Descended

  I couldn’t count the number of plots I’d foiled against my old mistress and Morbain had been behind all of them. A male like that deserved to be killed, not crowned Consort.

  Consort. Just the thought of Morbain’s greasy hands on Charlotte’s cool, white flesh made my stomach churn. If I had to see that…if I had to stand by and watch while he touched and took my Lady in the way that I was forbidden to …

  I shook my head fiercely. The idea was too much. I honestly thought it might drive me mad to watch the female I loved to distraction given to the male I hated most in the galaxy. My mind simply wouldn’t be able to stand the strain without snapping. I would wind up killing Morbain or myself or both of us if that happened.

  And yet, how could it be stopped? Morbain had Royal bloodlines and he had ingested twice as much of Charlotte’s blood as was needed to form a connection between them. Even now she might be feeling a pull in his direction.

  I looked at Charlotte. She was pacing up and down the living area of the Royal Apartments, a large room decorated in gold finery with a long, low couch and a fireplace at one end. One of the maids had lit a fire and it glowed red and warm, filling the large chamber with a ruby-gold light that made Charlotte look even more beautiful in her green banqueting gown. It swished and swirled around her, reflected in the three-paneled viewer which was opposite the couch—a place where the Empress could check her appearance one more time before appearing in public.

  Her beauty overwhelmed me but I tried to ignore it and concentrate on the bond I had with her instead. To my dismay, I could feel the lust already growing in her. The need and desire boiling to the surface like an overfull pot. She was very close to the breeding part of her cycle—if she had not already reached it.

  “My Lady,” I could not stop myself from saying. “I…feel the need in you. Are you…do you…?” I knew I ought to ask if she wanted me to escort her to Morbain, but somehow I couldn’t get the words out.

  She looked up at me sharply.

  “Do I need someone to scratch my itch? Yes, I do—very badly, in fact. But is it going to be Morbain?” She made a face. “Hell no, it’s not.”

  “But if you are drawn to him…” My throat wanted to lock on the words, to never let them out. “If you want him…” I finally choked out.

  “I don’t want anything to do with him!” she snapped. “And I don’t care how much of my blood he drank—he could drink it by the gallon like two percent milk—I still would never want him.” She crossed the distance between us and looked up at me. “I want you, Kristoff.”

  “My Lady,” I whispered. “You cannot mean…”

  “Kristoff…” She lifted her chin, the light of determination flaring in her lovely green eyes. “I don’t care about the rules anymore. I’m not going to abide by the Council’s regulations if they feel free to break or manipulate them any way they want.”

  “I understand why you would feel that way,” I said carefully. “But my Lady, no matter what wrongdoing has gone on, I am still not of Royal blood. I cannot be your Consort.”

  “Fine. Then I won’t have a Consort.”

  “But you must!” I protested. “Someone must help slake the need. Your Royal cravings…”

  “Can be just as easily satisfied by you.” Reaching up on her tiptoes, she took my face in her hands and looked intently into my eyes. “Kristoff,” she whispered. “I want you to help me—the way Sundalla the 887th had her Guard help her.”

  “My Lady…” I felt her need so strongly it was all I could do to stop myself from taking her then and there, as she was asking me to do. But I couldn’t let myself, no matter how much I might want to. “Charlotte,” I said, my voice hoarse with desire. “I want you as you want me. But the union between Sundalla the 887th and her Guard was sanctioned by the Council of Wisdom.”

  “Screw the Council of Wisdom,” she said, frowning. “They’re corrupt. Or at least Tannus is. Do you know what I saw when I touched him?”

  I shook my head, almost afraid to know.

  Charlotte took a deep breath. “Tannus would kill me if he could—he’ll try to if things don’t go according to his plan.”

  “What?” I glared at her. “You Saw that when you touched him?”

  She nodded. “That and the fact that he and Morbain have been conspiring together for a long time now. Oh, and he hated your old mistress—my predecessor.”

  “He didn’t like that she defied him in her choice of Consort,” I said bitterly.

  “Well, I’m defying him too,” Charlotte said firmly. “If I can’t have you as my Consort, then I won’t have any Consort at all.”

  “The Council of Wisdom won’t stand for it,” I said.

  “They’ll have to,” she said grimly. “I was willing to go along with their rules and bow to their religious authority when I thought everything was impartial. But tonight, after what we saw at the Culling Ceremony…” She shook her head. “I’m not playing by their rules anymore, Kristoff.”

  I knew I should advise her to play along with the Council, to give Tannus what he wanted. He was, after all, the most powerful person in the galaxy, after the Empress herself. If he truly wanted her dead, it would become a full time job keeping her alive and safe. In short, he was a dangerous male.

  But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was partly the unfairness of the situation but even more than that, I couldn’t bear the thought of the female I loved being given to another.

  “Very well,” I said in a low voice. “Then I will help you defy the Council. Just tell me what you want of me, my Lady.”

  “I want you Kristoff.” She pulled me down and I let her, sealing my mouth to hers for a kiss. Her mouth tasted as sweet as the lizten berry wine that had been served at the banquet and her sweet, feminine scent intoxicated me. I felt my shaft throbbing beneath my uniform and knew I wanted her as I had never wanted another female.

  But we must at least try to work within the confines of the law.

  “My Lady,” I said, my voice husky with need, when we finally broke the kiss. “You know how much I want you but in order to keep to the letter of the law where an Empress and her Guard are concerned, you must take and use me. Not the other way around.”

  “All right.” She was already shedding her gown, her skin creamy and glowing as she stepped out of the rustling green fabric and stood naked before me in the firelight. Her nipples stood out pink and tight from full breasts and I could see the way her outer pussy lips were swollen with need, allowing her Goddess-pearl to show itself.

  It was all I could do not to drop to my knees and bury my face between her thighs right then and there—Gods, how I longed for the taste of her! The feel of her pulling my hair and crying my name as she had at the Pleasure House was fresh in my mind. Just the memory of it made my shaft so hard it hurt.

  But now that we were back in the palace, the rules were different. I must only let her touch me and I must not touch back. I must give my body to be used and not use hers in return. And above all, I must not spurt my seed inside her and seek to bond her to me. Penetration was allowed, only if she impaled herself upon me. Allowing myself to come inside her, however, most certainly was not.

  It was hard, so hard but if we were questioned by the Council I needed to say that we had been guided by the laws Sundalla the 887th and her Guard had used.

  Promising myself that I would not violate the precepts of those that had come before us, I undressed as well—or started to, until Charlotte stopped me.

  “No, let me,” she murmured, after I finished removing my chest plate and greaves.

  I stood silent, watching her beautiful body and full curves in the firelight as she stood on tiptoe to remove my undershirt. When she bared my chest, she rubbed her cheek against it, making a soft sound of desire in the back of her throat. When she took off my kilt and underclothing, I had to clench my hands into fists to keep from reaching for her.

  And when we were both finally completely nude in the firelight, it w
as all I could do not to wrap my arms around her and take her there on the floor on the rich fur rug before the fireplace. Somehow I made myself hold still while she continued to explore me.

  I must be strong, I told myself. I must allow myself to be taken without taking.

  But Gods, I didn’t know how long I could hold out against the desire that threatened to consume us both.

  Charlotte

  I couldn’t believe how bold I was being. Part of it was due to the need inside me, urging me on—the same need I’d been feeling since Kristoff had taken me aboard his ship and I’d had the Burning Blood. Only now it had intensified by a factor of about a thousand. I had the feeling that I was entering the breeding stage of my cycle and I would need to have sex very soon or suffer some serious consequences.

  What I was feeling had nothing to do with the fact that Morbain had drunk some of my blood—I was sure of that now. I felt absolutely no inclination to go to him. In fact, the idea of letting him touch me in any way made my stomach turn. It was Kristoff I wanted—Kristoff who was right for me and always had been. I was absolutely certain of that.

  And that was the other reason I allowed myself to be so bold with him. He was the one I wanted and he had admitted to wanting me too. Even knowing he couldn’t react and could only accept my touch without touching me back made me feel bold and hot. I liked the idea of being in charge—of touching and teasing him and making him every bit as hot and needy as I felt.

  So I let myself do what I wanted—what I had always wanted to do, if I was honest—from the first moment I started to feel for him. I explored his big, hard body, running my hands up and down his muscular chest and back, stroking down to circle around the aching length of his shaft without actually touching him there.

  A low groan rumbled deep in his chest and I saw his big hands clench into fists at his sides. It gave me a thrill, knowing how I was affecting him.

  Growing bolder, I gripped his thick length, loving the way it throbbed in my hand. It was like holding a hot bar of lead, one that pulsed in my fist, eager for my touch. Kristoff threw back his head and groaned again, this time louder as he pumped helplessly into my hand.

  Suddenly I wanted to taste him as he had tasted me the night in the Pleasure House. Sinking to my knees before him, I rubbed my cheek against his shaft, breathing in his dark, masculine musk. It sent a shiver of desire through me so strong I couldn’t help myself. Leaning forward, I swiped my tongue over the broad, plum-shaped head of his cock. A taste as salty as the sea flooded my mouth, making me want more. Getting even more daring, I opened my mouth and took him between my lips, struggling to take as much as I could—which wasn’t much more than the head—he was simply too big.

  Kristoff’s eyes fluttered open and he looked down at me, an expression of shock on his face. I know because I was looking up at him while I sucked him and swirled my tongue around his throbbing shaft.

  “My Lady, no!” he exclaimed hoarsely, trying to draw away from me. “You must not abase yourself so before me!”

  “It’s not abasement—it’s pleasure,” I said, releasing him at last. And it was. Though I had never cared for this act before, I found it intensely enjoyable now. Just knowing that I was affecting Kristoff so deeply was enough to make my nipples hard and my sex wet with desire.

  But Kristoff was shaking his head.

  “My Lady,” he murmured, raising me to my feet. “If you truly wish there to be intimate kisses between us…” He sank slowly to his knees before me, looking up to hold my eyes with his. “If that is what you wish, then I beg you will allow me to do the kissing.”

  “But…how?” I asked, looking down at him. He was so close I could feel his hot breath against my breasts and I knew what he meant, though not exactly how he thought he could accomplish it without breaking our self-imposed rules. “I thought I was the only one allowed to touch or, uh, taste. That you just had to let me, um…use you.”

  “And so you shall—use me to the fullest.” Kristoff’s eyes blazed and his voice was deep with lust. “Let me show you.”

  He rose and went to the long, gold brocade couch to one side of the fireplace. Sitting down in front of it, he leaned back until the tops of his shoulders were pressed against its cushions. Then he laid his head back until he was resting against the couch looking up at the frescoed ceiling, filled with dancing shadows from the firelight.

  I saw what he wanted at once but it made me feel nervous and extremely exposed.

  “You want…” I couldn’t make the words come out of my mouth.

  “I want you to ride my face.” Kristoff lifted his head and looked at me, desire filling his beautiful, alien eyes. “Come, my Lady…spread your thighs and use me…rub your sweet, open pussy against my tongue…feed me your honey as you find your pleasure against my mouth.”

  “I…don’t know.” I bit my lip. “You know I love it when you…when you taste me, Kristoff. But can’t we do it the way we did the other night in the Pleasure House. You know, with you on top?”

  He shook his head regretfully. “Forgive me, my Lady but in order to remain within the precepts set by the Council for Sundalla the 887th you must find your pleasure with me and I am not allowed to help you or touch or take you in any way.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Why is it so wrong for you to touch me back?”

  “Because…” Something heated flickered in the depths of his eyes. “Though we are deferential to our females and treat them as goddesses, Majoran males have a deeply primal mating urge. If I allowed myself to touch you and taste you the way I so desperately long to, it might push me too far—to the point beyond which I cannot control myself anymore. And if I go past that point…”

  “What?” I asked, when he trailed off, shaking his head. “What would happen?”

  “I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from taking you,” he said in a low voice—almost a growl. His eyes went half-lidded with need. “Wouldn’t be able to stop myself from claiming you—fucking you, Charlotte. Fucking you and coming deep in your pussy—bonding you to me.”

  As always when he talked dirty to me the hot, deeply sexual words spoken in his low voice sent a shiver of desire straight through me. God, that was what I wanted—what I needed so badly I could almost taste it! The feeling of him pumping into me, thrusting deep and hard, filling me with himself and claiming me in no uncertain terms.

  But Kristoff had said it couldn’t be. I would just have to take what I could get.

  “Come, my Lady,” he murmured, his eyes still lazy with lust. “Come ride my face and feed me your sweet pussy. I’m longing to taste you again.”

  Feeling a shiver of desire run down my spine, I did as he said. Going over to the couch, I knelt on the rich gold cushions and positioned myself with my thighs on either side of his upturned face. His mouth was right under my pussy but I still felt reluctant to rest my weight on him.

  “Come down,” Kristoff murmured, looking up at me. “Let me taste you.”

  “I feel like I’m going to hurt you,” I protested.

  He gave a deep, rumbling laugh. “How? You’re tiny. And so sweet and succulent—I only want to taste you again. Please trust me, Charlotte.”

  Oh. I kept forgetting that though I was plus-sized back on Earth, our size difference here did actually make me small, if still pleasingly plump. I knew how strong Kristoff was—I had seen and felt his strength in action. I could trust him to support me and I didn’t have to fear that I’d hurt him.

  “All right,” I said at last. “But let me know if it’s too much.”

  “Never too much…never too much of your honey, your sweet taste, my Goddess,” he murmured and I heard the lust in his voice and knew he meant it. It was strange to contemplate but Majoran men seemed to enjoy giving their females oral pleasure more than they liked getting it themselves. At least, Kristoff certainly did.

  Gripping the back of the couch in both hands, I spread my thighs wider and lowered my open pussy to his hot mouth.

&
nbsp; Kristoff

  Being surrounded by my Charlotte that way, feeling her all around me, her sweet, open sex pressed to my eager mouth was almost more than I could bear. Her warm, feminine scent filled my senses and her pussy, already slippery with honey, was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted.

  I felt a surge of desire like nothing I had ever felt before—an urge so deep and primal I could scarcely fight it. The urge to take her, to fuck her and bond her to me, ensuring that no other male would ever lay a finger on her as long as we both lived.

  Mine, growled a possessive voice within me as I penetrated her sweet entrance with my tongue and slipped deep inside her. Mine and no one else’s!

  I fought the urge with all my might. Fought it and won—barely. Somehow I was able to lie quiescent against the couch and simply allow my sweet lady to ride my face, rubbing her open pussy against my seeking, hungry mouth.

  For she was doing that now—she was trusting me, trusting in my strength to support and pleasure her. My cock throbbed as one small hand came down to grip my hair and she worked herself against me fiercely, pressing her inner folds against my lips and mouth, soft sounds of need coming from her slender throat.

  That’s right, my Lady, I thought, wishing we had a true two-way bond so that she could feel what I felt and hear what I thought. Rub yourself against me—ride my face…take your pleasure with me.

  I repositioned slightly and put out my tongue, cupping her sweet sex as best I could without touching her with my hands. I could feel her Goddess-pearl swelling against my tongue and taste her honey flowing as she rubbed against me, soft, helpless little sounds falling from her lips as she curled her fingers tighter in my hair, her pleasure overcoming any fear she’d had about trying this new position.

  Come for me, I thought, my cock throbbing, nearly delirious with need and pleasure. Come against my face—feed me your honey, my Goddess. Let me pleasure you until you cannot stand it any more and the pleasure overwhelms you.