“You keep doing that, I’m going to come.”
Zuri does it again.
“Fuck.” I clench my jaw. “Decide right now if you want to swallow or not, Zuri. I’m close.”
She hesitates for the briefest second and then picks up her pace, sucking me down even as her clever fingers have me exploding in her mouth. I fist my hands in the comforter, desperate to hold on to something that keeps me from grabbing her head and fucking her mouth like I want to. I come hard, and she drinks me down without hesitation.
Zuri gives my cock one last pull as if she can’t resist and then lifts her head. She drags her thumb over the corner of her mouth. “Like that?”
“Like that,” I manage. I can’t help reaching for her, can’t help cupping her jaw for the few seconds she allows it before she sits up and puts some distance between us. I swallow hard, choking on guilt. Ursa’s beating and fucking banished it last night, but it never stays gone for good, no matter how many bruises I sport. It doesn’t stop me from trying.
“It seems simple enough,” Zuri finally says.
“The secret is enjoying it. If you’re enjoying it, your partner will lose their fucking mind. Technique is only a bonus.” I sit up. “Zuri, come here.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “That was a lesson, and it’s over.”
I open my mouth to argue, but the door opens before I can say anything else. Ursa sweeps into the room, looking as perfectly put together as always. She’s got her locs styled almost like a crown and is wearing a dress that makes me think of the sea during a storm, an ombre sort of thing with the fabric fading from black around her chest and torso, down to a light frothy white at the hem.
She takes one look at us and smiles. “Good, you’re awake.” She snaps her fingers. “Come here. Kneel at my feet, darlings.”
Zuri obeys without hesitation, blatantly eager to put distance between us. She walks naked to Ursa and sinks to her knees like she’s been playing the part of a submissive for years, instead of for less than twenty-four hours.
I follow more slowly, mostly because my body protests moving after the beating I received last night. I smile at how sore I am. It feels good. Cathartic. Not enough to fully banish the guilt lingering around the edges, but the pain helps. It helps a lot.
I kneel carefully next to Zuri.
Ursa circles us, close enough that her dress brushes against me. “Tell me your safe words.”
“Mermaid,” I answer at the same time Zuri says, “Hurricane.”
“Now that we’ve got that out of the way.” She stops in front of us and crouches down. “What have you two been up to?” Ursa grips my cock, dragging her nails along my length. Despite my earlier orgasm, I start to harden. I’d have to be dead not to want this woman.
She cups Zuri’s pussy with her free hand. Ursa hums a little. “So wet. Both of you. Were you fucking?”
“No,” I gasp. “No, Mistress.”
Zuri gives a little moan. “I, uh, sucked his dick.”
“Ah.” Ursa keeps stroking me and out of the corner of my eye I can see her rubbing slow circles around Zuri’s clit. “Then I suppose I’ll have to hold off punishing you and skip right to the reward for being obedient.”
Her rewards often come with as many teeth as her punishments. The knowledge thrills me. Ursa gives me one last stroke and stands. “Let’s eat. I wouldn’t want you to get low blood sugar during our activities today.” She turns and sweeps out of the room.
Zuri gives a shaky little sigh. “Is it always like this?”
“Yes.” I stand slowly, wincing a little. Maybe practically begging Ursa to beat me last night wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Today is going to be rough. I hold out a hand to help Zuri up, but she ignores it and climbs to her feet on her own.
She glances at me, and her skin darkens in a blush. “I don’t suppose we get to put on clothes?”
“Only if you want her to make a show of punishing you while she makes you take them off again.”
She sighs. “I thought as much.”
I take a step forward, and Zuri gasps. “Your back. It looks terrible.”
It feels terrible, but terrible isn’t terrible at all. Every time I move, I’m reminded of who owns me, and while there might be a time when that knowledge chafes, right now it just feels as close to peace as I’ll ever get. “It’s what I want.” I walk out of the room and head toward the kitchen.
Ursa’s corner penthouse is one of the rare ones without an open-floor concept. Each room is neatly contained, most of them positioned with some kind of massive windows and view of Carver City. The kitchen is all white and grays, marble counters and cabinets that reach the ceiling. I’ve only been in this room a few times; when I’ve been here before, it wasn’t to cook or eat. I can’t cook, so it’s just as well.
She’s pulling a few things from the fridge and setting them out. Eggs and bacon and potatoes and what looks like homemade bread. “Alaric, grate these potatoes. Zuri, take a seat.”
It feels very, very strange to wash my hands and move to stand next to Ursa. I begin to shred the potatoes on the large grater she hands me. This isn’t fucking. It’s downright domestic, for all that I’m naked. I don’t know what to think of that. I don’t have any frame of reference for it. If I want to have a life with Ursa, it will be filled with small moments like this. The thought warms me even as I obey her.
Ursa pulls a cast iron pan from a low cabinet and sets it on the stove. Then she walks out of the room. When she returns, she’s holding a large dildo that’s shaped like a tentacle. Ursa sticks it to the counter in front of Zuri. “Darling, get familiar with this. It will be inside you later today.”
I nearly laugh at how large Zuri’s eyes get as she takes in the purple and blue silicone and suckers. Ursa arches a brow. “I wouldn’t look too smug over there, lover. This one will be inside you, too.” She pulls out an even larger dildo and sets it on the counter well out of reach of all the food. This one is also a tentacle, but it’s black and glittery and nearly twice the size of the other one.
I stare at it, trying to calculate how the curves and bumps will feel inside me. My cock goes painfully hard at the thought. Good. It’s going to be very, very good. “Yes, Mistress.”
“Good boy.” She takes the cutting board with the shredded potatoes and moves to the stove. “Sit down.”
I walk around to the seat next to Zuri and gingerly sink onto the stool. She leans close to whisper, “Why are you not freaking out?”
“I enjoy the hell out of Ursa fucking me.”
“But it’s so big and a tentacle.” She can’t quite take her eyes off the one in front of her. “Why is it a tentacle?”
“Because she wants it to be.” It’s as simple as that. Ursa gives a command and I follow it. “She’s the Sea Witch, after all.”
“I thought she’s called that because she used to drown her enemies in the ocean.”
I shoot her a look. “Yeah, that’s where she got the name. But with her submissives, she likes to play into it. You’ll see.”