Wolf-Bound: Unfamiliar Territory (26 page)

Jen sat up. “And this might actually happen? Could even happen in my lifetime?” she asked, remembering what the Goddess had told her before.

A delicate shrug. “That was one path. For now it is averted. You cannot imagine how your denial of him, your love for each other, strengthened the Mother. But he is not defeated, only weakened for a time. There will be other attempts.” Gaia’s eyes like oceans drew her in. “We may prevail only if your love is strong and true. The ones who surround you are potent. Their strength is your strength, but only through you can they become that which may continue to defy the enemy.

“Go now. Know that I will be with you whenever you call, but your task now is to raise your family. Your love will lift them up, and when the time comes, they will be equal to the task.”

“You’ve seen this?”

Gaia shook her head. “That future is still cloudy.” She touched her breast, over her heart. “I feel it, here. Again, I say the Mother has chosen well.”

Jenny shook her head. So many people, counting on her for so much. What if she failed them? What if she wasn’t as strong as everyone seemed to think? “But --”

Gaia was gone. Jen sat naked on a patch of wet leaves. There was a flapping sound above her as the falcon took flight. The rabbit’s ears twitched, and it bounded into the dripping brush.

She pushed herself up and started to brush off, but no leaf clung to her. Her skin remained clean, dry, and warm. She smiled. Nice trick, that.

The rush of ripeness the Mother had called to her remained. Her breasts were plump, full, aching to be suckled. Her flesh burned with desire, every inch of her body longing to be

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touched, her pussy aching to be filled. With a few concise movements, she dressed and then strode quickly back toward the house. Time to do just what the Mother wanted.

Revel in life…and love.

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Rachel Bo

James O’Shea stretched prostrate on the floor, while Lazaa’s whip crossed his back again. “Three wolfling whelps and an untrained witch! How could you fail?”

“N-no one warned us about her.” O’Shea swallowed the liquid seeping into his mouth from his swollen lip.

A sharp crack. Moist, slapping sounds as the flails encountered his bloodied flesh. He bit down on his lip again, but this time, a whimper escaped.

He froze in fear. The sounds of suffering usually fed Lazaa’s rage, worked him into a frenzy. O’Shea had watched men die under his whip because they couldn’t hold their tongues.

To his utter surprise, the man stepped back. “Stand up.”

He struggled to his feet, every movement making the flesh on his back scream. He ground his teeth together. His lip poured blood as he bit through. He had lots of practice with pain, but this --

His superior’s sharp black gaze cut him like a knife. He almost whimpered again.

Almost, but now that the pain had receded just a bit, the other emotion was making itself felt. Desire, a need only heightened and fed by his agony.

Lazaa’s dark gaze flicked to Jimmy’s stiff cock. Shame filled him as the man smiled.

That was the only reason he had lasted so long in this guy’s employ. He had a thing for pain, and his boss knew it. The man sensed with uncanny accuracy just how far he could go, leaving Jim bloody but not quite broken, with his traitorous cock standing at attention, aching with need.

He dreaded the day it went past that point. Hoped he could somehow get out before it happened. Because it would. Lazaa had a way of breaking the people around him, giving

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them what they wanted to an extent they’d never imagined, until they just couldn’t take any more.

His tormentor ran the dripping red cords of the lash through his hand. “I-I could go back,” O’Shea stammered. “Now that I know, I’ll find a way. I --”

The man looked at his palm and grinned. Bad things happened when Lazaa smiled. It was all Jimmy could do to keep from wetting himself.

“No.” Lazaa’s black eyes pierced him again. “The moment is lost. The door has closed, and the Mother’s victory has weakened our benefactor, and so has weakened us.” His jaw tightened, and Jimmy tensed, thinking he would strike out again. But the man calmed himself, a half-smile curling the edges of his lips. “It will be some time before we can attempt the transition again.” He drew the lash through his palm once more. “I do believe you lasted longer than any of the others, before crying out. I admire that. I’ve always admired that about you.”

Jimmy trembled. This was something new, this almost genuine flattery. He didn’t know what to say, what to do. He remained silent.

The whip-thin figure nodded. “I also like a man who knows when to keep quiet.” He lifted a hand, crooking a finger. “Ezell.”

The witch stepped out of the shadows.

“Heal him.” His gaze narrowed. “But leave the scars.”

The woman nodded, her red gown shimmering in the light as she swayed gracefully to his side.

Her hands touched his ragged flesh. Jimmy tore at his lip again while she worked, her every touch a new agony.

The healing took quite a while. His legs trembled with exhaustion by the time she was finished, and the witch’s voice was a hoarse, tired whisper. “I’ve done all I can. There is so much damage, time will have to finish the job.”

Lazaa stepped behind him. “Mm. That will do.”

Ezell glanced up at O’Shea as she moved past. “Oh.” She reached out a hand to touch his lip.

“No.” Lazaa’s voice cracked like a flail. “Leave that.”

She nodded and scurried from the room.

“Melaine.”

The naked, voluptuous redhead lolling on the couch stood and padded across the room.

Lazaa rested an arm across her shoulders, his fingers toying with the ring piercing her nipple.

“Our benefactor has a new plan. More subtle. It will take years to accomplish, and someone dedicated to nothing but its completion must oversee it.” The dark eyes pinned him once more. “You are very dedicated, are you not?”

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O’Shea dropped to the floor, abasing himself before the man. “Completely, Master Lazaa.” His voice shook with conviction.

“Up!” The impatience in his tone had Jimmy leaping to his feet despite his stiff back and weak limbs.

“Please him,” Lazaa murmured to the woman beside him. “Then feed him.”

“Th-thank --” The Master held up a hand, and Jimmy pressed his lips together tightly.

“Come to me tomorrow.”

“Yes, Master Lazaa.”

“Jimmy.” The voice was a purr, and he stopped breathing as the man stepped close. His hot tongue lapped at the trail of blood on O’Shea’s chin. “Don’t fail this time. You won’t like what happens if you fail. You will beg for death, but that would only be a release, and why would I offer you that? Do you understand?”

He cursed himself for the ripple of pleasure that ran through his body as the man sucked the last droplets of blood from his swollen lip while watching him with knowing eyes. “Yes, Master Lazaa,” he whispered.

The master of the Dark Guard turned and strode from the room.

Melaine clapped her hands. Half a dozen girls materialized from behind the doors and curtains lining the walls.

Shelly dragged him to the carpet. Her teeth closed on the lobe of his ear, drawing blood. Melaine’s mouth surrounded his cock, roughly biting its head. A blonde he didn’t know pressed her lips to his, grinding his injured flesh against his teeth.

He gasped, fingers digging into the carpet’s thick nap.

Nails scratched, marking his flesh.

He writhed, his body trembling. Bites peppered his chest, his abdomen. “Yes,” he whimpered, though some small part of him hated what he had become, what he was allowing them to do. Melaine grasped his balls, squeezing hard. “Yes!”

The fire built in his groin, every hurt driving him higher and higher, until agony and ecstasy were one and the same, and he laughed and cried at the same time, cock spurting. In the beginning, he’d thought this was heaven.

Now, he knew it was only the beginning of hell.

Rachel Bo

Rachel Bo is an award-winning author currently published in several genres. On the weekends, she works as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist. During the week, Rachel writes and rides herd on her handsome husband, two wonderful daughters, a rabbit, a snake and several remarkably hardy goldfish.

You can find Rachel on the Net at http://webpages.charter.net/rachelbo/ or e-mail her at [email protected].