In profile, backlit by the bright lights in what she imagined must be his bedchamber, Prince Arik looked gorgeous. His shimmering robe let light through, enhancing the look of his impressive body in a sheer covering of pale gold that contrasted with his jet-black hair and skin that reminded her of caramel and cream. She liked the way he kept his long hair pulled back in a queue.
Emerald could hardly wait to loosen his hair and thread her fingers through the silky fall. He had a rugged look about him, a nose that was not quite straight, yet regal. High cheekbones and a strong, clean-shaven jaw gave him a look of blatant masculine command.
A huge man, he gave the appearance of fluid motion even while standing still. His massive thighs reminded her of tree trunks. She shivered when she focused on his cock, so big it sent a wave of anticipation from her cunt to her pierced nipples. It looked fearsome, a somnolent beast resting in its nest of dark pubic curls against a pair of large, round testicles.
A sudden frisson of fear made her look away for a moment when she considered how his mighty weapon would feel, penetrating her virgin flesh for the first time and making her his own. Perhaps some called him a monster because of his massive cock. She would gladly take that delectable flesh into her body to enjoy the privilege of having the gorgeous man as her mate.
Emerald would soon have the prince of her dreams. From what she saw, she thought he must be the embodiment of all those late-night fantasies. In less than twelve hours now, they would be mated.
The gods are smiling down on me. All my fantasies are about to be fulfilled.
* * * * *
Fantasies. Emerald barely slept, rising eagerly as soon as a pink and purple dawn sky began to emerge from darkness. Today she’d become a princess, the pampered consort of her royal Master. The most handsome man she’d ever seen, with perfection of face and form that matched her own.
Excited, she bathed and dressed, taking special care to drape a practically transparent, silken robe artistically around her naked body—a robe not unlike the one she had seen her prince wearing in his tower the night before.
She could hardly wait.
“You will ready yourself, my daughter,” Eli told her a few moments later. “The king has sent a litter for you. He has sent word that the mating ceremony will be held in private.”
“But…” Emerald clamped her lips together, stifling the complaint her father’s stern look let her know would be futile. She had so much wanted all of Obsidion’s citizenry to witness her triumph, to see she had managed to capture the planet’s finest prize. The perfect mate…the perfect Master. She would feign compliance, pretend submission, but soon she would use her wiles to twist her prince into doing her bidding. “Yes, Father,” she said, making no complaint when he assisted her into a litter and motioned for its bearers to rise and take her to the palace.
Sweet incense swirled about the inside of the jeweled litter, cloaking Emerald in a sensual haze, hiding her thinly robed flesh from those who might want to glimpse their prince’s bride on her journey through Obsidion’s streets to the castle—to the man who would soon be her Master.
The arousing scent of precious oils she had rubbed into her naked body mingled with the incense. Her nipples tingled and her cunt began to clench with anticipation. She could hardly wait for her prince to claim her…take her. She longed for the moment she would feel the cold, heavy weight of his collar closing about her neck—a moment her father had assured her would take place as soon as the crown prince penetrated her cunt with his mighty cock, as was traditional at the royal matings that rarely occurred on Obsidion.
In less than an hour, I’ll be a princess. I will be the mate to the handsome prince of all my dreams.
Emerald ran her fingers through her waist-length auburn curls, suddenly eager to feel them being cut off, as always happened during mating ceremonies for members of Obsidion’s upper classes. Though the custom had begun on Earth as she understood it, she welcomed her shearing and the collar, both symbols of submission she would wear to show the world she belonged to Prince Arik.
I am going to engage his lust and capture his heart, and then he will belong to me as much as I belong to him.
Arik. Over and over she repeated his name in her mind as six matched Martian slaves bore her through the streets on the golden litter, and later in the castle’s great hall while three of the four royal eunuchs she’d heard about lovingly prepared her to be presented to their lord and prince.
The eunuchs fascinated her, for each of them wore the precious stones allowed only to Obsidion’s royal family—diamonds set in red gold from Mars. Huge studs in their ears, smaller ones in their right nostrils, and elaborate, diamond-studded shields centered over smooth, hairless flesh where she imagined a laser beam had cut away all evidence of their maleness.