clenching his body tight, he gripped Errion’s cock, forcing him to hold still when he longed to continue plunging.

  Growling with frustra
tion, Errion ordered him to relax his muscles so he could continue his frantic fucking.

  Taking his own cock in hand, Lorren held Errion captive, making him watch as he stroked himself. Breath coming in short pants, Errion watched for a moment, then oozed slicker over Lorren’s hand, lessoning the friction so he would last longer.

  “You always did like to watch.” Lorren eased his hand up and down, his gaze on Errion’s shadowed face.

  Leaning back so more moonlight illuminated Lorren’s display, Errion clung to the back of his knees, his attention so intense Lorren didn’t think he would notice if the fields they passed were aflame.

  “Are you thinking of me inside you?” Deliberately, Lorren clenched his fist to the tip of his cock then forced his fist down as if he were doing so to Errion’s ass.

  Pushing his hands away, Errion grasped Lorren’s cock in his hand. “I’ll tell you what I think.” Leaning over him, using the smooth flat of his belly in conjunction with his hand, Errion rode him as he stroked him. “I think you are thinking of her hot little cunt wrapped around your cock while I’m filling your ass. That’s what I think.”

  Lorren closed his eyes, letting the image fill his mind. Lovely Farjika straddled across his hips, their lips hungrily kissing while Errion filled his tight channel.

  “That’s it. Picture her above you, and each time I plunge, her breasts bounce.” Lips tight over his teeth, Errion continued. “Grab her lovely tits with your hands and twist her nipples. I want to hear her moan.”

  Inadvertently, Lorren moaned as he imagined Farjika would, which sent Errion into a frenzy. He rocked so hard as he pressed Lorren’s cock between his hand and belly that Lorren came almost in self-defense. His climax spurred Errion’s, and he ended with one last hard push to bury himself to the limit, pumping everything, all his rage and frustration and longing, into Lorren.

  Breathless, Errion collapsed against Lorren’s chest, Lorren’s rapidly deflating cock snug between their two bodies. Lorren cupped Errion’s head, stroking his hair back from his face as he lifted his chin.