I nod.
He steps into the shower with me and turns on the water. Before he puts me under the shower head, he tests the temperature. Taking my hand and putting it in the stream, he asks, “Is this okay?”
“Yes, Kai, thank you.” When I’m brought into the water flow, I moan. It feels so good.
Kai takes some soap from the ledge and lathers it in his hands. He rubs it on my body, taking special care around the cuts on my knees. The atmosphere changes with a sexual tension I have not experienced in a very long time. Not since Claus. Every one of my senses is alive and tingling. I know he feels the same because his penis has come to life and is standing at attention, but he says nothing and refuses to look at me. He continues to lather my body. His strong hands feel so good on my skin. I want to reach down and stroke him, but I know this is a test. Claus is watching, and if I fail, the agreement will be null and void. He didn’t actually say so, but I know the game he’s playing. He wants to see what I will do.
Kai turns me around to face the shower wall. His hands glide down my back to my ass, and he slides one hand through my butt crack. I can’t help the moan that escapes me. He ignores it and kneels to wash my legs and feet. It is taking everything in me not to fall to the shower floor. My legs are weak, and all I want to do is offer myself to him. He washes my hair and proceeds to rinse me off. When he is finished, he steps out of the shower and grabs a towel. He towels me off and then does the same to himself.I want to do that.
He wraps the towel around his waist and steps out of the shower. “Wait here,” he says and proceeds to put on his clothes. Once he is dressed, he walks me to the base of the stairs and says, “The king would like to see you.”
We leave the bathroom and head into to the king’s chambers—the chambers that were once mine.
When he sees us, he says, “Ah! You’re done. I would have expected it to take longer.” He looks from Kai to me. “Look at you, Serena. You’re a vision, all clean and fresh.” He turns his back to us both and asks, “Was it difficult?”
I know what he’s asking, but I don’t know if he is addressing me or Kai, so I wait before I respond.
“Yes, My King,” Kai replies.
Claus walks toward me and stands behind me. He reaches his arm around to my front and fondles my breasts. “Do you want her, Kai?”
Oh, Kai, please say no. He will kill you if you tell him the truth.
“I do.”
Claus slides his hands down my front and lets them hover over my patch of hair at my core. “But you won’t take her, will you? Why is that, Kai?”
“Because, My King, she is your property. I am nothing but a lowly servant, and she is your queen.”
Claus laughs. “Well, she’s not my queen yet.” He leans in and whispers in my ear, “She will have to prove herself.”
My skin prickles in awareness.
“You did well, Kai. You passed the test. I now know I can trust you with Serena.” He turns toward me. “Serena, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about. Tell me, do you desire Kai?”
I hoped he would not ask this of me, but now that he has, I decide to answer carefully. “Yes, My King. I do.” He smacks my ass, and as the sting travels through my body, all I can think isdo it again. But I say nothing more.
He massages the sting on my behind. “You realize it is wrong to desire another man other than your king?”
“I do.”
He smacks my ass again.
Yes!
“And do you realize you will have to punished for this desire?” He knew exactly what he was doing. He set me up to fail. He knew my sexual instincts would come through in that shower and I would want to have sex. It could have been any man in that shower. The desire would always be there. It’s not love. It’s lust, and it is one of the downfalls of a vampire. We cannot resist it, no matter how hard we try. We are capable of loving only one, but when it comes to sexual desire, our instincts are primal. It’s a physical thing, not an emotional thing. He also knows that those desires will linger long after a shower and that I will want to do everything in my power to relieve them.
Here comes the punishment.
“I do.”
“Then it is a good thing your cage is housed in my room. You will be watched twenty-four hours a day. You will do nothing—and I mean not one thing—to relieve the pressure you are now experiencing between those luscious thighs.”
My first challenge.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, My King,” I reply obediently.
