A Gift for the King Page 2

  “Jake?” she asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Want to go for a walk on the beach with me?”

  “Sure. Let’s check it out,” he said, smiling. Confidently, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door and into the elevator. Almost reluctantly, he let go of her and pressed the first floor button. He gazed back at her, a smile evident in his eyes.

  Lana smoothed her dark hair out of her eyes and looked back at him. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. He gestured for her to follow him, and she walked out after him.

  They made their way out of the hotel and meandered down the walkway to the beach. The sun had set some time ago and it was dark. The gentle crash of the waves against the sand seemed far off, and the stars and moon were bright in the night sky, reflecting off the water.

  Lana took off her shoes and ran into the cool water. Splashing in the ocean, she called out to Jake, who did the same. Leaving their things in a pile on the beach, the two of them waded a little deeper into the water.

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” Lana asked softly, her mouth still agape at the view.

  Jake stood next to her and she looked back at him. They had known each other for a long time, and been best friends for many years. Jake had grown up in Los Angeles, where Lana had grown up too. They had met in elementary school, and had known each into high school when they’d started hanging out together.

  Her everyday life had never been one with family dinners and a white picket fence. Jake knew about everything she’d been through—the rough times with her drug addict mother and her alcoholic father—and Jake had been the one who had kept her sane. She had always been welcome at his house when things got really bad in her own. He had been her shoulder to cry on. He had always been her rock.

  Lana had begun to develop feelings for him during high school, but did her best to hide them. They had pushed each other to apply to college and had both gotten into Arizona State University. Lana had known she needed to escape and Jake had come with her, always her solid support.

  She remembered the day the two of them got their acceptance letters. He had been so excited. It was the school he really wanted to go to, and Lana just wanted to get away from her home life. Any school would have worked for her, but going to college with Jake had just seemed right. It seemed like it was meant to be. So the two of them escaped to Phoenix, and started the beginnings of their futures together.

  Lana and Jake had continued to stick together during the first few years of their undergrad journey. She had watched him date sorority girl after sorority girl, each one as dim and dull as the next, but all of them hot and, essentially, gorgeous arm candy. None of them lasted more than a month, but she hated it. She wished he’d been with her all along.

  Decisively, she shook her mind free from the trip down memory lane, and began enjoying the view again. Then reluctantly, she turned to face her longtime friend. “Jake?”

  “What’s up, Lana?”

  “Have… have you ever thought about us?” she began hesitantly.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, giving away little of what was going on in his head. She watched his face for any clue as to what he was thinking.

  She turned to him, and with her free hand touched his shoulder, skimming it down his arm until she threaded his fingers with her own. She pulled him toward her and looked up into his eyes. He peered down at her, confusion masking his true thoughts.

  “Have you ever thought of me in more than a friend kind of way?” she asked softly, but more boldly than before, the alcohol blazing through her system. She had always been tall for a girl, but thin, and a lightweight when it came to drinking of any form.

  She brought her lips to meet his, and he reciprocated for but a moment before he broke off the kiss, a look of concern coming across his features.

  “I can’t. Not with you right now. It wouldn’t be right,” he said gruffly.

  Time seemed to slow, hot rejection slicing through Lana’s core. He didn’t want her after all. All this time they had spent together, they had simply been friends, and she had just ruined that by wanting more. She felt so dumb and naïve. Her throat tightened as tears threatened at the corners of her eyes.

  “I get it. Don’t worry about it,” she said, emotion straining at her voice. She felt tears begin to fall down her face and she backed away, out of the water. Grabbing her shoes, she ran off down the beach, letting the cool night air rush against her face.

  “Wait, Lana, let me explain,” Jake called after her, but she was already too far gone and the rush of the waves drowned him out. She kept running as tears rolled down her cheeks, further and further up the beach till the resort was but a few lights in the distance. She was utterly and completely alone.

  Lana stopped running, her breath heavy. She dropped to the sand on her knees and just knelt there, catching her breath and gazing out into the water. Everything she had wanted and had planned for this trip had been for naught. Jake wanted nothing to do with her romantically; she was forever just a friend. That is, if she hadn’t ruined that. What should she do now?

  Suddenly very tired, she fell back on the sand and looked straight up at the stars. She had no idea what time it was and didn’t care. She needed time to accept this development. Sitting back up, she curled her knees into her chest. Lana rarely let anyone in, and Jake had been one of the few that had snuck past all her barriers and into her heart. This one really hurt her, a blow straight to her fragile spirit.

  After a while, her tears dried and she sat and looked numbly out into the ocean. She jumped when she heard something behind her.

  “Go away, Jake. I don’t want to talk right now,” she said softly, hurt straining her voice. The person behind her didn’t respond.

  The hair stood up on the back of her neck and she looked around, but saw nothing. She turned back to look at the ocean, thinking she was going mad, and jumped when she realized someone was sitting next to her.

  “Who are you?” Lana asked wearily.

  Cold eyes turned toward her, appraising her from head to toe. An icy smile glimmered on the man’s face. In the moonlight, Lana could make out blond spiked hair atop a strong, chiseled face. He seemed exceptionally tall, even just sitting next to her. Large muscles escaped a black t-shirt, which encompassed a well-muscled chest. He was wearing dark jeans and had no shoes on in the sand. Light blue eyes watched her, as her heart began to thump in her chest. Strength and power seemed to radiate from his every pore. Something about him seemed off, and strangely alien to her.

  He stared into her eyes with purpose and Lana began to feel oddly comfortable, like a wave of calm had come over her suddenly. It was almost magical.

  Struggling, she tried and failed to break eye contact with the man. In a flash, his hand held her chin still, and he rose and pulled her to her feet. He stood at least a foot taller than her at full height, which had to be well over six feet. She felt like she had no control over a single muscle in her body.

  “Don’t move,” he commanded. She felt his authority deep within her bones and she could do nothing to fight it. What the hell was he doing to her?

  “Your face. I can’t believe the resemblance…” he said, studying her.

  His fingertips dropped from her chin, and he took a step back, looking her up and down. His hands moved around her small waist, underneath her shirt, feeling her skin and tracing over her curves. She whimpered, fear billowing up from deep within her. This wasn’t normal. This was straight up strange.

  He walked around her and put his hands on her shoulders, dragging his fingers down slowly until they cupped the fullness of her backside. She could do nothing to fight him. It felt like her body was stuck in cement and she couldn’t move a muscle. What sort of power did this man have?

  “I think you’ll do, human,” he said softly. “The king will be very happy with you.” He spit out the word ‘human’ with such disgust that Lana shivered.

  She felt her
body begin to shake as the man came around to face her again. His eyes steadily held hers. She felt tears of panic come to her eyes as her anxiety grew to massive proportions. A terrible look of glee came over his face at her fear, and a whimper escaped her throat.

  “Oh, yes. You will do wonderfully,” he said, his voice as smooth as liquid poison.

  His eyes narrowed in her direction and Lana felt a sudden force hit her. Her world went black and she knew no more.

  Chapter Three

  Lana woke in a dark room. She blinked, her eyes struggling to find light while her mind wrestled to make sense of what had happened. Last she remembered, she had been with Jake, and had run off. She shivered, remembering his cold rejection. A vision of the tall blond-haired man crossed her mind, and she jolted out of her semi-aware state, suddenly fully awake.

  She found herself in a big room, which was actually a cell made of massive stones. Strangely, it reminded her of something out of the Renaissance. Other women were in the cell with her, but everyone was silent. She didn’t dare make a sound either, but she did creep toward the bars of the cell to peer out. Continuing to observe her surroundings, she saw the man who had taken her from the beach talking to a few other men, all of them oddly gorgeous. Every man was well built, like something out of a male review calendar, and each one exuded a power she could only guess at.

  She looked at the other women trapped in the cell with her. They were all beautiful, ranging from pale and blond to tan and brunette. There were even a couple of redheads as well. She noticed that all the women were young, in their early to mid-twenties, just like her.

  Lana looked back at the men, and noticed the blond man watching her. Narrowing her eyes, she stood boldly, courage coming from someplace unknown.

  “Why am I here?” she yelled in his direction, her anger getting the best of her.

  The other women gasped and shrank away from her, terror in their faces. A dangerous look came over the man’s face. He looked at the other men he was talking to and smiled.

  “My my my, what do we have here,” he said, walking up to her cell. “We’ve got a brave one, men.” He paused, and his eyes perused up and down her body. “The king is going to like that.”

  Suddenly his arm snaked through the bars and his hand grabbed her throat. He lifted her off the ground while she struggled for air. Her hands tore at his fingers but to no avail. She couldn’t breathe. His fingers felt like they could crush her throat with any more pressure. She kicked and tried to struggle, but it was all for nothing.

  “The king is going to enjoy breaking you. He likes them feisty,” he warned, sternness dripping from his every pore. He threw her backwards and she landed on her back. The blow was harsh, and she struggled to take in air, making her panic a little. When she was finally able to gulp in as much air as possible, her eyes focused to realize the man was smirking at her. Oddly enough, she could have sworn she saw the slightest hint of a sad warning there, like he was imploring her to keep quiet. He eyed her as she shrank away. None of the other women came to her aid, but kept their eyes strangely averted. She wouldn’t make the mistake of challenging that man again.

  Lana made her way toward the back of the cell and sat down, pulling her knees into her chest. She hid her face in her hands. Who were these strange men and why did they have these mysterious powers? Why was she here? Why had she been taken?

  It seemed like hours before someone came to the cell again. This time, it was a beautiful woman with porcelain-like skin and thick waves of blond hair. Blue eyes pierced into the cell as the woman looked from face to face. The other women were careful not to meet her eyes, but Lana did so out of sheer curiosity.

  “Open the cell,” the woman ordered.

  The man who had threatened Lana procured a key and opened the cell gate while making a point to look in Lana’s direction. The woman walked into the cell, her shapely body swaying with each step. She pointed at a few of the women, and the men filtered into the cell, roughly leading the group out of the cell. Lana noticed she picked a variety of women, from brunette to blonde to redheads.

  Lana gulped down her fear as the woman’s eyes fell on her. “This one too.”

  The man with the blond hair made his way toward her. Not wishing to be forced to her feet, Lana stood bravely and walked to him. His hand slowly touched her shoulder, and she flinched as his fingers gripped a handful of her hair at the nape of her neck. She whimpered softly at the sudden pain as it blossomed across her skull.

  He put his mouth close to her ear, and began to whisper to her. “Keep quiet. Don’t make me be harsher with you than I need to be.”

  She nodded slowly, as much as his grip on her hair would allow. Why would he be telling her this? Did he not enjoy hurting her?

  He led her out of the cell and up a flight of stairs, into a well-lit room.

  Lana blinked, not believing what she was seeing. It looked like a Roman bathhouse. There were steaming pools everywhere, beautiful tile lining every surface, and attendants in long robes waiting by each one. She was guided to one close by.

  The man finally let go of her hair and she breathed a sigh of relief as the pain drifted away. Her hand rubbed the back of her neck as she met the eyes of the attendant he had brought her to. She seemed normal and wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful like the rest of them. Lana let her eyes flicker between the blond man and the woman in the robes by the bath. She appeared human. Lana’s eyes shifted back to him. He looked otherworldly, or at least very different.

  Other girls were led up from the cell in much the same fashion, with each one brought to a separate bath attendant.

  Lana’s attendant tapped her shoulder, and Lana turned to face her.

  “I need you to remove your clothes now.”

  Lana looked at her, confused, if not defiant. She shook her head and instead started asking her questions.

  “Who are these people? Why have we been brought here? Where are we?” Lana cried out frantically. Her desperation increased with the sound of her voice. The attendant shook her head urgently, trying to quiet the girl, and her eyes flickered over Lana’s shoulder. Lana looked back and the blond man was marching toward them. She turned to run, but her body stilled, his strange power suddenly coming over her again. Her muscles felt like cement, frozen solid.

  He grabbed her, spun her around, placed his foot on the ledge of the pool, and threw her over his leg so that she was jackknifed over his firm thigh, her bottom high in the air. Shock radiated through her at the sudden attack. He smacked her ass a few times before Lana knew what was really happening. He was spanking her, for God’s sake!

  When her disbelief eventually wore off, Lana realized how much her bottom was burning and that his spanks actually, really hurt. The room was silent, and the sounds rang out through the room, echoing with every smack. She cried out as the spanks got harder. Pausing, the man reached underneath her torso and unbuttoned her jeans. She tried to fight, but he quickly tore them down so that her panty-clad bottom was on display for everyone in the room. A blush crept over her face. She couldn’t believe this!

  He spanked her soundly with his hand until she stopped trying to fight him. He then pulled her panties down, baring her bottom to the entire room. She cried out in shame. Lana’s poor bottom was on fire; she couldn’t remember the last time she had been spanked. It hurt, and it hurt a lot. She kicked and tried to fight, but his spanks met the mark every time. His other hand held her firmly against his leg, and she realized that escape was impossible. When he next focused on the tops of her thighs, tears came unbidden. Her body submitted to his painful assault, and she began to cry.

  She felt him stop, and his hand glided over her punished skin. She slowly calmed as he held her there, secure over his knee. His hand rubbed her spanked flesh, bringing a small shred of relief to ease the pain. He helped her up and slowly began undressing her. She no longer fought, her red and punished bottom bare for all to see. She kept her eyes down, unsure
of what to do as he pulled her jeans and panties off her legs, as well as her now-wrinkled t-shirt and bra.

  When she was naked, he silently helped her climb into the water. His face was firm, but calm. The attendant got to work, and began to wash her hair and body.

  The blond man stopped the attendant for a moment, gazing at Lana warmly, which was strange because he’d only seemed to glare at her thus far, almost like she had passed some sort of unique assessment of his.

  “Take good care of this one. She’s special, meant for the king.”

  The female attendant nodded and continued to scrub Lana’s head, massaging in a variety of shampoos and oils.

  Lana looked up at the man who had just spanked her, realizing he was still watching her. He began to walk away and she found herself calling out to him.

  “Wait,” she said softly. He turned around to face her, acknowledging her with a raised eyebrow.

  “May I ask your name?”

  “Wes. Now behave yourself or you’ll earn another trip over my knee. Next time, I won’t be so nice.”

  Lana’s eyes grew big and she nodded almost imperceptibly. Wes smiled and turned around, walking to the edge of the room. He seemed to be waiting to see if any other girls needed his special brand of discipline in order to follow the orders they were given. None of them fought after the demonstration of authority at Lana’s expense, and they all quickly shed their clothing and climbed into the baths to cleanse themselves from the dirt of the cells.

  Lana allowed the woman to do her work, primping, cleaning, and shaving her. She turned her eyes to watch the strange powerful people. Something was very off with them and she intended to find out what it was. Each one of them was gorgeous, with porcelain-like skin no matter the shade, be it dark or light. Each of them had icy blue eyes and an air of confidence she had never seen before.

  Shuddering, she thought about the raw power Wes had shown her so far, and she speculated who this king was and why he would like her so much. Question after question swirled around in her head, until it felt like she was going mad.