Flame of the Alpha Page 3

  The zap of the collar’s electric charge sent a tremor through Sophia’s limbs as it careened through him, but he barely grimaced. Far from looking threatened, he tightened his grip around her, bringing her down fully on his lap and shifting his palms so they cupped her ass. He nuzzled the side of her neck. “Yes…M’Lady.”

  Another jolt, this one more potent, jerked his head up. Veins stood out in his neck as he struggled to bear the rough charge of the collar’s fury.

  “Stop!” Sophia commanded. She glanced in Brianna’s direction and shook her head. “No more.”

  “I’m sorry, M’Lady.” A blush crept up Brianna’s pale cheeks. “I thought…I just…”

  “Leave us.”

  “Yes, M’Lady.” Brianna moved back to blend in with the crowd of onlookers, all of whom gaped at the High Priestess entangled in a captive’s embrace.

  Blood roared in her ears. She knew she should push the infuriating man away, but her body seemed to mold to his as though they’d been created to be fused together. That absurd thought brought to mind a barrage of images, each more carnally wanton than the next. Pictures of his thick, firm cock delving into the soft folds of her pussy, filling her channel, pumping inside her until the tremors of orgasm erupted ‑‑

  She shook herself out of that fantasy and gritted her teeth. Saints, what had gotten into her? Brianna had only been doing her job, and she should have been allowed to carry it through. It was due to women like her that the Pleasure Academy was safe from criminals who dreamed of taking what didn’t belong to them.

  A shudder stole up Sophia’s spine. She knew as well as anyone what the outside world was like. Even with government controls, Vieux Orleans was filled with people driven to the brink of their limits, men who’d eagerly rape a pleasure servant simply because they saw it as their right.

  Sophia should have been alarmed at the Alpha’s advances, or at least scandalized by his nerve. No one touched a High Priestess without her explicit permission. Yet, wasn’t that what she’d done when she’d kissed him? Given him permission to take more, encouraged him to push things further than she’d anticipated.

  The warmth of his skin seemed to scorch her through the barrier of her robe. Suddenly, she ached to take it off again and feel the touch of his bare flesh against hers.

  “You’re a new breed of pleasure servant,” she murmured in his ear as quietly as she could. “Stronger, leaner, rougher than those most of our patrons are used to.”

  He growled low in his throat. The menacing sound seemed to caress her clit, making her tremble.

  “I’m not ‑‑”

  “You are,” she insisted. “At least for now. We’ll discuss what you really are when these men leave.”

  He glanced up at her, all traces of mirth gone from his face. “You know.”

  Of course she knew. Did he not realize she’d seen him begin to shift in broad daylight? Narrowing her eyes, she nodded, wordlessly.

  “I’m Dante,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. His thumb rubbed small circles into her hip, warming her skin.

  “Sophia,” she whispered. “High Priestess of Saint Valentine’s Pleasure Academy in Vieux Orleans.”

  If he was shocked by her title, he didn’t show it. “Well, Sophia, I don’t know how much longer those men will be content to watch us. Whatever you’re planning, you’ll have to do it soon.”

  She swallowed hard, forcing herself to disengage from Dante’s arms and rise to her full height. She smoothed her palms over the surface of the robe in a feeble attempt to flatten out the wrinkles that made her appear as disheveled as any pleasure slave after a tryst then turned to face the crowd.

  “The showing will continue as planned, with one addition. Dante was meant to be a surprise for a…private showing to take place later. As he couldn’t wait, we’ll have to make his presence known a little early.” She smiled at the patrons, who returned her easy grin.

  The officer in charge shifted from foot to foot at the top of the steps, clearly not buying her explanation. “Madame Rousseau,” he called out. “A moment, if you please.”

  Her heart lurched in her chest. She nodded toward the pleasure servants and clapped her hands twice. “Form the receiving line again, please. And do include Dante. He’s to be presented, like everyone else.”

  She could feel Dante’s scorching gaze on her back as she ambled toward the officers, forcing herself to remain calm. She couldn’t afford to have them questioning her motives. The secrets of the Pleasure Academy were too sacred, and too much depended on them. She didn’t owe Dante a thing, yet the truth of what he was ‑‑ the rarest of all Alpha species ‑‑ ensured she had to at least try to keep him safe. And whether she liked it or not, he was perfect for the Lighting of the Flame ceremony. Without him, she had to face the possibility that she’d have to cancel the Ceremony…something no High Priestess had done for decades.

  “Gentlemen, thank you for waiting.” She tilted her head in a respectful nod. “As you can see, this man isn’t dangerous. He’s a pleasure servant. Created for the specific purposes of delivering sexual satisfaction.”

  “Then why was he running naked through the streets this morning?”

  “Ah. I’m afraid that was my fault. As his breed is so new, there will be great demand for pleasure servants of his caliber in the future. Because of that, I didn’t want him revealed until the official showing. I’ve been keeping him confined to the Temple since he was brought to us. Last night’s Festival was too tempting, however, and he escaped without our knowledge. I guess he wanted to sample some of what we’ve been teaching him for himself.”

  “I don’t believe you,” the officer in charge snarled through his helmet.

  “If you’d like a demonstration, I’m sure Dante would be amenable to having one arranged,” she answered sweetly. “Though like any other prospective patron, you’ll have to abide by the Academy’s rules. No clothes. No armor. And no testing kits or identification requirements on Temple grounds. All our pleasure servants are fully certified, even those who haven’t yet been re-implanted with the official Academy seal. Of course, we include the proper paperwork for each one upon purchase.”

  She lifted her chin a fraction of an inch, challenging him to accept her generous offer. He wouldn’t, of course. She knew his type: stuffy, morally superior. Men like him never mingled with the common folk and avoided pleasure slaves like the plague. At least in public. In private, they were often among the most sexually adventurous.

  Luckily, there wasn’t a measure of privacy in the Temple gardens during a showing. A hundred potential patrons, hand-picked by the High Priestess herself, arrived every year on the day after the Festival to choose from among the new Academy graduates. Since pleasure servants were one of the most expensive pieces of property a patron owned, the selection process could take days.

  When the officer reached for his helmet and pulled it off, revealing thick black locks that tumbled over his shoulders and into fierce sapphire eyes, Sophia gasped. Her hand fluttered to her chest. “You ‑‑ you’d like a demonstration?”

  “Captain Jolen! Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  The captain silenced his subordinate with a flick of his fingers. “The lady offered. And besides, I think the good Priestess is lying through her teeth.”

  Sophia forced herself to take a deep breath. “High Priestess, Captain.”

  He shrugged then pressed down on a small flap located in the crook of his left elbow. The metal armor made a smooth, sucking sound and retracted on either side of his flat abdomen, revealing a strip of flesh and muscle.

  Sophia averted her gaze and glanced out over the crowd. Her eyes met Dante’s. He was surrounded by women, most of which she recognized as being wealthy enough to own a couple of pleasure slaves. A knot of jealousy tightened in her belly.

  Dante nodded once, almost imperceptibly. He’d told her that whatever her plan was, she had to put it into motion soon. Well, here it was. A hell of a plan.

/>   She didn’t know who he really was, but one thing was clear, Dante was no pleasure servant. If Captain Jolen knew enough about the carnal arts to detect a fraud, Dante wouldn’t be the only one to suffer the consequences.

  “Well, Priestess, I’m as naked as the Saint commands me.”

  The captain’s mocking voice tugged Sophia’s attention back just in time to see him tossing aside the rest of his armor. True to his word, he stood on the steps in all his naked glory. If not for the haughty, arrogant look in those startling blue eyes, she might have considered him handsome. His lean lines and broad shoulders didn’t come close to Dante’s raw power or feral grace, but the Captain could hold his own against any laboratory-crafted Central Command officer.

  “Very well.” She bowed at the waist and swept out an arm in the direction of the garden. “You may enter.”

  He did, leaving his friends to stare in uncomfortable silence. The captain swept past Sophia and marched toward Dante with single-minded determination. The crowd parted for him, recognizing the stride of a Central Command officer even without the rattle of the plate armor to mark him as such.

  Stopping a few inches away from Sophia’s captive, he reached out and cupped Dante’s soft sac in the palm of his hand. Sophia grimaced, but Dante only stared at the man with grim understanding. For a moment, they assessed one another like two warriors meeting on the battlefield.

  Then Dante smiled and the spell was broken. He dropped to his knees, dislodging the Captain’s hand from his balls in the process. Despite herself, Sophia exhaled a sigh of relief.

  Dante reached around the officer and cupped his firm ass in both hands. “I didn’t know I’d be evaluated by a government official,” he said, his voice low and husky. “Or else I’d have practiced more.”

  Captain Jolen grunted. His cock stiffened, straining against the planes of his abdomen. “I’m told the carnal arts aren’t as much a skill that can be learned as they are a talent. In any case, Saint Valentine’s pleasure servants are the best in the quadrant.”

  Sophia couldn’t stifle the groan that escaped her throat. So he was familiar with their graduates. Great. She might as well have signed the death warrant of everyone who lived on Academy grounds.

  Dante lowered his head demurely, though not before Sophia caught the glint of feral rage beneath the surface of those limpid green eyes. Her heartbeat kicked up a notch, along with her libido. If he played along, at least they had a chance of convincing this man that Dante was who she said he was. Not a good chance, granted, but a chance nevertheless.

  Caressing the Captain’s ass with his broad palms, Dante rubbed his cheek against the man’s outer thigh like the feline he was, his gaze never leaving Sophia’s.

  At once, she knew what she had to do. Dante needed her as much as she needed him.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, she untied the blue silk sash that kept her robe closed. The material fluttered over her skin like a lover’s caress. With a shrug of her shoulders, it slid down the length of her arms to pool onto the grass.

  “It’s a real shame we’ve had to keep Dante hidden for so long,” she said, watching his eyes widen at the sight of her as he drew back. “Someone needs to enjoy his remarkable talents. If we’d sold him sooner, perhaps he wouldn’t have run away.”

  Captain Jolen tangled his fingers in Dante’s curls, pulling him forward. “An insubordinate pleasure servant? You haven’t been doing your job, Head Priestess.”

  Sophia’s skin prickled and a wry retort settled on her tongue, but she bit it back, content to hang back and watch. For now.

  “A male servant needs a man’s touch,” the Captain continued, yanking Dante’s head back cruelly so he was forced to look into his eyes. “Only at the hands of another man will he learn the most important thing he needs to know.”

  “And what’s that?” Sophia couldn’t help asking.

  Captain Jolen thrust his hips forward, nudging Dante’s lips with the head of his cock. The bulbous tip disappeared inside Dante’s mouth. “Obedience.”

  Chapter Three

  “Harder.” Neo Jolen tightened his hold on Dante’s hair, twirling one particularly unruly curl around his thumb and yanking the man’s head closer to his groin.

  He ignored the speculative murmurs around him. As a Captain for Earth’s Central Command, his identity was constantly hidden beneath layers of armor, as necessary for his protection as it was for his ability to do his job. Undercover work was sometimes necessary, and being able to blend in with space-faring traders and other nefarious types served a purpose.

  But he didn’t always live his life masked by his government uniform. At night, he shed the Central Command ensemble and stepped into another role, one that had nothing to do with protection, but which used his leadership abilities and exhaustive training all the same.

  Like many other Terrans, Neo hadn’t been created for a dual purpose. His role in society was clear: serve the Terran government in all things and protect its interests. whether that entailed chasing possible Alpha-carrier suspects or apprehending sexual deviants.

  He was damn good at his job. His record was spotless, boasting more arrests than anyone else in the squadron, even though he’d been a part of the C.C. unit for only eleven years. Everything Neo did, he did better than anyone else. Driven and ambitious, he never let anything interfere with his duty.

  Although his professions had little in common, he approached both with that same single-minded determination. Until today, the two vocations had never overlapped. Yet a few minutes ago, he’d made a choice. One that was irrevocable, perhaps even dangerous, but necessary for him to move forward in both lines of work.

  With his face freed from the protective helmet, he’d been instantly recognizable to those assembled at the Academy for the annual showing. He’d known a few familiar faces would attend, but he hadn’t expected to encounter so many of his own clients at this gathering.

  Impervious to the low gasps and hushed murmurs, he avoided the inquisitive glares and focused entirely on his goal.

  “His technique is flawed,” Neo announced, loud enough for his voice to carry through the inner Academy sanctuary.

  To his left, Sophia stiffened. “I don’t see how ‑‑”

  “His swipes are uneven. The pressure on my cock changes as his tongue sweeps from base to tip, and the swirls are awkward.”

  Dante glanced up, his green eyes narrowing with something akin to annoyance, but his mouth never stopped working. He circled his tongue around the tip of Neo’s shaft slowly in a clockwise motion, concentrating all his attention on the delicate skin behind the head.

  Neo hadn’t been lying. The man’s strokes were untutored, wildly different from the expert swipes of a trained pleasure servant, but there was something so raw and rugged in the way his brow furrowed as he poured every ounce of that unbridled fury into the task at hand.

  His lips fused to the head of Neo’s cock, then slid down to envelop him from tip to base. He pulled up slowly, drawing his tongue over the subtle veins throbbing along the shaft and ended by sucking just the tip, coaxing a bead of precum from the slit.

  Throughout it all, the man’s eerie gaze held Neo’s boldly, as though daring him to continue complaining even as his cock swelled and expanded inside Dante’s mouth.

  The unabashed eye contact sent a jolt of lust deep into Neo’s balls. He gritted his teeth as a tremor ran down the back of his legs, testing his ability to keep his knees from buckling.

  This wasn’t working. Dante didn’t act like a pleasure servant, but if Sophia had been telling the truth ‑‑ which Neo still highly doubted ‑‑ then it was possible that Dante had been created specifically to be lusciously rebellious, undisciplined, and defiant.

  No one knew better than Neo how desperately people wanted a pleasure servant who didn’t obey blindly. One who could give orders, push a patron to her knees and swat her ass with firm, sharp strokes that brought her to the edge of ecstasy with each flare of pain flas
hing across her buttocks.

  But if such a pleasure servant had been created, Neo would be out of a job. Still, the possibility thrilled him to the core. He’d spent years training the Academy’s male graduates to be the dominant specimens so many patrons demanded. He spent months with them trying to undo the damage the Academy’s priestesses had done. Nothing helped much. Oh, the men were able to wield a whip when he was through with them, but the blows they delivered were mere kisses compared to what their masters really craved.

  Unfortunately, there wasn’t much Neo could do about that. A slave’s subservient nature was part of who he was, his DNA specifically crafted to provide a pleasure drone with little ability to resist a patron’s wishes, much less bluntly refuse and turn the tables on his master.

  That was exactly why Neo’s skills were in such high demand, both as a trainer and as a Dominant himself. Master Neo was a different man than Captain Neo, but his ability to command remained unchanged from one persona to the next.

  How ironic, then, that he’d be labeled a sexual deviant by other officers if the government had refused to license his work. He charged for his services, and the Terran government received a large percentage of his profit. For that, he had their blessing, but it didn’t mean he was willing to divulge the duality of his personality to his officers.

  Until today. The opportunity with which Dante had presented him had been too good to pass up.

  Neo had been eager to infiltrate the grounds of the Pleasure Academy for years, but its mysteries were off-limits to him as a government official, and the priestesses had no need of a Dominant.

  He’d spent enough time with pleasure servants to know there were secrets within these hallowed walls, secrets that were forbidden to him. Even the servants in training didn’t know anything more than what they’d heard whispered in darkened corners by priestesses who thought they were alone.