The Queen of Swords (Villainess Book 1) Page 5

  Alistair took a few moments to think it over, then finally said. “Ten, ten lashes.”

  “Seems low to me,” I replied, pinching one of his cheeks with my fingers. “Are you sure it’s not twenty?” I slapped him lightly where I had pinched him, and he jumped in response.

  “Maybe twenty?” he asked, wriggling a little.

  “We’ll start there,” I replied, taking a step back and hitting his ass with the riding crop. He jumped again as it struck him, and I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “That’s one.”

  Alistair sighed, sounding happy, and I rolled my eyes a little bit then began spanking him in earnest, calling out every lash. I varied my blows in hardness and speed, making his ass a nice shade of red as I worked him over. I smacked his thighs lightly, and curled up on the underside to lick his balls once with the tip of the crop, which made him yelp in a little bit of pain. “Yellow,” he panted...and that right there was why I rolled my eyes at this. Alistair wanted to be dominated, in every sense of the word except the one which really interested me: pain. That was why we would never be a “thing” or a “couple” or anything more than this.

  That being said, it was still fun, and I beat his little bum gently, making it glow, red and hot. I rubbed my hand over his ass and leaned into him again. “Think you’ve had enough, worm?” I asked.

  “Only if it pleases you, Mistress,” he said, half turning his head while he tried to catch a glimpse of me.

  “No peeking,” I whispered. “You don’t deserve to look upon your goddess, worm.” I rubbed myself against him, sliding my hand down to feel his hardness. “Now, because you took the lashes pretty well, I am going to allow you to come.”

  He nodded and sighed in relief, “Thank you, Mistress.”

  I began to stroke him softly, resisting the urge to do some damage. While I was irritated at the song and dance, this was about trust. He trusted me to obey his limits, and I trusted him to give me good information. The agreement hadn’t let either of us down yet, and it was worth the aggravation to treat him gently. If I really needed to indulge my own proclivities, I had other partners for that. My hand slipped over his hard shaft, teasing the tip with gentle touches. He moaned, letting his head loll forward as he enjoyed the sensation. With my other hand, I slapped his bare bottom. “Are you going to make me do this forever, slave? You’re going to come for me, aren’t you? You’re going to come like the dirty little mage you are.”

  “Yesss…” he panted, groaning and twisting. I stroked him faster, squeezing gently from the base of his cock to the tip, rubbing the tip with the palm of my hand, then back down again. Picking up my pace, I could feel his cock get even harder yet, and I knew he was close. I bit his shoulder, and slapped his ass again. He jumped with the slap, and I spanked him again. I kept up the spanking with the stroking, leavening my blows so that they were gentle yet insistent. “I’m going to… I’m going to….” he moaned.

  “Yes, come for me, slave,” I said, picking up the pace. “Come for me.” He groaned loudly, and I felt his cock pulse in my hand. He climaxed, moaning out words I couldn’t understand. I kept pumping him, letting him ride out the orgasm and stretch out the sensation. I rubbed him softly, then let go. He groaned, and I felt his entire body relax. Stepping back, I watched him gather himself.

  “I need another shower,” he said, turning to smile at me slightly. I smiled back, waiting for him to leave. Once he did, I dropped the happy facade and wiped my hand off on one of his chairs. It was just a task which needed to be done from time to time. While I waited for Alistair to finish, I checked my phone, but the only thing I had was a dial and drop from a number I didn’t recognize.

  He returned after a few minutes, dressed in a thick black bathroom robe. “The spell…” he said, wandering through his living room. “Come with me, but this won’t take long. I just need a few things.” The mage picked up a few objects here and there including a map, a knife, and a few paperweights. I followed him around, and into his study. There, he let his crazy out.

  Innumerable books and objects were stuffed in a claustrophobic space, in a random pattern of which only Alistair could make sense. If there were any windows, they were covered by shelves, so the room was dark and musty and smelled of unsavory things. He had a desk somewhere in the middle of the room where he did his “magic”, an old oak desk, stained dark brown. It had other stains on it too, and not for the first time I observed it would be big enough for a short person to stretch out on. He cleared the desk of books, and unfurled the map, weighting down the corners with the paperweights. I could see it was a map of our city, Imperial City, and he muttered to himself as he set the other objects down within arm’s reach. “Are you ready?” he asked. When I nodded, he continued, “Give me your hand.”

  I gave him my hand, which he turned palm side up and gripped it tightly. He snatched up the dagger with his other hand and sliced my palm open. “Hey, what the fuck?!” I tried to grab my hand back, but he held it tight.

  “It’s for the spell,” he said. “Let your blood fall.”

  “Don’t really have much of a choice, do I?” I snarled. “You could have cut the back of it, you know. Ass.” I tipped my hand to the side so the welling blood could fall upon the map. It spattered on the paper below, and just lay there. I was almost disappointed I didn’t see anything magical. “How much do you need?”

  “We just about have it…” he said, his eyes on the map. “There,” he said, pushing my cut hand back at me. “Now be quiet, and let me work.”

  I fished out a handkerchief from my pocket and wrapped my hand up, ignoring the pain easily. As I watched, he talked quietly to himself. At first, nothing happened… but after minute or two, the blood on the map started to move. I’d seen something like that in movies before. I wondered if he had gotten the idea from there, or if it was vice versa, movies picking things up from reality. Either way, it didn’t matter. I watched as the blood converged, and thankfully, it wasn’t on the address to Titan Industries. “Someone picked it up and took it home,” I said to myself.

  “Shhh,” Alistair said, hushing me. “I’m not done yet.”

  Impatiently, I forced myself to wait. The blood left a trail on the map, and finally pooled on an address. Then, it began moving again, leaving a dot behind. Frowning, I watched the trail grow until it pooled on another spot. Just when I was getting ready to speak, it started moving once more, etching out yet another trail. It came to a stop after a moment.

  “Now, I’m done,” he said. His fingers traced the path on the map, “Your sword is here… but you’ve left something behind in two other places.”

  “Left something behind?” I asked. “I just wanted to know where my sword was.” I tapped the map. “This last one landed on Titan… are you sure my sword isn’t there?”

  He shook his head. “No, it’s definitely at the first place.” He tapped the map and looked up at me, “The spell found things you deem important which would have been lost… are you sure there’s nothing else you forgot?”

  I shrugged. “Not that I can recall.” I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from his desk, and wrote down the addresses on the map. “If the sword’s here, then that’s where I’m going. We’re even?” Alistair gave me a bashful smile and nodded. I smiled back tightly. “Then I’m out of here.”

  Chapter Five

  Finding my sword turned out to be no trouble at all. The address was a house in the suburbs. A quiet neighborhood… I looked out of place there, and when I paid the cabbie, I knew I would be flying out instead of taking a car back. White hats can find you with magic, psychic powers, or what-have-you if they knew where to start. After I finished here, they would start looking. I’d fly to the Underground, which would be faster than driving, and lose any trail there. Malech, the demon who ran the place, kept it warded with a magic what’s-it so it was a pretty common tactic among us black hats. He made a killing with the cover charge to get in.

  It was a house, just a house. When I
left, it was still a house, but emptier by two souls. The security guard would find my presents on his fireplace mantle, and he would know not to take things that did not belong to him. Even if he didn’t get the message, he would know he was being punished for something. Two less suburbanites in the world made me feel satiated as I took off for the Underground. Malech often said ‘sin never stops’, so he kept the club open twenty-four hours a day, though he wasn’t always there personally. I swooped in the entrance and paid the cover to the ‘sucky-bus’ at the door, then found a drink and my balcony. After a quick telepathic scan to see if I recognized anyone at the club and finding no one, I leaned on the balcony and relaxed, watching the thin crowd. It wasn’t ever as busy in the day as it was at night, but there were always people around. People were eternally interesting to watch.

  The longer I leaned there, the more agitated I felt. With no immediate or apparent reason why, I thought about Alistair’s map and ‘things I had left behind’. What else could I have left? The only thing of importance to me was my sword, and I had recovered that. I drank my drink, and pondered. Before long, I found myself leaving the Club and heading to the second point the map had indicated. My curiosity could not be denied. I had learned the hard way not to deny my instincts, and they told me I should follow up.

  The second point lay in the city, in a rough neighborhood. I landed and looked around. The building the map indicated seemed empty, abandoned. The windows were boarded up haphazardly, or perhaps some of them had been torn down by vagrants to allow access to some kind of shelter. Graffiti had been splashed around, tagging the area for various gangs or to pass messages. It was beautiful in its own way, the indication of urban decay. Everything died, even cities, countries, and eventually the world. The daily reminder made me feel as though I was a part of something bigger, not just a meaningless cog in the machine.

  I peeled off a board to widen the gap in one of the windows and climbed inside. The afternoon light shone through the slats, lighting up the dust motes to give the place an eerie glow. Discarded and broken furniture lay strewn about, and holes had been busted in the walls, floor, and ceiling. I walked carefully, using my teke to carry me over the floor where it felt weak, looking around, wondering what I could have left in this place.

  As I pressed further into the house, a noise from below caught my attention. It could have been rats, but it sounded too heavy. Then again, some of the rats in the inner city could reach three feet in length… not including the tail. I loosened my o-wakizashi in its scabbard, and looked for the way downstairs.

  Thankfully, the light came in from the holes in the main floor so I could see relatively well as I descended into the lower level basement. As above, the place looked abandoned, and I crept along the decrepit old equipment, peering into every room. I heard a noise again, and I sent my senses out, knowing the sound was not caused by a rat. A hulking form lunged out of the shadows. I drew my sword, but then I recognized the thought pattern: Nosferatu.

  The vampire looked at my sword and smiled, as if it were a toy. To him, it probably was, but he knew the real danger I posed didn’t lie in the piece of metal in my hand. It was Nosferatu too, not Michael. Since he was undead, he avoided the sunbeams which would burn him. I lowered my sword as I regarded him. I supposed I did lose him during the scuffle. “Why haven’t you changed back?”

  He swiveled his head slowly back and forth. The only thing which didn’t move were his eyes which were glued to me. “Can’t….” he rasped, his voice a deathly whisper.

  I canted my head to the side, watching his red, red eyes. “Why not?” I had no idea how things worked between him and Michael. All I knew was that two beings shared one body.

  “Need… blood….” he said, moving closer. His movements were those of a panther, stalking prey: slow, silent, confident… and hungry.

  I raised my sword again, and put the tip against his stomach, right in between two of those perfect abs. “How much blood?” I’d bled quite enough over the last day.

  Nos looked down at the o-wakizashi, and placed both his hands on the blade. I saw his flesh get cut, the sharpness of the sword easily slicing the flesh, but nothing came out of the wounds. “How much… are you… willing to give?” He pressed forward. The tip of the blade pricked him. He didn’t seem to notice and his eyes remained riveted on mine.

  “I didn’t say I was going to give you the blood,” I said, and pressed forward with the blade. The sword sank in easily about an inch, and yet… no blood came forth from the wound. I stared at his chest, fascinated. “You really are dead right now,” I said, entranced by the idea of it. “This isn’t hurting you.”

  “Hurtsss…” he rasped, gripping the blade with his leathery and ancient looking hand. The sharp side cut into his fingers, but as with his stomach, he didn’t seem to notice. With a sharp movement, he shoved it into himself further, jerking me closer along with my blade. My eyes lit up and my lips parted. “Good….”

  My heart beat a little faster. “Do you want to play a game with me?” I asked, my voice hushed, almost reverent. I couldn’t lift my eyes from the sword. When he took a half a step forward, I felt the resistance in his body part ways to allow the blade through. A jolt swept through me, as if I were struck by lightning yet rooted to the spot. Remembering the previous night, I locked down my shields tight so I wouldn’t be tempted to try and read his thoughts and emotions. If I did, I would lose myself in desire.

  The vampire took another step forward, further impaling himself on my sword. He was right before me now, towering over me, and as I wiggled my sword, I saw the tip of it had emerged from his back, clean. My breath quickened. I pressed forward to close the remaining distance between us, but he disappeared in a cloud of mist. I blinked in surprise and began to turn, when I felt his cold arm around my waist, pulling me against himself roughly. The other hand pushed my hair to the side, exposing my neck. “Hurtsss… good….” he whispered again, cold, dead breath in my ear.

  I reversed my sword, ready to stab backwards as needed. Nosferatu’s grip stayed strong on me, possessive, but I didn’t mind. His claws scratched my neck lightly, trailing down to my shoulder, pulling my hair gently aside. I knew he was toying with me, trying to get me to submit to him with the gentlest of his seductions. “Not without my permission,” I said, half turning to catch a glimpse of him from the corner of my eye.

  “Permissssion…?” he asked, as if he had never heard the word before. The claws on my waist dug in, piercing my clothing and denting my skin, though he didn’t quite hurt me. “Take what I want….”

  “Then you’d better kill me,” I breathed, “because if you take it, you’ll never get it again.” As I said those words, I ground myself against him, feeling his hardness. Briefly, I wondered how that was even possible since he was dead and had no circulation in his body, but it felt good, and this felt like the sweet relief I was missing with Alistair. I wanted him, and he knew it. “You want a girl you can do anything with, don’t you?”

  “Anything…?” he rasped, rough edges of his jagged teeth grazing my neck.

  “Within reason,” I corrected, trying to keep my libido in control. “Michael and I have a partnership… we could work something out, couldn’t we, Nosferatu? Just between you and I?” I bent my head over to the side, just a little.

  I could hear the hardness in his voice. Tasty bit I was, but not tasty enough to ignore the better half of his brain: the practical half. “What kind… of partnerssship?”

  “Work… and play,” I said. Nosferatu was unpredictable, and even though Michael was preoccupied with wanting to bang me, having a vampire--one of the undead!--under my thumb or in my debt would be a great boon to my plans… especially this vampire, who shared so many tastes with me. “I do you a favor, you do me a favor.”

  He didn’t say anything. His teeth grazed my neck again, drawing blood through a few scratches. I sucked in my breath, and he hit me hard with his hips. My heartbeat sped up a tad, and real fear for my li
fe shot through me, even as I wanted to grab him and take him. I had to play it carefully here, else he would just take what he wanted. I could probably defeat him, but it would be close, and I would take some grievous wounds.

  “You need blood… and I would let you take it from me,” I whispered, gripping my sword tighter. “You owe me a favor.” I put my free hand over his on my hip and pressed on it, causing him to break the skin. The sensation gave me shivers as the tiny pinpricks of pain only served to heighten my arousal. “Deal?”

  His reply came in the form of him biting down on my neck. It was slow, but firm. He got a full mouthful of skin, and I could feel every single one of his uneven teeth sinking into my neck. Nosferatu grabbed me with his free hand, and began humping my ass furiously as his teeth broke skin, and my hot blood flowed into his mouth. Pain blossomed in my neck, but it was the right kind of pain, in the right place, with the right warm up. A moan escaped my lips, and he gripped me tighter, rubbing himself against me as he filled up on my life.

  I couldn’t help myself. He hurt me in all the right ways, and my hand left his to go to the juncture between my thighs. I couldn’t undress myself, so I rubbed my pussy through the leather, fast and hard. I wanted to come, and god I wanted to feel his hard, cold, dead cock in me. I wanted to hurt him back. Visions danced through my head of the fun we could have, the decadence we could indulge. Nothing forbidden, every whim and desire I had filled. I wanted to give myself over to that savage pleasure, to let go. I rubbed my pussy, harder and faster as he rubbed his considerable length against my ass. No sounds except the softest of sucking came from him, but I moaned and writhed against him, making enough sounds for the both of us. It didn’t take long for the climax to come upon me, and as I came, he grabbed one of my breasts and squeezed hard, in just the right way, making it even more intense as he sucked down my life’s blood.