Double Your Pleasure Bundle (31 page)

But the extravagance of the duck was nothing to what was served next...
beef
. The meat that even the rich ate only rarely, since it required a sacrifice to the Olympian gods to serve, burning the fat and bones upon an altar while the faithful few ate the flesh.

Agreus chuckled at her reaction as he offered her a skewer of the meat, sliced and seasoned with the pungent fish sauce called
garon
, then grilled over coals.

Like everything else served tonight, the beef was delicious, but she decided that her favorites were the eel and the roasted duck.

Having eaten her fill for the first time in her life, Melis lay back on the cushions of the couch, and sighed happily.

"That was
wonderful
," she told her three companions. "I've never eaten anything so fine."

"We've got a great cook at home on our estate," Phorbas said, immediately, as he poured warm, scented water over her hands, then handed her a linen towel to dry them. "He can prepare any of these dishes for you whenever you like."

"I do hope you've left room for dessert and wine," Agreus said, in a gently teasing tone. "And now that you've eaten, I believe you had some questions for us?"

Cradled in Agreus's arms, with Phorbas curled up against her side, she felt safe enough to ask something that had been puzzling her since the beginning of the feast.

"You told me that I'm not your slave...but if I'm not, then why the auction? And why did Theodoros let me participate at the last minute? He said I had a
philtata's
aura..."

"The auction is an old custom," answered Agreus. "In the beginning, when the Children of Lilith were still conquering these lands, they would gather all of the true
philtatoi
they found, and auction them off during the spring and autumn festivals. Those
philtatoi
really were slaves."

"Nowadays, though, the auction has become purely symbolic," added Nomios. "The
philtatoi
who participate all do so voluntarily. In most cases, the Child of Lilith who discovered them invites them to attend. The money is an offering to Lilith, paid to a
philtata
or
philtatos
as a sign of the winning bidder's commitment to care for that
philtatos
and to offer them the freedom to leave by giving them financial independence."

"I've never seen anyone take the money and run," said Phorbas. "Though sometimes I've wanted to warn a mortal about what they were getting themselves into. In practice, most
philtatoi
send the money home to their families, and never use it for themselves."

"As to why you are special," Agreus said thoughtfully. "You know that a true
philtata
or
philtatos
is rare? And that's why Enlil was determined to bid for you, even if it meant denying himself one of his pleasures."

"You mean he wouldn't have hurt me?" Melis tried to decide how she felt about that.

She sensed a faint thread of anxiety through her bond, and realized that the brothers were worried that she might think she'd made a mistake by binding herself to them rather than choosing Lord Enlil. As if she would
ever
feel that way!

"Too late now," Phorbas said, roughly. "You're ours, and I'm not going to let you go...at least not before we've had the chance to really impress you."

"And the youth Rudjek is also a true
philtatos
," commented Nomios. "I think Enlil seems content with his prize."

"Senenmut found the youth enslaved in a brothel in Waset," said Agreus. "He'd been sold there as a child—the gods only know what he's endured. Enlil will have to be patient with him if he wants Rudjek to respond to him as a
philtatos
and not merely as a whore."

"Finding a true
philtatos
in a brothel must've been like finding a pearl in a pile of crocodile dung," commented Phorbas.

"It was a fairly high-class brothel, from what I've heard," said Nomios. "So, maybe not quite a dung-yard, baby brother."

"Don't call me that," growled Phorbas. "And why didn’t Senenmut just keep the boy for himself?"

"Senenmut owed a tithe to the Temple of Lilith," said Agreus, and Melis could sense his smirk behind his veil. "And his, ah, unfortunate weakness for dicing games meant that he didn't have the coin this time around to pay the tithe in cash. Luckily for him, he was able to rescue Rudjek from the brothel, and convince to youth to travel here for the auction."

"But what makes a true
philtatos
or
philtata
different from everyone else?" Melis asked, as she watched a line of servers approaching with trays of nuts and dried fruit.

Agreus smoothing his hand over her long brown hair. "Your aura. It blazes more brightly than the other mortals around you, and offers the Children of Lilith more nourishment."

"What?" Melis shrank back a little, and instantly sensed the dismay of all three brothers.

"Didn't anyone tell you?" asked Nomios, his hands stilling at last, though he still held her feet clasped in his hands. "The Children of Lilith feed on human emotions and energy, especially the energy of lovemaking. That's why we need companions who respond strongly to us."

She stiffened, and Agreus immediately released her.

Phorbas remained pressed stubbornly against her side, his head nestled against her breast. "It won't harm you," he assured her. "We're not going to hurt you. We just want to pleasure you until you can't take any more, and then you'll feel tired and cold and need a good night's sleep. You'll be fine in the morning."

"That doesn't sound too terrible, does it?" asked Nomios, quietly. His presence in her mind was so tightly controlled that she could sense nothing from him...which told her a lot.

"That's it? That's all you want from me—to feed on me while you're bedding me?"

Agreus nodded warily. "We would like more, of course. We want the chance to make you our Beloved Companion in truth, to give you the chance to pursue whatever learning or hobbies amuse you."

Hobbies?
She wanted to laugh.
Hobbies are for the rich.

From the time she could walk, she had worked—gathering firewood and shellfish, spinning wool and weaving cloth, drawing water from the village well, the endless round of household drudgery and laundry.

"As your
philtata
...will there be children for me?" she asked, shyly. Concubines and wives bore children to their men. What did the
philtatoi
do for their lords, besides feed them?

"That depends," Agreus said, cautiously. "You have a choice to make, Lady Melis. If you accept full intimacy with us, then yes, there is a chance you may become pregnant. We Children of Lilith are not very fertile as a rule, but our mother bore three sons," he gestured at his brothers, "so perhaps our lineage is stronger than most."

"If you let us fuck you, you may become immortal like us," Nomios said, bluntly. "So consider carefully. I know it sounds like a wonderful thing, but do you really want to outlive all of your mortal family and friends? A lot of the
philtatoi
end up regretting their choice."

"There's a movement afoot in the council to ban full physical contact between the Children of Lilith and their
philtatoi,
for that very reason," said Agreus. "They want to pass a law making it illegal for a Child of Lilith to spill his seed inside a
philtata
or
philtatos
."

"Fuck that," growled Phorbas. "That's the worst of all possible worlds—you can't share the best parts of having sex, plus you have to watch your
philtata
or
philtatos
grow old and die."

"My family disowned me. I'll send them my money, so that my sisters can have a better life, but I don't think any of them want to see me again," Melis said, feeling pain rise inside her. "If you really want me, you'll be my new family."

"We want you." Agreus molded himself against her back, and put his arm cautiously back around her waist. His undiminished erection pressed against her buttocks.

"We'll take you any way you want," agreed Phorbas. "If you don't want full intimacy, then there's a lot we could do with just hands and mouths and maybe some toys."

Melis took a deep breath, feeling all three of them like bright flames in her soul. "I am yours," she said, quietly. "I took the oath and I wear your bindings.

"And now we wish to consummate that binding to you, my lady," Agreus said, softly, but she could feel his desire, and it burned just as brightly as his brash brother's.

"So, do you mind skipping dessert and letting us fuck you now?" Phorbas asked, filled with raw hunger. "Please?"

Melis bit her lip, feeling three eager, lambent gazes burning her skin despite the veils concealing their eyes. Her pulse raced at the thought of all of them pleasuring her at the same time, as they had begun to do at the banquet.

"Yes," she said, at last, the words burning her mouth like the desire burning between her legs. "I want to become your
philtata
in
truth. I want you to take me."

Chapter Nine – Consummation

Melis had seen nude men before, of course. Athletes at the temple games competed naked, and the temples themselves were filled with statues of naked and half-naked men in the prime of their lives.

Somehow, though, this had not adequately prepared her the sight of her three eager lovers looming over her with rampant erections, their golden eyes devouring her with hot gazes.

The temple's guest quarters were located a short walk uphill from the sanctuary. They consisted of several colonnaded buildings surrounding a courtyard planted with sweet-smelling herbs and flowers, crossed by gravel paths.

The rooms assigned to the three brothers were high-ceilinged and spacious, and the bed was the largest that Melis had ever seen. Her entire family could have slept on the vast mattress, amid the wide soft coverlets and heaps of pillows, and never jostled each other.

The three brothers had stripped with indecent haste as soon as they had crossed the threshold and closed the door behind them. Agreus hung his hooded robe and long veil on pegs embedded in the wall, as did Nomios. Phorbas simply let his garments drop. He then kicked them into a corner with a scowl, where they settled into a soft pile of shimmering blue silk.

Their tunics followed, revealing tanned, tautly-muscled bodies. Their chests and groins were lightly haired with silver, and each of them was proudly erect, proof of their desire for her.

Melis swallowed at the sight of them, her heart pounding with a mixture of terror and desire. She was their
philtata
and she had taken an oath to satisfy them...
all
of them.

She took a step backwards, and felt the comforting pressure of a cool, plastered wall against her shoulders.

"Melis, you're wearing too many clothes," Phorbas said, grinning at her.

"How—" Embarrassingly, her voice broke and turned into a squeak. She cleared her throat. "How will you...I mean, what should I do?"

"Relax and enjoy yourself," Agreus said, stepping forward. "We'll be able to sense your pleasure, but tell us if you like—or don't like—something we do."

He cradled her face in his hands, and bent to kiss her hungrily.

She felt a series of tugs at shoulders and waist, then her gown slid away with a soft caress against her bare skin, leaving her naked in his arms.

Agreus pressed against her, cool skin over hard muscle and bone, and his stiff phallus pushed against the soft skin of her belly.

"I'm going to take you now. I can see how ready you are for me," he said, his voice low, intense.

Liquid heat rushed through her at his words. She felt his hands slide behind her hips, lifting her effortlessly. She parted her legs and felt the broad head of his phallus nudge against her slick, swollen folds.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and kissed him. He entered her with absolute control and tantalizing slowness, stretching her, filling her completely, until at last, he was seated all the way inside her, and they were joined skin-to-skin.

He waited until she arched impatiently against him. Then, still pressing her against the wall, Agreus pinned her hands over her head, and kissed her throat.

"I've wanted to do this ever since I first saw you," he said between kisses, his smooth voice roughened with desire now.

He moved his hips and began to thrust, sliding slowly in and out of her. It felt wonderful, but she wanted
more
.

"Please," she begged, not sure what she was requesting, but trusting that he would know.

Agreus chuckled. "I knew you'd be perfect for us," he said, and his hands tightened around her wrists.

He took her hard and fast as she writhed against the unyielding wall at her back, stretched taut in his grip.

As he thrust into her, she felt the coil of pleasure tighten in her body, then burst with an explosion of pleasure that made her cry out and convulse helplessly in his grasp, her heels digging into the small of his back.

A cool breeze swept across her hot skin as Agreus growled and stiffened against her, his phallus throbbing inside her as he released. He gradually slowed his movements, milking the last few ripples of pleasure from her before loosening his hold on her wrists.

Panting, she clung to him, cradled in his strong arms, her face buried in his neck.

"A most delicious first course for our feast, dearest Melis," he murmured into her hair. "But you're not yet entirely satisfied, are you?"

As her heartbeat slowed, she realized it was true. She felt relaxed with the aftermath of the pleasure he'd just given her, but she still ached for more.

And he remained hard inside of her as he carried her across the chamber to the bed.

Disappointingly though, once they arrived in front of the bed, he lifted her and slid out of her, then tapped her hip, signaling her to let go. Melis reluctantly unwrapped her legs from around his waist. Her feet touched the stone floor, and she realized how shaky her knees felt.

"Well, I'm glad you're not done yet." Nomios said from behind her. His hands settled on her shoulders, taking her in a firm grip. "Since my big brother was greedy and took you all for himself just now."

He lifted the heavy curtain of her hair, which had come undone from its pins while Agreus was ravishing her, and she felt him drop gentle kisses on the nape of her neck.

She shivered with pleasure, and he continued kissing his way down the length of her spine. Each touch of his cool lips sent sparks of heat to rekindle the needy ache between her thighs.

Agreus chuckled and stepped away. "She's all yours now," he said, and reclined on the bed, leaning on his elbow as he watched them.

"Let's share," Phorbas suggested, taking Agreus's place in front of Melis.

His hungry kiss gave Melis no chance to protest. And when Phorbas pulled away from her lips, and began to kiss her throat, working his way downwards in parallel with Nomios, Melis just wanted them both to continue what they were doing.

Phorbas sat on the bed and put his hands on her waist, drawing her closer. He kissed and nuzzled the soft swell of her breasts, circling around her sensitive nipples but never quite touching them.

Meanwhile, Nomios had sunk to his knees behind her, and was kissing a newly-discovered sensitive place at the base of her spine.

Melis whimpered in frustration at Phorbas's teasing caresses, and he grinned impudently at her. "Ask me," he invited. "Tell me what you want."

"I want—" she gasped, and stiffened as Nomios traced a delicate line down her buttocks with his fingertips. "I want..."

As Phorbas waiting, smirking, for her to continue her plea, Nomios slid his hand between her legs. He urged her thighs apart and began to explore her with a teasing touch.

"I want Nomios to take me," she managed, and returned Phorbas's smirk.

Behind her, Nomios laughed softly. "She's more than a match for you, baby brother."

Phorbas scowled momentarily. But his cocky grin quickly returned.

"I'll have you singing a different song very shortly, pretty Melis," he promised.

Melis whimpered with pleasure as Phorbas closed his lips around one of her nipples. He  flicked his tongue around the tip, sending jolts of pleasure traveling to the place that Nomios was currently teasing with a practiced touch.

Her breath caught as she felt Phorbas's teeth nip at her, tugging and tormenting in a way that made her squirm with the mixture of pleasure and pain.

Meanwhile, Nomios's clever fingers, slick with her arousal, brought her up to the edge of climax again. There he kept her, tormenting her with exquisite skill as she panted and shook between the caresses of both brothers.

"Please, Nomios, do it now," she begged, just as Phorbas switched his attentions to her other breast.

Nomios's touch vanished from her folds, and she felt him push against her lower back. "Bend over," he commanded.

She obeyed eagerly, putting her hands on Phorbas's knees.

Phorbas growled as her breast slipped away from his lips. She kissed him in apology as she felt Nomios slide both of his thumbs into her, then open her for his invasion.

He felt just as large as Agreus as he penetrated her in one smooth, strong thrust.

Unlike his brother's slow, gentle build-up, Nomios grabbed her hips with bruising strength, his fingers digging into her soft skin, and pulled halfway out before slamming back into her.

The sensation was overwhelming as he quenched nerves that had been screaming for just this treatment.

"Hey,
philtata
," growled Phorbas in her ear. "Why don't you put that sweet mouth to good use?"

Melis looked down and saw the tip of his erection close to her lips. She dipped her head, and gave it a soft kiss, remembering how good it had felt when he had used his mouth on her earlier. She wanted to return the favor.

"Tell me what to do," she said. "I want to please you, Phorbas."

She felt him stroke her hair. "Open your mouth, he commanded, "and take care with your teeth. Other than that—the tip of my cock is the most sensitive part. Lick it, suck it, stroke my shaft. It all feels great, and I'll tell you if I want you to ease off or do it harder, okay?"

Melis eagerly parted her lips and she licked him, a long wet stroke that lingered and swirled around his tip as Nomios continued to ravish her from behind.

A period of trial and error followed, during which she quickly learned how to hold the base of his shaft in her fist to keep him from choking her.

She loved how Phorbas groaned in unabashed pleasure when she closed her lips around the broad tip of his phallus and sucked, letting him slide against the hot, slippery roof of her mouth.

She experimented with caresses, using her tongue to tease his sensitive slit, tasting the salty drops of his arousal. She felt powerful as she gently stroked the heavy sac between his legs, feeling him shudder and hearing him gasp.

Meanwhile, Nomios rode her hard, and Melis welcomed the sensation, bracing herself against Phorbas, craving the moment when she would finally fall over the edge into her delayed climax.

She felt Nomios's arm slide around her waist, and then felt him roughly caress the sensitive nub he had been stroking earlier as he continued to pound into her.

Melis screamed around the hard phallus in her mouth as her climax rocked through her, the ripples of pleasure stronger this time.

She felt a sensation like a cold kiss along her spine as the ripples began to soften and die away, and shivered at the icy touch.

Phorbas swore, spasmed, and filled her mouth with thick, salty seed. She swallowed eagerly, tenderly sucking at him through the pulses of his release as he caressed her hair and mumbled incoherent compliments.

Nomios's thrusts lost their rhythm and became short, rapid, and even harder. Then he shuddered against her back, and she felt him fill her with his seed.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" asked Nomios, still hard inside her.

He stroked her bruised hip with apologetic gentleness, and urged her upright, slipping his arms around her and cupping her breasts in his hands. His thumbs stroked her nipples, wet and sensitized from Phorbas's mouth, and the pleasure was exquisite.

Melis relaxed against Nomios, and turned her head to kiss him. She was astonished to find that she wanted him to bend her over again and resume his efforts.

She wriggled against him encouragingly. "No, you didn't hurt me at all. I...really liked that," she said, shyly.

"Ready for more?" asked Phorbas, who was leaning back on his elbows and looking up at her. "I haven't had
my
turn yet."

She nodded. Her face grew hot, which felt silly because she had already done so many improper things with these three men. And she definitely wanted to do more.

"Come sit on my lap. I want
you
to ravish
me
," Phorbas said, with his irresistible bad-boy grin.

He pulled her forward and lifted her. She straddled his thighs, the wool-stuffed mattress soft but firm under her knees.

"The night is still long, but we're wasting time," Agreus drawled, rising from his reclining position and sitting up. "Melis, how would you feel about letting all three of us take you at the same time?"

Stathis had softened almost immediately after taking his pleasure of her, his phallus shrinking and slipping out of her before he fled back to the festival. But all three of the Children of Lilith surrounding her were still erect, their gazes still burning into her with eager desire.

She felt a shock of heat and a pleasant dizziness at the idea of all three of them making love to her at the same time, but she couldn't picture how that might work.

Melis blinked. "Is—is that even possible?" she asked, cautiously.

"It is," Agreus said, solemnly. "You'll enjoy it, I promise."

She knew she would. Everything else they had done to her so far today had been strange but utterly wonderful.