Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
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.