by Dee Brice
Gerard strummed Ariel. The woman at his side closed her eyes, her head cocked to one side, a soft smile on her lips.
The twin at Edgar’s side watched Gerard’s fingers as they moved up and down Ariel’s neck, over her belly. Edgar nodded as if to say we each have the right woman.
“Sing for us, Rowena,” Edgar said, taking her right hand in his. Her fingers stroked the back of his hand as if she played Ariel.
“Aye, Edina,” Gerard prompted softly, “join your voice with Rowena’s. Gareth told us you both sing like angels. We would hear for ourselves.”
“Only if Edgar sings with us,” Edina said, her gaze now fastened on Gerard’s face.
“Sing the tavern song,” Edgar suggested, and watched Rowena’s face turn bright pink.
“Oh Row, you didn’t,” Edina protested through a giggle.
“I did.”
“She did,” Edgar said, “but I believe she left out the bawdiest verses in deference to my modesty.” He grinned.
“There are bawdier verses?” the twins said together.
Grinning, Gerard began the lively tune. The other three sang the verses they knew. Edgar sang those Rowena had not known. He sang in a very high voice, making the women laugh. Gerard joined in—his deep tones slightly off-key.
The twins hid huge smiles behind their hands. Edgar laughed aloud, as did Gerard. The women joined in until all four guffawed uncontrollably. Rowena, arms crossed over her stomach, leaned against Edgar. Tipping her chin, he kissed her.
Edina pecked Gerard’s cheek. When she found herself enfolded in his arms, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for her to take Ariel from his hands, set the lute aside and press herself against his chest. It felt entirely proper for her to unfasten his doublet and run her hands over the hard muscles and silky hair she found beneath the cloth. To take his soft groans and his tentative tongue into her mouth and meet them with her own sighs. With her own tongue.
“I could kiss you for the rest of my life,” he muttered against her ear, “and never grow tired of the act.”
“Would you want more than kisses, Gerard?”
“Much more—so long as you are willing, Edina.”
She took his hand and placed it over her breast. Her nipple rose, eager to feel his flesh against it. “I think you can tell how willing I am.”
“I would know better if you would let me undress you.”
“Not yet,” she murmured as she slid down his body. On her knees, she tugged off his boots and hose. Slanting him a wry smile, she held up a pair of embroidered garters and noted his blush.
“You left them under the willow. I feared they might be all I would ever have of you. Do…do you want them back?”
“Do you want to keep them?”
Her voice teased, but her eyes were solemn. His answer, he knew, could cost him her presence in his life. In his arms. In his bed. He licked his suddenly dry lips then muttered, “Aye, I’d like to keep them. But only if you come with them.”
Her soft smile blessed him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and felt his heart begin to beat once more. He slid his hands under her elbows and tried to gather her to him.
Shaking her head, she eased away. “There is a pillow directly behind you. Pass it to me.”
“Wh-What? Why?”
“You’ll see.”
Caught somewhere between trepidation and anticipation, he obeyed. When she’d settled on the pillow, she reached for the laces that held his rigid shaft within his breeches. He gripped her hands. “Edina,” he warned, “we are not alone.”
A saucy smile greeted this admonition. He felt his shaft wither.
“I know,” she answered as she swept his doublet aside then resettled on her heels. “I have long admired your chest, Gerard.” She traced his pectorals, letting her fingers glide over his nipples. A soft giggle escaped her parted lips. “Your nipples harden just as mine do when you touch them. Will they harden even more if I suckle them?”
Had a woman ever suckled his nipples? he wondered a second before her tongue lapped him gently. He couldn’t remember. If another woman had touched him like this, she had never brought him such exquisite pleasure. He felt as if Edina’s tongue ran straight from his nipple to his shaft and each grew longer, harder. Wanting more. Needing more of her tender ministrations. He groaned and leaned back against the bed.
As if obeying a silent command, Edina kissed and laved her way down his belly. And stopped to explore his bellybutton as if it were the most wondrous thing she had ever seen. His shaft seemed to cry out, Lower! Touch me now! But she paid no attention, only lingered at his bellybutton. Her tongue swirled along its rim while her fingers plucked his nipples until he feared he’d explode before she went any farther.
Every nerve seemed to lie between his navel and his balls. All feeling—all desire—gathered there. His hips surged upward as if urging her downward. His breath hissed from between his clenched teeth. More than he needed his next breath, he needed her tongue, her lips, her mouth on his shaft.
Just when he thought he would die—murdered by lust—he felt her soft cheek against his freed shaft. Felt her head turn. Her tongue glided from his balls to his swollen tip, rimmed its head, lapped it like a cat might delicately lap at a bowl of cream. He groaned, fisted his hands in her hair. Willed himself not to force his shaft deep within her mouth. That deliciously wicked mouth that sucked gently then harder and harder still. Her tongue—that clever tongue—swept over and around him. He thrust upward. His head thrashed wildly against the fur beneath him. He erupted, moaning loudly and muttering over and over, “St. Christopher on a crutch!”
Reminding him they were not alone, he heard Edgar’s voice—replete with satisfaction—groan, “Bartholomew’s balls.”
“I think they liked that,” the twins said together. Each a mirror image of the other, they ran their tongues over their lips.
“Salty,” Rowena observed while she tugged Edgar’s breeches down his splayed legs.
“Thick like cream,” Edina added. “A little sour, but pleasant nonetheless.”
Each touched her lover’s now-limp cock.
“These won’t be of much use to us.” Rowena pouted then grinned.
“Not for a long while,” Edina agreed, her eyes echoing the disappointment in her voice.
“There are ways—” Edgar began.
“Other than swiving,” Gerard clarified, “that can bring you pleasure.”
“Ways you know, Rowena.”
“As do you, Edina.”
The men watched blushes flood the twins’ cheeks.
“Aye,” they admitted.
Rowena laughed. “We wish to save those other ways for later.”
Giggling, Edina said, “When your time to recover lengthens even more.” She stood, tugging Gerard to his feet. “For now, let us eat and drink.”
“Let us feast our fill on the sight of you.” Rowena ran her hands over Edgar’s hairless chest and tweaked his nipples.
“Keep doing that and you’ll not wait long,” he warned.
“And what of us? Will you deprive us of the visual feast of your naked bodies?” Edgar asked.
“For now,” Rowena said, her gaze shifting to Edina.
Edina nodded. “Aye, for now.” She led Gerard to the bed, pressing him down upon it.
Rowena retrieved Ariel and placed the lute in Gerard’s lap.
Nonplused, Gerard could only stare at her. Mouth gone dry, he finally managed to say, “You want me to play—?”
“And Edgar to sing,” Edina interjected as she poured tankards of ale for them all.
“Naked, aye.” Rowena nodded firmly as if to a child.
“Perhaps the bed is too hard.” Edina offered Gerard a pillow from the mass just beyond his reach.
Edgar snatched another pillow, covering his groin with it.
Standing side by side, the twins frowned at them.
Rowena said, “Don’t even attempt to make us believe you have never
seen each other naked.”
“Or pretend your cocks have not been ready at the same time.” Arms akimbo, Edina glared at each man in turn.
“Yvonne—”
“Wretched woman,” the men said.
“Told us everything—” Rowena said.
“Much about her time with you,” Edina corrected.
“All three of you!”
“So we know—”
“You aren’t shy about—” Rowena’s glare warned the men to remain silent.
“Being naked—”
“And aroused—”
“Together,” the women finished in one voice.
“We must decide how to proceed,” Rowena said.
Nodding, Edina added, “Excuse us for a moment.” Together they retreated to the table and turned their backs.
Tossing his pillow aside, Edgar looked down at his flaccid cock. “Well, hell,” he said as if his appendage might never rise again.
Staring at his own limp shaft, Gerard swore. “Damn!”
Apparently reaching an agreement of some kind, the twins turned. Edgar, suddenly feeling shy, again plopped a pillow over his genitals. Gerard used Ariel to cover his. The twins wore identical speculative expressions as they glanced at each man in turn.
“Well?” Gerard finally asked when the silence threatened to last until daybreak. “What do you intend to do?”
The women slanted the men identical smiles. “You’ll see,” they chorused.
“Yet another test,” Edgar hazarded.
Gerard nodded, quirking a brow at the twin advancing toward him. She moved with all the stealthy grace of a cat stalking an unsuspecting mouse. “What now, Rowena?”
A momentary hesitation was the only clue he’d used the correct name. She took Ariel from him then plopped down on his naked lap.
“Edina?” Edgar growled. “Will you allow Rowena to seduce my brother?”
Edina shrugged. “If he can make her want him as I want him, where’s the harm?”
She strode to the other side of the bed. A small contest for possession of Edgar’s pillow ensued. Edina gritted her teeth but soon released her hold. Edgar fell backward and the fought-over object sailed over his head. Laughing, Edina crawled up until she lay against him. She stroked his chest, kissed his neck, blew in his ear.
“And if you can make me want you as Rowena wants you…” The suggestion hung between them, a bloated body swaying in the wind.
“I already know you find my kisses intolerable, Edina. And Rowena dislikes Gerard’s even more.”
“You needn’t kiss me.”
“How then will I arouse you?”
“You’ve said there are other ways.”
“Other than swiving, aye.” Edgar sighed. “But those other ways…play off the lady’s desires. Off her willingness to be touched in unexpected places by…”
“Unexpected parts of a man’s anatomy,” Edina finished for him.
Edgar could only nod.
“I am willing, Edgar.” Taking his hand, she placed it over her breast.
Moments later, Edgar observed, “Your body tells a different tale.” Despite his tender stroking and pinching, her nipple remained flat. Her squirming also failed to seduce even the smallest twitch from his cock.
He followed Edina’s gaze and saw that Rowena’s eyes were fastened on her sister. A small, barely perceptible shake of Rowena’s head told of her failure to respond to Gerard.
He felt Edina sigh. “Did Yvonne lie to us? Did you and Gerard swive her or did you not?”
He could not meet her eyes. “It depends on how you define swive.”
She pinched his earlobe, bringing tears to his eyes. “Then you define it for me!”
“Ouch!” came from the opposite side of the wide bed, followed by, “Tell me or I’ll pinch your balls even harder.”
Edgar said quickly, “Gerard—er—took her mouth. I took her ring while Gareth—”
“Took her…?” Blushing, she fell silent.
Easing Edina’s hand off his face, Edgar nodded. In case she thought to pinch his balls, he kept her hands in his.
“Why, um, did you choose to take her ring?”
“It just happened that way.”
“Edgar!” she warned, pulling her hands free.
He felt a flush seep from his chest to his hairline. “I…”
“Yes, you?”
“I am less…wide than Gerard,” he reluctantly admitted. “None of us wanted to hurt Yvonne, so I ended up…there.”
Edina looked as if she might be picturing Gerard’s cock. “Ahh,” she said at length. “But,” she blushed, “did she not feel equally discomfited with Gerard in her mouth?”
“As to that, you must ask either Yvonne or Gerard.”
“Even more, I would like to know why Yvonne bedded all of you. And don’t tell me it just happened that way.”
“Kerrie—”
“Interfering female,” Rowena interrupted, obviously listening to her sister’s conversation.
Gerard looked anywhere but at them or at Rowena.
“’Twas in Kerrie’s will that her daughters must be seduced before they wed. That the man who most aroused her passion was the man each princess would marry. Vinn and Banan wooed Willa and Pippa.”
Gerard broke in. “Edgar and I—with Gareth of course—wooed Yvonne.”
“Why?” Rowena demanded. “She and Gareth were already betrothed to each other.”
“I am unaware of the details.” Edgar resumed the tale. “But I believe Aida and Gaspar insisted the princesses should have a choice in who they wed.”
“So, even though Yvonne and Gareth were pledged, you all…swived her?”
“To give her a choice, aye.” Even to himself, Edgar sounded defensive.
“Marchonland is a very strange place,” Rowena murmured.
One flaxen brow arching upward, Edina nodded. “I shall ask Gerard about Yvonne’s discomfort.” Turning her head, she saw Gerard wiggling his hips against Rowena’s buttocks. “As soon as I convince my sister to depart your brother’s lap.”
As one, the twins left the bed but retreated to the table. They whispered, darted warning glances that seemed to tell Edgar and Gerard to remain where they were. Apparently reaching a decision, they nodded once.
They advanced to the bench. Each placing one foot upon it, each removed one stocking.
“What do you intend, Rowena?” Edgar asked as she neared him where he sat on the bed.
“A final test.”
“Then whatever happens,” Edina said to Gerard, “we will end these games.”
“And marry us,” Gerard insisted. His tone and expression brooked no argument.
“Whatever happens,” Edgar insisted. He’d not give Rowena room to wiggle her way free by claiming he’d misunderstood her intent.
“Edina will marry Gerard and Rowena shall marry you, Edgar.”
Edgar looked at his brother, who merely shrugged one shoulder. They both disliked the game continuing, but hoped the twins—prayed they would keep their word.
“Then let us begin,” Edgar said.
“First, you must promise not to remove these blindfolds until we grant you permission to do so.” Rowena glared at Edgar, her eyes threatening mayhem should he break his promise.
“Nor will either of you try to peek beneath or over your mask.” Edina tied her stocking around Gerard’s head. “Your solemn promise.”
His own eyes now covered, Edgar agreed with a nod.
“My solemn word,” Gerard said.
At Rowena’s silent urging, Edgar stood, letting her lead him a few steps away from the bed. He felt oddly disoriented and unsure of where he was.
“You aren’t going to walk us into the oubliette?” His voice teased, but the fear felt far too real. He’d rather face a dozen knights attacking all at once than this slip of a girl whose hand guided him—who led him, where?
“Would I make myself a widow before I am a bride?”
“I can but hope.”
She laughed, saying, “The bench is directly behind you. Sit and remain facing away from the bed.”
Edina’s voice commanded, “And don’t peek! Remember, we can see you even if you cannot see us.”
“How long must we remain thus?” Gerard’s voice echoed Edgar’s unsettled feeling.
“It will take—”
“As long as it takes.”
With that, the women moved away. Edgar could hear the rushes rustle under their feet, the soughing of their gowns trailing over the floor. And, if his ears did not deceive him, he heard the soft sighs of cloth sliding off even softer skin. One day—soon, he promised himself—he would lie in his and Rowena’s bed and watch her remove her clothes. Know that she let him watch because it pleased him to see her. Know that the slow revelation of her flesh aroused her as much as it aroused him.
Just imagining her, he felt his cock grow to a nearly painful length and thickness. Gerard’s soft groan told him that his brother suffered as well.
The sound of creaking bed ropes sharpened his need. Would he and Gerard find their women naked on the bed, their spread legs revealing their eagerness? Probably not, he silently admitted. Although he found the image pleasing, exciting, he doubted the twins would find it as appealing. Besides, they’d said this was a test. His mind knew they would not make it easy—no matter what his cock wanted.
Rowena laughed. Edina giggled. Gerard grunted. Edgar frowned and wondered how much longer he could withstand this torment.
“Remove your blindfolds,” the twins chorused.
He did so and saw Gerard’s grim smile. They shrugged. Each taking a deep breath, they turned as one to see what awaited them.
Chapter Nine
“Oh my!” Kerrie whispered, gazing down at the earthbound couples. Alexandre covered her eyes but she pushed his hand away.
“Allow them some privacy, Kerrie.”
“Why? They cannot help but see each other, so where is the harm in our watching as well?” She gave him an assessing look. “Are you jealous, Alexandre? Do you wish we still could swive?”
“’Twas a pleasurable part of having a body.”
“If we observe them ‘twill allow us to pretend we feel every touch, every kiss…”
