by Harper Bliss
Her skirts were too wide to fit through the window opening, she decided and flounced over to the small desk. She threw herself down in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest. The tutor had two minutes to show up before she left the room, no matter what the guards posted outside had to say. I really am a prisoner in here!
Really, why did she even need lessons? She was eighteen after all, old enough to marry. Her evenings were filled with endless banquets as her father trotted suitor after suitor past her. She sighed and plucked at a piece of embroidery on her arm. The boys, with their prattle about hunting, were less than riveting. She expected they thought she’d be impressed. Not one of them ever thought to ask after her interests. The older men were even worse, staring after her with naked lust in their eyes. If one of them ever tried to touch her, she thought she might go mad. So far, no one had caught her eye and she was happy enough to leave it that way. Or she would have been if it hadn’t been for these accursed lessons. As long as she was under her father’s roof, the king saw fit to keep her days filled. There would be no idleness in the life of his only child.
The door slammed open behind her, the heavy wood thudding against the wall with a crash that sent her jumping out of her skin with an undignified squeak. A stern-faced woman in plain robes strode through the doorway.
With a groan she made no attempt to hide, Carmodie dropped her head to the desk. It hit the hard surface with a hollow thunk. Not one of the Sisters of Perpetual Misery—Mercy, she corrected quickly in her head, as if the woman could hear her. The holy women maintained a large shrine half a day’s ride outside the city. The Sisters lived in a cloister just outside the shrine. It was the biggest Perpetual Mercy cloister in the Three Kingdoms, and it was known as the most humorless place in the realms.
“Problems, Princess Carmodie?” The sister’s voice was just as dry and dour as Carmodie expected.
“Not at all.” Carmodie didn’t bother to raise her head. “What could possibly be a problem?”
An object hit the table next to her head. Carmodie jerked her head up off the table and stared at the nun in disbelief.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“That’s one,” the nun said calmly, leaning on the desk.
“One what?”
“And that’s two.” She watched Carmodie closely.
Try it again, a little voice in her head urged. It got her in trouble more often than not, but was so hard not to listen to. Let’s see what happens when we push it a little further. The steadiness of the nun’s gaze gave her pause, and she kept her mouth shut, though barely.
“So you can keep a civil tongue when you need to.” The nun nodded to herself and her face relaxed a little. It wasn’t enough to be called a smile, but she seemed a little less disapproving. “You may call me Sister Aulos. I will be tutoring you in a variety of subjects. Your father is quite eager to shape you into something he can use as a bargaining chip and I am to be the tool of that shaping.”
Princess Carmodie sat straighter, heat rushing to her face. She knew her value, her place, but never had anyone stated it so boldly to her. It was always coated with platitudes and euphemisms. She opened her mouth.
Sister Aulos chuckled and Carmodie closed her mouth with a snap. The grin on the nun’s face transformed her. She looked younger and less imposing and Carmodie froze, uncertain what to do next.
“Your father is a fool, child.”
It wasn’t possible for Carmodie to get any stiller. All she could do was gape at the woman smiling down at her.
A finger under her chin closed her slack jaw. The warmth of Aulos’ finger was surprising and disturbing; something stirred deep within her belly. Carmodie snapped her head back and fixed the diminutive sister with a hard stare.
“I don’t care who you are, you will not touch me.”
The small smile playing around Sister Aulos’ full lips disappeared as if it had never been. Carmodie shrank back before remembering that she was the one in charge. She stiffened her spine and stared defiantly at the nun.
“Quite to the contrary, Princess.” A shiver went down Carmodie’s spine at the steel in Aulos’ voice.
“My father—”
“Your father is tired of your willful ways. I can certainly see why. He’s given me complete leeway to see that you learn what you must. And Carmodie?”
“What?” Carmodie eyed the nun warily. Her tone had lightened much too quickly, she sounded almost gleeful.
“That was three, my dear child.”
“Three what?”
Quick as a falcon in full stoop, Sister Aulos thrust her face at Carmodie who shrank away before she could stop herself.
“Your first two are free. You pay for the third one.” Fingers like a steel vise encircled Carmodie’s upper arm and she was dragged out of the chair.
The princess gasped in shock and surprised pain. Before she knew what was happening, she was standing by the nun, slightly bent over because of the difference in their heights. Carmodie tried to loosen the grip Sister Aulos had on her arm. The sister didn’t even notice her struggles and the princess leaned even further forward when the nun sat in her chair.
“What are you—” A firm yank cut off her outraged words and Carmodie’s eyes bugged out when she found herself lying across the nun’s lap. She was still held captive by the hand on her arm and now Sister Aulos was pulling up her skirts with the other. “You can’t do this! You can’t! I won’t—”
“You will,” the nun said with quiet authority. “You will take the punishment that’s coming to you. I won’t let up until you apologize for defying me.”
“Punishment?” It had been years since she’d been physically punished. The last time her father had spanked her, she’d been a little girl and he’d been so overcome with remorse that he’d promised never to do it again. “You can’t punish me!”
“Your protestations are getting tiresome, girl.”
With one final yank, Carmodie felt cold air on her behind. The nun had just pulled down her underwear, exposing her to the entire room. Her face burned in shame and embarrassment. A shockingly loud crack, and the cold of her rump was replaced with heat and pain. She cried out in shock. Carmodie clamped her lips together for the next stroke. The first smack had surprised her, nothing more. There was no way she was going to let the sadistic woman get the satisfaction of knowing she was hurting her.
A quiet laugh pulled her attention from the anticipation of the third stroke. Surprised, she realized the nun was smiling down at her. Was that approval she saw in Aulos’ eyes? The third blow took her by surprise and she barely clenched her teeth on another outcry. Carmodie struggled, trying to get free, to get away from the pain scorching her buttocks. The nun merely shifted her grip and Carmodie could barely move. Throughout her struggles, the smacks to her behind continued until she felt like it was about to burst into flames. Sister Aulos showed no sign of stopping, not even when Carmodie could contain herself no further and hot tears spilled from her eyes.
Her struggles turned from escape to protection, but the nun just brushed her hand out of the way when she tried to intercept the relentless blows. It was never going to end; each loud crack brought a fresh wave of stinging pain and heat.
“I’m sorry, Sister!” The princess blubbered the apology through heaving sobs. She cried out when Aulos’ hand rose again, and then snuffled in relief when the nun paused at the apex of her swing.
“You’re sorry for what?”
“For defying you, Sister.” Carmodie would say anything to stop the pain. This was so much worse than that final spanking she’d received from her father. “I’m so, so sorry.”
The hand lowered and Carmodie buried her face in the nun’s robes. There was never going to be an end to the pain, not ever. The nun would punish her until she couldn’t take it anymore, she just knew it.
The blow never landed. Instead, the nun’s hand gently stroked the abused flesh of her bottom. The gentle pressure soothe
d where it so recently brought pain and Carmodie relaxed, laying the side of her face against the scratchy robes. Gently the hand roamed over her behind, soothing the pain away, taking the heat with it.
No, it wasn’t exactly taking the heat away. As her behind cooled under the nun’s gentle touch, the heat was pooling at the juncture of her thighs where it grew with tingling intensity, spiraling outward. It felt... good. No, better than good, it felt fantastic. Carmodie moaned in startled response to the pleasure building within her. She pushed back against the nun’s hand and was rewarded with a light smack. Sensation flared in her belly with such force that she bit her lip.
Experimentally, she pushed back again and was rewarded with another slap, this one harder. Carmodie buried her face in Aulos’ robes again.
“Oh God!” she groaned against the nun’s leg.
The nun let go of her arm and sat back. Carmodie lay frozen across her lap, afraid that moving would result in more punishment, and hoping that it might.
“You may sit up now, Carmodie.”
Slowly, Carmodie pushed herself up and then stood. She reached back and pulled up her underwear, wincing when she touched her still-tender flesh and flushing at the jolt of excitement that lanced through her belly. She colored further when she caught the nun’s too-knowing smile. Sister Aulos knew just how much she’d enjoyed that.
“I hope you’re ready to learn now.” The nun’s smile widened. “We’ll start with Latin today, I think.”
Latin? Surely the nun was joking, Carmodie thought with a mental groan. It was easily her least favorite subject and no one except the kingdom’s religious folk used the language anymore. Carmodie had no designs on a religious life, and didn’t understand why it was so important she learn the language.
“Is there a problem, girl?” Sister Aulos watched Carmodie, that small smile playing about her lips.
“Not at all, Sister.” Carmodie’s response was hasty and her abused buttocks twinged, setting off an answering throb between her thighs. She lowered herself slowly into her desk chair, the same chair the nun had just vacated. It was warm and there was a lingering scent Carmodie couldn’t quite recognize. It wasn’t objectionable, but musky and it filled her with a longing she couldn’t identify.
“Very good, Princess.”
The nun’s words pulled her back to the present. The approving emphasis on the first word filled Carmodie with pride at pleasing the nun and shame for being so eager to please.
“How much Latin do you know?”
“Not much, Sister,” Carmodie admitted. “It’s never been my best subject. It’s not like there’s anywhere to practice it.”
“Then we shall have to remedy that.” The nun glided over to stand next to her. She turned a small book in her hands as she stood beside Carmodie. This close, the princess could smell the starch in the nun’s habit. The scent was pleasant, and under it a slight earthiness lingered. The nun moved closer until Carmodie could feel the warmth from Aulos’ body along her left shoulder and down her back.
The nun dropped the book in front of Carmodie. The princess shivered, goosebumps springing to life up and down the left side of her body from where Sister Aulos’ breasts brushed against her shoulder blade.
“Pick it up,” Aulos said softly, her lips not far from Carmodie’s ear. The gentle shiver turned into intense arousal that tightened in the pit of her belly and refused to let go.
Her hands trembled and Carmodie willed them to be still as she picked up the book. It wasn’t much bigger than her hand, but it was thick.
“Open it,” the nun urged, her lips even closer.
“Yes, Sister.” Is that really my voice? It was so hoarse, husky even.
The title page was difficult to make out, the scribe’s handwriting was cramped and small. To her surprise, the title wasn’t in Latin. A Primer of Earthly Delights. Carmodie licked her lips. It didn’t sound like any teaching text she’d yet encountered.
“Turn the page.”
Carmodie complied, handling the thick vellum of the pages with care. They’d seen much use and crackled when she turned them. The frontispiece seemed to jump off the page. The image should have been crude, the woodcut was simple compared to the etchings in her other books, or on the tapestries that lined the walls of her father’s castle. She traced the edge of the illustration of two women, their limbs so intertwined she couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. One woman’s hand seemed to have disappeared between the other woman’s legs.
“Keep turning.” The nun’s voice was as husky as Carmodie’s had been. Her lips brushed against the outer shell of the princess’ ear and Carmodie was unable to contain her start at the long-anticipated contact. Warmth pooled anew between her thighs and the pressure in her abdomen increased.
All Carmodie could do was keep turning thick pages, helpless against the nun’s urging and the fevered excitement their prolonged contact brought.
“Stop.” Aulos flicked the tip of her tongue against Carmodie’s earlobe.
She couldn’t stop a moan and closed her eyes against the intensity of the sensation. Wetness mingled with the heat between her legs.
“What does that say?”
Carmodie opened her eyes and blinked, trying to focus on the word at the top of the page. “Cunni... lingus?” She stumbled over the unfamiliar word. It sounded Latin all right, perhaps she’d been mistaken about the book.
“Do you know what that means, Princess?”
Carmodie shook her head, not trusting herself to speak more than necessary.
“The word is in two parts. The second part ‘lingus,’ has its roots in which Latin word?”
“I don’t know,” Carmodie whispered. She gasped in surprise when teeth caught her sensitive earlobe and bit down, the pressure just on the wrong side of painful.
“That would be ‘lingere,’ or—”
“To lick?” Carmodie said, the term somehow leaping into her arousal-fogged brain.
“Very good.” Sister Aulos’ warm tongue soothed away her ear’s lingering discomfort. Warm lips traveled down the column of her throat and stopped just shy of her exposed collarbone. Carmodie tilted her head, offering unobstructed access to her neck and realized the nun likely had a perfect view down her cleavage.
“I suppose a good girl like you has no idea what the first word ‘cunni’ derives from.”
Carmodie shook her head, eyes closed and feeling only the wash of Aulos’ breath warm upon her exposed skin.
“It’s from ‘cunnus,’ Princess. It means vulva.”
The word wasn’t familiar to Carmodie either.
“It’s the part of your body that’s on fire right now, Princess.” The nun’s fingers trailed up and down Carmodie’s upper arm. “Do you want me to show you?”
“Yes, Sister.” The smoothness of Aulos’ fingernails lingered against Carmodie’s skin for a few more seconds. She exhaled in disappointment when she lost contact with the nun, then inhaled sharply when she felt the weight of Aulos’ hand at her waist. She looked down and watched as the nun slowly moved her hand around Carmodie’s waist to her belly. The pressure in her abdomen increased, building to a fever pitch and she whimpered at the relentless pleasure.
“Look at me,” Sister Aulos commanded and when Carmodie glanced up, her eyes were caught and held by the nun’s. She saw as much desire staring back at her as she felt, though Aulos’ was tempered just a bit by amusement.
The nun leaned closer until her breath was warm upon Carmodie’s lips. The warmth that had been growing between her thighs flared to an inferno of need and she looked down. The nun’s hand was over her crotch, the fingers curling down around her mound and cupping her through the gown’s many layers of fabric. Carmodie’s breathing hitched at seeing the nun’s hand on her most private of parts.
“Princess.” Aulos’ voice held a stern warning and Carmodie looked back into her eyes. The nun leaned forward and covered Carmodie’s lips with her own. Aulos’ lips moved against hers, f
anning her arousal still further until Carmodie dazedly wondered why she didn’t burst into flames.
When Sister Aulos tightened her hand on her center, Carmodie gasped and the nun slipped her tongue inside the princess’ mouth. Awash in a sea of sensation, Carmodie wrapped both arms around Aulos and held on for dear life. She was aware of nothing, save for the tongue that savored and teased her mouth, and the hand that moved over her mound, rubbing her through layers of fabric until she was no more than an aching ball of need.
Some time later, the nun lifted her head and they stared at each other, chests heaving.
“I want you to pay close attention, Princess,” Aulos said, her voice raspy. “This is the most important part of today’s lesson and you will be tested.”
She watched dumbly as the nun knelt in front of her.
“Sister!” Her shock came out in her voice when she felt warm hands around her ankles.
“Do you want me to stop, Carmodie?” There was no trace of amusement on Aulos’ face now. “I can stop now or I can give you pleasure greater than any you have felt before in your life. It’s your decision.”
Aulos was still and she crouched, as if awaiting Carmodie’s response. She made no attempt to change the princess’ mind with wheedling or flattery. Instead, she put the decision in Carmodie’s hands, trusting that the princess had all the information she needed to decide for herself.
Though she was a princess, Carmodie rarely made her own decisions. Even those decisions that were ostensibly hers, others tried to influence, through bribery or in carefully veiled threats.
In that moment, and despite her still-aching behind—or perhaps because of it—Carmodie decided she could trust the nun.
“Very—” Her throat was dry and she had to swallow hard. “Very well.”
The nun’s eyes flashed, betraying a need as deep as her own, and Aulos smiled. “What is it you want?”
“I want to learn my lesson, Sister.”
The hands that had been so warm around her ankles traveled upward, warming her calves, her knees, her thighs. Warmth was replaced by chill air as her legs were exposed to the coolness of the room.
