  | Embrace Forever
Ellora's CaveSentenced to death, Jastra is transported to Draco, the vampire planet, as part of a food for protection program. Vampire warriors destroy the asteroids threatening Tariz and the condemned provide nourishment and pleasure. As a sex slave, Jastra has known a life of opulence. Jastra's new master, Dauthus, offers a life devoid of luxury but the pleasure is to die for. As commander of the vampire warriors, Dauthus faces many demands and confrontations, but falling in love is the ultimate challenge. Publisher's Note: Originally available in the Things That Go Bump in the Night V anthology. Buy it today ~ Read an excerpt from Embrace Forever |
Excerpt for Embrace Forever
Chapter One
Numb from the intense cold, Jastra
shivered. She forced herself to fight off the stupor threatening to claim
her. The memories came. The shock of her sentencing, the bewildering gray
line of prisoners, the harsh voices, the mumbled prayers, the abject fear
as she boarded the transport, the cold, followed by the vapor filling the
hold.
She tried to move. The muscles in her neck, shoulders,
back and arms protested. She gritted her teeth as hot needles of pain drove
deep as if piercing her very bones.
Cold storage. Just like the Ministry. Far cheaper than
providing food and sleeping tubes! And if a few should die…
She'd been sentenced, given death. Why put the condemned
through this pain? Why not kill them in transit? Or did the Ministry want
them to suffer before facing execution?
She stood exposed, her nipples taut, painful kernels.
Restrained, her arms were pulled behind her back and her hands were bound
to an icy rod. Her feet were frozen to a circular platform emitting a pale,
yellowish glow.
Where am I? What prison?
Before her stood a naked male, similarly restrained.
Young, not much beyond his second decade, his head, his
entire body was denuded of all hair. His olive-colored skin held the gray
pallor consistent with prolonged cold storage. Next to him was another
bound prisoner. Naked and hairless, the golden-skinned woman was short in
stature, with a stocky frame and full breasts. Tears slipped down her
cheeks. Her wails bounced off the high ceilings, making the vast dark
chamber surrounding them all the more eerie. Standing in a circle on a
suspended platform, they were isolated.
One hundred prisoners had boarded the transport. Why had
she and these two been singled out?
"Where are we?" she asked. Her head ached, her brain
registering the painful awakening of tendons, sinew and muscles.
The male prisoner's eyelids fluttered open. "Draco."
The planet of the dead!
"Draco." Her breath caught. She swallowed, forcing her
fear down her throat. "You must be wrong."
He turned his head toward her. "Wrong?"
A small triangular tattoo identical to the one she'd
received upon her sentencing marked the corner of his left eye. The female
prisoner bore no such brand.
A cold, painful laugh rushed from the prisoner's throat.
"Those they want to suffer are sent to Draco."
A strangled cry caught in Jastra's
throat. Her heart raced as nightmare images flooded her mind. Her master's
lifeless body. The blood. Screams. Fear so palpable she still tasted it.
She'd never seen so much blood. Unfortunately, she'd been the one to find
him.
"You are the one who sliced Hrice
to pieces with a laser knife?"
The blood. So much. She shook her head. "I killed no
one."
His lips curled. "I see the judges believed you."
"I was falsely accused. He was dead when I found him."
She turned her head as she often had, sweeping her waist-length hair to
cover her master's brand on her breast, but her head felt light, oddly
chilled. Then it struck her. She glanced down. Feeling all the more naked, Jastra closed her eyes.
"You were Hrice's slave. His
to fuck! His to discard."
Shocked at the venom in his voice, Jastra
met the prisoner's cold gaze. Men had told her many things. They'd
complimented her beauty, whispered hot, sexy words when they fucked her,
but never had they insulted her.
He stared at the heraldic symbol branded on her right
breast. "What did you expect, justice?"
The brand was a reminder of her father's shame, of Hrice's ownership. Debtors paid with their children's
lives. She'd paid.
"Hrice deserved to die. At
least your act had benefit."
The disk beneath her feet glowed brighter, her body
warmed. White-hot pain shot up her legs. "What do you know of Hrice? Who are you to judge?"
"He is Brasov,"
a deep voice answered from directly behind her. A giant of a man, with long
flowing hair pale as the winter sun and worn well beyond his broad
shoulders, stepped out of the dark recesses and into her line of vision.
His fur vest belted about a narrow waist revealed well-muscled arms and
smooth skin. Far paler than her own, it was almost white.
She'd never seen another man like him.
"He would like to impress you," the giant said, turning
toward her.
Strikingly handsome, he'd been blessed with strength and
classic features. Eyes as chilling and fathomless as ice crystals held her
immobile. Jastra's heart rate jumped and her
blood pounded in her ears as the giant's gaze raked over her body. He
focused on the heraldic scar on her breast and turned away.
Did he, like Brasov,
consider her nothing more than a slave? Angry at his dismissal, Jastra's blood burned in her arteries and veins,
heating her core, thawing her muscles.
"He would like to tell you he is an accomplished
assassin." The giant's mesmerizing voice rang deep and rich in the vastness
of the chamber. "But Brasov
is a failure."
The young man began to protest, but the giant reached
out and grasped Brasov's
throat. "I am glad you failed your mission, my young believer. The hate that
makes your blood run hot is the reason you are now mine."
Jastra watched in fascination
as the giant's long fingers caressed Brasov's
youthful face, skimmed over his smooth chest and stroked his firm belly.
"I own you for as long as breath fills your body."
Running his hand up the young man's torso to his throat,
the giant touched his fingertips against the pulsing vein in Brasov's neck. For a
long moment he stood motionless. The giant's eyes closed as he cupped the
back of the young man's head and tilted it backwards. Leaning down, the
giant licked the long column of Brasov's
throat. The prisoner tried to move but the giant held him fast.
Groaning, the giant raised his head and looked at Brasov. "Open your
mouth."
Despite the fear in his brown eyes, the young man
compressed his lips.
A smile touched the corners of the giant's lips. "You
will obey."
Although the giant spoke softly, Jastra
heard the determination in his voice. She sucked in an audible breath as he
touched the tip of his tongue to Brasov's
lips. Back and forth, the giant slid his tongue along the seam of the young
man's lips until they parted. The giant thrust his tongue into Brasov's mouth and
kissed him with a thoroughness Jastra envied.
She tried to look away but couldn't. The giant intended
her to watch, and Jastra found it impossible to
resist. Fascinated, she licked her lips. The burning pain seeped from her
bones and muscles, replaced by a heated rush of blood. Her nipples ached
and her pussy clenched.
The marked prisoner leaned toward the giant. His chest
rose and fell and his skin lost its gray pallor. Emitting a strangled
groan, the prisoner's cock stretched.
Breaking the lush kiss, the giant licked his lips. "You
are uninfected, as promised."
Humiliated, Brasov
stared at the giant, his eyes filled with hate. Jastra
held her breath, waiting for the young man to speak, wondering what the
giant would do when he did.
After an endless moment, the giant cupped Brasov's chin. The two
stared at one another in silent challenge. "You were also chosen for your
intelligence. I could rip your cock out by the root, but I choose to give
you pleasure."
Stepping before the female prisoner, the giant cupped
her ample breasts. He massaged them until her skin color changed from gray
to golden.
"This is Phan."
Her body trembling in fear, the prisoner called Phan bit her lip. The giant leaned down and licked the
blood dribbling down her chin. He closed his eyes as if savoring the taste.
His lips curled and his eyes opened. He ran the tip of his tongue along Phan's lips and raked his thumbs over her large
nipples.
"So lush. You tempt me, darling Phan."
"Are you the master?" Jastra
dared to ask.
The giant released Phan's
breasts and turned. His chilling eyes settled upon Jastra
and his nostrils flared. Once again, she had his full attention.
"I hadn't forgotten you, Jastra."
Leaving a slow fire in its wake, he trailed a warm finger down the column
of her neck to her breast. "Are you aching for my caress or the heat of my
mouth on your cold nipples?"
Although she wanted just that, she held her tongue.
"Do you want me to suckle them until they are warm and
plump? Until your pussy is hot and your muscles warmed?"
Brasov
sucked in a strangled breath.
The giant glanced at Brasov and bowed his head slightly.
Turning his attention back to Jastra, the giant
touched her as he had Brasov,
examining and evaluating her body with his hands. His warm fingers caressed
her breasts, rasped over her hard nipples. The back of his hand slid down
her belly, hesitating on her mons. A knuckle slid
between her labia.
"Beautiful Jastra. It is said
men will pay a fortune to bed you. Are they fools
or true connoisseurs of fine pussy?"
His voice caressed her mind with the same ease his
fingers touched her flesh. A hot flush flowed through her veins, heating
her muscles and burning her skin.
"Are you a fool or a connoisseur?"
His mouth eased into a smile. "You will learn to use
that tongue of yours for other purposes."…
Despite his aloofness, his eyes burned. He wanted her.
When she licked her lips, a hint of a smile teased the corners of his
mouth.
"The females are uninfected," he said to Brasov.
The young man's nostrils flared. He sniffed the air.
"Do you detect the perfume of hot cunt? Are your balls
humming? If not, they will."
Reaching out, the giant caressed Brasov's clenched jaw. "She has that
affect upon men. Do you want to fuck her or do you prefer my hand on your
cock?"
When the giant's hand brushed Brasov's cock, the young man pulled
against his restraints.
Frustrated by the giant's dismissal of her, Jastra protested. "He is not my master. He is a
prisoner as well."
The giant reached out and cupped her face. His thumbs
brushed over her cheek. He caught her chin between his thumb and
forefinger. "You refuse to serve the son of Hrice?"
"Hrice had no son."
Releasing her, he turning away and focused on Brasov. Slowly,
tenderly, he slid his fingertips along the distended artery in Brasov's neck. The
young man turned his head away in a futile attempt to escape the giant's
touch.
"You've always wanted what belonged to your father. You
cannot have his money, his stature or his power, but you can have his
concubine, the Queen of his harem. When he needed a vote, he offered his
most prized possession."
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