from, so he sucked harder, focused on the physical, because that was damned baffling and amazing at once. His mindless cock was straining. Was his lust simple, bestial reaction to doing something that most males enjoyed so much themselves? Or was it deeper than that? Was he actually getting stiff from doing this to Daegan? Being on his knees, taking the vampire’s cock, tasting him, giving him pleasure, making him shudder as he handled him as roughly as he’d want it done to himself? Slickly sliding up and down, teasing him with a tongue that seemed to have a mind and direction of its own, flicking at the vein beneath the broad head, then down, following that thick ridge, sucking hard on the whole thing like a favorite damn treat.
And he was doing it while experiencing some of the worst pain he’d ever felt. Fuck, he was having to imagine his knees nailed into the ground to keep from bolting. His whole body was shaking, and his gut was turning over.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
He strangled on the cry, unable to stop himself. The blood was running down his back, over the dried blood from earlier. The pain and irritation were beyond description, just a white inferno. His hands clenched on his thighs. Holy Christ. What number were they on?
Let go, love. Just let it go. It doesn’t matter.
He locked the Council out of his mind. He deserved suffering, but the pain of this lash could make him free. It would creep into his battered heart and soul, make him let go, take him to a place where he’d just feel what Daegan and Anwyn were doing to him forever. But oh, how it hurt. There was nothing but them, but it was all pain, and pleasure, never one without the other.
Daegan reached down then, gripped Gideon’s fists and lifted them so Gideon’s hands were clasped over Daegan’s hips, digging into him with hard fingers, an anchor. Daegan kept his hands manacled on Gideon’s wrists, so when the next lash landed, and Gideon reflexively jerked back, he was held fast, Daegan making him a prisoner. It just made him hotter, harder.
He was still pumping him with his mouth, but he was in full, hellfire agony, and didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up. Thwack. Thwack. She was striping over existing wounds now. He didn’t want to scream, would bite down on his tongue if Daegan’s cock wasn’t there, and fortunately for the vampire he had enough of a brain not to do that. He dug his fingers hard into his thigh muscles, bruising. He wouldn’t scream, not in front of those assholes, whatever they were thinking.
You scream if you must, Gideon. Anwyn’s sensual tone, her Mistress’s voice. You are ours, and this is what we desire. You are serving us, giving us pleasure with your pain.
He realized he’d divided his focus solely between Dagean’s cock and Anwyn’s lashing. Perhaps because of the weird contrast to what was happening, he was drawing peace from the familiar smell of Daegan’s clothes, the cologne he’d used tonight. Muscular buttocks flexed just beyond the range of his fingertips as Daegan fucked his mouth.
I should have shoved my dick in here a long time ago, vampire hunter. I just never realized how effective it would be for shutting you up and getting you to focus on more important things.
Gideon managed to clumsily score him with his teeth, hard enough to earn a grunt. Daegan’s hand shifted to give his hair a sharp, warning tug, but he thought he heard the vampire’s feral chuckle, and a muttered, “Careful. Payback is hell.”
It was going to be okay. Daegan was ragging his ass. He was going to survive this. He was. A clear image arrived in his brain, compliments of Anwyn. Gideon, stretched out and tied on a rough wooden wheel like a medieval torture device, turned upside down so Daegan could close his mouth over him without the subservience of being on his knees. It made Gideon still the slave, Daegan tormenting him, holding him helpless and upside down, sucking and sucking until he was so close to coming . . .
Thwack. The wet meat of loosened skin slapped against open wounds.
He did scream this time, and the pulsation against Daegan’s cock made the organ jump. Daegan’s hand convulsed as well. That’s it. Scream, vampire hunter. Vibrate against my cock, so I can shoot come down your throat. That is what a servant does. Serves his