“Preposterous.” Danar eyed Tallon with deep suspicion. “You are not angry the temple servants treated you this way?” She might almost delude herself into believing him jealous, but she knew better. He simply did his duty to protect her.
“Of course their actions angered me, but after speaking with the Oracle, I do not hold her responsible.” Tallon’s reasonable inflections belied the flexing of the muscles at his jaw. Despite his anger, Ankhet admired the way he faced Danar with such courage. Few men could do so. Danar could be quite terrifying to his enemies. Only she had seen his softer side.
“Yes, I can imagine the interaction I witnessed would cause you to look upon the Oracle with favor.”
Ankhet cringed at the censure in Danar’s voice.
“You will stay in the Guard’s quarters, Tallon Sinclair. As soon as the acolytes return, they will take you back to your home.” His pronouncement had the air of finality only Danar could supply.
“No.”
“No? Do you defy me, Sinclair?”
“I have applied to test for the position of Consort to the Topaz Oracle. That would be my right, in any case. You cannot refuse me the opportunity under any circumstance, now that she has proven her response to me.” Tallon arched a brow as he took a step closer to Danar. “Is that not your law?”
Danar spoke between clenched teeth. “Yes.” Anger pulsed off him with such energy even the brave Tallon took a step back.
She looked up into the angry, flashing black eyes of her bodyguard and childhood mentor, Danar, her friend and companion these many years. In his place, now stood a jealous man.
“I claim my right to attempt the test as well.” Danar’s every syllable emphasized his implacable will.
Her mouth fell open.
Tallon stared in surprise, then anger. “What game do you play, Guard? Even if you could manage to pass the test, you could not fulfill your duties as Consort. We all know the conditions of your appointment.”
Danar glared at them both. “The law states until the test has been passed, all Candidates present upon the island must be considered.” He looked to Tallon. “You have yet to pass the test. I am now a Candidate. Leave us.”
Tallon bristled at the terse order, fists clenching, shoulders tightening. He looked to Ankhet. She nodded briefly, indicating the direction of the chambers she’d pointed our earlier. “Please, Tallon. Leave us to discuss this.”
He eyed her, concern evident in his frown.
“Please.”
With a brief nod he left the holy chamber.
“Danar, what—?”
He hauled her against his granite hard chest, squeezing the breath from her. Eyes blazing down into hers, she saw the truth of his passion a moment before his mouth came down upon hers. If she’d still been capable of coherent thought, she’d have expected brute force.
She discovered, instead, delicate finesse with the edge of command. He caressed her lips with his tongue, seducing her into opening for him, then thrust in with the might of a conqueror. He possessed her mouth with the bold strokes of one who’d arrived on his territory, knew it and wanted to be certain she knew she’d been claimed. As he sucked her tongue into his mouth, teasing it with his own, he brought his big, work-roughened hand up to clasp her naked breast. He hefted it, squeezing it with the precise amount of pressure to make her moan in delight, then broke the kiss to gaze upon her face a moment before lowering his head to take her nipple into his mouth.
“Ahh. Danar.” The pleasure so exquisite it brought tears to her eyes, she looked down to watch him suckle at her breast as she clutched his thick dark hair. The sight so enflamed her, the moisture trickled freely from her woman’s core. Dizziness rolled over her in a wave. She needed to feel him inside her at long last. She needed him to lay her down and fill her with that beautiful cock she’d glimpsed by accident one wonderful summer. “Please.”
Seeming to understand her need, he eased her down upon the same cushions where she’d experienced her first taste of passion with Tallon, such a short time ago, passion still simmering in her belly. A pang of guilt shot through her she couldn’t understand. How could she feel disloyal to a man she barely knew when the man she’d always loved and known so long finally knelt between her legs? He tore his tunic off over his head and her mind shut down. Surely, such perfection could make the gods weep with envy. She reached out with trembling hands to clasp the side of his face, studying the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes and the grooves of strain worn into his forehead and at the corners of his mouth. Lowering her gaze, she admired his magnificent torso, reaching out to caress his bare chest, shoulders and arms and inhaled his musky man scent. Hers, at last.
His breath came faster at her touch, as did her own. She slid her hands down lower to the column of delineated muscles at his abdomen, the edge of her hand brushed his cock—his very large, erect cock, and they both gasped.
The fiery glow flaring in his dark eyes should have warned her, but within an instant, before fear had a chance to take hold, he hooked an arm under one of her legs, opening her wide and slid the tip of his cock into her slick entrance. Her eyes sought his, and he slid home within her. A loud gasp tore from her throat at the sensation, then a sharp pinch, overwhelmed by joy.
“All right, little one?”
“Yes… It feels so odd. Oh, I feel very odd. So full and stretched. There is a tightness deep in my belly I don’t understand. I need—”
“Shh… I know what you need, beloved.” He began to move within her. Sliding almost out then all the way back into her tight sheath, drawing shuddering groans of ecstasy from deep within her soul.
“Oh, Danar.” She could barely draw breath to speak in between his strokes. “I’ve wanted you so long. I’ve dreamed of this, but I didn’t know you wanted me and I never wanted to expose you to the risks. Gods forbid the Standard charge you with treason….”
“I know, beloved. I, too. I’m not afraid of the risk. I tried to stay away. I made a vow I wouldn’t cross the line between Guard and Oracle, but I’m too selfish to let you go.”
She sighed. “I’m so glad for that.”
“There is more.” Holding himself up just above her, so their chests rubbed with delicious friction, he began to move within her again. Slow, and careful at first, then, as her moans turned louder and wilder, he plunged into her with possessive aggression.
“Ah… Danar. I feel… I think something is wrong.” She’d never experienced the strange tightening within her womb, the frantic need for something she couldn’t name. The sensation frightened her, even as her vulnerable position beneath the fierce Danar thrilled her.
“No. It’s something right.” He leaned over to kiss her, nipping at her lower lip to get her to open to the masterful plunge of his tongue. He demanded, and received, every bit of response she could muster. Leaving her breathless and wanting more, he pulled back. “I’ll make it better now, sweet.” Smiling, he reached around and settled her legs about his hips. “Hold on to me and just let yourself fly, my love.” With that, he began pounding into her with a delicious grinding twist to his hips. Her cries of delight grew ever louder as she strained against him, mindless in pleasure, yet it went on and on. Thrilling, and yet she longed for more.
Just as she grew dizzy with fatigue, he lifted her legs higher and switched the angle of his thrusts. A burst of pleasure so sudden, so complete it almost robbed her of consciousness, exploded along her nerve endings and encompassed her whole being in bliss. Her legs stiffened, then slipped from around Danar as he continued plunging within her until his hoarse cry announced he, too, had reached his pleasure. Her eyes slid shut as his warm seed seeped down onto her thighs. A smile played about her lips. She’d become one with Danar, her beloved.
“Danar. You are not an asexual.” A sleepy giggle escaped.
“No, my love. For my sins, I lied under sworn oath.”
“Thank the gods. I’ve prayed so long for it not to be true.”
“I mo
st humbly beg your forgiveness for my deception. I know it is an offence punishable by death.”
“Did you find it worth the risk?”
“A thousand times, yes.”
“In that case, I pardon you and spare your life. As long as you promise to do that again.”
His rough laugh rang out. “Yes, my lady. I will do that again at the earliest opportunity. I swear it upon my life.”
A contented smile tugged at her lips as he wrapped his arms around her and lay with her, pulling her tight up against him, upon her meditation cushions.
After a time, as she drifted in and out of the most relaxed slumber of her life, she felt him lift her and carry her to her chambers. As he laid her upon her bed and cleansed her with a warm, wet cloth, she heard him speak to another in low tones.
“I passed the test.”
“So I heard.” The bite of anger in the male voice unmistakable. Tallon continued, “I’m sure the entire complex heard.”
Danar’s proud chuckle rumbled through her sleep-drugged mind as he pulled the covers up over her. She pretended sleep, curious to hear the exchange. “I will be her Consort. You don’t even know her. I’ve known her all her life. She’s meant to be mine.” Though fatigued, a myriad of emotions flitted through her, —embarrassment, pride that she could bring two such magnificent men to jealousy, and guilt. For she desired them both.
“I don’t intend to give up my right to take the test.” Anger and determination colored the increasing timbre of Tallon’s declaration.
“I don’t trust you or your motivations, stranger. Know this. I’ll be watching, ready to kill you if you hurt her.” Danar’s voice, tense and furious, grew louder in volume. “I can’t stop you, especially as she’s declared she’s willing, but at least have the decency to let her heal.”
“Oh, I’m very decent, guard. I let you have her first, when by law, I should have.”
“By rights, I’m the only one who should have her,” Danar declared in his low, menacing tone, a tone that could send shivers of delight down her spine, or strike fear in his enemies’ hearts.
“Brave words from a man fortunate enough to be by her side all these years, yet too cowardly to step forward and claim her, and too afraid to stop others from attempting the test. I wouldn’t have let the fear of treason charges stop me.”
“No, I’m sure you wouldn’t. You also do not serve the Standard or live by its intricate laws, traditions, and code of honor. A code I’d already betrayed so I might remain by her side rather than rotate for mandatory duty off the island upon her father’s death.”
“Did you know she felt such obligation to her duty she lied to give those other Oracle Consort applicants a chance? How would you have felt if someone she did not like, and who did not care for her, somehow passed the test and ended up as her Consort?” Tallon’s vicious words rang out with her unspoken question.
Why has Danar kept silent, and pretended to be an asexual? Did he fear the potential charge of treason, wish to maintain his position at her side, or did something more complex motivate him? She shut her eyes tighter in an attempt to block the harsh words and thoughts.
“I will pass the test, guard. Then, we shall see.” Tallon’s voice dwindled as the two men exited her chamber together.
Mind and body in turmoil, Ankhet tossed and turned upon her bed, rest eluding her. Despite Danar’s exquisite loving, her body still craved something more, or perhaps simply Tallon. The soft bed linens chafed her sensitized skin, the musk-scented candles flickered wanton shadows across the walls and permeated her chamber with their spicy aroma, reminding her of Tallon and Danar. The heat brought beads of sweat to her brow, and as she imagined the two men with her, perspiration trickled down between her breasts. Her breasts grew heavy and swollen, the nipples distended. Her woman’s place clenched in vain as her juices leaked down her thighs. Surely, she could not survive such torment.
In desperation, she reached down with her own finger to ease the tortured female place on her body Tallon and Danar had stimulated with such expertise. Thoughts of them naked with her, pressing their hard bodies against hers, touching her in ways she’d only imagined in wicked dreams, drove her to rub the magic place faster and faster until a short, weak climax shook her body.
She almost wept. It wasn’t enough. She needed the flesh and blood men.
As she fell into an exhausted sleep, it dawned upon her the fantasies fueling her frantic desire included both men, together with her at the same time.
Chapter 3
Early the next morning, Tallon approached as she stepped from the cooling water of her private cove, naked, save for her gleaming, fire-sparked gems. She slicked her wet hair back and wrung the droplets of water from the thick strands.
“Good morning, fair Oracle.”
Nerves hit her, leaving her hand unsteady as she reached for a linen towel on the reclining couch. This young god reduced her to an insecure teenager. “Good morning. Are you enjoying your stay on the island?” Every time she saw his gleaming, hairless bronze chest, she had an overpowering urge to lick the carved muscles of his abdomen. What would he taste like? Would his flesh be as silky and as firm as it appears?
“Not yet, but I expect to be enjoying it very much soon.” He eyed her up and down with thorough assessment. Her heart sped up at the gleam in his eye. In spite of her better judgment, she lowered her gaze to his cock and found it already tenting his kilt. She pressed her thighs together, attempting to alleviate the sudden ache between them. He advanced upon her, purpose evident in each deliberate step.
He meant to claim his right to the test. Her nipples hardened and pointed like beacons toward him. The devil. He noticed and gave her a wicked smile. Her pussy moistened and her cream trickled down the insides of her thighs. She wanted him, wanted to see him in all his glory without the concealing fabric of his kilt, and he knew it. “Tallon, I…”
“Yes?”
“I—”
He grabbed her and dragged her to him.
His hard, smooth chest pressed to her plump breasts with her tortured nipples grazing against him. “Ah…”
He rubbed against her. “You like that, don’t you?”
Her brain locked up and she forgot what she’d been about to say. She stared with helpless resignation up into those intriguing eyes.
He reached down between her legs, caressing her pussy with a light, seeking brush of his hand. Smiling in triumph, he lifted his hand for her to see her own moisture glistening on his beautiful, bronzed fingers. “You must allow me to attempt the test now. This is proof of your arousal.” He raised an eyebrow, daring her to defy him and the truth. She could not. Oracles law forbade lying, especially in matters of such importance. Not that she would, and risk losing this opportunity.
“Yes.” She meant to speak with firm assurance, but only a rough whisper escaped.
“Yes, what?” He reached up and cupped a breast, grazing her nipple with lazy insolence.
She wanted to scream for more, but doubt intruded, making her hesitate.
Despite the admiration of most males she encountered, something about Tallon brought out her vulnerable side. Danar had known her so long, and they shared a strong emotional bond. She could fathom his attraction much easier. “Why would you want me, when you could have any beautiful young woman of your choice?”
“You are the woman of my choice.” He guided her hand to his erection lifting the fabric of his thin garment.
The words she must speak, wanted to speak, stuck in her terrified soul, clinging in her mouth like the stickiest date cake. She’d no wish to expose herself to humiliation, failure—especially now that she had Danar. Still, by law, she could not deny him the chance he sought, lest she wanted to. “Yes, you may attempt the test.” She gasped, odd delight surging through her as he reached out and pinched her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, with exquisite care.
Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, “Relax, Oracle. I promise you will not reg
ret what we do together.”
His warm, moist breath tickled her ear and the earthy, man scent of him filled her nostrils. A haze of desire clouded her vision and her knees grew weak. Reaching out, she clutched his lean, muscled arms for support. They flexed, as iron-hard as the rest of him. She swallowed and a shudder of anticipation shook her. She had no doubt she would enjoy anything they did, but regret? That posed a different risk, and his assurances did not comfort her. “But, you hate the Oracle Standard.”
His facial muscles clenched and a small tic fluttered at his jaw. “What makes you think that?”
“I could feel it. I could feel your hatred of the Standard, and of me, when we met. I can see it in your face even now when I say the name.” She sought that tortured gaze. “Why would you wish to be a life Consort to someone you despise?”
“You mistake my ambivalence for the Oracle Standard for hatred, that’s all. I don’t despise you. When I’m with you, there is no room for anything but want. Need.” He swept her up in his arms and carried her to the reclining couch.
Still, she sensed he held something from her. She could feel conflict roiling within him, despite his desire. Tallon bore secrets, but Oracles could see little affecting their own lives. Their divination gift could not guide them in these situations, only their female instinct and the vision of their hearts. Her heart and her body wished her to yield to him.
He followed her down upon the soft cushions and teased her mouth open with a flick of his tongue before he thrust it inside, searching, learning, plundering. She matched him stroke for stroke, straining against him as they writhed upon the couch, the sea-scented air of the cove teasing her exposed skin, and filling her nostrils with the familiar, clean scent. The gentle morning sun warmed them as she tangled her hands in Tallon’s hair, urging him on. How can I desire Tallon so desperately, yet still want my beloved Danar?
The Topaz Embrace Page 3
