Page 80 of Eternal Craving

Sunaria handed me the parchment on which Felipe had written his letter to the king. I smiled and tucked it into my coat pocket.

Sunaria pressed her ear up against the door of the inn.

“What do you hear?” I asked.

“Nothing.” She worked the lock until it gave.

Stale beer mixed with sweat permeated the air. Candles that had burned down to the wick had left waxy stains. During the day, this place would be lively, but now it served as a dreary hiding place for us.

I investigated the long oak bar. “We’re not staying, are we?”

“I owe you.”

“An apology?” I asked.

“A punishment.” Sunaria shoved me back against the wooden panel and flipped me up and onto the bar.

I caught my breath as I stared up at the beer mugs lined above my head. Sunaria leaped onto the bar and straddled me. She grabbed my wrists, pressing my hands down on either side of my head.

I smiled up at her.

“No more talking.” She held my wrists with one hand and pressed a long finger against my lips. “Punishments come in many forms.”

I felt sure my heart would pound its way out of my chest. I opened my mouth to reply but knew better. The sensation of her fingers gently tapping my groin caused me to swallow hard. I tugged my wrist out of her grip and reached for her.

The sting of her slap across my face caused me to flinch. I placed my hand back beside the other, returning to a captive pose. Her calm expression never wavered. I tried to remember if at any time my behavior had been out of line, but as I felt my hardness increase with her firm strokes, I sensed that this might be another way that Sunaria chose to exert her power over me.

With a rip, my shirt came open. The cold firmed my nipples and her tongue did the rest, circling and suckling. The bite came without warning and then another slap, only this time to my groin. She reached inside my pants and eased me out, her fingers firmly caressing my shaft.

My jaw tensed as I envisioned where she might take this punishment. Fear affected my hardness but instinctively she rectified this by shuffling back, leaning in, and with the tip of her tongue teasing the underside of my already moistened head. After pausing for a few seconds, she again flicked me with her tongue. And then a moment of stillness, causing cruel anticipation and then that familiar sensation bedazzled me, sending me closer to the edge each time.

Such unbearable pleasure caused my hips to pump the air. With my groan came another slap and the shock snatched mybreath. She engulfed me in her mouth, her warm, soft lips moving with a sensuous pressure until I had no choice but to bite down on my lip in order to stay quiet, hoping not to fail her.

I reached for her again.

Sunaria’s stern stare caused me to cross one wrist over the other again, silently swearing not to move until permitted. I wanted to ask if I’d insulted her, but as the pleasure increased and my reward for submitting spiraled, I doubted my own judgment. I counted the bronze cups on the ceiling, trying to prevent myself from ending this evening earlier than she or I desired.

Sunaria paused.

She slid off me and stood close, arms folded, a disapproving gaze.

The silence made me squirm and as the minutes ticked past with her staring at me and my erection ever reaching skyward, I wondered how much more I could take. The erotic pulses that surged from my chest to my groin lulled me.

But her gaze unsettled me.

Sunaria hunted those weaker than herself and she took her prey swiftly. As I lay vulnerable, exposed, I wondered if I too would be numbered amongst her victims and for some warped reason that idea made me harder.

I grinned, taking a chance, but I had nothing to lose. My dignity was already compromised.

“Close your eyes.” Her voice was quiet, reassuring even, but her stern presence revealed a fierce determination.

My smirk was my answer that her request was out of the question, and I turned my head away.

“I’ll not ask you again.” She spoke slowly, emphasizing her authority.

I believed her, but closing my eyes was risky, even if it would placate her. I resumed my count of the bronze cups, but beforeI’d reached the number three, I felt the metal chain wrapping around my wrists, binding them together. I cursed the man who’d left it hanging around making it easy for someone like Sunaria to come along and misuse it. She’d wrapped it several times with dizzying speed. As I struggled with the impossible, I felt her working at my feet. Apparently, she found another chain to bind me there as well. I resisted the tautness of being bound.

Sunaria’s hand pressed against my mouth. “Say one more word and I’ll gag you.”