by Solange Ayre
Putting her hands on his broad shoulders, she gazed up into his face.
He studied her, his eyes mesmerizing. Had she tumbled into love with him because of the hypnotic power of his gaze? His midnight-dark eyes seemed to observe everything, absorb all that came under his view. Yet the tiny crinkles at the corners revealed the sense of humor that leavened his sharp intellect.
She saw desire flare in the look he gave her but something else as well. Was it doubt?
Her lips parted. A lure.
Lowering his head, he crushed her against him, his hands fondling her naked shoulders while his mouth moved against hers hungrily. His tongue glided along her tongue, teasing it, bold and insistent.
She’d dreamt of his kisses—ached for them.
So much better than I ever imagined…
His tongue traced a path of desire along her lips. Then he drew on her lower lip, nibbling it while he pressed his muscled frame against hers. The ache in her pussy deepened.
She entwined her fingers in his hair, loosening the riband that held it back. His heavy ebony locks spilled over his shoulders. His hair flowed over her fingers like living silk.
He thrust his tongue into her mouth, plunging in and out in the rhythm of intercourse. Overwhelmed, she let her head fall back, moaning under the onslaught of arousal.
He pulled her closer, his palms tight and hot against her backside. Rubbing her buttocks through the thin silk of the skirt, he explored every inch of her curved cheeks, stroking the tender area where they parted. Her pussy throbbed with every touch, begging to be caressed.
“You wear no underclothes, my Queen. Dare I hope that you came here tonight to find a lover?”
“I came here tonight to find you, my lord wizard.”
His hard shaft twitched against her stomach. Aroused, she joined her mouth to his, swirling the tip of her tongue over his teeth. When his tongue entered her mouth she sucked on it eagerly. He groaned deep in his throat.
He’s nothing like the men I know in my village. Yet he desires a woman, just like other men do.
The thought elated her.
Goddess, I beg of you. Let me be the woman who fulfills his desires.
He was already fulfilling hers.
Her erect nipples strained against her breastplate. He lowered his head and caressed the swelling tops of her breasts with his hot mouth. Wetness gathered in her pussy. Her nether lips felt slick and moist, ready for the touch of his hand…or the thrust of his cock.
“The Hour of Passion draws near,” he murmured against her mouth.
“What do you know of it?” she asked. Kardos had refused to discuss it with his apprentice. But perhaps he would tell Queen Brianna.
He raised his brows. “Why, All Hallows is the Goddess’ special holiday. Everyone knows how passion runs hot at this time of the year. Since Her sexual liaisons resulted in the world and everything in it, She considers it a form of worship when people make love.” He paused to nibble her neck. A joyous sob escaped her throat.
Trembling with anticipation, Ash remembered the rituals she had learned of in his secret book—magic that could only be performed when two wizards spent hours in the sexual act, climaxing again and again to the point of trembling exhaustion.
“What most pleases Her is to watch lovers fulfill their desires. Those who wish to become handfasted must prove their touch will titillate and satisfy the other.” His hand slipped into the waistband of her skirt, stroking and rubbing the tender flesh below her navel. The heavy longing in her sex grew unbearable. She pressed against his cock, shifting her hips.
His breathing quickened as she rubbed wantonly against his hardness.
“Tell me more,” she gasped.
He spoke with some difficulty, the hesitation between his words revealing his deeply aroused state. “It is said…if a couple is meant for each other…the Goddess grants them wondrous climaxes that shake their very souls. And yet—during The Hour of Passion—this must be achieved without full sexual congress.”
Somewhere in the ballroom, a clock began to chime.
“The hour begins,” he said. “You must decide now, my Queen.”
She gave him a questioning look.
“Do you wish to spend the hour with me?” he asked. “It is your choice to go or to stay.”
Chapter Two
“I want to stay with you.” Forever.
He drank in her gaze for a long moment as though gauging her sincerity. How could he doubt her? If he left her now she would die from unsatisfied longing.
He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her back inside to their original settee. An army of footmen dressed as skeletons dampened most of the candles, leaving lit only the ones surrounding the bubbling fountain in the room’s center. Couples clung together, the women giggling nervously, the men licking their lips. Fevered desire swirled through the room.
Ash leaned back against the low arm of the settee. Kardos drew the curtains, giving them the illusion of privacy in their dim alcove. Across the ballroom, faint shapes drew together as other couples settled into their own alcoves.
Kardos turned and gave her a smouldering look. His hungry gaze lingered on her breasts, her waist and finally her legs, barely concealed under her thin skirt.
“Your beauty overwhelms me.” His voice was quiet but his eyes blazed with desire. A thrill shot through her. Needing him closer, she reached out her hand to him.
The fiddlers began a low, keening tune. The music failed to cover the sounds Ash heard all around her…the tiny smack of lips on lips, the soft murmurs of passion, the smooth glide of a hand rubbing against silk.
Kardos sat, leaning in close to her. His warm, questing lips traveled up her neck. A quiver went through her at the gentle nip of his teeth.
“You tremble,” he observed. “Are you frightened?”
“Never. Not with you.”
He tasted her bare shoulder. A frisson of excitement traveled through her body. “Tell me, though. You seem very young…are you a pure maiden?”
“Indeed not,” she said indignantly. Lorem, a handsome farmer in her village, had taken her maidenhood at the Beltane celebration.
Still he seemed to doubt. “Are you certain you wish to remain with me? I am nearly twice your age, my Queen. I turned forty this year.”
She caressed his cheek. “Age doesn’t matter. I have long desired you.” Belatedly remembering that Kardos had only arrived at the Queen’s Mansion a fortnight ago, she added hastily, “I mean—ever since I first saw you at court.”
“Then I shall enjoy pleasuring you.”
“Yes!” She was certain his lovemaking would be spellbinding. “And you must allow me to give you pleasure in return.”
“Perhaps.”
She wondered at his ambivalent answer, then stopped thinking at all when he took her earlobe into his mouth and sucked greedily. “Oh!” she whispered as heat flashed through her. When his tongue traced the whorl of her ear, she shifted restlessly on the settee.
How could she be so aroused from a few short caresses? Her channel was already wet and swollen. If only it had been permitted, she would have begged him to thrust his cock into her willing pussy.
The moist tip of his tongue teased and darted over the delicate curves of her ear, wringing a gasp from her. Arching her neck, she wished this would go on forever. She wanted to cling to his tall body, to breathe in his rich cinnamon scent, to caress every inch of his fevered skin.
She ran her palms over his arms, enjoying their hard contours through his linen sleeves.
“Your caresses are more intoxicating than Arduan wine,” he murmured, his voice smoldering with need. Her heart pounded as his lips teased their way down her neck.
Close by, a man’s groan sounded. Was a woman stroking his cock, bringing the soft organ to a delightful state of steely hardness?
Would Kardos allow her to pleasure him the same way?
He moved her skirt up her legs. His hands traveled along her
calves infinitely slowly, causing her skin to blaze under his sensual touch. His palms cupped the rounded globes of her knees then moved upward, stroking the tender flesh of her thighs.
“Lovely.” His deep voice grew husky. His fingers stroked her, brushing the crevice between her thighs and her mound. She shuddered with desire. “Softer than a zelin leaf,” he whispered. “Smoother than a river stone.”
She moaned softly, aware of the other lovers all around them but unable to stop herself. “Please…keep touching me,” she gasped.
“I shall not cease. I promise to give you pleasure,” he assured her, tucking her skirts up around her waist. A cool breeze from one of the open windows teased her exposed nether lips.
Dew broke out on her womanly folds. He bent forward as though to observe more closely, his long hair falling forward to brush against her thighs. How much could he see? Suddenly embarrassed, she covered herself by spreading her fingers over her sex.
“Beauty such as yours should never be concealed.” Firmly he moved her hand aside. His fingers stroked her curls, the teasing caress making her crave more. She shivered, reveling in his touch.
Across the room a woman moaned. Ash turned her head at the sound. In an alcove, a woman lay sprawled on a settee. Her lover crouched between her spread thighs, sucking on her plump breasts. She writhed beneath him, moaning in ecstasy.
Ash’s breath quickened. Why am I wearing this breastplate? I want him to suck my nipples like that, as though they’re the most delicious morsel he’s ever tasted.
Kardos’ goatee tickled her ear. “Dear lady, now you must return the riband you stole from my hair.”
She’d planned to keep the satin riband as a memento of their evening together. But she reached into her breastplate and drew it from between her breasts.
He plucked the riband from her fingers. “Put your hands above your head, wrists together.”
She gasped at his strange request. “Why?”
“To tie your wrists. Restraint will heighten the sensations for you. And I shall enjoy seeing you bound.”
When she hesitated, he kissed her, his tongue thrusting into her mouth. She moaned wantonly, overcome by his sensual assault. The firm strokes of his tongue thrilled her.
She would do anything he wanted, if he would only prolong this intense pleasure.
“Trust me,” he said.
I do, master. Wordlessly she put her arms over her head, resting them against the high end of the settee. In a moment she felt him bind her wrists together.
He ran his hands over her arms, then passed them over the tops of her breasts where they swelled out of the breastplate. Finally he rested his palms on her thighs. Their warm weight excited her.
“Open your legs for me.” His tone was firm, the command of the master who brooked no argument from his apprentice.
But if she obeyed him, he would see how wet his touch had made her.
Compressing her lips with embarrassment, she parted her thighs slightly. It’s too dim for him to see.
He stroked her nether lips. “You glisten with desire,” he whispered.
A woman’s birdlike trill echoed through the room, alive with passion, then was quickly suppressed.
“Will you cry out for me when pleasure overwhelms you, my Queen?” Kardos asked.
“I…I don’t know.” Ash’s cheeks heated at the thought.
“It will please me if you do.” He moved downward on the settee and lowered his head. His warm breath tickled her sex.
Parting her thighs farther with his strong hands, he licked her nether lips in a long, smooth movement, from her ass to the tiny nub above her channel. She gasped at the incredible sensations that echoed through her. No wonder the ice-sculpture showed the Goddess’ ecstasy when this was done to Her.
Please let him do that again!
She trembled against him as he licked her again. She rubbed against his hot, wet mouth, moaning as her channel contracted with need. Pulsing waves of delight flowed through her as his tongue moved slowly upward. She writhed with the overwhelming pleasure.
His subtle laving of her tender nub forced a cry from her throat. The heavenly sensation filled her pussy with a demanding throbbing.
She was completely open to him, at his mercy. Bound and quivering, she waited for the heat of his caresses. Her wise master had been right—her bound wrists caused every sensation to increase tenfold.
Lazily, Ash looked across the room. In a different alcove from the one she’d first viewed, flickering candles revealed a woman kneeling on all fours, a man underneath her. Her mouth traveled up and down his thick cock while he feasted on her sex.
Was that other man as skillful as her master? No, it wasn’t possible.
Kardos’ tongue danced along the hot entrance of her channel, teasing her with quick, undulating licks. She wriggled, arching her hips upward, desperate for more.
He raised his head. Whimpering in protest, she waited, suspended in an agony of arousal but trusting in his promise to give her pleasure.
His hand replaced his mouth, stroking along her swollen lips. One of his fingers slipped inside her. She gasped at the invasion, savoring the way he thrust into her damp folds.
She squeezed her inner muscles, tightening around him. How she loved his long finger filling her needy channel. Had she ever been so wet before? So eager?
“Do you like that, dear lady?” he whispered.
“So…good.” She sighed as he withdrew his finger.
“I must drink your enticing wine once again.” His goatee teased her thighs and her mound as he lowered his head. Then his mouth was on her, his tongue administering long, impassioned licks that made her jerk her hips closer to him. Jagged waves of pleasure shot through her, almost too intense to be borne. Her nails dug into her palms as she tried to withstand the overwhelming sensations. Was she going to faint?
Her breath hitched when his hot mouth settled over her nub. He suckled it. She needed to moan…but there were others everywhere in the ballroom. She turned her head, panting into her shoulder, desperately suppressing the cries that threatened to spill from her throat.
Every time he drew on her nub, her pleasure spiraled higher. She trembled and shook under his mouth, raising her hips, begging for release.
All feeling in her body narrowed to her hungry, throbbing pussy. “Please!” she gasped. “Please!”
Keeping his mouth on her nub, he thrust into her. Was it his thumb moving in and out of her channel? Fast and vigorous, his strokes took her over the edge. She shuddered, pulsing uncontrollably around his thumb. Her heels pressed into the settee as her release overwhelmed her core and moved outward like ripples spreading through a pond. Delight rode her body. Heedless now of any listeners, she cried out, frantic with the pleasure he was giving her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and let her head fall back.
As though her uninhibited reaction had freed the other women in the room, a chorus of sighs and moans broke out from the other alcoves. How many were receiving the same satisfaction from their partners’ skillful fingers or thrusting tongues?
Gradually the waves of her orgasm lessened and her body grew calmer. Kardos stroked her mound, providing small frissons of enjoyment. Her arms and legs turned into lead weights, heavy with satiation. She never wanted to move again. She longed to remain where she was, legs spread wantonly while he touched her.
“Did I keep my promise to give you pleasure?” he asked.
She tried to answer his question. “Ohhhhh,” she murmured, the only thing she remembered how to say.
He shifted on the settee, his long body pressing into hers. “So responsive,” he whispered. “And so beautiful.” His hands cradled the sides of her face as he kissed her. She tasted her own juices on his mouth as he circled her lips with his tongue.
He freed her wrists and massaged her arms, relieving any stiffness.
Opening her eyes, she smiled into his face. He gazed back at her, the flush on his cheeks and his l
abored breathing revealing his excitement.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I…I have never experienced such joy before.”
He kissed her once more then gently disengaged himself. Moving backward on the settee, he pulled her skirts down until she was modestly covered again. “The servants will light the candles soon. Our hour is almost at an end.” Sorrow deepened his voice.
Why was he talking as though their encounter was done? She wanted him to swoop her into his arms, carry her to his room and take her again and again, until they were both limp with exhaustion.
Be bold, Ash! “The Hour of Passion is almost over,” she said. “But our time together can continue. Do you not have rooms here in the Queen’s Mansion?”
“Yes.” A crease appeared in his brow as he looked down at her.
Why was he hesitating? So far all the pleasure had been hers. Didn’t he want to thrust into her eager channel? Didn’t he know how she hungered to be filled with his cock?
The room’s dim lighting hid her confusion. Should she press him?
Perhaps she wouldn’t have dared to say this in full light but she was determined not to part from him so soon.
“My lord wizard, what we have done so far is like enjoying a delectable appetizer.” She rubbed his muscular thigh. “Shall we be satisfied with a tidbit when a sumptuous feast awaits?”
His lips curved into a smile. “So Queen Brianna wishes to add yet another heart to her tally?”
Her hand stroked upward. She traced the outline of his cock, thick and erect against his stomach, pleased when he caught his breath. “They say Queen Brianna had more than a thousand lovers. But tonight I desire only one. You.”
“I don’t deny that I want you in my bed.” His eyes searched hers. “But I must warn you, my tastes are…unusual. Many women have refused me because they are frightened.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know how I restrained your wrists with my riband.” His chest heaved as he took a deep breath. “It pleases me to see a woman bound and tied to my bed, so I can have my way with her while she is helpless.” His dark eyes bored into hers.