Her body, set aflame by the unhurried touch of his hot palms, yielded obediently to his will, surrendering to the undulating, rocking rhythm. She jerked, a final desperate attempt to break free, as he decisively invaded her intimate depths; her eyes flew wide with indignation, her mouth occupied by his bold, firm tongue, which writhed within like a serpent.
"You've been mine... for a long time," a whisper murmured tenderly in her mind, overriding her frantic pleas to be let go and sent home.
"Is that so? And how did you abduct me from my parents?"
"I didn't abduct you, Elina..." Lariel paused, his gaze piercing her indignant, fluttering eyes. "You are just a gift for me, and now I am your Master!"
"Where? When? How did it happen?"
He resumed his caresses, leaving crimson marks from his hungry kisses upon her pale skin.
"I'm not an object to be sold! I'm an aristocrat, for heaven's sake!"
"I know… I wouldn't want anyone else..."
Tears spilled down her flushed face, and he immediately began to lick them away with a smirk.
"Hey, sweetheart... Does it hurt your feelings that much? Could it be... that I don't appeal to you as a man? What kind do you like, then?"
"I haven't even had any yet!" - Elina protested, clenching her small fists in frustration and helplessness.
"I don't quite follow that statement! You've had plenty!"
"What makes you say that?"
"You don't remember a thing... The truth is, you're already over fifty!"
"What? Have you lost your mind?" the young woman struggled even harder in his grasp. "What do you mean, fifty? I'd look like an old crone! I'm around twenty! I was in a coma... I think! I only remember my childhood and my parents!"
"A coma?" Lariel mused, turning onto his side with a mischievous smirk. "For all those years? Well, I'll be! You've held up remarkably well, then!"
"How do I get home? Where was I bought?" Elina fretted, hurriedly wrapping herself in the bedspread.
"Are you shy, or what?"
"That bit about me being fifty—it's a joke, right?"
"No... I'm very good at telling a person's age."
"How?"
"Well, I'm... a healer; I know a thing or two about health and all that. Don't you remember where you spent your life?"
"Nooo!"
"On a ship! A spaceship! If you were in a coma while there, it's actually a pretty convenient way to travel to other planets."
"Whaaat!? What ship!?"
"And your energy field holds plenty of records regarding your sexual partners! There were quite a few of them!"
"What!?" Elina clutched her head. "How? With whom?"
"Well, let's see... They weren't bad... quite handsome, from what I can see!"
"Are you clairvoyant?"
Lariel tilted his head playfully as he enthusiastically recounted details of her time on the starship that had arrived at one of the colony planets, leaving her utterly dumbfounded.
Almost every day, for agonizingly long stretches, the King amused himself with her, driving her to the point of fainting; Elina would then wake up alone in that same room around noon.
"Why does your uncle treat me this way? He torments me at night, and… I don't exactly want it," Elina complained to the boarding house's young mistress. "He's handsome, of course, but it's all too much for me!"
"You'll get used to the unbridled passion of the Syrinxes," Ula said, trying to reassure her with a friendly smile.
"Does he spend time with *every* woman like that? Such insatiability… I'm constantly in bed; my strength is draining away—I feel like I'm melting… Will Lar ever calm down? Is there any hope?"
Ula laughed, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"No! Syrinxes are obsessed with lovemaking, and I intend to punish them severely for it when I grow up and their lust-hungry paws reach for me!"
"How? They're huge men! The thought of your uncles making advances on me fills me with dread."
"Unlikely! Lar is in love with you—that's why he wears you out with intimacy like that! He won't let anyone else get near you."
"Aren't there other women like me for his amusement?"
"There are plenty, my dear! And that's a good thing for you… it gives you a chance to take a break from him now and then. His moods come in waves: he disappears for long stretches, and then his desire renews itself…"
Before long, Elina found herself waking up with relief whenever she didn't find Lariel by her side. She would spend her sunny days in the garden in a state of near-carefreeness—though she would occasionally glance around warily and hide in the shady groves, hoping she wouldn't be remembered after those long, intense nights.
Hearing rustling sounds and voices, she would dive behind the nearest thick bush—her breath held and her mind frozen—and watch furtively as the boys and their fathers walked past. Their wandering gazes made it clear: she was the one they were seeking out for intimate contact.
"How long do you intend to hide from us like this?" a mocking voice rang out behind her one day.
Elina straightened abruptly to face a tall, elegant blond man clad in a floor-length white robe, staring into his mesmerizing, pale-lavender eyes.
"Why are you afraid to interact with us?"
She feigned bewilderment and shrugged.
"I just don't want... any of this..."
"Any of *what*? ... Relationships? That's a shame, Elina!" the handsome winged man blurted out in disappointment, then introduced himself:
"I am Kalisio... I don't know what you thought of us? We're all decent people—even with the wings! There's no need to be afraid of us! Lariel asked me to keep an eye on your mood so you wouldn't feel sad without him while he's busy..."