But then Otho steps forward, raising a hand and glaring at me.
“No,” he growls. “I will not do it.”
This seems to snap Brennan out of his trance. He’d clearly been expecting the opposite reaction, and he turns to Otho to demand: “And why not?”
Otho shakes his head, but doesn’t answer. Yet from the facial expressions of the two towering warriors, it’s as if words are being exchanged by them – just words I can’t hear.
It’s that damned telepathic link between them! It lets those Aurelians talk without me listening.
What is Otho saying?
I don’t know – and I can only hope the conversation is enough to convince Brennan to step back, because otherwise my clothes are going to be torn off my body before he’s even delivered his first spank across my ass.
9
Otho
Natali is wearing some of the clothes Lazar brought for her – but as with everything this girl does, she’s refused to wear them as intended.
Instead, she’s taken two of the dresses purchased for her and assembled them into a single outfit – if you can even call it that. It’s not really an outfit – Natali’s instead wearing torn shreds of thin fabric, tied one on top of the other. The makeshift outfit is presumably intended to hide the curves of her youthful, fertile body – but it’s no good.
Natali can attempt to hide her beautiful body, but she can’t hide her scent. Spiced with peppermint, her need assaults my nose.
I know her.
I only met this beauty yesterday, but already I know what she wants.
Natali Carani aches for hard discipline. She aches to be punished. She aches to be claimed by the three of us.
That much will be inevitable if I’m the one to deliver punishment. I’ll lose control – I know it. The moment I hear her gasp in pain, or moan in need, I won’t be able to hold back the animal need to claim her.
Ever since the first time I smelled her scent – just a day ago – I’ve thought of nothing but the ecstasy of mating with Natali – of discovering if she is my Fated Mate or not.
I know she is. I feel she is. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I’ve never been so sure of anything in all my hundreds of years of life.
That belief nearly got me killed last night. I lost my focus in combat, and some cutthroat human scum nearly got the better of me. Imagine the humiliation – a blooded, veteran Aurelian Warrior killed by an opportunistic human scavenger…
But until I am deep inside of Natali, I’ll remain sloppy and unfocused. My thoughts will remain in torment. I need to know – we all do.
So does she.
Last night, Natali nearly died. She gouged her leg open – an injury that could have killed her from infection or blood loss if it had gone untreated.
Worse, if Brennan hadn’t have stopped her, Natalie might have been kidnapped or killed by the same thieves who my lack of focus nearly left me vulnerable to.
We’ve been in possession of this human female for less than a day, and already we’ve almost lost her once.
She needs to be taught to stay under our protection…
…but I know I can’t be the one to teach her.
Her last words stung me.
She accused Brennan of turning Rogue – which means she accused all of us.
And the worst part? She might not be wrong.
I maintain my loyalty to the Aurelian Empire, but as much as we tried to fight it – as much as we don’t want to admit it – we’ve already crossed a line.
We’ve done things to secure Orb-Material for the Empire that have pushed the envelope of decency and honor. Things so dark they tore the fabric of our being apart. We’re from a species that prides itself on nobility, honor, and order…
…but in the desperation of the oncoming storm, we’re now on the verge of losing those last shreds of our cultural identity.
If news of our deeds were ever brought to the light of justice, my battle-brothers and I would be stripped of our ranks – loyal to the Empire or not.
We’d lose the promised estates on our home world of Colossus. We’d be thrown into jail for hundreds of years for the crimes we’ve committed…
…and, if we were ever finally released, we’d then be cast out of the Empire.
We live in dark and desperate times. They require dark and desperate measures.
However, there are some means that are never justified, even by the ends.
So far, there’s only one rule of Aurelian law we haven’t yet broken – that of a crime so vile we’d be put on the Kill List and executed on sight if we ever crossed that final line.
We might have kidnapped Natali Carani. We might have imprisoned her against her will, to use as leverage against her father. We might be acting more like a Toad cartel than honorable Aurelian Warriors…
…but we have at least not taken Natali by force – no matter how much her scent calls out to us.
But call it does. I can taste her scent – even though she’s tried to disguise it with peppermint-flavored lotion, and conceal her body in that ridiculous, makeshift outfit.
Natali is trembling, because she herself doesn’t quite understand what she wants.
If you asked her, she’d deny it – but I know Natali aches for me.
She aches for me to throw her over my lap and bring my hand down hard on her soft buttocks, again and again. She aches for the crack of flesh on flesh – that brutal discipline she got only a taste of from Brennan the day before.
Natali aches for me to pull up her little makeshift dress up and expose her skin to my battle-brothers. She aches for me to hold her helpless, as I press her tightly against my lap.
My cock surges just at the thought of it – hardening in response to her clear and obvious need.
Natali is balanced on the same knife edge
