by Mara Kelly
Annice braced herself, expecting the press of his body and the pain that would surely follow when he entered her. The next thing she felt, however, was a soft breath against her lower stomach and then a glorious sensation between her thighs—Elwin's tongue, lapping against the center of her pleasure, sending waves of warmth spiraling out over her skin. Elwin gripped her buttocks and pressed against her hungrily, his tongue never ceasing its relentless exploration. Annice gasped and clutched the sides of the table as a sensation unlike any she had ever known built inside of her. She looked down and saw Elwin's brown head bent over her, and she moved one hand to his hair to press him even closer.
"Elwin." The voice was hoarse and breathy, and Annice was shocked to realize that it had come from her. Elwin raised his head and met her eyes, then nodded. He pushed himself up off the table and removed his trousers, revealing himself to her.
She had never actually seen a male member before, so she had no way to judge, of course, but she thought that Elwin's must be particularly large. A few moments before the sight of it might have inspired anxiety, but now she hungered to feel it inside of her.
Elwin took a step toward the table, his face suddenly apprehensive, but Annice sat up, stopping him in his tracks. He looked as though he was afraid she might have changed her mind, but Annice only reached out her hand to touch him, curling her hand around him and growing accustomed to his warmth. She felt a thrill of satisfaction when Elwin moaned and closed his eyes, and grinned wickedly as she leaned forward and took him into her mouth. Elwin gripped the edge of the table as if his knees might buckle, and she worked her tongue experimentally over his slightly salty flesh, as her fingers trailed over his thighs.
"Annice, stop," Elwin said weakly.
It was so unconvincing that she didn't move, but the next moment, Elwin pushed her back onto the table, almost roughly, and climbed up on top of her. She barely had a moment to see the desire beyond desire in his eyes before he sealed his mouth over hers, and his member slid teasingly against her. She let out a groan, involuntarily, and slid her hands down to press at his buttocks again, but Elwin only moved softly against her, denying her the penetration she craved. Annice arched against him in frustration, but Elwin moved away, his kiss gentling on her mouth. Annice tried again, but this time he moved one hand to her breast, and pinched the nipple in a way that made her gasp. She broke away from his kiss and groaned against his shoulder. "Elwin, please," she said breathlessly.
And then, as if he had been waiting for her to say it, Elwin plunged into her. It hurt more than Lucienna had said it would—for, no matter how little she approved of Lucienna's exploits, she'd always listened carefully when her cousin talked about them—but the pain subsided after a moment, and a tantalizing kind of fullness took its place. She realized that Elwin hadn't moved, and opened her eyes. He was looking down at her, concern on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Annice wasn't aware of having cried out when he had entered her, but from the look on his face, she must have. "I'm fine," she whispered, and then lifted her head to kiss him softly. "Perfectly fine. Go on."
Elwin nodded, but he did not look away from her face as he moved slightly inside her. Annice closed her eyes and gripped his shoulders. Pain and pleasure mingled at her core, and Elwin moved with more certainty above her. He bent his head and kissed her deep, and she clutched at him convulsively.
Elwin's movements grew faster, and Annice pressed herself against him; she felt as if she stood at the edge of a cliff, and she very much wanted to fall off of it. Elwin gave a loud moan above her and pressed himself deep within her; Annice gripped his hips and slammed herself against him, and a moment later she felt herself falling, falling, her breath leaving her in gasps.
She became slowly aware of herself, lying flat on an uncomfortable library table, with Elwin lying beside her, kissing her neck and face and moving his hand over her stomach.
Annice took a shuddering breath and turned her head to face him. He lifted his head and looked at her, and in his face she saw the same sudden bashfulness she felt.
"I—" she began, but she had no idea what to say, not really. Lucienna had never mentioned what went on afterward.
Elwin stroked her cheek and kissed her lightly on the mouth. "I love you," he whispered.
Annice smiled. "I love you too."
"We will get married soon," he said. "I promise. Trust me."
Annice nodded. "I trust you." She snuggled close against him and allowed herself a long moment against his warm, relaxing skin.
"We ought to go back down," she murmured at last, wanting to do nothing of the sort. She only wanted to stay and explore this amazing library with Elwin, and maybe, in a little while, do this again. But he had duties, and so had she.
Elwin sighed and pressed his face against her neck. "I know," he said, his voice muffled.
Annice sat up and drew him down from the table, and they shared one more kiss before they turned to put their clothes back on.
There had been a bit of blood—though not nearly as much as Annice had feared—and it mingled with their juices in her pantalettes when Annice put them back on. She ran her fingers through her hair, glad she had worn it down tonight—she never would have been able to reconstruct the elaborate upswept hairdos that many of the women wore. She lifted her mouse mask, feeling it suited her now less than ever, and turned to Elwin.
His hair was still tousled, and Annice smiled and reached up to smooth it for him. He pulled her close and she melted happily into his arms, sighing against him. He stroked her hair.
But they both knew they couldn't stay there much longer, and so Elwin set his cat mask back on his face and led her toward the secret door. Annice gripped his hand and let him lead her along the secret tunnel, and when they reached the far end, she stayed back while he slipped out into the alcove to check that the way was clear.
"There you are, Your Highness," came a voice on the other side of the hidden door, and Annice ducked back into the shadows as Elwin pushed the door closed behind him.
"Yes, what is it, Tryal?" said Elwin's voice, with an edge of annoyance.
"Your brother has just arrived, my lord." Annice heard the amusement in the servant's voice. "He's told your father that he has an important announcement to make. The king is gathering all the guests in the ballroom. I felt certain you would want to know."
"I see," said Elwin. "Thank you then. I'll…be along in a moment."
"Yes, Your Highness."
A moment later the door swung open, and Elwin seized Annice's hand, pulling her into the alcove. She blinked at the light in the corridor.
"Did you hear that?" whispered Elwin joyfully.
Annice smiled. "Yes, but I think it's dangerous to assume—"
Elwin didn't let her finish; he seized her shoulders and kissed her. "Come on," he said. "Let's go hear my brother's announcement."
"I'll wait a few minutes, and then follow you," said Annice.
"No," said Elwin firmly, squeezing her hand. "Not this time."
And they walked hand-in-hand down the corridor toward the ballroom.
Seeding
I knew this would be the moon when I conceived the emperor's child. I knew it as one knows that the day will be fine in the morning before one opens one's eyes, when sunlight falls across one's face and the scent of blossoms is in the air.
Surely the other concubines had the same thought as the eunuchs led us into the seeding room and laid us out upon the beds there. Beds, I call them, though they were hardly the soft, yielding feather mattresses on which we slept in the House of the Lilies. These were more like tables, designed for the work of the night and nothing more, and there were rows and rows of them. Even now, I only recall the glimpses of them I got each full moon night before the eunuchs blindfolded me and carefully removed my robes.
The air in the room was full of excitement that night. Three of the girls were in the room for the first time, having at last been deemed ripe by the
Dulsa. They had come to the House of the Lilies almost a year before—like all of us, they were the oldest daughters of their houses, and therefore the property of the emperor. I admit that I looked upon their innocent anticipation with some disdain. I had then been in the House of the Lilies for nearly two years, and had come to this room over a dozen times in that span, though, to my shame, I had not yet had my belly swell with the seed of the Divine One.
But the Dulsa had clutched my belly that afternoon and declared that I was ripe, and so I was to be given another chance.
Despite my carefully crafted exterior of calm, my skin sang as the eunuchs pushed me back on the bed and secured my hands and feet, to ensure that I would not touch the Divine One. Perhaps the giddiness of the others was affecting me, or maybe it was just my own foolish hope that I would one day join the women in the House of the Many Flowers, where those who had borne the emperor's sons passed the days raising their children and praying that theirs would be the son selected as heir.
I do not remember much more than glimpses of the seeding room, but its scents and sounds are forever sealed in my mind. It was always warm in the room—fires burned at either end, and the soft breeze of evening moved in from the two large windows. Soft whispers and rustlings of excitement died into breathy moans as the eunuchs moved in to prepare us to receive the emperor's seed. I myself always relished this part, though many of the girls complained that the soft lips of the others in the House of the Lilies were far more pleasurable than the scratchy faces of the eunuchs between their legs.
On that night, the eunuch who came to me began at my breasts, and I arched my back as his fingers scratched lightly over my skin, pinching my nipples. Without warning, his mouth descended over one nipple, and I let out an embarrassing moan as his tongue circled the tip. I needn't have worried—the sounds from the other girls were just as loud, particularly from the three at the far end, who had never before known the touch of a man.
The eunuch suckled me like a babe. This is how it will feel when I feed the Divine One's child, I thought rapturously, my breath quickening. The eunuch's hand strayed over my belly, and down to the place between my legs, checking his progress. I was already wet with the knowledge that my emperor, my god, would soon be inside me.
The eunuch moved his mouth to my other breast, and I felt the scratch of his jaw against the smooth skin of my stomach. His fingers moved over the soft button of my core. I wondered which of the men this was, and whether he had suckled me before. I tried to picture the faces of the guards who patrolled outside our house, the only men allowed near the concubines, and decide which face would match such a soft, yielding tongue. I settled on imagining a certain tall, lean young man with a long face and wide-set eyes, one who had a cat-like grace about him. I arched against his mouth and would have reached out to stroke his hair, had my hands not been bound above my head.
He plunged one finger into me, and then two, and I rocked against him. My breath was coming in sharp gasps now, and I knew he would stop any minute. I pressed upward, my breast against his mouth, as if to keep him nearby, but then he was gone, and my core was empty and aching. I let out a sob of frustration, though I had known it would be so.
My body was heated and heavy, and listening to the moans of the other girls set me on edge. My thoughts swirled in my mind, and I willed myself to think of the emperor, to keep my moment of pleasure attuned with his, so that my body would welcome his seed.
I heard gentle sobbing from the far end of the room—it must have been one of the new girls. In the House of the Lilies, we were never denied pleasure—it was there all around us, and even the painful corncobs that the Dulsa used to stretch our wombs gave us pleasure whenever we wanted them. Only here, on the nights of the full moon, were we left wanting.
I always knew when the Divine One arrived. The air in the room changed—the sounds grew distant, as if his very breath drowned out all else, and a heady smell like a rain-drenched garden filled the air.
There was the sound of rustling cloth as the emperor removed his robes and stood before the Dulsa. She, too, was blindfolded, of course—no woman was permitted to look upon the Divine One. But the Dulsas alone, of all women, were allowed to touch him, and some would say they had the greater honor. Though they were barren and could not bear his children, they had the honor of preparing him to plant his seed in his concubines.
I pictured the emperor standing before Halia, the Dulsa who presided that night, as she knelt before him and took his member in her mouth. I did not know what his face looked like, of course, and so that, in my imagining, was a blur. But I knew his body from the many times it had hovered above me, and I pictured him, tall and lean and strong. The Dulsas were well-practiced in their art—each of the eunuchs had known the touch of the Dulsas, before their manhood had been removed. I pictured Halia's mouth working furiously, and my skin grew heated again. I writhed, my wrists chafing against my bonds.
A low moan rent the room, and I froze. That was the sound of my lord's pleasure. I longed to hear it while he plunged into me.
More rustling, and then a woman's gasp—the emperor had begun planting his seed in the first of the concubines. I tried to remember who had been placed in the first bed, and could not. But I was in the third, and I thought my heart would burst with anticipation while I waited.
The first concubine let out a wail of pleasure, and I recognized Shala's cry. She was showing off for the emperor, I realized with contempt.
I heard him move to the second bed, and I rocked subconsciously, as if in mimicry of his movements, as I listened to him planting his seed in the second concubine. I strained at my bonds and turned my head toward him, as though he was the sun I could see through closed eyes before waking.
To my astonishment, when I turned my head back, I realized that my blindfold had loosened. I could see a sliver of the room beneath the black cloth.
A thrill of pure, illicit pleasure ran though my body, so heady that I almost shuddered with it. I ought to do something, said a calm part of my brain. But what could I do? It was forbidden for a woman to speak in the emperor's presence, and, with my hands bound, I could not replace the blindfold.
I forgot all about these thoughts as I saw movement to my right, and turned to catch a glimpse of the Divine One coming toward me. I could see only the lower part of him, from his stomach down, and I gasped at the sight of the beautiful flower between his legs. He paused by the side of my bed, and touched himself, and the flower blossomed. It shimmered with the juices of the two other concubines.
The emperor swung himself up above me and placed his manhood at my entrance. Without entirely meaning to, I writhed against him, longing for him to enter me. The blindfold slipped a little more, and I caught a glimpse of his sad, handsome face.
Love and desire filled my heart until I was sure it would rend. I rocked my hips against him, wanting nothing more than for him to fill my world with himself.
At last he moved inside me, achingly slowly. He drew himself out again just as slowly, and then tortured me with long, slow strokes. This, I knew, was how he drew out his seed, but I ached for him to take me hard and quick, like the horses in the field took their mates.
My hands strained at the bonds that held me—I wanted to touch his sad, beautiful face, to stroke his hair, though it was forbidden, death even, to do so.
At last his strokes sped up, and I rocked my hips against him, letting him carry me away in his rhythm. He was my sun, my moon, my stars and my sky, and I opened to him like the lilies to the rain. My mind was filled with the forbidden glimpse of his face.
He worked me into a breathless heat, and my back arched as I tried to get closer to him. My breasts brushed his oiled chest. "Ah, Divine One, I worship you," I cried out breathlessly.
The guard's slap on my cheek cut through the haze of pleasure, and I cried out again. "You do not speak to the Divine One," the eunuch growled.
"I heard nothing," said a soft voice above me. The emperor stil
l moved inside me, but he had slowed now, and I felt his warm breath near my breast.
The room was silent for a long moment, and then the guard coughed. "Apologies, Divine One," he said.
A hand moved gently across my breasts—the Divine One's, I realized with a shock. It was warm and soft, and I held back the moan that wanted to escape me.
He seemed to feel it, though, because he plunged into me again, this time faster, gripping my hips and plowing with ecstatic, relentless energy. I strained at my bonds and lifted myself to him, and I felt his lips brush mine as his seed poured into me. My cry was muffled against his mouth as my body exploded in waves of pleasure, shattered under his brilliant grace.
Slowly he withdrew, leaving me spent and weary, my skin throbbing with the knowledge of his nearness. I slipped into a haze of satisfaction as the sounds of the other girls drifted over me, and the eunuchs came to unbind my legs and place pillows under me to keep the Divine One's seed from escaping.
I do not remember hearing him leave that night, but I knew, when I woke the next morning in the House of the Lilies, that my belly would soon grow large. And when my son was born the following spring, I alone of the mothers knew how his sad eyes matched those of his father, the Divine One.
Someday My Prince...
"And what has you smiling so broadly this morning, Your Highness?" asked the older woman, as she poured tea for the princess.
"I was thinking of Joshua," confessed Princess Aliana with a smile. "He came to see me last night."
"Did he?" said the older woman, raising an eyebrow as she poured tea into her own cup.
Aliana laughed. "Oh, Gracielle, don't pretend. You know very well he was in my rooms. That is why you didn't come to check on me."
Gracielle lifted her teacup demurely. "As a matter of fact, I did stop in to check on you, but Karene informed me you were otherwise engaged."
Aliana flushed slightly, but she wasn't embarrassed, not really. Not with Gracielle, who had been her nurse since she'd come to her fiancé's court at age four, and who had taught her to speak frankly of the things that men and women did together.