Splintered Mirror
Page 12
His hand flew up to cover my mouth, stifling my cries. He chuckled against my ear. “I forgot you’re a shouter.”
Writhing under the onslaught of raw delight, I barely noticed when his hand left my breast. I barely heard the sound of buttons being released, accompanied by soft grunts of effort. I did however, feel the heated brand of his shaft sliding down the cleft of my butt. Unfortunately, I was far too under the influence of passing ecstasy to consider what all of it meant.
The broad head of his cock nudged past the plump outer lips of my entrance and nosed among the dripping folds. He grabbed me around the waist and his other hand tightened on my mouth. “Try not to scream.”
That’s when I snapped out of my pleasure induced stupor. He’s going to...!
He thrust hard, straight up into me, and lodged himself deep.
I was sundered. I felt it, something inside me giving way and a slight burning sensation, but it was fleeting. Rather than scream, I frowned in confusion. That’s it? I’d expected so much worse. I’d been told by numerous chambermaids that this was supposed to be painful enough to make one scream. And blood. There was supposed to be blood. Of far more immediacy was the fact that a hot iron bar was lodged within me, stretching me to the point of aching, but even that wasn’t so bad, merely...uncomfortable.
It was almost a disappointment.
Alberic moaned in my ear. “Gods, you feel good around my cock.” He rolled his hips.
The cock inside me rubbed against something that delivered a rather riveting pang of mild pleasure that vibrated inside my belly. It was similar enough to that clenching feeling right before a hard climax that I rolled my hips the opposite way, just to feel it again. The pang returned, a bit more strongly. Not anywhere near enough to make me cum, but the possibility was definitely there. A soft moan sounded deep in my throat.
I suddenly had a very good idea as to why everyone seemed to like sex so much, and I felt vaguely annoyed that it had taken me this long to find out.
Alberic shuddered, then groaned long and hard. “Julian, if you keep that up, I’m not going to be able to control myself.”
That spark of annoyance suddenly burned hot. I turned my head just enough to whisper past his hand. “Just hurry up and finish what you started!”
He purred against my ear. “Hmm... That sounds like impatience. Does my cock really feel that good?”
As if I would actually admit something like that to my narcissistic prince. I rolled my hips and shoved back against him “Hurry up! Are you trying to get caught doing this?”
His hands slid up my body to squeeze my breasts, and his chuckle was decidedly malevolent. “Maybe.”
“What?”
He pressed his face into my hair to smother another set of chuckles. Not that it did much good. It did, however, smother most of his words. “I swear, no one is as entertaining as you.”
My breath caught. However, it wasn’t something he hadn’t said before. Just not under these circumstances. “What?”
His hands slid down my arms to grasp the cloth that bound them. “If you want me to hurry, you’re going to have to help me a bit.” The cloth binding my wrists pulled taut, then fell away completely. To my utter surprise, he pulled out of me.
Confused, I had half a second to look over my shoulder. Was he done already?
He grabbed me by the arm and turned me around to face him. He stepped over my pants, which had slid down to my ankles, then caught me under the thighs and lifted me against the wall with disgusting ease. Even so, he grunted.
I clutched his shoulders for balance and whispered hoarsely. “What are you doing now?”
He gave me a cocky narrow-eyed grin. “This.” He let me slide downward against the wall until my butt met with hot, rigid flesh. He was definitely not done yet.
My legs locked around his hips in an attempt to stave off...the inevitable. “Wait!”
His gaze locked on mine and his smile evaporated. “I’m done with waiting.” He shifted his hips only slightly and slid right into my body.
I stiffened automatically, my eyes opening wide, but there wasn’t a trace of that sharp pain this time, only a mild muscle ache from being stretched so suddenly. I then noticed that although he filled me completely and utterly, he didn’t quite make contact with whatever it was he’d touched before. That pang was missing. Acting completely on their own, my legs tightened around him and my back arched against the wall. Then I felt it, contact with...that place, that utterly delicious place inside me. I rolled my hips and was rewarded with that incredibly sweet feeling from before. A small moan escaped me.
Alberic’s lips parted on a gasp, and the pupils of his eyes widened. His legs seemed to shake under us, and one of his hands released my butt to slap against the wall by my shoulder. He leaned against me to rest his head against my shoulder and groaned long and loud. “Oh... Yes, that’s much better.” Then he rolled his hips and pushed upward with his legs, surging up into me.
That pang inside me wasn’t sweet this time. It was hot, thick, and raw in its intensity. My fingers tightened on his shoulders, and I choked out a gasp. Without conscious thought, I squeezed my legs around him and undulated, my hips rolling in a way they never had before, for more.
Alberic replied with an upward thrust hard enough to force a grunt from his lips, then another, and another...
As though possessed, I ground into his strokes.
The stories whispered between the maids and valets of the castle all described lovemaking as tender and sweet; kisses in the garden, caresses under the moonlight, the joining of hearts among blooming flowers.
Lies. They were all lies.
What we were doing wasn’t tender or sweet at all. It was an animalistic, near-violent, and sweaty struggle to chase after the carnal pleasure that was building deep inside me, inside us. The sounds of wet flesh smacking wet flesh, the scent of pungent sweat and lust, his and mine, the moans, the grunts, the bruising strength we used to writhe against each other... It was sheer carnal madness.
In that moment, in that dark corner, I no longer cared that discovery could happen at any moment, or what price I would ultimately pay for allowing this to happen. With every fiber of my being, I wanted the exquisite release I could feel rising inside me.
The soft sounds of flesh against flesh punctuated by desperate, choked-off moans escalated between us.
Release came in a thunderbolt that imploded deep within me. A pleasure so raw it bordered on pain bleached my mind white. A howl burst from my throat.
I barely felt the hand Alberic clapped over my mouth to stop the sound. He abruptly shoved deep into me, impaling me against the wall, then froze. A moan erupted from him, muffled against my throat. Deep within me, his cock pulsed. He bucked shallowly and erratically, his entire body rigid, yet trembling against mine. A long sigh escaped him and his body seemed to melt, taking me with him.
The two of us slid down the wall to sit on the carpet, panting and trembling against each other.
~ Thirteen ~
Hidden away in that alcove lit by only a single candle, the two of us sat on the scratchy carpet leaning against each other utterly exhausted. Alberic’s panting breath was hot against my neck.
My legs were splayed across Alberic’s lap, my pants still around my ankles, and my shirt was wide open. I rested my head on his shoulder breathing in the unique scent of his warm flesh and sandalwood soap. My body ached in ways it had never ached before, but it would pass. Pain always passed eventually.
What wouldn’t pass was what I had lost.
I waited for remorse and embarrassment to strike, but those feelings were strangely absent. Instead, I felt an odd excitement, as though we were children again and my prince and I had just gotten away with some naughty prank. It felt like we were once again the troublemaking co-conspirators we had once been back before rank and responsibility had come between us, when we had been more than merely master and servant.
Alberic abruptly lifted his head
and grasped my arms. “We have to get you dressed.”
“Yes, my prince.” I leaned back against the wall and struggled to my feet so I could pull up my pants.
My prince had his pants buttoned, his waistcoat and long coat fully back in order and his gloves back on in a matter of seconds.
My attire was...beyond recovery. My white stockings were smudged, my breeches were wrinkled, and my silk shirt was missing buttons. Worst of all, the cotton binding for my breasts were in pieces on the floor. Thoroughly annoyed, I buttoned my waistcoat to the throat. It was snug enough to do the job, as long as no one looked closely. After retrieving my knife harness from under the chair, I strapped it on over my waistcoat, then shrugged into my coat. Despite my shaking hands, I got the coat buttoned halfway to leave easy access to my knives and the sash tied. However, my neck remained bare, because my neck cloth was also in pieces.
Alberic snorted and pulled a comb from his pocket. He tugged me close then turned me to face away from him and yanked the ribbon from my bedraggled tail. “What am I going to do with you?” He began dragging the comb through my hair. “You’re a complete mess.”
I turned to snarl at him. “And whose fault is that?”
Alberic shoved my head back the other way and continued to comb my hair. “Can you make it down to the stable without any of the guests seeing you?”
I sighed. I knew a dismissal when I heard it, but he was right. There was no way I could appear in public the way I was. “Yes, my prince.”
“Go.” He gave me a small shove between the shoulders. “I’ll see you at noon.”
I turned to look back at him. “You don’t need me to escort you back to the hotel?”
Alberic lifted a brow, but his smile was a trifle...subdued. “Is that a request to spend the night in my bed?”
I flinched back. “No!”
His smile curled into an open smirk. “Then I suggest you escape while you can.”
With a short bow and a strange mix of both embarrassment and disappointment, I turned on my heel and left the alcove.
Neither the coachman nor the sorceress were anywhere in sight. Truthfully, I was glad. They would no doubt realize what had just happened from my appearance, and unbound hair. I was not in the mood to make excuses.
I made haste to the servant’s stair behind the dark curtain in the far corner. In the plain narrow stairwell, the passing servants briefly turned my way, then looked sharply away.
That brought me up short. Was what I had just done that obvious?
Head down to avoid looking any of the other servants in the eye, I trotted down to the kitchen level. The main hall of the kitchens was crammed with rushing servants carrying trays of food and wine bottles. I strode past them and out the well room door to the stableyard without saying a word to anyone.
Within the cavernous palace stable, the stable hands were busy dealing with one incoming royal coach after another.
Rather than bother any of the scurrying stable hands, I saddled my brown gelding and pulled my pistols from my saddlebags to tuck them into my belt. One did not wear pistols in a ballroom, but one did not travel at night without one. I led my gelding out of the stable, mounted in the yard, and left the stable area at a lazy posting trot. The torch-lit palace bridge was crammed with a long line of incoming coaches. The half a dozen posted guards were so busy checking them they didn’t even glance my way.
Just out of sight of the castle bridge, I turned right and off the road into the woods and onto a deer path. Screened by the trees and underbrush from the torch lights along the castle road, I turned my mount on the path to face the road. There was one thing more I had to do before I could seek my tent; wait for my prince to pass by, then pick off any strays that might be trailing him.
I had absolute faith in his dueling skills, should any of the petty nobles be foolish enough to challenge him. Assassins hired by jealous courtiers and opportunistic brigands, however, were something else entirely.
After unbuttoning my coat completely, I tugged the ties from the handles of my throwing knives on my shoulder harness, freeing them for quick access with the speed of long practice. The two sheathed in each boot were already free. I then pulled out both pistols and checked them too. They were primed and ready. However, the pistols were only for a last resort. Pistol shots drew far too much attention.
Fully prepared, there was nothing left to do but wait. Surrounded by darkness, with the wind whispering amongst the leaves and the faint strains of music from the palace carrying on the wind, the full weight of what had happened finally set in.
I had lost my virginity to my prince. My resistance had been utterly futile. Even worse, I strongly suspected that any further resistance might not even be possible because I might not want to resist. I felt so...stupid, and powerless...and angry.
Unfortunately, taking my temper out on the cause of my anger—my prince—had dangerous repercussions. Therefore, I was hoping someone would be kind enough to send assassins after my prince so I could safely take my anger out on them instead.
Who would possibly miss a few low-life criminals, right?
After seething in the dark for one full hour, my prince trotted past me on his white palfrey with a pair of what appeared to be royal guards at his heels. Apparently, the princesses Snow White and Rose Red were being rather attentive to his safety.
For some reason, that annoyed me all the more.
To my great delight, three assassins dressed in dingy brown battered leather armor were indeed following in their shadows on foot. Unfortunately, for them, all three trotted one by one right across the path I was on.
I barely had to move my arm to toss a knife into the unprotected throats of the first two. They gave a small choke and went down in a puff of road dust.
The third, however happened to be wearing a gorget, a band of leather that protected the throat. He was also wearing a sword. He pulled the sword free of its scabbard and a long parrying knife from the small of his back and charged my horse.
I actually had a fight on my hands. Lucky me!
With a wide grin, I tossed myself off my horse and onto the path to meet his bulky battered sword with my far more slender and much sharper blade, scoring a cut on his upper arm with my parry.
I didn’t have an actual parrying knife, but I did have a rather long boot knife that did the job of turning his dull parrying blade from its target, my face, and ducked for good measure. I extended my reach to get my sword behind his leg and yanked it back to score a slash across the hamstring on the back of his thigh. Yes, it was a dirty trick, and no, I didn’t care. It was my prince’s job to fight fair. Not mine.
The man howled in surprise and dropped on his face in the dirt.
If he was hoping for mercy, I was fresh out. I turned my blade to pass between his ribs and gripped my sword with both hands. With a small grunt of effort, I stabbed downward, right through the leather jerkin he wore for armor, and into his heart.
The whole thing lasted maybe five minutes.
I straightened and blew out a long sigh. The fight hadn’t been enough to defuse all of my temper, but it was enough to take the edge off.
After wiping off the blood on my sword on the corpse’s dirty sleeve, I sheathed my sword and boot knife, then went to pull my two thrown knives from the throats of the other assassins. I wiped them clean on their sleeves, sheathed them, and mounted my horse, who had been kind enough to not wander all that far off.
I left the area at a quick trot, leaving the corpses where they lay on the path. The royal guards would most likely clear them away in the morning.
* * * * * *
I dismounted in my campsite with a pained hiss. My body felt like it had been beaten and certain parts were still quite...tender. I wanted a bath and I wanted my bed, in that order. However, seeing to the horse had to come first. So, with flint and steel, I started a fire in the fire pit, set a kettle of water on to heat for a bath then unsaddled the gelding and saw to his feed.
I stared at the steaming kettle and wondered if stripping down naked in front of the fire was a good idea. I’d be visible to anyone lurking in the trees. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much choice.
With my knives within easy reach, I poured the boiling water into the bucket with fresh stream water, dropped my camp robe and started scrubbing myself down as much as one bucket of fairly hot water, a rag, and a cake of soap would allow. Sadly, with the night getting chillier by the moment, it didn’t allow for much. Still, I got the job done reasonably well. Even so, I would have to wait until morning to wash my hair.
After shrugging back into my robe, I dumped the dirty water in some weeds. By then my fire had died down to coals. Shoving the rocks around the fire pit closer to the edge, I banked the fire for the night, then went back to my tent. I dropped the robe and slipped into my flannel nightshirt with haste, then crawled among my blankets on my straw mattress. Finally, I could sleep.
If I could sleep.
Staring up at the darkness with my arms folded behind my head, I seriously considered simply packing up and leaving in the morning. This was a different kingdom. My prince had no guards at his beck and call to drag me back. He had no one at all, other than Gabriella and me.
However, if Gabriella had been carried off by Master Corwin, could I really leave my prince alone and defenseless?
What was I saying? My prince was not only fiendishly clever, he was also the crowned prince of a politically powerful kingdom. My prince was far from defenseless. If I took off in the morning for parts unknown, he’d be just fine. In fact, it served him right.
I crossed both arms over my face, using my sleeves to blot my watering eyes. Damned pollen from the blooming dogwood tree overhanging the tent was getting in my eyes again.
To my absolute surprise, sleep fell upon me almost instantly.