A feeling like ice trickled down her spine, her body tensing beneath his hands, and the mage felt it. Slowly, he began to ignite her again, warming what his words had chilled even as people entered the room. He seduced her before them without shame, driving her body higher while dragging her mind to his with intimate looks and a breathy conversation held between them by the press of their bodies.
"Was it worth it? Do you desire passion so much that you'd throw away everything for that stupid little girl?"
"Yes," she breathed, shocked that he'd noticed. "She was kind."
"Mm." His tongue caressed the soft skin just under her chin. "I'm not. You traded your safety for hers? Do you know what I could have taught her?"
Jaeda closed her eyes. "How to hate men." She waited for the blow.
It didn't come, but the mage paused. His insane desire slaked, and he moved his hand from her breast to her face, tracing the line of her high cheekbone. "A whore?" he asked.
"Yes, my lord."
"Here?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Orchid, I'm not going to hit you. Look at me." He waited until she opened her eyes. "I want lust, not fear. Lust: pure, carnal, and primal. I don't want shame or pain. I want the pleasure."
"A sex mage?"
He chuckled, his chest rumbling against her bare body. "Yes, you could say that."
Something about him dared her to ask, "Why did you choose the dark arts?"
He traced her cheek again, his hand sliding back until the tips of his fingers tangled between her braids. "I didn't. They also aren't dark. It's the stupid mundanes who try to set us on sides. Magic is just emotion - raw, unfiltered, and so very intoxicating."
"You're still conquering us."
"Yes," he purred, twining a braid around his finger. "I am."
"They're ready, my lord," Treb said, breaking into their conversation.
The Jackal nodded, showing he'd heard, but didn't move away. "Over there are twenty-six men aroused by the sight of your body pressed to mine, and two that are disgusted. The girls I refuse to touch until they're women. The boys?" He shook his head. "In places like this, they're taught they're men as soon as their dicks can get hard, so I'm willing to treat them as such. How shall we sort them?"
The question was meant to be answered, and his tone said as much. "I don't know, my lord."
"Look at them," he said softly, sliding against her again.
He made it hard to concentrate. She'd been with plenty of men, most to keep a roof over her head, but the Jackal wasn't like them. His every move seduced. The rich sound of his voice pierced her like no other. The heat of his breath on skin wet from his kisses made her want to throw her head back and beg for more, but he'd told her to look, so she did.
She saw faces she knew. Lined up just like the women, the men stood naked, their hands cupping their genitals. It didn't hide them well. Engorged heads peeked past their wrists, and heavy breathing pumped chests.
"It's you," she realized, looking back to the mage. "You make them delirious."
"Mhm. I don't have the same effect on you." He slowly leaned back, letting cool air reach her skin. "Why? What is it about you that calls to me?"
"You have a taste for exotic women?"
He huffed a laugh but shook his head. "No. Exotic is another word for strange. I love beautiful women, regardless of where they're from. You're not the first Tareni I've known."
Jaeda couldn't stop her lips from smiling. "Fucked?"
"I haven't fucked you."
"But you want to."
His eyes moved over her so heavily she could feel their touch. "Not yet. First, I think you need to be worshipped. Walk with me, Orchid. Let's show these men that you're not their whore."
"Lord, I am."
"No!" His head snapped to hers, and the muscles along his jaw clenched. "No," he said again, softer. "You're mine, am I clear?"
She dropped her head. "Yes, my lord."
"Good. Now show me which men have touched my pretty little flower."
Chapter 4
The Dark Orchid Trilogy: Power of Lies: Book 1
The Jackal offered his arm as if she was some well-dressed woman at a noble's ball. Instead, she was a foreign whore, wearing nothing except a gold collar and her skin in a room full of men, but none of them cared - except the one named Treb. Once again he'd taken up his place on the far wall, amused at the