Chapter 13

M y heart hammered. I was sure it would leap right out of my mouth and into the hollering crowd in front of the illuminated stage while Skrain dragged me to the center, where a strange piece of lavish furniture had been set up.

My stomach fluttered as I took in the tall, x-shaped construction affixed to a secure, wide base. Supported by a sturdy rod, the golden cross stood at a slight backward-leaning angle. Spots of light reflected off its shiny, smooth surface, dark red gems framing the edges, and my pulse beat quicker still as I noticed O-rings anchored to the ends of the beams.

"What is all this for?" I asked over a sensual flute melody and the heavy, seductive beat of a drum.

Skrain winked. "I'll show you."

He brought me to the cross and twirled me around by the shoulders. His body shielded me from the crowd as he leaned in, a gentle but firm hand on my waist pressing me back against the cold structure.

"You're so tense. Relax, Ella," he murmured, and the wicked lilt in his voice made my chest constrict.

After his change of clothes, his black leather trousers and dark tunic reminded me of an executioner, befitting of the apprehension roiling through me. I felt like a willing lamb led to slaughter.

He straightened, his fiery, hard gaze meeting mine. A muscle in his jaw feathered, the outline of his growing erection visibly straining against his trousers.

He didn't have to say it out loud. I understood anyway.

Skrain enjoyed my fear.

He enjoyed my pleasure when I came on his lap, but he got a sick kick out of terrifying me. Maybe he liked that even more.

Maybe I liked that even more.

Emily entered the stage, carrying a small wooden box, and Skrain turned to her. I quivered when his attention left me, as if the flames of passion in his eyes had been keeping me warm.

The head maid presented the box on her outstretched palms. Skrain opened it, reaching inside, and the clinking of metal links sent shivers cascading down my spine far before I saw what he retrieved:

A padded leather cuff with a short chain and a hook at the end.

As if it was a precious bracelet, he opened the clasp on the restraint and carefully put it around my left wrist. With a grin, he raised my hand to put a reverent kiss on each of my knuckles—exactly how he had when we met earlier.

I couldn't stop wondering if he'd been thinking of this moment even then. If he had been looking forward to the horror on my face.

He stretched my arm above my head, aligning it with the cross's beam. With a click, the hook snapped into place. I gasped. Panicked, I tore at the chain, now connecting the cuff with the O-ring.

Skrain tutted. "Stay still," he said, taking out a second restraint while I sputtered.

He repeated the same process with my other wrist.

Cuff.

Kiss.

Click.

I stood with both arms raised. No escape. Alarm bells rang in my skull like it was a church tower, but Creators, why did a tickle of arousal pool at the apex of my thighs?

Skrain's hands slid under my dress, hooking a finger each into the band of my damp panties. I gulped when he pulled them down slowly, taking them off. The crowd hollered, and blush lit up my features.

Through the netting of my dress, everyone, absolutely everyone , could see my bare pussy.

Skrain brought the golden undergarment to his face, burying his nose in it. His eyes shut as he inhaled. "Delicious," he muttered before his lids sprung open, and he tossed my underwear into the auditorium. "That's all you'll get from her! Enjoy it!" he shouted.

Below, people turned into wild beasts. Everyone wanted a piece of me, and this scrap of fabric was the closest they would get. Lust coiled in my belly while they pushed and shoved each other, elbowing one another as they ripped my panties to shreds.

I glanced at Skrain, rattling the chains. "Do I get a vote in all of this?"

A third restraint already in his hands, he bent down to my right leg. He put the shackle around my ankle and bound it to the cross. His eyes widened as he straightened, lips curling into a kind smile.

"But of course you get a vote, my priceless treasure," he cooed, his tone sweet as honey while he took a fourth cuff from the box. He kissed my cheek, teasing tongue swirling up to my ear. "It just doesn't count."

No effort could move my legs from their spread position.

No struggle could free my wrists.

I was immobilized, arms and ankles shackled, but I was dripping wet—and Skrain hadn't even touched me yet.

Fear sunk its icy claws deeper into me, curling around my bones, but another sensation soared just as high. Higher. A feeling so close to terror, they tasted the same, felt the same, sounded the same.

Salt above my upper lip.

Every nerve shuddering with adrenaline.

The pounding rush of blood.

Desire.

Skrain admired his handiwork, sliding strong fingers along his jawline as he looked me over. "My beautiful, pathetic little Ella. I wish you could see how gorgeous you are right now." He stepped aside and gestured at me with one hand, the other sweeping toward the crowd. "Isn't she ravishing like this? Bound and defenseless?" he shouted.

The guests hooted and clapped, and my heart leaped.

The space below the stage was dimly lit now, but not dark enough for the audience to blend into a comfortingly umbral mass. Just bright enough to make out wolfish, heated faces in the first rows.

Just bright enough to never let me forget that I was being watched.

I swallowed hard, the lust-filled stares of hundreds of strangers creeping over my body like pricks of hot needles. The air was static with want, making the hairs on my arms rise.

"There's one thing you have to know, Ella," Skrain said, loud enough for only me to hear. "And I want you to listen closely, so you understand."

"Yes, master," I answered reflexively.

"When you're with me, stop doesn't exist. When we're together, no isn't part of your vocabulary."

My clit throbbed as I nodded, biting my lip. I knew I shouldn't have reacted like this to his threats, but I couldn't stop myself. Giving away control, putting myself at the mercy of this man I'd known for no longer than a few hours was a wicked fantasy come true … one I didn't know I had.

"I'm finished with you when I say so. Not a second earlier." He reached into the box once more but hid whatever he took from it in his cupped hands, turning back to me while Emily walked off the stage. "No begging and no pleading can save you from me. And believe me, Ella. You will beg."

His palms parted, his smile widening into lascivious malice as he raised a sparkling object to my face.

It was a smooth, clear gem, carved into the shape of a girthy, flattened C with wider ends. Inside it sloshed a dark green liquid. As he dragged the frigid double tips from my chest to my groin, a shudder echoed through me, my nipples peaking.

"I had this toy crafted just for you," he said.

My brows shot up. I'd seen and tried wooden phalluses, even leather. Some glass. But this … "A crystal? For me?"

"Not just any crystal." He snickered. "This is the largest, purest diamond in the entire realm, enchanted and shaped to give you pleasure. You only deserve the best, my priceless treasure."

A surprised moan tore from my throat as Skrain twisted one tip into my waiting cunt. It felt like a rod of faintly flexible ice, a shock to my senses and fuck—what an amazing stretch.

The deeper it penetrated me, the higher the other end slid along the outside of my swollen folds. When the toy bottomed out, the other half of the C-shape sat snug against my body. With every contraction of my muscles, the inner part brushed against the forward pleasure spot in my pussy, and the outer bit pressed right on top of my clit.

Skrain's eyes were heavy with lust as they flicked to mine. "You don't know how long I've waited to do this to you." His expression tightened a fraction and a tingle of magic flickered through the air.

The toy began to vibrate .

A groan slipped from my lips, stunned by the new sensation.

I'd used toys before, but none of them moved. Nothing I'd ever felt could compare to the low, teasing hum rumbling through me and tickling my clit.

In an instant, I was addicted.

"How—" I got out before the vibrations increased, and my breath caught.

Skrain grinned, the stud in his tongue dragging along his lower lip as he watched me squirm. "Do you want me to turn it up more?"

"You … control … t-this?" I gasped, an approaching climax turning my brain into useless pulp.

"I do. The blood inside is mine, bound to me. My magic fuels the tremors coaxing those lovely sounds from your plush mouth. And the toy will obey any command I give."

I spasmed as the vibrations increased by a thousandfold—at once. My cry rose above the music. I tensed, but just before my orgasm came crashing down, the toy stilled.

"More," I groaned. "Please … please, don't stop."

Skrain regarded me with a mocking crinkle on his brow. "I thought you had learned something when I shut up your impetuous demands with my cock in your throat."

"I have!"

"No, Ella. You haven't. But by the end of the night, you'll be wiser."

That was a threat, too. Not even thinly veiled. It was a blatant threat that had my pussy squeezing around the massive diamond buried inside it.

"Cut the music!" Skrain ordered, and the hall fell silent. "I want everyone to hear how I'll make you scream."

Emily re-entered the stage, carrying a wooden tray. On Skrain's wordless command, expressed through a wave of his hand, she approached and presented it to me. I poked my tongue into my cheek, trying to make sense of the startling display.

Thick, hollow needles and a silver-framed hand mirror rested on a square of black silk, next to three pieces of exquisite jewelry. Two golden rings, each adorned with a large diamond, and one curved stud with a sizable, round diamond at each end.

Skrain smiled as he picked up a needle, and Emily stepped aside to make space for him.

"These are for you, too," he said.

My blood froze. "You're going to pierce me? Right now ? Here ?"

He drew a sharp inhale. "Yes. I want you covered in my jewels. I want you dripping all over my diamond in your cunt while I push needles through your tender flesh."

"Where …" My stomach roiled. "Where will you pierce me?"

"Oh, Ella." His thumb brushed along the corner of my lips, and I suppressed the urge to suck it into my mouth. "You'll find out soon enough."

I looked to the floor, trying to slow my rapid, anxious breathing.

"But this isn't meant to be all pain for you. You wanted more pleasure, didn't you?" He let out a soft laugh. "For every piercing, I'll grant you one orgasm."

Heat shot to my face as I was reminded of those maddening vibrations.

"Three piercings. Three orgasms," I said, glancing at him for confirmation.

"I promise." He pressed a hand to his heart. "But—" He brought his face to mine, his kiss fleeting as a breeze.

"But?" I echoed, craning my neck to chase his curving mouth for another kiss.

"If you fail to come when I tell you to, if you're even a little too early or a little too late," he whispered, a cruel tremor in his voice. "You'll get nothing but torture from me."