by AJ Nuest
A gold coin rose into the air and she leaned back as it floated to a stop behind him. A gasp lifted her chest as the metal exploded and million tiny particles cascaded toward the wall.
She squinted at strange arrangement of the golden flecks as they layered upon the wet paint. Something in their configuration seemed familiar. A fleeting glance around her chambers, and she smacked a palm to her forehead. Blessed tears of the nine. Hidden within the framework of every star, the free-flowing tresses of each goddess and the infinite splendor of the heavens, the bold strokes of Rhys’ signature affixed his intoxicating presence over the entirety of her room.
He peeked at her over his shoulder and then snapped his head around, meeting her amazement with a devilish lopsided grin. “Well, good morning, sleeping beauty.”
Bending at the waist, he set the pallet and brush at his feet. Every tendon in his chest, the ladder of raised ridges encasing his ribs and the biceps in his arms flexed as he grabbed the wooden bar near his knees and swung off the plank to the floor.
“What…” She paused to clear the rasp from her voice. “Whatever are you doing, my heart?”
One long leg rose behind him as he leaned down to shake a clean strip of cloth from the jumbled pile. “My damndest to be a gigantic pain in Leo’s ass.”
Tossing a roguish smirk her way, he strode for the bureau near her window, leather sliding over trim hips, the dark scruff of his beard a tantalizing shadow surrounding the generous curves of his mouth.
She licked her dry lips against the enticing visual and more carefully studied the grand scene encompassing her chambers. Whatever grievous injury he hoped to bestow, ʼtwould seem her beloved had more than succeeded. But, tits of the nine, a task of such extensive effort had surely taken him several—
Her heart leapt as realization arrowed home, and she scrambled to her knees, shoving a lank of mussed hair over her shoulder. “How long have I been abed?” Whilst she’d needed her slumber, for her to miss several passings of Helios’ face the exact moment Gaelleod nipped at the heels of her kingdom seemed a horrible waste.
“Relax.” Rhys decanted a pitcher of water into her earthenware basin. “You’ve only lost a day.” Water trickled as he washed the paint from his arms with a cake of soap, employed the use of a little brush to scrub at the stubborn stains under his nails. A tip of his head and he shrugged. “And two nights, if you wanna get technical.”
Thank the nine. She slumped and yet, not a heartbeat later, the needling agitation returned to her chest. In such a short span, her artistic lover had accomplished all this? “You, however, have not spared yourself a moment’s rest.”
“Not true. I napped in the chair whenever I got tired.” He jerked his chin toward the fireplace and her gaze fell to the crumpled blanket hanging upon the arm, the discarded trays of food stacked before the hearth and the steaming teapot hanging near the grate. Nonetheless, that he had gone to such trouble on her behalf displayed a devotion beyond any she’d encountered in her lifetime.
“But why, my love?” Palms opened at her sides, she tried and failed to absorb every detail wrought by his able hands. The limitless stretch of beauty made her mind reel, and she huffed and shook her head. A fortnight or more would be needed to discern all the facets buried within the design of this immense panorama.
Shaking the water from his hands, he tugged a towel from the bar and dried his arms, strode to the mantel and filled an empty mug with hot water from the teapot. “Do you see the pattern? The symbol hidden inside the scene?”
A smile hinted at his lips as she nodded. He referenced his signature, of course. Yet, for those who had not the occasion to study it as she had, the evidence would no doubt be lost. He’d secreted his sigil so well within the strokes of his brush, its depiction would remain concealed to the untrained eye.
He tipped a spoonful of tea leaves into the water and added a dollop of golden honey before walking the steaming beverage to the bed. The mattress dipped near her thigh as he sat and handed her the mug. “Do you remember what Fandorn said that first day I got here? About my signature and what it meant?”
The sweetened liquid soothed her parched throat… until understanding flashed like a flint striking kindling and she sputtered and coughed into her fist. But, of course! Rhys’ mark was a sigil of the utmost protection!
She jostled the cup to her bedside table. The portraits of her at his chambers… the tingle of magic whenever she’d swept her fingertips along bold strokes he habitually used to sign his name. For all the goddesses in paradise, they were the exact solution to keeping Gaelleod at bay!
Rising on her knees, she threw her arms around her lover’s neck and hung on tight. He was an absolute marvel. A contented sigh left her lips as his chuckle warmed the untamed mass of her hair. Without his keen wit and insightful talents, ʼtwas anyone’s guess how many nights she may have lamented Gaelleod’s vile pursuit. “So, as long as I remain within these chambers, the dark lord will be unable to infect my dreams?”
“Oh, I can do you one better.” He settled her sideways on his lap, and her heart stuttered as he reached between her breasts and lifted a silver pendant she’d yet to notice hanging beside the key. “The minute I put this around your neck two nights ago, you slept like a baby. My guess is, as long as you wear it, you should be able to sleep anywhere… go anywhere you want.”
She grinned as he dropped a large silver charm in the shape of his sigil into the center of her palm. What past good deeds ensured she be the recipient of such a noble lover’s heart, she did not know nor did she care. Curling her fingers around the newfound treasure, she held it to her chest. The only thing which mattered was they were bound to each other, throughout the joys or despite the terrors they may face.
“Thank you, beloved.” Cupping his cheek, she lowered his lips to hers. Yet one kiss was not enough to display her gratitude for his tireless endeavors. One taste of him was not sufficient to sate her hunger or unleash the fulfillment she craved from his clever hands.
Thrusting her fingers into his thick hair, she brought him down a second time, flicked her tongue along his lips and then swept her mouth over the supple curves to clear the moisture. His low grumble vibrated into her chest. The sharp edges of his teeth nipped her lower lip, and she sighed as he darted his tongue inside to dance and mate with hers.
Sliding a splayed hand up her back, he wound his fingers through her hair, gathering the strands into a tangled mass he clasped at the base of her neck. His other arm snaked around her legs. Muscle flexed beneath her palms as he jerked her higher onto his hips. A thrill skated over her skin as the evidence of his building arousal nudged her bottom. The slightest shift of his embrace and she was tipped from his chest, arms extending and fingernails whitening as she struggled to retain her hold of the smooth skin spanning his shoulders.
One of his eyebrows rose as he leaned in, heated breath mingling with hers, his focus riveted to her lips. “Not that I’m complaining, but you sure about this?” He angled her head back and buried his face in her neck. The tip of his tongue wet her skin, little circles swirling along the tender skin under her ear. “I mean, you did just wake up. You don’t want to eat first? Sorta… build up your stamina?”
She smiled. “Several pangs plague my body at the moment, but not the least of them has anything to do with food.” Her lashes fluttered, an exact replica of the warm quivers his moist kisses ignited in her belly. Sparks detonated along the crest of her shoulder, down the inside of her arm to her fingertips as he nuzzled her ear.
“Good. Because I promised your dad I wouldn’t take advantage.”
Her father? Clasping the sides of Rhys’ head, she pried him away from her to assess the desire flitting through his darkened gaze. To learn the two men had discussed her condition did not sit well in her chest. Headstrong and stubborn, both relentless in their efforts to tell her what’s best… an agreement of terms between them would surely cause her nothing but grief. “At last glance, these were my
chambers, and I concluded what activities were contained therein. I suggest you allow my father to remain outside the door where he belongs.”
“Check.” He jerked his cheeks from her grasp and lowered his lips back to their previous location.
Yet before he made contact, she wrenched him away from her once again. The notion her father could even suggest such a thing frayed the ends of her very last nerve. “And should he be witless enough to ask after our activities, you have permission to tell my father I took advantage of you.”
“There’s that sass I love.” A corner of his mouth quirked and Rhys shook her hands from his face. His lips parted as he neared and she huffed her annoyance, combing her nails through his hair as he returned his lust-inducing attentions to her neck. “Okay, you about done?”
The man was fortunate he held the secrets to her heart. If not for his persistence, she could have expounded on her irritation for days. “Quite.”
“You do realize the more pissed off you get, the harder it makes me. You’re playing with fire, Faedrah. It’s been five long days since I had you.” The ends of his beard tickled her skin as he swept an open-mouthed kiss across her chest. “Someone so much as clears their throat outside that door and I’m liable to tear their head off.”
A thrill burst in her belly at his whispered confession… that he would want her with such intensity, his needs in perfect harmony to hers. She gasped as his hips bucked beneath her, bit her bottom lip as he jerked her nightgown aside and drew her nipple into the warm cavern of his mouth. His hand curled beneath the edge of her sleeping gown. A flick of his clever tongue and a shiver stole over her skin as he ran his palm behind her knee to the back of her thigh. Every portion of her grew anxious for his touch. Her pulse built to a needy throb, and she rubbed her thighs together to relieve an inner ache.
Fingers clutching her hips, he slid her off his lap to the bed. A twist of his body, and he settled between her legs, urging the cotton of her gown higher upon her waist.
Her breathing grew labored. She perched on the edge of desire and awaited whatever temptations he chose to bestow. He eased both hands under the curves of her ass, massaging and teasing the crease with his fingertips as his lips seared a warm path over and across her stomach. Tingles wound through her limbs at the rasp of his rough cheeks on her sensitive belly. Moisture pooled and a husky moan eased from his throat as the scent of her arousal heightened the anticipation in the room.
Skin against skin, he slithered up the length of her body, dotting kisses along her breasts, his hands sliding higher to shove the remains of her clothing over her head and off her arms. Kneeling between her legs, he skimmed the tip of one finger around her nipple, groaned and thumbed the tight nub until her pulsating need grew and she bucked and writhed under his touch.
She needed more. Cupped his manhood through his leather pants and squeezed to emphasize her yearning. He hissed and his head rolled back on his shoulders. The planes of his stomach tensed as his hips took up a rhythmic rocking against her hand. She fondled the hard length of him, delighting in the little veins that popped and rode the smooth skin leading down inside the band of his breeches.
Jamming his thumbs into the laces on either side of his hips, he jerked and the leather ties gave. A shove of his hands and he yanked the black leather down to his thighs. His cock jutted into the air, flushed and erect. She circled the bulbous head with her thumb and forefinger and stroked a tight band down to the base. A shudder dislodged the set of his shoulders and he fell forward, the solid weight of him pressing her into the mattress as he kicked his pants to the floor.
He placed one of his hands along the side of her head, elbow braced on the pillow cradling her shoulders, and tended her lips with a coaxing kiss. The other snuck down between their bodies, and light shimmered along her spine as he used the tip of his member to prod and caress her inner folds.
Reason fled as she arched against him, increasing the pressure. The soles of her feet sparked and heated. She wriggled and writhed as the embers burst and slid smooth and sleek up her inner thighs.
“Look at me.” Rhys circled her entrance, eased the head inside and then withdrew. A whimper scuffed the back of her throat as he denied her fulfillment. The entirety of her form trembled and ached. She fisted the blankets, her core fluttering and a roar mounting in her ears as he thrummed her clit with the rim of his cock. “Look at me, dammit. I wanna watch your eyes when I slide inside you. I wanna see what it does to you.”
She grasped his scruffy cheeks and peered hard into the depths of his gaze. Any wish he asked, she would readily grant to have him stretching her, filling her. Quenching her desperate need.
A thrust of his hips, and she gasped as he sheathed the entire length of his erection inside her. Love glinted in his gaze as his husky chuckle warmed her cheek. The base of his cock bore down on her cunny, a titillating pressure heightening her arousal. She shuddered and her fingertips numbed as he scooped the back of her head in his hand and crushed his lips to hers.
Flashes cascaded at the edges of her vision. His arm slid around her waist and her back bowed as he cinched her hard to his chest. His hand swept her bottom, fingers dancing along the crease. A firm shove and the angle increased, allowing him to penetrate a fraction deeper. The tip of his manhood bumped a delicate place high inside and her internal walls quivered. Ripples radiated outward to both heat and chill her skin.
“That’s it, baby.” He ground into her, forcing her thighs wider. Seizing her hip with one hand, he dug his finger into her flesh and held firm, urging her ever nearer the abyss. “Come for me.”
A slight rotation, a sweep of that glorious spot and her body ruptured. She was cast into bliss, body and soul. Rhys groaned into her ear as she trembled around him. She clutched his backside with one hand, fingers tangled in his hair as he pumped and withdrew, riding a wave which propelled her higher and extended the force of her orgasm. A sharp inhalation, the tendons in his chest corded and he shuddered, joining them over and again as the essence of his soul warmed and melded with her core.
A moment later, his body went limp atop hers and she chuckled, gently scraping her fingernails up and down his scalp. “I fear you have done yourself in.”
“Oh ye of little faith.” A minor shift of his hips and she laughed again as the evidence of his unappeasable appetite for her twitched and flexed inside.
The beauty of his artwork shone down upon her face, and she squinted at Rhys’ apt depiction of the heavenly bodies. Oh, that they could truly be lost among the clouds. To forget the dangers lying in wait just outside her chamber door. “How long do you imagine we could remain abed without discovery, exploring all the ways in which to bring each other pleasure?”
Pressing up from where he’d planted his face in the pillows, he wagged his brows. “I’ll go stack some furniture in front of the door and let’s find out.”
She placed her hand on his cheek, sweeping the tip of her thumb along his full lower lip. Perchance a day? Perchance several? She would gladly consent to any length to stay entranced beneath the tide of his love-making. “Let us ask a meal be delivered first. Any and every item we crave, and then I shall order we not be disturbed until Helios heralds the dawn on the morrow.”
Desire flickered in his gaze, and he turned his head to warm the center of her palm with a lingering kiss. “Lady, you got yourself a deal.” Rolling onto his back, he scrubbed a hand over his chin, scratching his face. “And maybe I should shave.”
“Do not do so on my account.” Sitting up, she tugged her dressing gown from the end of the bed and stood, shrugging the silky material onto her shoulders. “I find the singular delights presented by that soft scruff extremely titillating.”
“Oh really?” Pressing up onto his side, he braced his head in his hand, the intensity of his jade gaze warming her skin as she knotted the belt at her waist. “Good to know.”
A glance at her tangled hair in the mirror above the dressing table and she smoothed down
her unruly waves. “Although a bath before the hearth might be in order.”
“I would definitely be into that.”
Passing before the wide span of her northern windows, she tugged one of the curtains aside. Too long had passed since Helios’ golden rays had kissed her cheeks and, if the weather was mild, a gentle breeze would be welcomed to air out her chambers.
The startling view caught her unawares and her footsteps faltered. She stumbled to the side, clutching the curtain to better steady her balance. “Goddesses wept…” Pressing a hand to her chest, she scanned the desolate terrain. Blackened trees stretched their barren limbs skyward, roots searching for purchase upon the cracked, windswept ground. The heavy shroud of a drab gray haze darkened the sky, the village below sagging beneath the oppressive weight of its invasion.
“What’s wrong?” The blankets rustled behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder as Rhys tore a coverlet from her sleeping pallet and rushed to cross the room. Yet the agony over her kingdom’s deterioration since last she gazed upon its fertile fields and verdant wood, stilled the words upon her tongue. How could she describe what used to be, against the horror of what had become? “Faedrah, what is it?”
Or how easily her joy could falter and fade as if mislaid by the flip of a coin? Movement caught the corner of her eye and she withdrew a step at the long line of villagers trundling toward the castle, large bundles filled with food and belongings burdened upon their backs.
