I eye her, trying to determine if she’s lying. If she’s covering up for the situation because she knows I’m already furious at her. I cup her chin, tilting her face up, and look for bruises or marks. There’s nothing, and her clothing looks rumpled but every button is in place, even the tightest one at the throat. I release her, resisting the urge to run my thumb over her pretty, plump mouth. “Humph.”
“I ate a lot of onions to be as repellent as possible,” she tells me in a hopeful voice. “If that helps anything.”
It doesn’t, because now I know that she knows she was in danger and went anyhow. “I’m going to ask you one more time, and you need to answer me honestly,” I say, voice low and careful. “Do I need to go in there and kill someone? I won’t ask any more than that. Just tell me who and I’ll make it happen. I can hide the body where it will never be found.” Already I’m thinking of tunnels that would be easy to collapse, who I’d need to bribe to look the other way when I descend into the ruins.
She blinks up at me, then a smile spreads across her face. “You’d do that for me? I’m flattered.”
“It’s not meant to be a compliment.” I’m back to wanting to throttle her. I grab her by the arm and note that she does smell quite oniony. “Just…come on.”
Aspeth is silent as I drag her through the streets. Good. I hope she realizes what a mistake this was. I hope she’s realizing that her loyalty is to the guild first. To me first.
It occurs to me that I’m jealous.
I don’t like that. I don’t like that at all. But as she won’t tell me anything about who she was meeting, my mind continually circles back to the worst possible scenarios. Who else would you meet at midnight except an old flame? Is she looking for a way to back out of our marriage, then? Trying to get away from the beast she finds herself hitched to? Is that why she won’t tell me what’s going on?
The thought makes my temper flare and the painful tightness swell at the base of my cock. It’s possessiveness that makes me furious. Aspeth is my wife, has sworn that she’ll take part in the Conquest Moon with me. Has sworn to help me out as I help her. This isn’t about feelings, I remind myself even as I furiously stomp my hooves on the cobblestones and glare at anyone who dares to walk down the same darkened streets as we do.
Does it matter if she has a lover? I ask myself. A flame she left behind? She married you. She’s in your bed. It shouldn’t matter.
But…it does. The Conquest Moon and Taurian instinct are fucking with my head, demanding that I claim my woman, demanding that I fight anyone who tries to take her from me.
A drunken group of men spill out of a nearby tavern and she instinctively moves closer to me. They look rough and rowdy, and my protective instincts prick. There’s an entire lineup of taverns in this part of town, all of them seedier than the last. Rather than drag Aspeth past and ask for trouble, I steer her toward the darkened alley to the side. “Come on.”
“Is this the right way?” she protests, trotting after me.
“Shortcut.”
“It doesn’t look shorter to me.”
I want to growl at her to trust me, to quit asking so many questions, but instead I simply tighten my grip on her arm and hurry her along. I know I’m rushing her, but I can let her yell at me when we get back to the dormitory. I know of far too many guild students who have been accosted by thieves on these streets after dark simply because someone thought they might have an artifact of value upon them. Stupid, but most thieves are stupid. Or drunk. Or both.
We turn down a second alley, only to see a crowd of people outside another tavern, and then I realize my mistake. It’s not a tavern. It’s a brothel.
Aspeth sucks in a sharp breath. “Are those…What…what are they doing?”
The musky scent of sex carries on the breeze, making my knot tighten at the base of my shaft. It’s an orgy in the street. I recognize it immediately. As the hand of the god falls more and more heavily upon his sons, the Taurians, we become far more hedonistic. It’s not uncommon for Taurians to use sex workers to slake their thirsts as the moon rises, and public sex just adds another titillating edge to things. It’s not surprising to me to see the multiple Taurians out in the alley with the brothel’s women. It likely started with just one Taurian looking to get relief from one of the women who ply their wares against the alley wall due to the crowd in the brothel. From there, it escalated with multiple other sex workers and males joining in until the alley seems full of writhing, rutting bodies and the wet slap of hips meeting hips.
At my side, Aspeth makes a strangled sound and immediately turns her back to them. “They’re in the street,” she hisses. “Fornicating!”
For some reason, her prissy words just piss me off. In less than two weeks, I’m going to be doing the exact same thing to her, just not in an alley. There’s no time left to be missish about things. “You should watch.”
The look she gives me is incredulous, her head jerking up. Her breathing is rapid and in the low light, I can see there’s a stain of a blush on her cheeks. “It’s not polite—”
“Damn politeness.” When one of the Taurians raises his head and looks in our direction, I step to the side and pull her into the shadows so we won’t get invited to join. She lets me tug her along, and I try to turn her around. She immediately tries to turn her back to the orgy once more, and I grab her and forcefully turn her around. I tighten one arm around her waist, pinning her against me, and with my other hand, I clamp her jaw in my grasp and force her head in their direction. “Look at them, Aspeth. This is as good an education as any as to what you’ve agreed to do.”
She whimpers, going still in my arms. Her breath remains quick, panting.
Holding her like this sets my senses on fire. I can smell all of her like this, erotic despite the oniony perfume. Her form is hot against mine, supple and firm. It makes my cock rise, and the sound of bodies slapping and the grunts of the bulls in the alley in front of us isn’t helping.
“I want you to watch,” I murmur in her ear. She trembles, and I hesitate. “Am I hurting you? Are you scared?”
Aspeth shakes her head as much as she can in my grip. She pants, and I follow her gaze to the nearest couple. It’s a Taurian who has a woman bent over, her hands on the wall in front of her. Her tits spill out of a low-cut corset, bobbing violently with the force of the thrusting Taurian behind her. Her skirts are piled up to her waist and the male has her by the hips, dragging them back as he works her over his cock.
“Watch them,” I croon into her ear, still holding her jaw. I nuzzle against her neck, and when she makes a strangled sound of pleasure, I realize that Aspeth is enjoying the sight of them. It’s her prudish upbringing that made her turn away.
That ends tonight. I want her to see everything. I want her to get a good fucking look. I want her to sate her curiosity because I want her to want this—want me—just as much as I want her.
I glance over at the male as he thrusts vigorously into the squealing woman. There are other couples twined together farther down the alley, but these two interest me. He’s giving her quick, shallow thrusts, and I realize why. The female he’s rutting reaches back and slaps at his hip, indicating that she needs a break, and he releases her, his wet, hard cock slipping free.
Aspeth trembles at the sight of it.
“He’s bigger than you expected, isn’t he?” I rub my muzzle against her ear, my hips grinding against her backside as I do. My cock is just as hard as the stranger’s, need making me ache. I can’t stop myself from pressing up against Aspeth, letting her know just how aroused I am. “That’s how big my cock is, little bird. I’m going to hollow you out when I take you, but I’ll make it so fucking good you won’t even care.”
