Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 130317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130317 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
It’s probably something to do with Chakioun biology, Mia decided. Maybe it’s part of their sexual cycle.
After all, even though the pale blue people with the silver hair were humanoid, that didn’t mean they were exactly like humans. They probably had all kinds of different physical and physiological features—like the double head on Enoc’s cock. They—
“Ah, here we are—the holiest place in the Dome and the home of the Prophet himself—the Inner Sanctum.” Brother Jonash’s nasal voice interrupted her train of thought.
Mia looked up to see that she was standing in front of a structure that could have held its own with any cathedral in Europe. It was built of some kind of dark blue marble and it soared above them—the picture of severe and unforgiving grandeur.
Brother Jonash turned to face them.
“Please wait here for a moment while I confer with the Council of Elders. I’ll come back for you when all is in readiness.”
Sev nodded.
“We’ll be here.”
“Thank you.” Brother Jonash pulled on one of the massive double doors—which was whisper quiet as it opened—and slipped inside the massive edifice, leaving Mia and her partner alone together at last.
EIGHTEEN
SEV
“So I guess that’s what they mean by ‘punishment’ around here.” Mia’s voice sounded a little shaky, as though she wasn’t sure what to think.
Sev cast a glance in his partner’s direction. Though she didn’t know it, he had been watching Mia every bit as much as he’d been watching the “punishment” playing out in front of them.
The reason he’d been watching her was the scent that had caught his nose—the scent of feminine desire that was becoming more and more familiar to him. Not the scent of the girl being punished—though there had been plenty of that floating around because she certainly enjoyed the D/s relationship she and her mate were clearly in.
No, it was the scent of Mia’s desire that caught his attention and called to him—a warm, sweet fragrance that Sev would have known anywhere. His partner’s scent was burned into his brain and the smell of her feminine need was the most erotic thing he could imagine. Still, he could barely believe he was smelling it—was the sight of another female getting spanked and punished really turning her on that much?
Apparently so, though he wasn’t sure if Mia knew it herself, he thought, looking down at her. She had a stunned look on her face and she was pressing her thighs together, though he didn’t think she realized she was doing it.
“I mean…can you believe that?” she said, looking up at him. “Right out in public like that? And asking us to watch?”
“To be honest, I’m fucking relieved,” Sev said bluntly.
“Relieved?” Mia looked at him like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “After what we just watched, you’re relieved?”
“Hell yes, baby,” Sev growled. “Did you forget my background? With all this talk of ‘punishment’ at this fucking place, I was afraid they meant something really extreme. Like knife play or branding or blood-letting or something like that.”
Mia recoiled, and the scent of her desire was suddenly much less.
“They did those things regularly on your planet?”
“That and more,” Sev said grimly. “Which is all right—if it’s consensual. But the Kindred part of me doesn’t enjoy anything like that. Drawing blood…burning or marking a female permanently and painfully…” He shook his head. “No. Just fucking no. That’s a hard limit for me.”
“But you would enjoy giving someone a spanking?” Mia demanded. She sounded equal parts outraged and fascinated, Sev thought and the scent of her desire had grown stronger once more.
He shrugged.
“I don’t know if I’d enjoy it but I could do it if I had to.” He glared at her. “And I will have to do it if you don’t stop fucking around.”
“You…you wouldn’t dare!” Mia was breathing harder now, her pupils dilated and the scent of her desire was even stronger. “If…if you did that to me I’d never forgive you!” she told him.
“Then don’t give me a reason to have to do it,” Sev growled. “Look, I know this place is a misogynistic hell hole but you’re the one who wanted to come here in the first place. Now that we’re stuck here, we have to play by the rules and if that includes turning you over my knee and tanning your sweet little bottom—”
“The Council of Elders is ready to see you now.”
Brother Jonash’s voice made them both jerk their heads around. Their “Spiritual Advisor” was wearing a long gray robe with a hooded cowl that hid his face in shadows.
“Brother Severith, Sister Mia…you are summoned,” he said solemnly. “Please, follow me into the antechamber of the Inner Sanctum.”
Then he turned and swept back into the building, leaving them no choice but to follow him.
NINETEEN
MIA
Mia had been to Europe once on a whirlwind tour that went through five countries in ten days. Most of it had been honestly kind of miserable—she’d been traveling with Michael, after all, and nothing had ever been good enough to suit her ex. Mia had spent the whole trip listening to him complain about everything that was wrong. But a few parts of the vacation stuck in her memory—visiting Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was one of them.