Master of Desire by Lacey Alexander (read out loud books .TXT) 📕

He stopped walking again to cast her a  glance, as if considering her words—but then chose to disregard them. “Yet chaste and inexperienced you are not, Teesia. As for  your claim of being mine, why  should I believe you’ve not offered that ripe little pussy  of yours to every interested suitor who might have come sniffing  around? You knew  me not at all when I stroked you to ecstasy. And then, by chance, not knowing who you  were, I bargained with your father to wed you. Do you realize the  coincidence involved  here, vixen?” He paused for a dry chuckle that held no humor. “But  even more amazing  to me is that you expect me to believe your  silly story. I might not have gotten what I  paid for in you, but I won’t be made  a fool of by my wanton bride.”

Teesia was incensed. She’d quickly grown  tired of his accusations and had gone from saddened to angry in a few pounding heartbeats. “Has  it occurred to you, you big  brute, that it was  not  a coincidence? That perhaps the  reason my father chose you was  because he knew I fancied you?”

He let out a scalding laugh. “Am I to  believe his virgin daughter told him she  spread her legs for my touch before a viewing glass and would have eagerly taken my  cock if I’d offered it, as well?”

She drew in her breath  at having her most thrilling memory transformed into one of regret. “There is no shame in what I did!”

“For a common farmgirl or a villager, no—they may spread their  legs for one andall, as is their right. But a girl of royal descent knows good and well she must keep her desires at bay.”

“And for your information, what my father  does  know is that you and I exchanged glances at Dane’s feast. My sisters witnessed it. My mother, too. And though I knowyou are an apt choice for a husband for other  reasons, it’s my belief that he took my wishes into consideration because he knew I  was attracted to you and would find you a

pleasing choice.”

The caravan was but a few hundred yards away now and cheers began to go up as  Ralen and Teesia approached. It seemed  to end their conversation, much to her  dismay—she  had  to make him see the truth!

Girls in frocks of leather offered gaily colored flowers to Teesia as she and Ralen  passed through the two lines forming at either  side of  the path they took. People waved  colorful streamers in the air and shouts were raised. “A cheer for Ralen and his lovely  bride!” “To a long and happy marriage!” “Welcome, Teesia, new lady of Charelton  Fortress!”

For a brief moment, the fanfare made Teesia believe she’d simply imagined thehorrible exchange with Ralen just now.  This  was how the days leading up to her wedding were supposed to be! A welcome from his people. A welcome into his life.

31

Lacey Alexander

Around her, carts stood at the ready—and dear Ares, she’d never seen so many horses in one place! All the wagons were drawn  by the rare and expensive animals. The conveyances were painted in bright hues, strung with more of the colored streamers and flowers that befitted a royal bride. One  young girl lifted a  wreath of daisies onto  Teesia’s head—matching perfectly the flowing  silk dress of pale yellow made by Bella especially for this day, for the Giving Ceremony and the departure to her new existence.

Overcome, she dared smile up at Ralen,  her hand still wrapped tightly in  his .

He did not return it. Her heart sank.

Thankful when he led her to a particularly  grand cart the color of ripe red apples, she stared up at him. “So this is how we are  to  be?  We  are  to  have  an  unhappy  unionbecause you doubt my virtue?”

“We are to have an unhappy marriage because I have discovered my wife-to-be is a liar with no regard to duty or loyalty.  How can I put any trust in such a woman?”

“Look into my eyes,” she said earnestly,  “and you’ll see that my desire for you is real and my claims true.”

“I looked into your eyes in that dark hallway, vixen, and what I saw there was uncontained lust.”

“For  you.”

“I could have been any man.”

She shook her head. “From the moment I saw you, I wanted you in a way I wanted

no one else.”

“You should  save your pretty lies, vixen.” His eyes narrowed into  thin slits. “In fact,

you should save  all  your strength, in every way.”

She swallowed, feeling threatened by his  forbidding tone. “What do you mean?”

“You’re going to  need  strength after we wed.”

“For?”

“I have plans for you, my  little wanton. Wanton you may be, but before I’m  through with your punishment, you shall understand  that you will be a wanton only for your husband.”

“You  are  the only man I wish to  be with, Ralen!” Why couldn’t the insufferable

brute get that through his head?

“No, my vixen bride, you don’t understand.”

That was true—she didn’t understand  any  of this. “What are you talking about?”

“When I am through with your training,” he  said slowly, his dark eyes gleaming with menace beneath the morning sun, “you  will know of no  other lust than for me.  You will be able to conceive of pleasing no one else. You will do whatever I wish, whenever I wish it. You will no longer be capable of having sexual thoughts  or desires that are not brought about solely by me. I  will be your master, Teesia, and you will be my slave. My sex slave.”

32

Master of Desire

Teesia felt faint. At once, her stomach  roiled with revulsion and fear even as her nerve endings stood on end, prickling with a left-over hint of anticipation.

“Now, into the cart with you,” he said,  motioning toward the red conveyance that sported a leather awning for shade.

She could barely speak around  the lump that had grown in her throat. “Will you be riding with me?”

He