Sharon Green - Chains Released

“Is something wrong?” she asked very softly, although she probably could have shouted without waking Tandro. “You really ought to be asleep.”

“I agree, but sleep seems to be avoiding me,” Killen responded in a murmur. “What are you doing wandering around?”

“I was about to make more coffee, which usually helps me sleep,” Tain said, privately shocked that she had to close her hand into a fist to keep it from reaching out and stroking Killen’s shoulder and arm. “It’s cool enough down here that I seem to need something to warm me up.”

“Yes, I can tell that you’re cold,” Killen said in a very … neutral way, his glance having touched her hardened nipples. “Are you sure it’s coffee you want and not an excuse to indulge in a little … exercise of ownership?”

“What are you talking about?” Tain asked, honestly having no idea what he meant. “What can ownership have to do with anything?”

“Don’t worry, Tain, you don’t have to lie to cover the fact that you’re only human,” Killen said in a weary voice, the look in his eyes sad now.

“You’re in control of me just the way I was in control of you, and that’s a very … overwhelming thing when it really hits you. The sudden understanding makes you want to exercise that control in the most basic way possible, the most intimate way. The feeling is irresistible in the beginning and won’t start to bother you until the novelty wears off, so there’s no reason not to indulge yourself.”

Killen no longer looked directly at Tain, which might have been a very good thing. She had to fight really hard to keep her face from showing what she now felt, which was an incredible mixture of … she wasn’t completely sure what it was a mixture of. What she did know for an iron-hard fact was that Killen had misinterpreted her reactions.

Tain stared down at the man who was now under her control, feeling nothing of a desire to make him serve her the way he’d forced her to serve him.

Yes, her body had been reacting to his naked nearness, but not because of an urge to humiliate him even more. Tain had hated the idea of slavery even before she’d been forced to experience the state personally, and taking advantage of someone who couldn’t refuse her was completely against her beliefs.

And that thought made her admit to herself the real reason her body had tightened and hardened. It was a combination of concern and desire, concern over Killen’s well-being and a desire to feel his hands on her again. If he made love to her the act would prove that he was all right, and she very much needed him to be all right. But not because of what she had planned for tomorrow, not for any reason she was willing to admit even in the privacy of her own mind.

Happily, though, Killen had misinterpreted her reason for being there and for feeling the way she did. More than that he’d given her a way to get what she wanted more and more badly with each passing minute -without letting him know the truth…

“You know, it’s really helpful to deal with someone who doesn’t have to have the facts of life explained to him,” Tain drawled after what was really only a very brief hesitation. “Turn to your side so I can join you under that blanket.”

Killen stiffened, but he still did just as Tain had ordered. The pallet wasn’t very wide, but there was enough room for her to slip under the blanket and press her body to his. His warmth flowed into her at the touch, showing that she really was cold, but something else became even more clear. Killen’s mind might be reluctant, but his body certainly wasn’t.

“You are so nicely made,” Tain murmured as she ran her hands slowly over Killen, feeling a faint trembling in his body. “Will you be able to lie on your back without much pain if you brace yourself with your feet?”

“I think so,” Killen answered, the words sounding as if they were being dragged out of him. The blankness of his expression said he didn’t want her to know how he really felt, but it was a waste of effort. Tain knew Killen hated what was being done to him, and that fit in perfectly with her plans. With any luck the man would also hate her, and that would end any possibility of their ever getting together in a relationship. That end was something Tain knew she needed to survive, but a very small part of her hated the need more than she knew was possible…

Once Killen had put himself to his back with his knees bent to let his feet brace him, Tain made sure he wasn’t in pain before she began to kiss his body. In no time at all Killen was moaning, his arousal completely returned, and Tain found that she couldn’t continue with the foreplay. Her own arousal was so high that under other circumstances she would have been whimpering, but with her in control there was no reason to whimper. She went to her knees and straddled Killen, then quickly took him inside her.

Killen’s hands came to her waist as her own hands rested on his shoulders, her up and down movement making them share the moaning. It felt so good to have Killen inside her again, even though it would have felt better if he’d been on top. But Tain couldn’t allow that, so she’d have to make do with this as her final goodbye to him.

As a final goodbye it could have been much worse, considering how long Killen let the time last. Tain came more than once while Killen matched her movements with his eyes closed, but finally he was no longer able to hold off his own release. He came while Tain shuddered from the latest of her orgasms, and all she wanted to do was collapse on top of him. But doing that wasn’t part of her plan, so she patted his face instead, climbed off him, then left the alcove to return to her own bed.

And once she lay under her blanket she had to fight really hard to keep her crying from getting loud enough to wake Risdin…

Jake woke up feeling so comfortable that for a moment he didn’t remember where he was. He lay on his stomach, and even though his body ached here and there he was also aware of a sense of satisfaction. He hadn’t felt this sated since the last time he’d—That was when he remembered the night before, and what had come of Tain’s visit. All satisfaction and comfort disappeared as he sat up slowly, now aware of the disappointment he felt. It was stupid to have thought that Tain was a better person than he, someone who would never have taken advantage of a bad situation. But she had taken the same advantage he had, and even though his body had enjoyed the time his mind certainly hadn’t.

“Obviously you needed sleep even more than I did,” Tandro’s voice came from behind him, the words soft. “I’ve been awake for a while, long enough to hear one of the women moving around, but whichever one it is she didn’t come in here.”

Jake turned to see that Tandro also sat on his pallet, which meant that things were looking up for them. Last night he would have been able to sit if he’d really had to, but this morning there was nothing but a shadow left of the punishment he’d been given.

“If it isn’t Tain who’s awake, coming in here would be a waste of time,” Jake said, speaking just as softly. “Have you forgotten that we aren’t allowed to obey anyone but her? That means, of course, that we stay on these pallets until she says we can get up.”

Jake expected to see anger in Tandro over what he’d said, but the native suddenly looked drawn instead.

“After yesterday I really didn’t need any more lessons on the evils of slavery, but it looks like I’ll be getting them whether I need them or not.” The man’s voice was low, as if he were controlling himself sternly, but it was pain rather than anger that he strove to hold off. “It isn’t really possible to understand how bad it can get unless you go through it yourself, is it? Why is it that human beings can’t seem to learn except the hard way? Why can’t we know that something is wrong without having our faces rubbed in the wrongness?”