Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Thrax,” she murmured in his ear. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m here to help you.”
He looked around, frowning.
“Are you the one I heard during the awful beating Mistress gave me with the pain whip?” he asked hoarsely.
“Yes, that’s me,” Andi breathed. “Can you hear me clearly?”
“Almost…I hear a whisper in my mind. Don’t know if that makes any fucking sense…” He shook his head.
“It does,” Andi assured him. “Can you see me at all?”
Thrax squinted his golden eyes for a moment, then nodded.
“You’re kind of transparent, but yes, I can.” He sighed. “You’re fucking gorgeous, whoever you are.”
“Thank you. And I’m Andi,” Andi told him. “I want to heal you but I don’t want to touch you without your permission.”
He barked an angry laugh.
“Why should you care about getting my permission? The Mistress certainly doesn’t!”
“She’s a monster—consent is always important,” Andi said indignantly. “Look, I know she touched you when you didn’t want her to…”
“But I did…in a way.” A look of painful confusion came over his face. “I’ve never been with a woman before. Sometimes when she touches me it hurts…but sometimes it feels so fucking good I can’t help coming! Then she beats me with the pain whip for ‘spilling my seed without permission.’”
“That’s not your fault,” Andi assured him. “None of what is happening is your fault. I know it’s hard and frightening, but you will get through it—I promise!”
“Do you swear?” he asked.
Andi nodded.
“I swear.”
A look of doubt came over his face.
“But how can you know that?”
“I know because I’m from the future—your future,” Andi told him.
Thrax stared at her hopefully.
“I can see and hear you more clearly now. Are you my fated mate? Pitch Bloods can’t usually Bond with a woman but if they find their fated mate…”
“I’m your partner and your best friend,” Andi told him. “I’ve been sent here to help you get through this time in your life. That’s all.”
“Can you untie me then?” he asked hopefully.
“I’ll try.” Andi went around behind him and tried to work on the bonds that held him in place. But her fingertips just slipped right off them, causing her to curse in frustration.
“It’s all right if you can’t,” Thrax said at last. “I understand—you’re not really here, are you?”
“I am and I’m not…it’s hard to explain,” Andi told him. “But I think I can ease some of your pain…if you’re willing to let me try.” She nodded down at his swollen shaft, still covered in the slick, shiny oil. “And if you’re at the, uh, age of consent?”
“I am. But…do you really want to?” The younger Thrax gave her a nakedly vulnerable look. “Mistress says that part of me is dirty and no woman will ever want to have anything to do with it—she says no woman will let me put my ‘dirty thing’ inside her.”
“That’s a lie!” Andi said angrily. “No part of you is dirty or wrong, Thrax—she’s lying to you to hurt you and manipulate you! I’ll be happy to touch you and heal you…but only if you want me to.”
“Fuck it…all right.” He nodded at last. “Please—just make the fucking burning stop.”
Andi looked down at her hand again and saw that it was still glowing with the cool, blue healing light. Reaching between his muscular thighs, she grasped his shaft carefully in her hand.
The stinging oil caused a burning sensation so that she shared his pain, just as she had with the whip, but Andi didn’t pull away. Instead, she stroked slowly up and down her partner’s shaft, easing the fiery pain he was feeling as she slowly wiped the oil away.
As she worked, Thrax sighed in relief.
“Fuck” he groaned, looking up at her. “That feels so much fucking better!”
“You’re welcome.” Andi shook her head. “I just wish I could get you out of here, but all I can do is help you to bear this and let you know you’re not alone.”
“That helps,” Thrax told her. “Helps a hell of a lot.”
“Is it all better now?” she asked, nodding down at his still-erect shaft. “Is the oil all gone?”
“Mostly gone,” he told her. “It’s bearable now, anyway.”
That wasn’t good enough for Andi. She had an idea of how to get rid of even the last traces of the burning plum oil—though she wasn’t sure if he would consent or not.
“Hang on—I think I can get rid of all of it,” she said, frowning. “That is…do you mind if I use my mouth on you? On your shaft?”
Her partner’s eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline.
“You want to put your mouth on me? But Mistress says—”
“I don’t care what she says,” Andi said firmly. “You’re not dirty or bad or wrong. And yes I’ll put my mouth on you if you’ll let me.”
Thrax shrugged and she saw a ghost of the sardonic smile she knew so well.