General Tok stood at the foot of the table, his eyes sharp under the bushy dark brows. The high priest grabbed her legs under the knees, pulling them up and bending them back toward her stomach until her heels rested on the table.
AJ flushed with embarrassment. It became impossible to purge her mind of all thoughts. Her pussy and her bottom hole were completely exposed, open to the lustful stares of all four men. She felt a frightening sense of helplessness. In her world, adults did not appear unclothed in front of each other. Illness was virtually unheard of and rarely needed medical procedures utilized scanning machines that sent focused lasers and electron beams into the tissues. No one had seen her naked body since she was a little child, except for her holographic lover.
The big man said something. Her language chip hadn’t been exposed to his dialect long enough for her to understand him, but Tok seemed eager to translate.
“This is Thelo, our high priest. He will be the sole judge of your worthiness to join this community. I suggest you give him your complete obedience, since he alone decides what group you will be assigned to. The Holy One says you are to remain in this position while he conducts his examination. Do not move – or you will be punished by the guards.”
AJ shuddered. Her skin tingled from the unfamiliar sensation of hands running up her bare legs. The fingers of the soldier on her left tightened on her shoulder as he ogled her half-naked body.
The general remained at the foot of the table, just behind the high priest and off to one side, his position obviously chosen to give him a clear view of everything that would happen. AJ closed her eyes, unwilling to see their faces as they witnessed whatever humiliation was in store for her.
The high priest leaned forward between her thighs. Using both hands, he spread apart her vaginal opening.
Her eyes snapped open. His fingers felt hot and rough on the silken folds that had never been touched by a man. AJ tried to squeeze her legs together, but he wedged his broad shoulders between her thighs, forcing them apart.
Thelo looked up at her. His eyes narrowed. Slowly, he slid one long thick finger inside her, watching her face the entire time.
Chapter Three
Kaden strode through the marketplace, keeping out of sight of the soldiers as he tailed them.
He’d been half a block away, too far to avert the tragedy himself, when the tall merchant in Bedouin robes dashed in front of the wagon, risking life and limb to rescue the little girl. He’d been as shocked as the other bystanders when the merchant turned out to be a stunning female.
Curious as to what would become of her, he followed as the soldiers led her to the doors of the Citadel. When they disappeared inside, he turned away. No doubt the woman would soon be available in the Lyceum – if she didn’t end up as a personal plaything for General Tok.
He wouldn’t blame the general. Not only was she strikingly beautiful, the woman had spirit. A quality sorely lacking in the female population of Petra. Kaden shook his head as he headed for his assigned living quarters. It was a mystery to him why men would want a woman who displayed no intelligent thought of her own. He’d been to the Lyceum once, a guest of General Tok when he first arrived. The experience, though physically satisfying, had left him empty emotionally.
He’d been in Petra for two months. Today, for the first time, he’d been allowed to roam the city unaccompanied on his day off. The general’s ever-present guards hadn’t appeared at his door this morning. It looked as though he’d earned a level of trust.
Kaden entered the large dormitory where he’d been assigned a bed when he arrived. Most of the single men stayed there at night, if they weren’t cashing in their credits to visit one of the harlots at the Lyceum.
The general provided twice-weekly visits to the Lyceum as a fringe benefit to every man working in Petra. Additional time with one of the ladies was granted as a bonus for performance above and beyond the call of duty, such as exceeding one’s weekly quota in the mines or successfully completing one of the general’s secret assignments.
In Petra, it took three years to become eligible to own a house and a seraph Most men looked forward to the day they’d attain that goal. He’d heard many of them talking about how they longed to have their own mate one day, a female they didn’t have to share.
A handful of men who’d been with Tok the longest owned houses in the city and had been granted harlots to live with them full-time. Those men had no interest in taking on a Seraph and raising children. They preferred having willing female companionship with the advantage of being able to trade their harlot in for a new one when they tired of her.
Kaden shook his head, imagining what his mother and sisters back in New Atlantis would say about this repressive regime. Where he came from, women trained as leaders and scholars, warriors and healers, right along with the men. His sister Althea would have had Tok at her feet, cringing under the blade of her sword, if he dared to brand her as a harlot for taking her pleasure with the man of her choice.
He missed them more than he would have thought. Tania would love the gardens here. He could imagine her striding down the hall toward his sparsely furnished quarters, her arms filled with exotic blooms. He’d tease her about cluttering every tabletop with overflowing vases, stinking the place with their fragrance up, then laugh when her temper flared.
“Kaden, have you heard?” Hisham hurried down the hall toward him. “They’ve captured a female intruder in the marketplace. She disguised herself as a Bedouin to sneak into the city. She tried to murder one of the children!”
Kaden snorted. The rumor mill was already churning.
“Murder? She saved the child’s life. The little girl would have been trampled to death if the woman hadn’t risked her own safety to rescue her.”
Hisham perked up like Kaden’s old nanny at the possibility of hearing fresh gossip. “How do you know? Did you actually see her? I heard she is huge. Big and fat – and ugly.”
Kaden looked down at Hisham and shook his head. As an Atlantean, he stood head and shoulders above the man. “She’s average height, at least by my standards. But she’s not ugly. Far from it. Although perhaps a bit too skinny for your taste.”
“Gods willing, we’ll see for ourselves tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“I keep forgetting you haven’t been here very long. If we’re lucky, the general will order this intruder to be publicly punished tonight by the high priest. The new harlots haven’t completed training yet, and the others have been especially well-behaved lately, so you haven’t seen a Correction.”
“A Correction?”