Green reached over and ran her fingertips lightly over the plane of his lower belly, directly above the edge of the sash. Every muscle in his body tensed, locking in preparation for the battle to come.
"This is not going to be a fight, Jorlan," she promised him.
"So you say."
She bent over and placed a soft kiss on the tender skin she had stroked. The sweet touch became a scalding caress. His breath hitched. The muscles in his belly drew up. A faint shimmer of sweat dotted his forehead.
Green smiled knowingly. "So I say."
"If you take me... to your house," the husky voice tried to forestall her, "you risk your name and the names of your children."
Green did not believe it for a heartbeat. "I'll make you a wager, Jorlan."
"Wager? What wager?" His raw tone was clipped.
"The moment I remove this sash the truth will be upon you. Our private Ritual of Proof. Am I to believe the tale you tell or what my intuition knows? Are you the man I think or not?"
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
"Remaining uninformative as always, I see. I guess we shall just have to find out for ourselves."
Would his honor remain? Was he still intact? Or had he given in to his desires and shamed both their houses? Had he really cast aside the mores they lived by? No one would ever know but the two of them.
She removed the sash, tossing it over a nearby table. Slowly she glanced down at what she had bared. "Well. Well. Well." She looked up, meeting his eyes. He immediately looked away from her, staring at the far wall. Green thought there was a sheen of moisture in his eyes but she could not be sure in the low lighting.
A sudden compassion for him filled her. She knew this was hard for him. Sitting down on the bed next to him, she gently cupped his chin, turning him back to her. "Jorlan, you don't have to—Who did this to you?" Her finger traced the bruise on his cheekbone, the only mar on his arresting face. "I will have them removed from the house at once!"
"It is not important." Once again, his thick lashes shielded his emotions from her.
"It is important to me." Her gentle lips carefully swept the discolored area.
Jorlan closed his eyes. That touch always felt like magic to him! Why? "Green, do not... "
"Do not what?" Her lips moved over his beautiful face, feature by feature, adoring each sculptured line with tiny sips.
Jorlan's heart began a quick beat; his breath came noticeably faster. "No," he whispered.
"Yes," she whispered back, letting her mouth pull across his lips slowly, enticingly.
She nibbled delicately on his bottom lip, then suckled sharply on it.
An out-and-out attack he could withstand. A slow seduction he could not.
She tortured him by teasing him with her mouth. Her lips pressing once, twice, against his. A tiny sweep with the tip of her tongue over his upper lip; The faintest drawing at the edge of his mouth.
He tried to ignore her caresses. He couldn't. In spite of his hostile attitude regarding the accepted taking of a name-bearer, he still desired her. Now he was warring with himself.
As her mouth played over him, her lips teased him into responding back. "Kiss me the way I taught you, my wild one."
And he did.
Without realizing it, his lips responded to hers. Sought hers. Followed hers.
Every nerve, blood vessel, and pulse in his body came alive. The feeling, the indescribable perception, surged through his body. The strength of it staggered him. She had kissed him before and it had been incredible, but not like this.
It was as if his entire body knew that there was going to be more and more and more. How can I fight this?
"You can't." Green answered him. He hadn't even realized he had spoken out loud.
"You don't know that." His voice was already roughening with desire.
"I do know it." Her tongue sank into his mouth, slipping deep into the warm, wet channel. He groaned in the back of his throat—half growl, half moan.
"How—how do you know?" Unconsciously, he was kissing her back, his mouth reaching for hers, hot and deep.
"I'll tell you later," she rasped and moved down the strong column of his throat.
He shivered as she laved the skin there, catching a tiny piece of it between her teeth, letting him feel the small sting of a soft bite, before her open mouth slid down the side.
"Merde!"
"No swearing in ancient familial tongues," she quipped as she nipped sharply against his collarbone.
Jorlan lifted his head slightly and narrowed his focus on her. "That is not close to swearing. I can show you swearing if you—Sweet Cybella!" Her tongue took long, slow laps back and forth across the centerline of his chest as she worked her way down his flat stomach.
His breath was very ragged now.
Green purposely undulated down farther, allowing his member to scrape along the downy skin of her stomach. A sound between death and ecstasy rolled from his lips.
He became rock-hard to bursting and very large. Her breath came in hot tantalizing puffs very close to his velvety skin. Her mouth almost touched him. Almost.
"What are you doing. Green," he panted raggedly. "I'm making you mine, Jorlan." Her luscious mouth covered him then, completely. Dewy, warm, slippery. It was the most incredible thing he had ever felt. Yet. Then she moaned low in the back of her throat, letting the resultant vibrations skitter along his encased shaft.
Jorlan reared up off the bed, pulling at the tethers, yelling at her to release his bonds at once. And the man could yell.
Green had never in her life heard such a creative diatribe.
She ignored him, of course, and continued to pleasure him. "Do you know how good you taste, Jorlan?" Her tongue flicked over him just before her mouth slid down the length of him.
"Green, please!" He gritted his teeth, positive he would die of this Tamryn torture.
Again she ignored his plea. "I could taste you and taste you and taste you all night and never tire of it... "
A very loud growl came from him. He threw his head back and clenched his fists, tugging them sharply against the binds.
Green knew he was close to breaking; she had purposely pushed him to this point, past the edge of his control. It would be easier for him this way. His innate passion would overtake his reason, and for now, that was a good thing. His broken moans and hoarse cries—torn from him against his will—were driving her wild as well.
On this night, however, she needed to maintain her focus.
A few droplets of dew moistened her lips. An intoxicating sample. She rubbed her mouth around the sticky fluid, savoring his rich flavor.
With one last pressing lick, she moved up his body. "Taste yourself," she breathed into his mouth. Her lips fed his.
Jorlan cried into her mouth, seizing her lips in a rough, untamed kiss. He became wild for her and all he could think of was having more of her. "Release me from these bonds! Let me up. I will not fight you; you have my word."
Green sighed regretfully. "I cannot, Jorlan. The pain of the breaching will be violent; especially so for you. It is too dangerous."
He closed his eyes and rested his damp forehead against her cheek. "I will control the pain." His incredible lips played expertly against her skin, the inborn passion within him coming to the surface. "Release me, Green. I want to touch you."
She took his compelling face in her palms and stared down at him. "You cannot control this pain. I know that you do not wish to be bound, and I do not wish you to be bound, either. But to do otherwise is too dangerous for the woman. Normally, it is the rule that we are to keep the binds on until after completion. I will not do that. I will release you as soon as the rending is over."
He realized it was the best he was going to get. Still, it was a concession. He nodded curtly at her.
"Good. I'll make it the best I can for you... " She placed her hands on his shoulders and rocked back on him slightly.
Jorlan glanced down their bodies, watching her poised over t
he tip of him. Her hand cupped his face and she brought his focus back to hers. He gazed at her inquiringly.
"I want to see your face as I breach you. I always want to remember the look in your eyes as you first experience pleasure. I want to remember how you felt at this moment." Her own eyes filled with tears.
Jorlan's mouth parted slightly, stunned that she would treasure this so. She was so experienced, he assumed that it would mean nothing to her except claiming him to her house.
But it meant something to him. It always had. "Thank you," he whispered. For the first time he looked at her and exposed some of his heart. He scanned every delicate, interesting feature on her face.
The very face he had dreamt about since he had been a child of six. Yes, he had remembered her when she had come out to the garden. How could he ever forget?
Upon seeing his unguarded expression, Green's mouth parted in wonder at the heart-stopping radiance emanating from him. He was so enchanting! Why did he hide this part of himself?
Green pressed her mouth to his in a fast kiss. Then she watched his expression as she abruptly lowered herself down on him. Green gasped as his pulsating fullness wholly filled her. The rapid entry was to instantly break his shield in as uniform a way as possible. The pain would be severe but, hopefully, of less endurance.
At first, Jorlan felt nothing but unbelievable pleasure. It was so incredible that he cried out with it. Her warmth and moisture coated him everywhere. He felt as if he had glided into a cushion of slick, pulsing comfort so—
Then it hit.
The first burning wave of agony. It seared the tip of his manhood, spreading throughout the entire head and down the shaft.
"Get off!"
Green shook her head.
He tried to buck her off of him. Green wrapped her thighs around his hips and stayed where she was, firmly seated. His entire body lurched under her. He clenched his teeth as the waves of pain continued to slam him. His body became coated in sweat.
And yet, in the curious phenomenon of the piercing of the veil, with its resultant constricture, his erection did not falter. It was a physiological quirk that puzzled yet delighted women the world over.
Although there was nothing delightful about seeing your name-bearer in pain.
Green smoothed his dampened hair off of his forehead. "I know... I know... " She tried to comfort him. "It will be over soon. No one knows why it takes so long, it just does. The membrane must dissolve completely. We have to stay like this until it is complete or you will feel pain the next time."
He opened his eyes and tried to catch his breath. He was very pale. "This—this is horrible! I will die of it!"
Green covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. She realized Jorlan had no idea what the fastening was to be like. Most gently reared young men did not. They came to their fastening beds completely mystified.
She was not sure that was a good practice.
"You will not die of it, I assure you. There; see? It's getting better now, isn't it?"
He glared at her mutinously.
"Isn't it?" she repeated.
"Slightly," he reluctantly admitted.
"Mmm-hmm." She rocked very easily on him. He sucked in his breath. His pupils dilated at the sensation. "No pain?"
"Not too much... "
"How about this?" She rotated her hips slowly. He coughed. "That is... not too bad... "
"I don't think we need these anymore, do you?" She reached up and quickly untied his wrists.
"No. We don't need them." Without thinking Jorlan immediately sat up, determined to undo his ankles himself. He stopped when he came face-to-face with Green. He had slightly pushed her backward on his lap. The angle was different. Much more pressure. Jorlan blinked. "Ah, this is... very... that is... "
Green chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. As she did this, her hips slid and rotated against him.
A puff of air escaped his lips. "I... need to... untie... "
Green drove against him a little harder.
"I mean... I... to... get the... " He gave up. Closing his eyes, he simply let the sensations carry him away. His arms wrapped around her tightly, surprising Green a little.
She rocked him with a very definite rhythm now. Hard. Swift. Deep.
"That... is... so... "
Her mouth covered his. He groaned; the sound moved through her throat. Through her body.
"Jorlan," she breathed. "You are so incredibly beautiful. Let me feel you more... "
"How... ? Tell me... " His mouth caressed along her jawline, his hot breath ragged puffs against the folds of her ear. He trembled in her arms even as he lifted his hips into her thrusts.
"Flex in me," she whispered.
"How so?" He captured her mouth before she could answer, sinking his tongue into the depths.
"Mmm." She broke off from him. "Pull your muscles up... inside."
He did. They both moaned.
Green paused, worried that he was hurting. "I'm sorry, did that hurt?"
"No." He was breathing unevenly. He groaned. "I—"
She kissed him. It was too much for the first time. Too much perception all at once for a Sensitive. "Jorlan, come peak with me now... " She began to guide him to that end. Her hand reached down between them, circling the base of him with a steady pressure. She worked her hand up and down on him easily as she moved with him.
Her contractions came first by design. "Now, blaze-dragon. Now."
The rapid pulsations sent him over.
"Green... I... Green!" He poured into her. Endlessly. She continued to release around him, her strong contractions adding to his.
Spent, Green reclined on top of him.
Jorlan tried to catch his breath. He could not. Never had he felt anything like that! He opened his eyes languidly. Like a sated outwolf.
Green's auburn hair was draped over him like a coverlet. A rosy flush from her exertions dusted her cheeks. Her skin was incredibly soft against his sensitized body. She was so pretty.
Many different emotions tumbled through him. She truly was his name-giver now.
He was not happy with what had occurred—Yet he was not altogether unhappy with it, either. One thing was certain. He still ached for the feel of Green Tamryn.
Chapter Eight
Silken lips played pleasingly with the muscular ridges of his abdomen.
Jorlan's eyes drifted shut as Green lazily teased him with her mouth. Her loving little caresses and nips seemed to him especially nice.
The action showed an honest caring. The Marquelle had gotten what she wanted from him, she did not have to make him feel treasured into the bargain. He supposed he appreciated that, even though he was nowhere near to accepting his circumstances.
All in all, it could have been worse.
Much worse.
She could have taken him without any regard for his feelings or inexperience.
She hadn't done that.
He wondered why. Most Lordenes would have.
From what he had heard, they cared only about their own pleasure. Some of them actually believed that the roan should have as little pleasure as was possible. Men often spoke of the rending of the veil as something best not thought about. It was generally dreaded. Yet she had taken her time to give him as much enjoyment as she could.
The part of Jorlan that was acute to reactions of the flesh acknowledged her kindness.
The part of him that railed against being in this position in the first place, he temporarily suppressed. He knew he was going to have to reassess the path he took in view of what had transpired. He could not lie to himself. He wanted her. Admittedly, he was captivated by Green Tamryn.
In all ways. His brow furrowed.
This was something he was going to have to work through. He could never forswear his ultimate goal of personal freedom and equality of choice. Men were human beings who had every right to control their own lives and property! Tomorrow would be time enough for h
im to regroup and formulate a new plan in that direction.
There was something intrinsically wrong with the synergy in OneNation. It was something he sensed but could not thoroughly define.
For the time being, it probably wouldn't hurt him any to wholly enjoy this new experience.
And he was enjoying it.
Too much.
Every time her fingers stroked him, he shivered. When she stopped, he felt bereft of her touch. She was like an arc storm to his senses—bright, thrilling, intoxicating. And he burned to touch her everywhere. She had not. allowed him to do so yet, but he vowed he would.
At that moment he was so deliciously languid, so perfectly spent, that he did not care what she did to him—as long as she kept doing it. In light of that, perhaps it would be wise of him to take some time to explore this unique relationship with her.
His thoughts drifted lazily with her ministrations.
His veil was gone. He wondered if he would seem different. He wondered why men had to go through such an ordeal the first time.
"They say that women might once have had veils... " he murmured drowsily.
Green smiled softly against his ribs. There was something about seeing the rebellious Jorlan dreamily sated that was highly satisfying.
"Do you believe that could have happened, Green?"
"I think it is a story that servant men tell at night in the sleep houses to hoodwink mischievous little boys who are eavesdropping on them," she chortled.
Eyes still closed, Jorlan grinned broadly, showing white teeth and dimples. "How did you know that?"
"It seems exactly like the kind of thing you would have done. You were a very precocious child."
"Really?"
"Very much so. I seem to remember the Duchene telling me that you were forever getting into mischief."
"You must have me confused with someone else."
"Ah, yes, that other Jorlan Reynard."
He laughed.
Green loved his laugh. It was so complete. Unlike the other come-outs who snickered genteelly at anything a damselle said that might be interpreted (with a huge measuring cylinder) as witty; Jorlan's laugh was outright and textured. The kind of laugh that made one Want to join in.
It was a shame he did not do it often. Green vowed she would get that laugh out of him at every opportunity.