“I’ve never known any couples who could communicate that way,” Isabelle said. “Albert and Doris have been married many years and they communicate well enough but not a lot. Doris talks but Albert is the quiet, unemotional type. He rarely loses his composure. I don’t think either of them expects much from life after all they have experienced. He was in the military and all their children followed him into the same career. All of them died in the wars, or they assume they did because none of them ever returned here. Albert and Doris were employed here before the wars working for my grandfather after Albert retired from his military career. A few other couples here are together through some sort of agreement, but it’s usually based on sex or food or protection, not love or marriage. I feel intuition or get some hints sometimes, but it’s usually something revealing that someone does or says that give me hints about whatever they are up to, especially if they are up to something bad.”
“In our culture such things as close mind connections are common and accepted. We train to use our mental powers both collectively and independently. It’s an enormous advantage for us because we are able to react in a united way without revealing what our strategy is to a potential enemy. We also power useful things like transportation with our collective mental powers,” he said.
“You have transportation?” Isabelle asked. “We only have horses. All the vehicles we know just don’t work anymore and we can’t fix them.”
He was aroused and he gave her a look that communicated a great deal without words. She understood exactly what he wanted. It got her mind off transportation and onto him…and his body. He reached for her at the same time she reached for him. He seemed to love kissing her. He lingered over her and her mouth for a long time, kissing her, first without penetrating her mouth, but then he kissed her more deeply. His hands seemed to know exactly the way she liked to be touched.
She enjoyed touching him, too. He was very big, with a muscular body that radiated heat. Though the castle was always cold she did not feel the chill with Evan near. Her hands drifted over him trying to feel everything at once.
It was if she was on a really hot vacation and had the freedom to do anything she wanted with this man. It was a new pleasure for her. A really attentive and great looking naked man was the ultimate playmate for an adult woman.
“Touch me,” he rumbled. She reached and began to caress his organ.
“It feels so good,” he said.
He was flushed with arousal and she somehow sensed that he was happy to be where he was, with her. It was difficult to think that he was content. What he seemed to feel was too exciting for the term. It was more titillating than mere contentment. His excitement fed hers.
It was beguiling to be able to explore his body and touch him any way she wanted.
She pushed at him until he reclined on the bed and she began to explore him as he had her. She touched his enormous organ where it was slick on the tip and rubbed a curious finger over the head. He shivered in pleasure. Every muscle on his body was clenched. He looked really sexy and attractive, too. Her hand wandered to his balls and she explored them as she wished. She watched him enjoy her touch. She eventually took his organ in her hand and stroked him. Her fingers did not encompass it. It was too big. He encouraged her to squeeze him a bit tighter and to move a bit faster and to use both hands.
They seemed surrounded with golden light, full of pleasure and warmth.
She touched with greater and greater expertise, watching his face to determine whether she was doing a good job. His balls fascinated her. They were warm and hairy and starting to look firmer, climbing higher up his dick. She bent to lick them as she continued to stroke his dick using the pre-cum oozing out of it as a lovely lubricant. The feel of her hands wrapped around his hard shaft was so incredible Isabelle thought she might come again just from touching him. Her strokes quickened up and down the shaft, rotating as it slid up and down to pleasure him more with her right hand while the left cupped his ever-tightening balls.
“I’m going to come,” he told her, and he did blasting warm creamy squirt after warm creamy squirt all over her and the bed. Cum hit Isabelle’s right nipple, her belly, her left cheek and lower lip giving her the extra pleasure of the taste of his warm salty cum. The air in the room glittered. It was magic. Isabelle couldn’t imagine what would happen when they finally had intercourse.
He rolled and rested nearly all his considerable weight on her body until he came to himself and started to move off of her.
She sighed with lingering pleasure and delicious contentment. It had been years since she had felt any level of contentment and she relished it. He turned onto his side and brought her with him. “I’m afraid I’ll squash you,” he said.
“You feel good,” she told him. “I didn’t expect it. I never had this much fun before. You are better at sex than my old boyfriend. He died before we learned much about how to please each other.”
“It’s always more fun if you both have pleasure. One feeds the other, like much of life. It takes practice. We’ll practice all we want.”
She had never thought of practicing sex, but it did seem reasonable. Everything anyone wanted to do well took practice, plus not everything worked for everybody. She saw it every day in her business. There were many variations and tastes. It made her think of some other things she might like to try. She turned and gave Evan a speculative look that held some heat. He looked back at her in the same way and realized she could read some of what he was thinking. It made her smile lasciviously at him.
He just shook his head in obvious regret.
Then he got up from the bed.
Chapter 8
“We need to dress,” he said. “Your uncle plans that we’ll marry this evening. He’s got that priest waiting at the table. He was very friendly, but creepy.”
“As far as I’m concerned we already said our vows. That priest is the reason I distrust them so much. He’s usually a participating guest at Uncle’s weekend parties. I’m sure he would like to try you out in bed. You are just his type, big and masculine, if a bit too old for his usual partners. He likes men or boys that are young, even children. He usually has to settle for men that are more similar to him because I get in his way. He’s the worst kind of hypocrite and he hates me. I don’t want him to marry us.”
“It’s just a ceremony that your uncle wants,” he said in a reassuring rumble as he nuzzled her neck. “In the way of my people we are already married.” He bent and pulled something from his clothing and showed it to her. “This is an engagement pendant, our traditional sign of engagement. I brought for you to wear. I had it made for you a few years ago. I know that rings used to be more traditional here, but with your work and lifestyle I thought this would be easier for you to wear all the time than rings.”
It was a good idea, she thought. Rings never mixed well with gardening, and animal care and cooking. Intrigued, she took a look at what he’d handed her.
It was a combination of pale, translucent stones in pale green, amber and peach, set in golden metal. She worked the catch and it hung comfortably, attached to a short chain that hung just below her neck, but not tightly. She loved it instantly and went to her mirror to look at it. It seemed to match her eyes as changeable as they were. She loved it.
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s perfect. I’m going to hide it in my clothing. Uncle or any of his guards would try to take it if they saw it.”
They washed hurriedly and dressed, helping each other and then left the room. As they stepped into the great hall Luther and some of Uncle’s other men surrounded them and escorted them to the center of the great hall where the priest waited. While scores of people watched the priest began a long lecture about the weakness of women and how men had to control them and guide them so they would not fall victim to their venal, lazy ways.
Evan’s face turned hard and dark with annoyance as he reached and took the man by his collar. Gasps of alarm came from some onlookers and Luther star
ted to intervene. Evan’s elbow connected with his throat and he hit the floor, face down and lay still. Angela shrieked and then she and Uncle sat still, looking nervous. Evan didn’t look away from the priest. Everyone seemed stunned by the sudden violence.
“Just get to the marrying,” he instructed. “You have nothing else I and my wife need. Your statements about women are very offensive to people of my culture. A mated man from our culture understands he has just as much responsibility in the success of a marriage as the woman does.”
The priest stuttered a garbled apology and hurried through the ceremony. Then her uncle seemed to relax. He and Angela hurried to congratulate them and Uncle said, “So, I want to talk with you about some type of military alliance and other ways your connection with me through my relative can benefit both of us. You wanted her and I have allowed you to have her. I want some payback.”
“I paid you money for her,” Evan said pointedly. “I owe you nothing else except the balance we agreed if the marriage happened.”
Uncle looked annoyed. He wasn’t used to such stubbornness. He expected the upper hand with any fighting man. He felt his intelligence trumped anything else.
“Where is the balance of my money? You have married her and now you owe me more money.” Uncle expected more. He always expected to be able to manipulate most people into giving him anything he wanted.
“My men can bring it in if you want it now,” Evan replied. “Or I can get it to you when we leave.”
“When are you leaving?” Uncle asked. “I had several things I wanted to discuss with you, especially my advice on how to best handle your bride.” He smiled a remarkably evil little smile.
“I had really not planned to be here long. My bride is just as I wish. I don’t need or want your advice about her,” Evan told him. He still looked grim, but he kept a gentle hand on Isabelle’s waist.
“She is a difficult woman,” Uncle said. “She would much rather give orders than take them.”
“I don’t plan to give her orders,” Evan said, and he sounded irritated.
Uncle seemed to rethink his plans, though Isabelle knew he would continue to try to get whatever he wanted from Evan.
“So join us in drinks to your marriage,” Uncle said jovially. He and Angela led them to some chairs by the fire and wait staff brought sweets and wine, not a combination Isabelle enjoyed. She and Evan shared a drink and one sweet each and then excused themselves.
Luther still lay on the stone floor. Isabelle knew no one had realized he was dead.
Evan stooped and lifted the guard onto a shoulder and asked, “Where are his quarters? I’ll put him to bed if Isabelle can show me the way.”
“Of course,” Uncle agreed and then continued, “Evan, I still have some things I want to discuss with you. We can work well together. I need someone with the kinds of skills you and your men have. I can make it worthwhile for you to ally yourself with me. We could control more people and more land. You’ll have to promise to keep Isabelle under your thumb, or even your fist, and out of my hair. I’m sure you will know how to handle that task. I also want her keys. I have wanted them for a long time, but she never does what I want her to do. You know how forgetful woman are. I also want to discuss some other things with you when you have some time. After all, you owe me.”
Evan looked at Uncle. He looked grim and reluctant. “What do you want from me? We made a deal for my mate. I have no other agenda and even less interest,” he said.
“We can discuss it later,” Uncle said jovially. “Go ahead with your honeymoon. Taming my niece should make you feel more like listening to my proposition. We men have needs that must be fulfilled before they can get on to other things.”
Evan whispered to Isabelle, “Move. We need to get this out of sight.”
Chapter 9
Isabelle felt she had ceased to exist as an individual…a sentient being since she had married and she pinched herself to see if she was still there while she did what needed to be done, as usual. She led the way out of the great hall.
“You killed him,” she whispered. “This will be nothing but trouble for us.” She was very agitated but she kept her voice down.
“Take me somewhere we can dump the body,” he suggested. “People will think he left, not that I killed him.”
“And, good riddance, too,” Isabelle said, “but this could be a problem.”
“Getting him out of the way will leave your uncle’s men without a leader. It will take them a while to regroup. We can take advantage of it.”
“It was a strategy to kill him?” she asked. “And you did it with one blow. I’ve never seen anyone do that.” It frightened her what he had done. It showed a side of him that was very intimidating.
He knew what she was feeling. It was regrettable that she had seen it, but he was a warrior. It wasn’t something he could hide any more than she could hide her ability to see illness. Life was too rough to keep it hidden for long. He said, “Just as you are special as a administrator/medicine woman/agriculturalist, I am a warrior, one with unusual talents. I hope you can accept what I am. Life often requires violence, both here and in my world. I have done some things of which you or anyone else might disapprove, but I do try other options whenever possible.” He said it with dignity as though he half expected her to reject him.
Well…he was right. The world…most worlds did sometimes require that people defend themselves and the people who were important to them with deadly force. Besides they were already married. If she was going to be married to him she did feel she owed him some loyalty.
At that moment she realized that he had promised her Luther would never hurt her again. Luther’s death insured that promise was fulfilled. He had killed him because Luther had hurt her. It was a promise made and, now a promise kept.
Trust came hard for her after all that had happened to her in recent years. Her world had once been more civilized, at least superficially, but things were much different now. Human nature was what it was, and most people who were still alive had reverted to type. Few people even attempted to hide their natural inclinations because there was little reason to bother. If her father had lived long enough he would have been far less trusting of Uncle and his men…and he might be alive. Uncle had proven untrustworthy so she was open to another choice.
“I shouldn’t be so shocked,” she said. “Uncle obviously wants some kind of alliance with your people and he would choose someone he feels could help him. I’m sure he has plans for you. He expects to be able to outthink most fighting men, including you.”
Evan said, “All he wants to do is manipulate others and talk me to death. I have never given him any reason to think that I, or my people would wish to ally with him. I am also really angry at the way he has treated you. He seems totally incapable of seeing what we feel or want.”
“He thinks everyone is as venal as he is and that they all want the same things he does,” she said as she hurried along. “Why wouldn’t he? It’s usually true.”
She slipped ahead of him and opened a door. “This is Luther’s room. Put him here for the time being. We’ll move him later when most people are asleep. We can get him outside and dispose of his body in our dump. We can remove his personal belongings then, also, so people will think he left on his own.”
Their strategy was reasonable. No one would miss Luther except Uncle and he already had too many advantages.
He followed her instructions and then they hurried back to her room. He was relieved to realize she obviously planned to stick with him for a while at least.
He tucked her into bed and got in beside her as if they had been doing it for years. Isabelle dithered restlessly for a while wondering if they would get going on more sex. He took her in his arms, worked his way down her body to her crotch and licked her there while his hands played with her breasts. It’s hard to imagine that this warrior who killed a man with one blow could pleasure her so gently. She began to relax more and get into his tongue and f
ingers as they worked their magic, his fingers fondling her nipples with such gentleness while his tongue worked her clit while occasionally darting into her. She didn’t think she could come but in moments she exploded on his talented tongue. She was so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open.
“Rest,” Evan said, but she was still worrying.
She tensed as she remembered she hadn’t given Uncle the keys she had always kept just inside the tunnels. “I don’t want to give Uncle my keys,” she said.
“No, and you aren’t going to, either,” Evan said. He felt her returning tension.
“I suppose it’s more of your strategy,” she said garrulously.
He reached over and pulled her against his tall body and growled softly, “Sleep. We have had a big day. You…we must rest while we can.”
It made sense. She was both exhausted and overexcited. His words helped her relax and she literally fell into sleep with his reassurance and the comfort of his sheltering warmth.
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