Melissa MacNeal - Beyond Redemption

My own legs trembled at the sight. Much as I detested Perfidia's tactics, I envied her slender beauty and the way her slaves adored her. Justin's expression was downright beatific as he ran a damp path up her skin, ever so slowly…following his brother's arch above her curly thatch to titillate the other leg, which bent at a right angle. Her slit was open and fully exposed, a mere inch in front of his lips. Was it my imagination, or did the entire room smell of sex?

Billy, too, seemed unable to ignore the sight before him. His cock-so much larger and more urgent than either of the twins'-pumped the air in front of him, ready to shoot. My God, here I stood in my own bedroom, where three randy men gritted their teeth against imminent climax, at the mercy of a woman who sipped serenely at her cigarette holder. The fluttering inside me became more than I could stand, and I furtively slipped my hand toward my inner thigh. Since Perfidia was busy holding court, and her subjects could only gaze at her with their extreme need, no one would notice if I- "Don't you dare touch yourself, you disgusting girl!"

The words snared me like a lariat, and all eyes went to my incriminating hand. All breathing was suspended-my own included-as Perfidia glared at my extended fingers.

"Come here, Andrea," she continued in that insidious whisper. "You're going to touch me instead. You're going to finger my slit…caress my flesh until it burns with need…and then you're going to flick my clit with your fingertips, and hold me open so Justin can drive his tongue deep inside me. Now do it!"

My body lurched forward but my mind called a halt. "I'm not your-I don't owe you any-"

"You owe me your very life, Andrea, and don't you ever forget it!" Her face tightened with the insistence of being obeyed, and I saw a flash of fangs. "If you expect to attain that fairy tale life with Mr. Throbbing Cock over there, you've got to earn it. Now come over here and bring me off. Justin likes the feel of my juice all over his face."

The blond's obsequious grin sickened me, yet I was no stranger to the whims and ways of the serving staff-or the women who controlled them. It was another matter altogether to pleasure Perfidia, however: all my life, the three Sisters had made no secret of their sexuality, but I'd never been required to participate in their games. It waslike growing up with three wayward mothers, and the very thought of touching this bitch in such an intimate way made me recoil.

"Squeamish, are we? Feigning modesty, or perhaps even morality?" An evil chuckle escaped her, which sent the smoke billowing from her nose. "Out here beyond Redemption, we are all defined by our depravity-as well you know, Alexandrea. So if you expect to escape to any sort of normal life-whatever the hell that is-you'll do as I say. I could reveal a few of your secrets just by showing Billy your clothes, couldn't I? Then we'd see how long he stayed around."

My heart slammed against my breast bone. Bad enough that she'd used my full name again instead of just the feminine half of it. She'd also planted a seed of doubt that had Billy glancing toward my armoire.

"Billy, don't you believe a word-"

"He can't hear you," Perfidia said with a snicker. And indeed, a bewildered look overtook Tripplehorn's face as he awaited my explanation. "Now, get over here and show him what an eager, versatile lover you are…let him watch you fondling me until he's writhing against the wall and shooting cum all over us."

The witch! Now she'd rendered him deaf as well as defenseless, helplessly hanging on that wall to watch us…anticipating his own humiliation, no doubt. Still grinning maliciously, Perfidia closed her eyes and exuded a tension that again stilled everything in the room.

From a distance came an indistinct tinkling, like delicate pipe chimes in the wind. Recognition dawned on the identical faces of Justin and Jeremy, but I stood as though spellbound, listening while the sound came closer…closer…and was then at my own door. Transported by yet another invisible force, slender sections of tubular metal entered the room, gleaming as black as the magic that moved them. As we all watched, the pieces of pipe did an intricate dance in the air. They clicked and pinged in an alluring rhythm that held me in thrall-until I sucked air.

As mysteriously as they'd appeared, the black bars suddenly came together in the shape of a cage. The four sides shrank to the size of a dry pint box, and then expanded to fit the four walls of my room before becoming a crate that would kennel a large dog. It landed on my floor with an ominous thump.

I swallowed hard. For years I'd heard tales of this portable prison and those who'd learned lessons of respect and discipline inside it, but the actual sight of it made my skin crawl. Someone was going to become Perfidia's latest slave. It was merely a matter of who, and why.

"You've noticed, I'm sure, that the cage has no gate," she remarked offhandedly.

Her silvery eyes narrowed as she looked at me, and I knew she could hear each frenzied thought and anticipate each futile move I might try. Judging from another flash of her incisors, Perfidia was feeling the need to feed. She could hear every pulse in the room, sense every shallow breath, and the predator within her had already chosen its prey. Only a matter of time before she pounced.

"Come over here, Alexandrea," she repeated softly. "Give me what I want."

I was awfully short on options. Here in this room, where one slave served as her foot rest while the other begged to pleasure her and a third man was hanging helplessly beside a suspended tarot spread, I was the last mouse left for this ravenous cat to catch. While I hated to cave in-hated the way she would ruin my future no matter how much humiliation I endured to humor her-I didn't like the looks of that cage, either.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty," she quietly coaxed. "See my cream? It tastes like freedom, little girl, and these three boys can't wait to watch you lap it up."

As my thoughts whirled, it registered that she'd changed her tune-from a fingering to a licking-yet deep down her siren song still sang of my doom. Her slender hands moved with an entrancing grace, one of them to cup her mound while the other gently brushed Justin aside. I watched spellbound, fighting the pull of her power, as she raised her soft, fleshy cape to reveal the intimate skin that glistened with her desire. A single drop dribbled down her leg and Justin lunged for it.

"Down, boy!" she barked, and the errant twin retreated behind his brother's bent form. "You've tasted my nectar many times, and now we're letting Alexandrea take her turn. Because she'll do anything to be free with Billy. And because she's secretly a dirty little girl who craves what she should never taste…who wants forbidden fruit, so we can punish her and cleanse her of her sins. A bride must be pure to enter into the sacrament of marriage, after all."

Her logic was as skewed as her tone was coaxing, and I heard the danger behind her alluring words. Without my mind's consent, my legs moved me forward. I couldn't pull my gaze away from that single drop of juice dribbling slowly down her thigh; couldn't inhale the scent of her deeply enough-couldn't name all the lovely shades of rose I saw in those folds as her quickened breathing took control of mine. I sensed Billy was watching in horrified fascination as I went down on my knees and began to lap at her leg.

Like a parched nomad at a desert oasis I went at her, heedless of her needs because I had to satisfy my own just to survive another moment. Her hands found my hair and I lunged upward with my tongue, lapping frantically at her flesh as I parted her silken lips with my fingers. Already the wickedness had insinuated itself: one taste and I was a goner, so now I shamelessly sated my own lustful hunger. A voice-Perfidia's voice-filled my head with purrs of encouragement, until I realized the vampire, too, was caught in the throes of passion. Where she had stood coolly open, displaying herself to the twins and Billy, she was burning like a wildfire out of control as my hands roamed her chilly flesh and my mouth ignited her.