Dagon swallowed back his chuckle. Vernus was quite harmless, he could easily see. "Yes," he said.
"Pity," Vernus murmured. "If you should ever change your mind, dear boy, we could becomevery good friends." He scraped the hair from Dagon's body.
"I hope we can bejust good friends," Dagon replied with a small smile in Vernus's direction.
"You are not offended then?" Vernus said. Usually these beefy fellows were very protective of their masculinity.
"Why? Because you find me attractive?" The prince laughed. "No, I am not offended at all. If I prefer women as lovers, that is my choice. You have obviously made different choices, but they certainly do not offend me. I see no reason why we cannot be friends simply because our sexual tastes are dissimilar."
Now it was Vernus's turn to chuckle. "Zeras will have a most formidable opponent in you, I think. Not that I mind," he finished with a purr. "Come, now, and let me rinse you with some perfumed water and get you dried.She has a large appetite for pleasure. I assume they have told you that.She is also very impatient, and having seen that formidable lance of yours will be eager to try it out."
"Have you been with her long?" Dagon made conversation as Vernus toweled him.
"My brother and I were brought here together years ago," was the reply. "His name is Durantis, and he is the mate of Zenaida." Vernus smiled knowingly at the startled look on Dagon's face. "Oh, I know what Zenaida hopes to accomplish. Though I dare not voice my approval"and now he lowered his tone"it is time for Kalida to fall in love, and take a mate. Zeras, of course, does not want that to happen. He has a passion for power. If Kalida is replaced, his power is gone. He is your enemy, and right now he has her complete trust."
"They say," Dagon answered in equally low tones, "that Zeras is her father. Is it true?"
Vernus nodded. "He is, and she is aware of it. Her mother died when she was born, and she was raised by her aunts, who put her in Zeras's care. They are both merchants of great importance, and had no time for a baby. Zeras found it was to his advantage to teach Kalida as a Kavan mother would have; but, unlike a Kavan woman, he taught her to scorn men. While the women here believe they are superior to the male of the species, they nonetheless enjoy their company, and their sexuality. Kalida, however, has been schooled by Zeras to deny her emotions. She sates her body with the pleasure a man can give her, but has been educated to feel no affection for any other living thing. Even Zeras."
Dagon nodded. "This is an impossible task Zenaida has set for me to complete."
"Nay," Vernus replied. "Of late Kalida has been restless and unhappy. Something within her that she does not understand yearns to be loved, not just with a strong, skilled body, but with a full heart. Zeras was foolish to believe he might keep her free of all emotion. He cannot. Even he once loved. It was the death of Kalida's mother that turned him to ice. He did not want to see his daughter die as the mother had, in childbed. It would have been easier for him if Kalida had not become queen, but she did."
"Then Zeras began to enjoy the power that came with being the queen's confidant. Now that power consumes him. He does not think of Kalida's happiness. Only of his own lust for domination. He will be a dangerous opponent, Dagon. Be careful… There! You are ready for the queen, the lucky bitch!"
Dagon laughed. "You are a most irreverent fellow," he said as he followed Vernus from the bath, down a corridor, and through gold-leafed double doors into the queen's bedchamber. His eyes widened at his first sight of Kalida's bed. It was a great square dais upon which was set a huge mattress covered in coral-colored silk. Above the bed hung sheer turquoise-and-gold draperies from a gold ring suspended from the painted ceiling. Dagon gasped softly, surprised, for upon the ceiling were the figures of men and women sporting themselves in all manner of sexual positions. By the bed was a woven basket of gold wire within which he could see a variety of lotions, and exotic toys. There was little else in the square room, whose creamy marble walls were veined in gold. The floor beneath his feet was also marble, squares of gold and cream.
"You are permitted to await her upon the bed," Vernus said. "You must drape yourself artfully among the pillows. Ahhh, yes," he approved as Dagon lay himself down. "Most charming. She will come when she comes. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep. You'll be punished if you do. She expects you eager for her arrival."
"How fortunate I napped earlier," Dagon said wryly.
Vernus chuckled. "Suneva help you," he remarked as he hurried from the chamber.
Dagon's mind was awhirl assimilating all the information the gossipy Vernus had imparted to him. How in the name of all the gods was he to breach the icy stone walls Kalida had allowed to be set up around her heart? Especially in a situation where the beauteous young queen believed herself superior to all men, and did not know how to yield herself to a lover's passion. He shook his head wearily. He was already half under her spell with just one look at her. She was much too lovely to be allowed to go through life without knowing love. He had to succeed!
"You are thinking," she said. She was standing by the bed stark naked. "Of what do you think? Your past life? Another woman?"
He had not even heard her enter the room. He tried to keep himself from gaping at her beauty. She had a body such as he had never seen. It was utterly flawless. Small, but perfect cone-shaped breasts crested by dainty pink buds. Her torso was in proportion; her belly flat; her limbs rounded and long. Her hair was now unbound, and hung about her like a shimmering curtain of pale silvered gold.
"I was thinking of you," he responded frankly. "Of how I could win your heart, my queen."
"How amusing you are," Kalida replied, slithering onto the large bed, and reaching out to caress his penis. "It is magnificent," she said softly. "I can barely contain my desire to sheath you!"
He caught up her hand, and, turning it over, placed a kiss upon the palm. "Pleasure," he said, "is best enjoyed when the anticipation and the appetite for it is whetted slowly. You are, I am advised, impatient. Let me teach you to be more composed with passion." He slipped one of her fingers into his mouth, and began to suck upon it, his deep blue eyes meeting her emerald-green ones.
"You are bold," Kalida murmured, fascinated in spite of herself, "and you speak to me as if we were equals. I am the Queen of Kava. You are naught but my slave." She could feel her heart hammering erratically within her chest. "I will overlook your behavior this one time, for you have just come to Kava, and have not yet had time to learn our ways. You must obey me, Dagon, for I am your mistress. I am not above beating my slaves when they are disobedient. You are very beautiful, but you must be docile. I do not yet want to send you to the fields, or to the mines."
"I speak to you as I do, my queen, because of all the men you have ever met, I am your equal," Dagon replied softly. "They say you have no heart, but I do not believe it. How can someone so beautiful, so wise a ruler, be heartless? I am already half in love with you!"
Then before she might remonstrate with him, he pinioned her beneath him, and his lips met hers in a deep, passionate kiss. Kalida's head spun wildly. The mouth against her mouth was firm and warm. A tiny tingle of pleasure raced through her body before he lifted his head but briefly, and then again began to kiss her. His lips played along hers, touching at the corners, brushing over her eyelids.
"The gods!" he whispered. "You are so damnably sweet, my queen!"
Kalida attempted to regain her mastery over this unruly slave Zenaida had given her. "You do not have my permission to kiss me," she scolded him. "I will whip you if you do not behave! You must be trained to respect the superiority of the female, Dagon! Cease, or I will punish you!"
Releasing her, he leapt from the bed, and, looking into the basket by the bed, drew forth a small leather whip. "Punish me then, my queen," he said, "for I will not come to heel like the others who have peopled your bed. Passion is to be shared equally by the man and the woman, not just taken to be enjoyed by only one alone."
His kisses had rendered her almost
drunk, but she was a queen, and not to be bullied or disobeyed. Taking the whip from his hand, she arose from the bed. "Stand upon the floor, and bend, bracing yourself with your hands upon the bed," she commanded him.
The gods! Would she really do it? he wondered, then winced as the fingers of the leather whip bit into his buttocks. Dagon grit his teeth. She would raise no cry from him, but to his surprise she struck him only three times before ceasing. His flesh was burning nonetheless, and there was a tingle in his manhood.
"You may reenter my bed," she said loftily. "Are you now chastised, and comprehending of my authority over you?"
He lay gingerly upon his back. "You are utterly beautiful when you are so masterful, my queen," he told her.
Her exquisite features darkened with her displeasure. "Must I give you over for common pleasures then, Dagon?" she demanded of him.
"Why are you angry with me because I find you beautiful?" he countered. "You have hair like thistledown." He took up a strand between his fingers, rubbing it, and then bringing it to his lips to kiss.
Kalida felt a catch in her throat. This man was confusing her. She was used to abject obedience, utter devotion, a quick, pleasant sheathing, and then she would send the slave away. Men did not speak as this man was speaking to her. Men were rough, crude creatures whose baser nature must be kept under strict control.
His hand wrapped about a length of her long hair, and he drew her down so that their faces were but inches apart. "You have always held the upper hand, my queen," he whispered so only she might hear him. "Have you never wondered what it would be like to give yourself over totally to your lover's care? It takes avery brave woman to do such a thing, but I believe that you are as brave as a woman comes.Are you, Kalida? Are you?" He drew her closer, his lips brushing hers softly. "My queen. My beautiful queen," he murmured low.
"Stop it!" she cried. "You are confusing me. Lay back so I may rouse, and sheath you. You talk too much, Dagon of Aramas!"
"By the gods!" he swore softly."You are afraid!"
"I am not!" Her cheeks were pink with the denial.
"Then trust me, Kalida," he coaxed her.
"I did not give you permission to address me by my name," she scolded him nervously.
"Give yourself to me," he gently pressed. His lips brushed her brow.
"It is forbidden," she protested.
"Is not forbidden fruit the sweetest?" he countered teasingly, kissing the tip of her nose.
"I am the queen!" she cried. "You must let me have my own way! I shall send you to the mines if you do not!"
"I will be a king one day, and must havemy way," he teased her mischievously. "And if you send me to the mines, you will never know the sweetness that only I can give you, Kalida, my fairest queen." He wrapped his arms about her, and pulled her against his chest. "Iwant you." But then he saw the real fear in her eyes, and quickly released her, reaching into the basket and drawing forth a crystal vial of pale-pink lotion. "I will massage you, with your permission, my queen."
"Yes," she answered him, and her voice was shaking.
She rolled onto her stomach, and he began to smooth the liquid cream onto her long back. It smelled of apricots. His hands moved rhythmically and soothingly. Dagon felt her begin to relax beneath his firm touch. Without realizing it, Kalida had given him the key to her conquest. He would stake his life on the fact that she had never felt real passion, and was possibly even afraid of it. The first man to bring true joy to her would be the man with whom she would fall in love and take for her mate. But cajoling her into giving herself over to him would not be a simple or an easy task. Still, it must be done tonight lest Zeras, who had obviously taught Kalida to stifle her emotions, intervene to prevent the queen from favoring him.
Dagon leaned over as he worked. Pushing aside her lovely hair, he bent to kiss the nape of her neck. It was soft, and delicately perfumed. His fingers dug gently but with strength into her shoulders. She murmured contentedly beneath his touch. His cupped hand took a dollop of the apricot lotion and smoothed it over first one buttock, and then the other. He kneaded the rounded halves of her tempting bottom firmly, his finger running teasingly down the shadowed groove separating the twin parts. Now he was spreading her thighs, his lotioned fingers sliding along the satiny flesh, caressing them, brushing gently.
Kalida was purring with contentment. She had certainly not expected an evening such as this one was turning out to be. Usually her male slaves were brought to her like a plate of pretty sweetmeats, all oiled and muscled, and she would choose one to favor that night. She roused him, sometimes allowing him to kiss, or even caress her. Then she sheathed him, and when he had released his tribute to Her Majesty she would send him from her bed. They rarely spoke to her, although some would murmur inane things. Only the boldest would reach out to fondle her breasts as she rode them. They certainly did not suggest the forbidden as Dagon had done; or massage her with such expertise as he had. Kalida had always wondered why other women made such a fuss about lovemaking. The queen took lovers because it was expected of her, but she frankly found it boring. None of the men she took to her bed had ever touched her emotions in any way. Tonight, however, was different. She was beginning to feel strangely. While she was a little fearful, it was nonetheless quite exciting, and she was enjoying herself very much. How far would he press her? Would she allow him to do so?She was not afraid! She was a queen.
He rolled her over gently, and seated himself upon her thighs. The hard flesh of his rump against her soft skin was strangely stimulating. Kalida could not see it, although Dagon could, but her cheeks were flushed pink with her arousal. Sapphire eyes met emerald eyes. He smiled faintly, knowingly. Then he poured a stream of lotion directly from the crystal vial onto her belly, and began to rub it into her skin, with light, delicate strokes. Kalida sighed with delight. This was absolutely wonderful! Her masseuse in the bath did not make her feel so delicious and tingly all over."Ohhhhh!" The sound was drawn forth from her as he began to cream her breasts. She watched his big hands, mesmerized, bronze against ivory; the delicate feathery touch as his fingers brushed across her flesh, teasing and gently pinching the little nipples. Her eyes closed with pure enjoyment. His fingers pressed against her mouth. Unable to help herself, Kalida kissed them. They were quickly gone, caressing her face gently, tracing her features tenderly.
"You are so beautiful," he said softly, "but you know it, my queen. How could you gaze into your mirror, and not see how very, very lovely you are, Kalida, my precious love." Lowering his dark head, he took a nipple into his mouth.
The warm wetness startled her, and her eyes flew open. Then he tugged upon the nipple sharply. Another small cry escaped her. Other men had fondled her breasts, but none had ever worshiped them as he was now doing. He continued to suckle strongly upon her. She sensed a hot thrill in the hidden place between her nether lips, and shivered with budding wonder, for she had never before felt such a sensation, and she liked it. She moaned low.
He raised his head briefly only to renew his attentions to her breasts when he had ascertained she was enjoying them. This time he sought out her other nipple, which he licked and encircled with his tongue until she began to squirm beneath him, unable to help herself.
He leaned forward, kissing her deeply, coaxing her lips apart, his tongue dancing about hers until finally she engaged him in battle. Now, he thought coolly, the time for the real seduction had come. He nibbled upon her mouth like a bee taking honey from a flower. She murmured, moving gently beneath him. Then he was gone from her lips; his body moving down her torso, slowly, seductively, placing a trail of fiery little kisses upon her quivering flesh.
"Wh-what are you doing to me?" Kalida's voice was tremulous.
He raised his dark head from her perfumed skin, and looked directly at her. "Will you trust me not to harm you, my queen? If you do, I shall give you a new pleasure such as you have never known." Because she had posed the question, he realized, amazed, that never before had any man
ventured to really make love to Kalida.
"Y-yes," she whispered to him, wondering even as she said the word if she was mad to allow him to continue, but she simply could not help herself. Her body was filled with a powerful languor such as she had never before felt. She was astounded by her newly discovered ignorance and wanted to know more. While Zeras had always warned her about allowing her body to overrule her head, did even he know all she had learned this night? And if he did, why had he forbidden her to avoid such sweetness? Zeras had much to answer for, but for now she wanted to know more!
Dagon gave Kalida a moment to reconsider her decision, and then he proceeded forward. He had hoped that once he began to make passionate love to her, her natural curiosity would encourage her onward. He had been right. He nuzzled at the soft inner flesh of her closed thighs, gently nudging them apart, placing a warm kiss upon her lover's mount. Her legs fell open as if to offer him everything she had. He ran the very tip of his tongue up from the bottom of her moist cleft to its top. Kalida shivered. Tenderly Dagon drew her swollen nether lips apart, and again using the tip of his tongue, delicately touched her pleasure point. She shivered a second time. He could hear her breathing growing harsh and strained with her rising lust.
What was he doing? In the name of Suneva, what was he doing to her? His tongue flicked relentlessly back and forth over that place Zeras had taught her to deny even existed. She should make him stop, but she could not muster the strength to forbid him. There was a hot sweetness flowing through her. Kalida, always honest with herself, knew that she didn't want her lover to cease this glorious torture.
"Ohhhhh, yes!" she moaned eagerly. "I command you to continue!" But even as she said the words, something new was happening. She could feel the burning, tingling tension building and building within her. Then, like a wave crashing onto the shore, it burst inside her and slowly drained away, even as she strongly protested its loss.
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