“Are you… are you sure?” he asked. “You don’t have to do this.”
She nodded purposefully and Leo swallowed hard. It took him several deep breaths to steady himself, but by the time he had, his grin had returned.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you? I’ve known whores who weren’t so… adventurous.”
Karran scowled, then snorted dismissively. Coming from any other partner, Leo might have judged her insulted by the comparison. But Karran was different. Her reaction was not one of offense, but rather derision. Of course she was adventurous; she was an ambrosian. What human woman could hope to compare?
“All right then,” Leo said. Sliding his fingers higher, he winked and buried a finger smoothly into Karran’s wet, too-hot sex. At her look of surprise, he shrugged and added, “I don’t want to hurt you. Unless you’d prefer I did it dry?”
Karran blushed unexpectedly, her crimson skin darkening until it was almost purple. Looking down, she shook her head and ever-so-slightly eased her knees wider. It was an invitation and not one Leo was about to pass up.
Slowly, intimately, he caressed the inner walls of Karran’s sex. And, as expected, she all but melted beneath his touch. Though her limbs and back remained rigid to support her, the required exertion only added to the sensitivity of her insides. Within moments, his every caress left her panting and shuddering around his fingers.
He withdrew carefully, spreading the ample lubrication of her juices across the tight dimple of her ass with his knuckles. Then, with the lightest of pressures, he began to ease his way inside. The tight ring of muscle resisted him of course, but Karran’s gasps demonstrated her willingness. Leo did not even need to peek over the edge of the tub to know that her talons were clenched—he could hear them scrabbling urgently against the side.
It was not until he had buried his finger to the knuckle that he paused. Karran’s juices might be sufficient lubrication for a single finger, but the thought of penetrating her further still worried him. Her submission was a precious thing and it would not do to cause discomfort as a result.
“Get in,” he instructed.
Karran glanced at him curiously, then slowly relaxed and allowed her back to sag until it touched the surface of the water. She moved slowly to avoid wrenching Leo’s finger from her rear. It took some careful negotiation and shifting, but he eventually managed to position the two of them on their knees. Or at least, he was on his knees—Karran crouched low on all fours, the ivory span of her horns resting against his ribs as she faced him. Lifting her face until she resembled a half-submerged predator, she gazed seductively up at him.
“Lick me,” Leo said. Angling his hips, he slid his stiff member instructively across her pursed lips. “And make sure you’re thorough.”
Karran obeyed instantly, opening her mouth and swallowing his length in a single gulp. Leo moaned without even meaning to, gripping the edge of the tub for support. The ambrosian’s maw was nearly as hot as her snatch and drove the air from his lungs in a hiss once the sensation reached his brain. Hovering on the precipice between pleasure and pain, he bared his teeth and searched frantically for a distraction.
He didn’t have to look far. Wagging slowly above her tailbone, Karran’s tail rose like a windswept reed. Leo grasped it tightly, squeezing and using the leverage to explore its owner’s ass with his other hand. This time, it was Karran who moaned, though the sound emerged from the mute ambrosian’s cock-filled mouth as a shaky, huffing sigh.
“Liked that, did you?” Leo teased. Grinning, he doubled-down on his efforts. There was something about dominating the powerful ambrosian from every side that added to his thrill. As much as she willingly submitted to him in bed, Karran was used to having a degree of control over their coupling. But with her tail yanked aside and a finger buried in her ass, Leo had taken away even that little power.
“All right,” he said, surprisingly breathless. “Turn around.” When Karran did not immediately comply, he growled. Releasing her tail, he swatted her ass sharply and felt the muscles of her rear clench down responsively. “I said turn around, Karran.”
Leisurely, almost the point of insubordination, Karran pulled back. Her chin was wet, though Leo could not tell whether it was drool or the bathwater that was the cause. She gazed up at him for a moment, then nuzzled his abdomen and slowly spun around. This time, as she moved, Leo allowed his finger to slide from the ambrosian’s rear. To his relief, it emerged spotless.
Once again, Karran crouched low until her shoulders nearly vanished beneath the surface. Only her head—with its accompanying horns—and her upturned rear remained above the water.
Sliding in between the ambrosian’s spread legs, Leo winced as he scratched his knee on one of Karran’s submerged talons. There were advantages to fooling around in the bath, of course, but there were also decidedly drawbacks as well. Not that he would allow such things to stop him.
Taking Karran’s tail in his hand, Leo lined himself up. His cock remained slick from its time in Karran’s mouth, but he could tell at a glance that it would not be enough. He briefly considered pressing forward anyway, but quickly discarded the notion. Not only would such a thing be cruel to Karran, but what was the point in fucking her if he couldn’t enjoy himself either?
Wordlessly, Leo shifted targets and buried himself smoothly into the ambrosian’s cunt. Again, Karran moaned in her silent way, then craned her neck to look at him in confusion.
“It needed more,” Leo explained. Thrusting shallowly, he savored the heat of the female’s body for a moment, then reluctantly. This time, his member practically dripped with visible lubrication. “You’re welcome.”
Karran watched him a moment longer, then smiled nervously and nodded. Returning to her earlier, crouched position, she reached back with a claw and carefully spread herself.
Gradually, Leo lined himself up once more. He could feel the heat of Karran’s body through her skin and fought the urge to simply thrust into it. Slowly, so slowly that he could feel every twitch and shift of his partner’s body, he bore down against the ambrosian’s pucker. It resisted him at first, clenching and fighting his entry. Then, when the weight of his hips did not abate, it yielded and swallowed him with a measured, relentless motion.
Leo gasped as he slipped inside. The heat of Karran’s ass was every bit the equal of her pussy, but the tightness was like nothing he’d ever experienced. It felt as though all the delicious, constricting pressure of her sex had been condensed and focused into the tight ring of muscle encircling the neck of his shaft. Using both the leverage of her tail and the strength of his hips, Leo slid deeper and confirmed that, yes, his first impression had been correct.
Groaning, Leo adopted a steady rhythm. It took all of his willpower to keep from grasping Karran’s hips and simply rutting her into oblivion, but he managed. The gentleness of his thrusts gave her time to adjust to having him in her ass. And more importantly, it gave him a chance to savor every time she involuntarily squeezed down around his cock.
“Seven hells, Karran,” he groaned. “If I’d known you were this tight, I…”
He trailed off. He’d have what , exactly? Thrown her down on a bed and forcibly emptied himself into her backside? Surely not.
Fortunately, he was spared the necessity of considering such things by Karran herself. Panting, she turned to look back at him a second time and Leo was immediately struck by the profound change that had overcome his lover. The ambrosian’s nervous expression was gone. In its place was an expression of such intense arousal that Leo nearly hesitated. Karran eyed him lustily, her cheeks and brow flushed purple, and her mouth hanging open. Rising, she grasped the lip of the tub with trembling claws and began to push her hips back to meet Leo’s thrusts.
And just like that, all of Leo’s worries evaporated. He grinned, leaning forward to cover Karran’s bare, water-flecked back with his body.
“You like this, don’t you?” he murmured. �
�You’re not doing this for my sake. You wanted this.”
Karran nodded wildly, not even bothering to look at him. Instead, she bowed her head, tightened her grip on the tub, and began to ride him with even greater urgency. Her breath no longer came in the form of needy panting, but sharp, whistling inhalations.
Growling amorously, Leo leaned forward to wrap himself more thoroughly around the ambrosian. She was forced to bear more of his weight in the process, but Karran barely seemed to notice. She did, however, shudder deeply when he snaked his hands around her sides to touch her. With one hand, Leo clutched a breast and rolled the stiff nipple against his palm. With the other, he traveled down her water-soaked belly until he reached her so far neglected folds.
“Do you want me to touch you?” he whispered, his voice barely audible over the splashing of the bath and the dull, indistinct collision of their hips. His fingers traced the outer edges of Karran’s sex as he spoke and spread the leaking wetness he found there. “Or maybe you’d prefer I kept you waiting?”
Throwing back her head, Karran let out a wordless, desperate gasp. With shaking claws, she reached for Leo’s hand and dragged his palm hard against her clit.
“Fair enough,” he chuckled. Then, without even waiting for the ambrosian to brace herself anew, he curled two fingers and slipped them purposefully inside her. The sensation was surprisingly distracting—and not just for Karran. With each thrust, Leo could feel the bulge of his cock pressing against his penetrating digits. And, even more distractingly, the extra stimulation tightened both of Karran’s holes. Groaning, Leo rested his face against the nape of Karran’s neck as his rocking hips grew erratic and uncontrolled.
Leo was not accustomed to being the first one to climax; that habit had long since been chastised out of him by Brigit. Nevertheless, the wicked pressure of Karran’s ass proved too much for him. Bellowing out his climax, Leo thrust hard and fast as he felt himself erupt.
And yet, he was not the only one. In the brief window before the blazing pleasure drove conscious thought from his mind, he felt Karran stiffen and spasm around him. Her hips shook, quivering against his. And then, just as the full brunt of Leo’s orgasm struck him, he felt her walls spasm around him. The clenching was far more thorough around his fingers, but Karran’s climax reached his cock as well. Her ass squeezed down his shaft, perfectly in sync with the throbbing eruptions of his seed.
It was easy enough to lose track of time. Leo had no idea how long he knelt there shuddering, but when he finally came back to his senses, his knees were aching and he could feel the spot where Karran’s talon had scratched him. Moving clumsily, he eased himself out of the ambrosian’s holes and collapsed weakly against the edge of the tub.
The weakness surprised him. He’d felt spent after a good tumble, of course, but nothing quite like this.
“Thank you, Karran,” he said, almost mumbling the words. “I needed that.”
It took a moment for Karran to cuddle up against him, thanks to the tub’s dimensions. Once she’d managed it, however, she draped a warm arm across his chest and sighed happily. It was not the response Leo had expected, given the nature of the activities they’d just engaged in. He was not about to complain, of course, but it did make for a welcome surprise.
“We need to get back,” he murmured. “Don’t let me fall asleep.”
***
Leo woke with a smile on his face, which lasted precisely as long as it took him to glance over and catch a glimpse of the orange-streaked sky coloring the next room.
“Fucking great,” he growled, sitting up abruptly. At his side, Karran stirred and sat up with nearly the same speed. From her expression, she had not intended to sleep, either. Climbing upright, she stepped hastily out of the tub and began a futile hunt for a towel.
Sighing, Leo allowed his head to flop limply against the lip of the tub.
“It’s fine, Karran,” he called. “Don’t bother. We took them all with us.”
Crouching beside a large armoire that had proven too inconvenient to relocate, Karran looked up and glanced over. She stood guiltily in place for a moment, seemingly at a loss for what to do next.
“Just get dressed,” Leo said. Rising, he examined his wrinkled hands with a scowl and stepped out as well. “A little water won’t hurt anything. It’ll dry in the tunnel, anyway.”
Fortunately, his prediction was correct. The humidity of the tunnel was unpleasant, especially in freshly dampened clothes, but the heat meant that both of their outfits were nearly dry by the time they reached his new estate.
Unfortunately, Brigit was waiting for him.
“Master,” she said, before he’d even managed to haul himself up into the cellar proper. Hands clasped in front of her, she fidgeted in a manner akin to Delia. “There’s someone here to, ah… to see you.”
Leo froze, not even bothering to dust himself off. He glanced at Karran and the ambrosian stepped close to his side without prompting.
“Who is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong, Bri?”
She didn’t answer, seemingly at a loss for words. Squaring his shoulders, Leo pushed past her with Karran practically on his heels. He took the stairs three at a time, mentally calculating how long it would take him to reach his rapier and the various obstacles he might encounter along the way.
That opportunity slipped away before he even reached the foyer. Leo managed only two steps through the doorway before he spotted the woman waiting at the threshold, flanked by two guards.
Cirilla Orczy smiled at him. On any other woman, the expression would have been charming. Under the circumstances, however, Leo couldn’t help but feel as though he’d been cornered by some fanged predator.
“Hello, dear,” she said. “Can we talk?”
Chapter Nineteen
Leo glared at Cirilla’s guards as the men settled comfortably on either side of the study’s door. He wasn’t the only one eyeing them. He’d had to insist three times that Karran remain outside with them before she’d complied, but thankfully she seemed to blame the men for the separation, rather than Leo himself. Meeting her eyes briefly, Leo nodded and shut the door.
Turning, he discovered that Cirilla had made herself at home. She sat in his usual chair, watching him and holding a freshly poured drink. Her grin widened beneath his gaze and she crossed her legs. That doing so exposed a scandalous amount of thigh was clearly not lost on her.
“What do you want?” Leo demanded. Ignoring his fiancée’s teasing attempt at seduction, he marched past her and poured himself a drink as well.
“I owe you an apology, Leo,” Cirilla said evenly.
“I’ll say.”
“And not just for last night,” she continued. “Though, frankly, you should be thanking me for that, not asking for an apology.”
Leo said nothing. Taking his seat, he sipped his drink and glared at the woman over the top of the glass. In the light of evening, he noticed for the first time that her eyes were pale green. The color complemented her dark hair well, though he promptly forced himself to abandon such thoughts. This was a battle, not romance.
Sighing, Cirilla sipped her own drink. She gazed around the room for a moment. Then, astonishingly, she looked down.
“I was the one who sent the assassin,” she said. “The trow, that is. I’m sure you may have had others.”
Leo froze, mid-sip, until the mouthful of alcohol began to burn. At the mention of the assassin, his partly healed palm began to burn nearly as much as the alcohol. Swallowing, he set the glass aside and leaned forward in his chair. Cirilla did not wither under his stare as he’d hoped, but neither did she meet it. Instead, she continued to consider the glass she cradled in her lap.
“It was… presumptuous of me,” she admitted. “But I knew that sooner or later our paths would cross. Rest assured, as long as our engagement remains intact, you don’t need to worry.”
“I wasn’t,” Leo said.
“And, as I said, I wanted to apologize.” Setting her unfin
ished drink aside, Cirilla leaned forward to match Leo’s posture.
The angle gave him a generous view of her cleavage, but Leo refused to give in to the temptation. He remained silent, waiting.
“So, as a gesture of goodwill, I thought I might bring you a gift. Think of it as a peace offering. Or a wedding present, if you like.”
“What is it?”
Cirilla laughed, shrugging and reclining in her seat. “Me!”
“Not interested,” Leo said, rising.
“Oh, sit down, Leo,” Cirilla snapped. She scowled playfully at him. “I’m not that much a bore. You’ll enjoy this much more than a half-hearted fuck.”
Leo sat. Much as he hated to admit it, Brigit had been right about the woman. She was dangerous, certainly, but she did have a certain wit and ambition that appealed to him. Cirilla reminded him of Davin in a way, albeit with a title.
“I thought, seeing as we’re soon to be wed, that I might share a few of my plans,” she said. “You weren’t the only one trying to undermine Terras, after all. And I think, given your pet alderman, you might be doubly interested in what I have to say.”
“Then say it.”
“You could at least pretend to be thankful,” Cirilla noted sourly. She didn’t press him, however, but wrinkled her nose and continued. “Unlike you, I wasn’t trying to unseat Terras’ aldermen directly. That would have taken too long and cost too much. Instead, I focused on gaining access to their households and clerks. There were a few bribes, a few carefully placed agents, that sort of thing.
“And, most relevantly, one of those agents happens to be a servant working for Jaime Olden.”
This time, Leo did perk up. He regarded Cirilla curiously, his practiced ambivalence all but forgotten.
“You have access to Olden?” he asked. “How much? Does he trust this servant? Could they kill him if needed?”
“ Men ,” Cirilla sighed. “Have you never heard of subtlety? Is violence the only thing you know? I swear, it’s a wonder you all haven’t been overthrown by a half-dozen serving women by now.”
Baron of Hearts (Master of Monsters Book 2) Page 14