Her body felt blended with his as he picked up his pace, pounding her harder and harder, her breaths growing ragged, as he continued to fill her. She heard him moan too, a primal sound, and she liked it. It made her want him more, want him deeper, and almost as if he’d heard her, he complied. Deeper, harder, more forceful, his hands caressing her breasts, his lips kissing her neck, and her body so overflowing with bliss she wasn’t sure she could take any more.
He placed his strong hands on her hips and tilted her up toward him, and she felt him even more clearly now, her walls humming with ecstasy. He moan once more, and then she felt him explode inside her, a vibrating burst that coincided with her own walls trembling and exploding. Spent, he slid out of her, lay beside her and pulled her into his arms. Yes, Adara thought. She did not regret doing this in the least.
Chapter 6
Adara lay nestled in Richard’s arms, feeling content, yet tired. He’d draped a blanket over them as they lay on the mattress, though it wasn’t incredibly cold. Warmth still spewed from the fireplace, though it could probably use another log.
He kissed her forehead. “You were magnificent,” he whispered in her ear. She couldn’t help but giggle. A compliment for simply responding to his body in the way a woman should. It was too much.
“So were you,” she said back, and kissed his chest. He stroked her arm gently, and Adara tried to savor this moment, seal it in her memory, so that when she was taken back, she’d always have this, this single night with a kind prince who made her feel really alive, really free for once. Though, there was irony in that, because she was anything but free. She was trapped here in this castle. In this room. Oddly enough, this caused her to smile, because it occurred to her that she wouldn’t mind being trapped in this room with him for a long, long time. It would be preferable to her fate tomorrow.
“What are you thinking?” the prince asked.
Adara sighed, not sure she wanted to say, not sure she wanted to spoil the moment, but realizing there was no point in hiding her feelings. “I just want to savor this night,” she admitted, “because I dread tomorrow. I dread being taken back.”
“Why did you leave?” Richard asked gently.
Adara lifted her head and frowned as she looked at him. “I thought you overheard my conversation with Nassi.”
The prince nodded, rubbed his chin. “I heard what you told your servant,” he said. “But I want to know what you tell me. While your girl can understand many things about you, I don’t know that she can understand what it is like to be royal, to have duty and obligation foisted upon you when you don’t want it. So, to use your terms, from one amira to one amir, please tell me why you left.”
She smiled at his use of her language. The way he said amir sounded stilted, but she liked that he tried. She liked him. She stared at his face, earnest and kind. There was no princely hubris in it. He genuinely wanted to hear what she had to say, and that warmed her heart. Rarely, where she came from, did men want to listen to her; rarely did men take an interest in her thoughts.
“Well Amir Richard,” she said with a grin, “I shall tell you.” She took a deep breath and thought of where to begin. Perhaps at the beginning. “My mother was beautiful,” she said. “But, more importantly, she was smart and well thought of. She wasn’t royal. Her father, my grandfather, was a tutor for the children of the royal family. My grandfather’s name was Hakeem, and he was responsible for my father’s education. Because of his job, and because his wife had died young, my grandfather spent a lot of time with my mother and taught her as well. He shared with her his love of learning and knowledge of languages that few women in my culture received. When my mother was of marrying age, she had the misfortune of being noticed by the amir. When my father saw her, he already had four wives, but he determined her beauty was far greater than those women. He wanted her to be his fifth wife. My grandfather reminded him that the royal wives should be of royal blood and suggested he wed another. I suspect my grandfather did not want his daughter to be part of the amir’s harem. Thinking he had put off the amir, my grandfather tried to get his daughter a husband, so she would be unavailable if my father returned his attentions to her. Only, my father’s attentions had never left. My father had conveyed to the community of eligible men that no one was to court my mother. Eventually, my grandfather realized his daughter was going to have to marry the amir or nobody, and he consented to their courtship, and later their marriage.”
The prince nodded his head, and stroked her arm. “And it was an unhappy marriage?”
Adara cackled, the irony of that statement forcing the harsh sound from her. “For my father, no, but for my mother, yes. Yes, yes, yes. It was bad. She was just one of a group of women who rarely got to see her husband and when she did, it was for uninspiring sex and then nothing. My mother wanted to talk to people, to have stimulating conversation, to share her ideas with someone, and to experience intimacy when she wanted it, not just when he did.
“She did her wifely duties and did not complain, taking solace in the fact that she had me, and that she had the grand library of the palace. But, about three years ago, my grandfather retired from his duties as tutor. A new tutor was hired. He was young, handsome and loved books and knowledge the same way my mother did. They would spend hours together, ostensibly to discuss the education of the children. And maybe that’s what it started out as, but eventually they developed a relationship.” Adara lowered her eyes thinking about it, and shook her head.
Richard slid a finger across Adara’s breast. “What kind of relationship?”
He was being playful, but there had been nothing playful about what her mother had done. Adara slid Richard’s fingers from her breast, and instead held his hand in hers, looking at the feather mattress they were lying on. “This kind of relationship,” she said, then looked up. “The kind that gets you murdered if your husband finds out. And he did find out. My mother was stoned to death.”
Richard’s eyes widened, and he immediately pulled Adara close to him. “I’m so sorry,” he said.
Adara took a deep breath, savoring the strength of his embrace. His arms felt so strong and protective, she was sure she could lie in them forever, if he let her. She rested there a few moments, her head nestling on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Then, she pulled back from his embrace so she could finish her story. She forced away the sadness that accompanied thoughts of her mother’s death. Adara let the anger surrounding that death fill her, instead.
“I’ve accepted what happened to her,” she said. “But, I knew I didn’t want it to happen to me. I didn’t want to live a life pretending to be happy with nothing. Pretending to be happy to bed my husband once every three months, pretending that telling my daughter my thoughts on politics and governing the people was enough when the person I wanted to tell, the person I wanted to listen to me was my husband. And I didn’t want to die for finally, once in my life, considering my own happiness. So, three months ago, when my grandfather died, I fled with Nassi. It is customary for the immediate family to be allowed to mourn privately in their chambers for up to two weeks. On the first day of mourning, Nassi and I fled during the night and stowed away on a merchant ship bound for Europe.”
The prince stroked Adara’s back. “And you eventually found your way to my quaint little kingdom?”
Adara smiled. “Eventually. Nasiha has a talent for remembering maps, and she liked your kingdom, actually. My mother used to tell us it was the smallest kingdom in these parts, so we thought it might be a nice place to go. It took a while to get here, and I had to sell some of my things. But, we found our way, figuring it was a tiny, far-away place where no one would ever look for us. Only we were wrong, because they are looking.”
“But why?” Richard ask. “If your father has so many children, why does he care if one goes missing?”
Adara shrugged as if uncertain. However, she did have an idea, she just didn’t want to think about it because thinking about it s
cared her. She had convinced herself and Nassi that lying low after their escape was just being extremely, and probably unnecessarily, cautious.
Adara looked down and spoke her answer, the thing that was driving her fear, in a low voice. “The only reason I think he might care is because of ego. He does not like to be rejected. My mother rejected him in favor of her lover. Now, I rejected him by leaving. Also, there is my betrothal. My father was incredibly fond of his old tutor, and I think he didn’t want to do anything more to upset him after my mother’s death. Her stoning is what really started my grandfather’s decline. I guess my father felt guilty over that, so he waited until my grandfather was on his deathbed to negotiate my wedding to the sultan. The man I was promised to is much older, and he probably doesn’t want or need another wife. But, when my father asks you for a favor, you don’t turn him down. This sultan agreed to the favor, and my father can’t keep up his end of the bargain. My escape makes my father look like a fool or a man who reneged on his promise. I suspect that’s the reason he’s spent the time and expense searching for me. He must prove to the sultan that he disagrees with what I’ve done, and that he is doing everything in his power to fulfill the promise he made.”
She bit her lip, unable to say the rest of the reason her father might have sent the men. That her father wanted to punish her, that he would have her stoned for her betrayal, the same as he’d done to her mother. She hoped that wasn’t true. That despite everything she’d done, he’d simply sent the men to return her to the kingdom, to make her fulfill her marriage contract.
Richard squeezed her to him. “You shouldn’t have to go back.”
Adara sighed. “I have no choice. Once your mother’s men alert the search party, they’re going to come for me.”
“I promise. I won’t let them take you back,” he whispered as she lay nestled in his arms. “Just rest for now.”
He’d just made a promise he couldn’t keep, but Adara wanted to believe, so she closed her eyes and snuggled into him. She was so spent from her day and his sexual prowess that in moments, she was fast asleep.
Chapter 7
Adara’s eyes were closed and she was sure she’d been asleep, but she felt the soft pads of fingertips gliding over her bare breasts and opened her eyes. The room was dim, lit with candles, and she looked next to her, to see Richard grinning like the cat who’d eaten the canary.
Something about his crooked smile lit up her insides, a now familiar desire causing her to moisten between her legs. She smiled back at him, and he leaned in and kissed her, taking her mouth firmly and forcefully, as if he needed to take her right now or he would perish.
Before she knew it, he’d pulled her into his arms, lifted her off their mattress and was carrying her toward that nightmarish bed of stacked mattress. She kissed him back, her tongue tangling with his, expressing an urgency to stop being toyed with, to have him inside her again. Her body was warm every place where their naked flesh touched: the soft hairs on his toned chest pressed against her breasts, his biceps cradling her body.
Right in front of the stack of mattresses, Richard set Adara down on her feet, startling her. She looked into his sky-blue eyes, and he grinned, then grabbed her ass with both hands, pressing his body against hers, forcing her to take a couple of steps backward until her back met with the wall of mattresses piled high.
“It would be rude for you not to use my mother’s bed,” he said, humor in his tone.
Adara smiled back at him, and raised an eyebrow. “You want me to climb up there?”
He shook his head. “No,” he said, his hands giving her butt cheeks a firm squeeze that made her clench inside, yearning for his cock. He lifted her slightly, her back molding into the sides of the stacked mattresses. “This is a good way to use them.” He quickly slid into her and Adara moaned at the feel of him, thick, hard and warm. She put her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, using her feet to squeeze him closer to her. He began thrusting in an even rhythm, Adara’s back banging the mattresses each time he did. She grabbed his back and pressed the tips of her fingers into his flesh, wanting to feel him closer, enjoying every deep thrust inside, feeling the waves of pleasure as her body merged with his. Her breaths came in gasps, and she felt his lips glide along the edge of her neck and collarbone, making her feel lightheaded and unable to think of anything but his touch on her body.
He slid his hands up her back, the tingling sensation of his fingers driving her wild. She tipped her head back, enjoying the soft kisses he was planting on her neck. Then she felt his hand fist her hair, tilting her head back more as his tongue traced her slender neck. He nibbled at it a little at the same time he pushed inside her hard, and she screamed out his name: “Richard.” He felt so good.
He did it again, and then his fingers glided across the back of her neck, leaving a trail of heat and she cried out once more; this time, it was something unintelligible. She wasn’t even sure if she’d intended to speak; all she knew was her body felt so good that her mind couldn’t produce coherent speech and feel such ecstasy at the same time.
Richard picked up his pace, pushing inside her, harder faster, her breath laboring in time with his pace. She felt her insides tingling, yearning to feel him explode deep within her. She could hear his breathing quicken and get louder, feel his warm fingers on her butt cheeks, pulling her closer as he got ready to come inside her. He squeezed her cheeks tight, and she felt him release, a strong powerful motion that she responded to, her orgasm overwhelming her with its massive surge. Her back pressed more firmly into the mattresses as he leaned into her, panting with exhaustion. Adara let her legs fall away from him as he slid out and she tried to stand, to steady herself, but her body was still trembling with pleasure. She leaned back on the wall of mattresses for support. The prince kissed her cheek, then pulled away from her. He wrapped his hand around hers and led her back to their feather mattress.
“We should rest now,” he said.
Adara collapsed on the mattress, sated and exhausted, and quickly fell asleep.
Chapter 8
This time it was Adara who awoke with an urge of the flesh. But it was the type she was used to: hunger. She had no idea that sex would be this exhausting and that she’d have to replenish her energy somehow. Richard was sound asleep, and her body was tangled with his: an arm slung over his chest, her hair covering his forehead, and their legs wound together. She smiled, thinking she would always remember this night.
She looked at his peaceful face, eyes closed, hair gently curling to frame his face, and realized she wanted him again. She wondered briefly if he was some type of jinn who’d used his magic on her. But was he a good jinn like Aladdin had found in his lamp, or an evil jinn like in the more wicked tales? She shook her head and giggled as she looked at the sleeping prince. He was definitely not a jinn, but she had to admit she’d never felt such yearning before in her life.
Sighing, she decided sex would have to wait. She needed that bread Lionel had mentioned after locking her in. She detangled herself from Richard without him waking. She wanted something to cover herself, and would’ve taken the blanket, had Richard not looked so comfortable beneath it.
Then she remembered the mini gown Richard had offered her. She retrieved it, pulled it over her head, and then found the bread and ale. Adara was standing at the little table the food had been set on, chewing a crusty piece of bread, when she heard Richard.
“I knew that ass would look marvelous in that gown.”
Adara turned and saw him grinning at her. She rolled her eyes. “Is this how you talk to all your princesses after you bed them?”
He frowned. “You, my lady,” he said, as he left the feather mattress and pulled on his trousers, “are the only princess I have ever bedded.”
She raised an eyebrow as he walked over. She held out some bread, and he took a bite. She wasn’t sure she wanted to call him out on his lie, but she didn’t want to let it slide either. “You really expect me t
o believe that you’ve never bedded a woman before?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “It’s not polite to kiss and tell,” he said. “I will say this — while I have been with many maidens, I have never been with a princess. Clearly, that was a mistake.”
She laughed at that. “Was it?”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Absolutely,” he said. “Or, maybe it wasn’t a mistake. Maybe I was just waiting for the right princess. Lord knows my mother has introduced me to so so many that it’s been miserable. Every single princess has been vapid and boring.”
Adara pulled back and frowned. “Women whose parents refuse to educate them are going to be that way. You cannot blame them for the circumstances they inhabit,” she said, feeling annoyed. “Were your non-royal maidens so much less vapid?”
He pursed his lips, shook his head. “No, but there was no chance I’d spend the rest of my life shackled in marriage to them, so it didn’t matter. And besides, none of those maidens or princesses could compare to you, in beauty or wisdom.”
She laughed, marveling at his smooth talking ways. “You’ve certainly learned how to flatter,” she said, pulling away from him and eating some more bread. “What else do you do with your time, besides bed poor, vapid, unmarriable maidens?”
He smiled. “Well, I enjoy archery and horseback riding, but most recently, I’ve been touring the kingdom, meeting the local men in charge, learning how our kingdom works so that I might be a wise ruler when my time comes.”
Adara nodded, managing to hide her surprise in a bite of bread. She had expected him to be all fun and games, yet he spoke with a gravitas that she hadn’t expected. He seemed more controlled, more dedicated and that made her curious to know more. “And what’s the most important thing you’ve learned on your tours so far?”
The Princess, the Pea, and the Night of Passion (Passion-Filled Fairy Tales Book 1) Page 3