“Mmmm,” he said, taking a deep breath that made his chest rise and push up against her. “You smell wonderful.”
“I’m not sure how that is possible, being trapped in this stuffy tower for so long.”
His fingers brushed upward, skimming her back and slipping to the front of her to caress her breasts right through her clothing. A delicious shudder of anticipation swept through her. “All I’ve been thinking about is our time alone, and it is driving me mad,” he muttered. Leaning over, he nibbled on her earlobe causing her to giggle.
“I’ve barely been able to wait for this either,” she answered in a breathy whisper.
His mouth trailed kisses down her neck next. It felt seductive, and she liked that. Rapunzel turned her head and released an involuntary moan of pleasure. As he pulled her closer up against his body, his kisses trailed lower to her cleavage. He playfully bit at her nipple through her gown. She arched backward, allowing him access, breathing heavily as she waited for more. Rapunzel’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw Medea out the window. The girl stood at the edge of the forest glaring at her. Even from that distance, she could feel the darkness seeping from the girl’s pores.
“Let’s move away from the window,” she told Marco, taking his hand and guiding him closer to the bed. “This is better.”
His eyes shot over to the pallet and then back to her. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?” he asked.
“Marco, we have very little time before Hecuba or Medea come back, so I suggest we don’t waste it talking.”
“I agree,” he said kissing her again. His hands wandered to the front laces on her bodice. He untied them while he spoke. “You won’t regret anything we do here today, will you?”
“You are my betrothed. We will be married soon, but I can’t wait. I get very lonely locked away in this tower. Don’t tease me and leave me longing for more, I beg you.”
“You don’t have to beg, Rapunzel. I am all yours.” With that, he pushed her gown off her shoulders. She grabbed at him as they kissed passionately like two starved lovers. He removed her clothing so quickly she barely knew it had happened. They were both craving the kind of sexual affection they could find together. She had needs, and so did he. There was no reason they couldn’t fulfill those needs together.
His mouth came down and covered one breast, making her cry out in ecstasy. His lips were working sensual magic as he suckled her and brought both her nipples to peaks. A searing heat spiraled upward again, starting at her groin. As if he knew what she was feeling, his hand slid up between her legs, and his palm cupped her womanhood.
“Oh, Marco,” she said through heavy breathing. “I want this more than you know.”
“Touch me,” he told her, stepping back and kicking off his boots. He quickly removed his weapon belt and dropped it to the floor. Then he undid the tie at his waist and dropped his breeches to the ground. His hardened form sprang forth, causing her eyes to fasten to it.
“You are so amazing,” she said, slowly reaching out and wrapping her fingers around his erection. With an intake of breath, his eyes became hooded. He looked at her with lust.
“I want you, Rapunzel,” he said in a deep voice that made her insides stir. This was a man – a very handsome man – saying he wanted her in bed as well as for his wife.
“My body longs to feel you within me,” she told him, pulling him closer to the bed.
He leaned over and swept her up into his arms, kissing her as he kneeled on the pallet. Then ever so slowly, he laid her back on the bed. Starting at her toes, he ran his fingers upward with the gentlest touch, making small, sensual circles on her skin. She waited in anticipation as he got closer and closer to her womanly mound.
His fingers moved upward still, sliding around to squeeze her bare buttocks in both his hands. She squirmed in delight at his touch. Then he did something that surprised her. He hunkered down and put his face between her legs.
“Marco, what are you doing?” she asked, breathing heavily, barely able to speak.
“I want you to be pleasured.”
“I assure you, I will be.”
“Lay back and relax, Rapunzel. And experience the pleasure.”
She watched as his mouth moved closer and closer to her most private part. Her insides quivered, wondering what he was about to do. Then to her surprise, his tongue flicked out and tasted her. She arched up off the bed, lifting her hips in the process. He kissed every part of her, working his way from his lower position, all the way back up her body. She felt a wetness between her legs that wasn’t put there by Marco’s kisses. And when he made his way back to her mouth, she was so hot and ready for him that she begged him to take her.
“Marco, please,” she whispered. “I need to feel you inside of me. Do not tease me anymore.”
“I’m not teasing you, Rapunzel. I am savoring every minute we have together and remembering your essence upon my tongue.”
The tip of his hardened manhood pushed up between her legs and, ever so slowly, he slid into her, guided by her liquid passion. Silk over steel, she felt his hardened length enter and fill her completely.
She moaned. He moaned. And then his hips moved faster. Getting caught up in the act of passion, she reached up with her legs and wrapped them around his waist. Rapunzel didn’t try to muffle her scream as she found her release, and neither did Marco.
They both cried out in elation. Behind her closed lids, she saw the most glorious colors of purple, yellow and magenta. His seed spilled into her, the feeling of life passing between them so intoxicating that it could only be described as magical.
They climbed to the highest heights. When they came back down, Marco laid next to her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her on the head.
“I can’t wait until we’re married, Rap.”
“Rap?” she repeated, and giggled, trying to catch her breath. “That’s what my brothers call me.”
“I know,” he told her, kissing her on the nose. “I saw your brothers and your father. I told them you have powers now.”
“You did?” She pushed up to one elbow. “When did you see them?”
“I took the dragon to Gillingham yesterday, but it was a struggle. The dragon doesn’t listen. I don’t think it is the right one for me. Ever since the accident when I accidentally stabbed it in the wing with my dagger, it can’t even seem to fly straight.”
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that.”
“Yes. The creature is pathetic. I’m surprised it can fly at all. And it bled a horrible green color I have never seen before.”
“I didn’t know dragons had green blood.”
“There are a lot of things I don’t know about dragons.”
There was a noise outside that took their attention. Rapunzel hurriedly sat up and donned her gown. “It’s Medea,” she whispered. “Get dressed, quickly.”
Marco jumped off the bed and had just finished pulling up his breeches when Medea’s head popped up, and she hoisted herself through the window.
“Medea, you were supposed to wait until you saw Marco leave the tower,” scolded Rapunzel, realizing how close Medea had come to seeing them naked. As it was, the girl kept staring at Marco’s bare chest, and Rapunzel didn’t like it.
“I heard you both screaming and thought you were in trouble.”
“We were screaming, but I assure you we weren’t in trouble.” Rapunzel’s eyes darted over to Marco. They shared a secret smile. “What you heard was passion,” she admitted.
“What were you doing?” asked Medea, watching them closely.
“Quit asking questions,” said Rapunzel, tying the bodice of her gown as Marco donned his tunic and fastened his weapon belt around his waist.
“If you don’t tell me, then I won’t tell you something you might want to know,” rallied the girl.
“Medea, don’t make me angry,” warned Rapunzel.
“Rap,” said, Marco, giving Rapunzel a look that said he would handle the girl. “Thank you
for keeping your part of the deal, Medea.” He buckled his belt as he spoke. “But is there something you’re keeping from us? Because that wouldn’t be very nice, would it?”
“Oh, all right,” she said, smiling at Marco. Marco might not have magic, nor be able to control a small dragon, but he certainly knew how to get Medea to act the way he wanted. “I came up here to tell you that my mother is on her way back to the tower.”
“What?” Rapunzel’s head snapped upward. “Why didn’t you say that right away?” Her heart beat faster, anticipating the witch’s reaction and what she’d do when she saw Marco there.
“I’d better go.” Marco leaned over and kissed Rapunzel. From the corner of her eyes, Rapunzel saw a puff of green smoke.
“What are you doing here?” shouted Hecuba, seeing Marco and becoming furious. Her injured hand was wrapped up in a cloth.
“Hecuba,” said Marco, facing the woman instead of running. “What did you do to your hand?”
“Never mind that,” she said, hiding her hand behind her back. “You will be punished for coming to the tower. You don’t belong here.” She raised her other hand, getting ready to blast Marco with a beam.
“Nay!” shouted Rapunzel, holding out her hands. The witch went flying backward, hitting the wall.
“You really do have powers,” she spat. “I didn’t want to believe it, but it looks like it’s true. But your weak powers can’t stop me and, mayhap, this will remind you not to ever try anything again.” She lifted her hands in front of her, directing them toward Rapunzel.
“Don’t touch her,” shouted Marco, drawing his sword. With one flip of her wrist, Hecuba sent Marco up into the air and sailing across the room. Still holding his sword, his free hand grabbed for the braid of hair as he fell out the window.
“Mother, nay!” Medea stepped forward, lifting Hecuba up in the air without even touching her. Her powers were getting stronger. “Don’t hurt Marco, and don’t touch my sister, either.” Darkness filled the girl’s eyes.
Hecuba’s hand went to her throat. She sounded as if she were choking. Rapunzel’s eyes grew wide when she saw a black fog surrounding Medea’s body. Her dark side had been activated. The girl’s eyes bore fire and when she spoke again, her voice sounded low.
“You will be the one to pay for what you’ve done.”
Rapunzel had never seen anything like it. A thirteen-year-old girl was going up against a witch who was hundreds of years old, and Hecuba was struggling. How powerful did that make Medea? It frightened Rapunzel, especially since Medea was using dark magic.
“Medea, no!” shouted Rapunzel as Hecuba continued to gasp for breath. “Put her down, now. Do you understand me?” Rapunzel felt a duty to protect her little sister, even if it was from the girl’s dark self. She had to stop this before it was too late.
It was as if Medea were possessed by her power. A smirk mixed with a snarl came from the girl’s mouth. She didn’t seem as if she even heard Rapunzel. If Rapunzel didn’t intervene soon, Medea could kill her own mother. That shouldn’t have bothered Rapunzel after all the horrible things Hecuba had done to her family, but it bothered her immensely.
Like it or not, Medea was her sister. Rapunzel wouldn’t let her sister do something as horrible as kill someone – especially her own mother. The girl was growing up too fast and couldn’t yet control her powers. Rapunzel had to stop her before she did something she would regret the rest of her life.
“I said, put her down, Sister,” shouted Rapunzel, feeling different since she’d coupled with Marco. His essence lingered with hers and had somehow made her powers stronger. She took a step toward Medea and something odd happened. Rapunzel’s world seemed to move in slow motion around her, while she sped through the room as if she were running. Not sure how she got there, she was right next to Medea. She knocked into her half-sister, causing the girl to fall. When Medea hit the ground, the connection was broken and Hecuba fell to the ground as well.
Rapunzel’s head spun. She had no idea what just happened. Her hands were shaking, and she had to hold on to the back of a chair and lower herself atop it to keep from falling. Had she really just stopped Medea from killing Hecuba? And why did she even care?
Hecuba and Medea both sat up, remaining silent. They wouldn’t give Rapunzel any more trouble – or at least not for today.
Chapter 18
Marco tried his hardest to call for the red dragon the next day, but all he got was the little, green dragon showing up and causing him trouble. He honestly didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. It was as if the dragon was making a mockery of him being a Dragon Lord. It made no sense.
“Father, I think I lost my ability to call forth the red dragon.” Marco stood next to his father, watching the green dragon in the distance as it chased after birds and snapped at them.
“What changed?” asked his father. “You were able to do it before.”
“I suppose I am not focused enough. I keep thinking about Rapunzel.” He smiled, sighed, and closed his eyes.
“God’s teeth, did you make love to her?” asked his father, causing Marco’s eyes to snap open.
“Would it make a difference if I did?”
“Yes! I should have told you that during training, a Dragon Lord needs to conserve his energy.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are too unstable right now, Marco. If your powers transfer to a woman through your spilled seed, it is only going to make you weaker.”
“I didn’t know that.” He pondered the situation, not feeling any different. “What will happen to Rapunzel?”
“I’m not sure since she is sired by a warlock. I suppose if she has any powers, they might become stronger.”
“How strong?” he asked, hoping Rapunzel would at least be able to stand up to Hecuba and Medea’s powers until he was able to rescue her.
“There is no telling. All I can say is you’d better hurry and rescue her. Why haven’t you done so by now?”
“I have to figure out how to break her curse first,” Marco told him. “If not, as soon as she steps foot from the castle, her hair will tie her to the earth and not let her move.”
“There must be a way to do it. Try your hardest to figure it out.”
“I will. But first I need to get rid of the green dragon so I can concentrate on calling the red one to me. I can’t focus on anything with this one causing so much trouble.”
The green dragon flew up in the air over Marco’s head. When it was directly above him, it dropped a dead bird. Marco jumped out of the way, and the bird landed at his feet.
“See what I mean?” said Marco.
“Well, there could be a good side to all of this.” His father bent down and picked up the bird by its feet.
“What would that be?”
“At least now, we don’t have to waste time hunting. How does pigeon stew sound for dinner?”
Rapunzel paced the room the next day, feeling trapped and anxious. Ever since she’d made love to Marco, her emotions were becoming stronger. Mainly her emotion of anger. Everything Medea did or said seemed to set her off. And Hecuba had become so irritating that she was ready to do away with both of them.
The frightening part was that she felt powerful enough to carry it out. She held out her hand and studied it, wondering just what else she was capable of doing. She’d already managed to use her powers to send both Hecuba and Medea flying across the room. Thankfully, they hadn’t bothered her much after that episode.
Hecuba seemed tired and distracted lately. So much so that she didn’t even notice her daughter wearing short skirts again and putting more paint on her face than Rapunzel. Medea had even managed to turn her hair blond. The girl sat at the dressing table, brushing her hair and humming, staring at herself in the mirror.
That aggravated Rapunzel. And when she realized the girl had taken the rose Marco gave her and was wearing it in her hair now, she almost exploded.
“Give me my rose,” demanded Rapunzel,
putting her hands on her hips. “And get away from my dressing table.”
“I’m sure Marco wanted me to have the rose. You can have the daisy.” She nodded to the daisy lying on the floor, broken and wilted.
“I said, move.”
“I will not move until I am finished making myself beautiful.”
“Medea, you are fourteen years old. You are too young to be considered beautiful by anyone.”
“In another four days, I will be eighteen.” The girl sighed and picked up a small stick with a soft ball of cotton on the end and dipped it into the jar of purple paint with gold sparkles. “Once Marco sees me all grown up, he will marry me instead of you.” She brushed the purple mixture over her eyelashes the way she’d seen Rapunzel do it, blinking several times and smiling at her reflection. Then she took two soft cloths and shoved them down her bodice to make her look curvy.
“You shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Why not?” she asked. “I want Marco to notice me, so he will make me moan and cry out in passion the way you did.” She opened her mouth and pretended to moan, sounding like a dying whale.
“Stop that,” commanded Rapunzel, not liking to be teased in this manner about something that was private and sacred to her.
“Ooooh, ooooh,” Medea screamed, louder and louder. “Marco, Marco, Marco!”
“I’ve had enough of you.” Rapunzel shot forward and, when she did, her very long braid wrapped around her legs causing her to fall to the floor. “Did you do that?” she asked Medea.
“Mayhap I did, or mayhap I didn’t.” The girl smiled into the mirror and pushed her fake breasts higher.
Then Medea stood up and stuck out her butt and arched her back, hobbling around the room. “I’m Rapunzel,” she said in a high voice. Then she started screaming again.
Lady in the Tower [Rapunzel] Page 13