empress of storms

by cameron, nicole m

  Finally, Danaë pushed away from the table. “Thank you for your hospitality, captain, but I suspect I’ll burst if I eat another bite.”

  Andros looked pleased at the comment. “It was my honor, majesty. I should make my rounds in any case.”

  “Then we won’t keep you. I bid you all a good night.” With a nod for the other diners, Danaë stood and Matthias followed her, taking her hand in his as they left the captain’s cabin.

  “Does the man eat like that every night?” he asked once they were in their own cabin.

  “His cook is a treasure, but I think he saves the feasts for when the royal family is on board,” Danaë said. “I told Flavia I wouldn’t need her for the rest of the evening. Would you mind undoing my laces?”

  “Not at all.” Matthias stepped behind her, helping her undo the complicated fastenings that bound her bodice close to her body. She slipped out of it and let it drop to the deck, then turned to him and wound her arms around his neck.

  Matthias kissed her, running his hands over the long muscles of her back. Her skin felt moist and warm through the thin fabric of the chemise. He wanted to strip it off and touch the delicate wings of her shoulder blades, trail his fingers down to her waist. He loved the way her hips flared out like an amphora, fitting the curve of his hands like they were made for each other.

  “If you’re tired we can sleep,” he offered. “The gods know it’s been a long day.” He had any number of questions about what had been in the report on her desk, not to mention what was going on between her brother and his cavalry officer, but he sensed they would be better asked tomorrow.

  She looked up at him, blue eyes dark in the flickering light from the oil lamps. “I am tired. But I know our time together is limited, and I don’t want to waste any of it.”

  “Time with you is never wasted,” he said, and found he meant it. “I’m happy to hold you in my arms and let you sleep.”

  “Matthias.” Her voice was low and laced with something he recognized, a weariness that had nothing to do with the physical. He knew from decades of experience that being a good ruler wasn’t all about wearing crowns and waving to the populace. It was a difficult and time-consuming job, juggling the well-being of a people with the attendant issues of finances, politics, the devising and passing of laws, the defense of the realm, and doing one’s best to make sure that one left an appropriate legacy for the next generation. He’d been doing it for over twenty years and couldn’t claim that he’d mastered the role. Danaë had only been doing it for a year. Her fatigue was palpable to him.

  She needed the chance to relax, to hand over the responsibility of her position and simply be.

  He pulled her closer, feeling himself rouse at the warmth of her body. “Danaë,” he murmured. “Let go. For tonight, let me take the burden from you and make the decisions. I promise you, you won’t regret it.”

  Her eyes grew even darker, pupils expanding and compressing the blue into thin rings. “I don’t know.” It wasn’t a disagreement so much as a tremor in the elemental pull between them. He could sense her need to yield to him, if only for one night. He knew what it took to give up control.

  He bent down to kiss her, savoring the softness of her lips as they opened to admit his tongue. He could taste wine, salt, lemon, fish, and something underneath that was Danaë. She moaned into his mouth, clinging to him as if she would slip to the deck without his arms around her. He explored her, mapping every ridge and soft spot with care and precision.

  When their kiss ended he could see the spots of high color along her cheekbones, and the pulse beating in her throat. He stroked the flushed silk of her cheek. “Let me do this for you, little bird. Let me give you this ease.”

  After a long moment, she nodded.

  “Good.” His cock throbbed at the spiced honey scent of her desire, the ripeness of her breasts and hips. He wanted to pull her to him, ravish her against the bulkhead, mark her as his own. But this wasn’t about his desire. Tonight would be about her and what she needed.

  “The berths are only big enough for one person,” he said, “but if we pulled the bedding out and put it on the floor we’ll have enough room to lie together.”

  She let him unwind her arms from his neck. He moved to the berths, tugging out the blankets and mattresses and spreading them out. The pillows were last, tossed to the head of their impromptu bed. With that done, he returned to her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “If you want me to stop, say so. But unless I hear that, I’ll do what I want.”

  She licked her lips, her breath coming harder now. “All right.”

  “Good. Now stand there and stay still.” He unlaced the front of her chemise, pushing it from her shoulders and letting it fall to the deck. She stood before him nude and perfect, the tan of her skin tawny now in the dim light, broken by the shadow of the curls between her thighs and the dusky rose of her nipples. They had pebbled up as her shift fell, and now he bent to one, taking it in his mouth and sucking gently. He felt a tremor run through her body at the sensation, added to it by dragging the flat of his tongue across the hard nub, then tracing around it with the tip.

  The tremor returned, moving through her body. He shifted to the other nipple, alternating between swirls of his tongue around it and light sucking. Her breath shortened and she made a soft, hungry noise. Feeling devilish, he nibbled on the ripe tip and was rewarded with a smothered wail.

  He could smell her desire now, a salt scent that was perfumed with something warmer and more humid. Kissing his way down the smooth skin over her breastbone, he nipped lightly here and there across her stomach. She twitched but tried to remain still as he ordered.

  Dropping to a knee, he reached up and let his fingers trail across the skin he’d teased as he kissed the spot above her public curls. The scent of her desire was much stronger here. His cock throbbed with the need to push her thighs apart and bury his tongue in her, drinking his fill from the source.

  He looked up at her. Her eyes were closed and her lower lip was firmly caught between her teeth, part of her attempt to obey his orders and remain still. “Open your eyes, little bird.”

  She did. The blue was the thinnest ring around pupils gone wide and dark as the night sea.

  “I want you to watch me while I kiss you between your legs. I’m going to lick you, savor your sweet flesh, and bring you screaming with my tongue. And when it’s done, I’ll start over again. Do you understand?”

  She sucked in a quick breath, swallowing on the tail of it. “Yes.”

  “Keep your eyes on me. Watch everything I do to you.”

  This time her response was a thin whine. Satisfied, Matthias cupped her hips in a firm grip and pressed his lips to those dark curls, enjoying their springy softness. He burrowed deeper, sliding his tongue out and touching it to the seam of her outer lips. Very deliberately he licked the spongy flesh with the tip of his tongue.

  Her taste filled his mouth, salt-fresh and honey, with a rich undertone that made his balls ache. He wanted to pull her onto the bedding and throw her legs over his shoulders, bury himself in the soft sweetness between her thighs. But he would be patient and drive his little witch queen out of her mind with pleasure until the only thing she could think of was him. No politics, no internecine fighting, only him and the ecstasy provided by his lips and fingers and cock.

  He licked her again, delicate and teasing, then slid his tongue between her outer lips and touched the small, hard nub hidden there. Above him Danaë let out a muffled sound that sounded like pain. He focused on the nub, dragging the tip of his tongue over it over and over. It swelled under his attention and he felt the tiny hood easing back, exposing the fleshy little pearl to his attentions.

  Now he used his thumbs to part her flesh, fitting his lips around the nub and suckling. She was salt and the tang of fruit in his mouth, and he could feel the slickness of her inner thighs against his chin. He rolled his eyes up to see if Danaë was being good and obeying his orders.

&nbs
p; She was, the expression on her face rapt and flushed. Her mouth was slightly open and glistened even in the low light as if she’d been licking her lips, trying to moisten them in between pants. Lower, her breasts heaved with each breath, the curved mounds bouncing the tiniest bit on her frame.

  He urged her thighs wider, pressing close so that he could work his mouth over the slick, salty lips. Sucking and nibbling on one, then the other, he kissed her the same way he would have kissed her mouth, working his tongue into that hot, heady darkness and swirling it round.

  Gripping her hips, he pulled her hard against his face, thrusting his tongue deep into her. Her inner muscles quivered from the invasion, and a fresh flow of slickness coated his tongue.

  He swallowed with relish, fucking her slowly with his tongue. The long muscles in her thighs began to tremble from the strain of holding herself open for him. He pulled back, focusing now on her clitoris as he slid one, then two thick fingers deep into her.

  Curving his fingers in a come hither motion, he pressed into her flesh. Her entire body convulsed around him and he looked up in time to see her cram a fist into her mouth to muffle a scream.

  He massaged that hungry little spot inside while his lips and tongue made love to her. He felt surrounded by her heat, the delicious scent and taste of her, the sweet little cries she tried to keep quiet so as not to alert the entire ship that she was being pleasured. Glancing up again, he saw her white teeth sink into her fist, biting down hard.

  Yes, that’s it, little bird. Give yourself over to me, spend hard on my tongue. Let me taste your release.

  He rubbed the flat of his upper teeth against the swollen center of her pleasure, then drew it into his mouth and sucked once, hard, as his fingers pressed into her. The little muscles surrounding them began to flutter and quiver, making her shudder against his one-handed grip. With sweet ruthlessness he worked her through it, not letting up until his hand was drenched with her fluids and his cheeks and chin were equally wet.

  “Please,” he heard her beg, “please, Matthias, enough. I can’t, I can’t…”

  He backed off as her legs collapsed. He caught her, easing her to the bedding and straightening her limbs. Discreetly wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his tunic, he kissed both nipples, then the column of her throat. “I’ll treasure that for the rest of my life, little bird,” he murmured against her moist skin. “Watching you standing there like a goddess tormented by pleasure, surrendering yourself to me. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  She urged him up to lie alongside her. “The way you touched me, kissed me. I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was as if I’d been set on fire inside.”

  “Good.” He gave her a long, lingering kiss, loving the way her flavors mingled into something that intoxicated him. “There are more things I’d like to do with you tonight, little bird. If you’re willing.”

  Her eyes went wide, as did her smile. Silently, she nodded.

  ****

  The next morning Danaë walked out on deck, aware that she was beaming and unable to wipe the expression from her face. Darius spotted her from his usual spot near the bow and ambled over, the usual goblet in his hand.

  “Good morning, sister dear,” he said with a smirk. “You look well.”

  She refused to blush at his amused tone. “I slept well,” she said, pretending to study the glittering sunlight dancing on the waves. Ahead of them the sky was pellucid, streaked in blue and rose around the gleaming disk of the rising sun. She couldn’t see it yet but she knew the island of Rhodope lay over the horizon. In an hour or so it would come into sight, green-brown-gold against the blue ocean.

  That reminded her of something and she took another, closer look at her brother. “Haven’t you retrieved your chain from Luna yet?” she asked. “You’ll need it for when we land.”

  The expression Darius made could only be called long-suffering. “You obviously haven’t heard the shrieks when I tried to take it back. I’m trying to find something else she’d like, but I’d need to raid your jewelry chest for that,” he said. “I suspect your foster child is going to have expensive tastes when she gets older.”

  “Or she’s a toddler who likes shiny things,” Danaë said. “We liked playing in Mother’s jewelry chest often enough, I remember.”

  “Yes, because we were pretending to be pirates gloating over our booty.”

  “You were a pirate,” she said. “I was a pirate queen. I think I have a rope chain that’s too big for her to swallow. We can try swapping that for your ambassador’s chain after breakfast.”

  He gave her a florid bow. “You have my eternal gratitude, your majesticness.”

  “Oh, hush,” she ordered. Even his teasing couldn’t bother her this morning. The issues of the previous day still remained in her mind, but they had become items with achievable solutions instead of maddening ghosts. As for her body, it ached deliciously in certain places, adding to her serene sense of well-being. Matthias had used depths of ingenuity even she hadn’t suspected to bring her again and again, forcing her at the end to clutch at his shoulders and beg for an end to it.

  He’d insisted on cleaning her afterwards, wiping away their combined fluids with a tenderness she’d never felt in any lover. And then she’d slept in his arms, boneless and exhausted in the best way as she breathed in his warm scent. When she’d woken up she was alone in the muddled bedding, but a steaming cup of tea and a plate of fruit waited for her on the desk along with a note. Seeing to Schrader and the other mainlanders. Eat this, drink this, and know that I worship you.

  She smiled again at the thought of the note. It was in with her other private papers, and would be stored in her jewelry box once they reached the palace.

  “While we’re on the subject of gratitude, might I make a tiny suggestion?” Darius said, dragging her thoughts back to the day.

  “Have I ever been able to stop you?”

  “Not really,” he said. “The next time the ship goes in for a refit, have the royal cabin’s walls thickened. Or soundproofed. You may have slept well last night, but I was next door and heard some astonishing things. My congratulations to your husband, by the way.”

  Now she felt her cheeks flame, but kept her voice even. “I think I’ll send you Ghobos next. Or perhaps Huangzou. By rowboat.”

  He saluted her with the goblet. “Just trying to save you from future embarrassment, sister dear.”

  9

  HELLASPONT

  The royal trireme sailed into the harbor at Rhodope shortly past noon as promised, docking at its guarded berth. Danaë and Matthias were escorted off the ship by their respective guards, spending a few minutes receiving the cheers of the dock workers and the greetings of the harbor master before climbing into chariots for their welcome procession.

  The Royal City of Hellaspont was a sprawling collection of sun-washed buildings that purled up the green hills of Rhodope like the foam on a sea wave. At the top of the hill overlooking the Eastern Sea stood the Royal Palace, a compound of elegant buildings with columned frontages and steeply sloped roofs surrounded by a stout defensive wall. A high octagonal tower rose from the center of the palace and was capped with a column-supported cupola under which an eternal flame burned, serving as a lighthouse for the island.

  The clamoring crowds thronged on both sides of the street as the royal party rode past, and the cheers that echoed off the polished walls had Danaë smiling and waving to her people with enthusiasm. Kostas, Schrader, and other members of both royal guards paced before and behind her in war chariots, and Darius, who usually rode with her, had volunteered to come up with Ife and Luna, who were arriving with the luggage wagons. Instead, Matthias was her passenger for the day. She took a moment to glance at him, admiring how the sunlight lit his hair with a golden glow like one of the gods. The few strands of silver along his temples didn’t detract at all, but served as elegant touches that added a formidable gravitas to his good looks. She imagined what he would look
like naked and in her bed, where she’d fantasized about him for so long. Thank the gods I’ll find out tonight.

  He caught her glance and returned a rakish smile. “I’ve never been on this road before,” he said over the rumble of the chariot wheels. “On our previous visits we were always escorted on a rather winding route to the palace.”

  “Father enjoyed showing off his capital to visiting royalty,” she said. “This is the normal way we go to and from the harbor. It continues down the other side of the hill to that bay I told you about, the one with the dolphins.”

  “Yes, the one with Darius’s unrequited paramour. Any chance we might be able to visit it while we’re here?”

  “I’ll make sure of it.” She only had to decide whether or not to make it a private visit for the two of them, or to take Ife, Darius, and perhaps little Luna as well. That was another matter she would need to attend to as soon as possible. Flavia had her own chores and shouldn’t be expected to continue doing double duty as nursemaid. The nursery should be cleaned out and aired, and I’ll have to find a trustworthy nursemaid. Perhaps Nidas can suggest someone appropriate.

  The road curved around the jut of a building near the top of the hill, then split into a Y junction. The rightmost road curved down towards the bay, while the leftmost road continued up to the cliffs overlooking the sea. The Royal Palace of Hellas had been constructed there to remind all who sailed upon the sea who ruled this complicated archipelago. The fact that the palace also commanded a superb view of the sea from one side and the sprawling city of Hellaspont from the other was an added benefit.

  Danaë eased her chariot up through the switchbacks, letting the horse choose its own pace. “The wagons will take a bit more time to make it up to the top,” she said, leaning into the incline. “I’ll need to meet with the head of the royal council once we arrive, but I’m hoping that won’t take long. We should be able to have a peaceful dinner by ourselves.”

  “Before the festivities start, you mean? Yes, I’d like that,” Matthias said. “Schrader’s men have reports from the consulate so I can work on those while you’re meeting with your council.”