“To kiss you, my lord,” I said.
He leaned back in his chair, expectant, forcing me to take the lead. I wasn’t used to that and it left me a little flustered. I felt the vines loosen their grip on my thighs so I could draw my legs together again and shift my position to face him, but my folds were still spread open. Although fully clothed, I felt exposed and stumbled on my slipper before I draped myself across his lap and took his mouth in mine. He brushed an idle hand along my skirts in front and I felt the touch in my most sensitive places even through my skirts.
“Mm…” I pushed my tongue against his, taking his mouth in mine as deeply as I could, feeling his freshly shaved chin tickle against my palm as I held his cheeks. His hair had been recently trimmed, so it curled more like it did when we first met. I loved the way the slight curl framed his slightly pointed ears, his serious eyes, his fine cheekbones. Compared to Axel, he looked a little more wild and rugged and tanned, my husband formed from the forest while the high elf seemed to be born of gold and crystal.
I drew back but I touched my finger to the little indentation between his nose and lips, and then drew it down to stroke his lip and chin. I couldn’t resist this small gesture, like a cat trailing a tail along her favorite chair.
“I don’t think you have claimed all of your prize,” he said.
I wet my lips. “Is this your wish, my lord?” I whispered. For a moment I forgot that anyone watched us.
“It’s not to reward him,” Augustus said. He urged me toward Axel and reached for his wine glass as I sat on Augustus’ lap.
As soon as I perched there, the King’s Vine pulled my legs open again, and I was practically forced back against Axel’s chest. I had a perfect view of his fine mouth, and I was struck all over again how beautiful he was, but I was also vaguely terrified by the forbidden nature of what was being asked of me.
Axel’s hand started to lift toward me, to touch me, and Augustus drew a sharp breath. “I didn’t give you permission to touch her.”
“I can hardly help it if my hands move on their own,” Axel said.
“Well, put them on the arms of the chair and leave them there,” Augustus said, and then he gave me a faint nod.
I gave Axel a soft kiss on the lips. He looked almost annoyed as he gripped the chair, but I saw his cock twitch in his trousers and once again I felt deeply aroused by the sight of that. The urge to touch it was almost overwhelming, but I think Augustus and I both knew that was a bridge too far. This might be written off as a game. Once clothes stripped off, once the parentage of future heirs were thrown into question, it was all much harder to brush aside.
The vines coiled deeper now, slipping inside me, catching my clit in their soft curling forms. The King’s Vine followed the king’s bidding and so everything that was done to me, it was as if Augustus’ own hands were on me. I breathed hard, kissing Axel more deeply. I couldn’t help myself.
One tendril of the vine reached inside my ass and swirled the hole like a finger, and I jumped with shock, almost biting Axel’s lip.
Augustus put a hand on my knee.
I felt on the brink of losing control entirely, as I felt Augustus’ gaze burn into me, his grip brushing my skin, the taste of Axel on my tongue, the feel of his body supporting my spread legs, the King’s Vine tickling me everywhere with unpredictable sensations.
I didn’t want to cry out in the middle of this room. “Please, Augustus…I think perhaps we should go to bed now…”
“Almost.”
He stood up and covered my mouth with his hand. He made me sit on Axel’s lap while the vine stroked my clit and my inner walls, and tears fell from my eyes as I moaned into his hand. I came all over Axel’s leg, and then Augustus pulled me to my feet.
“Now, to bed,” Augustus said. “I will make up for my neglect.”
“You’re a demon,” Axel whispered.
“I’m the King of the Sun Palace,” Augustus said, and he swept me from the room.
Chapter Eleven
Rose
He took me to the bedroom and I was still shaky from the last climax as he yanked the strings of my corset. But as he tied me down, I was getting aroused all over again, watching him watch me. He tightened the silk cords as much as they would go, jerking my limbs open, his breathing fast. He looked like he was dying to have me. He looked like he couldn’t wait another moment for me, his cock hard, his eyes starved.
He wrapped a hand around the bed post, looking at me, as he unfastened his buttons with deliberate slowness.
“You…” He trailed his fingers down my bare stomach. It tickled, and I shook my head against it. “You naughty girl…kissing another man, right in front of me. Is that what you want, my queen? More than the rules allow…?”
He ran the back of his hand over my cheek and then down to one of my breasts, tweaking the nipple roughly, and even as he did so, I felt a tendril of the King’s Vine crawling into my nether hole again, reaching deeper and stretching me wider than before.
“Augustus—“ I shut my eyes, squirming, as my sex grew wetter.
“If you want two men, you have to be able to handle it,” he said. “I want to see how well you do.”
He climbed atop me and pushed his cock deep inside me, taking his sweet time as the vine slithered into me from behind, even as it crawled up my skin like a decoration, curling around my ribcage, my breasts and neck.
“Ah—!” I screamed with a torturous mixture of desire fulfilled and unfulfilled, as Augustus pushed me farther than I’d ever been even as he dared me to think of more. His palms pressed into the pillows on either side of my head, his mouth twisting into a grin that spread all the way to the look in his eyes as he fucked me so hard that even the heavy wooden bed frame creaked perilously, the vine still teasing at my ass, making me nervous as to how far it would go.
He came hard, panting and moaning with less self control than usual, and the sight of him caught up in such an overwhelming pleasure made me climax again just after him.
“If such a night doesn’t produce a child,” he panted, “I hardly know what will.”
My sex was dripping as he slipped out of me, and he slid a pillow under my hips to try and contain the seed. He laid beside me, looking spent, but he still seemed ready for more, stroking my slickness with an idle hand for a moment, then shifting to rest his head against my shoulder so he could also stroke my breasts.
I was getting quite tired myself and yet in no time my sense of desire was rising again.
But when I looked at him, his face was very serious.
There had never been any doubt in my mind that Augustus was attracted to me, but it had never been this wild and urgent before.
“Augustus,” I whispered. “Are you—do you—“ I struggled for words.
“If you’re going to tell me that this is all unwise, I already know,” he said.
“Axel,” I said.
“Yes.”
I paused again, still searching for the questions to ask. Was this why some part of Augustus always seemed a mystery? “Are you…attracted to men?”
“No,” he said. “I didn’t think so. When I saw him—saw you talking to him—“
“I should never have been so flirtatious with a stranger…I just…”
“It’s not that.” Augustus tangled the ends of my hair in his fingers. “I was jealous for a moment, but when I went back to talk to him, I just—couldn’t shake the image of my queen making love to a man whose status is beneath her. And of you—both of you—belonging to me.”
“For a man who confessed to wanting me to dominate him, you have certainly taken well to the idea of being in control.”
“That’s it. When I saw him—everything turned around in my mind.” He sat up a little, giving me a private smile. “I want to see you take control. I thought I needed to be the one you took control of. But when I saw Axel I realized there was another door to my own desires.” He kissed my forehead. “I want you to be my Queen Who Bowed and
my Mistress of Many Loyalties…or at least…”
I leaned into him as much as the bonds would allow, twitching my pelvis, wanting him to touch me again. The idea of this was the most delicious suggestion I had ever heard and I could hardly believe that this man who mastered me would also desire for me to have more than I dreamed of. “Our hearts are aligned,” I said. “I want to do exactly as you say.”
“Good. Because it is my business to know what you want even before you do, and grant it to you.”
“If you know what I want before I do, my lord…you are lagging behind with your idle hands.”
He chuckled, slipping a hand between my legs.
“I will say, I don’t think Axel is a man who is used to giving up so much control,” I said, with a sigh. “He is a military commander…and a high elf. They can be haughty.”
“Well, would it be as enjoyable otherwise? I’m sure he is feeling quite tormented tonight. But the curse wasn’t our fault. When you travel to faery lands, you have to expect that you might come home with a curse of that sort. Our witches have a habit of striking right where it hurts.”
I laughed. “Well, that was not in the guide books.”
“And yet…there is something about the man,” Augustus said. “The moment we locked eyes, I saw it there…as if he understood…”
“I felt that too,” I admitted. “I’m not even entirely sure what it is that he understands, but he does.”
“He is willing,” Augustus said. “That’s what we saw. I told you that you were the only person that seemed real while the rest of the world might crumble to dust. But he appeared in vivid color, and I can’t explain why. I just know it would be futile to resist the song of destiny.”
“Shh,” I said. “Don’t talk of destinies. It scares me.”
“Yes…all right,” he said. “There is only now, my dear queen. And now is no time to be scared.” He moved his mouth where his hand had been, and thinking of anything but now became entirely impossible.
Chapter Twelve
Augustus
To be free, one must first be popular.
Such was the claim of Queen Marianna, who had helped to establish the rules we all now lived by. I should send Count Farren away, and find a proper little Mistress of Many Loyalties. Every bit of sense in my mind told me this, and ever fiber of my soul resisted the idea.
If I was going to get away with this, I had to keep the people happy.
My grandfather had certainly not left me with an ideal situation. The palace coffers were a disaster—but raising taxes would certainly spur endless piles of sensational pamphlets criticizing our behavior in the palace.
Well, we’ll just have to tighten our belts, that’s all. All we really need is good company…
I crossed the room from my desk to my window, parting the curtains, and saw Rose out on the lawn with two little girls that were the daughters of her Mistress of Fans, plus all the dogs: Mopsy and Storm and the newest addition to her collection, a dachshund named Hunter.
She isn’t very clever with names, I thought.
I couldn’t exactly call Rose an intellectual, but she was a woman that caught one’s heart. She tossed sticks and jumped and laughed, encouraging the little girls to have fun, even though there was no one around but stoic guards keeping their distance. I saw the children smile, and how Rose caught their hands in hers and led them forward with a spring in her step. I just knew, even without being able to hear her voice, that she would show them her favorite spots in the garden, pick strawberries and wipe the red juice off their mouths with our own handkerchief.
I wondered when or if we would ever have children of our own. It had been over a year now…
But our children would not have the life of those two little girls. My own formal portrait at the age of nine graced one of the drawing rooms, reminding me how miserable I had been. Once I became the Crown Prince, I was discouraged from everything I truly enjoyed and every childish tear I couldn’t hold back was turned into a court joke within hours.
I turned away. Back to the papers. There was a coronation tax due on the people to help pay for the festivities. How much? Hmph. It was really shameful to milk the people for these ostentatious parties. It would be some difficulty for us here, but if I struck that tax, they’d be dancing in the streets.
I had appointed a strict new minister of finances, Necker, and no doubt he could help us recover from that. He planned to invest his own fortune in government stock to restore confidence after my grandfather’s death. I drafted an order to eliminate the tax and turned to the pile of other papers awaiting my attention.
By now, I wished I was in the garden with Rose instead. Of course, she was with the children now, and that hardly suited the things I wanted to do to her.
A servant entered through the grand doors. “Your Majesty, Count Farren to see you, if you are not busy.”
“Send him in, yes.” I sat back in the chair, waiting.
He walked in and swept into a bow. Elves were so graceful that his every movement seemed choreographed, precise and exceptional. His uniform was impeccable, gold buttons snug against his broad chest, his fair hair just brushing the epaulets.
“Your Majesty,” he said. “I’ve just come back from Luminé. It proved impossible to be sure of the location of the house where the Cobblestone Witch kept me before. There are a hundred houses that look the same, and the people claim not to have seen her.”
“Nothing? Damnit, she’s not safe if the witch is still around.”
“I think she’s quite safe,” Axel said. “But when I was in the carriage home I found this in my pocket.” He handed me a paper with a broken seal.
I have sent a package home to your countrymen and women, good sir, and I think the next letter you receive in regards to the troll problem will be a favorable report. Please remain in the Palace of the Sun until further notice.
Her handwriting was a tiny, chaotic scratch. “She got this in your pocket and you never saw her?” I asked.
“No…I have no idea how the letter got there. I was on the watch for her the entire day and never had the slightest hint of suspicion. Well, clearly…she knows her way around a spell.” He grimaced, and then he walked up to the desk, draping a hand there, meeting my eyes. “What now?”
The letter worried me. I thought about seeing Rose, on the brink of touching the spindle. I thought she was safe after that day, but now I knew I had to remain on guard. It was easy to brush off the threat, but if I had to live out my days without Rose…
Would this man betray us? Does he really just want an antidote for the witch’s curse?
No, his eyes told me the truth.
“I suppose if catching a witch was easy, her own family would have done it long ago. I will offer you all my hospitality.”
He grimaced. “This has gone farther than I intended.”
I walked over to him. “I think I’ve been quite generous.”
He looked away. “I am wondering if I might have made a mistake. The witch wants me to ruin you. Don’t give me an invitation to do so. Have some mercy on me, your grace.”
“The witch is not going to dictate my life.”
“When I came here, it was only for one thing. An alliance to battle the trolls. I feel as if you are suggesting I cross a certain bridge that might be dangerous to cross, and as an honorable man I feel the need to warm you of it before anything more should happen.”
“Gods, you are such an elf.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night for the ache in my damned balls,” he snarled in a tone that was not so elf-like, but it made me have a brief fantasy of the idea of him in his bed, tossing and turning in tormented yearning, remembering the taste of Rose’s lips.
“All that matters to me is that my wife is happy,” I said.
“I can see why. She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen…,” Axel said. “I would give anything for a woman like that.”
“She is the treasure of the kingdom, an
d I want to give her a gift. I’m dusting off the little palace on the grounds to be a place where she can escape, have some privacy. It will be her little realm, and there…well, we will all be free to do as we like, although some of us more than others.” I paused. “What kind of mercy are you asking me for?”
Axel seemed to understand. “I will await whatever mercy you offer…”
As soon as he left, I tried to work, but something about seeing Axel gave me an overwhelming urge to claim Rose and it was soon clear that no work would be done until I had sought her out and taken what was mine.
Chapter Thirteen
Rose
When I saw Augustus approach me with that expression on his face, not to mention tight trousers that left little to conjecture, I immediately gave the children a pat on the shoulder. “Why don’t you go back to the palace now? The king needs me.”
“Yes, your grace.” They curtseyed for me before departing, still such formal little girls. I watched them leave, worrying my lip at the thought that my own children would have to grow up in such a place. If I should ever be lucky enough to have any…
Then I turned to Augustus, and saw the lust in his eyes. My body tingled in automatic response, braced for anything.
“I have something for you.” He had a length of black silk wrapped around his hand.
“Oh?”
“Turn around.” He tied the silk around my eyes as a blindfold, and then he took my arm. “Now, we take a walk.”
I clutched his arm, letting him take the lead over the paths that twisted and were occasionally uneven with steps, or roots lifting the cobblestone. I didn’t like this very much, because I couldn’t see all the beauty of the gardens around me, and I didn’t know how long the walk would be.
“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked.
“No…” I kept my ears perked for familiar sounds of fountains, and the smell of certain flowers, so I kept some idea of where I was despite all the twists and turns, and after a bit I started to realize we were on the path to the neglected old retreat of King Emriel’s first Favorite.
The Surrender of Sleeping Beauty Page 21