Kept by Luna Voss

Chapter Twenty-Two

Melyta

I really wish we’d had time for Barion to rub the cream on my butt. It’s its own kind of punishment, having a sore bottom and trying to pretend that everything is normal. It’s not even that the stinging is terrible, more that I have this silly, unreasonable feeling that everyone around me somehow knows I just got punished. Even though they definitely don’t, except for maybe whichever vostrat just knocked on our door to invite us here. But still, it just feels that way.

I’m even more distracted by the plug in my butt. And by the feeling of Barion’s cum coating my pussy and the inside of my panties. It’s all hidden under my dress, but I’m pretty much a marked woman in every way possible right now, not even including the pigment on my neck.

Exactly the way Barion likes me.

I can feel his excitement as he leads me down to the restaurant, a hand placed possessively on the small of my back. I know he enjoys treating me like this, reminding me with every word, with every gesture that he’s the boss of me, that I’m something he owns. It’s something I’ve noticed he does more often in situations like this, when we’re around other vostrata. It’s as though the mark on my neck isn’t enough, and he needs everyone who even sees us from a distance to know that I’m his mate.

He also gets possessive like this after a punishment. And that isn’t about making a point to other people. It’s about making a point to me. About reminding me that I’m on thin ice, and that if I’m not careful, I’m going to wind up over his knee again.

Not like I could forget, with the dull ache of the butt plug keeping me in a state of constant arousal.

“Barion, Melyta,” Dagor greets us warmly. “I’m glad to have you here. I trust your lodgings are to your satisfaction?”

“Very much so, thank you,” replies Barion, the picture of Vostra gregariousness. “You’re a generous host.”

Dagor waves his hand, as though to say it’s nothing. “What’s mine is yours. Always happy to make new friends.”

Barion pulls out my chair for me, and I have to be very careful as I sit down. Because of my sore bottom, and also the plug. Dagor glances at me, and I could swear I see a little smile. I blush, looking down. Vostra guys always make me feel like they know when I’ve just been spanked.

My awkwardness abates quickly, however. Dagor is a gentleman, and surprisingly good company. I had expected a lot of discussion about topics relevant to the Vostra, but mostly it’s just shooting shit. What’s the latest news on Tarsheb 8, and stuff like that. Both men make an effort to include me in the conversation, which isn’t always the case when it’s just me and a couple of Vostra guys. The whole meal ends up feeling mostly like a pleasant social event.

“So tell me, Melyta,” Dagor asks, “what’s your favorite experience you’ve had in Zog so far?”

“Oh, probably the Zog Royal,” I tell him brightly. “Barion and I had such a nice time on the beach together. I’ve never seen an ocean before.”

Barion makes eye contact with me and I hide a smile, knowing we’re both thinking about that night he made me come on the beach, and then we sat on our balcony together until the sun came up. That whole experience was so magical.

“I’m impressed you can look back on the Zog Royal so fondly, considering the way you were force to leave.”

Dagor’s smile is light, but I can’t help but notice that we never actually told him about being attacked at the resort. Again, he’s flexing the fact that he knows everything that goes on in this city. There’s some kind of unspoken game going on between him and Barion that I don’t fully understand, and I think it took me until just now to realize it.

I shrug, maintaining a smile of my own. “Oh, it’s not a problem for me. Everyone who tried to hurt us is dead.”

The Agusto boss grins. “That’s a good answer. I can see why Barion gets that look in his eyes every time he looks at you. Were you born into the Vostra?”

I try not to blush at his words as I answer him. “No. I grew up in Dalax, but not in the Vostra. This was all new to me when I met him.”

Dagor raises his eyebrows. “So what was that like? Some culture shock, I presume?”

“No, not too much. I used to work in food service. I’ve been serving food and drinks to vostrata since I was a teenager.”

“Aha! An outsider, but hardly a novice. Can I ask how you two met?”

I glance at Barion, and he smiles. “Well,” I say, smiling slightly as I think about our very intense first meeting, “I was part of the catering staff at some Dultaz Family social event.”

“Not just any event,” Barion laughs. “It was the night I got made underboss of the Family.”

“A good night for you indeed!” Dagor beams.

“It was,” says Barion, interlocking his fingers with mine under the table.

“Let me guess,” says Dagor, grinning at me playfully. “He smelled you from all the way across the room. Your eyes met. And from then on, you haven’t been able to get this big hunk of muscle to leave you alone for a second.”

I glance at Barion again, smiling. He squeezes my hand. “Yeah, something like that,” I tell Dagor, looking down.

“He seems nice,” I say to Barion on our way back from the restaurant.

My mate chuckles. “Yeah. Of course he does.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I think it’s pretty clear what he wants from us at this point.”

“Really? I didn’t pick up on anything.”

“Oh, he didn’t say anything you could have picked up on. It’s just that I’ve been involved in Vostra politics long enough to understand his incentives. Basically, he sees this as a chance to destabilize the Dultaz Family. Our families aren’t exactly rivals on Tarsheb 8, but we are their main competition. We’re the reason the Agusto Family is headquartered in Greenhaven, rather than Dalax City. And I’m sure he would like to have a chance to move into Dalax.”

I nod, understanding. “He must know that Sarizor is the one who tried to have us killed.”

“Exactly. There’s blood in the water. Dultaz blood. A Vostra Family can’t survive if its boss is trying to kill the underboss.”

“So… who does he want to win? You, or Sarizor?”

“I’m not really sure he cares. Best-case scenario for him would be that whichever one of us survives is so damaged by the fight that we can’t keep control of things when he makes his move into Dalax City.”

I glance at him, unnerved by how calmly he’s telling me all this. “You don’t seem very worried.”

Barion shrugs, his expression unperturbed. “Maybe later, it becomes a problem. But right now, we’re already fucked. And this makes us slightly less fucked. If Dagor can get us safely back to Tarsheb 8, that actually helps us a lot.”

“Do you trust him?”

“No. Not for a minute. But I trust his incentives. It wouldn’t benefit him to turn us in to Sarizor now. That would just solidify Sarizor’s authority and make the Dultaz-Gallo alliance even stronger.”

“So do you think we should take him up on his offer? Try to get a ride back to Tarsheb 8?”

He nods. “Yeah, I do. Melyta, we have two options right now. This has been a long time coming, but now we’re at a turning point. Sarizor is trying to kill us, and he’s not going to stop. We can either run, or we can fight back.”

He stops walking, and I do too. The look he gives me is intense, but also waiting. For my input.

“I want to fight back,” I tell him. My voice is soft at first, but grows louder with an increasing sense of conviction. “I’m tired of running. I’m tired of living with this over my head.”

Barion’s lips flare and his fangs extend in a show of primal satisfaction. He pulls me to his chest and holds me there for a moment, his breath coming heavy. I can’t help but notice the hardness of his cock.

“You’re everything I ever wanted,” he breathes, his hands moving down to cup my ass. I let out a little moan as one of his fingers presses on the butt plug through the fabric of my dress. “You were fucking amazing tonight. The perfect mate. I’m very fucking pleased with you, vulta.”

I squirm, my arousal from earlier quickly reawakening. The plug inside me feels good. And the warm, sticky mess he left inside my panties makes me feel a very particular, very exciting type of dirty.

“I can still feel your cum all over my pussy,” I whisper to him, glad he can’t see how badly the words are making me blush through the darkness. “My little cunt is covered in you… Vostra.”

That might be the naughtiest thing I’ve ever said. Barion lets out a hungry snarl, then starts leading me quickly toward the apartment, his hand glued to my ass. He’s going so fast I almost have to double my pace to keep up.

“Come,” he growls, squeezing my ass possessively. “I’m going to make you fucking mine tonight.”