He also told me I was beautiful. He cared for me even though I was different. Lissa wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. If she closed her eyes, she could almost remember the way he had hugged her, feel the forbidden press of his lips against her forehead, which was the only place Saber had ever dared kiss her. But even those embraces, which would seem chaste and tame to an outsider, were forbidden on their home world of Tarsia. Forbidden but oh, so sweet.
And now here we are together again and we’re on a planet where I have to treat him like a slave…like some kind of pet! Lissa felt ill when she remembered the way Llewelyn had groveled before the ambassador and kissed her offered foot even after she had slapped his face. Lissa knew she couldn’t treat Saber like that. She just couldn’t.
Not to mention the fact that she also couldn’t let him suck pain and pleasure elixirs off her nipples.
The thought brought a hot blush to Lissa’s face and she stopped fiddling with her hair and stared instead at the small leather case containing the two compounds and the soothing salve. Should she put them on tonight? Would Lady Sha’rak notice if she didn’t? It seemed like a pointless gesture—after all, Lissa had absolutely no intention of using the elixirs for their intended purpose of punishing her “slave”. But was the lace that covered her breasts thin enough to reveal if she skipped what the ambassador seemed to consider an all important step in her evening dress? After studying herself in the oval viewer attached to the dressing table for a long moment, Lissa reluctantly decided that it was.
Sighing, she opened the case and took out the little red bottle. She frowned at it, lying so innocently in the palm of her hand. She didn’t want to offend their hostess, but she was still extremely reluctant to paint her nipples in what amounted to red hot chili pepper sauce. Maybe she ought to take a closer look before she started recklessly slathering herself in the stuff.
Very carefully, she unscrewed the tiny lid and pulled it off. Attached to it was a long thin wand with a tiny brush at the end. It reminded Lissa very much of the little bottles of polish she had seen Kat using from time to time to paint her fingernails different colors.
Only fingernail polish didn’t have fumes that smelled like fire and pepper rising from it. Lissa took a careful sniff and winced. Goddess that’s strong! And she expects me to put it on my nipples?
Just then there was a knocking at the door.
“Lissa, we need to talk,” Saber’s deep voice sounded a little muffled through the thick bathroom door. “Lissa? Are you all right in there?” he asked.
Lissa called back something about being fine and added that she needed a little more time to get dressed for dinner. There was no way she was going to tell him what was taking so long was that she was trying to decide whether to paint her nipples or not.
She took one more look at the little red vial and its crimson coated brush. She’d jumped when Saber first knocked and had nearly spilled the entire contents of the bottle all over herself—what a mess that would have been!
No, she told herself firmly. I can’t do this—I just can’t. I’ll have to think up some excuse to give the ambassador but I just can’t.
Delicately, she began to replace the lid…and that was when one single tiny ruby drop fell from the brush and landed directly between her breasts.
The pain was immediate and devastating—like someone had aimed a blowtorch at her chest. A breathless cry of agony was torn from her lips before she could stop it. Goddess, it hurts…it burns!
Outside the door, Lissa heard Saber demanding to know what was going on. Forcing herself to sound normal, she called back, “Nothing.” He said something else but she couldn’t answer again. All she could think about was the pain and how to stop it.
She had the presence of mind to set the red bottle down on the dressing table and then ripped off the band of black lace. Balling it in her hand, she scrubbed madly at the tiny red drop between her now bare breasts. But though she wiped away the ruby droplet easily with the lace, the pain continued. Indeed, it seemed to be increasing. It felt like someone had dripped acid on her sternum and it was eating a hole through her skin, trying to reach her heart.
Lissa whimpered in pain. What could she do? Then her eyes fell on the blue vial which had spilled out of the case when she jumped in pain. The antidote! Of course!
Hurriedly, she unscrewed the blue cap and pulled out the tiny brush. With trembling fingers, she painted a line of icy sapphire blue between her breasts, right where the droplet had fallen.
For a moment she thought she felt the pain ease just a little. But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, it blazed back to life, the fire between her breasts burning even hotter than before.
Oh my Goddess! What’s wrong? Why didn’t it work? Vaguely she remembered Lady Sha’rak saying something about how the antidote didn’t work if the burning blossom elixir got onto bare skin.
But what else can I do? I’m on fire! Wait—fire, that’s it! Lissa’s eyes were drawn to the gold and silver taps that crowned the deep marble basin in the center of the room. She wasn’t sure if it was some kind of shallow bathtub or maybe just a very deep sink but at this point she didn’t care. Water—I need water!
She was in so much agony by now she could barely think but somehow she managed to stagger over to the basin and turn on one of the taps full force. Water blasted out and Lissa scooped up handfuls of the icy liquid to splash it on her chest. The stiff red fabric of her dress became saturated and drooped but Lissa didn’t care. She didn’t give a damn if her dress for the evening got ruined—she just wanted the fire between her breasts to be put out!
But the water wasn’t helping either. In fact, Lissa was very much afraid that it might be spreading the fire around. It wasn’t just the spot between her breasts that was burning now—the sides of her breasts were also hot and when she looked down, she could see what looked like a red, angry blush spreading across her skin from her throat almost to her navel. The red blush throbbed like a live thing—her inflamed skin screaming that she was burning. Burning up…
Goddess, what was she going to do?
Just then the bathroom door burst open and Saber came rushing in.
“What in the seven hells is going on in here?” he roared.
Lissa turned from the water basin, no longer able to hide her panic. “It was just a drop,” she cried, rubbing futilely between her breasts where the burning was growing by the second. “Just a drop but it keeps spreading and burning and the antidote doesn’t work and water just makes it worse—”
“A drop? A drop of what?” Saber’s eyes followed hers to the dressing table where the little red bottle sat innocently, as though denying the pain and destruction it had unleashed. “Seven hells!” he growled. Rushing forward, he took Lissa by her upper arms and glared at her anxiously. “Where? Where did it get on you?”
“Here.” Heedless of her bare breasts, she nodded down at the red patch growing between them.
Without hesitation, Saber leaned down and licked her exposed skin.
Lissa was so shocked at first she couldn’t say or do anything. Then, as he licked her again, his warm tongue blazing a trail through the fiery pain, she suddenly came back to herself.
“Saber, no!” she gaped, trying to push him away. But there seemed to be no stopping him.
“Hold still.” His deep voice was a growl, rumbling through her as he continued to lap her exposed skin. He ignored Lissa’s efforts to get away and bent her over his arm, the better to expose her injured areas as he continued to lick and suck.
Lissa finally stopped struggling and went limp. There was clearly no stopping him and besides, what he was doing was actually working. The horrible burning between her breasts was easing at last. It was as though Saber was actually licking away the pain—erasing it with the broad, leisurely strokes of his warm, wet tongue.
But though he was easing one kind of burning, he was leaving another in its place. As her pain eased, Lissa found that her heart was beatin
g faster and faster, her blood racing through her veins at the illicit act they were performing.
Here she was, half naked and completely drenched, draped over Saber’s arm as he explored the sensitive area between her breasts with his mouth and tongue. It was a far cry from the chaste kisses he had once pressed to her forehead—a far cry indeed. And though she knew she ought to be shocked and shamed and hate every moment of it, Lissa couldn’t. Instead, she felt herself melting, losing control as her legs turned to rubber. The tender V between her thighs grew first hot and then wet as the warm tongue bath went on and on.
“Goddess…” she moaned softly as Saber gently laved the slopes of her bare breasts. He wasn’t just licking away the burning blossom elixir anymore, he was exploring her, tasting her in a way she’d never expected to let him. Lissa gasped as the warm tip of his tongue slid dangerously close to one rigid nipple. Part of her wanted him to lick her there—to take the tight pink bud in his mouth and suck as hard as he could, just as Llewelyn had done with Lady Sha’rak. But that would be wrong…wouldn’t it? In her half delirious state, she couldn’t exactly remember why but she was sure it would be for some reason.
“Am I getting it all?” he murmured and she realized he was talking to her.
“Oh…um…” Lissa tried to pull herself together enough to answer. “I…I think so.”
“Are you sure? What about here—does it hurt here?” He kissed the slope of her right breast and brushed one gentle finger lightly around the broad pink ring of her areola.
Lissa gasped and moaned as her nipple tightened mercilessly at his gentle almost-touch. “I…” She couldn’t answer. “I don’t know,” she gasped at last.
“Or here?” Saber’s fingers finally found her aching nipple and he squeezed it lightly, sending a surge of pure pleasure down her spine. “Tell me, amalla,” he murmured, his eyes blazing. “Do you need me to lick you here?”
Amalla, her mind whispered. Saber’s pet name for her. It was a term of affection which meant “beloved one” or “cherished little sister.”
Which is what I am, Lissa reminded herself as a sudden surge of horror swept over her. It didn’t matter that they weren’t related by blood—she and Saber were still of the same clan. Which meant everything they were doing was completely forbidden—completely unforgivable.
Why aren’t the kinship compounds stopping us? she asked herself wildly. I ought to be feeling nothing but disgust right now. Nothing but revulsion at letting him touch me so intimately. Instead…
Instead, she never wanted him to stop. Which was exactly why they had to right now. Before things went even an inch farther.
“Saber, no!” she gasped, pushing at his broad chest. “I can’t….we can’t…”
“Forgive me.” He let her go at once and took a step back.
“I’m so sorry,” she said miserably, crossing her arms over her bare breasts. “But this…it isn’t right. You know it’s not. We’re of the same clan.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have…I’m sorry.” His deep voice was hoarse with emotion and she couldn’t help looking up at him.
As she took him in—his broad, bare shoulders slumped in dejection—Lissa became suddenly aware that his eyes were watering and his face was red.
Goddess! At once a different kind of guilt swamped her. He’d licked the horribly hot burning blossom elixir off her skin to save her and transferred the effects to himself. The inside of his mouth must be on fire!
Quickly, she reached for the antidote serum. She uncapped the bottle and started to offer it to Saber but he shook his head.
“Has to be licked off bare skin, remember?” he muttered hoarsely.
“Oh…of course.” Lissa looked down at the tiny applicator brush coated in sapphire blue uncertainly. Where exactly on her body did Saber expect her to paint the antidote so he could lick it off? What should she do?
“Here.” Apparently sensing her indecision, Saber took matters into his own hands. Taking the brush from her, he painted a long, blue streak down the top of her right index finger. Then, slowly, his eyes never leaving hers, he lifted her hand and sucked her finger deep into the warm, wet cavern of his mouth.
A soft moan fell from Lissa’s lips as Saber searched her eyes with his own and continued to suck. He bathed her finger gently with his tongue, lapping and swirling in a way that seemed more about showing her exactly how he felt than getting the antidote. It seemed to go on forever, his eyes holding hers with a mute promise as he sucked and bathed her finger, never letting her go for an instant as he worked on her.
By the time he was done Lissa felt weak in the knees all over again. “Oh,” she whispered softly as he finally released her wrist and slowly slid her finger from his mouth. “Saber that was…” She shook her head. There were no words to describe what she felt.
“Lissa,” he said softly, his eyes meeting hers. “We need to talk.”
Chapter Eight
Saber paced the floor in front of her, his arms crossed behind his back and tried to think how to begin. He thought of dozens of different ways but somehow none of them seemed right. There was just no good way to say what had to be said. Finally, he opened his mouth and simply spoke the truth.
“I’ve wanted to taste you like that for a long time,” he said, looking at Lissa as he spoke. “And not just there. I’ve wanted to lick you everywhere, to explore your entire sweet, luscious body with my tongue. To make you moan my name while I licked you…tasted you…”
She turned red, then white. “You…you have?”
“You know I have,” he said roughly. “It’s wrong—we both know it is—but that hasn’t stopped me from thinking how it would be. How your skin would taste, how you would feel pressed against me while I—”
“Saber, we can’t!” she interjected. “We shouldn’t even talk like this—you’re my kinsman.”
“Not here, I’m not.” Saber rounded on her, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Here I’m just your devoted slave—and that’s how you have to treat me, Lissa. The way I have to treat you as my beloved mistress.”
Abruptly, he dropped to his knees in front of her and rubbed his cheek against her thigh.
Lissa jumped as though she’d been stung. “Saber, no! Get up,” she implored but he remained on his knees before her, looking up.
“We have to forget about our kinship through the Sun Clan,” he said stubbornly. “We have to stop jumping every time we touch each other and acting so Goddess damned awkward and careful around one another.”
“I…I don’t know if I can,” Lissa whispered. “I…I don’t even know how we’re able to touch each other at all. What with the kinship compound…”
“The kinship compound doesn’t seem to be working,” Saber said dryly. “At least, it’s not working on me. Is it on you?” He looked up at her, his chest tight. “Do you…does my touch repulse you?”
Lissa bit her lip. “You…you know it doesn’t.”
Saber felt the tightness in his chest ease. “Good. At least that makes playing our parts here easier.”
“I guess…” Lissa shook her head. “But I just don’t…I can’t imagine treating you like Lady Sha’rak treats Llewelyn.”
“You’ll have to do a hell of a lot more than imagine it,” Saber said grimly. “You’ll have to do it.”
“But I can’t! I don’t want to slap you or make you grovel and kiss my foot or—”
Saber cut her off by lifting one of her dainty feet, clad in a ridiculously high heel, and kissing her instep gently.
“Oh…” Lissa’s breath fell out of her in a long sigh and her eyes widened with surprise.
“I don’t mind,” Saber told her softly, rubbing his cheek against her slender ankle. “Whatever we have to do, however you have to treat me, I don’t mind. After all, we’re here for a reason—to find the lost scrolls. That has to supersede everything else.”
He didn’t add that he actually wanted to be more to Lissa, wanted to forget the
ir kinship status forever and be allowed to touch her intimately. He’d already said that earlier and it had upset her terribly. Better she think that his eagerness to serve her was all in the name of their mission. Better by far.
“Well…” She sounded like she was wavering. “But…but what about other things? Like punishing you with those horrible elixirs.” She glanced at the blue and red bottles still standing on the dressing table and shivered.
“At least now I know what to expect,” Saber said stolidly. Though he really didn’t crave another encounter with the burning blossom compound, he knew he could bear it if he had to. Especially if it meant he got to suck Lissa’s ripe, pink nipples into his mouth and bathe them gently with his tongue. Just the thought made his cock rock hard inside the too-tight black trousers he was wearing.
His thoughts must have showed on his face because she blushed, her cheeks going deep red. “No, I mean…you can’t…shouldn’t, um, taste me there.”
“No, but I will if I have to,” Saber said matter-of-factly. “I’ll take my punishment like any good, obedient slave would do and you’ll punish me like a stern but loving mistress. It’s the only way to get through this.”
Lissa nibbled her lush bottom lip. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I know I am,” Saber said, rising to his feet at last and crossing his arms over his chest. “We’ll do whatever we have to do while we’re here to recover the scrolls. Then, afterward, we’ll go back to the way things were before.”
“Oh…of course.” Was it his imagination or was there a look of sadness in Lissa’s lovely eyes as she nodded? Did she possibly still have feelings for him, after all these years? Saber forced himself to push the thought away. They had however long it took to find the scrolls to be together. It would have to be enough.