Steam Guardians 01 - A Lady Can Never Be Too Curious

by Mary Wine

  In spite of the airship leaving the station, the First Officer was still with them, and the man looked completely ill-placed as supper was served to them in a windowside table section.

  “Forget her point.” Darius cut a sidelong look at Lykos. “Don’t think about her beyond keeping Agapitos and his men away from her.”

  Lykos studied him intently. “Fair enough, my good man. It does look like you are doing enough mental deliberation over Miss Aston’s attributes for the pair of us.”

  Decima tilted her head. “She is his fiancée.”

  “So I heard,” Lykos said loud enough for Janette to overhear. A blush stained her cheeks scarlet when she locked stares with Decima. “It’s my understanding they are very devoted to each other’s pleasure.”

  Janette drew in a harsh breath before clamping her lips together to keep from sputtering. She turned on her heel and headed away from the public areas with Darius on her heels before Lykos had stopped chuckling. “You’re very welcome…”

  “I don’t believe he heard you,” Decima muttered as she reached for a china teacup.

  “He heard me.”

  Decima smiled before drawing off a long sip of tea. “He did, and he owes you a debt of gratitude for ensuring he and Janette share some private time tonight.” She fell silent as she took another sip of tea, but this one she didn’t savor. Her eyes remained hard.

  “Once we reach the Crystal Fields, there will be little time for pleasantries.”

  Lykos nodded. He reached for a plate of sweet breads because Decima was right. Tomorrow, the tension would double.

  But for tonight, he was sharing a fine meal with a beautiful woman. It was as good as it got for Guardians such as themselves.

  ***

  Along the interior of the passenger area were passenger berths. Doors were set at even intervals like any steamer ship. Darius caught up to Janette quickly, and with a few turns, he guided her to a cabin for which he produced a key. She was grateful for the privacy, but it seemed to be her undoing as well.

  “I’m just sick unto death of it.”

  The words bubbled up the moment she heard the door close. Her control was slipping out of her grasp. The cabin was tiny, but the four walls gave her relief from the constant surveillance.

  “Janette, you must listen to me. It is imperative that you…”

  Darius was using his authoritarian voice again. The same one she recalled vividly from their first meeting, when he’d invested so much effort in attempting to frighten her into submission. She turned on him, her skirt whipping around with her quick motion. “Oh, I’ve listened to you, Darius Lawley. I’ve listened very well to you declaring I agreed to marry you when you never asked me such a question.”

  Her temper was rising, and she welcomed it because it cut through the fear twisting her insides. She propped her hands onto her hips and faced off with him.

  “I’ve heard everything you’ve said, but I wonder if you’ve listened to me at all. If I desired a life full of being submissive to a man’s will, I could have stayed with my father.”

  His visage suddenly changed. The somber, alert expression cracked as a grin appeared, only it wasn’t a pleasant expression. It was menacing, and his eyes flickered with a challenge.

  “I listened when you demanded I finish what I start, and I’m in just the right mood to answer the challenge you are flinging in my face,” he said. “Dare me to try you and I will, siren.”

  “Only an arrogant knave would view my words as a challenge.” There was too much energy coursing through her. She had to move; maintaining her poise became impossible. “I am no siren, sir. I am—”

  “A bitch,” he finished with a smirk.

  She gasped, but he smothered the sound with a kiss. It was a hard one, designed to silence her protests. But she wasn’t ready to surrender, wasn’t nearly ready to bend at all. She balled up her fists, just as she’d learned in Asian fighting class, and tried to drive them into the soft portion of his chest below where his ribs ended.

  He captured both hands.

  “How dare you call me such a thing?”

  And how dare her body respond so quickly to his kiss?

  “With complete pleasure, I assure you.” He twisted her arms behind her back. She ended up trapped against his chest, unable to do anything more than wiggle.

  “You wanted to make me jealous, Janette, admit it.” He released her hands but gripped her bottom and pulled her into contact with his lower body before she might step back. “I’ve been hard since you pranced away ever so saucily on Bion’s arm. But the sight of your hips swaying held my attention, have no doubt.”

  The truth of his words was hard against her belly. “You’re being vulgar, Darius.”

  He didn’t release her. Instead, his hands smoothed over the cheeks of her bottom, squeezing and rubbing as he grinned. Desire speared through her, awakening her clitoris with a vengeance. All the swirling emotion inside her began to transform. Instead of being furious with him, she was desperate to have him once more.

  “And you’re being provocative.”

  She should have taken his words as an accusation, but instead, they landed on her like a compliment. “That doesn’t grant you leave to call me such a thing.”

  “As a bitch?” His voice dipped low and mocking. His eyes darkened, making him appear sinister, and damn her for a fool if it didn’t make her want to scratch him. Just for the release of energy it would provide her.

  “But I prefer to see you sticking your chin out in the face of this situation instead of cringing.” Something flared in his eyes that made her belly twist with lust so tightly, she ground herself against his erection. He lowered his head until his breath was against her neck, denying her the sight of his face and any hint as to his emotions.

  “You have strength in you, Janette. I could ignore anything else, but your spirit is indomitable, and it draws me to you.”

  He bit her gently, sending an electric urge through her. Thoughts refused to form as she was consumed once more by raging need. His erection teased her, and she craved it, twisting against him while he ran a trail of kisses against the sensitive skin of her neck. It stole her breath.

  “I’m happy to see you fighting mad, and very happy to meet you in the middle of the ring.”

  He scooped her up and dropped her on the narrow bed. Her simple skirt went flying with a sweep of his hand, allowing the cool night air to brush the insides of her thighs where her knickers were split.

  “And I shall be very happy to show you I can tame you.” He’d never seemed so attractive before, so completely irresistible. She stared at the glittering depths but fought the urge to be hypnotized. Submission was the last thing on her mind; in fact, it felt absolutely necessary to refuse him, even as she felt the need licking at the walls of her passage.

  “You will do no such thing,” she insisted. “And you can go find someplace else to sleep. This is my cabin.”

  He laughed at her, sounding like some demon described in the pages of a horror story. He tore his vest off before opening his trousers. Beneath the vest was a leather harness that held a pistol against his side.

  “Neither of us is going to be sleeping.” His cock appeared, swollen and hard. “I thought you spent the afternoon learning how many opportunities to increase our pleasure we wasted last night.”

  He knelt and pushed her thighs wide, her split-crotch knickers giving him full view of her sex. She placed her hands behind her on the bed to keep from flopping onto her back. A cry rose from all the emotion swirling around inside her as she struggled to remain upright. Darius took the opportunity to spread her sex open completely and gently stroke it with his fingertips.

  “Oh my Lord…” A hoarse cry escaped her lips without any consent from her mind. The sensation was too intense, too acute, an
d her body wanted nothing more than to respond. She had never suspected any part of her body could be so sensitive.

  Darius snickered, still too arrogant, but she was too busy trying to pull air into her lungs to protest.

  “I wonder how you taste, sweet siren.”

  “You can’t—”

  He chuckled and grazed her open slit once more as she fought to draw in her next breath. Pleasure pulsed through her in a wave so thick, she couldn’t fight her way free of it to remember why she was arguing with him. The pictures of the erotic texts flashed through her mind in the same moment that she felt his breath against her folds. Her clitoris throbbed so hard, it felt like she might climax the moment he touched her. But he seemed to sense it and offered her only the softest of strokes from his fingers.

  “Can’t what, sweet siren?” His fingers grazed her slit back and forth, producing pleasure so intense her eyes closed because she only wanted to feel. “Can’t…stop?” He targeted the little nub at the top of her cleft and rubbed it. “At last we are in agreement. I don’t believe I can stop either. The idea of tasting you is driving me mad.”

  Anticipation nearly twisted her in half. It felt like her insides were being wrung, and breathing took every bit of strength she had.

  The only thing she could do was moan and twist as he replaced his fingers with his lips. She’d never thought a man’s lips might feel so hot. Darius’s tongue lapped along the inside of her slit before toying with her clit. Her muscles tightened and felt like they might snap, sweat rising on her skin as her heart raced. Every thought was centered on the soft strokes being applied to her clitoris. Time slowed down, and it seemed a small eternity between each lap. She was suspended between need and pleasure, yearning for it the moment his tongue moved away. She strained toward him when pressure returned, desperate for just a tiny bit more to send her over the edge into climax.

  Darius didn’t give her release. Instead, he sucked on her before teasing the entrance to her passage with one fingertip.

  “More, Darius! I need more.”

  He thrust his finger deep, drawing a moan from her. The sound bounced around the tiny cabin, but she hardly recognized it. All that mattered was lifting her hips, straining upward to be filled. The walls of her passage were slick with desire and ultrasensitive, but his finger wasn’t enough to make the pleasure crest either. Instead, she remained poised on the edge of the abyss, longing threatening to destroy her sanity.

  “More!” she demanded. Forcing her eyes open, she curled up. “Give me more, damn you!”

  The sight of him between her thighs was too erotic, too forbidden. He looked up her body, his dark eyes glittering with determination as he sucked harder on her clit.

  She cried out, sure the sound was ripped from her belly because it felt like she was being torn open by the surge of pleasure moving through her. It traveled up her body, forcing the air out of her lungs as she twisted beneath him. By the time she drew in breath again, her vision had gone dark and her body collapsed onto the bed.

  “Damn you, Darius…” She panted. “I’m an Illuminist now…You will not…dominate me.”

  He sat back on his haunches, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. “I was proving my worth. A siren would be satisfied by nothing less.”

  Janette sat up, the muscles of her belly feeling strained, but her desire was still only partially sated. Yet it was enough for her pride to rise above her yearnings. Her gaze centered on his cock, which stuck up swollen between the edges of his open trousers.

  “Well, if you insist upon calling me by the name of a mythical Greek creature”—she slid off the narrow bed and cupped both sides of his face—“perhaps I should act like it.”

  “You are mesmerizing, Janette. I fell victim to your song the moment you refused to cower in my office.”

  His voice was husky and needy. She slid her thighs over his until she felt the head of his erection pressing between her slick folds. His hands found her hips, gripping them firmly, but she remained poised above his length while she leaned down to kiss him.

  His hand trembled, and she heard him groan.

  “And you reduce me to being willing to beg at your feet because I’m so besotted by you.” His face had drawn tight. “Because I can’t think beyond my need to be inside you.”

  “A feeling I share.”

  She slid her hands down his firm jawline and along his neck until she gripped his wide shoulders. He thrust up into her, sending delight through her belly.

  “No,” she admonished him. “I am taking you. I saw it in a drawing…”

  “You are taking too long to gain the saddle, sweetheart, and your stallion is ready to ride.”

  He lifted her, proving that his strength was merely controlled. Beneath the thin fabric of his shirt, his shoulders were packed with hard muscle. It pleased her in some dark corner of her mind.

  He released her and thrust up at the same time. She gasped as his cock penetrated her deeply and immediately rose off it. This time he used his hold on her hips to push her down.

  “That’s the way, siren. Prove you’re my match, and I promise to make you work for the privilege of saying you kept pace with me.”

  He was challenging her, but she liked the sound of his words. Pleasure began to build inside her once again, their position placing more pressure against her clitoris. The light was still on, granting her a clear view of his face. Savageness lit his eyes as she ground herself down. His grip had become tighter, bordering on pain, but somehow it enhanced the flames burning inside her. Her heart was racing, but she felt more alive than she ever had.

  “Come now. Where’s the spirited ride you’ve been promising me, Darius?” She leaned forward and bit the skin on the side of his neck. He growled and thrust up into her with a powerful motion.

  “You’d have to accept letting me off the bit…”

  His tone was edged with warning, but instead of making her hesitate, it sent excitement through her. His hand was on her nape, holding her head steady, and their gazes locked. She watched something flare up in his eyes in response to her lack of hesitation.

  For a moment, he stopped moving. One arm bound her against his body, stilling her efforts to continue their ride. She felt fragile against him, completely engulfed by his greater strength. But she wasn’t alone in her emotions; beneath the savage enjoyment of the moment, she witnessed the first uncertainty she could recall seeing in his eyes. She cupped his cheeks once more, slipping her fingers along his smooth skin until she encountered the short sideburns.

  “Do your worst.” She sounded husky and confident in a way that surprised her. But it thrilled Darius.

  He pressed a hard kiss against her mouth before lifting her off his length. The man handled her body like she weighed nothing, turning her and depositing her on her knees so she was facing away from him. She only had a moment to feel vulnerable before he flipped her skirt up, removing the fabric from covering her knickers. He grasped her hips and thrust into her with enough force that she fell forward and braced herself on all fours.

  She should have been offended or maybe…something else; instead, all she knew was that she was caught up in the intensity of the moment. He rode her hard, driving his cock in and out with enough force to make her body jerk.

  “Some men prefer their women do the riding, but I admit I enjoy proving my worth to you, Janette.”

  He was half snarling while increasing his pace. She discovered an urge to move back and meet him. It increased with every solid thrust. Need was threatening to rip her in half again, her desire insisting she move faster, harder, and somehow press his length deeper.

  She cried out with the need. It was all-consuming, and she heard an answering cry from her partner. Their skin smacked when it met because they were moving so fast, but her clitoris was left begging for enough pressure to send her into
climax again.

  “Now finish with me.”

  He reached around her body, sliding one hand across her belly until he found the opening of her drawers. Her palms hurt because she was pushing them against the hard floor to maintain her position as he worked in and out of her from behind.

  Nothing mattered but the progress of his hand. Her clitoris throbbed unbearably when she felt his fingertips parting her curls.

  “I want to feel you milk me.”

  He groaned, but she was more fixated on the decreasing distance between his fingers and her clitoris. She felt suspended between seconds, every hard thrust forcing her breath from her lungs, and then she frantically gulped it back in so she wouldn’t miss the first stroke.

  It was soft. When he reached her tender flesh, he pressed down and rubbed. She cried out, her need snapping like a thread pulled too tight. Pleasure went sailing through her at an incredible speed; it cut through everything and continued until even her scalp tingled.

  “Ah…yes, milk me dry.”

  Her passage was tightening, and his cock began to jerk as his seed erupted. She didn’t control it, merely experienced it as her body contorted with satisfaction. Her lungs refused to work, but she didn’t care because she was too busy smiling as she heard Darius crying out.

  It was harsh and male, but satisfying beyond even the pleasure pulsing through her nerve endings. He collapsed onto the floor and pulled her down onto his chest. Somehow she ended up in his embrace, his hands smoothing the hair back from her face as their hearts slowed.

  She let her eyes close and ordered her mind to remain fuzzy. Clear thinking was for the morning. For now, all she wanted to concentrate on was the steady beating of her lover’s heart.

  ***

  “I hear you are a good man to have about, Bion.”

  Bion watched Grainger as the man slipped into the chair across the table from him. The dining area was nearly deserted, the passengers all preferring their cabins and a good night’s sleep.

  “You shouldn’t listen to rumors. There are a lot of men who covet my position here, and they say the worst things about me.”