“You have an incredible smile,” Rhynea said suddenly, and he was sure he felt his heart stop.
“Perhaps you’ve had enough wine,” he said, reaching for her glass, but she stopped him and took his hand in hers.
“It is not the wine,” she said softly, raising his hand and pressing her face into the large, rough surface of his palm. “I came here thinking you would be a beast, and find you are more man than beast.” Jasper stared at her for a moment, stunned.
“My Lord,” Kanaleth said, clearing his throat.
“Leave,” Jasper said without looking at him, his eyes watching Rhynea as she looked up at him.
“But dinner –“ Kanaleth started to argue, confused. Jasper had never sent them away before the meal had been served.
“It is not a request.” Jasper growled, his voice low. Rhynea’s desire beat at him, and he cared not if it was her own lust or the wine, but he could not hold back.
“Kanaleth,” Lestophales said as she laid her hand upon his arm. “Our prince has spoken, let us leave these two to get better acquainted.” Kanaleth nodded and stood, helping Lestophales from her chair. He turned back to Jasper to say good night, but his Prince did not even notice him, his attention held by the scrap of a woman who sat holding his hand against her face. He simply turned and shrugged, following his mate out the door. Leave them at it, then, he thought. He had been away from Lestophales all day and had needs of his own.
~10~
Rhynea did not notice when Kanaleth and Lestophales left. And while she knew they all thought it was the wine that had suddenly warmed her blood, she knew it was this Satyr Prince who now stared down at her. Rhynea had spent a lifetime looking into the hearts of others, and the moment her eyes had locked with Jaspers, her very soul immediately recognized the heart of the man that beat within.
Of course, the wine probably did help some, she thought with a grin as she felt him scoop her up into strong arms and whisk her away to the Gods only knew where. Certainly it had allowed her to relax enough that the sight would come to her. And when it had, she had caught a glimpse of the strength and character of this man-beast, and in that moment had vowed to accept her fate willingly rather than fight and make this any harder for him than she was certain it was, for she saw the truth of what Lestophales had said – he was a good prince who did what he must for the well-being of his people.
“You are most beautiful, Rhynea,” his voice rumbled low and smooth within her mind, a gentle caress that belied the beast who now slid his massive chest against her. He eased her down into the thick softness of his bed, and she marveled at how quickly they had come to be here.
“You flatter me,” she breathed softly as she felt her clothes being quickly peeled away. When she was at last nude before him, he slid behind her and moved to nuzzle her neck as massive hands came up to cover her breasts. In a momentary rush of panic as their skin met for the first time, she closed her eyes and forced herself to relax once more, the soft fur of his underbelly tickling along the smooth skin of her back as he bent her down and pressed her face gently into the mattress. She gasped aloud as she felt his swollen shaft slide slowly between her legs, and began to tremble with fear.
“Relax, Rhynea, and this will be easier for you,” he purred. He moaned low and curled his body around hers, covering her completely, and pressed the large head of his now fully erect cock between the silky smoothness of her thighs. “Do you truly think that I wish to hurt you? Open your mind to me, allow me to show you the pleasure I am capable of giving you. It does not have to be unpleasant.” As he spoke he pressed into her, allowing the rounded head of his shaft to slide teasingly between her lips and press against the hooded sheathe of her clit.
She moaned softly then as he moved against her and he felt his own heart race. He had not entered her, simply pushed the massive head within the smooth folds of her outer lips before he began to use his shaft to tease and caress her rapidly swelling nub, and the control this took was almost more than he could stand. Beneath him she continued to relax and melt into him. She had not expected to know pleasure, and her body began to respond to the experienced stroking of the Satyr Prince.
“I am going to claim you this night, Rhynea. It is our destiny to be lovers and I will not allow you to run from that which the fates have decreed. Trust me, and know that any pain will be fleeting before I bring you fully into a world of pleasure you could never have imagined.” His voice was hungry as it danced across her spirit and she could not help but comply, suddenly relaxing against him and giving herself over to his whispered promises. Faster and faster he moved against her, pushing and stroking almost aggressively against her clit with his throbbing member until she danced along the cusp of erupting with her first orgasm. With a sudden, fierce growl he pulled back slightly and then buried himself deep within her now slickened walls, and Rhynea cried out as he filled and stretched her, feeling herself tear and struggling desperately against the invasion.
“Be at peace, Rhynea. Relax and let your body know mine,” he whispered soothingly against her soul. He moaned deep in his chest as the liquid heat of her core wrapped around him, struggling to maintain his calm as her tight, smooth walls began to pulse and swell. “You are so warm, so perfect for me,” he sighed as his strokes began to claim and enflame her. She sighed briefly as she began to adjust to his massive girth, though still she found the size of him overfilling and unsettling.
“You are too large, my Lord,” she whimpered weakly, but there was little hint of discomfort in her voice now, replaced simply by a growing need as she spread her legs wider in the hopes of opening herself further for him. His movements became more rapid and animal like and she felt her own pleasure grow, the undeniable pain of being stretched overcome by the feeling of his spirit as it moved against hers to encourage her with whispered words and erotic images.
“You are too beautiful,” he whispered back hungrily. Rhynea squealed as he began to pummel into her without warning, all semblance of humanity gone as he claimed her, pinning her beneath him as his shaft began to swell and knot inside of her. She screamed out to the darkness as her orgasm finally swept through her, rapid, pulsing waves of heat that licked and burned along her skin as her core filled with liquid fire.
“Oh God!” she screamed as another orgasm pushed quickly along the heels of the first, her body convulsing and squeezing beneath and around him. She came over and over again as they coupled that first time, her body tensing and then expanding to crest wave after wave of breathtaking pleasure, until she was lost to the world, and to the beast who had now claimed her for his own. His lips caressed and his teeth pierced as swiftly as his swollen shaft buried deep inside of her. His hands teased and excited her as his tongued swirled and licked, and for a time the all else was lost to her as he wrapped himself around her completely.
His thrusts seemed to go on without end, plunging deep and then retreating, filling her with small teasing spills of seed as he would swell and then relax, push in and ease out. Skilled fingers slid below to twirl and twist sensitive nipples, and when he pierced her shoulder with his teeth and pinned her beneath his demanding hips in an ultimate act of dominance, her entire body began to sing and hum. With a final roar that shook the very foundations of his home, Jasper’s climax finally erupted and he exploded inside of her, his seed shooting out in rhythmic, gushing waves of heated cream that filled and overflowed to drizzle slowly between her legs.
As the rush of noise within her ears died down she gave herself over to small aftershocks of pleasure that were triggered as he kept her pinned and filled with the semi-hard length of him. She would begin to relax only to feel him twitch and swell inside of her once more, setting off another round of heated bliss licking along her skin. They laid like that for some time until he finally shifted and slid himself free of her, leaving her alone within the tangle of sheets so that she felt suddenly lost and alone. She sat up and turned to look at him where he went to stand before the fire, a magnificen
t display of power and sensuality as his stared into the flames.
“Did I displease you?” she asked, her voice suddenly small, her thoughts confused as he suddenly seemed pensive and removed. She watched his shoulders rise and fall as he gave a bitter chuckle and turned to look at her, his eyes blazing and – much to her surprise – his cock already beginning to swell and grow once more.
“Quite the contrary,” he said, his eyes growing lazy and sensual as they travelled over her face to admire the tangled swirl of her curls around slender shoulders. “You’ve pleased me all to well.” He moved from the fireplace and went to pour a drink from a decanter of liquor that sat on a thick wooden cabinet on the far wall. He drank the honey-colored liquid quickly, then turned and came back to the bed to pull her up and cover her mouth with his. His tongue licked greedily against her lips until they parted and allowed him entrance, and then he plunged deep and indulged in the sweetness of her, pressing her against him and growling low at the feel of her nipples as they pressed into his chest.
“What madness is this?” he whispered as she titled her head back to look into his eyes.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” she whispered back, reaching up to taste the wonder of his lips once more as her hand slid free of the sheets to reach down and cup him unashamedly. “But we have only seven days, My Lord – let us not waste them with words.”
Jasper curled protectively around Rhynnea and gently nuzzled his face against the top of her head. He sighed contentedly as he watched her sleep, stirred by her beauty and warmed by the heat of her skin against his. Desire beat at him like a living thing but he refused to give in, knowing she needed rest and loathe to frighten or hurt her. What a monster he was! A man trapped in a beast’s body, his thoughts wholly human but his needs animalistic and wild. And yet somehow she had seen past all these things and into the very depths of his soul, and her spirit had reached out to caress his own.
How would he ever let her go, he wondered? When her time here was up he had no doubt that she would bolt like a lamb from the wolves den, and he would have no choice but to let her. Like Rhynea he was little more than a captive here, seduced by Melisande and then cursed by Hippolyte when he had caught them and transformed Jasper into the vile beast he was today (though in truth he had no doubt now that it had all been a perversely sick game Melisande and her mate shared. Jasper had finally learned some years later that the demented God had known all along each time Jasper had come to Melisande’s bed, having watched them make love on more than one occasion before at last bringing the farce to a close.)
She stirred against him and burrowed deep, and his heart suddenly began to ache. These long centuries he had served as Prince over those who had found themselves in this same hell as he, consumed with the same anger, the same hate. How many of Melisande’s unfortunate handmaidens had he lain with at her command, forced to do her bidding lest Hippolyte turn his attention towards them all and bring more pain upon them? How many had he pleasured against their will until they screamed out for more, suddenly addicted to the feel of his kind buried deep inside them.
And it was no different this time - how could it be? Like those before her, Rhynea would cling to him now that he had pierced her and filled her with his seed. She would beg for him, seduce him, pleasure him in her quest to sate her own heated needs that were little more than a result of his very DNA invading and controlling her. And when she had served her time, Melisande would come for her. She would take Rhynea back to serve in her harem once more, would free her of the curse that drove her to crave his touch so that Rhynea would be forever grateful to her mistress for freeing her from the attentions of one so hideous as he.
And he would watch her go, as he had watched others go so many times before. Only this time, he knew, his life would be forever changed, for this scrap of a girl had found her way into his heart and forced him to remember what it was like to feel happiness.
“You are sad,” she murmured softly and he could not help but smile. Never had any other been so attuned to his moods, his thoughts. They had all wanted only one thing after that first invasive coupling – his sex.
“Of course, I’m sad,” he said with a teasing tone. “I’m being forced to lie in the arms of a beautiful woman – torture, to be sure!” He growled playfully and she laughed sleepily as she moved against him, the sound music to his ears and he felt his stomach clench with need.
“How long have you been here,” she asked pointedly, and he was stunned into momentary silence.
“A million lifetimes,” he said quietly at last. The sadness in his voice was palpable and consuming and she was overcome by the painful truth of those three small words.
“As have I,” she said as she turned into him to press her lips softly against the base of his neck. “A million lifetimes of pain and anger, sometimes hate.” She ran one slender finger slowly along the length of his massive shoulder as she looked up at him. “I hate what brought me here – my own vanity, greed. When my life on earth was through I had no idea the hell that was waiting to welcome me home.” Her eyes grew lazy and warm and he knew that if he weren’t careful he would lose himself there forever.
“And now I have found you,” she whispered as she raised delicate hands to capture his face and pull him close. “And suddenly, all these centuries of being forced to partake in Melisande’s twisted games with Hippolyte seem a small price to pay for the 7 days I will get to spend with you.” Before he could speak or answer her lips found his and he moaned as her soft tongue made slow, teasing, strokes against his, soft as butterfly kisses and sweeter than ambrosia.
“Do not say such things,” he protested, forcing his voice to sound rough. “I am a monster, or have you forgotten you are not her by choice?” He moved against her then and pressed the swollen length of his need against her to remind her he was more animal than man. “I have no qualms about taking my pleasure from you as the mood strikes me and will be glad to see you go when your Mistress comes for you once more.” He tore his eyes from her and looked away, not wanting her to see the truth behind his lies. But she only laughed softly and turned his face back to hers.
“Do you think I don’t know of Hippolyte’s curse for all who lay with his Satyrs? Do you think I welcome you to my bed because I’ve become little more than a wanton creature of lust who cares not what beast it is that lays between my legs?” She pushed against him that there might be space between them for a moment, carefully choosing her words. “I cannot lie to you Jasper. The needing affects much me as it does any other who finds pleasure in the arms of your kind. Even now I must battle my body’s need to have you deep inside of me. It is a craving unlike any I have ever known and it threatens to consume me. But Melisande forgets that I, too, was a powerful sorceress in my time. My free will is greater than that of most others, and I have the mental acuity to overcome my body’s craving.” He frowned and she could see the doubt in his eyes, and it made her want to scream.
“Look into my eyes and know the truth of my words, Jasper – my body may crave your touch, but it is nothing compared to the peace my soul feels when you are near.”
He didn’t speak. He couldn’t. Outside the storm had finally calmed, and a soft, steady rain had begun to fall, complimenting the suddenly somber mood. Logs continued to crackle and pop as the fire burned in the large stone hearth that was in the center of his chambers and the warm amber glow complimented the smoothness of Rhynea’s skin as he slowly slid the fur coverlet down the length of her body. She sighed softly as the fur teased across her nipples to slide like velvet across her hips and then she melted into him, welcoming his hands as they began to caress her once more. Holding her eyes with his own he moved over her, his now fully erect member pressing against the softness of her stomach and causing her to catch her breath with anticipation.
“Look into my eyes and know the truth, Rhynnea,” he said as he pushed against her entrance, dipping his head low so that his lips were only inches from hers. “In se
ven days you will leave me.” He held her gaze as he penetrated her with one swift, deep thrust and she cried out loud at the delicious intrusion. “In seven days you will be freed of your curse and you will see me for monster that I am.”
He bent and nibbled at the curve of her neck as he pulled out slightly and then plunged deep again. He shivered as her arms slid up his massive chest, her nails biting into his skin as she clenched moist heat around him. “But until then, you are mine and I am yours, and for the first time in countless centuries I too, will know peace.” He covered her lips with his and swept his tongue deep within the softness of her mouth as he began to ride her, claiming her with deep, pulsing strokes that stretched and consumed. He shivered as he raised up on his elbows to watch her face as he filled her, his own hunger spurred on as he watched pleasure dance across her delicate features. Full pink lips parted and her eyes were lazy slits that watched him as he watched her, probing, calling, connecting. He threw back his head and roared out to the night as she convulsed around him, and all around them the night answered back as a sudden bolt of lightening lit up the sky and thunder rumbled deep within the clouds.
Beneath him Rhynea writhed and moaned, and she spread her legs wider and wider in a need to accommodate him until she was certain she would split in two. The needing was fully upon her now and she allowed herself to give into it, raising her hips to meet his thrusts and wrapping her legs around his torso as his hips moved and he pounded into her. She joined her voice with his as he cried out from deep within the abyss of passion, her body alive as wave after consuming wave of pleasure crested and washed over her. Her nipples tightened and she thought she would weep with joy when his lips at last latched onto the aching buds, moving from one to the other in fevered need.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered hoarsely when he opened his eyes once more to look down at her. Before she could answer he growled fiercely and pinned her to the ground yet again, the familiar lust driven by animal instinct momentarily taking over as he buried himself completely and exploded inside of her again, hot, pulsing cream filling her and pushing her over the edge towards her final, almost violent orgasm. With a shudder of his own he collapsed beside her, pulling her with him that he might stay buried deep inside of her.
The Gathering Storm Page 6
