by LJ Vickery
“Where is your bed, my precious one?” he asked. “With your permission, I would remove your clothing piece by piece and lavish your entire body with the most tender of attention.”
“You don’t have to be careful,” Charlie said breathlessly, as she led him out of Maitlynn’s room to hers down the hall. “I won’t break.” She couldn’t yet ask him for what she wanted, but she hoped he wouldn’t hold back. Would her true needs scare him away? It had happened to her before. But with Absu, it mattered. And she just knew a leashed passion lurked below his urbane surface. She could feel it, and she was hoping he’d let it loose. He’d shown her, with that one torrid kiss back in his hospital bed, that he was capable of strong emotion. She hoped it was that Absu who followed her now.
“My bedroom, sir,” she opened the door and ushered him in, giving him the title that fell easily from her lips, along with a dipped curtsy.
“Am I to play the lord, then?” he asked gruffly. “And you the serving wench to whom I’ve taken a fancy?”
Charlie’s heart sped up. It sounded like a fine game to her. She bowed her head.
“If it pleases you. I await your pleasure, master.” She held her breath. What would he do next?
Gentle fingers turned her around and a whisper sounded as the zipper on her tunic top lowered. Absu kissed her skin as it was bared, and Charlie closed her eyes at the pleasure that shot through her at his deliberate touch. He was taking his time and building tension. Charlie had never had this slow, languid care paid to her before.
Her top fell to the floor, and quickly thereafter, her bra. Warm, callused hands cupped her small breasts, and Charlie leaned back into Absu’s hard body as he fondled her eager flesh with sweeping strokes.
“So lovely,” he purred. “So ripe.” Charlie held her breath for the tug on a nipple. She exhaled slowly when it didn’t come. Okay. Absu worked instead on her jeans. Another zipper down, another pile of material at her feet. She stood before him in her panties. He turned her to face him.
“I have yet to gaze on the beauty of your entire body.” His tone was reverent. He’d seen her breasts the night she’d slept with him, but he hadn’t glimpsed below her waist, nor had he allowed his hands to go there. “May I?”
Charlie tried to keep the playacting up, hoping it would encourage him on to be bolder. “You are the lord of the keep.” She affected an English accent that made him smile in the semidarkness. “I am yours to command.”
“Then off they shall come.” He hooked his fingers into the small scrap of material and lowered them slowly. He drew the lingerie down her legs and then from her feet, which brought his eyes into direct contact with the soft blonde curls covering her sex. He blew gently, stirring the womanly scent of her into the air.
“My cock hardens, young miss,” he teased.
“Which pleases me. But I am naked and you are not, my lord,” Charlie gulped. “May I have permission to remove your clothes?”
“Aye. You may at that, but be quick about it, lass. I find myself impatient of a sudden.”
Charlie groped for his shirt, and shakily undid the buttons. Each one revealed more of his exquisitely bronzed chest. She came across his bandages and marveled at how quickly she’d forgotten that he was still injured. “Absu, will this be all right?” she asked tentatively. “You’re still healing.”
Absu dismissed it with a scoff, clearly wanting more play. “Your lord and master has returned from the sea, where he barely survived an attack by pirates. He needs much comfort. The native women who healed him would have shown him relief between their plump thighs, but he craved only the serving girl who awaits him at home.”
“Then she’d better afford him much pleasure upon the occasion of his joyous return,” Charlie allowed on an exhale. She inched her fingers to his belt buckle, and slid the length of leather from the loops, closing her eyes at the feel of the warm hide as it brushed against her belly. She lowered his zipper and gasped. His cock sprang free.
“Did the native women steal your undergarments?” Charlie asked with a strangled laugh, seeing the size of his engorged member for the first time. Absu was the largest man she’d ever encountered. Her mouth ran dry, imagining him pounding that cock deep inside her.
“Aye, they did. I was lucky to escape with my breeches and smock.”
Ooh. He was really good at this game. She might just come at the first touch of his hand.
Charlie knelt and tugged the pants down his legs, making short work of his shoes and socks as she removed them. When she stood again, his magnificent prick was ready and waiting.
“You seem fascinated by my…staff, lady.” He let her look her fill, and she couldn’t help but lick her lips.
“I’ve never seen anything so grand before.”
****
Time seemed to stand still for Absu. This was it. He’d soon find out whether Charlie was his Chosen. He recognized that he wasn’t the only one who was nervous. So great was Charlie’s tension that her pretend English accent had morphed into an Irish brogue. That was okay. Absu loved it. He’d never had an Irish lass before.
He finally found his tongue, which would soon be put to good use. “Kiss my flesh, sweet thing. And if you do it well, I’ll ready you to ride this fine cock,” he ordered.
Without hesitation, she bent at the waist and pressed her hot lips to his staff, but didn’t stop there. She surrounded his cock’s head with her mouth and gave a decided tug. The blood surged hotly through his veins. Damn. There would be a way to embarrass himself. To go off before they’d had a chance to couple was not on his agenda.
Abruptly he drew her up and tossed her onto the bed, following to hold himself above her with tantalizingly limited contact. She’d quickly find herself under his control.
He started with her mouth, brushing and stroking against it with his lips. He skimmed to her ear where he laved the shell lovingly. When her nipples beaded tautly against his chest, he grazed down her neck with quick kisses, bussing each pink tip. Charlie writhed beneath him, but otherwise held herself still, submitting to his ministrations.
He continued downward, dipping his tongue into the hollow of her belly button, and she quivered. Still, she didn’t reach for him. He wondered at that. Was she shy or continuing their play?
When he came to the juncture of her legs, she held herself tightly together. Ahh. Shy. Absu had his answer. She was nervous of his attentions. He held back a sigh of disappointment. He had so hoped she would meet his bold lead. But with Charlie being his Chosen, he would not force anything on her or move to scare her. They would only do as much as she wished.
“Charlie. Can you part your legs for me? I swear I will do you no ill.”
She hesitated, but complied. Charlie’s thighs fell open, revealing the most beautiful patch of pink flesh. He tipped his head to kiss her reverently, skimming over her most sensitive nub and affording light butterfly caresses with tongue and lips to her womanly folds. The noises she made were low and needy. He longed to dip into her depths, to taste her on his tongue, but he held back. He needed to worship her flesh, not plunder, and even though her moans sounded encouraging, her hands had not found the back of his head to press him deeper. He took it as a sign and raised himself, moving purposefully away.
Another approach then.
One finger found her opening and skimmed tentatively to spread her female lips. She was wet. That was good. Absu had no wish to hurt her at their joining. He slowly threaded his digit up inside her sweet pussy. Warm, tight…Absu’s breathing came quickly, and his cock throbbed where it pressed against the coverlet. He gave one more kiss to her clitoris and removed his finger from her pussy before working his torso up between her legs. She had neither rejected nor embraced his touch, which he found odd. At their first joining, he would have a taste of how she acted naturally, which would help him become a good master to her as they moved on in their relationship.
“Are you ready for me?” he asked, his voice low and raspy. Charlie lo
oked up at him with her brown eyes opened wide, and nodded her assent. He would drown in her look as he eased himself in. Her breath came in small gasps. She could be worried, or she could be excited at her imminent impalement. He knew not which.
What kind of lover had her husband been? Despite her body’s signs of excitement, Charlie still lay with her arms at her sides. It was as if she didn’t dare participate, and it bothered him. Absu wanted her hands on his back, his flanks; her fingers moving in his hair. As the tip of his cock met and swept at her warmth, he encouraged her, “Put your arms around me, my sweet. I would have you hold me while we are joined.”
Charlie wiggled under him. She raised herself so that her breasts pressed into his chest and her arms wound around his waist. She filled her hands with his muscled ass, and her nails raked his skin as he delved slowly into her tight sheath.
Oh gods. Pure heaven. And finally she responded, but did she attempt to drag him in to hurry him along? Did she want the coupling over quickly? Her actions confused him, and he sought to give her his assurance. “Be easy, my love. I would take my time so as not to injure you.”
It took everything in him not to pinch at her clit, bite her pink nipples and render them cherry red. How badly he wanted to let loose and drive deeply into her hot pussy. But for her sake, Absu held back.
****
Charlie wanted to scream. Why hadn’t the game he’d started ended in a bawdy romp? She hadn’t expected a fine English gentleman, dammit. And this one was too damned gentlemanly. If he didn’t seat himself all the way into her soon, she was going to scream. She wanted him to fill her up and she knew that the girth inching inside was capable of stretching her to the brim. Please. Why was he going so slowly? She urged him on by tilting her hips. She wrapped her ankles around the backs of his thighs, and still he glided tauntingly slow. It was pure torture.
When finally Absu was seated as deeply as it seemed he was prepared to go, he looked down into her eyes. There was a fine sheen of perspiration across his dark face, and his black curls were damp. “Am I hurting you, little one?” he asked solicitously. Tension bowed in every one of his muscles as she felt him holding back.
“No. No, you’re not hurting me. Absu, please…” She couldn’t ask him to move, to drive into her hard and fast. As a trained submissive, waiting for her Dom to take charge of their combined pleasure, she needed him to take the lead. It had been ingrained into her. You only took what your partner would give, and then willing give him everything he asked. Charlie waited on a sharp edge for Absu to ask the right question. She silently clenched her vaginal walls around him, hoping to spur him on without words. Absu merely trembled.
When he gave a tentative thrust, she thought she would weep for joy. Here was the first of the long, sure strokes she wanted. If he would just pick up speed and stop holding back.
Charlie had no idea she could feel such frustration while impaled by such a magnificent cock
****
Absu clutched Charlie to him. He couldn’t take the feel of her any longer. If he continued, he would unleash his true self and scare his poor dear to death. Better to let loose a little, while he was in control, and assuage his needs with an orgasm. He moved in and out at a mesmerizing pace until the urge to come kicked up from his balls. Thank the gods, he could finish this. He lowered his mouth and kissed her as his completion took hold. Elation filled him as his prick pulsed and emptied into her willing warmth.
Despite holding back, keeping reign on his true nature, what a joy it was to orgasm again after so many hundreds of years…and with the woman who was his for the rest of eternity. Absu looked to his shoulder and stilled. He scowled. No bright light emanated from his amulet. No glow had overtaken him as he’d mated her. He growled and looked down at Charlie.
That was when it hit him. His mouth dropped open in disgust. He hadn’t pleasured his mate to completion. She lay beneath him stiff and unyielding. Indeed, she gave him a tight smile and a pat on his back…like he was a dolt. A half-wit lover. He’d come to fruition in less than ten strokes and hadn’t satisfied Charlie in the least. What was he to say? How could this have happened?
“I apologize, Charlie.” His face turned away. “It has been a very long time since I lay with a woman.” He slowly withdrew his dwindling cock, replacing it with his fingers. “Let me make it up to you.”
She shrugged and brushed his hand away. “Another time, perhaps,” she whispered, disappointment evident in her voice. Ah. Gods. He had failed his Chosen, and would have to live with it until he could convince her to lay with him again.
The subject of his self-recriminations shifted uncomfortably beneath him. He rolled off and covered his face with one arm while she turned her back to him. What could he do? There was nothing he could say, no way to redeem himself. He couldn’t tell her that, if he started behaving true to his nature, he’d have her submitting to a beast of unimaginable dominance. Better to let her experience this small amount of frustration. He would plan their next tryst carefully for her satisfaction, and equally as importantly, to light the damn fire within his shoulder.
Besides, he needed to talk to Ken and the others about what had happened earlier to spook them all. He waited until Charlie’s breathing was even before he rolled out of bed.
Chapter Fifteen
Charlie leaned forward and turned the water on in the shower full blast. She perched on the edge of the sink. What was happening to her life? She, who’d paid her own way for years and had a child, was being treated like a volatile teenager. Everywhere she went, one of the musketeers―as she’d taken to calling Absu, Candy, and Ken―followed. Whenever she made or received a phone call, unless the sound was masked by the noises in the kitchen at work or the shower, somehow Absu and Candy knew exactly who was on the line and what was being discussed. It was ridiculous.
Charlie considered long and hard dialing her friend Teri. It had been five endless days of agony…well, not days, if she were honest. It was the nights that were interminable. During the afternoons, when she was through at the restaurant, the time she’d spent with Absu was amazing. They’d take Maity to the park, to the waterfront, to the local children’s museum. In a few minutes, after her quick shower, they were headed to the San Francisco zoo. It was five hours away, but one of her favorites. Maity would sleep for most of the trip, so she and Absu would have oodles of time to talk.
Evenings had also been highly enjoyable. She found that Absu had a love of card games, and they’d played hours’ worth of rummy, joking and teasing the whole time. This would be after spending a glorious time in the kitchen, concocting gourmet dishes, trying to out-do each other. Really, he was the perfect mate. He had fast become a huge part of her life. She loved everything about him. Except for one thing. Absu sucked in bed.
She tried to think clearly, to be fair. But even if her appetites didn’t run to being controlled and dominated, Absu lacked passion. He was well endowed, loving, and found all the right spots, but his touch was so light, his penetration so gentle, that she might just as well have been fucking a robot. And the damnedest thing was, she couldn’t work up the guts to tell him.
She understood he was just as disturbed as she was. Every time he rolled off her―their position always missionary―she recognized disappointment in his eyes. It was as if he waited…expecting something more. Maybe she wasn’t very good at faking it. Pretending orgasm had never been a skill she’d needed. Early on in her sexual identity, she’d discovered what got her going, and had made sure she hooked up with the right partners to give her what she needed. She’d never counted on falling in love with someone who couldn’t satisfy her sexually.
There it was. The enormous and insurmountable elephant in the room. She loved Absu in all ways. She admitted it. In all ways except…sex. And the question was, could she stay with him if he never got any better? She was afraid she’d begin to resent him, and he would, in turn, feel aggrieved that she continued the pretense that everything was okay.
She didn’t know what to do, and there was only a handful of people she could talk to. The first would be Candy, but she was married to one of Absu’s best friends and thick as thieves with the rest of the group. How embarrassing would it be if word got around to his buddies that Absu sucked at sex? No. She crossed Candy off the list, as well as Lenore for the same reason.
That left Teri. She’d experienced a kinship with the woman right from the start, and they certainly had the same taste in sex. The only problem was Vaughn. If Charlie was honest with herself, she was a little bit attracted to the man. At least physically. And who wouldn’t be? All those muscles and those wide commanding shoulders. The man was a born Dom. But if she started hanging out with the pair, she might end up doing something she would regret…something that would hurt Absu if he ever found out. And since her heart loved him, she definitely couldn’t handle that guilt.
What she needed right now was not sex but advice, and Teri was the only one who would understand.
The phone rang twice before she was greeted with enthusiasm. “Charlie. We were just talking about you.” Teri’s voice sounded like sex on a stick. “We haven’t seen as much of you as we would like.” Charlie could tell what Teri meant, and she forcibly tamped down the little thrill of excitement that shot through her.
“I’m sorry, Teri,” Charlie apologized. “Real life tends to get in the way, and what with my job, and Maity…”
Teri became contrite. “Oh. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad,” she assured Charlie. “I was just saying that we miss you.”
Charlie smiled into the phone. It was nice to know that their instant connection was mutual.
“Teri.” Charlie got into a more comfortable position by putting her feet up on the commode. “I need some advice.”
“I’m all ears, my dear,” Teri soothed.