Page 18 of Shadowbound

“I’m not just ‘someone’—I’m your Mistress.” Her voice grows even more stern and her glowing eyes flash. “Now, will you submit to me and let me clean you or will you leave my tower at once and go back to your GodKing empty handed?”

I struggle for a moment…I tell myself I don’t want to do this. Only…part of me does. Part of me wants to give her what she wants, no matter how uncomfortable or humiliating it is. What the fuck is wrong with me?

The Jewel at her temple pulses and her face softens.

“There’s nothing wrong with having a desire to submit, my Paladin,” she murmurs. “Submission doesn’t make you weak. In fact, it takes a great deal of courage to bend your will to that of another…to allow someone to touch you in ways you’ve perhaps never been touched before. To seek pleasure in the unknown.”

“I’ve never…no one has ever…” I can’t go on, but Sylvanna understands.

“I know,” she murmurs. “I know. Now turn around and bend over for me, Alaric. Let me clean you and claim you.”

I do it. I tell myself I don’t want to and yet I find myself once more bending over with my elbows on the lip of the bathing pool. And then I feel her soft fingers again, prying between my cheeks.

“Spread for me,” she murmurs and I find that I am doing it—spreading my thighs apart to give her access.

I suck in a breath as I feel her soft fingertips finding their way to my back entrance. She’s using a different kind of liquid now—something thick that doesn’t wash away in water. It warms when it touches my flesh. She circles my rosebud with one fingertip before sliding inside me, making me groan and clench against her gentle invasion.

But all the while, my shaft is aching—I’m harder than I was, even when she was stroking me. What the fuck is happening to me?

“You’re submitting to your Mistress, that’s all,” I hear Sylvanna’s soft voice from behind me. The small finger inside me is joined by another. “You’re opening your body to me for the very first time…and doing an excellent job, if I may say so,” she adds. The fingers reach further and stroke something inside me—some spot that makes me jump and groan with sudden pleasure. Gods, what is she doing to me?

“Do you feel that, my Paladin?” she murmurs and does it again. “That’s the special spot inside you that gives you pleasure. Did you know it was there?”

“No…Mistress,” I grit out. It feels so good I’m afraid I might spend my seed, right here in the tub! “Why…why must I submit this way, though?” I ask her belatedly.

“Because at some point in the future, I may wish to fuck you,” she says lightly.

“What?” Startled I turn to look over my shoulder. “How the Hell could you fuck me?” I demand. “You don’t have the right equipment!”

“I have a pleasure rod,” she tells me. “Believe me, my Paladin, you wouldn’t find it an unpleasant experience. But fucking isn’t the only reason you must learn to submit to me like this. You’ll also need to wear a tail if we’re to enter the City of Night with you as my Blood-servant.”

“A tail? You mean you want me to wear something inside me?” I sound indignant—and I fucking am! How dare she say such a thing, as though it’s of no consequence? But deep inside, I feel that strange part of me—the part that’s always been there ever since Sister Beatrice gave me the Grip of Chastisement—moaning with pleasure at the idea.

“Yes, but don’t worry—the rod attached to it won’t be very thick,” she tells me, ignoring my indignation. “Not much thicker than my two fingers and you’re taking those beautifully.”

As she speaks, she thrusts in and out of me several times, making me grit my teeth to keep from moaning as sparks of pleasure flow through me.

I can’t believe I’m in this position! I’m a strong knight—a man in my prime. And yet here I am, bent over with my thighs spread, allowing a woman who’s barely half my size to slip her fingers deep inside me so she can use me or abuse me however she sees fit. I shouldn’t do this—I should hate it. But somehow, I don’t.

Gods damn her to Hell—why does it feel so fucking good?

“Because there are lots of nerves here—many pleasure receptors,” she tells me, still stroking. “But I can feel your magic rising again. For now, I think you’re clean enough.”

She’s right—my Celestial Fire had been getting close to the critical level. I have to take deep breaths to control it.

Mercifully, she withdraws her fingers, leaving me feeling opened in a way I never have been before. My ass feels slightly tender as I straighten up and turn to face her.

“Are you finished washing me now, Mistress?” I bite out.

“I am,” she says calmly. “You’re clean and claimed. It’s almost time to swear your oath. But first, I think I want to shave you. Sit on the steps again—the third one down this time so I can reach you.”

I do as she says, watching as she produces a long, silver straight razor. She uses some kind of foaming soap on my face and then scrapes it off with the razor, giving me the cleanest shave I’ve ever had.

I’m extremely aware of how much I’m trusting her. She’s my enemy and she literally has a blade at my throat. And yet, I still don’t feel as vulnerable as I did when she was fingering my ass.

Finally, she seems satisfied with my appearance because she steps back and nods her head approvingly.

“Very nice, my Paladin. You’re quite handsome when you’re clean.”

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