Bound at the Ball (Siren Publishing Allure) Read online

  Bound at the Ball

  Rella Cinder was born to the submissive race on her planet and has finally reached the age of maturity. She has hated her nature since birth and has fought her submissiveness. As the youngest of four sisters, she’s watched the others go off and look for mates. This time she’s forced to comply with the government’s edicts, which includes attending the Unity Ball and taking a mate from the warrior species. What she doesn’t know is that she has already caught the eye of a warrior before stepping foot into the Ball.

  Warrior Sabar T'Brun is ready to take a mate but doesn’t want a weak female. He sees what he craves in the willful Rella during her Initiation Ceremony. Her sweet submission and soft cries of passion are exactly what he wants in a mate.

  Can they find each other before the Unity Ball ends? Or will someone else claim her?

  Genre: Futuristic, Science Fiction

  Length: 47,911 words

  BOUND AT THE BALL

  Lea Barrymire

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  BOUND AT THE BALL

  Copyright © 2013 by Lea Barrymire

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-424-5

  First E-book Publication: February 2013

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Bound at the Ball by Lea Barrymire from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Lea Barrymire’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Barrymire’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  To all of the people in my life who’ve stood by every crazy change I’ve made. Without you, I’d still be in a dead-end job, hating life. I love you all.

  BOUND AT THE BALL

  LEA BARRYMIRE

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter 1

  Rella wiped sweat from her forehead for the hundredth time. The heat from the third sun seemed to be stronger than it ever had been before. The yellow globe hung heavy in the sky, mocking her. Maybe it felt hotter because she’d been awake long before first sunrise and hadn’t had time to get food at morning meal or because her nerves were stretched thin over what was coming that night. Perspiration ran down her back in little rivulets, making her skin itch. She wore the thinnest dress she owned, but still moisture soaked the fabric. It clung to her like a second skin as she scrubbed at the purple stones lining their walkway. Her hands were cracked and aching from the harsh soap, stinging anew each time she sunk them into the bucket of suds.

  She hated festival days, especially the Unity Festival. Not only did she and her sisters spend days scrubbing and preparing for the feasts, but they had to attend the ball. A shiver of fear rolled around in her belly, causing a cramp and more nausea. She’d turned twenty-one summers on her birth celebration day. She’d be forced to attend the ball this year. All the years of wishing and dreading were at an end. She’d finally be able to find out what all the mystery was about. After the next night she’d be considered an adult, no longer being sent away to stay at a friend-of-the-family while the rest of the women prepared for the celebration. She was terrified and excited to finally be in the know.

  She’d watched her sisters, one-by-one, go off to the gatherings for the last few years and each time they returned they were different, changed, meeker. Every year her sister’s behavior morphed a little more. After the last Unity Festival, her second oldest sister, Lena, didn’t return home after the ball. She’d found a mate that evening, moved to his home, and now carried his offspring in her belly. Rella had seen her sister and mate interacting on more than one occasion and shuddered at the vision they portrayed. Their behavior, and especially the reactions of her sister, struck her as wrong. Lena had knelt and addressed her mate in subservient tones, did everything for him, and seemed contented by it.

  That would never be her, she promised herself. She might be forced to attend the celebrations, but she’d never bend to the will of another. She’d never turn into the mild female everyone wanted her to be. She liked who she was. Yes, it meant being reprimanded more often than normal, but she couldn’t help how she reacted to authority, and didn’t want to.

  “Rella, let’s go. You have studies to attend to before the Cleansing Ceremony tonight.” Bana’s lilting voice carried from the house, breaking into Rella’s thoughts. She tried to stop the cringe that threatened to mar the blank mask ever present on her features. Her sister’s voice reminded her of the slap she’d received that morning. Anger stirred in her gut at the memory. Rella hadn’t meant to voice her thoughts, but once the words of disrespect had left her lips she’d felt the sting of Bana’s hand on her face.

  Over time Bana had slowly morphed into a mean, vindictive enemy. It seemed to stem from each gathering her sister returned from. It didn’t seem to matter what anyone did, the anger would boil out and spill over as some form of verbal or physical abuse toward Rella. She’d learned quickly that keeping her face smooth of emotions would keep her from being hit as often. If her sister couldn’t see her emotions, then there was nothing to punish her for.

  “I’ll be right there,” Rella answered. She stood slowly, wiping her hands on her dress. She needed to bathe before starting her lessons. Long strands of black hair had escaped from
the plait that fell between her shoulders and ended just above her waist. The wisps clung to her face and neck, making her itch. Sucking a deep breath in helped center her thoughts and bury the anger.

  She gathered the bucket and brushes she’d used to scrub the paving stones, and she dumped the water onto a bush before entering their home. The stone face of their dwelling gleamed in the sunlight. She and Marena had spent precious hours scrubbing and whitening each rock until the entire building looked like it was manufactured from metal. She felt pride stir over the beauty her father supplied. Their home was small but lavish, even sporting one of the few gardens in their community. The group of homes that surrounded hers was isolated by a high defensive wall. It gleamed in the stark sunlight, reminding her of the tentative safety her race had won. Beyond the walls stood immense stretches of grasslands, barren and unfriendly. The small community she lived in boasted of its plant life. Green foliage and a few trees dotted their yards, but that was not normal for their world. The wars had destroyed much of the vegetation, and it was still years from being completely regrown.

  Shaking herself from her musings, she stepped toward the door. Her skin stung and she made a mental note to treat the cracks before starting her studies. She silently placed the cleaning materials in the closet, removed her shoes, and walked through the kitchen. Only she and Bana were home, but she didn’t want to incur any additional discipline from her older sister by being loud.

  Rella was the youngest of four daughters. Marena, Lena, and Bana were all older than her by many seasons. When Lena found her mate, Bana had taken over caring for Rella, including her schooling and monitoring her behavior. It should have fallen to Marena’s shoulders. Would have if Bana wasn’t so nasty and Marena wasn’t so soft. Marena didn’t have it in her to fight Bana for head of household. Perhaps she was waiting to escape just as much as Rella. Or, more likely, Marena was still devastated from the loss of their mother and would never pull herself from the pit of emptiness that stared from her eyes.

  Bana could be demanding and overzealous in her teachings, especially if irritated. More than once she’d used the cane on Rella’s back to remind her of some piece of information or another. Physical punishment was Bana’s favorite. Canes, fists, and cooking utensils all were easily yielded as weapons. Anything that would leave a mark seemed to placate the anger-fever that stole over her sister.

  Rella hurried silently into the bathing chamber and started the water collecting in the basin while she stripped off the dirty dress. She hadn’t worn underclothes, knowing she would just sweat through them. Her breasts were almost too small for a binding anyway. Unlike her older sisters, who were well endowed with plump, round breasts, she still had slim hips and small mounds tipped in small nipples. She stood in front of the looking silver and once again lamented the fact that she still looked like a young girl. She grasped her breasts in her hands and squeezed them together and smirked at the pitiful cleavage she created.

  She pinched the pink tips and rolled them between her forefinger and thumb. A shock of need spread through her body. A moan slipped from her lips and echoed in the room. She whipped her head around to make sure her sister hadn’t heard. They weren’t allowed to touch themselves, weren’t supposed to know that nipples were sensitive and sent throbbing heat to their pussies. She didn’t usually indulge in self-manipulation, but her breasts felt full and achy. Tweaking her nipples again made her knees weak and another moan sounded against her clenched teeth. She slammed her lips together and stared at her hands in the glass. Rella continued rolling her nipples until they were dark pink and tender.

  Rella tried to imagine what it would feel like to have a male touching her that way, rolling her peaks between large callused fingers. The image made her belly warm. She tugged lightly on her flesh and almost collapsed to her knees. She needed to stop before her sister came and found her. The punishment would be severe if she were caught. Even that knowledge made her pussy wet with a rush of heat. She caught a glimpse of her face in the looking silver. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were partially closed. She looked wanton, needy.

  Rubbing her thighs together did nothing to alleviate the pressure in her clit. She wanted to push two fingers between her pussy lips and make the ache stop, but the fear of being found by Bana was enough to make her wait. Tonight I can make the ache go away when everyone is asleep. She sucked in a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

  With critical eyes she scanned her body. The lack of curves snagged her gaze, and she looked away in disgust. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about a male finding her worthy of taking for a mate. Keep telling yourself that. She snorted. She’d be forced to go to the Unity Festival ball and forced to do whatever it was that they did there, but she would come back home the next day so life could continue normally. A flash of loneliness clenched her chest. Her normal life consisted of being tormented by her sister and dreading each day when the first sun rose. But she knew that life, accepted it, and could handle anything her sister decided to do to her. The idea of walking out the next evening and finding a mate, changing her entire life, was too much. She didn’t fear her day-to-day existence. She did fear the upheaval a mating would cause her.

  With a sigh, she gave in and washed up. As she scrubbed her skin, she wondered once again about what she would be doing the next evening. All of her sisters had been tight-lipped about the ball. Not one of them had ever spoken about what happened once they left their home. She’d gone as far as hiding and spying on them while they readied themselves, but each time she’d been found and sent away. What bothered her was the overwhelming sense of fear from them as they neared each ball. What could possibly be so scary that after years Bana and Marena still felt afraid?

  When she was cleaned and dried, she braided her hair, making sure to capture all the loose curls. She hated her hair. If she’d been born a male she would be allowed to cut it, but being female made her hair length just one more restriction someone could impose on her. Her hair was long enough to sit on when out of the braid. The color was as dark as night and it fell in long, spiraling curls. How she wished the weight didn’t pull on her scalp and the strands didn’t get in the way during chores.

  Donning a clean shift, she sped toward the dining room on silent feet. The fabric moved against her still-peaked nipples, making every movement arousing. That is what happens when you touch yourself before lessons. She slowed as she walked into the room. She didn’t want to keep Bana waiting any longer than she needed to, but running through the house was frowned upon. Her sister stood, beautiful as always. Bana’s curvy body was perfect in its stillness. Golden hair framed a heart-shaped face and lay over her shoulder in a long braid. Jealousy made its course through her. Why was she so different than her sisters? Bana was a perfect example of their race, and a perfect female according to the teachings. Light in hair and skin, plump breasts, wide hips and a narrow waist. Grace and silent submission oozed from every pore when she was around anyone else. Rella would never be able to match that, ever.

  “There you are. I was thinking I’d have to come in there and get you.” Her sister’s words were bitten off, shortened by her irritation, but that was nothing unusual. Rella took a deep breath, schooling her face in the smooth mask of submission she used around everyone. Don’t take the bait.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Wouldn’t want your nose to wrinkle at my stench. Rella sat quickly at her seat and pulled her tablet and marker to her, hiding her grin. “I’m ready.”

  “Good. We will cover the union of our two races and the reason why we celebrate with the Unity Festival.”

  “I’ve learned this every year, nothing new has happened, so why are we going over it again?” The hint of whine in her voice made her grimace. She tried not to sound like a petulant child, but her daily studies brought out the worst in her.

  “You will learn it again because I said so, and because this is your first ball. It is most important for you to understand the history of ou
r world and how much we owe the Zabyr warriors for our freedom,” Bana barked.

  “Like we’re really free,” Rella whispered. A loud crack reverberated around the room as her sister’s hand connected with her cheek. She closed her eyes. Don’t react. Instead of flinching or reaching up to smooth the sting, she willed the pain away.

  “You will do as you’re told,” Bana shouted in an uncharacteristic burst of emotion.

  “Sorry, sister. I meant no disrespect.” Rella bit the inside of her mouth to keep from voicing her true thoughts. She bowed slightly, as required. She was unmated and the lowest in her house.

  “Yes, you did, but I don’t have time to discipline you now. We need to cover your studies and then we need to prepare you for tomorrow. Lena and Marena will be home before the third sun sets to assist with your preparations.”

  Rella waited a moment before lifting her head. No need to further provoke her sister. She pulled her history book to her and opened to the well-worn pages that covered their history.

  “Read, out loud, so I know you are actually going over the words.”

  “In the year of the Great War, all of Terraxan was under siege by a deadly, and yet unknown, alien species. The death tolls were astounding, and the war threatened the very existence of the Tropustyr races. Women and children were stolen from every clan and left for dead throughout the deserts. Any men or boys able to hold weapons were drafted into the military.

  “During this time of great sorrow, a warrior race made contact with the Terraxan government and offered assistance in fighting the alien race. Through the treaties forged between the Zabyr warrior race and the Terraxan government, the peoples were saved. The treaty was called the Treaty of Unity. It was signed by the head of each clan, solidifying the protection from the warrior race for all of eternity.