Apprenticed to Pleasure Read online

  He expected to have a hard time falling asleep, but exhaustion took him by surprise. The sense of impending danger that had driven him forward through the cold night vanished as heat from his companions soaked into him. He fell asleep quickly, one arm wrapped around Sorel’s chest and Nicolai’s heartbeat pulsing against his back.

  ANDER woke with a start. The absolute darkness caused a moment of panic. But Nicolai’s arm was still draped across him; the young northerner’s warm breath still caressed the back of his neck. Sorel pressed warm and solid against his front. His pulse slowed, and he began to drift back to sleep.

  Then he realized what had awakened him: a faint sound that was audible only because of the cave’s profound silence. He tensed. The small jerk of his body roused Sorel and Nicolai.

  “Listen,” Ander whispered. “I think I heard something.”

  Nicolai sat up, instantly alert. Then the sound came again. Echoes of a distant shout drifted down from the cavern’s upper reaches. “Cuirassiers. Do you think they tracked us here? Or are they just checking everything along the trail?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Sorel replied. “They’re here, and it sounds like they’ve decided to investigate. We’ll have to leave the horses and look for another way out. Or… we could convince them nobody’s here.”

  “How could we do that?” Ander asked, bewildered.

  “Like Nicolai said, we know a few tricks. I’m sure we could find a way to do it.”

  “Be quiet, Sorel.” Nicolai’s voice was tight. “Remember your oath.”

  “I remember it well. But we have Ander to think about too. Do you think Thane would want us to keep secrets from him even if it costs his life? Remember, we chose him and got him involved. He wouldn’t be here if not for us.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ander asked. The cryptic conversation, whispered in total darkness, made his hackles rise. He felt Nicolai reach around him and grasp Sorel’s arm.

  “Excuse us, Ander. Sorel and I have to talk.”

  Cool air swept over him as the others got up and felt their way a short distance up the passage. A few seconds later, he heard Nicolai’s urgent whispers followed by Sorel’s murmured responses.

  He shivered, feeling trapped and fearing the worst. He pulled his legs up to his chest and huddled miserably. Though he couldn’t make out many words, the scraps he understood only magnified his dread. Words like “secrets,” “torture,” and “betrayal.” Both of them mentioned someone named Thane, but it meant nothing to him. Before long Nicolai fell silent while Sorel whispered in calming and persuasive tones. Then silence. Ander could imagine Nicolai chewing his lip and reaching a decision. Finally, there was a heavy sigh.

  “All right. I hope Thane forgives us.” Nicolai raised his voice slightly. “Say something, Ander. Lead us back to you. We have a proposal to make.”

  “I want to know what’s going on,” he answered, keeping his voice low. “Who are you? What’re you planning?” A torrent of questions clamored for answers, but he didn’t know which ones he dared ask. Their evasiveness earlier in the evening, their knowledge of sorcery, seemed more ominous now.

  A hand bumped his side. He yelped in surprise before realizing it was only Sorel finding his way back. Nicolai was right behind him.

  “We don’t have time for questions,” Sorel said as Nicolai began feeling through a saddlebag. “We can stay here if you’ll agree to do as we say. If you don’t, we’ll have to take our chances deeper in the cave. It’s your choice.”

  “I have to do something?” Thoughts of bloody rituals, the kind the zamindar’s sorcerers used in public tortures, made his stomach knot. “How painful is it?”

  The scrape of a match on rock was followed by a bright flare, dazzling after the total darkness. Nicolai lit a candle and placed it near the saddlebags, illuminating pale brown walls with flickering light, before turning to face Ander. He looked troubled.

  “We can’t answer your questions. We shouldn’t do this at all, but we’re short on options.” He pointed to the boulders obstructing the passage downward. “All we require is that you go to the other side of those rocks and stay there until we tell you it’s all right to return. That you not interfere under any circumstances. And that you agree to keep silent about anything you might hear.”

  The seriousness of their expressions gave Ander brief pause. But whatever they were planning, they hadn’t harmed him yet. He nodded warily in agreement to the terms.

  Nicolai clasped him on the shoulder. “Good. Now get behind those boulders while Sorel and I prepare. If the cuirassiers move as fast as we did, they’ll be here soon. Remember, stay behind the boulders and don’t interfere.” He hesitated, then released Ander’s shoulder. “One more thing. Sorel thinks you might be able to… feel something. If you do, just ignore it.”

  “I’ll remember.” Ander went the short distance to the choked-off passage while Nicolai and Sorel spread their cloaks on the ground next to the saddle blankets. Looking over his shoulder before climbing up the rubble to enter the forbidding downward passage, he saw them unbuttoning pockets in the cloak linings. They were intent on their work and didn’t watch as he slipped through the opening into the dark tunnel beyond.

  Scrambling down the far side of the rock pile, he looked down into the darkness. It made his skin crawl. The hole into the upper passage was a few feet above his head. He sat down and gazed longingly at the faint light coming through the opening.

  He waited anxiously, expecting to hear something from whatever ritual Nicolai and Sorel were performing. Chanting, incantations, the kind of thing the zamindar’s wizards used at the public tortures. But there was only an unnerving silence. He was starting to wonder if anything was happening at all when he noticed a faint odor reminiscent of juniper. He sniffed. Incense? The fragrance got stronger, and he started to forget his fear as curiosity stirred.

  Several minutes dragged by while he fidgeted. Then he heard a low moan. His pulse raced as he tried to imagine what might be happening just a few feet away. Looking up, he noticed that the light coming through the opening had taken on a reddish tint. It was like the glow he had seen between Sorel and Nicolai when he got his vision back. Licking his lips, he pondered the opening. The light got darker, a dusky rose color. He blinked and realized the light pulsed slowly. Like a heartbeat. There was another moan, louder and more prolonged than the first. It sounded like Sorel.

  Has something gone wrong? Do they need help? Indecision made him squirm. He had promised to stay behind the rocks and not interfere. A gasp from the other side of the rubble wall, deeper in tone and probably from Nicolai, made him look up sharply. It was more than he could stand. He thought that just looking was different than interfering and wouldn’t really break his promise, though at the moment he didn’t want to think about explaining that to Nicolai and Sorel. Moving silently, he climbed up boulders until he was just beneath the opening. Fragrance in the air grew stronger. Cautiously, he lifted his head and peeked over the rocks.

  At first he thought he must be dreaming. The scene below him would have raised eyebrows even in Lady Tayanita’s House of Companionship.

  Both men were nude and fully aroused. A red glow limned their bodies. Sorel lay on the saddle blankets, his head thrown back and his eyes closed. His body arched, lines of muscle etched beneath bronze skin, as Nicolai crouched by his side and rubbed clear oil over his torso. Sorel’s left hand clasped his partner’s erect phallus; his palm covered only half its length. The hard flesh glistened with blue-tinged oil that shimmered under Sorel’s slow caress.

  A small black case filled with vials lay open at Nicolai’s side. He opened a vial and poured the contents into his right hand. More blue oil, the same tint as the fluid Sorel was stroking him with, pooled in his palm.

  Nicolai put his left hand on Sorel’s chest and pressed down gently. Then he extended his right hand and let the viscous liquid dribble from his palm onto his partner’s cock. Oil dripped the length of the rigid shaft fr
om its slippery tip to the scrotum.

  Sorel gasped and strained upward, hips lifting up from the blanket, the muscles of his chest and flat stomach contracting. Another whiff of juniper filled the air.

  At the first contact of oil on Sorel’s cock, the red glow surrounding the lovers intensified and expanded outward like a cloud. Ander felt a tingle as it swept past him. Quivering sensation flowed through his whole body before coalescing in his genitals. Within seconds his cock was hard and aching. Erotic tension and anticipation, like he had experienced when first seeing Nicolai and Sorel but magnified a thousand times, held him in thrall.

  Nicolai lowered his hand and pressed his palm against the underside of Sorel’s cock. The red glow pulsed faster and took on a golden tint. As Nicolai began to spread oil over Sorel’s genitals, massaging them gently, the tingling in Ander’s cock soared. His right hand dropped to his pants. A wet spot already soaked through the cloth. He slipped his hand down the front of his pants and touched his cock. Slippery ooze covered the glans. The shaft jerked as he slid a finger over the satiny flesh. Transfixed by the sight of the lovers beneath him, he let his fingers curl around his aching cock.

  Sorel caught his breath and lowered his hips to the ground. Ander watched, spellbound, as Nicolai grasped Sorel’s cock and pulled it upward. The thick phallus strained in his hand, curving slightly from base to tip like a horn. As he slowly moved his hand up and down the column of flesh, the glow around Sorel’s cock changed from red to bright gold.

  Ander could see clear fluid drooling from Sorel’s cock and flowing over Nicolai’s fingers. His own erection throbbed as if a warm hand were on it.

  Nicolai slid his fingers down to cup Sorel’s balls before leaning down to kiss his lover. Then he got up from his crouch, his cock slipping away from Sorel’s fingers. Sorel lifted his arms above his head, stretching sensuously, as his partner moved between his legs. Nicolai’s face was rapt as his hands slid over Sorel’s slender hips, along his muscular thighs, then to the backs of his knees. Lifting gently, powerful shoulders flexing, he spread the legs wide.

  Sorel reached down with one hand and found his lover’s slippery shaft. He held it steady and angled it downward. Nicolai leaned closer until his glans rested snugly between Sorel’s smooth buttocks.

  Ander gasped as Nicolai’s cock made contact with Sorel’s body. The agonizing erotic tension he had been feeling transformed into pure lust. His cock throbbed in time with the light surrounding the lovers. Then Nicolai pushed forward, his gaze locked on Sorel’s. The air seemed to crackle as he eased into his lover.

  Ander felt weak in the knees as the pulsing in his cock changed to an insistent itch that kept growing as Nicolai slowly slid his phallus all the way in. Sorel’s erection leaked and twitched on his hard belly as Nicolai filled him. Somehow Ander could sense a bond between them, something beyond the physical pleasure they shared. As Nicolai began fucking in long, slow strokes, the bond became visible. A striated blue sphere materialized above them, spinning lazily. An indistinct tendril drifted down from it and touched Sorel’s cock. Another tendril extended to Nicolai’s groin and licked at his phallus each time it slid out of Sorel’s body.

  Ander ached with desire. He let go of his erection, fearing he was going to come just from watching. He didn’t know how they could stand it. But it was clear the lovers knew what they were doing. They moved together with the sureness of long experience, Sorel’s hips rising to meet Nicolai’s deep thrusts. The blue sphere became solid, spinning more rapidly, and sparks flickered where its tendrils brushed their bodies.

  Both were breathing hard. Sweat flowed down Nicolai’s broad back. Rearing up, holding Sorel’s legs wide apart, he repeatedly slid his cock its full length into his companion. Silvery light shimmered over his phallus and raced up to the spinning sphere each time he pulled out, leaving only his glans inside.

  Sorel’s shoulders hunched, and his hands clenched into fists. His cock was surrounded by a mass of sparkling light. The blue sphere above them whirled furiously, its striations a blur. Nicolai’s body tensed, and he gave Sorel a curt nod. He threw his head back and sank his cock in full-length as Sorel grasped his own erection. Moments later Nicolai’s hips moved in a series of short thrusts, and he groaned as he started coming deep inside his partner. Sorel stroked his cock as Nicolai’s back arched. A thick rope of come shot out, splattering his cheek. More spurts hit his neck and chest as Nicolai came inside him.

  The blue sphere above them exploded in a rainbow of colors.

  Things happened too fast for Ander to comprehend. He was shaken by a powerful orgasm, though his fingers had barely been touching his cock. He cried out, overwhelmed by the intensity of his pleasure, too surprised to restrain himself. Hot semen flooded his hand. At the same time the remnants of the blue sphere swirled like a dust devil. It flew up the passage, past the horses, and spread into a shimmering wall. Ander watched in amazement as the wall solidified into a pile of rubble. While there was no way the cuirassiers would find them now, their way out of the cave was completely blocked.

  Dazed, he looked back at Nicolai and Sorel. They were still joined, Nicolai’s cock deep in Sorel’s body, but Sorel had heard Ander’s surprised shout and was watching him with an inscrutable gaze. Nicolai noticed Sorel’s stare and twisted around. His eyes met Ander’s. But instead of anger, the northerner’s eyes held only fear.

  Chapter 3

  NICOLAI carefully withdrew his still-hard cock before rocking back on his heels and turning to Ander. The long shaft glistened with oil and milky semen. He looked like a primal embodiment of sex, but his eyes were wide with alarm.

  “You agreed to stay on the other side of the wall! What… how much did you see?”

  Ander gulped, still dazed. He pulled his right hand out of his pants and started to wipe it on his shirt.

  “Don’t!” Sorel said, sitting up on the saddle blankets. Ander froze, his slimy hand halfway raised.

  “Come down here. And don’t use your right hand. Powers you don’t understand are involved. Just do as I say.”

  Ander followed the instructions, his face hot with embarrassment. The strange lights that had bathed the cave in color had vanished. Once again the only illumination came from a single flickering candle. Sorel rose with fluid grace and grasped Ander’s right wrist. Turning the hand toward the candle, he examined the semen coating the palm. Then he looked into Ander’s eyes, his gaze penetrating.

  “Did you pleasure yourself while watching us? Or did this happen by itself? Answer truthfully. A lie could have dire consequences.”

  Ander tried to step back, overwhelmed by the strangeness of what he had witnessed and the question’s threatening tone. But Sorel held his wrist tightly, demanding an answer.

  “It…. I didn’t do anything. I touched myself, but that’s all. It wasn’t anything like, uh… like it usually feels.”

  Nicolai sprang to his feet and clamped a hand on Ander’s shoulder. “You didn’t answer my question. Why didn’t you stay on the other side of the boulders?”

  “But I did,” Ander protested weakly. “I was on the other side the whole time. You never said I couldn’t look through the hole.”

  Sorel laughed, his severity vanishing. “He’s right, Nicolai. He kept his word. But we’ll have to be careful with this one. He’s wily as a fox.”

  Nicolai still looked wounded. “Why did you do it? You knew you weren’t meant to see this.”

  Ander looked down, miserable. “I heard strange noises. Moaning and gasping. I thought maybe something was wrong. That you needed help.” Lifting his eyes, he looked at Nicolai. “I didn’t mean any harm. I just wanted to know what was happening.”

  “Curious as a cat too,” Sorel observed. “Thane would like that.”

  “Maybe,” Nicolai admitted. “But Thane isn’t here. And Ander knows things now.” He looked at Ander appraisingly. “What are we going to do with you now?”

  Sorel still held Ander’s wrist. He lifted the hand to
show Nicolai the semen that was already drying in crusty white patches. “We were going to test him anyway, before the seraskier’s rude interruption. I think this qualifies as a successful first step.”

  “Test? What are you talking about?” Ander gaped at the naked pair, who ignored his question.

  Nicolai shook his head. “It proves he’s sensitive, but that’s all. And testing someone isn’t the same as sharing secrets. Only Thane can decide to do that.” He shook his head again. “This is already a disaster. I hate to think how Thane will feel when he finds out about it.”

  “But it’s a beginning,” Sorel argued. “He’s strong. And remember what happened in Pella. He doesn’t lack courage. I’ll wager he meets the other requirements. I think we should take him to Thane. Who better to decide?”

  “Who is this Thane you keep talking about?” Ander asked. Their occult knowledge and concern over Thane’s reaction conjured images of a fearsome mage.

  Sorel turned back to Ander. “I’m sensitive too. Like you. And Nicolai. I believe you have potential.”

  “Be quiet!” Nicolai said, his voice anguished. “You’re putting him at risk.”

  “What if he takes a secrecy oath?” Sorel was still looking into Ander’s eyes. “I’m willing to bind him, if he agrees. That’s why I stayed his hand.”

  Ander fought a new surge of anxiety. “Tell me what’s going on. What do you mean?”

  Nicolai rubbed his eyes, his face in shadow. When he finally spoke, his voice was bleak.

  “He wants you to swear not to reveal what you’ve seen. Or anything else we tell you. Even under torture. A mere oath would be out of the question. But he’s offered to bind you.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then met Ander’s gaze. “If Sorel binds you, he’ll know if you ever start to violate the oath. And if that happens, he’s pledged to stop you. He’ll be able to stop your heart with a thought. And he won’t release you from the oath unless Thane tells him to.”