Chapter 19: Chapter 19

REYNA

Now that I had finally finished my general training, Sabrina had taken over the time we used to train with Mary for our Roses training sessions. I’d finally finished reading the books she assigned me to study.

There was excitement in every step as I headed to the Roses quarters. It had been days since I’d seen him!

~The beast.~

The Dakkuth warrior, as I’d now learned, was what he’s called. Ever since the first day I went together with Cassandra and the women, my mother had banned me from seeing him again.

She insisted that she was protecting me. She didn’t want him to hurt me like he did; she thought I was afraid of him. Which was somewhat true.

If I was to be honest, I was not just afraid of him—he terrified me. But not in the way Cassandra thought, but in the way he affected me in ways I couldn’t even understand myself.

Something in him had awoken something in me, making me want and feel things I’d never in my life experienced. Whenever I thought of him, I felt strange things, and my heart beat faster.

I felt fluttering in my stomach, like a thousand butterflies were in flight. And the strange dreams made it all worse.

My palms got so sweaty, and the urge to see him was just too great for me to ignore. So I decided I was going to sneak in and see him.

I knew he’d been moved to the dungeon where he was being interrogated. Cassandra thought they were not alone; she thought they were only here to spy and then inform their leader of our defenses and weaknesses, which was why she’d tasked Lydia and Lisa to interrogate him.

I tried convincing her to let me be there while he was being interrogated, but she refused. There was a deep-seated fear inside that threatened to choke me when I saw the hatred in her eyes.

I had no other options. I was going to see him with or without my mother’s knowledge.

It was the only way I could get him to answer some of my questions. There were some things that I wanted to know, and information was not forthcoming.

I couldn’t be in the dark forever; I couldn’t be sheltered forever. Even now that I was training for the sisterhood, I was being left in the dark, while I’d learned that there were five kingdoms out there.

Nobody wanted to answer my questions regarding them; even the girls knew more than I did. The books I’d been reading were informative and titillating, but they only talked about sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, and fellatio.

These were things I had never seen before, except for the woman’s body. The body parts of men the books spoke about I had never seen, nor could I identify which was which.

My face suddenly heated, and my heart skipped a beat when I remembered the beast—his broad shoulders, smooth open chest, and strong thick thighs. From the books, I’d learned that the male’s reproductive organs were between their legs.

Which made me recall when the beast was holding me in his arms the other day. I could have sworn something hard had poked my backside.

Could that be the scrotum? No, that couldn’t be right. I thought it was the penis, maybe.

The books said the penis was long and grew longer when aroused, whatever that meant. My inner monologue came to an abrupt halt when I strolled into the underground room and saw the most shocking sight of my life.

My jaw hit the floor, my eyes wide. I tried to speak, but no sound came forth.

When I finally got control over my tongue, I blurted out, “What’s going on?”

“We’re having practical lessons on the male body parts. Exciting, isn’t it?” Dani answered.

“This is your first practical, right?”

I nodded dumbly. I didn’t understand what Danielle meant, but I at least had an answer to my earlier inner question.

I was right—penis was the long thing between a man’s legs. The man lying on the big bed, that as of yesterday was definitely not in the room, was utterly and completely naked.

He was tall and broad, with dark red hair. I couldn’t see his face because he had a half mask on, but from his virile form I’d say he was young.

He was spread-eagle, his legs and hands chained to the headboard and footboard of the bed. His privates were completely exposed.

I couldn’t believe I was staring at a man in his rawest form when all my life I’d hardly seen a man at all. Men had always been segregated, kept separate from the women for their safety—at least, that’s what Cassandra said.

I’d always felt it was unfair that men didn’t have the same freedom as women did. I was told, as was everyone, that the plague that almost wiped out the male population could return, just as it did years ago.

The men in Marlenia were not allowed to marry. Cassandra had said that letting some marry while others could not would only build hate and resentment, since there were so few men here.

Jealousy could lead to envy and bitterness. So that was why it was forbidden. Unless you were one of the nurturers—women who volunteered to bear and raise children to repopulate the human race.

I’d always thought the only time I’d see a man would be when I chose a consort from one of the few men, so I could have an heir after I’d become queen. And yet, I’d not only met a few men, but I was now seeing a man in a way I’d never even imagined before.

I was sure I wasn’t the only one who felt shocked about this whole thing. If the way the other girls had surrounded him on all sides was any indication—though from what Danielle said, it seemed this wasn’t their first time.

I took in his male body, so different from ours, with wide eyes full of awe, curiosity, and surprise.

“Good, Reyna, you are here. We’ll now begin our lessons,” Sabrina said.

I sheepishly moved to where Sabrina stood, hunched in front of the small table. She was leafing through the pages of a book on the table, as if there wasn’t a naked man just a few feet away from her.

My eyes kept darting back to the view before me. I was burning with curiosity—the curiosity to know, to learn, and to touch.

~This is the first man I’ve seen naked, ever.~

“You’ve read ~Intimacy of the Mind and Body~, right?” she asked.

“Yes?” I answered guiltily, because I wasn’t really paying attention to what Sabrina was saying; my mind was elsewhere.

Sabrina wasn’t offended. She rather looked amused, her eyes laughing at me.

I flushed red and tried to concentrate on what Sabrina was asking. I remembered the book. It was the biggest book among the ones she gave me to study.

It also had so many pages that it deprived me of sleep for days in a row.

I had begged Sabrina to break the rules for me, so I could take it home and read it in the comfort of my bed.

Sabrina didn’t let me go home with it. Instead, she agreed to let me sleep in the underground room and read it.

I’d spent the night in the room that night; Sabrina had stayed with me.

I remembered that for all the effort I’d put into reading that book, I only understood a little.

At first, the book was really easy and simple, talking about how to control or distract the mind with the body, but it got deeper the further I read.

The book had gotten too complicated and boring.

In the few seconds it took me to remember all this, Sabrina moved on to further light the candles until the room was brightly lit.

Then she turned a serious face to me and the girls.

“Remove your clothes, girls.”

I took a few cautious steps back, because the only time I’d ever heard “remove your clothes” was when I had done something wrong and I was getting punished.

“Wh…why?” I stuttered, a little panicked. While I had been beaten several times, it had been years since I’d been punished—if you excluded the public beating of months ago.

I hadn’t been punished for anything in years. The phantom pains I remembered didn’t make me eager to get naked and vulnerable in front of anyone.

Sabrina must have seen the panic in my eyes.

She and the other girls, who had already started peeling their clothes off, stared at me with pity.

“It’s not what you think, Reyna. This is part of the training—this is to get you to be as comfortable with your nakedness as you possibly can.

“As a Rose, there are instances where you would have to be naked so you can use your body to your advantage. I will instruct and explain everything during the training, okay? Now remove your clothes,” Sabrina explained with understanding.

I felt embarrassed for giving away so much, but I was also relieved that it wasn’t what I had first thought.

I took off my clothes slowly, conscious of the scars on my back.

I wasn’t ashamed of Sabrina and the girls seeing the scars. With Nana’s help, I’d embraced my body the way it was.

Nana had told me a scar was a sign of strength and endurance, that I hadn’t done anything wrong to deserve them, but now they were a part of me, part of who I was.

I should never feel that I was less because of it. That what’s inside was what really mattered.

She thought I was strong and beautiful, and I really wanted to believe her.

“It’s just that sometimes I feel a little insecure about my scars,” I admitted.

“And the light brown hair Cassandra dislikes, saying it’s dull and not at all how a Williams should look,” I added.

I told myself this wasn’t the first time the girls had seen my scars. After all, we’d shared a shower in the training grounds bathroom.

I straightened my shoulders, folded my clothes neatly, and met each of their eyes.

I was average height, with curves in all the right places.

“My body is trim and built with slight muscles, due to years of training,” I thought.

Although I sometimes thought I could do without the added fat in my thighs, they were a little extra.

There was no recrimination in the girls’ eyes for me, which made me relax just a little bit more.

“This is John, girls. John has kindly agreed to be our muse for the duration of your training,” Sabrina introduced after she went to the big naked man lying on the bed.

She climbed onto the bed, sitting on her heels, her knees near his muscular thighs. Then she touched him.

Gliding her long, delicate fingers over his naked flesh, she stroked him gently, softly, from chest to thigh, close to his long penis.

And back again, repeatedly.

The man gritted his teeth, breathing heavily, his chest rising.

“Say hello to John, girls,” Sabrina said.

“Hello, John!” we all chorused.

The man said hello, his voice strained. I could barely hear him, to be honest.

My eyes were fixed on his lower body, where his penis swelled and grew longer and thicker before my eyes.

The bulbous head was pink, and his scrotum was pulled tight. My throat dried up, my eyes were wide like saucers. I didn’t remember moving closer.

I only saw that I was standing close to Sabrina and the shell-shocked girls. I watched with equal curiosity and focus.

When the man panted and groaned, I winced, wondering if he was in pain.

This couldn’t be comfortable for him. His stomach was tight, his muscles bulging as he strained in his hold.

I took a cautious step back when his penis pulsed, afraid and confused by my body’s reaction to what I was seeing.

Sabrina noticed my confusion and reluctance.

“Don’t be scared, Reyna, he’s just a man, an aroused man. I know you girls haven’t seen many men before in your life, and you wouldn’t know what to do if you were left alone together with one, but as Roses, we are masters of seduction. We seduce, lure, and use.” She beckoned me closer.

“I will teach you how to be a great seductress, how you can save yourself from any male beast or man and have him on his knees before you, completely at your mercy.” Intrigued with this new information, I took a step forward.

“Closer, Reyna, he won’t bite you.”

I didn’t catch everything she was saying, as the beast’s words came back to me.

“Come here, kitten. Don’t be scared, I don’t bite unless you beg me to.” The look in his eyes and the wicked grin on his lips was what suddenly sent my heart racing.

I wanted to see him so badly, there was an ache in my heart.