Currency in Flesh

Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

S he pulled aside the curtain of reality and we stepped into the throne room. I glanced down, expecting to see myself still nude, but instead, I was clothed in a floor-length crimson gown. The hemline grazed the marble, trailing behind me like a river of blood.

Beside me, Lady Cora was dressed in a similar fashion, her gown such a deep black that it seemed to absorb the light. Atop her head, a delicate silver tiara was nestled between intertwining strands of her intricately styled hair. It sparkled with brilliant red garnets and rubies, and I noticed with a pang of emotion that they were arranged to resemble a pomegranate with seeds spilling forth. Her platinum tresses were pinned up to show the long line of her neck, and her eyes glowed brightly from beneath dark kohl and shadow. Her lips were the exact shade of my dress, and I wondered if I wore makeup as well.

The room was silent save for the sound of our steps, echoing from the cathedral ceiling—Lady Cora’s fingers in mine guiding me toward twin, blooming thrones. The two chairs were interwoven, flowers connecting them with splashes of color and dew-sprinkled leaves. I giggled awkwardly as we stopped before them, suddenly very nervous even though it was only us. Cora gestured toward the seat on the right and bowed her head slightly.

“Uh—” I stammered. “Do I just sit?”

Cora smiled. “That is typically how seats are used.”

Rolling my eyes, I reached back to adjust the fabric of my gown and slowly sat. The flowers smelled like springtime—fragrant roses, sweet lilacs, the perfume of lilies and a fresh, green scent that made me think of life, so at odds with the Underworld. Lady Cora lifted her hands and with my next breath, a different tiara materialized upon her upraised palms. It was also silver, but instead of the bejeweled fruit on hers, it featured a trio of gemstone flowers. A glittering daffodil inlaid with citrine and diamond sat in the center, flanked by two marigolds made up of carnelian and topaz. They were impossibly detailed, and the stones caught the light to glow like ember and flame.

Lady Cora tipped her head, indicating I should do the same, and gently placed the tiara amidst the waves and curls of my loose hair. A wild laugh bubbled up my throat, and I reached for her with shaking fingers. “Perfect,” she murmured before accepting my hand and allowing me to pull her down into a kiss. I didn’t know what to say, how to express all the emotions swirling like a tempest in my chest, so I simply took her face in mine and let my touch speak for me.

The taste of her on my tongue made every inch of my skin feel electric, and I grabbed her waist roughly—tugging her forward until she had no choice but to sit astride my lap. I buried my nose in her neck, letting all of my senses revel in the night-blooming jasmine and smoky plum that was Lady Cora. My hands roamed up her sides, reaching for the exposed line of her back, needing to touch as much of her as possible.

She made a soft sound at the sensation of my fingers against her bare skin, and I kissed down her collarbone until the thin strap of her dress brushed against my lips. Smiling, I slipped it from her shoulder with my teeth just as I hooked my finger beneath the opposite side. The dress slid down her body like water, revealing high, peaked breasts in the cool air of the throne room. Her head tipped back as I took one pink nipple into my mouth, sucking gently before moving to the other.

“Cora,” I breathed, blowing gently on her moistened flesh to make it pebble, “may I make a request?”

“Anything, love,” she answered, face still raised to the sky.

A mischievous little smile tugged at the corners of my lips. “I’d like to call you Your Highness. Not always, of course, but on occasion.”

“And what occasion would that be?”

“When I’d like to be reminded who I belong to.”

Her hips ground into me, and she looked down, taking my chin between her thumb and forefinger. “Who do you belong to?”

It felt different, here, wearing a crown, beneath the body and burning gaze of the Queen of the Underworld. It felt simultaneously safer and much, much more dangerous. Desire curled, hot, between my legs. “You,” I said. And then, just because I could, I added, “I think.”

She laughed, and it was the dark, vicious laugh of Her Highness. I bit my lip, anticipation making me wild. “Well, then,” she said, “I suppose you need to be shown.”

Her hand flew from my chin to my throat, pinning me against the back of the throne. Thorns dug into my skin, pricking me with tiny flashes of pain. With one violent motion, she ripped the gown from my body, the silk shredding like paper and falling around my now nude body like a puddle of blood. My breasts hung low against the folds of flesh at my middle, and she slapped one hard enough to make me hiss in pain. She pinched my dark nipple and grinned down at me with a flash of wickedness in her eye. Abruptly, her hand dropped from my neck and she climbed off of my thighs.

As though before an orchestra, her graceful fingers moved through the air. I didn’t understand what she was doing until two vines burst from the throne and twined around my wrists. They bore thorns as well, and I yelped as they pierced into my arms, dragging me upward and spreading my arms wide. I resisted, but they only tightened in response, a thin line of blood dripping down one arm and down the side of my breast. More green tendrils emerged from beside my ankles, wrapping up my calves and yanking my legs apart. My ass was barely grazing the seat of the throne and I felt precarious, like I might fall at any time. It took all my strength and focus to stay on the ball of my feet and not allow the briars suspending me to tear into my flesh.

Her Highness stepped from her gown, and I saw that beneath, she was dressed in a tightly laced corset and barely there silk thong. Even from this distance, I noticed the way the light caught on the patch of black fabric in the very center. She was wet for me already. I wanted to suck it from the little bit of cloth.

Her eyes scanned my splayed out form, lingering on my chest before dropping lower. “Whose tits are those?” she asked, stepping closer.

“Mine?” I replied, bouncing on the soles of my feet in anticipation.

The vines lifted me higher, so only my toes pressed against the marble. My body swayed back and forth as I tried to regain my balance, no longer touching the seat. “Being a brat will not get you what you want, pet.”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” I apologized quickly. “They are yours.”

She nodded. “Correct. And I think I would like to see them displayed nicely.” She picked up the remains of my dress, tearing off long strips of fabric. Her fingertips ran over the skin of my breasts and I shivered. “Have I told you how much I love you in the color red?”

My heart beat quicker, pounding within my ribcage, and she slid one hand beneath my right breast, lifting it up nearly to my shoulder, before using the other hand to pull one length of fabric beneath it. With the thin strip holding it up, she began to wrap the trailing ends around and around until my flesh had turned from a full, low-hanging breast into a tightly bound globe tied high on my chest. I nearly giggled, seeing my saggy chest sitting so round and lifted. Her Highness tied up the left as well and then wove a strip of fabric between them in a figure-eight before tying it around my neck. My nipples had already hardened into peaked points, and my flesh began to turn red. Experimentally, I moved my head back, and it pulled painfully on my chest and made me hiss.

“Yes,” Her Highness said, stepping back to see what she’d done. “Those look lovely.” She bent to blow on one nipple and it felt like fire, throwing me off balance. My toes scrambled against the floor and my body swung uncontrollably. With a cruel smile, she struck one breast and then the other and I screamed at how intense it felt. And yet, at the pain, I felt my pussy throb, surging with slick arousal. Her Highness laughed and then struck them again, and again, and again.

By the end, I was sobbing, and shame coursed through me when I realized my desperate desire now dripped down my thigh. My tits had turned a deep red, and every brush of air felt like agony. “I will ask again,” Lady Cora murmured. “Whose tits are these.”

My answer came on a keening cry. “Yours, Your Highness, they’re yours!”

“Good girl,” she said, tucking a sweaty strand of hair back behind my ear. “Do you want to make me proud?”

Still crying, I nodded .

The vines at my wrists loosened, and I dropped to my feet on shaky legs. My entire body was quivering and my tits were an alarming shade of purple. Lady Cora kissed each one, feather-light, and I tried not to jerk away at the feeling of more pressure on my already overwhelmed body. She untied them and lowered each one by hand. Though I still cried softly, the gentle gesture was a reminder of why I was here, why I wanted this. I could feel my pulse in the tissue of my breasts as they grew hot and began to slowly return to the right color. It hurt, but in a good way. “Your Highness?” I asked through drying tears.

“Yes, pet?”

“I feel like my skin is made of fire, my nipples are so fucking sensitive. Can I please, if I’ve done well and deserve it, can I please ask you to put your mouth on them? Even if it’s just one. I just really, really want to know what that would feel like right now.” I sniffed and looked up at her.

She smiled. “You asked very nicely, and you were very good. Yes, daffodil.” Sitting down on the throne, she released my arms completely and guided me onto her lap. For a moment I worried that I was going to hurt her, but it was only my addled brain forgetting she was a literal Goddess. Her legs were warm on the back of my thighs, I had started to shiver as my heart rate slowed and feeling began to come back to my arms. She pressed a kiss to my cheek and moved my hair over my shoulder as she took my oversensitive body in her hands.

The moment her lips closed around my nipple, it felt like every single nerve exploded. The soft heat of her tongue was indescribable, swirling around my peaked breast, and like an avalanche I was unable to escape, I felt myself begin to come. “Your Highness,” I forced out the word, and it sounded as desperate as I felt. “I ca-can’t?—”

She opened her mouth slowly, letting her tongue drag over my skin even as she pulled away. “It’s okay, love. Come for me.” She moved to the other side, cupping my breast in her hands like it was precious, and surrounding me in wet, divine heat.

I came with a ragged gasp, curling in on myself even as I sat across her lap. I felt her thighs get more slippery with each wave of climax, my pussy forcing out all the wet need that had gathered while I was bound. She held me through it, murmuring words of praise and encouragement in my ear while my forehead sagged against her shoulder. At last, my body stilled, and I lifted my face to hers. “Thank you.”

“Oh, don’t thank me yet,” she said against my lips, kissing me. “I have one more thing to ask of you.”