Fostering Faust 3 Page 3

  Anna needs more sleep. Poor thing is trying to take even turns with Mary, but she’s not handling it as well.

  Alex walked over to his work desk, where he sat down heavily.

  With his luck, it was likely Riley would show up soon and demand his attention.

  That or get extremely clingy.

  Who he really needed right now was Valeria. He needed her mind and information.

  By his own oath, he couldn’t support Regina for another two months. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t get everything ready without openly supporting her.

  The problem was, he wasn’t sure how far he could push it without it becoming obvious he wasn’t beholden to oaths.

  Valeria knew almost the entire story, having figured out most of it on her own and then confirmed it with him after.

  Sighing, Alex scrubbed at his face with his hands. It was going to be a long day, and he already felt like he needed a long soak.

  The door popped open, and the soft click of hard-soled shoes got his attention.

  Damn. It’s Riley, isn’t it?

  Letting his hands fall, Alex lifted his head up.

  Valeria shut the door, then slipped a key into the lock and turned it.

  Her black hair was piled atop her head in the current style for such a thing, and her hazel eyes were for him alone. She had on a green dress that barely covered her, and it seemed to drive the eyes to her chest and hips all on its own.

  Okay… I really have no idea how to take this.

  Let’s… see what she does, then go from there.

  “Hello, Alex,” Valeria said, walking over to him.

  She dropped the Master title as well.

  That makes Carla, Rebekah, Riley, and Valeria. Something’s happening, isn’t it?

  “Seven helped me put this together. You like it, don’t you?” Valeria asked, holding her hands up to indicate herself.

  Alex nodded. He couldn’t deny he did like it. It looked really good on her.

  “Damn.” Valeria clicked her tongue. “It’s not fair. Seven has you figured out, Alex. Down to decimal points. Hmph.”

  Valeria sat down on his lap and laid an arm around his shoulders. It put her bust in front of his face.

  “I figured you’d need me, so I got here before One could,” Valeria said.

  “Well, you’re right. I do need you,” Alex said, lifting his eyes up to her face. “And I missed you.”

  Smiling at him, Valeria leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.

  “Missed you too, and I love you. And I can admit that and not feel… fear. Or at least as much fear,” Valeria said, then sighed and shook her head. “So? What do you need?”

  Wow. First Carla and now Valeria. If Rebekah tells me she loves me next I’m going to lose my mind.

  “Invitations sent out to all my vassals. Going to have a vassals feast,” Alex said. “Which means I also need a vassals feast put together. Think you, your underworld counterpart, and One can arrange it?”

  “Mm, that’s actually a really good idea,” Valeria said, nodding. “You haven’t had a vassals feast since you became someone else. It’d be a good time to have it.”

  Alex blinked at that.

  She’s trying to tie her soul to mine. She already suspects I’m different in every way. And there’s no doubt she’s aware of me being the champion.

  “Yeah, that kidnapping killed the real Alex Brit,” Alex said with a shrug. “I woke up in his body. I’m from a world a lot more advanced. Way more advanced. I have a lot of ideas on how to change the technology here, but I’m going to have to be careful and quiet about it.”

  Valeria stared at him, unblinking.

  “When I die, Leah is going to ship me to another life to start all over again,” Alex said. “Anna is coming with me, of course.”

  “Re-really? That’s… all true?” Valeria asked.

  “It sure is, Three. Swear it on Leah,” Alex said, his arms loose around Valeria’s middle.

  Frowning, Valeria just looked at him for several seconds. Then she nodded.

  “Fascinating story. Would you tell me more of the world you came from another time?”

  “Sure. Not a problem,” Alex said.

  “Can I give you my soul? So you can take me with you when you go?” Valeria said, sliding the subject toward where he’d expected it to go.

  “Probably. But you’ll have to work out the details with Leah and Anna,” Alex said.

  “I can do that. You’d… really let me come with you? To be tied to one another for all time?” Valeria asked. “I’m not a good p—”

  “Three? It’s likely Two and Seven will ask for the same thing at some point. If I can handle those two, I think I can handle you,” Alex said, patting her hip. “Focus. Feast. Doable? Problematic?”

  Valeria took in a short breath, then nodded.

  “Yes, Alex. Very doable. Not a concern in the least. We’re currently at about… a million and a half gold right now. I used a few of Mistress Anna’s Numbered to count it all up. A feast wouldn’t even cost more than a hundred or so gold. We’re making that back easily in our trade with Quinn. We’ve become the through-point for horse trading and supplies.”

  “Oh? Fantastic. How’s the horse stuff going, by the way? Quinn sent me a letter saying she had plans on how to keep the horse market liquid,” Alex said. “Liquid and cornered.”

  It took Valeria several seconds to understand what he’d meant.

  “Ah, yes. I did see the results of her choice. There are some very upset people in the empire. Apparently they were expecting to buy herds of horses and breed them, themselves,” Valeria said. “Quinn has only released male horses that have been gelded. She doesn’t sell female horses. Under any circumstance.”

  Looking annoyed and angry, Valeria glared at him.

  “That was your doing wasn’t it?” she accused. “Quinn is acting far beyond what I was expecting of her. What I saw of her while we were there is not how she’s been behaving since we left.”

  “Do tell,” Alex said with a grin.

  “You… we all thought you were bedding Quinn whenever you had a closed-door meeting with her,” Valeria said.

  “That’s a lot of sex. Don’t get me wrong, I have an amazing libido nowadays and it seems like I can just… keep going in an abnormal way, but even I don’t think I could have that much sex.”

  “You were training her. Instructing her. Teaching her. Weren’t you? You were making her into a miniature version of yourself,” Valeria said.

  “I was trying to do that. That’s for sure,” Alex admitted.

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s so deeply sworn to me that if she even thinks poorly of me, Leah probably knocks on her forehead,” Alex said. “I can dump everything into Quinn and never fear a problem from her direction.

  “It’s why I also treat you Numbered like my hands. I give you advice, build you up, and break off the pieces from your psyches you don’t need. Can you tell me any of you are worse than when I met you?”

  Valeria slowly shook her head.

  Then she grinned at him. It was a predatory thing that made his memory flash back to the fact that she’d locked the door.

  “I deserve—your love. I demand—your attention. I would like—you to love me,” Valeria said, enunciating. “And I would like it right now.”

  “Okay. I can do that. I promised you that’d happen, so let’s make it happen. We’ll wait for One… and then I’ll love you in the way you deserve to be loved,” Alex said. Then he leaned in and kissed Valeria’s throat.

  Shivering, the assassin leaned closer to Alex.

  “I’m so scared,” she murmured. “But I deserve love. I deserve it.”

  “You deserve it,” Alex said, then bit down into her neck. Valeria squirmed in his lap and moaned softly.

  “Does she have a key to get in?” Alex asked.

  “Yes,” Valeria whispered.

  “Great… let’s go to the bedroom, and we’ll wait
for her,” Alex said.

  Chapter 3

  Valeria practically jumped off his lap and started walking toward his bedroom.

  “Why… why do you want to do this to One?” Valeria asked. “I kind of understand it from my own point of view, but she doesn’t like to be hurt. Does she?”

  Alex had to adjust himself in his pants as he got up. Valeria had surprised him by sitting in his lap. It had certainly done wonders to perk his spirits right up, so to speak.

  “No. She doesn’t. But I think she might like the emotional pain of it,” Alex said, getting up out of the chair. “And she might be somehow thinking she’s the only one who can fill the need I have. Before, she was also taking on a martyrdom complex.”

  Alex entered the bedroom and found Valeria had shimmied out of her dress. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting. Looking as lovely as ever.

  “I get the impression she isn’t as broken as… well, as me,” Valeria said. “She’s just stuck in her own mental prison.”

  “Fair assessment. I broke her martyrdom already, and I’ve more or less taken away the ability for her to think of this as anything other than what it is,” Alex said. Pulling off his clothes, he thought hard on Riley.

  Now that he was really thinking about it, he wasn’t sure he needed to bed Valeria in front of Riley anymore.

  Her mentality was fairly healthy now. She still seemed to sneak in to watch him with other women, but it didn’t happen as often anymore.

  Actually. It might not help Valeria to put a reason behind this. It might be better for her if there’s no reason at all.

  If it’s just for her.

  Turning to the bedroom door, Alex closed it. Then he grabbed the nearby dresser and pulled it in front of the door.

  “Never mind,” Alex said as he turned to look at Valeria. “I think… I think I just want to love you, for you. No audience, no reasoning—just because you deserve it.”

  Valeria turned deathly pale at his statement.

  “Alex… I don’t…” Valeria’s hands came up to press against her stomach. “I don’t deserve it though. I don’t. I want to believe I do, but I don’t. I’ve killed a lot of people. I’ve done terrible things.”

  Alex shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to Valeria.

  “And? Even if we’re the villains in this drama, this story, this life, you deserve love, at least from me,” Alex said. Leaning down, he kissed Valeria tenderly, his hands cupping her cheeks.

  Valeria kissed him back hesitantly, her hands coming up to rest on his shoulders.

  Leaning back from her, he smiled.

  “Don’t you?” he asked. “Besides. Isn’t Valeria Marsh dead? You’re Three. My Three. And Three deserves a lot of love.”

  Valeria blinked several times, staring into his face.

  “I’m Three,” she said, slowly nodding your head. “Valeria Marsh… died. You’re right. She died, and I’m what remains. I’m not her.”

  “You’re not her. You’re my Three, and you deserve all my love,” Alex said.

  “I’m Three,” Valeria said. She smiled at him, all the fear and apprehension in her eyes draining away. “And I do deserve your love.”

  Scooting into the bed, Valeria laid down in the middle of it and held her arms out. She spread her knees apart, splaying her entire self open for him.

  “Come and love me, Alex,” Valeria said.

  She chewed at her lower lip as if she was thinking about something.

  “Love me lots, but… uhm, still… still hurt me? I still want that.”

  “Of course. You wouldn’t be you without that desire,” Alex said with a chuckle, and he waited beside the bed. “Do you need any toys today, or do you want something else?”

  “I think I want just a little physical pain? Just a bit. And maybe some… domination?” Valeria asked. She’d become very frank with him about exactly what she needed. It helped him immensely.

  Smiling, Alex got into the bed and moved over to Valeria. She’d remained as she was, arms extended toward him, knees spread wide.

  As soon as he was close enough, Valeria wrapped him up in her arms and began drawing him to her.

  She kissed him then, her tongue slipping into his mouth and sliding along his own.

  Settling down atop the beautiful noblewoman and assassin, Alex got his hips up between her thighs.

  Kissing her all the while, Alex managed to shift around until he got the head of his member wedged into her channel.

  Valeria moaned when he did it, finally releasing him from her kiss.

  “I love you, Alex. I know… I’m just a concubine, a Numbered, but I genuinely love you. So much.” Valeria stared up at him, and the fear was there. Fear that she didn’t deserve it and would lose it all by admitting she loved him.

  Alex grinned and then eased himself slowly forward. The tip of his shaft entered Valeria, followed by the rest of his length. Her tight channel spread wide around him as he kept pushing into her.

  When he reached the hilt, when he’d filled her, Alex leaned his head down and pressed his forehead to hers.

  “As I love you, Three,” he said. “As I’ve loved you for a while and will continue to love you. More as a wife than a concubine. But you’ve suspected that for a while. You just never really heard me say it.”

  Valeria nodded her head fractionally as her hips slowly undulated against him. She was very clearly just as needy as he was right now.

  “Then… why am I still Three? Why am I just a Numbered?” Valeria asked.

  “Do you want to be Valeria again?” Alex asked. Drawing his hips back, he began to methodically and gently take Valeria. Pushing and pulling himself in and out of her.

  “Uuuuum, I… I don’t know. I like being Three. I am Three. It feels more my name than Valeria. Would you be upset if I wanted my name back?” Valeria asked, her hands pressing into Alex’s back when he moved forward, trying to push him harder inside her.

  “No,” Alex said, and he kissed her tenderly for a moment.

  “I… I’m Three, then. I’m your Three,” Valeria said. “And that’s what I am forever forward.”

  If this is going to be a forever thing… and she wants to tie her soul to me… shouldn’t I give her the chance to flee?

  “Then I release you from all of your oaths to me, Valeria,” Alex said, kissing her again.

  There was a sharp cracking noise, but nothing changed.

  Valeria suddenly had a vice-like grip around him with her arms, pulling him down roughly into her. Leaning her head back from the kiss, she stared at him.

  Scared and confused, she didn’t seem to know what to make of it.

  “You’re not throwing me away, are you?” Valeria asked.

  “No,” Alex said with a chuckle as she pulled him close, not stopping for even a second. Her soft and warm insides pulled at him, her flesh soft and pliant against him.

  “You’re… giving me back myself and loving me,” Valeria said. “Just like you said.”

  Alex reached out and gently took Valeria’s hands in his own. Then he pulled them up above her head and held them atop one another at the wrist with his left hand. His right hand began to fondle and explore her chest and sides.

  “Alex, I’m your Three. I give you all of myself, body and soul. All of myself to you. And I swear to all my oaths all over again.” Valeria’s voice took on a firmness with this statement.

  Laughing, Alex kissed her and tightened his hand on her wrists.

  “Then the first order for you, my beloved Three,” Alex said, thrusting into her harder and harder. He was quickly building up to a point where he’d be done. “Have you taken Mother’s Bane this month?”

  Valeria moaned softly, pulling her knees up as he continued to increase in speed and force.

  “No, I’m taking it tonight,” Valeria said.

  “No more Mother’s Bane for you. Ever again,” Alex said. “Every time we couple will be a roll of the dice for you.”

  Valer
ia’s eyes widened, her cheeks coloring.

  Slowly, she nodded.

  “Ok, Alex. No more Mother’s Bane for me. Ever again,” Valeria said, her wrists flexing slightly. She was rocking her body back and forth with him as he drove himself deep into her insides.

  “Never again,” Alex said, leaning in to kiss her cheek and down along her jaw. “Let’s see how many children you can give me.”

  “Yes,” Valeria murmured in a way that let him know he was hitting her in just the right spot. Mentally and physically.

  She was being held down, dominated, and hurt just enough with it all. “Never again. As many children as I can.”

  “I love you, Three,” Alex said, kissing her ear.

  Valeria moaned deeply, and her body quivered under him.

  “I love you,” Alex said again into her ear, then bit into her earlobe after.

  “Yes. Alex, I love you!” Valeria cried out, her body convulsing as she clearly hit her climax. “Tell me you love me!”

  Leaning up away from her, Alex rode her down into the bed hard, pumping into her like he wanted to break her hips.

  “I love you, Three,” Alex said loudly, doing as she’d asked. “Now give me a child.”

  Pushing hard into her, he came. He only pulled back momentarily to thrust back into her, trying to fill her as deep as he could.

  Moaning, and pulling against him with the bare minimum of force, Valeria looked lost in her own world as he finished.

  Alex thrust into her several more times as he came down from his orgasm.

  Panting, he leaned his head into Valeria’s neck.

  “Oh my goddess, that was amazing,” Valeria said, rubbing her cheek against his head. “It… really did everything I needed. And you meant it all.”

  Alex nodded and kissed her neck. Giving her wrists a squeeze, he let go of her and slowly sank into her completely. He was completely spent.

  “Thank you for letting me decide my fate.” Valeria wrapped him up in her arms. “And that choice is that I’m yours. I’m yours, Alex. All yours. It’s what I want.”

  ***

  Exiting his bedroom into his study, Alex paused.

  Nannie, Riley, and Eleanor were all waiting for him. The three of them were the tender-hearted ones of his Numbered.