She never had any chance of escaping this. Protesting now would only make the elders insist that Rhea take her place at once. Her sister had gone through the same cleansing ceremony as Alexandria; a backup her parents had felt the need to have, knowing Alexandria like they did. And Rhea would do as she was told.

The High Priestess’ instructions flitted through her mind.

She stepped closer until her thighs were on either side of his. She lifted the hem of the gown and lowered herself onto him.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her body set ablaze, her mind melting at the sheer ferocious power between her thighs.

Chapter Five

I’m so sorry…

The words echoed in Alexandria’s mind repeatedly as every part of her burned red hot. The raw touch of his skin against hers shocked her; the intimacy frightened and fascinated her.

His breath, with hints of mint toothpaste, fanned over the side of her face. She couldn’t look him in the eye, but it wasn’t only him. Being surrounded by all three of them shattered her mind. It felt as if touching one of them meant she was touching all three. She couldn’t understand why her thoughts would gravitate that way.

The High Priestess had informed her she wouldn’t be given any form of lubrication to help her because nothing could taint the efficacy of their seed. She’d been told if she were pure and loyal to Swan House, she would take their shafts into her body, bear the pain, and accept their seed.

But first, she had to take their seed.

Whatever her family had on these men, Melle had been certain they understood the assignment and would perform accordingly. This made Alexandria wonder: What exactly did her family have on them that they controlled these three powerful men?

But she had to do this now. She was running out of time, and she had to repeat this task two more times with two equally lethal men.

She reached for his cock between their bodies. Something strange began to happen inside her. Her nipples were no longer just hard; they ached. The center between her thighs throbbed, and wetness started to pool at her entrance. She frowned heavily, perplexed that her body was doing this, but the instant her fingers wrapped around his semi-hard cock, she had to physically stop herself from pulling away.

He grew against the palm of her hand, harder and thicker, his entire length increasing so that her hand struggled to hold onto him. The river of veins wrapped around his flesh seemed to imprint on her hand.

An unsolicited whimper escaped her lips. He was going to kill her with his size. Her untrained, virgin body was not meant to take him or the other two men, whom she knew instinctively were as big as he was. It seemed to Alexandria that they were an unmistakable trio in every way.

Panic doubled down on her, and she took a moment to straighten her thoughts. If she failed to do everything the ritual required, they would send Rhea down here to take her place. That could never happen. Her sister was not going to lose her virginity in this savage manner to men she didn’t know from a bar of soap. Alexandria didn’t even know their names, for crying out loud.

She had to stop overthinking, stop wasting time, and just get through it. The only thing that mattered was leaving Swan House with her sisters forever.

Suspending her breath, she brought the broad head of his cock to the entrance of her pussy as she straddled him. The strange, primal tug in the lower part of her stomach increased, as did the trembling in her limbs and her whole body.

She closed her eyes and pressed down against the length of his concrete-hard shaft, the hot velvet of his skin still scorching her palm and fingers as she struggled to keep a hold of his thickness. The immense width of his head parted her folds and slipped into the entrance of her pussy. Dear god. Self-preservation latched onto her. Her first response was to escape him, but she couldn’t.

She had to take him deep inside her body—so deep that the High Priestess had explained that any man would have no choice but to upend their seed inside her. It was just the way things were. The beauty of her face and the tightness of her vagina would make any man weak, the High Priestess added; all Alexandria had to do was bring them inside her body. Her pain was an offering to the Swan House gods.

But he was going to rip her in half. And despite his cock being hard, he was as still as marble and as cold as ice, but she couldn’t deny the volcano of violence he expertly kept subdued. He loathed her with every fiber of his being, just like the other two men, whose gazes were so heavy on her that they tattooed her skin with contempt, marking her as their prey if ever they were released from this hell hole.

She still hadn’t figured out a way to help them escape, but she had to believe she would. One thing was certain: if she ever crossed paths with these men again, they would exact their vengeance on her with no mercy, just for being a Swan.

And there was no way she could let them know; she hated this as much as they did. No way she could let them know she had been trying to help them escape.

She pressed down, tears seeping from her closed eyes as her body clenched around his cock, barring him entry. Oh god. She couldn’t do this. No. She had to. She didn’t have a choice, and time was now against her. If not her today, then it would be Rhea tomorrow at noon.

She sank down onto him. A whispered, agonized cry left her lips. Her body’s defenses scampered away at the intrusion of his cock, and she was left to fend for herself.

You have to trust me. She whispered silently in her head, hoping he would read the words in her eyes. She reached out to wrap her hand around his nape, her eyes skimming over the priestesses standing at the outer circle around them with their heads bowed. Could she risk saying her words out loud to him? No. It wasn’t a chance worth taking if she was overheard. She had been instructed that not a single word could pass her lips. Doing so would dishonor the ritual, and they would have to start all over again tomorrow. It was Swan House’s centenary year, not centenary day. Her parents had told her she had 365 days to get it right.

For a minute, she wanted to scream and laugh at the preposterous nature of her family’s traditions that they now insisted on commemorating.

She lowered herself a little more, breathless and dizzy, as she felt him enter her more fully now, spreading her flesh to accommodate the unfair magnitude of his size.

Her breasts brushed against his rigid and sculpted chest, searing her.

I’m on the pill. Your seed won’t bind you to me or Swan House in any way. I’m sorry, you still have to take my virginity. I was unable to stop this. Please believe me. I don’t want this.