Page 18 of Shared By My Neighbors

“Okay, what the fuck is the Order of the Raptor?” I snarl at the prostrate man on the ground. “And get the fuck up. This isn’t Europe, and we don’t have royalty around here.”

Henry gets up gracefully for a large man, his blue eyes intense as he looks at Tanya.

“The Order of the Raptor is a religion,” he says in a calm voice. “It venerates a Holy Mother, and in this case, we believe that queen is Tanya Smead, the woman with whom you’ve been dallying.”

Tanya gasps, her eyes going wide as one hand covers her mouth.

“You know!”

“I do,” Henry concedes, inclining his dark head. “We have witnessed your engorgement rituals, as well as the worship sessions you undertake with your three princes. We seek to venerate you, and to join these sessions. With your permission, of course.”

At those words, Chris lets out a snort.

“Are you fucking serious? Engorgement ritual? Don’t you mean dirty fuckfest? And what’s this about being a prince? AmIa prince now? Wait until I tell the guys at work.”

Henry turns to him, his blue eyes serious.

“We use the terms “royalty,” “My Queen,” “highness,” and the word “prince” in their spiritual sense, and not as an expression of lineage. Only those deserving of the titles are accorded the honorifics, and we prefer to stay away from rude terms like “gangbang” and “fuckfest.””

“Fuckfest,” Chris retorts, just to get under the man’s skin. “Gangbang. Cockholster. Cocksleeve. What else is there? Anus. Vagina.”

Rolling my eyes, I step in.

“So let me get this straight: you’re a member of a religion that worships Tanya, the woman standing before us at the moment. And tell me: how long has this been going on? And who’s in your so-called religion?”

Henry shrugs, unruffled by the rude comments.

“The Order of the Raptor is a religion practiced by myself and my twin brother, Herbert. Unfortunately, there are no other members at this time, although of course, we’re open to expanding our congregation. We were struck by the light as children, and have been seeking the Mother Raptor for years now. It was only by chance that we happened upon the Goddess’s moonlight rituals on your rooftop one night. But after observing Miss Smead’s blinding glory and ecstatic communion, we knew we’d found our queen. Not only that, but the raptor has chosen. The red-tailed hawk is an emissary of the King Raptor himself, and he watches Miss Smead’s glorification rituals from his perch in order to condone her actions.”

This time, I snort.

“Are you fucking kidding me? So you’re a member of a made-up religion that consists of only you and your twin brother? What is this, some kind of prank?”

Henry swings serious blue eyes towards me.

“I assure you, this is no practical joke. Herbert and I have been practicing this religion since our teen years. As children, the spirit alighted upon us, but we were too young at that age to fully comprehend what was being asked of us. Only upon entering our adolescent years did we better understand the demands of our religion.”

“And what’s that?” I drawl sarcastically. “Spying on beautiful young women? Convincing them to let you enjoy their curves?”

“No,” the handsome man replies in an even tone. “Our responsibility is to venerate the Queen Goddess, and to assist her in her rituals in whatever way she desires.”

“Okay,” snorts Chris. “So like we said: you want to fuck Tanya with your twin brother in a nasty threesome. You want to plug her holes until she begs for mercy.”

Henry shrugs.

“Sex is very much a part of our rituals. How else do we demonstrate our adoration for the queen? We give of our bodies to her, with the ultimate goal of helping the Queen Goddess achievetamasutra.”

“What’s that?” I drawl.

Henry is serious.

“Tamasutrais the ultimate climax. The one where the Queen leaves her physical form and circles the celestial heavens. Only then will ultimate joy and peace be achieved.”

“By you or by her?” I add snarkily. “I mean, goddamn, this is a clever ploy, but pretty transparent too. Do you really think we believe this trumped-up bullshit you’ve pulled out of your ass? Okay, so you and your brother want to double-team our girl. I get that because Tanya’s gorgeous. But this whole “celestial bodies” and “tamasutra” bullshit is going a little too far. No one’sthatstupid.”

“Believe what you like,” Henry shrugs. “I cannot control your thoughts. But our religion is ours, and I’m happy to demonstrate if you like. I’ll call my brother, and we’ll engage in a ritual worship. With the Queen’s permission of course.”

“No way,” Chris growls immediately.