Virgin Queen Read online

  “Say my name.”

  “This is wrong…”

  “Say my name.” His finger flicked her clit.

  “Hector…”

  A flash of happiness lightened his heart. Tennae would not fight him. Of that, he was now assured. She begged for more without even understanding what it was. Her young body was ready to mate, ready to sing with the completeness of being filled, ready to rid itself of years of sexual tension—and only he would reap the rewards.

  Hector stood and slowly removed his shirt. Tennae’s gaze was drawn to the rippling muscles of his chest and the thickly corded arms as he shucked off his leather pants to stand naked before her. Turning, he allowed her a full view of his masculine body and rigid velvety penis.

  The breath caught in her throat as she gazed up at him. Hadn’t he just spoken about how she was made for love? Hector was wrong. Even her inexperienced mind understood the fact that the perfectly beautiful man before her was an instrument designed to bring a woman sexual pleasure. She could either fight him or welcome him into her embrace because no matter, Hector would have his way.

  Tennae reached out an upturned palm in welcome. “Help me to discover what I search for.”

  He lay beside her and brushed his fingers across her stomach. “What you search for is something inside you. I will not put my cock in you until we are wed, but I can still give you what you need.” He would not tell her that he would break her hymen in order to make their wedding night pain-free. Hopefully, the throes of the orgasms he had planned would dull the pain.

  She grabbed his hand and spread her legs, ready to be swept away again by the heat, but he turned the tables on her and pulled her fingers to his cock.

  “You must relieve me first and make it easier for me to resist physically loving you as I yearn to do.” Hector guided her hand over his engorged penis, forced her fingers to wrap around its thick length, and showed her the motion he desired. He heard the groan of indecision slip from her mouth, but spied Tennae’s tongue dart out to moisten her lips as she stared at his erection. She only fooled herself.

  His eyes closed as his hips surged forward with each slide into her imprisoned hand. Only the harsh pants that left his lips broke the silence of the room. “Squeeze your fingers tighter…”

  “Please…I should not…”

  His opposite hand shot out to clutch both their hands encasing his cock. His rhythm remained steady as he lowered himself to a bent elbow and then to his back, his thrusts now becoming short, quick jerks. “God, Tennae, it’s been so long since I felt this way…only you have the power to do this to me…” A hand moved to rest between her thighs.

  Absolute sexual power raced through her blood for the first time in her short life. It was because of her hand that this huge man groaned deeply from the back of his throat. Licking her lips once more, she watched in amazement, as his erection seemed to grow in her hand. She tightened her fingers around his velvety soft, yet rock-hard cock and jerked her hand. Hector’s groan of delight echoed in her ears. Without a thought, she leaned forward and licked the pearly dew clinging to the engorged tip.

  An ecstatic grunt preceded his come spurting across their knuckles as he used her hand to milk him to completion with long sensuous pulls. Finally, he lay still beside her and kept his eyes closed, remembering the moment her tongue flicked against his penis tip—until he felt the motion of her body roll across the mattress. Hector lifted his head in surprise. Tennae sat huddled against the headboard with her back to him. He reached out to caress the silkiness of one thigh, but she only squirmed from his reach.

  “Come back here.”

  “No!” Her shoulders quaked with her silent sobs, appalled by her wantonness when it came to Hector. “I want to go home. I want to return to my fiancé before anything else happens. This is wrong. I am betrothed. If Karn discovers what I have done, he will spurn me forever.”

  Hector rolled his body until his long, hairy legs dangled over the edge of the bed. His head shook slowly and his shoulders dropped with a sigh. “I will leave you, but it is my promise that I will return. You are here now and we will be wed the day after next.”

  “I will never marry you,” she sobbed.

  “You have no choice.” He stood, gathered his clothes in his arms and stared at the stiff line of her lovely back. “Think on this. I will return tomorrow to continue with your lessons.” Tennae was a mystery. As much as she spouted she would never willingly come to him, her soft limbs and womanly body contradicted her words.

  He had thought everything would be easier because of her earlier acquiesce to his advances. Now, his anger spurred him to scoop up her clean clothes along with the soiled ones. Huddle there, my sweet. I will leave you naked until the battle commences again.

  As the door opened, Tennae spun on her buttocks to see him exit with her garments. She leapt from the bed and scurried across the room. The click of the lock met her ears as she pounded against the sturdy, oaken frame. “I hate you! I will never submit to you again!”

  A disappearing chuckle increased her anger but, through the red haze, an imaginary finger stroked the inside her pussy. Tennae slid to the cold floor, crossed her arms over her breasts, and stared at the bed. My mind will say no, but will my body?

  * * * * *

  Hector returned the following morning with her breakfast.

  Tennae sat wrapped in a blanket on the window seat and refused to watch him as he moved about the room. She had spent the entire night on the hard cushion, thinking of Karn—only to have those thoughts turn to the magnificent, all-consuming fire that Hector quite easily evoked throughout her betraying body the day before.

  “Come and eat, Tennae.”

  She simply tightened the blanket around her shoulders and continued to stare into the courtyard below.

  Hector took two steps in her direction, ready to pluck her unyielding body from the window ledge and forcibly sit her in a chair, but he suddenly stopped halfway across the room. He’d also spent a sleepless night. The long days of travel spent in her company combined with the way she reacted to his sexual onslaught had driven him to distraction. Tennae already consumed his every thought.

  Hector had come to realize he didn’t simply want a breeding partner to keep his Sector alive for many generations to come. He wanted a woman who would rush to him at the end of the day with love shining in her eyes. He wanted a wife in every sense—one who conquered his heart with a mere glance across a room—one who would return his love for an eternity. Manhandling Tennae now when he had been so careful thus far might make that wonderful fleeting attachment even more unattainable. He breathed deeply to clear his head and approached the window to sit beside her.

  “Go away.”

  “I cannot. Tennae, would living a life with me be so terrible? I have been gentle with you thus far when I could have easily conquered your body. I will always protect you. You will never need fear anything.” Her head turned slowly to look up at him. His eyes widened when he saw her tear-stained cheeks. Surprisingly, threads of guilt trickled through his veins. It was because of him she was so sad. “Have you sat here and cried throughout the night.”

  “And why would I not? I have been taken from everything familiar. I know not if I will ever see my home again. And what about my fiancé I have left behind?” Her head shook causing the ringlets of her black hair to bounce softly about her forehead. “I feel sorry for the likes of you. You will never know what it is like to be separated from someone you love. You just go about your days stealing from others.”

  A familiar pain buried within Hector suddenly burst. He momentarily acknowledged the ache before battling it back to the dark recesses of his mind. Taking another deep breath of courage, he smiled sadly and rested a shoulder against the window to look out across the room. “I do know of what you talk about. I had a love like that once.”

  “Hmmpf,” Tennae returned airily, “did she have enough of your foolish manly ways and leave you for someone more gentile
? If so, she is in a far better place than I.”

  Hector’s pain reared up for a second more before he took control of it. “If calling the heavens a happier and more gentile place to be then yes, she is far better off.”

  The blood rushed from Tennae’s face when she spun to stare at him. Utter sadness flickered in Hector’s dark eyes before it was gone a second later. “I’m…I’m sorry, Hector. No matter what, you have not bruised my body or my soul. I had no right to say that, especially when I did not know the entire story.”

  Hector swiveled on the seat, his blue eyes clear and steady as they searched across the planes of her youthful face.

  Tennae wiggled beneath the humble stare.

  “Can we make a pact, Tennae? Give me this day. Give us the day to get to know one another. You can ask me anything, and I will answer honestly.”

  She stared back, the seconds ticking by on a nearby clock. Suddenly, she realized she wasn’t frightened of him. And spending what she hoped would be most of the day talking would keep her own body from betraying her until she figured out how to escape.

  * * * * *

  Tennae tightened the sash about her trim waist. Hector had retrieved a robe for her and now sat across from her at the table. She finished her breakfast, feeling more at ease and able to think clearly. Leaning against the backrest, she wondered what he was thinking as he silently watched her. “You are staring at me like a child waiting for his dessert.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Congratulations. You have described my feelings better that I could have.”

  Her cheeks stained red. “You promised me that we could spend the day talking.”

  “And so we shall. What would you like to talk about?”

  “I want to know about the mistruths you stated. Why would you state the males of my Sector have lied to the women?”

  “Because they have.” He rested his broad forearms on the table and clasped his fingers together. “For years, my people have discovered much about yours. We have watched your culture closely, finding it hard to believe that because of the men’s unquenchable thirst for sex, they would be willing to eventually see the Sector die out. Mankind will never survive if we all take up these habits. Your men care nothing for those who would become their wives and only worry about their immediate gratification.”

  “You are wrong.” Tennae squared her shoulders, ready to defend Karn. “The man who I was to marry—before you stole me away—is kind and decent. He…he has never been with another woman, especially with these diseased women from some cave you claim to know of.”

  “So you believe me about the Caves?”

  The sudden illnesses and disappearance of so many could not be discounted, but Karn partaking in such devious sexual acts with contaminated women living on the outskirts of her home? She shuddered with the thought. Karn loved her! He spoke often about growing old together. “If there is such a place, why then are only the women infected with these illnesses that claim their lives. Why do the men remain healthy?”

  “Because they hoard the drugs that clean their bodies of the many scourges.”

  “Ha! You are wrong in that assumption. No one in Sector Seven takes medication. It is something that has been outlawed for over a hundred years. Now there is no need. “

  “That is because only a certain amount of vaccinations survived the Great Shake. With a limited supply, your men have decided to keep it for themselves. No one in your group has had the foresight to look to the future. There will come a time when Sector Seven will be wiped from Earth. The diseases will eventually kill all of your people. They would have eventually killed you long before you were an old woman if I had not taken you away.”

  A shiver ran down Tennae’s spine. As much as it pained her to think about it, his words made sense, especially when she thought about the many strange deaths. There were old men in Sector Seven, but not a woman over the age of thirty. It was still hard to fathom that Karn would keep such a secret from her. Not her adoring Karn who held her safely in his arms. He would never lie. Somehow, she must find her way back to him.

  “Your face, Tennae, is like an open book. I see your confusion, but I also see the look in your eyes that tells me you think of someone you love. He is not worth it.”

  “How can you say that? Were you not the one who said you understood what it is like to lose someone you love?”

  “Do not even put my dead wife in the same class!” he thundered out as misery pinched his features. “I lost someone who encompassed my whole life.” He stalked to the window and kept his face turned away from the woman who unexpectedly rushed to his side.

  Tennae cautiously placed her hand upon his arm. While watching him struggle with his pain of loss, she was surprised at the sudden tender emotions that flooded her heart. Where they had sprung from, she wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t in her nature to treat him callously when the man obviously had meant every word he said. “Hector. I am sorry. I will think on the things you have told me.” For a moment, she had seen such love in his eyes that it stunned her. Never, even in the throes of unrequited passion, had Karn gazed at her that way. “Please come back to the table. I would like to hear about this wonderful woman.”

  Hector met her sympathetic eyes with his. He hadn’t meant to blurt out the fact that he was married at one time. He had promised a friendly pact for the day, however, and it seemed she now planned to keep to her end of it. He was even more surprised when she gently grasped his hand and led him back to his chair.

  Tennae rounded the table and seated herself. “Would you tell me how she died?”

  “Tennae…”

  “You promised me we would talk. I would like to know about your past life. What was her name?”

  Hector rested his arm on the surface of the table and stared into space for a moment. A sad smile curved his mouth slightly upward until he brought his gaze back to hers. “Her name was Mara. You remind me a lot of her. She was beautiful to gaze upon and possessed the same color of hair. I was away on an expedition. When I returned, I was told she drowned in a nearby river as she tried to save my son who fell into the heavy current.”

  Tennae silently swallowed the instant lump in her throat.

  “She reached my son, but didn’t have the strength to return to the shore. It was said that once they went beneath the surface, the river refused to release them. Their bodies were found miles down the shore.” He reached out his arm, grasped her hand, and quickly changed the subject. “I cannot let you go. If you can find it in your heart, you must try to find happiness here. I will take care of you always.”

  The warm feel of his fingers protectively curled around hers and the gentle light in his eyes halted the words of disagreement that rested on her tongue. To be loved as he had loved his wife would be a wonderful thing. Tennae had much to consider.

  She was confused. A part of her yearned to flee back to everything she had ever known, but what if the supposed truths Hector related about the men in her Sector had some truth to it? She found it unbelievable that Karn kept so many awful secrets. When he held her, she felt nothing but a wonderful security.

  Her gentler side argued back. She couldn’t dismiss the emotions that Hector aroused. He had touched the inner woman, caused doubt to grow in her mind, and opened himself to her with private happenings of the past. If he simply wanted a woman to breed upon, he could have tossed her away and found a more willing partner. But he still wanted her.

  Tennae blinked when she felt a tug on her hand. Hector pulled her to her feet, and gently embraced her suddenly trembling body. “Let me kiss you.”

  “I thought we were going to talk.” Tennae spouted, ignoring the sudden buzzing inside her head.

  “And we will, but I am of a purpose. I do not want to force you into my arms. I desire that you come willingly.” He dipped his head, refusing to give her another chance to reject him, and captured her lips.

  Tennae stiffened, but his continual gentle caresses against h
er mouth softened her stance. Hector forced her mouth open and licked his tongue against hers.

  I cannot help myself…he tugs at my spirit, this big burly man with tenderness in his heart… Her arms lifted to encircle his broad shoulders. Hector hauled her into his arms and Tennae’s heart pounded with both fear and excitement when he whispered against her ear, “It is time for another lesson.”

  Tennae felt the familiar wash of liquid drip from her body as the heady sensation of earlier heated her belly. Hector mesmerized her with his handsome face, his gentle smile, and the hard erection that scalded the skin of her belly when he held her tightly against his chest.

  Before she could mumble a weak protest, Tennae found herself lying on her back in the center of the bed. Hector locked gazes with her, untied the sash, and opened her robe. She gasped with the instant excitement that raced through her blood when his large hands drifted across her inner thighs, gliding a path to her knees. She struggled to keep her breaths even as he massaged his way back to her hips, battled fiercely to keep her emotions in check, but had already lost the war.

  As his hands left her body and he stepped back, Tennae longed to call out to him, remembering the waves of passion he’d sparked the evening before. His light touches had already ignited the fire in her body that lay just below the surface of silken skin.

  Hector stared at the black patch of hair between her legs as he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it from his shoulders, knowing the immense pleasure that awaited him. The moist, dark curls glistened in the candlelight with heated promise. He licked his lips when his eyes moved back to her beautiful breasts tipped with dark pink nipples. They beckoned his lips. He loosened his pants, let them drop to the floor, and kicked them away.

  All thoughts of Karn, her doubts, her unanswered questions, her earlier outrage flew from her mind. She yearned for Hector’s touch; she longed to run her fingers through the wiry hair that furred his broad chest, to warm the tip of his cock with her lips until she tasted the salty juice of his arousal. Tennae craved the feel of his thick fingers gliding into her pussy to bring her to the heights of a shuddering orgasm, ridding herself of the constant ache between her thighs.